Battle of Bussaco 1810
.jpg){kind=link}
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 27 September 1810 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1810 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Portugal | 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 | 40.3444, -8.3375 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Buçaco (pronounced [buˈsaku]) or Bussaco was fought on 27 September 1810 during the Peninsular War in the Portuguese mountain range of Serra do Buçaco, resulting in the defeat of French forces by Lord Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army. Having occupied the heights of Bussaco with a total of 26,843 British and 25,429 Portuguese troops, Wellington was attacked five times successively by invasion force of 65,050 French under Marshal André Masséna. Masséna was uncertain as to the disposition and strength of the opposing forces because Wellington had deployed them on the reverse slope of the ridge, where they could neither be easily seen nor easily softened up with artillery.
The actual assaults were made by the corps of Marshal Michel Ney and General of Division (Major General) Jean Reynier, but after much fierce fighting they failed to dislodge the allied forces and were driven off after having lost up to 4,500 men against up to 1,356 Anglo-Portuguese casualties. Before this battle, Masséna made no attempt to bypass Wellington's position or conduct further reconnaissance, contrary to his officers' fears. However, Wellington was ultimately forced to withdraw to the Lines of Torres Vedras after his positions were outflanked by Masséna's troops.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Bussaco (revision 1370785527), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Foz de Arouce 1811 · 26 km
- Battle of Casal Novo 1811 · 29 km
- Battle of Pombal 1811 · 53 km
- Battle of Cesar 1035 · 65 km
- Battle of Grijó 1809 · 79 km
- Battle of Pedroso 1071 · 82 km
Other battles of the Peninsular War
- Battle of the Monterrey Valley 1809
- First Battle of Porto 1809
- Second Battle of Porto 1809
- Siege of Chaves 1809
- Third siege of Girona (Peninsular War) 1809
- Battle of Baza 1810
- Battle of Fuengirola 1810
- Battle of La Bisbal 1810
- Battle of Manresa (1810) 1810
- Battle of Mollet 1810
All 124 battles of the Peninsular War →
Browse more: battles in Portugal · Europe · 19th century battles