battle of Fuentes de Onoro

 

Battle of Fuentes de Onoro
Part of the Peninsular War
Date May 3-5, 1811 Location Fuentes de Oñoro, Spain Result British-Portuguese victory
Combatants
United Kingdom, Portugal	French Empire
Commanders
Viscount of Wellington	André Masséna
Strength
36,000 infantry, 1,850 cavalry, 48 guns[1]	42,000 infantry, 4,500 cavalry, 38 guns
Casualties
1,500 dead or wounded[2]	2,200 dead, wounded, or captured[2]

Peninsular War Portugal, 1810–1811
Astorga – River Côa – Bussaco – Torres Vedras – Sabugal – Fuentes de Onoro

In the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro (May 3 - 5, 1811) the British-Portuguese army under Sir Arthur Wellesley, Viscount of Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.

Background

Masséna had followed the British back to Lisbon the previous year, until arriving before the Lines of Torres Vedras. He determined against storming this 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 following them.

Having secured Portugal, Wellington set about re-taking the fortified frontier cities of Almeida, Badajoz and Ciudad Rodrigo. Whilst Wellington besieged Almeida, Masséna had 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 Onoro. Wellington left his line of retreat exposed 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 and Spanish army had 34,000 infantry, 1,850 cavalry, and 48 guns. The French had 42,000 infantry, 4,500 cavalry and 38 guns.

Organization

Masséna's army was organized into four corps and a cavalry reserve. Louis Loison's VI Corps had three divisions, led by Jean Marchand, Julien Mermet and Claude Ferey. In Jean Andoche Junot's VIII Corps, only Jean Solignac's division was present. Jean-Baptiste Drouet's IX Corps included the divisions of Nicholas Conroux and Claparede. Louis-Pierre Montbrun headed the cavalry reserve. A 1,700-man cavalry force, which included units from the Imperial Guard was also present at the battle under the command of Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessieres. The two divisions of Jean Reynier's II Corps hovered off to the northeast threatening Almeida.

Wellington commanded six infantry divisions, Charles Ashworth's independent Portuguese brigade and three cavalry brigades. Brent Spencer commanded the 1st Division, Thomas Picton the 3rd, William Houston the 7th and Robert Craufurd the Light Division. Stapleton Cotton commanded John Slade and Frederick von Arentschildt's brigades of cavalry. Edward Howorth supervised four British and four Portuguese 6-gun batteries. William Erskine (5th Division), Alexander Campbell (6th Division) and 300 Portuguese cavalry under Count Barbacena were detached, facing the French II Corps.

Battle

On the 3rd of May, Masséna launched a frontal assault against the British regiments holding the barricaded village, while subjecting the British on the heights east of the village to a heavy artillery bombardment. The village was the centre of the fighting for the whole day, with French soldiers of Ferey's and Marchand's divisions clashing with the British redcoats of the 1st and 3rd Divisions.

At first, the French drove the British back under immense pressure, but a charge that included men of the 71st Highland Light Infantry reclaimed the streets and buildings lost earlier in the day. As the sun sank, the French withdrew and the village remained in British hands. The French lost 650 casualties against only 250 British losses.

May 4 saw little combat. Both sides recovered from the ferocity of the previous day of fighting and reconsidered their options and battle plans. A French reconnaissance revealed that Wellington's right flank was weakly held near the hamlet of Pozo Bello.

Action began again at dawn on the 5th of May. Wellington had left the 7th Division exposed on his right flank. Masséna launched a heavy attack on the weak British flank, led by Montbrun's dragoons and supported by the infantry divisions of Marchand, Mermet and Solignac. Right away, two 7th Division battalions were roughed up by French light cavalry. This compelled Wellington to send reinforcements to save the 7th Division from annihilation. This was only achieved by the efforts of the Light Division and the British and King's German Legion^[3] cavalry.

Masséna, however, still aimed primarily at securing Fuentes de Onoro. He sent forward massed columns of infantry from Ferey's division. The village, filled with low stone walls, provided excellent cover for the British line infantry and skirmishers, while the French were severely restricted in the little streets. At first, the French had some success, wiping out two companies of the 79th Highland Regiment. But a counterattack chased Ferey's men out of the town.

Drouet launched a second attack on the town. This time it was led by three battalions of converged grenadiers from IX Corps. With their old-fashioned bearskin hats, the grenadiers were mistaken for the Imperial Guard. Again, the British fell back. Drouet threw in about half of the battalions from both Conroux and Claparede's divisions, seizing almost the entire town.

In response, Wellington counterattacked with units from the 1st and 3rd Divisions, plus the 6th Portuguese light infantry. This broke Drouet's attack and the tide began to turn. Facing musket volleys and unable to maintain their impetus, the French infantry became jammed in the streets and were shot down by the hundred. Worse still, the French began to run out of ammunition and had to resort to the bayonet in a futile attempt to drive the British back. One party of 100 grenadiers was trapped in a tight spot and slaughtered to a man. Facing murderous volleys, the French halted and turned, being shot at as they withdrew, leaving their casualties behind. By sunset, French morale had plummeted and many companies were down to 40% strength.

On the threatened British right flank, the elite Light Division, well supported by British cavalry and artillery, made a textbook fighting withdrawal. For trifling casualties, they covered the retreat of the 7th Division and fell back into a stronger position selected by Wellington. During the retreat, when French artillery ventured too close, the British cavalry charged or feinted a charge. This allowed the infantry time to retreat out of range. When the French horsemen pressed the outnumbered British cavalry back, the British infantry formed square and their volleys drove off the French. This was a classic case of a combined arms force being able to fend off equal or superior numbers of cavalry.

The French artillery tried to bombard the new British line into submission, but they were outgunned by Wellington's cannon. Finally, with their artillery ammunition dangerously low, the French attacks came to an end. Wellington's men entrenched during the evening. After spending the next three days parading before the British position, Masséna gave up the attempt and withdrew.

Consequences

Wellington had repelled the Army of Portugal, inflicted a great number of casualties (the number varies according to different sources from 2,200+ ^[4][5] to 3,500 ^[6]) for the loss of just 1,500, and was able to continue his siege of Almeida. (Digby Smith says 1,800 British and 2,800 French losses.) Wellington however acknowledged how dangerous the situation had been, saying later, "If Boney had been there, we should have been beat." He did not list the battle among his victories.

On reaching Ciudad Rodrigo, Masséna was recalled to Paris by a furious Napoleon to explain his actions (although Napoleon had issued the order to return prior to the battle). He was replaced by Marshal Auguste Marmont. Masséna set off for France with a vast sum of gold, stolen from Portugal and Spain.

Two nights after Masséna's withdrawal, General Brennier's 1,300-man French garrison of Almeida slipped through the British lines during the night. About 360 of the French were captured, but the rest got away when their British pursuers ran into a French ambush. This bungled affair was due to the ineptitude of General Erskine and others. An infuriated Wellington wrote, "I have never been so much distressed by any military event as by the escape of even a man of them."

Notes

1. ^ Gates, p.503
2. ^ ^{a b} Gates, p.269
3. ^ Chartrand p.77
4. ^ Paget p.133
5. ^ Weller p.166
6. ^ Oman p.630

References

• Chartrand, René: Fuentes de Oñoro - Wellington's liberation of Portugal Osprey Oxford 2002 ISBN 1-84176-311-X
• Gates, David. The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War. Da Capo Press 2001. ISBN 0-306-81083-2
• Glover, Michael: The Peninsular War 1807-1814 Penguin Books, 1974.
• Oman, Sir Charles: A History of the Peninsular War Vol. 4 Greenhill Books London 1996 ISBN 1-85367-618-7
• Paget, Julian: Wellington‘s Peninsular War- Battles and Battlefields London 1996, ISBN 0-85052-603-5
• Smith, Digby: Napoleonic Wars Data Book Greenhill 1998.
• Weller, Jac: Wellington in the Peninsula 1808-1814 Neudruck London 1969 ISBN 0-7182-0730-0
• Zimmerman, Dick: "Battle of Fuentes de Onoro" Wargamer's Digest Magazine, March 1979.

External links

• Brief account of the battle including orders of battle
• More detailed account with analysis

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