Battle of Fuentes d’Onoro

Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro
Part of the Peninsular War
Captain Norman Ramsay, Royal Horse Artillery, Galloping his Troop Through the French Army to Safety at the Battle of Fuentes d'Onoro, 1811 by George Bryant Campion
Date 3–5 May 1811 Location Fuentes de Oñoro, Castile and León, Spain 40°35′N 6°49′W / 40.583°N 6.817°W / 40.583; -6.817Coordinates: 40°35′N 6°49′W / 40.583°N 6.817°W / 40.583; -6.817 Result Indecisive Strategic Anglo-Portuguese victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Portugal	French Empire
Commanders and leaders
Lord Wellington	Marshal Masséna
Strength
36,000 infantry, 1,850 cavalry, 48 guns	42,000 infantry, 4,500 cavalry, 38 guns
Casualties and losses
1,800 241 killed, 1,247 wounded, 312 captured	2,844 343 killed, 2,287 wounded, 214 captured

In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro (3–5 May 1811), the British-Portuguese Army under Lord Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.

In 1810, Masséna had followed the British-Portuguese back to Lisbon before arriving at the Lines of Torres Vedras, but was determined to avoid storming the extensive double line of interlocking fortifications. After starving outside Lisbon through a miserable winter, the French withdrew to the Spanish border with the British-Portuguese army in pursuit.

Wellington first secured Portugal and then set about re-taking the fortified frontier cities of Almeida, Badajoz, and Ciudad Rodrigo. Whilst Wellington besieged Almeida, Masséna reformed his battered army and marched to relieve the French garrison in the city. Wellington chose to check the relief attempt at the small village of Fuentes de Oñoro, leaving his line of retreat exposed in order to cover all routes to Almeida. He felt this risk was justified because the French would not have more than a few days supplies, whereas he had more than that. The British-Portuguese army had 34,000 infantry, 1,850 cavalry, and 48 guns. The French had 42,000 infantry, 4,500 cavalry, and 38 guns.

Masséna's army was organised into four corps and a cavalry reserve. Louis Henri Loison's VI Corps had three divisions, led by Jean Gabriel Marchand, Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet, and Claude François Ferey. In Jean Andoche Junot's VIII Corps, only Jean Baptiste Solignac's division was present. Jean-Baptiste Drouet's IX Corps included the divisions of Nicolas François Conroux and Michel Marie Claparède. Louis Pierre, Count Montbrun headed the cavalry reserve. Jean Reynier's II Corps hovered off to the northeast, threatening Almeida with its two divisions under Pierre Hugues Victoire Merle and Étienne Heudelet de Bierre.

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