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16 May in military history: Battle of Albuera, 1811

Military history · 16 May · Peninsular WarFull calendar

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Map marking the battle site: Albuera, about 20 km south of Badajoz, Spain
Location: Albuera, about 20 km south of Badajoz, Spain. Location map: © Echoes of Battle (data: Natural Earth, public domain)
Quick answer

On 16 May 1811, at Albuera south of Badajoz in Spain, Marshal William Beresford's British, Portuguese and Spanish army stood in the way of Marshal Soult, who was marching to relieve the French garrison of Badajoz. After a close-range infantry fight on the hilltop the allied 4th Division advanced, Soult's columns gave way, and on 18 May he retreated.

Battle of Albuera

16 May 1811 · 215 years ago

Soult marches on Badajoz

In May 1811 the army of Marshal Sir William Beresford was besieging Badajoz, held by a French garrison, and Soult gathered a force in Andalusia to relieve it. Oman puts that force at just under 25,000 men, about 4,400 of them cavalry; Fortescue, from Soult's own return, at 24,000.1

Beresford chose to fight at Albuera, south of Badajoz, where the road from Seville crossed a low ridge above a small stream. Moyle Sherer, an officer of the British 2nd Division, found the brook "not above knee-deep". Blake's Spanish army joined Beresford during the night before the battle. Oman counts about 10,450 British and German troops, 10,000 Portuguese and 14,000 Spaniards on the field; Fortescue gives round figures of ten, ten and fourteen thousand. Soult later wrote in his dispatch that he had not known Blake was there; Oman accepts this, while Fortescue dismisses it as "nonsense".2

Round the right flank

Soult opened with an attack by Godinot's troops on the village and bridge, while most of his infantry and cavalry marched hidden through the woods, crossed the stream and climbed the ridge beyond the allied right. Beresford asked Blake to turn part of his army to meet the threat, and Oman and Napier both describe Blake as slow to do it.3

Four Spanish battalions under Zayas met the French attack on the hilltop. Here the accounts part. Oman writes that Zayas's men held their line until British troops relieved them, and counts 615 of them killed and wounded out of 2,026. Fortescue writes that they stood for an hour and a half and did not break and fly, although parts of the line fell back in some disorder just as the British came up. Napier writes that the Spaniards gave way, and Sherer that they were overpowered and driven from their ground.4

Lancers in the hailstorm

William Stewart, commanding the 2nd Division, sent Colborne's brigade into the flank of the French column as it came up, without waiting for the rest of the division to form. Its fire threw the French into disorder, and the brigade was about to charge when a storm of rain and hail swept the field.5

Latour-Maubourg then sent lancers and hussars against the brigade's flank and rear. Napier and Sherer call the lancers Polish, and Oman names them as the 1st Lancers of the Vistula. Only the 31st, which had not yet deployed, was spared. Oman counts 58 of 80 officers and 1,190 of 1,568 men of the other three battalions killed, wounded or taken. Some lancers reached Beresford and his staff, and the marshal turned a lance aside and threw its rider from the saddle.6

Die hard

Hoghton's brigade came up through the retiring Spaniards, with Abercrombie's beside it. Sherer remembered a young Spanish officer who rode up and "begged me, with a sort of proud and brave anxiety, to explain to the English, that his countrymen were ordered to retire, but were not flying". As the line cleared the Spaniards, the smoke lifted for a moment and showed him "the French grenadier caps, their arms, and the whole aspect of their frowning masses".7

The two sides then fired into each other at close range. Oman reckons that for about half an hour some 1,900 British faced the 8,000 men of the French 5th Corps on an equal front. Hoghton was killed while cheering on his men. According to Fortescue, Colonel William Inglis of the 57th, his horse shot under him, led the battalion on foot with the words "Fifty-seventh, die hard!" and, struck down by grapeshot, lay among his men urging them on. Napier writes that Inglis, twenty-two officers and more than four hundred of the 570 men of the 57th who had climbed the hill fell. Oman and Fortescue both tie the regiment's nickname, the Die-hards, to that stand.8

The Fusiliers go in

With Hoghton's brigade wasting away, Colonel Hardinge of Beresford's staff rode to Cole and, without orders from Beresford, pressed him to advance with the 4th Division; Napier writes that Hardinge "boldly ordered" him. Harvey's Portuguese brigade, in line, drove off a charge of French dragoons with its volleys, while Myers's Fusilier brigade, two battalions of the 7th and one of the 23rd, climbed the hill against Werlé's reserve. Myers was killed.9

Fortescue writes that the fame of the Fusilier brigade is assured by "an immortal passage in English literature", Napier's account. Napier wrote that "then was seen with what a strength and majesty the British soldier fights". Werlé's columns broke, Abercrombie's brigade struck the other flank of the 5th Corps, and the French infantry streamed back across the brook. Soult's cavalry and guns covered the retreat, and Beresford did not follow across the stream.10

Counting the cost

Oman calls Albuera the bloodiest of all the battles of the Peninsular War in proportion to the numbers engaged. Oman, working from British, French and Spanish returns, gives British and German losses as 882 killed, 2,733 wounded and 544 missing, with 389 Portuguese and 1,368 Spanish casualties. Fortescue's round figures are four thousand British and Germans, four hundred Portuguese and fourteen hundred Spaniards. On 24 May Wellington reported to London that, according to Beresford, most of the officers and men returned as missing had rejoined their regiments.11

French losses are less certain. Soult's dispatch to Napoleon admitted only 2,800 killed and wounded, Oman writes. A later French return gave about 6,000 killed, wounded and missing, 900 of them missing. Oman puts the true loss near 7,900, Fortescue at "fully eight thousand", and Napier writes that above eight thousand French were struck down.12

Rain fell again that night on the wounded across the hillsides; Oman puts their number at 10,000, and Napier writes that the hills and woods "resounded with the dismal clamour and groans of dying men". On 20 May Sherer saw the small chapel at Albuera "filled with French wounded", many of them amputees lying on the bare stones.13

A victory argued over

On 17 May the two armies stood facing each other across the stream. On 18 May Soult retreated. Oman and Napier write that he left several hundred badly wounded men behind. On 19 May allied troops closed in on Badajoz again. According to Oman, Wellington renewed the siege but on 10 June decided to abandon it, because Marmont's army was coming to join Soult. Sherer writes that the siege was raised on the 10th because Marmont was moving to join Soult.14

Napier, Beresford's bitter enemy in Oman's words, wrote that "No general ever gained a great battle with so little increase of military reputation as marshal Beresford". Oman blames Blake's slowness and Stewart's haste more than Beresford and calls Cole "the real hero" of the day; Fortescue writes that Beresford was beginning "to lose his head" and, seeing Cole advance without his orders, rode to the rear to arrange a retreat. Sherer, who fought there, called Albuera a "dear-bought, and, let me add, not useless victory".15

Also on this day

Battle of the Dardanelles

16 May 1654 · 372 years ago

In the long war over Crete, Giuseppe Delfino's Venetian fleet tried to stop a much larger Ottoman fleet coming out of the Dardanelles. Most Venetian ships moved too early and left the flagship group alone, and Venice lost several ships while Daniele Morosini was captured.

1863: in Mississippi, on the road to Vicksburg, Ulysses S. Grant's Union army beat John C. Pemberton's Confederates at Champion Hill. Grant writes that the battle lasted about four hours after two or three hours of skirmishing and gives his loss as 410 killed, 1,844 wounded and 187 missing; the American Battlefield Trust estimates 2,457 Union and 3,840 Confederate casualties. Pemberton fell back that night toward the Big Black River. Our page for 18 May follows the siege of Vicksburg that came next.16

1943: in Warsaw, the German operation to crush the ghetto uprising, which the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum dates from 19 April, came to an end. In his teletype of 16 May, SS and Police Leader Jürgen Stroop reported that "The former Jewish quarter of Warsaw is no longer in existence" and that the action had ended at 20:15 with the blowing up of the Warsaw Synagogue. The museum names it the Great Synagogue on Tłomackie Street and writes that at least 7,000 Jews died fighting or in hiding in the ghetto.17

Frequently asked questions

When and where was the Battle of Albuera?

On 16 May 1811, at the village of Albuera, south of Badajoz in Spain. Marshal Sir William Beresford's British, Portuguese and Spanish army fought Marshal Soult's French, who were marching to relieve Badajoz.

Who won the Battle of Albuera?

Soult's attack failed: his infantry was driven back across the stream, and on 18 May he retreated. Historians disagree over how much credit Beresford deserves. Napier wrote that no general ever gained a great battle with so little increase of military reputation, while Oman blames Blake's slowness and Stewart's haste more than Beresford.

What happened to Colborne's brigade?

It attacked the flank of the French column, and during a storm of rain and hail lancers and hussars struck it in the flank and rear. Only the 31st, which had not yet deployed, was spared. Oman counts 58 of 80 officers and 1,190 of 1,568 men of the other three battalions killed, wounded or taken.

Why were the 57th called the Die-hards?

According to Fortescue, their colonel, William Inglis, led them on foot with the words "Fifty-seventh, die hard!" and kept urging them on after he was struck down. Oman and Fortescue tie the nickname to their stand at Albuera.

How many men were lost at Albuera?

Oman gives British and German losses as 882 killed, 2,733 wounded and 544 missing, with 389 Portuguese and 1,368 Spanish casualties. French losses are less certain: a later French return gave about 6,000, Oman puts them near 7,900 and Fortescue at fully eight thousand.

Notes

A number in the text points to a note; each note names the works that paragraph draws on, listed in full under Sources.

  1. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; Viscount Wellington, “The London Gazette”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”. ↩
  2. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; Moyle Sherer, “Recollections of the Peninsula”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”. ↩
  3. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; Moyle Sherer, “Recollections of the Peninsula”. ↩
  4. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; Moyle Sherer, “Recollections of the Peninsula”. ↩
  5. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”. ↩
  6. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”; Moyle Sherer, “Recollections of the Peninsula”. ↩
  7. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”; Moyle Sherer, “Recollections of the Peninsula”. ↩
  8. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”; Moyle Sherer, “Recollections of the Peninsula”. ↩
  9. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”. ↩
  10. W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”; Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”. ↩
  11. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”; Viscount Wellington, “The London Gazette”. ↩
  12. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”. ↩
  13. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; Moyle Sherer, “Recollections of the Peninsula”. ↩
  14. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; Moyle Sherer, “Recollections of the Peninsula”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”. ↩
  15. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. IV”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France, Vol. III”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army, Vol. VIII”; Moyle Sherer, “Recollections of the Peninsula”. ↩
  16. Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant”; American Battlefield Trust, “Champion Hill”. ↩
  17. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Warsaw Ghetto Uprising”; Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality, “Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Vol. III”. ↩

Sources

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