List of Portuguese generals of the Peninsular War explained

The following list of Portuguese general officers (Peninsular War) lists the generals who served in the Portuguese forces in Spain and Portugal during the Peninsular War (1808–1814). The rank given refers to the ones held until the end of the war, in 1814. The list includes foreign nationals who fought in Portuguese military units.

It includes members of the Portuguese Legion (Legião Portuguesa), created by Napoleon in November 1807 and mobilized by Junot on occupying Portugal in 1807, as well as those that would later be incorporated into the Anglo-Portuguese Army, under Wellington, created on 22 April 1809.

Overview

Napoleon had intended the campaign on the Peninsula to be a walkover, but what he would come to call the Spanish Ulcer,[1] ended up with him having had to send in thirteen of his maréchals (ten of whom were of the first promotion – of fourteen), and enter Madrid himself. Apart from the original 28,000 troops that had entered Spain under Junot, heading for Portugal, he would have to send in a further two hundred and seventy thousand men — more than half of the empire's total military strength.[1]

List

Name CommandAction seen Notes
Champalimaud
(17711825)
(General)
Eben (Baron von)
(17731825)
(General)
Braga (Battle of)

Freire
(17591809)
(General)
Not to be confused with the Spanish general, Manuel Freire de Andrade. Bernardim Freire de Andrade was lynched by his own troops while they gathered for the Battle of Braga (1809).
Lecor
(17641836)
(General)
Bussaco (Battle of)

Lines of Torres Vedras

  • Vitoria (Battle of)

  • Sorauren (Battle of)

  • Nivelle (Battle of)

  • Nive (Battle of the)
  • Having fled to England, Lecor participated there in the creation of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion. Lecor was the only non-British General to have commanded one of the Anglo-Portuguese divisions of Wellington's Peninsular Army (7th Division, in late 1813).
    Leite
    (17471833)
    (General)
    Conde de Castro Marim
    (17611821)
    (Monteiro Mor)[2]
    Moura
    (17721836)
    (General)
    Parreiras
    Pereira Forjaz
    (17691827)(General)
    Pinto Bacelar[3]
    (General)
    Silveira
    (17631821)
    (General)
    Chaves (Siege of)

    Porto (Second battle of)

  • Vitoria (Battle of)

  • Taboada
    (General)
    Vitória
    (17501825)
    (General)
    Porto (Battle of)

    See also

    Notes and References

    1. Hindley, Meredith (2010) "The Spanish Ulcer: Napoleon, Britain, and the Siege of Cádiz" in Humanities, January/February 2010, Volume 31, Number 1. National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
    2. [Charles Oman|Oman, Charles]
    3. Chartrand, Rene (2001) Bussaco 1810: Wellington Defeats Napoleon's Marshals, p. 85. Osprey Publishing. Google Books. Retrieved 30 August 2013.