Battle of Grijó
Part of thePeninsular War
Illustration of the battle
Date 10–11 May 1809[1] Location Grijó, Portugal 41°01′42″N8°34′49″W / 41.02833°N 8.58028°W /41.02833; -8.58028 Result Anglo-Portuguese victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Portugal	French Empire
Commanders and leaders
Sir Arthur Wellesley	Jean Soult
Strength
18,000[1]	7,000[1]
Casualties and losses
104[1]	200[1] hundreds of prisoners[1]

Lisbon

Roliça

Vimeiro

Chaves

Braga

Grijó

Porto

Almeida

Bussaco

TorresVedras

Redinha

Sabugal

FuentesDeOñoro

class=notpageimage|

Peninsular war: Portugal
18071808180918101811

TheBattle of Grijó (Portuguese pronunciation:[ɡɾiˈʒɔ]) (10–11 May 1809) ended in victory for theAnglo-Portuguese Army commanded by Lieutenant-GeneralSir Arthur Wellesley (the future 1stDuke of Wellington) over the French army commanded by MarshalNicolas Soult during theSecond French invasion of Portugal in thePeninsular War. The next day, Wellesley drove Soult from Porto in theSecond Battle of Porto.^[2][1]

TheSecond Portuguese campaign started with theBattle of Braga.

On 10 May British Cavalry under the command of General Sir Stapleton Cotton came into contact with outlying French Forces, after a short engagement they were scattered, both sides only suffering light casualties, but many French prisoners were taken.^[1]

The following day, on the 10th, a larger force commanded by GeneralJulien Augustin Joseph Mermet defended the forested ridge, south of Grijo. the Anglo-allied forces under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) attacked them from the south, using a double flanking manoeuvre to threaten and drive them back.^[1]

In "The History of theRifle Brigade", Willoughby Verner describes how thead hoc 1stBattalion of Detachments, made from soldiers and officers of multiple regiments who had become stranded with the evacuation ofCoruna, fought for the first time near the village ofGrijó (Vila Nova de Gaia):

The infantry of the advance guard consisted of the Rifle Company of the 1st Battalion of Detachments, the Companies of the 43rd and 52nd Light Infantry and the Light Company of the29th Regiment of Foot, the whole under the command of Major Way of the 29th.Cotton with the British Cavalry came in touch with the French at dawn on the 10th, but [Major-General] Michel Francheschi^[2] had some infantry with him and Stewart's^[3] Brigade was delayed and did not come for some time; Francheschi thereupon fell back and joined [General]Mermet at Grijó. On the 11th Wellesley ordered [Major-General]Hill to endeavour to outflank Mermet's position on the east whilst he with [Major-General]Paget's Division advanced. In the afternoon the Light Companies of the 1st Battalion of Detachments attacked Mermet but met with a stiff resistance and lost not a few. Wellesley now ordered theKing's German Legion to turn the French left and the 16th Portuguese to turn their right and with the rest of Stewart's Brigade renewed the attack on the wooded heights in the centre above the village of Grijó. Mermet thereupon withdrew...^[a][b][3]

TheSecond Portuguese campaign proceeded with theSecond Battle of Porto.

• Burnham, Robert (2004)."The British Battalions of Detachment in 1809". Archived from the original on 21 December 2004. Retrieved19 May 2021.
• Cribb, Marcus (2020)."The Duke of Wellington & the world's war on Napoleon". Archived fromthe original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved19 May 2021.
• Glover, Michael (1974).The Peninsular War 1807–1814. Penguin.

• Smith, Digby (1998).The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Greenhill Books.
• McGuigan, Ron (2021)."Part II: The British Army in Portugal". Archived fromthe original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved19 May 2021.

• Media related toBattle of Grijó at Wikimedia Commons

• Battles of the Peninsular War involving Portugal
• Battles of the Peninsular War involving the United Kingdom
• Vila Nova de Gaia
• Battles in 1809
• 1809 in Portugal
• May 1809
• Battles of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
• King's German Legion

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use shortened footnotes from May 2021
• Use dmy dates from January 2022
• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Pages with Portuguese IPA
• CS1: unfit URL
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Pages using the Kartographer extension