Transcript

The Peninsular War, 1808-11: Wellington's Rise And The Defense Of Portugal

From Timeline - World History Documentaries · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 48 min · 7,596 words · 69 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "The Peninsular War, 1808-11: Wellington's Rise And The Defense Of Portugal", an episode of Timeline - World History Documentaries published January 16, 2026 (48 min, about 7,596 words). It mentions 19 people, works and ideas, including Sir Arthur Wellsley, Marshall Andre Msina, Lines of Torres Vedras, Marshall Sult, Saragosa.

What this episode is about

The topic focuses on the Peninsular War from 1808 to 1811, highlighting the complexities of British and French military engagements in Portugal and Spain. Key points include the emergence of Sir Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington) as a leader of British forces, the challenges posed by Spanish guerrilla fighters against the French, and the brutal sieges endured by cities like Saragossa amid an escalating conflict.

Key takeaways

  • The Siege of Saragossa: a brutal reminder that urban warfare is a fight through walls, not just across streets.
  • In guerrilla warfare, every peasant can become a general; the French underestimated Spain's resolve and creativity.
  • 50,000 casualties at Saragossa outnumbered Waterloo's grim tally, proving that some battles redefine the meaning of sacrifice.
  • Saragossa's streets became tombs; in war, preservation of life often yields to brutal death counts and haunting legacies.
  • Artillery can't conquer spirit; even mighty French guns struggled against the tenacity of locals defending their homeland.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Saragosa, Joseé de Palifox, Julian Sanchez, Battle of Balan
  2. – 10:00: Sir Arthur Wellsley, Marshall Sult, Joseé de Palifox, Saragosa
  3. – 15:00: Sir Arthur Wellsley, Marshall Sult, General Qua, Battle of Vimro
  4. – 25:00: Lieutenant George Simmons
  5. – 30:00: Marshall Andre Msina, Lines of Torres Vedras, Theod Rodrigo
  6. – 35:00: Almeida, Marshall Andre Msina, Brigadier Cox
  7. – 45:00: Lines of Torres Vedras
  8. – 48:26: Almeida, Theod Rodrigo, Richard Sharp

Notable quotes from "The Peninsular War, 1808-11: Wellington's Rise And The Defense Of Portugal"

  • The first enemy are the British. That's an enemy the French understand and are confident they can beat. Yet the British troops clinging to the Portuguese coastline are now led…
    about Sir Arthur Wellsley · at
  • He ended it as the commander of a cavalry regiment, the Lancers of Castile. And on the way, he fought a war of murder, terror, ambush, and hatred.
    about Julian Sanchez · at
  • The siege that began in December 1808 was the second that the city had endured. The first had lasted 8 weeks from June until August 1808. Having sustained a large number of casualties,.
    about Saragosa · at
  • Elsewhere the French were planning to reinvade Portugal. On the 9th of March, a French army of 20,000 men under the command of Marshall Sult crossed the border. And by the end of the month, they had captured a Porto, Portugal's second city.
    about Marshall Sult · at
  • Troops to join up with 35,000 Spaniards commanded by General Qua. With this combined army, they would outnumber the French army stationed in the Teagas Valley by almost 3 to…
    about General Qua · at
  • Laid the plans for defensive positions around Lisbon that would become famous as the lines of Torres Vedras, one of the greatest feats of military engineering ever accomplished.
    about Lines of Torres Vedras · at
  • The French commander who had received clear instructions from Napoleon to capture and secure Portugal once and for all was Marshall Andre Msina.
    about Marshall Andre Msina · at
  • Terrible breaches here at Theod Rodrigo and at Bad Hoth, the British army was to suffer ghastly losses. It would take men every bit as brave as my fictional hero, Richard…
    about Theod Rodrigo · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Sir Arthur Wellsley — Person · Referenced historical commander (British) · 2 mentions · first at
    Central British commander in the episode’s narrative (Portugal/Spain campaigns), later known as the Duke of Wellington; his decisions (Porto, Talavera, Torres Vedras) anchor the episode’s arc.
  • Marshall Andre Msina — Person · Referenced historical commander (French) · 2 mentions · first at
    French marshal tasked by Napoleon with the third invasion of Portugal (1810–1811); his advance to Busaco and failure before Torres Vedras are key to the episode’s strategic climax.
  • Marshall Sult — Person · Referenced historical commander (French) · 2 mentions · first at
    French marshal leading the 1809 invasion into Portugal and occupation of Porto; his defeat and withdrawal illustrate Wellington’s operational deception and rapid crossing of the Douro.
  • Joseé de Palifox — Person · Referenced historical defender (Spanish) · 2 mentions · first at
    Commander of Zaragoza’s garrison during the second siege; his refusal to surrender and eventual capitulation frame the episode’s depiction of urban siege warfare and civilian suffering.
    The Spanish garrison was once more under the command of Joseé de Palifox, a 28-year-old nobleman who had masterminded the defense of Saragosa during the first siege.
  • General Qua — Person · Referenced allied Spanish commander · 1 mention · first at
    Spanish general meant to coordinate with Wellington for a combined offensive; his failure to cooperate (late/asleep/ill-tempered) is presented as a key reason the allied plan faltered.
  • Julian Sanchez — Person · Referenced historical guerrilla leader (Spanish) · 1 mention · first at
    Used to illustrate the guerrilla war’s brutality and effectiveness; presented as a notable leader who rose from peasant to cavalry commander.
  • Richard Sharp — Person · Fictional protagonist referenced by narrator · 2 mentions · first at
    Serves as the narrative lens/anchor character (from the Sharpe novels/TV adaptations) to connect the historical events to a dramatized soldier’s experience.
    Terrible breaches here at Theod Rodrigo and at Bad Hoth, the British army was to suffer ghastly losses. It would take men every bit as brave as my fictional hero, Richard…
  • Lieutenant George Simmons — Person · Referenced eyewitness (British soldier-memoirist) · 1 mention · first at
    Provides first-person testimony about the aftermath of Talavera, emphasizing battlefield horror and Spanish mistreatment of wounded French.
    Lieutenant George Simmons, a Yorkshire man of the 95th Rifles, remembered, There were thousands dead and dying in every direction, horses, men, French and English in whole lines who'd cut each.
  • General Sebastian — Person · Referenced French commander (reinforcement threat) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a potential reinforcing force protecting Madrid; functions mainly as a strategic variable in Wellington’s planning.
    Combined army, they would outnumber the French army stationed in the Teagas Valley by almost 3 to one. Even if this French army should be reinforced by General Sebastian's…
  • General Venagas — Person · Referenced allied Spanish commander (southern approach) · 1 mention · first at
    Part of the three-pronged allied plan to take Madrid; cited to show the plan’s dependence on coordination among Spanish commanders.
    French army should be reinforced by General Sebastian's troops that were protecting Madrid, a further Spanish army under General Venagas was positioned to take the capital by coming up from the south. Victory, therefore, seemed assure.
  • Brigadier Cox — Person · Referenced fortress commander (Allied) · 1 mention · first at
    Named as the English commander of Almeida’s Anglo-Portuguese garrison; associated with the catastrophic magazine explosion and the fortress’s fall.
    That's going to go to Bisako and the lines of Taurus Vadras. And it had a big Anglo Portuguese garrison headed by an Englishman called Brigadier Cox.

Concepts & topics

Places & events

  • Saragosa — Place · 4 mentions · first at
  • Almeida — Place · 3 mentions · first at
    August Messina had captured both Theod Rodrigo and Almeida, thereby opening the way across the frontier.
  • Theod Rodrigo — Place · 2 mentions · first at
  • Battle of Waterloo — Event · 1 mention · first at
    Happened if I had not been there but he's absolutely damn right. I mean we'd have simply lost the peninsula war let alone Waterloo without Wellington.
  • Battle of Balan — Event · 1 mention · first at
    Sustained a large number of casualties, the French had given up following the Battle of Balan.
  • Battle of Vimro — Event · 1 mention · first at
    He demonstrated that he could defeat the French. He defeated them soundly at Vimro and as we've seen if it wasn't for the convention of CRA there was a great chance that we may have driven them into the sea and the history of the peninsula.
  • Battle of Talavera — Event · 1 mention
    By the time night fell on the 27th of July, the British had hunkered down on the Medí, a strategically vital hill.

Full transcript with timestamps

In the year 1808, as the Peninsula War entered its second year, it was clear that this war would be no short, sharp affair. Somehow, the British army had escaped by the skin of its teeth at the Battle of Corona. But elsewhere, the bitter fighting was about to get even worse. The French began this war with a simple aim, to capture Portugal and so cut Britain's trade with the continent. But their arrival stirred up a new enemy, the Spanish people. So now the French are fighting two wars against two very different enemies.

The first enemy are the British. That's an enemy the French understand and are confident they can beat. Yet the British troops clinging to the Portuguese coastline are now led by a new general, Sir Arthur Wellsley, soon to become the first Duke of Wellington. Richard Sharp, my fictional hero, will march with Wellington to a Porto and Tala. Both victories. Yet in truth, the British are still not strong enough to take on the mighty French armies occupying Spain. Now those armies are under siege from a new enemy, the guerilla. Those are the men and women who fought the guerillo, the little war.

80 French guns opened up and all hell broke loose. Well lost 25% of his army. [screaming]

This is a monument to Julian. Sanchez, one of the finest of the guerilla leaders. He began the war as a peasant. He ended it as the commander of a cavalry regiment, the Lancers of Castile. And on the way, he fought a war of murder, terror, ambush, and hatred. And all those things came together in one place, Sarraasa.

Now the war at Sarraosa was nothing like that between the British and the French armies. At Saragosa it was war to the night. No mercy, no pity and no prisoners. And in the second year of the war for the Spanish defenders of Saragosa, time was running out.

The siege that began in December 1808 was the second that the city had endured. The first had lasted 8 weeks from June until August 1808. Having sustained a large number of casualties, the French had given up following the Battle of Balan. 4 months later, the French army was back at the gates of the city with more than 40,000 troops. The Spanish garrison was once more under the command of Joseé de Palifox, a 28-year-old nobleman who had masterminded the defense of Saragosa during the first siege. The French army soon gained the important strategic position of Monte Torero and terms were offered to Palifox for the surrender of the city. He refused them and on the 23rd of December, the bombardment of Saragosa began.

Yet again, the French found themselves fighting in a terrible and hostile environment. Very quickly, they discovered just how difficult this type of warfare can be. This street behind me has over 400 windows. It was impossible for the French to know where fire was coming from. Impossible for them to return fire effectively. The French tried to fight their way into the houses. Each house was like a fortress. Heavy wooden doors, thick brick and stone walls, windows with heavy wooden shutters, and iron bars. The French brought up their guns and fired them at virtually pointblank range. But even the heaviest caliber had little effect. Each house was a fortress. There was only one thing for the French to do, and that was to break each individual door down. Three to four Frenchmen would point the muzzles of their musketss at the locks of the doors and fire simultaneously. With the locks smashed, they would then kick the door

open and charge into the houses and kill the inhabitants at point of bait. The French discovered, as all other armies have since that time, that the only way to fight in a city is not from the street into a house, but literally from house to house. During the long days of the siege, many of the citizens of the city disappeared below ground into dark cellers, emerging only at night to help their army rebuild its shattered barricades. On the 27th of January 189, the French tried again. Their batteries opened up and kept up a fire for nearly 3 weeks.

By the beginning of February 1809, fewer than 9,000 fit Spanish soldiers remained to defend Sarraagosa. French shot and shell and disease had claimed the rest. Unburied corpses littered the streets. Civilian mobs formed, sometimes fronted by priests and monks to hand out summary punishment to those citizens they deemed unwilling to fight. For the Frenchman too, the taking of Sarraossa was becoming a nightmare.

The French engineer Belmas wrote, "We must halt and await reinforcements or we shall all perish and be buried in these cursed ruins before we can root out the last of these fanatics from their last stronghold.

By the 10th of February, the French had advanced into the center of the battered city and were fighting for control of the convent of San Francisco. The events at this unlikely battleground altered the course of the entire siege. In the end, it wasn't French artillery that defeated the citizens of Sarraosa. It was the explosion of a 3,000lb mine under the convent of San Francisco. More than 500 people were killed in an instant, their body parts strewn all over the city. By the 18th of February, it was obvious even to Palifox, who was himself ravaged by illness, that further resistance was futile. He relinquished command of the Spanish garrison and sent a message to Marshall Lan, the French commander, asking his terms for the surrender of Sarraosa.

Having secured an assurance from the French that there would be no acts of vengeance against the people of the city, the garrison of Sarraosa laid down its arms on the 21st of February 1809, and the French had taken their objective. The second siege of Sarraosa was over. This is where the people of Zaragoza deposited the bodies of the dead. But by February, there were too many. Nearly 50,000 had died, more than all the casualties at the Battle of Waterloo.

While the bloody events at Sarraosa were being played out, elsewhere the French were planning to reinvade Portugal. On the 9th of March, a French army of 20,000 men under the command of Marshall Sult crossed the border. And by the end of the month, they had captured a Porto, Portugal's second city. Yet again, there was appalling bloodshed as the city fell. Meanwhile, in Britain, the decision was made to continue the fight against Napoleon in the peninsula. A second expeditionary force was gathered together and sent to Portugal under the command of the man who would become the scourge of the French. He was Sir Arthur Welsley.

Sir Arthur Wellsley was still regarded as one of our best soldiers. More important, he still wielded political influence through his brother and the Wellersley family. So he was he had good good influence at the top.

He's the product of privilege. He's the son of an aristocrat. He only reaches high command through the purchase system, which seems ridiculous. You know, you buy your way up the ranks. And yet, of course, he's a natural. He's a complete natural. He is the most complete soldier of the 19th century. He had a great eye for ground. I mean, I'm always amazed when I when I go over his battlefields and and what looks like a featureless plane that Wellington has been there and he's spotted that this is the place to put the troops and my god it always is and the French can't see them and and suddenly the French yet again are marching into disaster. This is all Wellington.

He demonstrated that he could defeat the French. He defeated them soundly at Vimro and as we've seen if it wasn't for the convention of CRA there was a great chance that we may have driven them into the sea and the history of the peninsula war may have been very different.

I mean he once said rather immodestly I you know I don't think it would have happened if I had not been there but he's absolutely damn right. I mean we we'd have simply lost the peninsula war let alone Waterloo without Wellington. After reaching Lisbon on the 22nd of April 1809, Welssley reorganized the British and Portuguese armies, placing the Portuguese under the command of Sir William Barerisford. Within weeks, Welssley's army was ready to seek out its enemy and had set out for a Porto. The city that was being occupied by a French force under the command of Marshall Sult. However, to reach a Porto and engage Sult's army, the British would first have to cross the river Durham.

Approaching the river on the 12th of May, they found that Sult had destroyed the only bridge and no doubt thinking his force was safe from attack had placed his men around the city on the far bank of the river. Welssley's army advanced up the coast of Portugal towards a Porto. Now he kept his army as close to the coast as he possibly could because what he was planning to do was to convince the French that there would be an amphibious operation against a Porto. And in fact, this succeeded. Salt had most of his troops concentrated on the western part of the city looking to the the mouth of the Doro. Out there they could see the Royal Navy and it seemed obvious to them that the the British with the their well-known expertise in amphibious operations would would come either up the Doro or land somewhere to the north of a Porto.

Welssley moved his army east up the up the doro and with the help of the population of the Porto moved his army across the the doro on on wine bares uh the French tried to counterattack uh Welssley was able to put his artillery on a monastery which dominated the city and Welsley's artillery fire smashed the French counterattacks uh Sult quite wisely decided to withdraw from a Porto Sultt had been outthought outmaneuvered and outfought by Welssley and his troops. The French positions, which Sult had thought were unassalable, had been overrun, and soon he and his forces were in full retreat towards the mountainous country of the north. Assistant Surgeon Good of the Third Footguards recalled, "The brigade of guards crossed the Duro in boats timely procured, and forming on the key of Aporto, loaded and advanced up the town. But would the devil look all wait for us? They were all out except a few dead and wounded lying in

the streets. Indeed, they went away in such a hurry that they left the streets blocked up with artillery and ammunition wagons. Some of these had broken down, and the horses of others had been shot. We pursued the fugitives through the town, but they would not stop for us.

It was a stunning British victory, as a result of which the French were ejected from Portugal for the second time. With his objective in Portugal achieved, Welssley was able to advance into Spain towards his next target, Madrid. The plan was for Welssley's 20,000 troops to join up with 35,000 Spaniards commanded by General Qua. With this combined army, they would outnumber the French army stationed in the Teagas Valley by almost 3 to one. Even if this French army should be reinforced by General Sebastian's troops that were protecting Madrid, a further Spanish army under General Venagas was positioned to take the capital by coming up from the south. Victory, therefore, seemed assure.

However, there were several problems. The plan depended on the three Allied generals working together and trusting one another, which they clearly did not. Another problem was that the baron Tagus Valley could not be relied upon for supplies. Furthermore, the French forces that had just been ejected from Portugal were perfectly positioned to fall on Welssley's communications. After the conjunction of British and Spanish forces, for the first time in a very long time, the Allies had a numerical superiority over Marshall Victor's forces. Welssley wanted the combined Allied army to attack on the 23rd of July. But at the appointed hour, no Spanish army had appeared. And so Welssley rode over to Qua's headquarters. And he discovered that Quester was still asleep. And Quester was extremely illtempered. And he told Wsley that his army was too tired to attack that day. Now in the meantime, Victor's scouts had determined that the

French army was actually facing a combined British Spanish army, which outnumbered them considerably. And so Victor uh quite sensibly decided that he would withdraw at considerable speed. Now the following day, the 24th of July, Quester decided that he would go forward. He would attack without Waltsley's support. So the Spanish charged off to the east and then of course the French counterattacked. On the 25th of July the situation was serious. The Spanish had been repulsed and were retiring in some disorder. Welssley now moved forward to give them support.

There were now upwards of 100,000 troops at Tala and one of the bloodiest battles of the Peninsula War was only hours away. By the time night fell on the 27th of July, the British had hunkered down on the Medí, a strategically vital hill. But now the Frenchmen seized the initiative by launching an attack on the unsuspecting British troops. After dark on the 27th of July, General Hill rode up the slope behind me. It's the western slope of the Medelin. Hill was expecting to find his own troops dug in here. Instead, he and the companion found themselves in the middle of the French army. His companion was cut down. The French tried to seize Hill's bridal, but Hill managed to escape and rode hell for lever down the slope behind me. He found the 29th regiment and led them into a counterattack. For the next few hours, the 29th and the French battled for control of the Medlin. Eventually, at point of Bayet, the French were forced

down the eastern slope. Dawn broke on the 28th of July and the French began a huge artillery barrage on the British positions. On the Medí, the British employed the tactic for which Welssley became famous. They deployed on the reverse side of the crest of the hill which protected them from the French canonade. At 5:00 in the morning, the battle proper began. The report of a single French cannon was the signal for Rafine's division to attack again. They came up the slope behind me. 4 and a half thousand. This time Hill had two battalions in a reverse slope. He kept them down and waited. The French advanced in column, 400 a breast. Hill waited until the French were within easy range. Suddenly the British line,500 strong, stood up and fired French. It was all over in 3 minutes. 1700 French dead and wounded lay on the ground.

In the British ranks elsewhere that day was Sergeant John Spencer Cooper of the Seventh Royal Fuselers, and he remembered the effects of the artillery bombardment.

The dawn of July 28th saw more than 100,000 men standing ready to slay one another. None, but those who have been in similar circumstances can even guess what is felt. Just as the sun shot its first beams over the mountains and I left. Bang went the first gun from the enemy and bang was our answer from the battery on the hill. Battery after battery now opened. Who the gunners in the battery were, I don't know, but an unlucky shot from them killed a Brunswick rifleman by tearing out his bowels.

With the day only a few hours old, the French infantry began their furious attacks. But they all founded against the disciplined British musket fire. A second attempt by Victor to take the Medagí was once again beaten back by General Hill. After the carnage of the early hours, a lull in the fighting descended on the battlefield of Tala. Both sides heeded an extraordinary informal ceasefire while dead and wounded men were cleared to make way for the next French attack. This little brook behind me is the Putinia. On the 28th of July 189, it marked a dividing line between the French to my left and the British to my right. Between 7:00 and 11:00 in the morning, they were sight of the first unofficial truce between the British and the French armies. During a lot in the fighting, individual soldiers from the opposing armies came down here to slake their thirst. They encountered each other.

They exchanged insults. They exchanged jokes and then they exchanged items of equipment. They laughed and they rested together and then they returned to their lines to kill each other. The fighting in the center of the British line during the main attack was brutal and savage. But despite several dangerous moments, the British held firm while the Spaniards distinguished themselves by a gallant cavalry charge against the left wing of the French. At 1:15 in the afternoon, Sherbrich heard coming from about 400 yards to his right the sound of battle coming from the the pra a farmhouse which had been fortified by Welssley and marked the boundary line between the Spanish and and British fronts.

For a time all was peaceful in this particular sector of the battlefield, but it didn't last very long. At 2:00 in the afternoon, 80 French guns opened up and all broke loose here. Balls cut great sways through the front lines of the first division, but they didn't waver. Soon there was the ominous sound of French columns advancing, the drums, the shots as two French divisions crossed the the stream and headed directly for the British line. French skirmishers moved to the front, driving back the British skirmishers onto the British line. First division didn't waver. When they were within musket range, Sherbrook gave the order. Fire rippled along the British front. The French columns swayed, staggered, reformed, came on again. Another British volley brought the columns to a halt. French wavered, and then pulled back.

Most of the brigades remained firm. But for one brigade, the sight of the retreating French was too much.

Two battalions of foot guards paid dearly when their exuberance got the better of them. As Sergeant Cooper recalled, "This time the British guards were brought up, who charged the enemy and swept them back instantly, but pursuing them too far, they suffered heavily before support came up. This was seen by Welssley, who immediately sent forward a fresh body of men into the frey. These in turn charged so roughly that the enemy retired, leaving heaps of dead and wounded. A few minutes later, one of the guards passed me. I said, "You have had warm work. How many of your brigade have you lost?"

He very dryly answered. "About 600, I think." Slowly, the butchery subsided and the French began to retire. But the French were not finished. Some of the troops who had attacked the Medí now tried to get around the British left flank.

The French decided to take one more attack and Rufen advanced against Wellington's left and very reluctantly because these were the chaps that had attacked the previous night. So they'd already been in action once before. And when Wellersley saw this, he launched Anson's cavalry which was the 23rd light draons and the first of the king's German legion. It's a very famous incident as the cavalry swept down the valley to the north of the Median. They came across a dry water course. The king's German Legion cavalry saw this swerved away from it and got away no problem at all, but they came under fire from the French infantry squares. The 23rd how in a famous very famous incident plunged headlong into the water course and and suffered a wee bit, but it's a bit of a red herring because the regiment formed up on the other side.

The real damage to the 23rd light draons came when they charged into the midst of the French cavalry and the French opened up, let them in, and the 23rd were very badly cut up. Like the 20th light draons at Vimra, so badly were they cut up, they were forced to come back to England and will play no further part in the peninsula war.

With no sure prospect of victory, the French army withdrew, leaving Welssley in possession of the field at Tala. But victory had been won at a fearful cost, and the battle was to have a terrible aftermath. [screaming] After the bloody carnage of the battle itself, there came more scenes of terrible suffering. Brush fires swept the battlefield, burning to death, wounded men who were unable to move. Hundreds more lay bleeding and unprotected from the baking sun, and many died of thirst. Lieutenant George Simmons, a Yorkshire man of the 95th Rifles, remembered,

"There were thousands dead and dying in every direction, horses, men, French and English in whole lines who'd cut each other down. I'm sorry to say the Spaniards butchered the wounded Frenchmen at every opportunity and stripped them naked. Victory for Welssley had come at a terrible price. Some 5,300 British troops had been killed or wounded. Almost a quarter of his army. These were losses that Welssley could ill afford. Nonetheless, superior tactics and organization had once more won the day for the British. At the Battle of Tala, Wellsley lost 25% of his army. Over 5,000 casualties was a lot. That was, you know, that that's a big hit to take.

As a result of that, you had the French coming down from the north. They were coming from the east. So he was left with little choice but to retire. And so Welssley then has to abandon Spain and pull back into Portugal. And by the beginning of August, Welssley has managed to concentrate most of his army in the frontier region around Banahos.

But having lost 5,000 men out of 20,000, he just could not afford to linger. And when we talk about Wellington being sort of a careful defensive, I prefer to say he was cautious and prudent. Don't forget one army completely outnumbered by about five French armies. You know, you couldn't hang around too long otherwise you lose your army, you lose the war and we'll never get back into it again. So faced with this prospect after Tala, he was left with little choice but to retreat back towards Bad Hoth and from there they would go back to Portugal.

In Britain, Welssley became a hero and on behalf of a grateful nation, he was created Viccount. The British withdrawal from Tala to Bahos was particularly difficult for the troops. There were disturbing echoes of Sir John Moore's retreat to Corona. The major problem was that there simply was not enough food, as John Spencer Cooper remembered afterwards. Notwithstanding our weak state through want of food. We had to drag the artillery by ropes up some steep mountains as horses could not keep on their feet. Great numbers of these animals died. Stores and cannon were buried. Men looked like skeletons. Our clothing was in rags. Shirts, shoes, and stockings were worn out. And there was no bread served out for 6 days. All we got was a pound of bad lean beef for each day. Happy was a soldier that had little salt. From Barahos, where the local population was distinctly unfriendly, Wellington marched north

towards Theodad Rodrigo. But of far more significance was his decision to visit Lisbon. What happened during his visit was a prime example of Wellington's remarkable ability to think beyond the next day or week, and to plan ahead in a war he knew would last a very long time. During September and October 1809, Wellington laid the plans for defensive positions around Lisbon that would become famous as the lines of Torres Vedras, one of the greatest feats of military engineering ever accomplished. These extraordinary defenses were constructed in complete secrecy by tens of thousands of Portuguese workers who began work on the 20th of October 1809.

Wellington always had a good eye for the ground and he was very quick to see the potential afforded by the hills to the north of Lisbon and there were three sets of lines constructed. He was really just giving mother nature a helping hand by putting redouts and faults on all of the hilltops. He damned the rivers. He broke up the approach roads. He put abatis these uh trees were felled in the in the in the valleys. And what he was doing was creating three lines of impenetrable defenses across the Lisbon Peninsula, 30 miles from the Teagers to the Atlantic.

Very famous, very cheap and inexpensive and something that was carried on in complete secrecy. Everybody could see what was going on. They could all see the construction of the Redouts and the faults, but none of them actually clicked on how they actually linked up. The army arrived almost a year to the day after Wellington had given orders for their construction took up their positions. The main field army inside the redouts held by seaman, marines and militia and yordenza in Portugal. And when the French appeared, they were completely flumxed by the whole thing.

And as we saw, they would sit down and they would wait between October 1810 and March 1811 without any success whatsoever whilst their army starved and withered away. While Wellington was busy in Portugal, there had been important developments in Spain where an autumn offensive by the French had resulted in them overrunning the whole of the south of the country. Such was the scale of the defeats that the Spanish were restricted to purely defensive and auxiliary roles for the remainder of the struggle. By the spring of 1810, there were more than 300,000 French troops in the peninsula, enough to convince Wellington that the French were planning a third invasion of Portugal.

The French commander who had received clear instructions from Napoleon to capture and secure Portugal once and for all was Marshall Andre Msina. During the summer of 1810, he set about his task and at least at first the tide of the war seemed to be turning the way of the French. By the end of August Messina had captured both Theod Rodrigo and Almeida, thereby opening the way across the frontier. The fighting in and around the fortress of Almeida saw some of the most infamous episodes of the Peninsula War. One of these occurred here at the Roman Bridge across the river Koa, which has since become known as Crawford's Bridge.

Well, this is Crawford's Bridge across the Coa, and it was the scene of a near disaster. Again, it was in 1810. Crawford is guarding the line of this river and he has his whole light division on the wrong side of the river on this side where we are and the French are also on this side. I mean that's the British bank into Portugal over there. And the French see an opportunity. I mean they can snap him up because after all he's got four or 5 thousand men over this side of the river and if they attack he's got to get them all across that narrow bridge. That's going to be really difficult. So early one morning they attack. Crawford isn't ready.

They're outnumbered six to1. It's only the bravery of the red coats that hold the French off and they manage to get these guys back and across the bridge. It was almost a disaster. A gun toppled on the steep road coming down here. But they do get them across. The light division actually saves itself. They get across the bridge and then it's the French turn to make a mistake cuz the French thing, right, we've got them running. We'll cross the bridge. Well, it was a slaughter. The whole of that slope over there is covered with red coats and riflemen. The French dead are piling up on this bridge. So at the end of the day, the French lose more men than the British, but it was damn nearly the loss of a light division. Wellington was angry, but he refused actually to castigate Crawford because he says, "You don't blame a man for being belligerent." But it was the scene of a a spectacular fight, this bridge.

Another infamous incident occurred one month after the dramatic action at the bridge over the river Koa. It happened here at Almeida. Well, this is Almeida. It's a magnificent fortress. It it protects the Portuguese frontier. And in 1810, Wellington was relying on this to hold up Msina's advance. That's the advance that's going to go to Bisako and the lines of Taurus Vadras. And it had a big a big Anglo Portuguese garrison headed by an Englishman called Brigadier Cox. And the French came here and they invested it. The defenders were keeping their their magazine, all their powder in in the cathedral. Now, the cathedral was behind me. You can't see it anymore.

Everything you see behind me has been rebuilt since 1810. And then on the first day of the siege, the magazine exploded. And some people say it was the largest explosion before the nuclear age, which probably isn't true, but it was a big one. It was a huge one. And it simply swept this hilltop clean. I mean, where I'm standing, there was a medieval castle. It vanished. It completely vanished. All that's left is what you can see. It just scoured this hilltop. And of course, that was the end of the defense. They had no more ammunition for the guns. And so, they had to surrender the next day. And it was a great tragedy for the for the Allied cause. It opened Portugal up to Msina's advance.

Eventually, in late September 1810, Msina and his army caught up with Wellington at Busako, where the Anglo Portuguese forces stood at top a ridge 11 mi long and 1,000 ft high. The ridge in 1810 was not as you see it today. In 1810, there were very few trees, mainly fur trees and pine trees. All the deciduous trees were planted very much later on. the the slopes are bare. They're covered in bracken. And so the French down in the village or near the village of Sula have a pretty good view of what's going on up here. And they see troops in what appears to be a state of some disorder. There are Portuguese units marching backwards and forwards.

Some are digging in, some are moving up supplies. There are also some British units and it seems clear to NA's scouts that what they've come upon is the Anglo-Portugese army digging in on what is a very good defensive position. But they have a short time window, perhaps as little as 24 hours, when if they attack across this ridge, they can drive the Anglo-Portuguese forces off before they've had time to dig in. And this is the message that the NA's ADCs send back to his supreme commander, Marshall Andre Msina, Napoleon's most senior soldier at this time. Now, the unfortunate thing is that Msina has other things on his mind on the 24th of September. He has just taken on a new mistress, vivaceious young woman, and Msina actually keeps Na's messengers waiting for 2 hours on the 24th of September because he's otherwise engaged.

Finally, when he listens to Na's message, Msina decides not to act. He decides that there is really no nothing to be gained by by rushing forward. That the the Portuguese are known to be fairly ineffective soldiers, uh, badly trained, uh, poorly led, poorly armed. Uh, he discusses it with some of his officers. It is suggested that they should go left flanking and go across the Mandigo River. But if he does that, it's possible that the British will actually fall onto his rear. He also contemplates briefly going around the the northern flank of the ridge, but he dismisses that. It's the same difficulty the British will get on his lines of communication. And so Msina decides that he will put in a frontal assault on Pasco Ridge. Orders were given that no fires were to be lit. The French had no idea of our dispositions. They just looked up onto the ridge and thought, "Well, you know, we we think we're

attacking the flank." And as we know, when they were actually attacking the center, they had no idea where what they were attacking. The classic reverse slope position. I am now standing in in the exact position of the light division under Robert Crawford. and and almost in exactly the spot I'm standing is where Robert Crawford put out his his line of skirmishes. These were troops whose job it was to snipe at the at the French line of skirmishes uh to engage them in a firefight and then fall back over the crest of the ridge back on their own reserve positions. Just before dawn on on the 27th, the valley behind me was filled with mist. Uh visibility was probably less than about about 10 yards, but the troops up here could actually hear an enormous amount of noise. It was the sound of a French core coming towards them. French brigades actually marching up the the slopes, their drums beating, their bands playing and the

troops shouting to to give themselves encouragement. And then as dawn was breaking out of the mist came the first French skirmishes and the English skirmish line engaged them and the skirmish line fell back fell back towards the towards the west over the the the crest of the over the crest of the hill. The French surged on and the French skirmishers uh saw to their amazement a a man standing alone, a a British officer. And this officer is Robert Crawford and he was standing just to the right of where I am now. And behind Robert Crawford, unknown to the French with a 52nd regiment and other units of the light division, lying down in the reverse slope position. Crawford waited until the French were within easy rifle shot and then he uttered a famous command. 52nd avenge Sir John Moore and with that the 52nd regiment and the light division opened fire on the front of the French column. The French column

crumbles. Msina's battle plan which in reality involved little more than a full frontal infantry assault was hardly subtle. Napoleon himself said after hearing of the French defeat, "Why the devil did Msina thrust himself into that muddle at Busousako? Even in plain country, columns do not break through lines unless they are supported by superior infantry fire." After the battle, Msina might well have asked himself the same question. The redoubtable John Spencer Cooper was at the Battle of Braso. A shout loud and protracted rent the air and the head of the enemy's column was annihilated by tremendous voice. The hless shattered mass staggered, broke and turned and rushed down the slope like an avalanche while bullet ball and shell plunged into the fugitive crowd.

They never stopped till they reached the wood. Their loss was heavy and 500 men were taken prisoner at the sight of the route of the enemy. Harrah, harrah, rose on all sides. At this stage in the war, what Wellington wants to do above everything else is to protect his army. It's the only field army Britain has. Um, a lot of the officers in that army are saying the war cannot be won. There's an awful lot of political enemies at home who are saying that we shouldn't be in the peninsula, that we're wasting our time there. We're going to be beaten.

Whatever happens, we're going to be beaten. Wellington called them the croakers. He hated them. And yet, having decided that he's going to protect his army and he's built the lines of Taurus Vadras, he decides to offer battle on the ridge of Bisakco. And in some ways, it's a curious decision because even though he wins the battle, he goes on retreating and some people have criticized him and said, "Look, if if you're not going to stop them dead on the ridge, why fight?" And if in fact you plan to stop them at Taus Vadras, on which you spent this enormous fortune, then then just go there. Just go to Taurus Vadras and let the French wither on the vine. I think probably the reason he fought at Basco is two things. I think one he saw a chance to give Mainer a bloody nose, which he did. And the French are incredibly confident. I mean, the French send those those great columns up the ridge and they know that

mo at least 50% of Wellington's army is Portuguese. And the French have an incredibly low opinion of the Portuguese. What they haven't taken on board is that Marshall Berisford, Wellington, have retrained the Portuguese army. They're now under Wellington's command and they're basically as good as the red coats. And when of course the columns reach the top of that ridge, they march up in a fog. Uh they get blasted to hell by Portuguese and by red coats. So I think there's one thing is going on is he's going to give me a bloody nose. The other thing is I think he really did want to give the Portuguese some sense of confidence. I mean this is the third invasion of Portugal. The Portuguese army has not acquitted itself. Well, what Wellington is saying to them is, "Look, you can beat these guys." And they do. I mean, that the very last column to climb the ridge um comes up against a Portuguese brigade and and and

that column is sent back just as easily as Marshall Nay's columns that had met the the 52nd and the 43rd and and the Green Jacket.

The victory at Busako was yet another magnificent tactical triumph for Wellington, who had become the master of fighting on the defensive. But with the French feeling for a way to outflank his positions, staying put was impossible. And so he and his army embarked upon another withdrawal, retreating deeper into the south of Portugal towards the safety of the lines of Torres Vedras. During the retreat into Portugal, Wellington turned the screw on the French even tighter by ruthlessly pursuing a scorched earth policy.

Everything that could be of any use to the French army, crops, cattle, equipment, transport, was destroyed. The army that passed the same way as Wellington, was going to find life very difficult indeed. Sergeant William Lawrence of the 40th Foot later recalled some of the scenes during the chaotic march. Lord Wellington had issued a proclamation ordering all the inhabitants to fall back on the approach of the enemy and destroy any articles that were likely to be of use to them. And so thousands were seen flying from their dwellings. And our army during its march was accompanied by thousands of miserable men, women, and children. They knew that if they fell in with the French, they would be treated with all the barbarities of an atrocious enemy.

All the Portuguese people to the north were herded in to within the lines. They had to destroy their mills. The olive groves were ripped up. Roads were ripped up. All their livelihoods were given up. It was a tremendous sacrifice on the part of the Portuguese people. Thousands of them were to die of sickness within the lines. But nevertheless, it proved to be a a very great war-winning feature, the lines of Torres Vedras. Determined to capture Lisbon, Msina duly followed the British forces towards the Portuguese capital.

When the French forces finally arrived on the 10th of October, they must have received a very nasty shock indeed. Msina could see that the British defenses were virtually impregnable. All Wellington had to do was sit tight. His army was secure, well supplied, and there was absolutely no need whatsoever for him to risk a pitched battle with Msina's army. In November, Msina withdrew his army 25 miles to Santa, where the prospects for foraging were better, far better than the increasingly remote prospect of defeating Wellington and capturing Lisbon.

25,000 Frenchmen succumb to illness and disease during the following winter months. Almost a third of Msina's army. Meanwhile, the numbers in Wellington's forces behind the lines of Torres Vedras steadily increased. And so in March 1811, after five long months of misery for his army, Msina bowed to the inevitable and began to withdraw his forces towards Spain. For the third time, the French had been turned out of Portugal. That man, said Msina of Wellington, has turned me gray all over. Well, the retreat of Msina's army from in front of the lines of Taurus Vedras was their real harrowing episode of the war.

The army had sat there for 3 months in front of the lines. They starved. They had no real good supplies. They lived off the land. And as Napoleon said himself, Spain was a a place where the army starved if you were a large army. And if you were a small army, you got swallowed up. It was no different in Portugal. There was no supplies and the army withered away. On the 5th of March, they began their retreat followed all the way by Wellington's men. There were actions at Pomul, Kandaja, Kasnova. We captured an eagle at Foserus and then finally on the 3rd of April 1811, we drove them back into Spain after beating them at Sabigul. But the action was um all the way through the the retreat was a terrible episode for the French. They left mutilated animals by the hundreds along the wayside. The retreat route itself was marked by the burning villages of the Portuguese, by murdered peasants that they tortured, raped,

killed. I mean, it was a terrible spectacle all the way along the route. They didn't get off lightly themselves. The Portuguese would fall and pounce and murder any French troops that fell by the wayside. And when they got back into Spain, the French were in a right state. Now you think that when the French came into Spain from Spain into Portugal after the fall of Almeida, they invaded with an army of about 60,000 men and when they limp back across the border back into Spain in April 1811, they had 45,000 men with them. That was a loss of 15,000.

Don't forget they'd also received 30,000 reinforcements. That's a loss in sickness and in killed of 45,000. And it's little wonder that many including the present Duke consider that the Torres Vasras campaign to have been Wellington's most successful of the war. 45,000 casuers on one side just a few on the other side. You know very very decisive action tourist vessa in the peninsula.

It is now the spring of 1811 and for four years the French have been trying and failing to subjugate Portugal. They've been frustrated every time by Lord Wellington. Yet perversely they insist that Wellington is a defensive and overcautious general, not a man, they say to break out of Portugal. And why? Because Spain is protected by two vast fortresses. This one behind mead Rodrigo stands awart the northern route. And 130 mi to the south lies Bad Hoth, a great grim bastion. Now the French were wrong about Wellington. He could throw caution to the winds and he was capable of the most brilliant offensive battles. He'd proved that at a SE in India and again at a Porto in northern Portugal. But he did have one weakness in India where he learned his trade. His sieges at Amedar and Gowar both went much too easily. And perhaps those experiences persuaded him that all sieges could be ended at a

stroke. That was not to be. In the terrible breaches here at Theod Rodrigo and at Bad Hoth, the British army was to suffer ghastly losses. It would take men every bit as brave as my fictional hero, Richard Sharp, to break open these twin gateways of Spain. But once the forts had fallen, the British army could at last march into the high Spanish plains, where at Salamanca, Wellington was to show the French that he was more, much more than a defensive general. But those great stories must wait till our next episode.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "The Peninsular War, 1808-11: Wellington's Rise And The Defense Of Portugal"?

Sir Arthur Wellesley, Joseé de Palifox, Julian Sanchez, Richard Sharp, General Victor, Marshall Sult, General Qua, Sergeant John Spencer Cooper.

What is "The Peninsular War, 1808-11: Wellington's Rise And The Defense Of Portugal" about?

The topic focuses on the Peninsular War from 1808 to 1811, highlighting the complexities of British and French military engagements in Portugal and Spain. Key points include the emergence of Sir Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington) as a leader of British forces, the challenges posed by Spanish guerrilla fighters against the French, and the brutal sieges endured by cities like…

What is mentioned in this Timeline - World History Documentaries episode?

19 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Sir Arthur Wellsley, Marshall Andre Msina, Lines of Torres Vedras, Marshall Sult, Saragosa, Joseé de Palifox. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The Peninsular War, 1808-11: Wellington's Rise And The Defense Of Portugal"?

The episode runs 48 min; the transcript is about 7,596 words in 69 timestamped sections.

More from Timeline - World History Documentaries

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.