Battle of Redinha

The Battle of Redinha was a rearguard action which took place on March 12, 1811, during Masséna's retreat from Portugal, by a French division under Marshal Ney against a considerably larger Anglo-Portuguese force under Wellington. Challenging the Allies with only one or two divisions, Ney's 7,000 troops were pitched against 25,000 men. In a typical rearguard action, Ney delayed the Allied advance for a day and bought valuable time for the withdrawal of the main body of the French army.

Battle of Redinha
Part of the Peninsular War

Battle of Redinha, 12 March 1811, by Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux.
Date12 March 1811
Location
River Soure, Portugal
40°03′N 8°38′W
Result French Victory
Belligerents
 French Empire  United Kingdom
 Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Michel Ney Viscount Wellington
Strength
7,000
6 guns		 25,000
12 guns
Casualties and losses
150 to 229 killed, wounded or missing 205 to 1,800 killed, wounded or missing
Peninsular war: Portugal
1807 1808 1809 1810 1811

Redinha was the second and most successful rearguard action fought during Masséna's retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras in the spring of 1811. Having held off the British at Pombal on 11 March, Marshal Ney and the French rearguard had retreated to Redinha. Here he took up an apparently vulnerable position, with Mermet's division on a plateau south of the village, and Marchand's division north of the village on the far side of the Ancos River, linked by a narrow bridge, but Wellington was aware that he was close to much larger French formations, and proceeded very carefully.

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