Battle of Vimeiro 1808
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 21 August 1808 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1808 | 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 | 39.1761, -9.3158 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
In the Battle of Vimeiro (sometimes shown as "Vimiera" or "Vimeira" in contemporary British texts) on 21 August 1808, the British under General Arthur Wellesley (who later became the Duke of Wellington) defeated the French under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro (Portuguese pronunciation: [viˈmɐjɾu]), near Lisbon, Portugal, during the Peninsular War. This battle put an end to the first French invasion of Portugal.
Four days after the Battle of Roliça, Wellesley's army was attacked by a French army under General Junot near the village of Vimeiro. The battle began as a battle of manoeuvre, with French troops attempting to outflank the British left, but Wellesley was able to redeploy his army to face the assault. Meanwhile, Junot sent in two central columns but these were forced back by sustained volleys from troops in line. Soon afterwards, the flanking attack was beaten off and Junot retreated towards Torres Vedras, having lost 2,000 men and 13 cannon, compared to 700 Anglo-Portuguese losses. No pursuit was attempted because Wellesley was superseded by Sir Harry Burrard and then Sir Hew Dalrymple (one having arrived during the battle, the second soon after).
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Vimeiro (revision 1370623683), 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 Roliça 1808 · 19 km
- Battle of the Berlengas (1666) 1666 · 31 km
- Battle of the Berlengas (1591) 1591 · 33 km
- Battle of Alfarrobeira 1449 · 40 km
- Battle of Cap de la Roque 1703 · 48 km
- Battle of Ourique 1139 · 48 km
Other battles of the Peninsular War
- Battle of Alcolea Bridge 1808
- Battle of Bailén 1808
- Battle of Benavente 1808
- Battle of Cabezón 1808
- Battle of Cardedeu 1808
- Battle of Espinosa de los Monteros 1808
- Battle of Gamonal 1808
- Battle of Medina de Rioseco 1808
- Battle of Molins de Rei 1808
- Battle of Roliça 1808
All 124 battles of the Peninsular War →
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