In the First Battle of Porto (March 28, 1809) the French

First French Empire

The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...

 under Marshal Soult

Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult

Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia , the Hand of Iron, was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804. He was one of only six officers in French history to receive the distinction of Marshal General of France...

 defeated the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, under General Parreiras, and the British Army, outside the city of Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

 during the Peninsular War

Peninsular War

The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...

. Soult followed up his success by storming the city.

It is estimated that 8,000 soldiers perished in the attack and that a great number of civilians were killed.

Soult's invasion of Portugal

After the Battle of Corunna

Battle of Corunna

The Battle of Corunna refers to a battle of the Peninsular War. On January 16, 1809, a French army under Marshal Soult attacked the British under Sir John Moore...

, Napoleon ordered Marshal Soult to invade Portugal from the north. He was to seize Oporto by February 1 and Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

 by February 10.

Napoleon failed to take into account either the wretched condition of the roads or the fact that a full-scale guerilla war had broken out in Northern Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 and Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

Soult's II Corps had four infantry divisions, commanded by Major-Generals Pierre Merle (4 battalions each of the 2nd Light, 4th Light and 15th Line; 3 bns. of the 36th Line), Julien Mermet

Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet

General Julien Augustin Joseph Mermet fought in the Napoleonic Wars as a division commander in Italy and in the Peninsular War.-Empire:...

 (4 bns. each of the 31st Light, 47th and 122nd Line; 1 bn. each of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Swiss), Etienne Heudelet (2 bns. each of the 22nd and 66th Line; 1 bn. each of the 15th and 32nd Light, 82nd Line, Legion of the Midi, Paris Guard and Hanoverian Legion) and Henri Delaborde (3 bns. each of the 17th Light, 70th and 86th Line). Maj-Gen Jean Franceschi

Jean Baptiste, baron Franceschi

Jean Baptiste, baron Franceschi , French general entered the French service in 1793. He took part in the operations in Corsica in the following year, and received a wound at the siege of San Fiorenzo. After this he left the island and was appointed a field officer in the French Army of Italy, with...

 led Soult's corps cavalry (1st Hussars, 8th Dragoons, 22nd and Hanoverian Chasseurs). Attached were Maj-Gen Lahoussaye's 3rd Dragoon (17th, 18th, 19th and 27th Dragoons) and Maj-Gen Lorge

Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge

Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge , was a French cavalry commander during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....

's 4th Dragoon Divisions (13th, 15th, 22nd and 25th Dragoons). In all, Soult had 23,500 men, including 3,100 cavalry.

Soult's first attempt to invade Portugal was stopped by local militia on February 16.
The French then moved northeast to Orense in Spain, seized an unguarded bridge and marched south. On the way, Franceschi's cavalry overran Maj-Gen Mahy's Spanish brigade at La Trepa on March 6, inflicting 700 casualties. The French crossed into Portugal and occupied Chaves

Siege of Chaves

The Siege of Chaves refers to the French siege of Chaves, Portugal in 1808 and the subsequent recapture of the town by Portuguese forces. Francisco Silveira, later the Count of Amarante led the Portuguese troops.-The French Invasions :...

 on March 9.

From Chaves, Soult moved west to Braga

Braga

Braga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...

.
East of that city, near Póvoa de Lanhoso

Póvoa de Lanhoso

Póvoa de Lanhoso is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 132.5 km² and a total population of 23,657 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of 29 parishes, and is located in the district of Braga....

 and after several days of combat, the French veterans slaughtered a motley Portuguese army of 2,000 soldiers and several thousand civilian armed with agricultural tools, first under Freire de Andrade and afterwards under Baron Eben. Of Eben's 4,000-man force, 3,000 were reported killed and 400 captured.

The French, who lost 40 killed, also seized 17 Portuguese cannons.

The battle

Bishop Castro organized an army of 24,000 men to defend Oporto.

Generals Lima and Parreiras commanded two battalions, each of the 6th, 18th and 21st Infantry Regiments, and one battalion of the 9th and other units.
The 4,500 Portuguese regulars were supported by 10,000 ordenança (militia) and 9,000 armed citizens.
When Soult hurled Merle, Mermet, Heudelet, Franceschi and Lahoussaye at the Portuguese deployed north of the city, on the weakest part of the portuguese line of defense, Castro's force soon dissolved and the battle became a massacre.
The Portuguese tried to escape from the French in the city but were chased by the French cavalry throughout the streets, and their regular units were annihilated.

Thousands of fleeing civilians drowned when a bridge of boats across the Douro River (as soon as some Portuguese units started to sabotage the bridge to prevent the French from crossing the river) collapsed because of their weight and of Portuguese artillery fire (coming from the left side of the Douro) who were aiming at the French cavalry behind the portuguese soldiers and citizens.

In the roadstead, Soult captured a squadron of Spanish naval vessels and 30 merchant ships. The French also found large stockpiles of British military stores. In the battle and storming of the city, the French lost 72 officers and 2,000 rank and file casualties. The Portuguese lost about 8,000 killed and 197 cannons captured.

Soult did not have very long to enjoy his success.

Almost at once, the ordenanças cut his communications with Spain and a 1,800-man garrison was gobbled up by Francisco Silveira's

Francisco Silveira, Count of Amarante

Francisco Silveira, Count of Amarante or Francisco Silveira, Conde de Amarante joined the Portuguese army and fought in the Napoleonic Wars. In March 1809 he led a force which carried out the successful Siege of Chaves from its French garrison...

 Portuguese force in the Siege of Chaves

Siege of Chaves

The Siege of Chaves refers to the French siege of Chaves, Portugal in 1808 and the subsequent recapture of the town by Portuguese forces. Francisco Silveira, later the Count of Amarante led the Portuguese troops.-The French Invasions :...

. The French marshal started planning a retreat. The next action was the Battle of Grijó

Battle of Grijo

The Battle of Grijó was a battle that ended up in victory for the Anglo-Portuguese Army commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley over the French army commanded by Marshal Nicolas Soult during the second French invasion of Portugal in the Peninsular War...

. The city was retaken on May 12 by the British and Portuguese under 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...

 in the Second Battle of Porto.