The Anglo-Portuguese Army was the combined British and Portuguese army that participated in the Peninsular War, under the command of Arthur Wellesley. The Army is also referred to as the British-Portuguese Army and, in Portuguese, as the Exército Anglo-Luso or the Exército Anglo-Português.
The Anglo-Portuguese Army was established with the British Army deployed to the Iberian Peninsula under the command of General Arthur Wellesley, and the Portuguese Army rebuilt under the leadership of British General William Beresford and the Portuguese War Secretary Miguel Pereira Forjaz.
Besides already becoming Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, on 22 April 1809, Wellesley was appointed, by the Portuguese Government, to Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Army. He then came to have the two armies under his command, transforming them into a single integrated army.
The Army was organised into divisions, most of them including mixed British-Portuguese units. Usually, each one had two British and one Portuguese brigades. In the elite Light Division, the brigades themselves were mixed, each including two British light infantry and one Portuguese Caçadores battalions.
Order of battle[]
- Commander-in-Chief: Field Marshal Wellesley
- 1st Division - Lieutenant-General Hope
- 2nd Division - Major-General Hill (to 1811) and Major-General Stewart (from 1811)
- 3rd Division - Lieutenant-General Picton
- 4th Division - Major-General Charles Colville (to April 1812) and Major-General Cole (from June 1812)
- 5th Division - Major-General Leith
- 6th Division - Lieutenant-General Clinton
- 7th Division - Major-General Hope
- Portuguese Division - Major-General Lecor
- Light Division - Major-General Craufurd
- Army Cavalry
- Portuguese independent brigades
- Portuguese militias
- Portuguese ordenanças
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ The Portuguese Army of the Napoleonic Wars, By Rene Chartrand, Bill Younghusband, pg16
Bibliography[]
- Bluth, B.J. (2001). Marching with Sharpe. UK: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-414537-2.
- Bryant, Arthur (1950). The Age of Elegance: 1812–1822. London: Collins.
- Chandler, David; Beckett, Ian (2003). The Oxford History of the British Army. UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280311-5.
- Chappell, Mike (2004). Wellington's Peninsula Regiments (2): The Light Infantry. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-403-5.
- Fletcher, Ian; Younghusband, William (1994). Wellington's Foot Guards. UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-392-3.
- Fregosi, Paul (1989). Dreams of Empire: Napoleon and the first World War, 1792–1815. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-173926-8.
- Glover, Michael (1974). The Peninsular War 1807–1814: A Concise Military History. UK: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-6387-5.
- Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1987). British Infantry of the Napoleonic Wars. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 0-85368-890-7.
- Napier, Sir William Francis Patrick (1952). English Battles and Sieges in the Peninsula. London: Chapman & Hall. http://books.google.com/books?id=7JEBAAAAQAAJ.
- Nofi, Albert A. (1998). The Waterloo Campaign: June 1815. USA: De Capo Press. ISBN 0-938289-98-5.
- Sumner, Ian; Hook, Richard (2001). British Colours and Standards 1747–1881 (2): Infantry. UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-201-6.
- Venning, Annabel (2005). Following the Drum: The Lives of Army Wives and Daughters Past and Present. London: Headline Publishing. ISBN 0-7553-1258-9.
The original article can be found at Anglo-Portuguese Army and the edit history here.