Combat of the Côa: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox military conflict

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{{Campaignbox Peninsular War (1810-1811)}}

 

 

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.

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.

 

 

===Order of Battle===

British-Portuguese forces engaged were:

*1st Brigade: Lieut-Col Sydney Beckwith

**[[43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot|1/43rd Foot]]

**3rd Portuguese ''[[Caçadores]]''

*2nd Brigade: Lieut-Col Robert Barclay

**[[52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot|1/52nd Foot]]

**1st Portuguese ''Caçadores''

*Cavalry Brigade: Brig-Gen [[George Anson (British Army general)|George Anson]]

**[[King's German Legion|1st King's German Legion Hussars]]

*[[A Battery (The Chestnut Troop) Royal Horse Artillery|Chestnut Troop]], [[Royal Horse Artillery]].

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.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

===Assault across the Côa===

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.

 

 

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.

 

==References==

 

==External links==

*[http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/virtual/c_coa.html Action on the River Côa] (includes links to photos of the bridge and area)

 

{{Napoleonic Wars}}

 

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of the Coa}}

[[Category:1810 in Portugal]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1810]]