Books
Phase
Torres Vedras / Defence of Portugal
1810–1811 CE
The defence of Portugal in 1810–1811 centred on Wellington’s response to Marshal Masséna’s invasion. After fighting a delaying action at Bussaco, the Anglo-Portuguese army withdrew toward Lisbon while Portuguese authorities removed or destroyed supplies that the advancing French army might use.
Masséna then encountered the Lines of Torres Vedras, a fortified defensive system protecting Lisbon. Unable to force the position and increasingly short of food, the French remained in front of the lines before retreating from Portugal in 1811, a major strategic failure for Napoleon’s forces in the Peninsula.
