Field Marshal His Grace Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Marquess of Douro, Marquess of Wellington, Earl of Wellington, Viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington, Baron Douro.

Nicknamed "the Iron Duke", Arthur Wellesley was born on the 1st of May, 1769, in Dublin, Ireland, and  died on the 14th of September, 1852, in Walmer Castle, Kent, England).

He would become one of the most famous British military commanders of all time. After brilliantly leading the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars he would later become Prime Minister of Great Britain (1828–30).
When in 1808 the Portuguese rose against Napoleon, Wellesley was ordered to support them. Ready for battle, he left Cork on 12 July 1808.

Wellesley did not intend to be “half beaten before the battle began”—the usual effect on continental armies of Napoleon’s supremacy. With “steady troops” he expected to master the French attack.

His “thin red line” of British infantry did indeed defeat Gen.Junot’s columns at  the Battles of Roliça (August 17) and Vimeiro (August 21).

The arrival of two superior British officers prevented a pursuit: Wellesley was superseded in command immediately after the latter battle, first by Gen Burrard, and then by General Dalrymple.  The shameful Convention of Sintra was subsequently signed, stipulating that the British Royal Navy would transport the French army out of Lisbon with all their loot.

The 25,747 French (of whom 20,900 were under arms) were transported in English ships. Junot landed at La Rochelle on 11 Oct. 1808 with his two mistresses on his arms. Junot's men were back in Spain, fighting to put down the Spanish uprising, as late November, early December. By 13 December elements of Delaborde's division entered Vitoria. Although displeased with Junot's performance Napoleon eventually wrote to him, "You have done nothing dishonorable; you have returned my troops, my eagles and my cannons, but I certainly hoped you would do better...you have won this convention by your courage, not by your dispositions; and it is with reason that the English complain that their generals signed it..."

Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Lord Byron´s poetic travelogue, reflects his view on the event in stanzas 24-26:  

Due to public outrage, Dalrymple, Burrard and Wellesley were recalled to Britain to face a Court of Enquiry. Wellesley had agreed to sign the preliminary armistice, but had not signed the actual Convention, and was cleared. Though acquitted, Wellesley returned to Ireland as chief secretary.

After the British evacuated Spain, however, he persuaded the government to let him renew hostilities in 1809, arguing that Portugal could still be held, a decision that was crucial to Europe. Landing at Lisbon, he surprised Marshal Nicolas-Jean de Dieu Soult, captured Oporto, and chased the French back into Spain, but a joint Anglo-Spanish advance on Madrid failed despite a victory at Talavera (July 27–28).

Though rewarded with a peerage for his offensive, Viscount Wellington retreated with his greatly outnumbered force to his Portuguese base, defeating Marshal André Masséna at Bussaco on the way (September 27, 1810).

He had secretly fortified the famous “lines of Torres Vedras” across the Lisbon peninsula. Masséna’s evacuation of Portugal in the spring of 1811 and the loss of Fuentes de Oñoro (May 3–5) triumphantly justified Wellington’s defensive, scorched-earth policy and confirmed his soldiers’ trust in him.

He was nicknamed “nosey” by his men, and “the beau” by his officers, for his slim five feet nine inches, the perfectly cut civilian clothes he preferred to wear, his wavy brown hair, and brilliant blue eyes.

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington - oil on canvas by Sir Thomas Lawrence.

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Caçadores - The first six Battalions

The first six Battalions of Caçadores were raised by 14th October 1808 Decree.

 They were:

1st Battalion: "Batalhão de Caçadores de Castelo de Vide"

2nd Battalion: "Batalhão de Caçadores de Moura"

3rd Battalion: "Batalhão de Caçadores de Trás-Os -Montes"

4th Battalion: "Batalhão de Caçadores da Beira"

5th Battalion: "Batalhão de Caçadores de Campo Maior"

6th Battalion : "Batalhão de Caçadores do Porto"

Uniform specifications were regulated by 11 November 1808 Decree.
The uniforms were made in Portugal, of  also locally produced wool cloth called Saragoça.
Medium to dark brown, its discreet colour and sturdy texture made it ideal for skirmishing.


Every Battalion had a different jacket, with collars and cuffs sporting its distinctive colours:

The jacket was trimmed with yellow cords, green piping edging the collar, cuffs and shoulder straps. The buttons were round and yellow.

 The Elite companies of Atiradores (literally, "Shooters") had additional green fringes to the ends of the
shoulder straps. The waistcoat and trousers were Saragoça-brown in the Winter, or white in the Summer  The short gaiters were black.

 Similarly to the Line Infantry Regiments, the Caçadores originally wore the 1806 "barretina".
It had green cords, and the distinctive brass bugle horn badge. The Battalion number was stamped in the
brass lower band. On the left side, the ordinary Caçador´s barretina had a green plume, while the Atiradores had a black one.

This directives would last until 1811, when the number of Battalions was doubled, and General Order of 30 July 1811 introduced several changes.

Batalhão de Caçadores nº 6 - Porto

 The Battalion was originally organized in Porto, on July 12th, 1808, as "Batalhão de Caçadores" (Hunters Battalion ), by order of the Provisional Junta of the Supreme Kingdom´s Government of Porto.
 By the reorganization of the 28th October of 1808, it was incorporated in the Portuguese Army with the designation of Batalhão de Caçadores n.º 6 (Hunters Battalion n. 6). Its recruits came mainly from Porto city and surroundings ( the "Partido do Porto") 

The 6th Battalion´s Commanding Officers were:

- Velho da Cunha, Lieutenant colonel, 20th July, 1808;

- António de Lacerda Pinto, Lieutenant colonel, 21st January, 1809;

- Sebastião Pinto de Araújo, Lieutenant colonel,  26th August, 1809;  

- Tiago Pedro Martins, Major, 25th June, 1813;

-  Peter Adamson, Lieutenant colonel, 4th May 1814.

 

The Caçadores were the elite light infantry troops of the Portuguese Army, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Caçadores is the plural of caçador, the Portuguese word for "hunter". It has also been used to designate each one of the elite light infantry soldiers of the Portuguese Army. As such it is a direct equivalent of the German military term Jäger, the French military term Chasseur, and the Spanish Cazador. 

After the expulsion of General Junot's army from Portugal, British Army General William Beresford was recommended by Arthur Wellesley for the role and was appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Army on 7 March 1809. As part of Beresford reforms, Portuguese War secretary Miguel Pereira Forjaz proposed the creation of independent battalions of Caçadores and six would be created. Later in the Peninsular War, additional battalions and other units of Caçadores were formed due to the success of the original six battalions. Each battalion came to include a special Atiradores (sharpshooters) company armed with rifles. In the Anglo-Portuguese Army, some Caçadores units were integrated into the elite Light Division, brigaded with the British units of the 95th Rifles.

 

One of the most distinctive features of the Caçadores was their brown uniform. The brown uniform was chosen as a form of camouflage, considered more appropriate to the dry lands of the Iberian Peninsula than the traditional green uniforms used by the light infantry of most other countries in Europe.  During the Peninsular War, the Caçadores became especially notable in the performance of marksmanship at long distances. Arthur Wellesley referred the Portuguese Caçadores as the "fighting cocks" of his Anglo-Portuguese Army.

The 6th Battalion´s most relevant actions in Portuguese soil against the French Imperial Army occurred in the battles of Roliça (August 17, 1808) and Vimeiro (August 23, 1808), as part of the Trant Brigade, and the Buçaco battle (September 27, 1810) integrating the Campbell Brigade.

The 6th Battalion was one of the most active units in the Anglo-Portuguese Army,  fighting its way  across  Spain and well into into French territory, from Fuentes de Oñoro to Toulouse: 

LLL - Leal Legião Lusitana - Loyal Lusitanian Legion

 The Loyal Lusitanian Legion (LLL) was a foreign volunteer corps of the British Army, organized with Portuguese émigrés in England, that fought in the Peninsular War. The LLL was created by the initiative of Portuguese Army colonels José Maria Moura and Carlos Frederico Lecor – exiled in England after the occupation of Portugal by the Napoleonic Army – and the Portuguese Ambassador in London Chevalier de Sousa, with the support of the British Government.

The LLL received the title "Loyal" to distinguish itself from the much larger Portuguese Legion, mobilized at the same time with the best units and officers of the disbanded Portuguese Army by direct order of Napoleon and which would fight for him in the several European campaigns.

The LLL included not only Portuguese, but also British (including its commanding officer, colonel Robert Thomas Wilson) and Germans.

 The Legion was organized in Plymouth, in July 1808 and landed in Oporto, Portugal in September of the same year. Between 1808 and 1811, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, the LLL fought against the Napoleonic Imperial Armies in the Peninsular War.

 It was present in the battles of Busaco and Talavera de la Reina, but was especially used to conduct raids and other irregular operations in the rear of the French Army, framing Portuguese and Spanish militia forces.

 

The LLL was disbanded on 4 May 1811, after being transferred to the Portuguese Army, with its units being transformed into the 7th, 8th and 9th battalions of Caçadores.

The Loyal Lusitanian Legion was organized as a regiment of light infantry, with an attached artillery battery. It included:

1. Regimental staff, LLL;
2. 1st Battalion, LLL;
3. 2nd Battalion, LLL;
4. Artillery corps, LLL.

Each battalion included 1000 men in 10 companies. The artillery corps was a battery with six field guns and 80 men.
When the LLL was disbanded, the 1st battalion became the 7th Caçadores and the 2nd battalion the 8th Caçadores. The 9th Caçadores was organized with the rest of the Legion's men.

 

As a light infantry unit, the Loyal Lusitanian Legion received green uniforms similar to those of the British rifles regiments. Furthermore, green was the livery colour of the Portuguese Royal House of Braganza, to whom the Legion remained loyal.

 

Text source: Wikipedia

Feliz Natal! God Jul! Feliz Navidad! Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël! Wesołych Świąt! Buon Natale! счастливого Рождества!

Meanwhile, on the road to Montalegre...Soult´s Retreat - Northern Portugal, April 1809