Battle of Braga

Battle of Braga

Part of: Spanish War of Independence

Battle of Braga

date	March 18 to March 20, 1809
place	Braga , Portugal
output	French victory with heavy Portuguese losses

Parties to the conflict
France Westphalia Swiss contingent	Portugal
Commander
Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult	Baron von Eben
Troop strength
23,000 - including 3,000 cavalry men	4,000 militia and irregular troops
losses
40 killed, 160 wounded	3,000 dead, 400 prisoners

The Battle of Braga , sometimes also called the Battle of Lanhoso or the Battle of Carvalho-da-Heste , took place from March 18-20, 1809 between Portuguese troops under General Freyre and a French invasion force under Maréchal Soult . Auxiliary contingents of Swiss infantry and Hanoverian cavalry were still available for this. The climax of the battle shifted to the last day.

prehistory

The battle was part of the second French invasion of Portugal under the command of Maréchal Soult.

On March 17, 1809, the commander-in-chief of the Portuguese armed forces, General Freyre , was murdered by soldiers from the local militia. The reason was the not unjustified assumption that Freyre wanted to retreat to Porto because of the unequal balance of power, whereupon militiamen from the region had the impression that “he wanted to betray their cause”. The command was then taken over by the former Prussian officer and Portuguese colonel Baron Eben.

The battle

After the troops of Maréchal Soult took the city of Chaves , they moved towards Braga, the vanguard between Ruivães and Salamonde being repulsed by Portuguese forces under General Freyre.

• March 17, 1809: The French took positions on the heights near the village of Carvalho. From here they could see the Portuguese army, which was in battle formation on the mountains outside Braga.
• March 18th: The Portuguese attacked the right wing of the French, pushed it back and were able to take the town of Linoso.
• March 19: The French recaptured Linoso, the vanguard of Général Francesqui occupied Lanhoso. (The sources give the place names in this way. They do not allow any information on whether Linoso and Lanhoso are two different villages (twin villages) or one Locality with different spellings. The maps refer to the latter.)
• March 20: In the evening at 7:00 p.m. the French army was in battle order.

The center consisted of the division of Général Delaborde and the cavalry division (Division de dragons) of Général Lorge . The Mermet division formed the left wing and was supported by the light cavalry division (Division de cavalerie légère) Francesqui. The Heudelet division formed the right wing.

At 7:30 p.m. Delaborde's division set off in the direction of the enemy lines without returning fire. This steadfast advance in accordance with regulations intimidated the Portuguese. Shortly before the two lines met, the Portuguese fled. French cavalry pushed into the refugees and massacred them .

The battle turned into a bloodbath.

Operations in Portugal until the end of March 1809

The French took Braga.

Between March 20th and 26th, Márechal Soult secured his connection and supply routes through various infantry and cavalry bases. The towns of Barcelos and Guimarães were taken. The removal of Guimarães, however, only succeeded after a violent firefight, in the course of which the Général Jardon fell.

After passing the Ave and advancing on Sobreira , the French moved towards Porto, which culminated in the Second Battle of Oporto .

literature

• Charles-Théodore Beauvais: Victoires, conquêtes, désastres, revers et guerres civiles des Français, par une société de militaires et de gens de Lettres. (= Victoires, conquêtes, désastres, revers et guerres civiles des Français, par une société de militaires et de gens de Lettres. Volume 19) Panckoucke, Paris 1820, pp. 12-14. ( Full text in google book search)

Footnotes

1. ↑ It was not about the Portuguese Lieutenant General Gomes Freire de Andrade
2. ↑ Charles Antoine Thoumas, Les grands cavaliers du Premier Empire. Notices biographiques. Series 2 .
3. ^ Abel Hugo, France militaire. Histoire des armées françaises de terre et de mer de 1792 à 1837, Volume 4 , Delloye, Paris, 1838