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In the 'Battle of Albuera' (May 16, 1811) an allied force of British, Spanish, and Portuguese faced a French Army, under Marshal Soult, at Albuera, about 12 miles (20 km) south of Badajoz, Spain.
The combined Portuguese and British forces were directly under the command of Sir William 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.

Contents

Background

Organization

Battle

French flank attack

Destruction of Colborne's Brigade

The attack fails

Results

Notes

References

Further Reading

External link

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 the Siege of Cadíz). 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. An army of 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, while further south, Blake landed 8,000 Spaniards from Cadíz in a remarkable amphibious movement and marched to join Beresford. The allied army moved to a strong covering position on a north-south ridge behind a stream astride the Badajoz-Seville road at Albuera 12 miles (20 km) from Badajoz.
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 united with Beresford (unbeknownst to Soult) and were deployed at the south end of the position.

Organization

Beresford commanded the 2nd Division (5,500) led by William Stewart, the 4th Division (4,500) under Lowry Cole, a Portuguese Division (4,800) led by John Hamilton, a Portuguese brigade (1,400) under Richard Collins and Charles von Alten's King's German Legion (KGL) brigade (1,100). William Lumley led the Allied cavalry, three British regiments (1,250) and 850 Portuguese horsemen. There were two British, two KGL and two Portuguese artillery batteries. Blake's army consisted of the infantry divisions of Lardizabal (2,400), Ballasteros (3,500) and Zayas (4,900), the cavalry brigades of Loy and Penne Villemur (1,900), and two batteries. Carlos d'Espana also led an independent brigade (1,800) of Spaniards.
Soult's army included the infantry divisions of Girard (4,200), Gazan (4,200), the division-sized "brigades" of Werlé (5,600) and Godinot (3,900), the dragoon division of Latour-Maubourg (2,800), 1,200 additional light cavalry, and 48 artillery pieces.

Battle

Soult, unaware that Blake and Beresford had already concentrated their forces, planned to feint an attack on the town of Albuera on the road with one brigade while taking the bulk of his force on a wide flanking move to the south, against the Allied right wing, thus interposing himself between Beresford and where he believed Blake to be.^[7]
Four platoons of Polish Uhlans (lancers) crossed the Albuera. The British responded by deploying two squadrons of the 3rd Dragoon Guards. The first squadron of this regiment was broken 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.
Godinot's French pushed back Alten's KGL brigade. They crossed the river at a bridge but took heavy losses from Portuguese artillery fire, which displaced some of the Germans from the village.

French flank attack

Beresford detected Soult's flanking 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 behind Albuera was replaced by Hamilton and moved south to extend the right flank to the west, echeloned behind the Spaniards. The 4th Division 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 Blake's Spanish, only Zayas's four battalions were aligned to meet the attack. This was on Zayas's own initiative. The flanks of V Corps were covered by horse artillery. The French cavalry marched on the left flank of V Corps, while Werlé's men brought up the rear. Right away, the French cavalry brushed aside Loy's Spanish cavalry. Then Zayas's outnumbered Spaniards made a magnificent stand, pouring musket fire at the oncoming 14,000 French mass while Beresford rushed reinforcements.^[8]

Destruction of Colborne's Brigade

Stewart's division, along with a KGL battery, moved to assist Zayas' Spaniards. Colborne's brigade advanced in two-deep line to fire into the left flank of the attacking French infantry column. Caught in a deadly crossfire, French began to falter 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, Latour-Maubourg sent the Polish Uhlans and the French 10th Hussars Regiment against Colborne. The three British regiments involved (3rd Regiment of Foot, 2/48th Regiment of Foot and the 66th Regiment of Foot), caught end-on by the French cavalry, were almost totally destroyed under a flurry of lance thrusts and saber cuts. The 31st Regiment of Foot was able to form a square just in time to save itself from destruction by the French Hussars and Polish Lancers. The Uhlans captured five regimental flags and five cannons from the KGL battery. Meanwhile, some lancers attacked a battalion of the 31st Regiment, but were repulsed. Next, the Uhlans attacked d'Espana's brigade and Beresford's staff, and struck Zayas's formation in the rear. Ballesteros's and Lardizabal's divisions escaped the attack. Zayas, to his credit, met the new assault unflinchingly while continuing to direct fire at Girard, an action which very likely saved the allied army from destruction.^[9] The 29th Regiment of Foot fired a volley at the dispersing lancers, most of which struck Zayas' battered battalions instead. Two squadrons of the British 4th Dragoon Regiment then launched an attack on the Polish horsemen, however, Latour-Maubourg sent forward French hussars who repulsed the British dragoons, these lost 27 horsemen, including both squadron commanders captured.^[10] British sources state that the Polish cavalrymen refused to accept surrender by the infantry, and deliberately speared the wounded as they lay. Tradition reports that the British 2nd Division swore to give no quarter to Poles following Albuera.^[11]

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. Early in the battle Colonel William Inglis of the 57th Foot was wounded with grapeshot piercing his lung. He refused to be carried to the rear and lay with the Colours. Throughout the battle his voice could be heard calmly repeating "Die-Hard 57th, Die-Hard"; By doing as they were bidden the 57th earned an immortal nickname - 'the Die-Hards' - and the sole right to wear the battle honour 'Albuhera' on both their Colours and their cap badge^[12]. 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.
By this time, the 8,400 Frenchmen of Girard's and Gazan's clumsily-managed divisions had telescoped into an unwieldy mass many ranks deep. Against these stood Houghton's and Abercromby's brigades, plus the remnants of Colborne's men (By this time Zayas's men had been pulled back). Ordinarily, British infantry in two-deep line would have made short work of the French, since only the first two or three ranks of the V Corps could return fire. But French supporting artillery blasted grapeshot from the flanks through the thinning British and Spanish line. With neither side ready to give up, the mutual massacre continued.
Beresford, who had a narrow escape from a Polish lancer, seems to have temporarily failed to exercise his command responsibilities. Finally, Cole, acting on his own initiative, advanced his division up the ridge from the west. Myers's Fusiliers Brigade (1st and 2nd battalions, 7th Regiment of Foot and 1/23rd Regiment of Foot) and Harvey's Portuguese Brigade particularly distinguished themselves. In a two-deep line with squares (converged British light companies and the Portuguese Lusitanian Legion) on each flank, Cole's men repelled a mass cavalry charge by dragoons and Uhlans. Then they exchanged musket fire with Werlé for about 20 minutes, suffering over 1,000 casualties. The French infantry, which must have suffered at least as badly, finally broke as the British survivors mounted a fierce bayonet charge. Having disposed of Werlé, Cole fell upon the left flank of the V Corps. At last, the French gave way, ending the deadly contest.

Results

The engagement ended inconclusively after a very bloody struggle. Soult's Polish cavalry had destroyed an entire British brigade, while the Spaniards steadfastly repelled one of the most massive French infantry attacks of the war. Soult did not succeed in breaking up Beresford's siege of Badajoz. The siege was later abandoned when Marshal Auguste Marmont joined forces with Soult. The French lost between 6,000 and 8,000 men. The British lost 4,100, the Portuguese 400 and the Spanish 1,400. Stewart's all-British division lost 2,865 out of 5,460, or 52% casualties.
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.
Soult is credited with saying of the British:
"There is no beating these troops in spite of their generals. I always thought them bad soldiers, now I am sure of it. I turned their right, pierced their centre, broke them everywhere; the day was mine, and yet they did not know it and would not run."

Notes

1. Gates, p. 261: "After such butchery, neither side had the means or the will for further offensive action."
2. 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.
3. Gates, p. 500
4. Gates, p. 501
5. 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"'').
6. 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.
7. Gates, p. 298
8. Glover, p. 161
9. Gates, p. 259
10. Oman, C. ''A History of the Peninsular War'' Vol IV, Oxford (1911) pp.384-385.
11. Oman, p. 384.
12. Colonel Inglis 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 2,000 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."

References

★ Chandler, David (ed.), ''Napoleon's Marshals'', Macmillan, 1987. Griffith, Paddy, "Soult" article.

★ 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 2003. ISBN 0-141-39041-7

★ Oman, C. ''A History of the Peninsular War'' Vol IV, Oxford (1911).

★ Albuera, zapomniana karta z dziejów kawalerii polskiej (''"Albuera: A forgotten charge in the history of the Polish cavalry"''), Andrzej Krzysztof Szymański, , , Mówią Wieki, August of 2000

★ Herold, J. Christopher. The Age of Napoleon. New York: American Heritage Inc., 1963.

★ Smith, Digby, ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book'' Greenhill, 1998.

Further Reading

★ Oliver, Michael ''THE BATTLE OF ALBUERA 1811: Glorious Field of Grief'' Pen and Sword, 2007, ISBN 1844154610.

★ Fletcher, Ian ''Bloody Albuera: The 1811 Campaign in the Peninsular'' Crowood, 2001, ISBN 1861263724.

External link

★ Vistula Uhlans and the slaughter of the redcoats at Albuera

★ The Battle of Albuera