Battle of Vimeiro order of battle
Encyclopedia
British-Portuguese Army
Commander-in-chief: Lieutenant GeneralLieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Sir Arthur Wellesley
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
1st Brigade
Major GeneralMajor General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Rowland Hill
Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill
General Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill of Almaraz GCB, GCH served in the Napoleonic Wars as a trusted brigade, division and corps commander under the command of the Duke of Wellington. He became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1829.-Early career:Educated at a school in Chester, Hill was...
- 1st Battalion, 5th Regiment of Foot (944)
- 1st Battalion, 9th Regiment of Foot9th Regiment of FootThe 9th Regiment of Foot was a infantry line regiment of the British Army from 1751 to 1881. It became the Norfolk Regiment following the Army reforms of 1881.-Early history:...
(761) - 1st Battalion, 38th Regiment of Foot (953)
2nd Brigade
Major General Ronald Craufurd FergusonRonald Craufurd Ferguson
General Sir Ronald Craufurd Ferguson , was a Scottish officer in the British Army and a Member of Parliament for the constituencies of Kirkcaldy and Nottingham.-Biography:...
- 36th Regiment of Foot36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of FootThe 36th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1701 and amalgamated into The Worcestershire Regiment in 1881...
(591) - 1st Battalion, 40th Regiment of Foot40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of FootThe 40th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1717 and amalgamated into The Prince of Wales's Volunteers in 1881.-Formation:...
(923) - 1st Battalion, 71st Regiment of Foot (935)
3rd Brigade
Brigadier GeneralBrigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
Miles Nightingall
Miles Nightingall
Sir Miles Nightingall KCB was the Commander-in-chief of Bombay from 24 February 1816 to 9 October 1819. He sat in the House of Commons as a Tory from 1820 to 1829....
- 29th Regiment of Foot29th Regiment of FootThe 29th Regiment of Foot was, from 1694 to 1881, an infantry regiment of the British Army. It now forms part of the Mercian Regiment.-Formation:...
(616) - 1st Battalion, 82nd Regiment of Foot82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunteers)The 82nd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, created in 1793 and amalgamated into The Prince of Wales's Volunteers in 1881....
(904)
4th Brigade
Brigadier General Barnard Foord Bowes- 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment of Foot (943)
- 1st Battalion, 32nd Regiment of Foot (870)
5th Brigade
Brigadier General Catlin Craufurd- 1st Battalion, 45th Regiment of Foot45th (Nottinghamshire) Regiment of FootThe 45th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment. During the Childers Reforms it was united with the 95th Regiment of Foot to form the The Sherwood Foresters ....
(915) - 91st Regiment of Foot91st Regiment of FootThe 91st Regiment of Foot was a Line Regiment of the British Army . It was first formed in 1759 and in 1881 became the 1st Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.- Early formations :...
(917)
6th Brigade
Brigadier General Henry FaneHenry Fane (general)
General Sir Henry Fane GCB commanded brigades under Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington during several battles during the Peninsular War, and served both as a member of Parliament and Commander-in-Chief of India....
- 1st Battalion, 50th Regiment of Foot50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Footthumb|right|250px|soldier of 50th Regiment about 1740The 50th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1755 to 1881....
(945) - 5th Battalion, 60th Regiment of FootKing's Royal Rifle CorpsThe King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
(Rifles) (604) - 2nd Battalion, 95th Rifles(4 companies) (456)
7th Brigade
Brigadier General Robert AnstrutherRobert Anstruther
Robert Anstruther may refer to:*Sir Robert Anstruther, 1st Baronet MP for Fife 1710*Sir Robert Anstruther, 3rd Baronet of the Anstruther Baronets...
- 2nd Battalion, 9th Regiment of Foot9th Regiment of FootThe 9th Regiment of Foot was a infantry line regiment of the British Army from 1751 to 1881. It became the Norfolk Regiment following the Army reforms of 1881.-Early history:...
- 2nd Battalion, 43rd Light Infantry43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of FootThe 43rd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. It was raised as Thomas Fowke's Regiment of Foot in 1741 with its headquarters at Winchester. The regiment was numbered 54th Foot until 1748 when it became the 43rd Foot...
(721) - 2nd Battalion, 52nd Light Infantry52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of FootThe 52nd Regiment of Foot was a light infantry regiment of the British Army throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries. The regiment first saw active service during the American War of Independence, and were posted to India during the Anglo-Mysore Wars...
(654) - 2nd Battalion, 97th Regiment of Foot (695)
8th Brigade
Brigadier General Wroth Palmer AclandWroth Palmer Acland
Sir Wroth Palmer Acland K.C.B. , English soldier lieutenant-general, notable for his role in the Peninsular War.-Biography:Acland was son of Arthur Palmer Acland, of Fairfield, and nephew of Sir Thomas Acland, Bart., and entered the army in 1787 as ensign in the 17th regiment. He became lieutenant...
- 2nd Regiment of Foot2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of FootThe Queen's Royal Regiment was a regiment of the English and later British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Army line infantry order of precedence...
(731) - 20th Regiment of Foot (7 ½ companies) (401)
- 1st Battalion, 95th Rifles (2 companies) (200)
Portuguese detachment
Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas TrantNicholas Trant
Nicholas Trant , a British officer, led Portuguese irregular troops in several actions during the Peninsular War. His most famous exploits were the recapture of Coimbra from the French in October 1810 and the successful defense of the line of the Mondego River in March 1811.-Peninsular War:While a...
- 6th Cavalry Regiment (104)
- 11th Cavalry Regiment (50)
- 12th Cavalry Regiment (104)
- Lisbon Police Cavalry (41)
- 4th Artillery Regiment (210)
- 12th Infantry Regiment (605)
- 21st Infantry Regiment (605)
- 24th Infantry Regiment (304)
- Porto Caçadores (562)
Total force
- Total British force: 16,778 men
- Total Portuguese force: 2,585 men
- Total British and Portuguese force: 19,363 men
French Army of Portugal
Commander-in-chief: General of Division Jean-Andoche JunotJean-Andoche Junot
Jean-Andoche Junot, 1st Duke of Abrantès was a French general during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...
, duke of Abrantes
1st Brigade
General of Brigade Antoine François Brenier de MontmorandAntoine François Brenier de Montmorand
Antoine-François Brenier de Montmorand served as a French general of division during the period of the First French Empire and became an officer of the Légion d'honneur.-Early career:...
- 3rd Battalion, 2nd Light Infantry Regiment (1,075)
- 3rd Battalion, 4th Light Infantry Regiment (1,098)
- 1st and 2nd battalions, 70th Line Infantry Regiment (2,358)
2nd Brigade
General of Brigade Jean Guillaume Thomières- 1st and 2nd battalions, 86th Line Infantry Regiment (1,945)
- 4th Swiss Infantry Regiment (2 companies) (246)
1st Brigade
General of Brigade Jean Baptiste Solignac- 3rd Battalion, 12th Light Infantry Regiment (1,253)
- 3rd Battalion, 15th Light Infantry Regiment (1,305)
- 3rd Battalion, 58th Light Infantry Regiment (1,428)
2nd Brigade
General of Brigade Hugues Charlot- 3rd Battalion, 32nd Line Infantry Regiment (1,034)
- 3rd Battalion, 82nd Line Infantry Regiment (963)
Cavalry Division
General of Brigade Pierre Margaron- 1st Provisional (ex-26th) ChasseurChasseurChasseur [sha-sur; Fr. sha-sœr] is the designation given to certain regiments of French light infantry or light cavalry troops, trained for rapid action.-History:...
à Cheval Regiment (263) - 3rd Provisional DragoonDragoonThe word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
Regiment (640) - 4th Provisional Dragoon Regiment (589)
- 5th Provisional Dragoon Regiment (659)
- Squadron of Volunteer Cavalry (100)
Reserve
General of Division François Étienne de KellermannFrançois Étienne de Kellermann
Francois Étienne de Kellermann, 2nd Duc de Valmy was a French cavalry general noted for his daring and skillful exploits during the Napoleonic Wars...
- 1st and 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment Reserve Grenadiers
- 1st and 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment Reserve Grenadiers
(1,050 men in each regiment, but not counted as they were drawn from the other regiments)
Total force
There is no exact muster of the French Army of Portugal at VimeiroBattle of Vimeiro
In the Battle of Vimeiro the British under General Arthur Wellesley defeated the French under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro , near Lisbon, Portugal during the Peninsular War...
, so the unit strength is given for the end of the July. The total force was: 15,656 men.
Sir Charles Oman
Charles Oman
Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman was a British military historian of the early 20th century. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering...
calculated that the French Army of Portugal at Vimeiro on the day of the battle (20 August) was:
- InfantryInfantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
: 8,305 men - Reserve GrenadiersGrenadier (soldier)A grenadier was originally a specialized soldier, first established as a distinct role in the mid-to-late 17th century, for the throwing of grenades and sometimes assault operations. At this time grenadiers were chosen from the strongest and largest soldiers...
: 2,100 men - CavalryCavalryCavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
: 1,951 men - ArtilleryArtilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and other: 700 men
Total force: 13,056