British-Portuguese Army

Anglo-Portuguese Army Exército Anglo-Luso
British and Portuguese regiments, side by side, at the Second Battle of Porto.
Active	22 April 1809
Country	United Kingdom Kingdom of Portugal
Allegiance	George III of the United Kingdom John VI of Portugal
Size	53,000 British 3,000 Hanoverians of the KGL 35,000 Portuguese Regulars
Garrison/HQ	Lisbon, Portugal
Engagements	Battle of Albuera, Battle of Almaraz, Blockade of Almeida, Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos, Siege of Badajoz (1812), Battle of Bayonne, Battle of the Bidassoa (1813), Siege of Burgos, Battle of Bussaco, Battle of Campo Maior, Battle of the Côa, Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812), Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, Battle of Garris, Battle of Grijó, Battle of Majadahonda, Battle of Nive, Battle of Nivelle, Battle of Orthez, Battle of Pombal, Battle of the Pyrenees, Battle of Redinha, Battle of Roliça, Battle of Roncesvalles (1813), Battle of Sabugal, Battle of Salamanca, Siege of San Sebastián, Second Battle of Porto, Battle of Sorauren, Battle of Talavera, Battle of Toulouse (1814), Battle of Vimeiro, Battle of Vitoria
Disbanded	1814
Commanders
Commander-in-chief	Arthur Wellesley
Notable commanders	Brent Spencer, Carlos Frederico Lecor, Luís do Rego Barreto, Henry Clinton, James Leith, John Hope, Lowry Cole, Robert Craufurd, Rowland Hill, Thomas Picton, William Beresford

The Anglo-Portuguese Army was the combined British and Portuguese army that participated in the Peninsular War, under the command of Arthur Wellesley. The Army is also referred to as the British-Portuguese Army and, in Portuguese, as the Exército Anglo-Luso or the Exército Anglo-Português.

The Anglo-Portuguese Army was established with the British Army deployed to the Iberian Peninsula under the command of General Arthur Wellesley, and the Portuguese Army rebuilt under the leadership of British General William Beresford and the Portuguese War Secretary Miguel Pereira Forjaz. The new Portuguese battalions were supplied with British equipment, trained to British standards and thoroughly re-organised. Incompetent or corrupt officers were cashiered and appropriate replacements were appointed or promoted from amongst promising Non-commissioned officers.

On 22 April 1809, Wellesley became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Peninsula, replacing General Cradock, whose assessment of the military situation the British government found too pessimistic. At the same time he was appointed by the Portuguese Government as Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Army. He then came to have the two armies under his command, transforming them into a single integrated army.

The Army was organised into divisions, most of them including mixed British-Portuguese units. Usually, each one had two British and one Portuguese brigades. In the elite Light Division, the brigades themselves were mixed, each including two British light infantry and one Portuguese Caçadores battalions.