First Battle of Porto

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=First Battle of Porto
partof=the Peninsular War


caption=
date= March 28 1809
place= Porto, Portugal
result=French Victory
combatant1=flagicon|Portugal|1707 Kingdom of Portugal
combatant2=flagicon|France First French Empire
commander1=flagicon|Portugal|1707 Caetano José Vaz Parreiras
commander2=flagicon|France Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=10,000
casualties2=2,100 killed and wounded

In the First Battle of Porto (March 28 1809) the French under Marshal Soult completely defeated the Portuguese under General Parreiras, outside the city of Porto [Porto has traditionally been called "Oporto" by the British. ] in the Peninsular War. Soult followed up his success by storming the city, with horrible slaughter. It is estimated that 10,000 of the inhabitants perished in the attack.

oult's invasion of Portugal

After the Battle of Corunna, Napoleon ordered Marshal Soult to invade Portugal from the north. He was to seize Oporto by February 1 and Lisbon by February 10. Napoleon failed to take into account either the wretched condition of the roads or the fact that a full-scale guerilla war had broken out in Spain.

Soult's II Corps had four infantry divisions, commanded by Major-Generals Pierre Merle (4 battalions each of the 2nd Light, 4th Light and 15th Line; 3 bns. of the 36th Line), Julien Mermet (4 bns. each of the 31st Light, 47th and 122nd Line; 1 bn. each of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Swiss), Etienne Heudelet (2 bns. each of the 22nd and 66th Line; 1 bn. each of the 15th and 32nd Light, 82nd Line, Legion of the Midi, Paris Guard and Hanoverian Legion) and Henri Delaborde (3 bns. each of the 17th Light, 70th and 86th Line). Maj-Gen Jean Franceschi led Soult's corps cavalry (1st Hussars, 8th Dragoons, 22nd and Hanoverian Chasseurs). Attached were Maj-Gen Lahoussaye's 3rd Dragoon (17th, 18th, 19th and 27th Dragoons) and Maj-Gen Lorge's 4th Dragoon Divisions (13th, 15th, 22nd and 25th Dragoons) [Smith] . In all, Soult had 23,500 men, including 3,100 cavalry [Glover] .

Soult's first attempt to invade Portugal was repulsed by local militia on February 16. The French then moved northeast to Orense in Spain, seized an unguarded bridge and marched south. On the way, Franceschi's cavalry overran Maj-Gen Mahy's Spanish brigade at La Trepa on March 6, inflicting 700 casualties. The French crossed into Portugal and occupied Chaves on March 9.

From Chaves, Soult moved west to Braga. East of that city, at Póvoa de Lanhoso the French veterans smashed a motley Portuguese army under Baron Eben on March 20. Of Eben's 22,000-man force, 4,000 were reported killed and 400 captured. The French, who lost 600 killed or wounded, also seized 17 Portuguese cannon.

The battle

Bishop Castro organized an army of 24,000 men to defend Oporto. Generals Lima and Parreiras commanded 2 bns. each of the 6th, 18th and 21st Infantry Regiments, plus 1 bn. of the 9th and other units. The 4,500 Portuguese regulars were supported by 10,000 "ordenança" (militia) and 9,000 armed citizens. When Soult hurled Merle, Mermet, Heudelet, Franceschi and Lahoussaye at the Portuguese deployed north of the city, Castro's force soon dissolved and the battle became a massacre. The Portuguese regular units were annihilated. The next day, the French stormed the city walls. Thousands of fleeing civilians drowned when a bridge of boats across the Douro River collapsed under their weight and French artllery fire [Glover]

In the roadstead, Soult captured a squadron of Spanish naval vessels and 30 merchant ships. The French also found large stockpiles of British military stores. In the battle and storming of the city, the French lost 72 officers and 2,000 rank and file casualties. The Portuguese lost about 8,000 killed and 197 cannons captured [Smith] .

Soult did not have very long to enjoy his success. Almost at once, the "ordenança" cut his communications with Spain and a 1,300-man garrison was gobbled up by Francisco Silveira's Portuguese force in the Siege of Chaves. The French marshal started planning a retreat. The next action was the Battle of Grijó. The city was retaken on May 12 by the British under Wellesley in the Second Battle of Porto.

Footnotes

References

* Glover, Michael, "The Peninsular War 1807-1814" Penguin, 1974.
* Hickock, William and York, Edward, "York's Military History of the Peninsular War".
* Smith, Digby, "The Napoleonic Wars Data Book" Greenhill, 1998.