View source for Battle of Bussaco

{{Short description|1810 battle during the Peninsular War}}{{Use shortened footnotes|date=May 2021}}
{{More footnotes|date=July 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| image             = File:Mapa_da_Batalha_do_Buçaco.jpg
| caption           = Plan of the battle of Bussaco
| conflict          = Battle of Bussaco
| partof            = [[Peninsular War]]
| date              = 27 September 1810{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=420}}
| place             = [[Bussaco]], near [[Luso (Mealhada)|Luso]], [[Portugal]]
| coordinates       = {{Coord|40|20|N|8|20|W}}
| result            = Anglo-Portuguese victory{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=420}}
| combatant1        = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}<br>{{flagicon|Kingdom of Portugal|1750}} [[History of Portugal (1777–1834)|Portugal]]
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|First French Empire}}
| commander1        = {{flagicon|UKGBI}} [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Viscount Wellington]]<br>{{flagicon|Kingdom of Portugal|1750}} [[Luís do Rego Barreto|Luís do Rego]]
| commander2        = {{flagicon|French First Empire}} [[André Masséna]]<br>{{flagicon|French First Empire}} [[Michel Ney]]<br>{{flagicon|French First Empire}} [[Jean Reynier]]
| strength1         = 32,000{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=420}}–35,765{{sfn|Clodfelter|2008|p=165}}
| strength2         = 45,774{{sfn|Clodfelter|2008|p=165}}–58,000{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=420}}
| casualties1       = 1,300{{sfn|Glover|1971|p=139}}{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=420}}–1,356{{sfn|Clodfelter|2008|p=165}} dead or wounded
| casualties2       = 2,456{{sfn|Clodfelter|2008|p=165}}–4,500{{sfn|Glover|1971|p=139}}{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=420}} dead or wounded
}}
{{Campaignbox Peninsular War (1810-1811)}}
{{Campaignbox Portugal in the Napoleonic Wars}}
{{Location map+ |Portugal |relief=1 |float=right |width=304 |caption=Peninsular war: Portugal <br>[[File:Brown pog.svg|12px|link=]]1807 
 [[File:Red pog.svg|12px|link=]]1808 [[File:Orange pog.svg|12px|link=]]1809 [[File:Blue pog.svg|12px|link=]]1810 [[File:Green pog.svg|12px|link=]]1811 |places=
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=38.73 |long=-9.15 |label=[[Invasion of Portugal (1807)|Lisbon]] |mark=Brown pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=39.31 |long=-9.18 |label=[[Battle of Roliça|Roliça]] |mark=Red pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=39.18 |long=-9.32 |label=[[Battle of Vimeiro|Vimeiro]] |mark=Red pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=41.74  |long=-7.47 |label=[[Siege of Chaves|Chaves]] |mark=Orange pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=41.54  |long=-8.42 |label=[[Battle of Braga (1809)|Braga]] |mark=Orange pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=41.03  |long=-8.58 |label=[[Battle of Grijó|Grijó]] |mark=Orange pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=41.16  |long=-8.62 |label=[[Second Battle of Porto|Porto]] |mark=Orange pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=40.73 |long=-6.91 |label=[[Siege of Almeida (1810)|Almeida]] |mark=Blue pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=40.33 |long=-8.33 |label='''Bussaco''' |mark=Blue pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=39.03 |long=-9.26 |label=[[Lines of Torres Vedras|TorresVedras]] |mark=Blue pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=40.05 |long=-8.63 |label=[[Battle of Redinha|Redinha]] |mark=Green pog.svg |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=40.35 |long=-7.08 |label=[[Battle of Sabugal|Sabugal]] |mark=Green pog.svg |position=right |marksize=12}}
  {{location map~ |Portugal |lat=40.58 |long=-6.82 |label=[[Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro|FuentesDeOñoro]] |mark=Green pog.svg |marksize=12}}
}}
The '''Battle of Buçaco''' ({{IPA|pt|buˈsaku|pron}}) or '''Bussaco''' was fought on 27 September 1810 during the [[Peninsular War]] in the Portuguese mountain range of [[Serra do Buçaco]], resulting in the defeat of French forces by [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Lord Wellington's]] [[Anglo-Portuguese Army]].{{sfn|Ellingham|Fisher|Kenyon|2002|p=63}}{{sfn|Wheeler|Opello|2010|p=63}}

Having occupied the heights of [[Serra do Bussaco|Bussaco]], a {{convert|10|mi|adj=on}} long ridge located at 40°20'40"N, 8°20'15"W, with 25,000 British and the same number of Portuguese, Wellington was attacked five times successively by 65,000 French under [[Marshal of France|Marshal]] [[André Masséna]]. Masséna was uncertain as to the disposition and strength of the opposing forces because Wellington had deployed them on the [[reverse slope]] of the ridge, where they could neither be easily seen nor easily softened up with artillery.  The actual assaults were made by the corps of Marshal [[Michel Ney]] and [[General of Division]] (Major General) [[Jean Reynier]], but after much fierce fighting they failed to dislodge the allied forces and were driven off after having lost 4,500 men against 1,250 Anglo-Portuguese casualties. However, Wellington was ultimately forced to withdraw to the [[Lines of Torres Vedras]] after his positions were outflanked by Masséna's troops.

== Background ==
{{See also|Battle of Bussaco order of battle}}
The [[Peninsular War#Third Portuguese campaign|Third Portuguese campaign]] had started with the construction of the Lines of Torres Vedras and the [[Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)|Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo]].

===Operations===
In 1810, [[Napoleon I of France|Emperor Napoleon]] ordered Masséna to drive the British from Portugal. Accordingly, the French marshal began the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in April. The Spanish garrison held out until 9 July when the fortress fell. The [[Battle of the Côa]] was fought soon after. The [[Siege of Almeida (1810)|Siege of Almeida]] ended suddenly with a massive explosion of the fortress magazine on 26 August. With all obstacles cleared from their path, the French could march on [[Lisbon]] in strength.

It was important to delay the French until the defences being built around Lisbon, the Lines of Torres Vedras, could be completed. Using selective demolition of bridges and roads, Wellington restricted the choice of routes the French could use and slowed their advance. At the end of September, they found Wellington's army drawn up on the ridge of Bussaco. The ridge, which at its highest rising to {{convert|549|m}}, lies at a right angle to the main road to [[Coimbra]] and thence to Lisbon, providing one of the few and certainly the best defensive position on the French route of march.

===Allied organisation===
[[file:Charles Turner - No.2 Battle of Sierra de Basaco above St. Antonio de Cantaro - B1978.43.1025 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg|thumb= British and Portuguese infantry deployed in line on the ridge at Bussaco]]
Wellington had brought together six British infantry divisions:
* the [[Light Division|Light]], under [[Brigadier General]] [[Robert Craufurd]]
* the [[History of the British 1st Division between 1809–1909|1st]], led by [[Major General]] [[Brent Spencer]]
* the [[2nd Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|2nd]], commanded by Major General [[Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill|Rowland Hill]]
* the [[3rd Division (United Kingdom)|3rd]], under Major General [[Thomas Picton]], with attached Portuguese brigade
* the [[4th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|4th]], led by Major General [[Lowry Cole]], with attached Portuguese brigade
* the [[5th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|5th]], under Major General [[James Leith (British Army officer)|James Leith]], with attached Portuguese brigade
In addition, the [[Portuguese Army]] (newly re-trained by the British under the direction of Lieutenant General [[William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford|William Carr Beresford]]) supplied a two-brigade Portuguese infantry division under Major General John Hamilton, and three independent Portuguese brigades led by Brigadier Generals [[Denis Pack]], Alexander Campbell and John Coleman.

Brigadier Generals [[George de Grey, 3rd Baron Walsingham|George De Grey]], [[Sir John Slade, 1st Baronet|John Slade]], [[George Anson (British Army officer, born 1769)|George Anson]] and [[Henry Fane (British Army officer)|Henry Fane]] led four British cavalry brigades, plus four regiments of Portuguese cavalry. In batteries of six guns each, there were six British ([[Ross' Troop|Ross RHA]], [[Bull's Troop|Bull RHA]], Thompson, Lawson, two unknown), two [[King's German Legion]] (Rettberg, Cleeves) and five Portuguese (Rozierres, Da Cunha Preto, Da Silva, Freira, Sousa) batteries under Brigadier General Edward Howorth.{{sfn|Glover|1971|pp=375-376}}{{sfn|Horward|1973|pp=523–528}}

The Anglo-Portuguese army numbered 50,000, with half being Portuguese.

===French organisation===
Masséna's army of 60,000 included the II Corps under Reynier, the VI Corps led by Ney, the VIII Corps under Major General [[Jean Andoche Junot]] and a cavalry reserve led by Major General [[Louis Pierre, Count Montbrun]]. The divisions of Major Generals [[Pierre Hugues Victoire Merle]] and [[Étienne Heudelet de Bierre]] made up Reynier's corps. Ney's corps had three divisions under Major Generals [[Jean Gabriel Marchand|Jean Marchand]], [[Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet|Julien Mermet]] and [[Louis Henri Loison|Louis Loison]]. Junot had the divisions of Major General [[Bertrand Clausel]] and Mag Gen [[Jean-Baptiste Solignac]]. Each French corps had the standard brigade of light cavalry. [[General of Brigade]] (Brigadier General) [[Jean Baptiste Eblé]], Masséna's artillery chief, commanded 112 guns.{{sfn|Horward|1973|pp=517–522}}

===Plans===
[[Image:Buçaco.JPG|250px|thumb|Mountains and National Palace of Bussaco]]
Wellington posted his army along the crest of Bussaco Ridge, facing east. To improve his lateral communications, he had previously ordered his four officers from the [[Royal Corps of Engineers]]{{sfn|Porter|1889|p=262}} to cut a road that ran the length of the ridge on the reverse slope. Cole held the left (north) flank. Next came Craufurd, Spencer, Picton and Leith. Hill held the right (south) flank with Hamilton's men attached.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1978|pp=28–29}}

Masséna, believing he easily outnumbered the British and goaded by Ney and other officers to attack the British position rather than go around it, ordered a reconnaissance of the steep ridge. Very few of Wellington's troops were visible, as they remained on the reverse slope and were ordered not to light cooking fires. The French general planned to send Reynier at the centre of the ridge, which he believed to be the British right flank. Once the II Corps attack showed some signs of success, Masséna would launch Ney's corps at the British along the main road. The VIII Corps stood behind the VI Corps in reserve. While Ney announced that he was ready to attack and conquer, Reynier suddenly had second thoughts, predicting his attack would be beaten.{{sfn|Horward|1973|p=176}}

== Battle ==

===II Corps attack===
Reynier's troops struck in the early morning mist. Heudelet sent his leading brigade straight up the slope in a formation one company wide and eight battalions deep. When the leading regiment reached the top of the ridge, they found themselves facing the [[74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot|74th Foot]] and two Portuguese battalions in line, plus 12 cannon. The French tried to change formation from column into line. Pelet says, "The column began to deploy as if at an exercise."{{sfn|Horward|1973|p=179}} But the allies brought intense musketry to bear. Soon, the French infantrymen were thrown into confusion. However, they clung to a precarious toehold on the ridge.

Several hundred yards to the north, Merle's division thrust up the ridge in a similar formation. Picton hurriedly massed his defenders by using the ridgetop road. Met at the crest by the [[88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers)|88th Foot]], the [[45th Foot]] and two Portuguese battalions in a concave line, the French tried unsuccessfully to deploy into line. Crushed by converging fire, the French fled down the slope.{{sfn|Glover|1971|p=137}} Merle was wounded, while Brigadier General [[Jean François Graindorge]] fell mortally wounded.{{sfn|Horward|1973|p=180}} Wellington rode up to [[Colonel]] Alexander Wallace of the 88th and remarked, "Wallace, I have never witnessed a more gallant charge."{{sfn|Glover|1971|p=138}}

Seeing Heudelet's second brigade standing immobile at the foot of the ridge, Reynier rode up to BG [[Maximilien Sebastien Foy|Maximilien Foy]] and demanded an immediate attack. With the Allies out of position after defeating the first two attacks, Foy hit a weak spot in their defences. Fortuitously, the French struck the least prepared unit in the Allied army—a Portuguese militia unit—and routed it. But the morning mist cleared, revealing no enemies in front of the British right flank. Wellington had already ordered Leith to shift his men to the north to assist Picton. Before Foy's men could consolidate their gain, they were attacked by the [[9th Foot]] and [[38th Foot]] of Leith and some of Picton's men.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1978|p=30}} The French were swept off the ridge and Foy wounded.{{sfn|Horward|1973|p=180}} After seeing this rout, Heudelet's other brigade withdrew to the base of the ridge.

===VI Corps attack===
Hearing gunfire, Ney assumed Reynier's men were enjoying success and ordered an attack. In this sector, the main highway climbed a long spur past the hamlets of Moura and Sula to reach the crest at the Convent of Bussaco. Against a very heavy British skirmish line, Loison's division fought its way forward. Near the crest, 1,800 men of the [[43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot|43rd]] and [[52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot|52nd]] infantry regiments lay down waiting. As Loison's leading brigade approached the convent grounds, the two British units stood up, fired a terrific volley at point blank range and charged with the bayonet.{{sfn|Glover|1971|p=138}} The French brigade collapsed and fled, leaving BG Édouard Simon, their commander, wounded and a prisoner.{{sfn|Horward|1973|p=179}}

A short time later and slightly further south, Loison's second brigade under Brigadier General [[Claude François Ferey]] ran into a close-range fire from two batteries plus Anglo-Portuguese musketry. This unit was also routed. A final thrust by Brigadier General [[Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune]]'s brigade of Marchand's division met defeat when it ran into Denis Pack's Portuguese brigade. The two sides occupied the rest of the day in vigorous skirmishing, but the French did not try to attack in force again.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1978|p=30}}

== Aftermath ==

The French suffered 522 dead, 3,612 wounded, and 364 captured. The allied losses numbered 200 dead, 1,001 wounded, and 51 missing. The British and Portuguese each lost exactly 626 men.{{sfn|Zimmermann|1978|p=30}}

Masséna now realised the size of Wellington's forces and the strength of his defensive position, so that afternoon he had sent cavalry patrols to reconnoitre both ends of the Bussaco ridge, looking for a way round the position. The French army withdrew towards Mortagoa, with fires lit in the woods to offer some camouflage to the troops' departure. Massena issued orders on the evening of 28 September which sent his army along the Sardaõ road via Boialvo, outflanking Wellington’s position to the north of the Bussaco ridge, and opening up the main road from Oporto to Coimbra.{{sfn|White|2019|p=171}}

Wellington, after spending the night in the convent, and finding his position turned, resumed the leisurely retreat of his army towards the, still being constructed, [[Lines of Torres Vedras]].{{sfn|Porter|1889|p=263}} He reached these in good order by 10 October.

Continuing to advance, Masséna left his sick and wounded troops at [[Coimbra]], where a few days later, they fell into the hands of the Portuguese.{{sfn|Porter|1889|p=263}}

This was the first major battle of the Peninsular War in which units of the reconstituted [[Portuguese Army]] fought, where the Portuguese troops played a prominent part and the victory served as a great morale boost to the inexperienced troops.

The [[Peninsular War#Third Portuguese campaign|Third Portuguese campaign]] proceeded with the probing of the Lines of Torres Vedras in the [[Battle of Sobral]] on 14 October. Masséna found them too strong to attack and withdrew into winter quarters. Deprived of food for his men and harried by Anglo-Portuguese hit-and-run tactics, he lost a further 25,000 men captured or dead from starvation or sickness before he retreated into Spain early in 1811. This finally freed Portugal from French occupation except for the fortress of [[Almeida, Portugal|Almeida]], near the frontier. During the retreat, several actions were fought, including the [[Battle of Sabugal]].

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book | last=Bodart | first=Gaston | date=1908 | title=Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905) | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_A0kNAAAAYAAJ | url-access=registration | access-date=26 May 2021}}
* {{cite book|last=Clodfelter|first=M.|title=Warfare and armed conflicts : a statistical encyclopedia of casualty and other figures, 1494-2007|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|year=2008|isbn=978-0786433193}}
* {{cite book | last1=Ellingham | first1=Mark | last2=Fisher | first2=John | last3=Kenyon | first3=Graham | date=2002 | title=Rough Guide to Portugal}}
* {{cite book | last=Glover | first=Michael | date=1971 | title=Wellington's Peninsular Victories | publisher=Macmillan | isbn=0-330-02789-1}}
* {{cite book | last=Horward | first=Donald | date=1973 | title=The French Campaign in Portugal, 1810–1811 | editor=Pelet, Jean Jacques | publisher=Univ. of Minnesota Press}}
* {{cite book | last=Porter | first=Maj Gen Whitworth | year=1889 | title=History of the Corps of Royal Engineers Vol I | publisher=The Institution of Royal Engineers | location=Chatham}}
* {{cite book | last1=Wheeler | first1=Douglas L. | last2=Opello | first2=Walter C. | date=2010 | title=Historical Dictionary of Portugal}}
* {{cite book |last1=White |first1=Kenton |title=The Key to Lisbon |date=2019 |publisher=Helion & Company |location=Warwick, England |isbn=978-1-911628-52-1}}
* {{cite book | last=Zimmermann | first=Dick | date=1978 | title=The Battle of Bussaco | publisher=Wargamer's Digest}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Chartrand | first=Rene | date=2001 | title=Bussaco 1810: Wellington defeats Napoleon's Marshals | publisher=Osprey Publishing | isbn=1-84176-310-1}}
* {{cite book | last=Duque | first=José Matos | date=2012 | title=A Batalha do Buçaco - 15 dias da história de Portugal | publisher=Quartzo Editora | isbn=978-989-97003-0-7}}
* {{cite book | year=2010 | title=Museu Militar do Bussaco - edição comemorativa do centenário 1910-2010 | publisher=Quartzo Editora/DHCM | isbn=978-972-8347-10-9}}

==In fiction==
* ''Under Wellington's Command'' by [[G.A. Henty]] includes a section on the Battle of Bussaco (sp. 'Busaco' in the text).
* ''[[Sharpe's Escape]]'' by [[Bernard Cornwell]] covers the battle.
* ''Stranger from the Sea'' by [[Winston Graham]] features a visit to the front line by Ross Poldark, who is on a government fact-finding mission.

==External links==
* [http://www.visitcentrodeportugal.com.pt/military-museum-of-bucaco/ Military Museum of Bussaco]
* {{commons-inline}}

{{Sequence
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| next = [[Battle of the Gebora]]
}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bussaco 1810}}
[[Category:Battles of the Peninsular War involving Portugal]]
[[Category:Battles of the Peninsular War involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Mealhada]]
[[Category:Mountain warfare]]
[[Category:1810 in Portugal]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1810]]
[[Category:September 1810]]
[[Category:King's German Legion]]
[[Category:Battle honours of the King's Royal Rifle Corps]]
[[Category:Battles of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington]]