Blockade of Almeida
Part ofPeninsular War
Castle Fortress of Almeida in Portugal
Date 14 April to 10 May 1811 Location Almeida, Portugal 40°43′N6°54′W / 40.717°N 6.900°W /40.717; -6.900 Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
France	United Kingdom Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Antoine Brenier	William Erskine Alexander Campbell Luís do Rego
Strength
1,400	13,000
Casualties and losses
360	50

Peninsular War:
Third French invasion

220km
137miles

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8

Fuentes de Oñoro

7

Sabugal

6

5

Lisbon

4

Bussaco

3

Almeida

2

Ciudad Rodrigo

1

Astorga

   

The color black indicates the current battle.

In theBlockade of Almeida (14 April – 10 May 1811) a French garrison underAntoine François Brenier de Montmorand was surrounded by approximately 13,000 Anglo-Allied soldiers led by GeneralsSir Alexander Campbell, 1st Baronet andSir William Erskine, 2nd Baronet.

After a French relief attempt failed, Brenier and his troops broke out at night after blowing up portions of the fortress. To the fury of the British army commanderArthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington, most of the French escaped due to their commander's single-minded determination, British fumbling, and remarkably good luck. The action took place during thePeninsular War portion of theNapoleonic Wars.Almeida, Portugal is located near the Spanish border about 300 kilometres (186 mi) northeast ofLisbon. The town was originally captured from a Portuguese garrison during the1810 Siege of Almeida.

On 11 October 1810, MarshalAndré Masséna's French army found itself confronted by the elaborately built and well-defendedLines of Torres Vedras in its invasion of Portugal. Foiled by the virtually impregnable defenses, the French commander halted to wait for reinforcements. Unable to secure enough food, the French army wasted away from starvation and illness. By 1 January 1811, the 65,000-strong army had shrunk to 46,500. Massena reluctantly retreated from Portugal beginning on 6 March.^[1] The British army ofViscount Wellington beat the FrenchII Corps ofGeneral of DivisionJean Reynier at theBattle of Sabugal on 3 April 1811.^[2] The next day, the British invested the fortress of Almeida.^[3]

After MarshalAndré Masséna's retreat from Portugal, the French installed a garrison of 1,400 men under Brenier in the fortress. These troops were blockaded in the town by forces underArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Since theAnglo-Portuguese Army had no heavy guns to breach the walls, they were forced to starve the garrison out. Because of this, this operation was technically ablockade rather than asiege.

From 3 to 5 May 1811, Masséna failed to relieve Almeida in theBattle of Fuentes de Oñoro. During this time, the blockade was maintained byMajor GeneralWilliam Erskine's 5th and Major GeneralAlexander Campbell's 6th Divisions, plus Count Barbacena's 300-man Portuguese cavalry brigade. Campbell guarded the south and west sides of the fortress with too many soldiers and placed his men too far from the city. Though instructed by Wellington to block the Barba del Puerco bridge on the afternoon of the 10th, Erskine neglected to forward the necessary orders in time.

With great skill, Brenier slipped his men through the Anglo-Portuguese lines on the night of 10–11 May. The fortifications were rigged with explosives and blew up after the French cleared out. After overrunning a Portuguese outpost, Brenier headed northwest toward the Barba del Puerco bridge. Campbell andBrigadier General Denis Pack gave chase with some troops, but a British colonel whose regiment was stationed near the breakthrough failed to pursue. Another regiment arrived at the Barba del Puerco, but since the French had not gotten there yet, the unit marched to another location. The French were intercepted just as they reached the bridge and numbers of them were killed or captured. A total of 360 Frenchmen became casualties during the night. An unwise attempt by the36th Foot Regiment to storm the bridge was repelled with 35 casualties by the French 31st Light Infantry Regiment from Reynier's II Corps.

An enraged Wellington later wrote,

They had about 13,000 to watch 1,400. There they were all sleeping in their spurs even; but the French got off. I begin to be of the opinion that there is nothing on earth so stupid as a gallant officer.^[4]

The failed blockade occurred at the end of thethird Portuguese campaign, which had begun the following year with the French capture ofAlmeida. The campaign had now concluded with the French retreat out of Portugal, reversing all of their territorial changes.

Fortresses like Almeida would be critical as the wider war entered astalemate in the western theatre as both sides would manoeuvre for position attempting to secure other key border fortresses such as atBadajoz andCiudad Rodrigo. Only once these were secured would the Anglo-Portuguese army be able to influence events in the wider Iberian theatre.

• Glover, Michael (2001).The Peninsular War 1807–1814. London: Penguin.ISBN 978-0-141-39041-3.
• Smith, Digby (1998).The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill.ISBN 978-1-85367-276-7.

• Lipscombe, Nick (2014).The Peninsular War Atlas. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.ISBN 978-1-4728--0773-1.
• Zimmermann, Dick (1979).The Battle of Bussaco. Wargamer's Digest.

• Media related toBlockade of Almeida at Wikimedia Commons

• Battles of the Peninsular War involving Portugal
• Battles of the Peninsular War involving the United Kingdom
• Conflicts in 1811
• 1811 in Portugal
• April 1811
• May 1811
• Guarda District
• Residential building bombings in Europe
• Attacks on castles in Portugal
• Sieges of the Peninsular War
• Sieges involving Portugal
• Blockades by the United Kingdom
• Sieges of the Anglo-French wars

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