Anglo-Portuguese Army

The Anglo-Portuguese Army was the combined British and Portuguese army that participated in the Peninsular War, under the command of Arthur Wellesley. The Army is also referred to as the British-Portuguese Army and, in Portuguese, as the Exército Anglo-Luso or the Exército Anglo-Português.

Anglo-Portuguese Army
Exército Anglo-Luso
British and Portuguese regiments, side by side, at the Second Battle of Porto.
Active22 April 1809
Disbanded1814
Country United Kingdom
 Portugal
AllegianceGeorge III of the United Kingdom
John VI of Portugal
Size53,000 British
3,000 Hanoverians of the KGL
35,000 Portuguese Regulars
[1]
Garrison/HQLisbon, Portugal
Engagements
Commanders
Commander-in-chiefArthur Wellesley
Notable
commanders
Brent Spencer, Carlos Frederico Lecor, Luís do Rego Barreto, Henry Clinton, James Leith, John Hope, Lowry Cole, Robert Craufurd, Rowland Hill, Thomas Picton, William Beresford

The Anglo-Portuguese Army was established with the British Army deployed to the Iberian Peninsula under the command of General Arthur Wellesley, and the Portuguese Army rebuilt under the leadership of British General William Beresford and the Portuguese War Secretary Miguel Pereira Forjaz. The new Portuguese battalions were supplied with British equipment, trained to British standards and thoroughly re-organised. Incompetent or corrupt officers were cashiered and appropriate replacements were appointed or promoted from amongst promising Non-commissioned officers.

On 22 April 1809, Wellesley became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Peninsula, replacing General Cradock, whose assessment of the military situation the British government found too pessimistic.[2] At the same time he was appointed by the Portuguese Government as Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Army. He then came to have the two armies under his command, transforming them into a single integrated army.

The Army was organised into divisions, most of them including mixed British-Portuguese units. Usually, each one had two British and one Portuguese brigades. In the elite Light Division, the brigades themselves were mixed, each including two British light infantry and one Portuguese Caçadores battalions.

Order of battle

The following tables show the order of battle and commanders of the Anglo-Portuguese Army at various stages in the Peninsular War.

July 1809[3] September 1810[4] May 1811[5] September 1811
Commander in Chief Lt Gen Sir Arthur Wellesley Lt Gen Viscount Wellington Lt Gen Viscount Wellington Lt Gen the Earl of Wellington
Corps Commanders Maj Gen Brent Spencer[6]

Marshal William Carr Beresford[7]

Maj Gen Rowland Hill[8]

Lt Gen Sir Thomas Graham[9]

Cavalry Lt Gen William Payne -[10] Maj Gen Stapleton Cotton

Maj Gen Sir William Erskine

Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton
1st Division Maj Gen John Coape Sherbrooke Maj Gen Brent Spencer Maj Gen Miles Nightingall Lt Gen Sir Thomas Graham
2nd Division Maj Gen Rowland Hill Maj Gen Rowland Hill Maj Gen the Hon William Stewart Maj Gen the Hon William Stewart
3rd Division Maj Gen Alexander Randoll Mackenzie Maj Gen Thomas Picton Maj Gen Thomas Picton Maj Gen Thomas Picton
4th Division Brig Gen Alexander Campbell Maj Gen the Hon Lowry Cole Maj Gen the Hon Lowry Cole Maj Gen the Hon Lowry Cole
5th Division Maj Gen James Leith Maj Gen Sir William Erskine Maj Gen James Dunlop
6th Division Maj Gen Alexander Campbell Maj Gen Alexander Campbell
7th Division Maj Gen William Houston Maj Gen John Sontag
Light Division Brig Gen Robert Craufurd Brig Gen Robert Craufurd Brig Gen Robert Craufurd
Portuguese Division Maj Gen John Hamilton Maj Gen John Hamilton Maj Gen John Hamilton
Independent Brigades
  • Brig Gen Denis Pack
  • Brig Gen Alexander Campbell
  • Brig Gen Francis John Coleman
July 1812[12] June 1813[13] November 1813[14] April 1814[15]
Commander in Chief Lt Gen the Earl of Wellington Lt Gen the Marquess of Wellington Field Marshal the Marquess of Wellington Field Marshal the Marquess of Wellington
Corps Commanders Maj Gen Rowland Hill[16] Lt Gen Sir Rowland Hill[17]

Lt Gen the Earl of Dalhousie[18]

Lt Gen Sir Thomas Graham[19]

Lt Gen Sir Rowland Hill[20]

Lt Gen the Hon Sir John Hope[21]

Maj Gen Charles, Baron von Alten[22]

Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford[23]

Lt Gen Sir Rowland Hill[24]

Lt Gen the Hon Sir John Hope[25]

Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford[26]

Cavalry Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton[27] Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton
1st Division Maj Gen Henry Frederick Campbell Maj Gen Kenneth Alexander Howard Maj Gen Kenneth Alexander Howard Maj Gen Kenneth Alexander Howard[28]
2nd Division Maj Gen the Hon William Stewart[29] Lt Gen the Hon William Stewart Lt Gen the Hon William Stewart Lt Gen the Hon William Stewart
3rd Division Col the Hon Edward Pakenham Lt Gen Sir Thomas Picton Maj Gen the Hon Charles Colville Lt Gen Sir Thomas Picton
4th Division Maj Gen the Hon Lowry Cole Lt Gen the Hon Sir Lowry Cole Lt Gen the Hon Sir Lowry Cole Lt Gen the Hon Sir Lowry Cole
5th Division Maj Gen James Leith Maj Gen John Oswald Maj Gen Andrew Hay Maj Gen Andrew Hay[30]
6th Division Maj Gen Henry Clinton Maj Gen Henry Clinton[31] Lt Gen Sir Henry Clinton Lt Gen Sir Henry Clinton
7th Division Maj Gen John Hope[32] Lt Gen the Earl of Dalhousie Maj Gen Carlos Lecor Maj Gen George Townshend Walker[33]
Light Division Maj Gen Charles, Baron von Alten Maj Gen Charles, Baron von Alten Maj Gen Charles, Baron von Alten Maj Gen Charles, Baron von Alten
Portuguese Division Maj Gen John Hamilton[34] Maj Gen Francisco da Silveira Lt Gen Sir John Hamilton Maj Gen Carlos Lecor
Independent Brigades
  • Brig Gen Denis Pack
  • Brig Gen Thomas Bradford
  • Maj Gen Lord Aylmer
  • Brig Gen John Wilson
  • Maj Gen Thomas Bradford
  • Maj Gen Lord Aylmer
  • Maj Gen Alexander Campbell
  • Maj Gen Thomas Bradford

See also

References

  1. The Portuguese Army of the Napoleonic Wars, By Rene Chartrand, Bill Younghusband, pg16
  2. Chartrand, Rene (2012). Oldest Allies – Alcantara 1809. Osprey Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-78096-895-7.
  3. Battle of Talavera de la Reina
  4. Battle of Bussaco
  5. Battles of Fuentes de Oñoro and Albuera
  6. 1st and 3rd Divisions.
  7. 2nd, 4th and Portuguese Divisions. The usual commander of this corps, Hill, was on sick leave in England at the time of Albuera.
  8. 2nd and Portuguese Divisions.
  9. Graham was second-in-command of the main army, not operating as a distinct corps.
  10. Only 2 squadrons of the 14th Light Dragoons were present (Glover, p.375)
  11. KGL Light Battalions
  12. Battle of Salamanca
  13. Battle of Vitoria
  14. Battles of Pyrenees, Nivelle and Nive
  15. Battle of Toulouse
  16. 2nd and Portuguese Divisions.
  17. 2nd and Portuguese Divisions.
  18. 3rd and 7th Divisions.
  19. 1st and 5th Divisions.
  20. 2nd, 6th and Portuguese Divisions.
  21. 1st and 5th Divisions.
  22. Light Division and attached Spaniards.
  23. 3rd, 4th and 7th Divisions.
  24. 2nd and Portuguese Divisions.
  25. 1st and 5th Divisions.
  26. 4th and 6th Divisions.
  27. Most of the cavalry was quartered in the rear during the battles in the Pyrenees.
  28. Not present at Toulouse, besieging Bayonne.
  29. Not present at Salamanca
  30. Not present at Toulouse, besieging Bayonne.
  31. Not present at Vitoria
  32. Not to be confused with Lt Gen John Hope who commanded a corps in 1813
  33. Not present at Toulouse, occupying Bordeaux.
  34. Not present at Salamanca

Bibliography

  • Bluth, B.J. (2001). Marching with Sharpe. UK: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-414537-2.
  • Bryant, Arthur (1950). The Age of Elegance: 1812–1822. London: Collins.
  • Chandler, David; Beckett, Ian (2003). The Oxford History of the British Army. UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280311-5.
  • Chappell, Mike (2004). Wellington's Peninsula Regiments (2): The Light Infantry. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-403-5.
  • Fletcher, Ian; Younghusband, William (1994). Wellington's Foot Guards. UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-392-3.
  • Fregosi, Paul (1989). Dreams of Empire: Napoleon and the first World War, 1792–1815. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-173926-8.
  • Glover, Michael (1974). The Peninsular War 1807–1814: A Concise Military History. UK: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-6387-5.
  • Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1987). British Infantry of the Napoleonic Wars. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-890-7.
  • (1996). Weapons & Equipment of the Napoleonic Wars. Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-495-5.
  • Napier, Sir William Francis Patrick (1952). English Battles and Sieges in the Peninsula. London: Chapman & Hall.
  • Nofi, Albert A. (1998). The Waterloo Campaign: June 1815. USA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-938289-98-5.
  • Sumner, Ian; Hook, Richard (2001). British Colours and Standards 1747–1881 (2): Infantry. UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-201-6.
  • Venning, Annabel (2005). Following the Drum: The Lives of Army Wives and Daughters Past and Present. London: Headline Publishing. ISBN 0-7553-1258-9.
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