Walking Portugal and Spain Two

Summary of Our Tour of Portugal and Spain

2009-12-09T05:16:00.000-08:00

Holts battlefield tour of Portugal and Spain had been very enjoyable, but this one convinced us that we could do even better on our own.

We visited many of the same battlefields that we had been to with Holts, but this time we had time to spend as much time as we wanted on the field. In particular Salamanca and Fuentes de Orono had been well worth a second visit.

Then there were the new ones. I will remember Busacco because it was the best sign posted of any we have visited, but also walking around the village of Sula - plus of course standing on Crauford's rock. Torres Vedras where we had the whole fort to ourselves, as we did also at Fort Conception.

The smaller battlefields of Rolica and Vimerio, each of which only required half a day to fully explore. And the city of Oporto, where we could have spent a week. Returning to Cuidad Rodrigo and Almeida to spend many hours exploring the streets and walking around the town walls.

We were right to be concerned at taking on a fly-drive battlefield tour of two countries when we spoke not a word of either Spanish or Portuguese. And there were times when the lack of the local language proved a huge problem - for example Oporto! But it proved that with sufficient research and good planning it could be done. What's more it could be very enjoyable. Indeed it is much more rewarding to do it yourself than to sit back and let a coach tour take the strain.

We had now done Wellington's battlefields of central Spain and Portugal pretty well. Our next venture would be to explore the northern battlefields and the Pyrenees.

Oporto

2009-12-04T11:33:00.000-08:00

Oporto was the scene of Wellesley’s daring crossing of the river Oporto and defeat of Marshal Soult in 1808. It was also the last battlefield to be visited in our second round of Peninsular battlefields in 1994.

This is the same view taken by me in 1994. It is taken from the north (French held) bank of the river, looking towards the site of the seminary. We could not locate the seminary, but believe it may be the large white building downstream on the right in both photographs.

A similar view taken in 1994 and showing the new rail and road bridge. Again the monastery is shown on the right, and we visited it just after we took this photograph. It is very easy to locate the place where Wellesley set up his artillery and his headquarters. It looks down on the city and offers excellent views of both the north bank and the river both upstream and downstream.

Jan is standing on the bridge and looking towards the monastery. The whole area is just another part of Oporto now, but the building is original. It is easy to find, and there is even a sign to “to the monument”. The bridge is modern, but is built on the same spot as the one destroyed by Soult in 1809. The long red and white buildings belong to the port firms which were as famous in 1809 as they are now.

This is the exact spot where Wellesley’s guns were positioned. You can see what an excellent view they had of the city. We also explored the warren of narrow streets which you can see gathered around the river. They must be pretty much as they were in 1809 and we could well imagine the panic and chaos the artillery fire must have caused amongst the civilian population.

We drove to Oporto from Almeida and I had what I thought were clear instructions to the hotel. However we somehow entered the city on a different road from the one I thought we were on, and were soon completely lost. Neither of us speak any Portuguese, but we stopped the car at each road junction and I jumped out with the address of the hotel and followed the direction pointed by helpful pedestrians. We seemed to drive all over the city, and indeed we actually passed the same square twice. After about an hour driving around in desperation we parked the car in a multi storey car park, showed the attendant our hotel address and set off on foot. Fortunately it was quite close, and it was only then that we realized that it was in the centre of the city – which is a pedestrian area! We had driven around the whole car free zone at least once! For the remainder of our stay we explored on foot, and only collected the car when we were ready to drive to the airport for our flight home.

The Coa

2009-11-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

It’s usually called the “combat” of the river Coa, rather than the “battle”. It was a relatively small affair, but could easily have ended in the loss of the famous Light Division.

The French approach to the bridge

On 24 July 1810 the light division was deployed on the right bank of the river Coa just outside the walls of Almeida. Wellington had advised Crauford to withdraw to the left bank, but the latter had delayed. The division was completely surprised by the advance of Ney’s VI Corps who quickly pushed them down the steep hill to the river bank. On that day the river was deep and could only be crossed by the single bridge.

From the Allied side, the hill in the background is Macleod's knoll

Fighting a desperate retreat the division reached the bridge and crossed to the safety of the left bank. Battalions were mixed up in the scramble downhill, and a group held a small knoll on the right bank overlooking the bridge. As the French renewed their attack this group was ordered to withdraw. As they did they saw five companies of the 52^nd making their way to the bridge along the bank of the river on the right bank.

This simple cross is for the fallen of both sides

Major Macleod led about 200 men forward in a desperate charge which drove the French back and they regained the knoll. The five companies crossed the bridge to safety, and MacLeod withdrew over the bridge.

This is the view the defending light division had of French attacks on bridge

Once on the left bank the light division deployed on the hill overlooking the bridge which provided them with excellent protected cover close enough to the bridge to destroy each French attempt to cross. The light division lost about 300 men in the rout to the bridge. The French lost twice that number in repeated attempts to cross the same bridge.

Jan sketching on the allied side of the bridge

The bridge makes it easy to identify Macleod’s knoll and the hill occupied by the light division to hold the bridge. The river was completely dry when we visited, with steep banks and full of large rocks. It was very difficult to climb down to the river, and more so to cross even without a raging river. Looking up at the knoll from the bridge it was easy to see how important it was to hold this position until all of the allied infantry had crossed. And standing on the hill overlooking the bridge it was clear that any attempt to storm the bridge must end of failure.

Whilst I spent a couple of hours exploring the area, Jan sat beside the bridge and did this sketch.

Almeida

2009-11-17T23:36:00.001-08:00

This was our second visit to Almeida, which during the Peninsular War guarded the northern corridor against a French invasion from Spain. It stands on the Portuguese side about 15 miles from Cuidad Rodrigo on the Spanish side.

The town wall and fortifications are complete, as are many of the military installations inside the town, including the magazines. It is possible to have a guided tour of the magazines, with their piles of musket balls.

The state run hotel is a modern building with comfortable accommodation and lots of parking. But it is a disappointment after the state run hotel in Cuidad Rodrigo, which is in the castle which was the French headquarters during throughout the war. The hotel is within the town walls, and it was interesting exploring the streets, the site of the explosion and the military buildings. But there was no where to eat or buy a drink, other than the hotel. And that was, as the state run hotels always are, pretty expensive.

The rest of the town is just as you would imagine. I understand that most of the buildings were damaged during the explosion of 26 August 1810, which is probably better known as the setting for Bernard Cornwall's book "Sharpe's Gold". If so they have been repaired and the narrow streets feel much as they must have done on that fateful day. This is the view from our hotel bedroom.

This is a drawing Jan did of the same view from our hotel bedroom

A very quiet town, some of the buildings still bear the scars of the mighty explosion. The only transport I saw inside the town was a donkey drawn cart, which added greatly to the period feel of the town.

In August 1810 the French marched from Salamanca on the long awaited invasion of Portugal. Marshal Ney laid siege to Almeida and Wellington hoped that the garrison would delay them for at least two months. It had provisions to last that lone and a strong Portuguese garrison commanded by Colonel Cox, a British officer.

The town powder magazine was in a large building on a slight hill at the top of the town. The French artillery opened fire on 26 August, and one of the first shots fired somehow exploded the magazine. The town was ripped apart by the force of the explosion, and about five hundred people killed. It is said that not a single buildings was left with a roof though most of the fortifications were undamaged. It is said that because the magazine was on high ground, most of the force of the explosion went above the walls. This photo was taken at the scene of the explosion, which is still covered by the remains of the building.

The whole area where the magazine stood is still bare, no attempt having been made to build again on the spot. The day after the explosion the garrison surrendered and Marshal Ney departed on his long march to Busaco and the Lines of Torres Vedras.

Fort Conception

2009-11-12T00:40:00.000-08:00

Fort Conception lies a few miles north of Fuentes de Onoro just inside the Spanish border with Portugal. It was the home to the Light Division, but they blew it up in 1810 as Marshal Ney approached on his march to Portugal.

Despite the damage done in 1810 the fort is still in a good condition, though many of the larger rocks have been removed by local farmers for use in their own houses and walls. It is open to the public and we spent an afternoon there wandering around without seeing any other visitors.

After a quick look around, Jan settled herself down with her sketch pad, whilst I explored the abandoned and empty buildings.

The sketch that Jan did of the ramp approaching the main entrance

It was a very hot day and I should have given Jan my hat to protect her from the sun – but I did give her my handkerchief to make a very “natty” headdress.

The most impressive part of the fort still intact is the main entrance, with its Spanish royal crest engraved in stone.

Much of the walls and most of the interior casements and storage areas are still intact and very interesting to explore. Its hard to imagine such easy access to a historical site in UK. Apart from being charged admission there would no doubt be many areas fenced off in the interests of health and safety.

Fort Conception is one of the most interesting sites we have visited. Many of the most famous soldiers of the period, such as Jonathan Leach, John Kincaid, Harry Smith and George Simmons were members of the Light Division and would have spent long periods in this very fort. It was fascinating to read their experiences whilst sitting where they wrote them.

Although the structure was blown up in 1810 the fort was used by the Light Division on and off during the next three years as they guarded the frontier between Spain and Portugal.

Cuidad Rodrigo

2009-11-04T00:40:00.000-08:00

On the night of 19 January 1812 Wellington’s army stormed and captured the French held city of Cuidad Rodrigo. It was the first successful operation of its type conducted by the British Army in the Peninsular War. Allied casualties were 105 killed and 390 wounded.

Cuidad Rodrigo was one of the highlights of our first visit to Spain, and we wanted to return to explore the city some more. The river Augeda flows around the walls of the city, and presented a serious obstacle during the siege.

Jan finds some welcome shade under a tree lining the approach to the main entrance. You can clearly see the tower of the cathedral, which was visible above the walls and used by the allied artillery as a firing point.

Another view of the castle and walls. The castle is now a paradore, a luxury state run hotel. We had spent a night here during our previous visit, and treated ourselves again this time. It is said that from the window of one of the rooms you can throw an orange into the gun emplacement captured by O’Toole. The castle was also the scene of the surrender by the commander of the garrison.

The main square has changed little since 1816. This was the centre of the drunkenness and looting which followed the storm “…..it is true that soldiers of all regiments got drunk, plundered and made great noise and confusion in the streets and houses in spite of great exertion on the part of the officers to prevent it.”

On a warm evening we had dinner sitting out in the same square. Jan did this drawing of the corner of the house on the right in the photograph above.

The Greater Teson was the site of the First Parallel. It is now covered in a housing estate, and we could not find a spot to take a photographs of the town. However this one was taken from Jac Weller’s “Wellington in the Peninsular”

We did however find the site of the Little Teson where the Second Parallel was sited. You can see why the tower of the cathedral was used by the allied gunners to aim their shots. There are still clear signs on the tower of the damage done by the same gun

Fuentes de Onoro - Again

2009-10-29T02:32:00.000-07:00

This was our second visit to Fuentes de Onoro, we had been there with Holts three years earlier. At the time I felt that I would have liked to spend more time rambling around the narrow alleys, and this would be my opportunity

We had more trouble finding the village than I expected. We found Vilar Formoso, which is on the Spanish-Portuguese border, easily enough, and Fuentes is shown on the map at being on the right off the Salamanca road. Despite this we missed it, and had to return to the border and ask for directions. As often, it is a matter of starting on the right road!

Once you find the village, the clapper bridge is easy to locate. It was the ideal place to have our picnic lunch, and out came Jac Weller with the sandwiches and cold drink. We spent a pleasant half hour reading the section on the battle. Then Jan got out her pencils and sketch book, and I went to explore. If you look very closely at the above photo you will see her sitting in the shade of the wall sketching.

And this is the sketch she did that day.

I made my way to the top of the village, which turned out to be much larger than I had remembered. There are many new buildings, but enough old walls and cottages to give the village a real “feel” of what it must have been like in 1811. At the top of the village I came to the church, which was the centre of the fighting. It has obviously been rebuilt, but presumably in the same location. Certainly the descriptions of the battle place it at the top of the village, and that is where this one is.

Climbing out of the village you continue along this road to the ridge behind the village. This is not much mentioned in descriptions of the battle, possibly because the French never got this far. They only reached the church, and were then pushed back by a counter attack. But it was now obvious that this was a very strong position, with a typical Wellington ridge behind it. The village was intended to break up the French attack, and they would then have approached this even stronger position completely disordered.

This is the reverse slope where Wellington’s infantry would have sheltered from the French artillery bombardment Walking around here you could see how the cannon balls would either have been stopped by the steep forward slope, or gone well over the heads of the infantry sheltering here. Unfortunately there is not a good view of the village from the ridge.

Many of you will have read Richard Cornwell’s Sharpe books. I read them all when they were first published. But Sharpe’s Battle, which deals with Fuentes de Onoro, was not released until 1995 – the year after this our second visit. I am in the process of reading them all again, and by coincidence have just finished Sharpe’s Battle. If any of you should visit Fuentes do take Jac Weller, Napier or Oman. But make sure you also take Sharpe’s Battle. Because of all the descriptions I have read of this battle, the one in this book is one of the most vivid and descriptive. I wish I had been able to take it for my last visit. And I will make sure I do take it for my next – because if there is one site I would like to visit again Fuentes de Onoro is surely it.

Poco Velho

2009-10-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

The battle of Fuentes de Onoro was fought over three days in May 1811. Wellington fought the battle to prevent Marshal Massena from taking supplies to the border fortress of Almeida. The first day of the battle was fought in the village of the same name. However two days later the French tried to outflank Wellington by a surprise attack against the allied left flank. The attack swept through the village of Poco Velho

The village lies in a very open plain about three miles south of Fuentes de Onoro. When we arrived we had a coffee in the tiny bar in the main square opposite this very “Holts like” building.

We then walked around the village and a short distance to the west, the area where the French launched their surprise attack. It was a very hot afternoon as we settled down in the shade of a small woods. Jan did this sketch of the trees.

At dawn on 5 May 1811 a French infantry division stormed this tiny village, which was held by two battalions of the newly formed 7^th Division. The attack would have come down this road. The French infantry were supported by masses of cavalry.

I took this photo with the intention of making a model building for use on our wargames table. Jan later made a model, and it performed well over many years and through many wargames. Unfortunately it was a little large in scale, and we sold it before we came to Spain. I wish I still had it; I could have taken a photo for comarison.

As always Jac Weller’s “Wellington in the Peninsula” was put to good use. There is an excellent description of the fighting which took part in this area, which I read aloud to Jan

whilst she did her sketch of the trees.

This quiet and unassuming battlefield can not have changed much since May 1811. Nor the tiny village of Poco Vehlo. Both are well worth a visit, particularly is you can spare the time to wander around and soak up the atmosphere.

Busaco

2009-10-14T11:12:00.000-07:00

Busaco ridge is almost ten miles long. On 27 September 1810 Wellington held it with 52,000 men, almost half of them Portuguese. Massena attacked it with 66,000. This was a big battle fought over a wide area.Parts of the battlefield are easy to find, particularly the monument which was erected on the northern part of the ridge where Wellington spent most of the battle. When we arrived there was heavy fog, and you could see nothing from this splendid viewpoint.

This was the first major battle for the reorganized Portuguese army, and is celebrated every year with parades in period uniforms and festivities to commemorate the distinguished part played by the Portuguese troops in this victory.

There is a small, but very interesting, military museum. Jan and I spent a few hours looking around waiting for the weather to improve

When we left the museum we were delighted to find the mist had cleared and it was bright blue skies and a warm sunny day. We returned to the monument to orientate ourselves and admire the view. We then drove across the valley to the site of Massena’s Windmill, where he commanded the battle.

While I read extracts from Wellington in the Peninsula, Jan did this sketch of the Massena monument. We also had our picnic lunch here as it has such good views of the ridge.

Jan sketching, with the ridge behind

Driving back towards the ridge we came to the village of Maura. This was the staging area for Marshal Neys VI corps, and the point from which the main attack was launched.

Just in front of Maura we found a convenient log to sit on to read about Ney’s attack and study the route he took on the ridge opposite

We followed the road from Maura towards the ridge and soon came to the village of Sula. During the battle this small village was held by 1400 men of the 95^th Rifles and 3^rd Portuguese Cacadores. Two French columns, each consisting of six battalions, climbed the ridge and cleared the narrow streets of Sula, pushing he rifles and cacadores before them as they continued their climb to the crest.

I don’t suppose the village has changed much since that day. Wandering the narrow streets it was easy to imagine the hand to hand fighting as the French used their overwhelming strength to clear the allied light infantry from the buildings and push them up the hill before them.

We followed the road to the top of the ridge, and found the spot where the light division waited for the arrival of those same French infantry of Loison’s division. This windmill marks the spot where general Craufords famous division was deployed.

It was quite awe inspiring to stand at the very spot where Crauford unleashed the Light Division and defeated the first French attack. There could be no doubt that this is the exact spot, there is Crauford’s engraved rock to prove it We sat for an hour or so beside the rock and I read Wellers description of Neys attack on Busaco ridge. Throughout that whole time we had the spot to ourselves, not one other visitor in sight. It was one of those magic experiences which I will always remember.

A short distance along the ridge we came to Wellington’s second command post. A stone pillar crowned with a star marks the spot, which was the position of Pack’s Portuguese brigade. From here there is a magnificent view of the village of San Antonio, from where Reynier led the second attack on the ridge.

Rolica

2009-10-08T02:23:00.000-07:00

On 17 August 1808, just 16 days after he landed in Portugal, Wellesley fought his first battle of the Peninsular War a few miles south of Obidos at small village of Rolica.

The battle was a small affair in Napoleonic terms and very one sided. 16,000 British (including a few Portuguese) against 4,400 French. Its only real claim to fame is that it was the first British victory of many.

The first French position was on a hill which dominated the approach from Obidos. With his superior numbers Wellesley could easily outflank this position with a pincer movement, and the French withdrew to their second, and much stronger, position about a mile south overlooking the village of Columbeira.

This was a tougher nut to crack and Wellington lost about 500 casualties taking it.

The village of Rolica was easy to find, but not the actual hill on which the French based their first position. The directions sounded easy enough: “Turn off the N8 towards the village of Rolica and just after crossing the railway, take the first turning right. After about a mile, stop on the crest of the ridge. You are now on the first French position”

All went well to start. We crossed the railway without any trouble, we even found the first turning right. But then we were driving on a dirt track surrounded by a sea of high plants as high as the car. “after about a mile, stop on the crest of the ridge” sounds pretty easy – not so. After what seemed a long time we came to a small clearing, with a parked car. By now we were totally lost and disorientated, so we decided to get out of the car and have a look around on foot.

After half an hour we were almost on the verge of giving up, when we heard loud masculine voices and soon met a couple of Portuguese hunters. At least I hope they were hunters, because they were carrying rifles. Our total lack of Portuguese meant we could not ask for directions, but I did show them the map (above) and they pointed back the way they had come. We climbed the path, and came to this strange white building

From here we had a magnificent view of the valley leading to Obidos. I didn’t really need the map and compass to confirm that we were on the first French position. This was the only hill overlooking the valley from the south, and we could easily make out the hills on either side where the pincer movement took place.

More by luck than judgment we had found the right place. It had been more difficult, and taken much more time, than we had anticipated. We were hot and tired after our walking and climbing, but we settled down with our informative Jac Weller and had a picnic lunch whilst reading the details of the battle.

The second French position was much easier to find. “drive back into Rolica, turn right and continue for quarter mile to the next village, Columberia. Stop where there is a clear view to the south and you can see, about a mile away, the second French position”.

Leaving the car in the village we consulted the photo above and walked around until we could find the spot from which it was taken. This proved to be quite easy, but we read that the second French position lay on the central section of these hills.

Leaving the village by a farm track and walking towards the hills we found this second spot. Wellesley planned a second pincer movement against the French, and this led to the most famous incident of this battle. Colonel Lake led one of the four battalions in the centre column, which should have limited their action to skirmishing, while the flanking columns closed in. However Lake led half of his battalion straight up one of the gullies into the centre of the French position where they soon found themselves cut off. In desperate fighting Lake was killed and only 34 men survived. The central cleft in the photo was the gully entered by Lake.

A closer view of Lake’s gully. With Lake in such a desperate position Wellesley ordered his whole line to advance. The French took a heavy toll of them as they advanced over the rocks and boulders and climbed the steep grassy slopes between the gullies. By sheer tenacity they gained the top of the ridge and Delaborde, the French commander, skillfully withdrew his force without too much trouble

Rolica is well worth a visit, but some preparation is necessary particularly if you want to view the first French position. This visit was a good lesson for us, as it made us realize just how difficult it can be to find just the right spot even with directions which appear to be comprehensive. But it was well worth the time and trouble, and indeed the difficulty just added to our enjoyment once we found our spot.

Obidos

2009-10-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

Obidos is a very pretty walled town between Figueras, where Wellesley landed his army, and Rolica, where he fought his first battle with the French. On 12 August 1808 the town was held by a French army of 4000 men. Wellesley had landed his army seven days earlier and as he approached Obidos the 95^th Rifles drove off a small group of French skirmishers – the first shots fired of the Peninsular War

This is a view of the battlefield of Rolica from the walls of Obidos. It is from Jac Wellers book “Wellington in the Peninsula”, one of the two books we used as both a guide to finding the battlefields and a description of the battle once we found it. All of the black and white photographs were taken when he researched the book, and we were determined to find as many as we could. You may have heard hill walkers speaking of “bagging a Monro”, well we were equally determined to “bag a Weller”

We arrived in Obidos after a long day walking Vimerio battlefield, so we were hot and tired. We parked the car outside the town walls, rather than try to find the hotel in the maze of tiny streets. It’s a small town, and we found the hotel without any trouble. After a quick wash we were ready to explore, and made straight for the town walls. We quickly found our first “bag a Weller”, as you can see if you compare the two photos.

Jan has been interested in sketching for many years, and attended a short course just before our holiday. She brought here sketch pad and I will be showing a few of them on this, and future, blogs. It was very useful because she could sit and sketch whilst I explored the site as much as I wished, without having to worry whether it was too hot or Jan was too tired.

Jan did not really like the walls very much, as the walkway is very narrow and she does not like “exposure”. We had experienced this problem previously when hill walking, but this was the first time we had come across it in a built up area.

Obidos is a very popular tourist location, and we had problems booking a hotel here. We had hoped to stay at the Pousada (state run hotel) but it was fully booked. Instead we stopped at a very old, and very comfortable, converted convent. It was right in the centre of the town, and ideal for exploring the many interesting little streets.

This is quite a good example of why we did not try to take the car into the town to find the hotel

This is the main street of Obidos. It was not possible to sit on the town walls to read Wellers account of Wellesley’s journey to Obidos, so we found a small café in this street and spent a pleasant hour reading up on the history.

This is a very pretty photo of Obidos, but it also gives a very good impression of the town walls and narrow streets. As far as I know the town was never taken by siege, and certainly not during the Peninsular War.

Vimiero

2009-09-23T02:27:00.000-07:00

Vimerio is a small village about 40 miles north west of Lisbon. On 21 August 1806 Wellesley fought his second battle of the Peninsular War. He had landed at few miles further north and was marching on Lisbon. He took position on the hills either side of the village to cover the landing of British reinforcements at the nearby mouth of the Maceria river.

Vimiero is an easy and interesting battlefield to visit, as all the features are identifiable and the land undeveloped. The village, though still small, is much larger than at the time of the battle.

From Torres Vedras to take the N8-2 north west and in about 10 miles you reach the small village of Vimiero. In the centre of the village is a sign to “The Monument”, and this stands on the top of Vimerio Hill, on the south edge of the village. This very impressive monument is an excellent place to view the battlefield and view both the British positions and the area of the six French attacks.

Wellesley expected the French to advance against him from the south, and he therefore took up positions on the Western Ridge facing south, with Vimerio Hill providing his left flank But the French moved east and threatened to turn his left flank, so he changed the his whole deployment moving the bulk of his army to the Eastern ridge, turning Vimerio Hill into his right flank. Only one brigade remained on the Western Ridge.

Vimerio Hill dominates the approach to the village and four of the six French attacks were against this point. The remaining two were against the Eastern Ridge. All were to fail.

We were fortunate to have a lovely day for our visit, warm and sunny. Beside the monument was a seating area which provided an ideal spot to shelter from the bright sun and read Jac Wellers description of the battle.

Behind Jan is the area of the first four attacks. You can see that she is wearing very sensible shoes, because we had a lot of walking to do.

We walked down from the monument and inspected the area of the first three French attacks. Walking down the slight slope and around the base of the hill it was easy to imagine the determined French columns pushing back the British riflemen and light infantry until they reached the long red lines at the top of the hill. We had the whole area to ourselves, and could stop, sit and read from “Wellington in the Peninsular” before walking on towards the village.

Although the village has grown considerably since the battle, it still retains the character of a small Portuguese rural village. The fourth French attack consisted of a brigade of grenadiers who advanced along the side of the brook which runs through the village, which is where this photo was taken.

The church, being the strongest building in the village, was the centre fierce hand to hand fighting. The grenadier column pushed into the village, which was held by the 2/43^rd and the two were soon fighting in the narrow, stone walled streets . The French were pushed back out of the village, bringing to an end the first phase of the battle.

After a snack in the village we turned our attention to the Eastern Ridge. This is a much more confused area, and much too large to explore on foot. We did however drive around, but found it difficult to pin point the exact location of the fifth and sixth French attacks.

By mid afternoon we had enough of walking in the hot sun. Its great fun walking battlefields, but you have to conserve your energy on hot days like this one. We decided to visit the bay where the British reinforcements landed. We followed the Maceira river through the gorge to the bay, where we sat, ate our lunch, and read some more Jac Weller. The beach was crowded with locals, who probably had no knowledge of the importance of this small beach on 21 August 1808.

The Lines of Torres Vedras

2009-09-15T01:53:00.000-07:00

Torres Vedras and Sao Vicente 1810

We started our first day with a very hearty breakfast in our hotel right in the centre of Torres Vedras. The whole holiday was planned around walking on battlefields, and we didn’t want to have to find somewhere for lunch. So after breakfast we had a quick walk around the town and bought some fresh rolls, a chunk of cheese, a few apples and a couple of cans of pepsi. This would be the format for each day, a good breakfast to start and a picnic lunch at a suitable spot on the battlefield with Wellington in the Peninsula by Jac Weller for inspiration.

No problem parking - we were the only visitors

But first we had to check the plan and make sure we had everything ready. For each planned stop I had prepared a folder, containing a road map, detailed directions and photocopies relating to the visit. The directions consisted of a photocopy of the relevant pages from Julian Paget’s book “Wellington’s Peninsular War – Battles and Battlefields”. Each sections consisted of about four A4 pages with a brief description of the battle or area, a simple sketch , a suggestions of places to stop and how to get there.

For detailed information about each battle we were relying on Jac Weller’s “Wellington in the Peninsula 1808 – 1814”. This was the companion to his “Wellington at Waterloo” which had proved so useful for that visit. It has a chapter on each battle, a plan of the battle and usually a couple of photographs.

One of the photos we used to orientate ourselves

We had planned that each visit would follow the same routine. We would find the general area with the road map, then find each spot recommended in Paget’s book. We would find somewhere suitable to sit, and read the chapter from Weller’s book. I find his style easy to read and easy to understand. His descriptions of battles are very detailed and he quotes quite a lot from histories and diaries. So it is an ideal book to write on site. He also took photographs of most locations, and our aim was to find the same spot with the same view. Finally I had photocopies from various books relating to the particular battle we would visit.

The Lines of Torres Vedras

The Lines of Torres were built entirely by Portuguese labour but supervised by 18 British engineer staff. Every possible obstacle was constructed, using natural features where possible. Rivers were dammed, ravines blocked and the hills crowned by forts. They were not a continuous line like Hadrian’s Wall, but a series of mutually supporting redoubts, 152 in all. Each redoubt would have a garrison of 200-300 mean and 3 to 6 guns. They were connected by a semaphone system which could pass a message from Wellington’s HQ to any part of the lines within an hour.

The Fort of Sao Vicente dominates the surrounding countryside

Our first visit was to the strongpoint of Sao Vicente, which lies just to the north of Torres Vedras on the west side of the main road to Lisbon. This was one of the strongest positions of the Lines and has been reconstructed to give a very real idea of what it must have looked like in 1810

Sentry patrol path and garrison strong point

The fort was completely empty when we arrived and we were free to wander wherever we wanted. Not only the walls, but also the accommodation, storage and administration buildings, have all been reconditioned. It was so quiet and in such good condition that you could easily imagine that you were a Portuguese militiaman on sentry duty on the walls.

The forts dominate the surrounding hills

The fortress dominates the whole area, and you could see the outline of more forts on the hills stretching to left and right. Even with the sketch map it was easy to orientate yourself, and explore the area the French would have to pass to approach the fort.

administration and accommodations buildings

We spent a couple of hours walking around the walls both inside and outside, and exploring the many buildings. We sat on the wall with the photographs reproduced here and tried to identify each one. We read extracts about what garrison duty was like here, and what a surprise Marshal Massena had when he discovered them. He was completely unaware of the whole system of defences until he saw approached them and saw them himself.

Jan makes friends with a "local"

As we were about to leave Jan discovered this little kitten. It was a “wild cat”, but actually anything but wild. Jan is a real soft touch for casts, and particularly kittens, and this tiny cat was fed half of my picnic lunch!

The Best Laid Plans

2009-09-08T00:45:00.000-07:00

Napolenic Wars memorial in Torres Vedras

Having found Julian Paget’s book “Wellington’s Peninsular War – Battles and Battlefields” in the Salisbury library I could get down to some serious planning. We both wanted to return to some of the sites we had visited with Holts, in particular Cuidad Rodrigo, Fuentes de Orono and Salamanca. We also wanted to visit Portuguese battlefields such as Torres Vedras, Vimerio, Rolicia and Busaco. Reading through Paget’s book I was confident that I could find all of these sites without too much trouble.

We came now to the part which I thought would be quite easy. Finding and booking hotels. This was 1994 remember, and it was not just a matter of “googling on the web”, or at least for me it was not. I went to my local travel agents to see what they could offer. I was very disappointed to discover that they really only had package tours available. Lots and lots of package tours, but none going where I wanted to go. At that time Holts was the only company that did battlefield tours to Spain and Portugal. We eventually found one agent who offered a “tailor made” holiday with a company called “Discover Spain”. In an ideal world we would have booked a Bed and Breakfast right on the battlefield, but this was not possible. They only booked Paradores (in Spain) and Posada (in Portugal). These are state run luxury hotels, and are available through some travel agents. The castle at Cuidad Rodrigo where we had spent a night with Holts was a Paradore. Unfortunately they are not in every town, and certainly not on every battlefield. However in most towns they could offer us 4 star hotels. We would have to work out a list of locations, and they would then see what they could book for us.

We decided that our tour would last 9 days. We would fly to Lisbon and hire a car. The travel agents booked us 9 nights accommodation:

Hotel in Torres Vedras
Hotel in Obidos
Hotel in Figueria
Hotel in Busaco (Paradore was fully booked)
Paradore in Cuidad Rodrigo
Hotel in Salamanca (Paradore was fully booked)
Paradore in Almeida (2 nights)
Hotel in Oporto

Based on this accommodation we would visit the following battlefields:

Day 1 – fly to Lisbon, drive to Torres Vedras (37 miles)
Day 2 – Explore the lines of Torres Vedras, visit Vimerio drive to Obidos (25 miles)
Day 3 – Visit Rolicia, drive to Mondego Bay (80 miles)
Day 4 – Drive to Busaco, explore battlefield (20 miles)
Day 5 – Drive to Cuidad Rodrigo, explore Fuentes de Orono (150 miles)
Day 6 – Drive to Salamanca, explore battlefield (75 miles)
Day 7 – Drive to Almeida, explore Fort Conception (95 miles)
Day 8 – Explore Combat on the Coa, drive to Oporto (160 miles)
Day 9 – Explore crossing of the river Douro, fly back from Oporto

The distances were carefully considered. Where there were a number of sites close by, for example Torres Vedras, Vimerio and Rolica we would plan a short days drive. If a long drive was involved we would only visit one site either before or after the drive.

At 0830 on 9 September 1994 we left Salisbury for Gatwick for our first fly-drive tour of Wellingtons battlefields. We were very excited, and not a little nervous, about how it would all go. Planning is one thing, doing quite another.

It was 6.30pm as we left Lisbon airport, right in the middle of the rush hour. Jan was driving and I had the map reading. Lisbon is like most big cities, very confusing. I only had a road atlas to follow, so we just had to find the right road. Torres Vedras in on a minor road called the N8, and is north west of Lisbon. Well north of Torres Vedras it reaches the town of Lerida.

Within minutes of leaving the airport we were on a four lane freeway. At the first junction I saw a sign for Lerida, and we took the road with relief. However within minutes I realized we were on the A1, a motorway which leads to Lerida, but on after a long loop north west. We would have to find a road to take us towards the coast and pick up the N8.

We left the A1 at the next junction and headed west, looking for a petrol station to ask for directions. Needless to say we could not find one. We did find a tiny village, which was not on my map. No petrol station, but a group of young lads on motor cycles looking very aggressive. I approached them a little apprehensively, especially as I don’t speak a word of Portuguese. I showed them the booking slip for the hotel, and one of them signaled for me to follow him. He took me a few miles to the next road junction and pointed out the right road. Just goes to show you should never judge people by appearances, he could not have been more helpful

Within half an hour we arrived in Torres Vedras. After our experiences in Lisbon I was a little worried how difficult it might be to find the hotel. I need not have worried. We drove into the town centre and saw the hotel right in front of us.

It was just gone 9pm. The receptionist spoke excellent English, and recommended a local restraurant in the main square to eat. No one in the restraurant spoke English, so I am not too sure what we ordered, but we would get used to that. After dinner we took a walk around the town centre. There is not a lot to see in Torres Vedras, but we did find the monument to the Napoleonic Wars. Again not too difficult to find, it was in the same square as our hotel!

I was not really too worried about our map reading disaster in Lisbon. For the next four days all of our driving would be along the N8, which is a nice little A road close to the coast.

We had found our first hotel and we were all set for our first visit – Fort Vicente one of the forts of the Lines of Torres Vedras.

Portugal and Spain - Going It Alone

2009-09-01T04:28:00.000-07:00

Jan and I had so enjoyed our 1991 Holts Tour of Portugal and Spain that we were very keen to go again. First we explored the possibility of going on another tour with Holts. At that time they did two complimentary tours, one mostly Portugal and the other mostly Spain.

In 1991 we had joined the second week, which started at Lisbon but was mostly Spain. We were put off the Portugal tour because one chap who had done both said there was too much cultural activity, or as he put it “A monastery too far”

I knew what he meant, because on more than one occasion I had been disappointed that we left a battlefield to visit a city or a non military museum. You may recall that Jan and I had left the tour to spend more time on the battlefield at Salamanca rather than a “free afternoon” in the city itself. Or when we opted to stay at Talavara with the Military Attache from Madrid rather than spend the afternoon at Toledo. Holts are a very successful tour company, and I am sure that they know what their clients want more than I do. On the other hand I would prefer to spend more time “getting my boots dirty”.

We had no illusions about how difficult it would be to undertake a battlefield tour in Portugal and Spain. Neither of us spoke a word of either language. Neither of us had visited either country before, except with Holts. I was well aware from past experience how difficult it could be to explore a battlefield unless I could get hold of a good map and some directions about how to find each location.

The first decision was which battlefields to visit. I spent a lot of time poring over the map and trying to work out which battlefields to visit, in which order and for how long. I also wrote to anyone I thought might be able to help, including Don Featherstone who had written a book about visiting these battlefields. His reply was very informative and helped me to avoid some pitfalls. I also wrote to Julia Page, who had been one of the guides on the Holts Tour. She was also very helpful, in particular she advised me not to take on too much in one day – very good advice indeed.

Apart from a good road map I also bought a copy of Jac Wellers “Wellington in the Peninsular 1808-1814”. Jac’s “Wellington at Waterloo” had been a great help when we spent a week there in 1971, and I was confident that the Peninsular one would be just as good. I was not disappointed.

The book has a chapter on each of Wellington’s battles. There is also a simple line drawing of each battle. More important there are lots of black and white photographs. So I was confident that if I could find the place where he stood to take each photo it would be easy to orientate myself. I can not stress how important that is when visiting unmarked battlefields.

The only drawback to the book is that there are no directions on how to get to each battlefield. It would be easy enough to find the general location, but exactly where to park and how to find the right spot to view the battlefield was critical. Without that information I was not prepared to undertake a tour on our own.

I first saw Julian Paget’s book “Wellington’s Peninsular War – Battles and Battlefields” in my local library in Salisbury. As soon as I saw it I knew it was just what we wanted. Like Weller’s book, it also contained a chapter on each of Wellington’s battles, and a line drawing of each. No photographs, and the description of the battle was much less detailed, about 6 pages to each. But it had a short description “Where to Go” and also “What to See” on each battle.

For example the Battle of Rolica contained the following:

“The best place to start is the beautiful Moorish walled town of Obidos on the N8 between Coimbra and Torres Vedras. The Rolica battlefield is some 3 miles further south along the N8, about a mile west of the main road, and is signposted.. It is possible to drive still further south along the N8 and turn right to the village of Serranos, from where you can visit the second French position”.

With both books I felt I had all the information I needed, not only to find each battlefield but also to read background information when we were there. It only remained to decide how and where to go.

I will deal with that in the next blog.