By Ian Fletcher
Following the conflict of Bussaco on 27 September 1810 Wellington's seriously outnumbered troops started to withdraw in the direction of Lisbon. via the night of nine October the British and Portuguese started to withdraw at the back of a line of shielding works that were outfitted to the north of Lisbon. those weren't the rudimentary box works that the French expected, yet a major community of forts, batteries and redoubts whose development were began the former November - the strains of Torres Vedras. This 30-mile-wide line utilised the area's traditional defences, damming rivers, scarping hillsides, blockading roads and setting up forts upon just about all of the hills. This name describes its layout, production and effectiveness within the face of French assaults.
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Additional info for Lines of Torres Vedras 1809-11 (Fortress, Volume 7)
Example text
A fine view of the ditch, glacis and the ramparts of the fort. Note the shape of the fort. It was constructed in such a way as to cover the approaches, and is a fine example of the way in which engineers turned away from the elaborate star-shaped forts of the previous century. The ditches and interior walls have been somewhat artificially preserved with concrete. It serves as a focal point for commemoration of the Lines of Torres Vedras. qxd These two bomb-proof traverses ran parallel to each other and allowed guns, men and ammunition to move freely along the fort at San Vicente with a relatively large degree of protection.
This was found some months later, washed up on the river bed. After Foz d’Arouce, the French made for the bridge over the Mondego at Coimbra, but found it blocked by some Portuguese militia. Here, the Portuguese bluffed the French into thinking they were far more superior in number than they actually were after being summoned by the French to clear the way. The delay was long enough to allow British cavalry to come up and, fearing the rest of the Allied army might be close behind – they were not that far off, in fact – the French abandoned their plan to cross the Mondego and were forced to march along the south bank of the river instead.
But although Wellington had driven the French from Portugal, there remained in the country one last enemy garrison which held on at Almeida, and it was the attempt to relieve the town that led to the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, on 3–5 May 1811. In the event, Masséna was unsuccessful in his attempt to break through to the beleaguered garrison and a few days later, Brennier, commanding them, and his men were forced to abandon the place and make good their escape through Allied lines. Masséna, on the other hand, could look forward to nothing more than a return to France, for he was relieved shortly afterwards by Napoleon and replaced by Marshal Auguste Marmont.