Vimeiro 1808 by Rene Chartrand

Author:Rene Chartrand
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Vimeiro 1808: Wellesley’s First Victory in the Peninsular
ISBN: 9781472803115
Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Junot regroups to face the British

To the French, it was now clear that, except for the troops holding out in the fortress of Almeida, the north of Portugal was lost to them. Since 16 July, Almeida had been surrounded by a Portuguese army. It consisted of 104 men of the 11th Cavalry, 605 from the 6th Infantry, 200 from the 12th Infantry, 605 from the 18th Infantry, 1,438 from the 24th Infantry supported by many local militiamen and Ordenanza. The Portuguese had no artillery and could not storm such a strong fortress but its French garrison of about 1,200 men was trapped and could not get out.

The full impact of the rising in Spain and Portugal followed by the British landing at Figueira da Foz were now only too apparent to Junot and his senior officers. Their communications with other French forces in Spain were cut off following General Dupont’s surrender at Baylen and they were now isolated in Lisbon and central Portugal. The British were the best organised and best supplied troops opposing them. If they could be defeated, the Portuguese insurrection would suffer a tremendous and perhaps fatal blow.

Now that he knew where the British were, Junot’s task was straightforward enough: gather all the troops he could to form a field army, then march north towards the British and defeat them before more reinforcements – British or Portuguese – reached them. It was too late to call in the French garrisons of Almeida and Elvas, who were now isolated, and around 6,000 men were required to maintain control of Lisbon. However, Loison was marching to join Junot and Delaborde’s troops, shadowing Wellesley, could also join him. That would give Junot about 12–14,000 men, enough to face the British.

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