The Battle of Estremadura took place in early April 1811, in the Extremadura region of northern Portugal, during the Peninsular War. A French army of 4,600 troops under Marshal Jean-Andre Massena invading Portugal came to a standstill to the northwest of the city of Santarem, which was defended by Portuguese general Jose Antonio Rosa and an army of 7,800 troops, but repelled their attack and destroyed the army. The battle was a decisive French victory, but Massena had to withdraw to French-controlled Beira for two weeks to replenish his forces.
Background[]
Napoleon, Emperor of France, waged a series of wars in continental Europe from 1805 to 1815 in hopes of making France the dominant power in the continent, in a constant state of warfare with Great Britain and near-constant state of war with the Austrian Empire, Prussia, and Russia. Spain, previously an aly of Napoleon, went through a coup d'etat against King Carlos IV of Spain by his son Fernando de Borbon, who proclaimed himself King in Madrid. Taking advantage of Spain's weakness, Napoleon took power in Madrid and his brother Joseph Bonaparte was made "Jose I of Spain". Spanish revolts broke out all across the country, so Napoleon sent several field armies under various Marechals to regain control of hte country. They took over ancient Spanish fortresses and wiped out guerrillas in the countryside before taking control of most of the major cities. Also, Napoleon invaded neighboring Portugal, an ally of Great Britain since the 1300s and close relative to Spain.
With most of Spain firmly under his control after the Battle of La Corunna in 1809, Napoleon set out to put down the last sparks of resistance. Portugal's provinces of Extremadura, Algarve, and Alentejo were in Portuguese hands, while Britain held onto Gibraltar and Spain had Seville and Valencia under their control. Napoleon left the country in 1809, leaving command of his armies to Marshals Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Auguste Marmont, Louis-Gabriel Suchet, and Jean-Andre Massena.
Massena led an army of 4,600 troops in French-held Portuguese territory in Beira Province, and in early April 1811 he planned an invasion into Extremadura, which housed the Portuguese court home of Lisbon. With his army consisting mainly of Fusiliers of Line and including some Chasseurs a Cheval light cavalry, Massena marched into Extremadura down the main roads. He moved quickly, but when his army made camp after a long march, he found out that there was a large Portuguese army of 7,800 troops to the southwest in the city of Santarem under Jose Antonio Rosa. Confident that numbers would tell, Rosa attacked Massena's fatigued army.
Battle[]
The Portuguese are routed
The battle took place in the grasslands of Extremadura, which gave both sides an equal terrain advantage. The French left wing Chasseurs a Cheval, light cavalry armed with pistols, charged the Portuguese right wing as they moved to deploy, originally aiming to attack one regiment; they wound up facing around three, and they routed them all. The Portuguese sent cavalry to attack the French right wing in hopes of emulating the strategy, but they were forced back by the French infantry, who were told to guard their positions. The Portuguese infantry attacked the French army in the center, but the French 8-lber Foot Artillery fired rounds of grapeshot at the Portuguese army and routed the attacking units, and Massena and his cavalrymen pursued the attackers. The fleeing Portuguese were cut down, and Rosa barely escaped the onslaught. It was a total victory for France, with the army melting down to three units of artillery that managed to flee. 6,380 Portuguese troops were killed, wounded, or captured, while France suffered 2,570 losses.
Aftermath[]
The major Portuguese army in the Extremadura had been shattered and no major army remained between the French and Lisbon, but Lisbon itself had a huge garrison. Massena's army was in no state to continue the campaign without treading carefully, so they withdrew north to Beira to restock on ammunition and find replacements and reinforcements. More units were added to the French Armee du Portugal, which would return to the offensive a month later.