Osprey - Fortress 007 - The Lines of Torres Vedras 1809-1811.pdf

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THE LINES OF
TORRES VEDRAS
1809–11
IAN FLETCHER
ILLUSTRATED BY BILL YOUNGHUSBAND
FORTRESS • 7
THE LINES OF TORRES
VEDRAS 1809–11
IAN FLETCHER
ILLUSTRATED BY BILL YOUNGHUSBAND
Series editors
Marcus Cowper and Nikolai Bogdanovic
First published in Great Britain in 2003 by Osprey Publishing, Elms Court,
Chapel Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 9LP, United Kingdom.
Email: info@ospreypublishing.com
© 2003 Osprey Publishing Ltd.
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study,
research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical,
optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
the copyright owner. Enquiries should be addressed to the Publishers.
ISBN 1 84176 576 7
Editorial by Ilios Publishing, Oxford, UK (www.iliospublishing.com)
Maps by Map Studio, Romsey, UK
Index by Alison Worthington
Proofreading: Bob Munro
Design: Ken Vail Graphic Design, Cambridge, UK
Originated by Grasmere Digital Imaging, Leeds, UK
Printed and bound by L-Rex Printing Company Ltd
03 04 05 06 07
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Ar tist’s note
Readers may care to note that the original paintings from which
the colour plates in this book were prepared are available for
private sale. All reproduction copyright whatsoever is retained by
the Publishers. All enquiries should be addressed to:
Bill Younghusband
Moorfield,
Kilcolman West
Buttevant, Co.Cork
Eire
The Publishers regret that they can enter into no correspondence
upon this matter.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to express his thanks to John Strecker, who
took many of the modern photos that appear in this work of the
Lines of Torres Vedras.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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OR A
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Contents
Introduction
Chronology
Design and development
Wellington’s method of defence
The forts
Life within the Lines
Aftermath
The Lines today
Definition of key terms
Fortification • Various kinds of field works • Obstacles
Additional obstacles • Various definitions
4
9
12
24
31
40
50
54
58
Further reading
Index
62
64
Introduction
When Napoleon Bonaparte sent General Andoche Junot over the Pyrenees
into Spain at the head of 25,000 French troops in October 1807, he did so
not knowing that he was committing his armed forces to a conflict which
they would never really master; a conflict that would, over the next six and a
half years, become a constant drain on the resources of his empire. Spain was
not Junot’s intended objective; that dubious distinction fell to Portugal, where
Junot hoped to impose his emperor’s Continental System on the Portuguese
king and his government. Portugal, one of Britain’s allies, had steadfastly
refused to implement the blockade of British trade and so was
about to pay for its sin against the French empire.
Junot arrived in Lisbon in November 1807, but
failed to arrest the Portuguese royal family,
which sailed off to the safety of Brazil. In the
meantime, Portugal was placed in the hands
of Napoleon’s lieutenants, as was Spain the
following year. Tired of the bickering
between King Carlos IV and his
son, Ferdinand, Napoleon summoned
them to Bayonne where he had both
men arrested. Madrid was occupied
by Joachim Murat and in May
1808 risings in the capital were
ruthlessly suppressed, causing a
backlash against the French
throughout the country. The
Iberian nations appealed to
Britain for help, and so it
was that in August 1808, Sir
Arthur Wellesley, the future
Duke of Wellington, landed in
Portugal at the head of 9,000
British troops. These were the
first steps along an extremely
long and at times painful road
that would eventually lead
them to Toulouse, in southern
France, which they entered in
triumph after a campaign that
was to last six years.
The war in the Iberian Peninsula
had been raging for just over two
years before the subject of this
book, the Lines of Torres Vedras, began
to make a dramatic and crucial impact
on events. Following their landings in
Portugal, the British Army had enjoyed
mixed fortunes. The initial battles of the war
were fought shortly after the 9,000-strong army
had been joined by a further 5,000 troops who had
sailed up from Gibraltar under the command of Sir Brent
Sir Richard Fletcher, Bart.
(1768–1813). Wellington’s chief
engineer and the man behind the
construction of the Lines of Torres
Vedras. Fletcher was killed at the
storming of San Sebastian in 1813.
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