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{{Short description|1810 combat during the Peninsular War}}
{{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 =
| place = [[Côa River|River Côa, Portugal]]
| coordinates = {{coord|40.7261|N|6.9061|W}}
| result = French victory
| combatant1 = {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[First French Empire|France]]
| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}<br>{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Portugal|1750}}
| commander1 = {{flagicon|First French Empire}} [[Michel Ney]]
| commander2 = {{flagicon|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}} [[Robert Craufurd]]
| strength1 = 20,000<br>(''6,000 engaged'')
| strength2 = 5,000<br>(''4,000 engaged'')<br>6 guns
| casualties1 = 117 killed<br>210 wounded{{sfn|Castex|2013|p=197}}
| casualties2 = 32-400 killed <br /> 182-700 wounded <br /> 29 missing <br /> 0-400 captured{{sfn|Burnham|McGuigan|2010|p=214}}{{sfn|Castex|2013|p=197}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Peninsular War (1810-1811)}}
{{Campaignbox Portugal in the Napoleonic Wars}}
{{OSM Location map
| coord = {{coord|40.5|-7}}
| zoom = 5
| float = right
| nolabels = 1
| width = 304
| height = 160
| caption= Third French invasion:
| auto-caption= 1
| title= [[Peninsular war]]
| shapeD=n-circle
| shape-colorD=dark blue
| shape-outlineD=white
| label-colorD = dark blue
| label-sizeD = 12
| label-posD = left
| label-offset-xD =
| label-offset-yD =
| label1 = Astorga
| mark-coord1 = {{coord|42.46|-6.06}}
| mark-title1 = [[Siege of Astorga]] March April 1810
| label2 = Ciudad Rodrigo
| mark-coord2 = {{coord|40.6|-6.53}}
| mark-title2 = [[Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)|Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo]] April 1810
| label-pos2 = right
| label3 = Almeida
| mark-coord3 = {{coord|40.73|-6.91}}
| mark-title3 = [[Siege of Almeida (1810)|Siege of Almeida]] July 1810<br>3.1 [[Blockade of Almeida]] April 1811
| label-pos3 = top
| label-offset-y3 = 4
| label4 = Bussaco
| mark-coord4 = {{coord|40.33|-8.33}}
| mark-title4 = [[Battle of Bussaco]] September 1810
| label-offset-x4 = 2
| label-offset-y4 = -2
| label5 = Lisbon
| mark-coord5 = {{coord|38.73|-9.15}}
| mark-title5 = [[Lines of Torres Vedras|Torres Vedras]] protects Lisbon
| arc-coordA = {{coord|38.9|-9.27}}
| arc-textA = Vedras
| arc-text-sizeA = 12
| arc-angleA = 15
| arc-gapA = .2
| arc-radiusA = 3
| arc-coordB = {{coord|39.3|-9.27}}
| arc-textB = Torres
| arc-text-sizeB = 12
| arc-angleB = 15
| arc-gapB = .2
| arc-radiusB = 3
| label6 =
| mark-coord6 = {{coord|40.05|-8.63}}
| mark-title6 = [[Battle of Redinha]] March 1811
| label7 = Sabugal
| mark-coord7 = {{coord|40.35|-7.08}}
| mark-title7 = [[Battle of Sabugal]] April 1811
| label-pos7 = bottom
| label-offset-x7 = 10
| label-offset-y7 = -6
| label8 = Fuentes de Oñoro
| mark-coord8 = {{coord|40.58|-6.82}}
| mark-title8 = [[Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro]] May 1811
| label-offset-y8 = -5
}}
[[File:LocalVilaNovaDeFozCoa.svg|thumb|Location of Côa valley in Portugal]]
The '''
As the [[Anglo-Portuguese Army|British-Portuguese forces]] were outnumbered here, on July 22, General [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington]] sent Brigadier-General [[Robert Craufurd]] a letter, saying that he (Wellington) was "not desirous of engaging in an affair beyond the Coa." On July 24, Craufurd's [[Light Division]], with 4,200 infantry, 800 cavalry, and six guns, was surprised by the sight of 20,000 troops under Marshal [[Michel Ney]]. Rather than retreat and cross the river as ordered by Wellington, Craufurd chose to engage the French, narrowly avoiding disaster.
Line 25 ⟶ 107:
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:
Line 32 ⟶ 116:
*1st Brigade: Lieut-Col Sydney Beckwith
**[[43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot|1/43rd Foot]]
**[[Rifle Brigade|1/95th Regiment of Foot
**3rd Portuguese ''[[Caçadores]]''
*2nd Brigade: Lieut-Col Robert Barclay
**[[52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot|1/52nd Foot]]
**1/95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles) (1/2 battalion)
**1st Portuguese ''Caçadores''
*Cavalry Brigade: Brig-Gen [[George Anson (British Army general)|George Anson]]
**[[
**[[16th Light Dragoons]] (2 Squadrons)
**[[King's German Legion|1st King's German Legion Hussars]]
*[[A Battery (The Chestnut Troop) Royal Horse Artillery|Chestnut Troop]], [[Royal Horse Artillery]].
Line 71 ⟶ 156:
Craufurd committed a serious tactical error by choosing to fight with an unfordable river at his back while badly outnumbered. As such, in the early hours of 24 July, after a night of torrential rain, Ney sent forth Ferey and Loison's divisions to engage the allies.
A company of the 95th Rifles came under fire from French artillery as they moved in to attack. French
British troops of the 43rd came to assist them. Though fierce fighting broke out, the French advance was halted.
Despite orders from Wellington to fall back across the river Côa, Craufurd decided to hold his ground as more French arrived and began to deploy in formation.
The 15th ''Chasseurs a Cheval'' then charged to the south to outflank the British 52nd
Craufurd, realising his situation that the French were threatening his only escape (the bridge crossing the river Côa), ordered a withdrawal across the river Côa, with the British 52nd and 43rd
Craufurd then ordered these troops to fall back and take position the heights overlooking the bridge and hold that position until the retreat had been made. The French took the heights, but in a move that took the Ney's forces completely by surprise the allies made an assault and held their opponents at bay long enough for the main body of the British-Portuguese to make it across to the other side of the river Côa.
===Assault across the Côa===
Line 85 ⟶ 170:
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.
Line 91 ⟶ 176:
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==
{{reflist}}
==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==
* {{cite book | last=Glover | first=Michael | year=1974 | title=The Peninsular War 1807-1814 | publisher=Penguin}}
* {{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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[[Category:1810 in Portugal]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1810]]
[[Category:July 1810 events]]
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