Battle of Albuera
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| Battle of Albuera | |||||||
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| Part of the Peninsular War | |||||||
 Marshal Beresford disarming a Polish lancer at the Battle of Albuera. Print by T. Sutherland, 1831. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Spain Portugal Britain |
France Duchy of Warsaw |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| William Beresford Joaquin Blake |
Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 6,500 British[2] 10,000 Portuguese 13,000 Spanish 38 guns |
23,000 infantry 4,000 cavalry 40 guns |
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| Casualties | |||||||
| 5,916 dead or wounded[3] | 5,936 dead or wounded[4] | ||||||
| Peninsular War, 1810–1814 |
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| Fuengirola – Barrosa – Fuentes de Onoro – Albuera – Badajoz – Salamanca – Vitoria – Sorauren - Orthez - Toulouse |
The Battle of Albuera (May 16, 1811) saw an Allied force of British, Spanish, and Portuguese repel a French Army, under Marshal Soult, at Albuera, about 12 miles south of Badajoz, Spain. The combined Portuguese and British forces were directly under the command of Lord Beresford, Marshal of the Portuguese Army; the Spanish forces were commanded by General Joaquin Blake. The engagement ended inconclusively after a very bloody struggle, and although Soult did not succeed in breaking up Beresford's siege of Badajoz, the siege was later abandoned .
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[edit] Background
Wellington, spent the winter of 1810-1811 holding a strong line of fortifications at Torres Vedras, protecting Lisbon. French forces under Massena wintered opposite that line, unable to assault it or even to adequately feed themselves, and consequently wasted away. In March 1811, Massena recognised the untenable situation and fell back to the Spanish border fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo, covering the road from Portugal towards Salamanca. He left a small force in the Portuguese fortress of Almeida. The combination of the winter at Torres Vedras and the hurried retreat had largely destroyed his army's offensive capability.
South of the Tagus, the Portuguese fortress of Elvas and the Spanish fortress of Badajoz stood on the main road out of Portugal to Madrid. French operations in the area were the responsibility of Soult, who was also otherwise occupied (for example, pursuing a siege of Cadiz). In January, 1811, Soult stripped the Cadiz siege lines in order to put together a field force and moved on Badajoz. In response, British and Spanish forces attempted to break the siege of Cadiz, leading to the Battle of Barrosa March 8, 1811. Barrosa was a tactical defeat for the French, but was not exploited to disrupt the siege. Badajoz surrendered on March 10, 1811 (supposedly as a result of bribery rather than military operations), and Soult promptly returned to the Seville area to support the siege of Cadiz and prevent any repetition of the move that had led to Barrosa.
Wellington took the view that all four of the aforementioned fortresses should be taken to protect Portugal from further invasion, and to allow the movement of his Anglo-Portuguese forces into Spain. (Fortress towns were particularly important because of the poor state of communications in the Peninsula: they were difficult to bypass and the logistics of moving and supporting an effective siege train were problematic.) He decided to split his forces, and attempt to take both Almeida and Badajoz. 20,000 men (of whom 10,000 were British) under Beresford were detached to besiege Badajoz, while Wellington marched with about twice this number on Almeida.
Wellington had no effective siege train. He therefore blockaded Almeida, with a covering force just to the east. Massena's attack on this position was defeated at the Battle of Fuentes d'Onoro on May 5, 1811. As a result, Almeida was evacuated by the French on May 11, 1811 (In one of the more humiliating episodes of the British army, the entire garrison slipped through the siege lines without losing a man or raising the alarm).
Meanwhile, Beresford managed to assemble a siege train of sorts from antique Portuguese guns held at Elvas, and began siege operations against Badajoz May 8, 1811. Soult marched with about 24,000 men to its relief. Soult's command included the 591 man Polish Onvistula Uhlan (Lancer) Regiment (minus one squadron) and a regiment of Grenadiers formed from two Grenadier companies drawn from each of 4 infantry regiments from the Duchy of Warsaw. The composite Grenadier regiment was under the command of Colonel Varrere. Beresford moved to a strong covering position on a north-south ridge behind a stream astride the Badajoz-Seville road at Albuera 12 miles from Badajoz, and 12,000 Spanish troops under Blake further south marched to join him.
On May 15, Beresford's cavalry screen of 2,500 men was driven back from the right bank of the Albuera River with some ease by the French cavalry (the British brigadier-general in charge was later relieved of command). In the small hours of May 16, Blake's forces joined Beresford (unbeknownst to Soult) and were deployed at the south end of the position.
[edit] Battle
Soult's plan was to feint an attack on the town of Albuera on the road with one brigade and take the bulk of his force on a wide flanking move to the south, against the Allied right wing. Four platoons of Polish Uhlans crossed the Albuera. General Long responded by deploying two squadrons of the 3rd Dragoon Guards. The first squadron of this regiment was destroyed by two Polish platoons. When the second squadron attacked, the Poles retreated to the river. However, when the dragoons' fire became too intense, the Polish forces retreated across the river. As the Uhlans began to withdraw after crossing the river, they had to fight the British dragoons. Polish losses were 14 killed and 3 wounded, while the British suffered 20 killed and wounded.
A brigade of infantry commanded by General Godin pushed back a brigade of the King's German Legion (KGL) under General Altena. They crossed the river at a bridge but took heavy losses from Portuguese artillery fire, which displaced some of the Germans from the village.
[edit] French Flank Attack
Beresford detected Soult's move and attempted to redeploy his forces. The Spanish forces (upon whom the flank attack would fall) were ordered to face south. The British 2nd Division under General Stewart behind Albuera was replaced by a Portuguese division and moved south to extend the right flank to the west, echeloned behind the Spaniards. The 4th Division under General Cole remained in reserve. However Blake, commanding the Spaniards, refused to move his troops because he was sure the main attack would be upon Albuera village.
When the French V Corps under the command of General Girard began its attack on three Spanish divisions under the command of Generals Zayas, Lardizabal, and Ballasteros, only Zayas's men were aligned to meet the attack (on his own initiative). The flanks of V Corps were covered by horse artillery. On the left flank of V Corps, a French dragoon division under the command of General Latour Mauborg took its position. On its right flank was General Werle's infantry division.
[edit] Destruction of Colborne's Brigade
Zayas' Spaniards fought well and General Stewart's 2nd Infantry Division, along with a battery from the KGL, moved to assist them. Colborne's brigade advanced in line to fire into the left flank of the attacking French infantry column. The French were shattered and Stewart ordered a charge. However at this point a rainstorm reduced visibility (and made it very difficult to fire a musket). The British infantry were in line, with little or no firepower and unaware that French cavalry, which had made a wider flanking move was to their right and behind them.
At this moment, General Latour Maubourg sent the Uhlan Regiment and the 10th Hussars Regiment against them. The three British regiments involved (3rd Regiment of Foot, 2/48th Regiment of Foot and the 66th Regiment of Foot)were almost totally destroyed. The 31st Regiment of Foot was able to form square just in time to save itself from destruction by the French/Polish Lancers. The Uhlans captured five regimental flags and five cannons from the KGL battery. Meanwhile, some troops attacked a battalion of the 31st Infantry Regiment, but were repulsed. Next, the Uhlans attacked a Spanish Brigade commanded by General d'Espana and Beresford's staff. Some of the Spanish troops, mainly those from Ballesteros's and Lardizabal's divisions, escaped. This portion of the battle ended with the unsuccessful attack of the British 4th Dragoon Regiment, which lost 27 soldiers.
[edit] The Attack Fails
The French attack then fell upon Houghton's brigade (29th Regiment of Foot, 1/48th Regiment of Foot and the 57th Regiment of Foot) of the 2nd Division, which held its ground despite heavy casualties. Colonel Inglis, of the 57th Regiment of Foot fell mortally wounded; but in his last moments kept calling to his men to “die hard“. So far, the battle had gone well for the French. However, Soult had become aware by now that Blake's army had joined Beresford and was therefore reluctant to gamble his last reserves to secure victory.
Beresford's 4th Division under Lowry Cole then attacked up the ridge from the west. The Fusiliers Brigade (7th Regiment of Foot & 23rd Regiment of Foot), Portuguese 11/23 Brigade and 7th Caçadores particularly distinguished themselves. They repelled cavalry charges by dragoons and Uhlans, and advanced to within close range of the French columns. The French -locked in their columns- couldn't fire effectively and after a few minutes, broke and fled
[edit] Results
The battle is usually counted as a victory for Beresford in that Soult did not succeed in breaking up Beresford's siege of Badajoz. Tactically, however, the engagement ended inconclusively after a very bloody struggle; Soult's Polish cavalry destroyed an entire British brigade, while the Spaniards repelled one of the most massive French infantry attacks of the war.[5]
The siege was later abandoned when Marshal Auguste Marmont joined forces with Soult. Albuera therefore had little effect on the overall course of the war, but the effectiveness of the Polish Lancers did cause the British Army to convert some cavalry regiments to lancers after Waterloo. It also confirmed the fighting quality of the remodelled Portuguese Army.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Napier: "Morning came, and both sides remained in their respective situations, the wounded still covering the field of battle, the hostile lines still menacing and dangerous. The greater multitude had fallen on the French part, but the best soldiers on that of the allies, and the dark masses of Soult's powerful cavalry and artillery, as they covered all his front, seemed alone able to contend again for the victory; the right of the French also appeared to threaten the Badajos road, and Beresford, in gloom and doubt, awaited another attack." Wellington's reaction to Beresford's report: "This won't do. Write me down a victory."[1]
- ^ Herold, p.227. Herold states that sixty-five hundred British took part in the battle.
- ^ Allied (British, Spanish, Portuguese): 5,916 dead or wounded (of whom 4,159 were British and about 2,000 Spanish: Wellington commented, "another such battle would ruin us").
- ^ The Allies claimed 8,000; Soult claimed 2,800. (He also claimed his force was about 18,000 men: whatever his good points, they did not include scrupulous veracity.) The French army later calculated its casualties to be 5,936. Curiously, French casualties are often stated as high as 7,000 and even 10,000. The Uhlans lost 130 soldiers killed, wounded, or captured. Captain Kajetan Wojciechowski, who took part in the battle, reported that the Uhlans lost 16 officers and 200 soldiers. The Polish grenadiers, who covered the French withdrawal, also took heavy casualties.
- ^ "The steadfastness of General Zayas' battalions at Albuera deserves much greater appreciation than it receives. The Peninsular War is of great importance in the tradition of the British Army. It is unfortunate that much of this tradition is anti-Spanish, more than it is anti-French."[2]
This section on the failure of the French attack at the battle of Albuera on 16 May 1811 states that Colonel Inglis, commanding the 57th Regiment, was mortally wounded as he coined the famous words "Die Hard!". In fact he survived the battle and rose to become a Lieutenant-General with a knighthood. He died in 1835. Here is a quote from the history of the Middlesex Regiment by Charles Lethbridge Kingsford M.A, F.S.A published in 1916 in the "Country Life" series of military histories.
"Then came the fiercest amd most splendid clash of arms, where Hoghton's brigade with less than 2000 men in a thin red line, held the hill against a mass column of four times their number. Early in the fight the brigadier was mortally wounded and Inglis took his place. No regiment suffered more heavily than the 57th; some companies lost all their officers, and two ensigns - Jackson and Veitch - were shot down as they carried the colours. The Regimental Colour was pierced by 21 bullets, and the King's Colour, which had its staff broken, by nearly as many. At the very commencement Colonel Inglis had his horse shot under him but went on dressing the line unmoved. When a little later he was himself severely wounded he refused to be taken to the rear but lay where he had fallen in front of the colours encouraging and exhorting his men: "Die hard, 57th! Die Hard!". They gave a splendid answer. Where they fought they fell, with their faces to the foe and their wounds all in front."
Byron wrote:
"E'en as they fought in files they lay,
Like mower's grass at dawn of day,
When his work is o'er on the levelled plain.
Such was the fall of the foremost slain."
The Victorian Lady Butler's painting "Steady the Drums and Fifes" depicts the 57th on the ridge at Albuera. It includes the dramatic and heart-wrenching sight of an experienced old soldier comforting a boy drummer as the battle began.
The Battle Honour "Albuera" was the first of many subsequently granted to the 57th Regiment.
[edit] References
- Andrzej Krzysztof Szymański (August of 2000). "Albuera, zapomniana karta z dziejów kawalerii polskiej ("Albuera: A forgotten charge in the history of the Polish cavalry")". Mówią Wieki 8/2000.
- Herold, J. Christopher. The Age of Napoleon. New York: American Heritage Inc., 1963.
