Combat of the Côa

Battle of the Côa Valley
Part of the Peninsular War
Date 24 July 1810 Location River Côa, Portugal Result French victory
Belligerents
French Empire	United Kingdom Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Marshal Michel Ney	Brig. Gen Robert Craufurd
Strength
20,000 men (only 6000 engaged)	5,000 men, 6 guns (4000 engaged)
Casualties and losses
300-530 killed, wounded or captured	309-500 killed or wounded, 83 Missing.

The Combat of the Côa (July 24, 1810) was a skirmish that occurred during the Peninsular War period of the Napoleonic Wars. It took place in the valley of the Côa River and it was the first significant battle for the new army of 65,000 men controlled by Marshal André Masséna, as the French prepared for their third invasion of Portugal.

As the British-Portuguese forces were outnumbered here, on July 22, General Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington sent Brigadier-General Robert Craufurd a letter, saying that he (Wellington) was "not desirous of engaging in an affair beyond the Coa." On July 24, Craufurd's Light Division, with 4,200 infantry, 800 cavalry, and six guns, was surprised by the sight of 20,000 troops under Marshal Michel Ney. Rather than retreat and cross the river as ordered by Wellington, Craufurd chose to engage the French, narrowly avoiding disaster.

The French objective was to force the Light Division back across the Côa in order to besiege Almeida. They succeeded after hard fighting, but then launched a costly assault across the Côa, suffering heavy casualties.

British-Portuguese forces engaged were:

The engaged units of Ney's VI Corps included:

Craufurd committed a serious tactical error by choosing to fight with an unfordable river at his back while badly outnumbered. As such, in the early hours of 24 July, after a night of torrential rain, Ney sent forth Ferey and Loison's divisions to engage the allies.

A company of the 95th Rifles came under fire from French artillery as they moved in to attack. French voltiguers of the 32nd then came up and took the fight to the bayonet, and the heavily outnumbered British broke and fled. The guns of Almeida opened fire on the 95th Rifles, mistaking them for French because of their dark uniforms. They then fell under attack by the French 3rd Hussars, supported by two companies of dragoons. British troops of the 43rd came to assist them. Though fierce fighting broke out, the French advance was halted. Despite orders from Wellington to fall back across the river Côa, Craufurd decided to hold his ground as more French arrived and began to deploy in formation.

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