Battle of Alcántara (1809) 1809
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 14 May 1809 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1809 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Spain | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Peninsular War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | First French Empire, Kingdom of Portugal, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 39.7222, -6.8897 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Alcántara was fought on 14 May 1809 during the Peninsular War. It saw a French division led by Marshal Claude Perrin Victor attack an Anglo-Portuguese force comprising the British Army's Loyal Lusitanian Legion (LLL) and Portuguese militia under Colonel William Mayne. After a three hours skirmish, the French stormed across the Alcántara Bridge and forced the Portuguese to retreat. The battle was fought near Alcántara, Spain, a city situated on the Tagus river near the Portuguese border, 285 kilometres (177 mi) west-southwest of Madrid.
While Marshal Nicolas Soult invaded northern Portugal in early 1809, two other French forces stood ready to cooperate in the subjugation of Portugal. Pierre Belon Lapisse's division lurked near Ciudad Rodrigo while Victor's I Corps operated in the Tagus valley. A weak force under Robert Wilson watched Lapisse while Alexander Randoll Mackenzie's Anglo-Portuguese corps kept an eye on Victor. After being outgeneraled by Wilson, Lapisse marched south to join Victor. When Sir Arthur Wellesley's Anglo-Portuguese army advanced to attack Soult's corps, the detachment under Mayne occupied Alcántara.
Believing Mayne's troops to be a serious threat, Victor marched against him. An LLL battalion defended the Alcántara Bridge for three hours.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Alcántara (1809) (revision 1380848783), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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All 124 battles of the Peninsular War →
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