The work was supervised by Fletcher, assisted by Major John Thomas Jones, and 11 other British Officers, four Portuguese Army Engineers, and two KGL officers. Roads were also built to enable troops to move rapidly between forts. įollowing the decision on the location, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Fletcher ordered the work to begin on a network of interlocking fortifications, redoubts, escarpments, dams that flooded large areas, and other defences. The rugged and inhospitable area offered numerous possibilities for a stubborn rearguard fight from forts on many of the peaks. From north to south, great undulations created peaks that straddled deep valleys, great gullies and wide ravines. Eventually they chose the terrain from Torres Vedras to Lisbon because of its mountainous characteristics. In October 1809, Wellington, drawing on topographical maps prepared by José Maria das Neves Costa, and making use of a report that was prepared for General Junot in 1807, surveyed the area north of Lisbon with Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Fletcher. He decided to strengthen the proposed evacuation area around the Fort of São Julião da Barra on the estuary of the River Tagus, near Lisbon. After the Battle of Talavera, Wellington realised that he was seriously outnumbered by the French army, giving rise to the possibility that he could be forced to retreat to Portugal and possibly evacuate. At Talavera, some 120 kilometres (75 mi) southwest of Madrid, they encountered and defeated 46,000 French soldiers under Marshal Claude Victor. After this retreat, Wellesley's forces advanced into Spain to join 33,000 Spanish troops under General Cuesta. In March 1809, Marshal Soult led a new French expedition that advanced south to the city of Porto before being repulsed by Portuguese-British troops and forced to withdraw. This forced Junot to negotiate the Convention of Cintra, which led to the evacuation of the French army from Portugal. In July 1808 troops commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley, the later Duke of Wellington, landed in Portugal and defeated French troops at the Battles of Roliça and Vimeiro. Subsequently, French troops under the command of General Junot entered Portugal, which requested support from the British. This provided for the invasion and subsequent division of Portuguese territory into three kingdoms. View of gun emplacements at the Fort of Olheiros, Torres Vedras Development Īt the beginning of the Peninsular War (1807–14) France and Spain signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau in October 1807.
0 kommentar(er)
