Trant's raid

Trant's Raid
Part of the Peninsular War
Date 6 October 1810 Location Coimbra, Portugal Result Portuguese victory
Belligerents
Portugal	French Empire
Commanders and leaders
Nicholas Trant	André Masséna
Strength
4,000 Portuguese militia	Unknown
Casualties and losses
3 killed 26 wounded	8 killed 4,000 captured

Trant's Raid was the Portuguese capture of Coimbra on the 6th October 1810. Shortly before the Battle of Bussaco on the 27th September 1810, Trant's Portuguese militia ambushed the French Army's baggage train and barely escaped capture.

Marshal André Masséna's army captured Coimbra and established a base there. On the 6th October Trant and 4,000 Portuguese militia recaptured the city. French losses were 8 killed and 400 able-bodied soldiers captured. About 3,500 sick and wounded, plus several hundred medical and service personnel also surrendered. Trant's losses were only 3 men killed and another 26 men wounded.

As the new governor of the city, he remained in possession of the city all winter while the French carried out their futile blockade of the Lines of Torres Vedras^[1]

References