During the war for Spanish independance from Napoleonic France,
Portuguese and British troops launched a daring raid into southern
Spain, siezing the ancient city of Alcantara.
Napoleon had left his brother Joseph as King of Spain with some
300,000 French troops to put down the Spaniards, nearly all of whom
had revolted against French rule. At the beginning of 1809, British
forces held most of Portugal, while Marshal Soult attacked the
north. Porto and most of the upper Douro River basin were taken by
the French, but they met with stiff resistance from semi-regular
and guerrilla-like Portugese troops led by General Silveira in the
northeast. Taking the fight to the French, part of the British-led
Loyal Lusitanian Legion, along with various Portuguese troops,
raided deep into Spain.
Both British and Portuguese leaders (including the warrior-like
Bishop of Porto ) initiated raids into Spain. Even as Soult
occupied Porto in January 1809, Sir Robert Wilson was further east
with part of his green-uniformed Loyal Lusitanian Legion at the
fortress of Almeida, having led just a few hundred men into Spain,
to be joined by thousands of patriots, and eventually reaching the
outskirts of Salamanca. Meanwhile, in Lisbon, command of the
British army passed to Wellington. In May 1809, he marched north to
liberate Porto while Silveira's levies pressed the French in the
northeast.
While Wellington and Silveira attacked Porto and northern Portugal,
it was important to keep the French occupied elsewhere in Spain, to
prevent their huge armies in Spain converging on northern Portugal
and assisting Soult. To this end, Marshal Beresford, commanding the
reorganized Portuguese Army, detached a large part of his most
reliable troops - the British-led Loyal Lusitanian Legion - to raid
the Spanish province of Estramadura, far to the south.
1,800 men of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion, along with other
Portuguese troops, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mayne
crossed the mountains into Estarmadura and raided the French border
posts. The French soon fled, and the raiders quickly occupied
Alcantara (the seat of the Medieval knightly order that bears its
name). From here, some raiding parties went further east into Spain
to cause as much trouble as possible to attract the attention of
the French. This new Raid title will detail all aspects of this
compelling clash of forces.
General
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