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{{
{{No footnotes|date=May 2010}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of the Côa Valley
| image = Mapa do Combate do Côa.jpg
| caption = Map containing the positions of the beginning of combat forces in the Coa and indication of movement of units.
| partof = the [[Peninsular War]]
| date = 24 July 1810
| place = [[Côa River|River Côa, Portugal]]
| coordinates = {{coord|40.7261|N|6.9061|W}}
| result = French victory
| combatant1 = {{
| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}<br>{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Portugal|1750}}
| commander1 =
| commander2 =
| strength1 = 20,000<br>(''6,000 engaged'')
| strength2 = 5,000<br>(''4,000 engaged'')<br>6 guns
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
}}
{{Campaignbox Peninsular War (1810-1811)}}
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[[File:LocalVilaNovaDeFozCoa.svg|thumb|Location of Côa valley in Portugal]]
The '''Combat of the Côa''' (July 24, 1810) was a military engagement that occurred during the [[Peninsular War]] period of the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. It took place in the valley of the [[Côa]] River and it was the first significant battle for the new army of 65,000 men controlled by Marshal [[André Masséna]], as the French prepared for their third invasion of Portugal.
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The French objective was to force the Light Division back across the Côa in order to besiege [[Almeida Municipality|Almeida]]. They succeeded after hard fighting, but then launched a costly assault across the Côa, suffering heavy casualties.
==Background==
The [[Peninsular War#Third Portuguese campaign|Third Portuguese campaign]] started with the construction of the [[Lines of Torres Vedras]] and the [[Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)|Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo]].
==Battle of the River Côa==
===Order of Battle===
British-Portuguese forces engaged were:
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With the French driving the Light Division back, Ney then attempted attacking across the Côa. In the first attempt, grenadiers of the 66th surged towards the bridge under a hail of musketry and cannon fire, failing to get more than halfway across the bridge. The second more strongly-pressed offensive was made by the Elite ''Chasseurs de la Siège'' light infantry. Oman writes that they had "flung themselves at the bridge, and pushed on till it was absolutely blocked by the bodies of the killed and the wounded, and till they themselves had been almost literally exterminated, for out of a battalion of little more than 300 men 90 were killed and 147 wounded in less than ten minutes." The final attack was once more led by the 66th which was beaten off with little difficulty.
===
The battle ended with the French having, despite the setback at the bridge, driven the Light Division from the field. Having been beaten back and only narrowly escaped a total rout, Crauford's forces withdrew at midnight, leaving Masséna free rein to lay siege to Almeida.
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Casualties are hard to determine. Both the French and the British-Portuguese were biased. Imperial propaganda reported allied casualties to be at 1,200, while many British sources claimed the loss of 36 killed and 189 wounded as well as 83 missing. On the other hand, French casualties are easier to determine, as both the allies and French estimated around five hundred dead or wounded. The great majority of these casualties were due to Ney's futile attack across the bridge.
==Aftermath==
[[File:Batalha do Côa – Information board.jpg|thumb|Information board to commemorate the resistance opposed by the Anglo-Luso coalition to the third invasion of Portugal by the Napoleonic regime.]]
The [[Peninsular War#Third Portuguese campaign|Third Portuguese campaign]] proceeded with the [[Battle of Bussaco]].
==Notes==
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==References==
* {{cite book |last1=Burnham|first1=Robert|last2=McGuigan|first2=Ron|year=2010|title=The British Army against Napoleon|location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire|publisher=Frontline Books|isbn=978-1-84832-562-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QPHGDwAAQBAJ}}
==Further reading==
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* {{cite book | last=Horward | first=Donald | year=1973 | title=The French Campaign in Portugal 1810-1811: An Account by Jean Jacques Pelet |publisher=Univ. of Minnesota}}
* {{cite book | last=Smith | first=Digby | year=1998 | title=The Napoleonic Wars Data Book | location=Greenhill}}
* {{cite book | last=Castex | first=Jean-Claude| year=2013 | title=Combats franco-anglais des guerres du premier empire |publisher=Editions P.O | url = https://archive.org/details/Combats_franco-anglais_des_Guerres_du_Premier-Empire/page/n197}}
==External links==
*[http://www.georgianindex.net/peninsularWar/peninsularBattles1810.html Peninsular Wars battles and skirmishes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060620234640/http://georgianindex.net/peninsularWar/peninsularBattles1810.html |date=2006-06-20 }} including the Côa Battle.
*[http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/virtual/c_coa.html Action on the River Côa] (includes links to photos of the bridge and area)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20181129235203/http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/harry/harry5.html ''Autobiography of Harry Smith''], excerpt from Chapter 5: Campaign of 1810 - The Battle of the Côa
* {{commons-inline}}
{{Sequence
| prev = [[Combat of Barquilla (1810)]]
| list = Napoleonic Wars
| curr = Combat of the Côa
| next = [[Siege of Almeida (1810)]]
}}
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