Battle of Valencia de Alcántara 1762
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 27 August 1762 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1762 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Spain | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Seven Years' War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Great Britain, Kingdom of Portugal, Kingdom of Spain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 39.4167, -7.2333 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Valencia de Alcántara took place in August 1762 when an Anglo Portuguese force led by John Burgoyne surprised and captured the town of Valencia de Alcántara from its Spanish defenders during the Seven Years' War. The town was taken on 27 August as part of the defence against the Spanish invasion of Portugal.
The force that captured Almeida was part of a significant Spanish offensive to overrun Portugal. A northern pincer invaded Portugal from Galicia crossing the Douro and threatening Porto while the southern force crossed the border from Ciudad Rodrigo. With Spain invading Portugal in support of France, Britain sent reinforcements to aid the Portuguese; in total around 8,000 men led by John Burgoyne.
On 24 August, Count of Lippe decided to attack the Spanish town of Valencia de Alcántara, a central supply base for the invasion. He sent John Burgoyne, a colonel of the 16th Light Dragoons now local rank of brigadier general with an Anglo-Portuguese contingent of around 2,800 men (400 light dragoons, six British infantry companies of the 3rd Regiment of Foot, eleven Portuguese grenadiers companies, two howitzers and two light guns). Burgoyne passed the Tagus at Abrantes.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Valencia de Alcántara (revision 1380908647), 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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Other battles of the Seven Years' War
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- Battle of Langensalza (1761) 1761
- Battle of Villinghausen 1761
- Capture of Belle Île 1761
- Siege of Cassel (1761) 1761
- Battle of Burkersdorf (1762) 1762
- Battle of Freiberg 1762
- Battle of Lutterberg (1762) 1762
- Battle of Nauheim 1762
- Battle of Signal Hill 1762
All 102 battles of the Seven Years' War →
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