Battle of Vimeiro 21/8/1808
- Account:
Having landed his army near Coimbra in central Portugal, Major General Sir Arthur Wellesley awaited the French Army of General Junot that was marching north from Lisbon to tackle him.
Wellesley took up a position against the coast and awaited the expected French assault, his army deployed on a hill to the landward side of the town of Vimeiro and along a ridge stretching to the North of the town. - Fane’s and Anstruther’s brigades were positioned on the hill to the
east of the town.
A second mountain stretched from behind the town hill to the south curving back to the coast, on the far side of the River Maceira. - The French army marched in on the morning of 21st August 1808 heading along the road that led to the extreme left of the British position. Several of the British brigades on the right were brought across the intervening river and formed on the mountain stretching to the left of the British position that the French were threatening to turn.
- French brigades commanded by Laborde and Brenier marched forward to attack the British centre and left simultaneously supported by further forces commanded by Kellerman and Loisin.
- Brenier’s brigade became ensnared in a deep ravine that lay along the front of the mountain on which the British left was positioned and his troops drifted away to the French right.
- Laborde’s and Loisin’s attacks pressed on up the hill but were subjected to heavy artillery fire. Reaching the summit they were attacked and driven back down the hill by the 50th Foot and other regiments.
- Kellerman’s grenadiers made some progress against Anstruther’s 2nd/43rd Foot at the top of the hill but in some hard hand to hand fighting the 43rd drove the French grenadiers off the hill.
- The brigade of Solignac attacked the British left flank but was driven back from the mountain by Ferguson’s brigade which captured six French guns. The 71st Highlanders and 82nd Foot were left to guard the guns. These two regiments were surprised by Brenier, as he finally developed his assault on the mountain, and driven off the guns. Rallying, the regiments returned to the attack, recaptured the guns and inflicted heavy casualties on Brenier’s brigade. Brenier was wounded and captured. Ferguson’s brigade was well on the way to capturing numbers of the defeated French troops when the brigade commander received an order not to continue with the pursuit. Brenier’s and Solignac’s brigades had been forced along the mountain ridge away to the North, while Loisin and Laborde were driven due East. All along the line the pursuit was abandoned.
- Sir Arthur Wellesley’s plan was to swing his unengaged right flank forward across the road to Lisbon and the French Army would have been cut off from its base.
- Had Sir Arthur Wellesley been permitted to continue it seems that the French Army might have been compelled to surrender entirely.
- The ‘stop’ order had been given by Sir Harry Burrard, an officer
senior to Wellesley, who had arrived from England and taken command.
Casualties:
720 British killed and wounded. The French casualties were around 2,000 including several hundred prisoners. 13 French guns were captured.
Militery records of the 48th Regiment
"A History of the Peninsular War, Volume I" by Sir Charles Oman, published by Greenhill Books 1995, ISBN 1853672149
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- References
- Military records ,Pay rolls, Pay Musters, Cemetery Records, Church Records & General Muster Records, Mitchell Library ,Sydney Australia
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