The Anglo-Portuguese Army was the combined British and Portuguese army that participated in the Peninsular War, under the command of Arthur Wellesley. The Army is also referred to as the British-Portuguese Army and, in Portuguese, as the Exército Anglo-Luso or the Exército Anglo-Português.
The Anglo-Portuguese Army was established with the British Army deployed to the Iberian Peninsula under the command of General Arthur Wellesley, and the Portuguese Army rebuilt under the leadership of British General William Beresford and the Portuguese War Secretary Miguel Pereira Forjaz. The new Portuguese battalions were supplied with British equipment, trained to British standards and thoroughly re-organised. Incompetent or corrupt officers were cashiered and appropriate replacements were appointed or promoted from amongst promising Non-commissioned officers.
On 22 April 1809, Wellesley became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in the Peninsula, replacing General Cradock, whose assessment of the military situation the British government found too pessimistic.[2] At the same time he was appointed by the Portuguese Government as Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Army. He then came to have the two armies under his command, transforming them into a single integrated army.
The Army was organised into divisions, most of them including mixed British-Portuguese units. Usually, each one had two British and one Portuguese brigades. In the elite Light Division, the brigades themselves were mixed, each including two British light infantry and one Portuguese Caçadores battalions.
The following tables show the order of battle and commanders of the Anglo-Portuguese Army at various stages in the Peninsular War.
| July 1809[3] | September 1810[4] | May 1811[5] | September 1811 | ||||||
| Commander in Chief | Lt Gen Sir Arthur Wellesley | Lt Gen Viscount Wellington | Lt Gen Viscount Wellington | Lt Gen the Earl of Wellington | |||||
| Corps Commanders | – | – | Maj Gen Brent Spencer[6] Marshal William Carr Beresford[7] | Maj Gen Rowland Hill[8] Lt Gen Sir Thomas Graham[9] | |||||
| Cavalry | Lt Gen William Payne | -[10] | Maj Gen Stapleton CottonMaj Gen Sir William Erskine | Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton | |||||
| 1st Division | Maj Gen John Coape Sherbrooke | Maj Gen Brent Spencer | Maj Gen Miles Nightingall | Lt Gen Sir Thomas Graham | |||||
| 2nd Division | Maj Gen Rowland Hill | Maj Gen Rowland Hill | Maj Gen the Hon William Stewart | Maj Gen the Hon William Stewart | |||||
| 3rd Division | Maj Gen Alexander Randoll Mackenzie | Maj Gen Thomas Picton | Maj Gen Thomas Picton | Maj Gen Thomas Picton | |||||
| 4th Division | Brig Gen Alexander Campbell | Maj Gen the Hon Lowry Cole | Maj Gen the Hon Lowry Cole | Maj Gen the Hon Lowry Cole | |||||
| 5th Division | – | Maj Gen James Leith | Maj Gen Sir William Erskine | Maj Gen James Dunlop | |||||
| 6th Division | – | – | Maj Gen Alexander Campbell | Maj Gen Alexander Campbell | |||||
| 7th Division | – | – | Maj Gen William Houston | Maj Gen John Sontag | |||||
| Light Division | – | Brig Gen Robert Craufurd | Brig Gen Robert Craufurd | Brig Gen Robert Craufurd | |||||
| Portuguese Division | – | Maj Gen John Hamilton | Maj Gen John Hamilton | Maj Gen John Hamilton | |||||
| Independent Brigades | – |
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| July 1812[12] | June 1813[13] | November 1813[14] | April 1814[15] | ||||||
| Commander in Chief | Lt Gen the Earl of Wellington | Lt Gen the Marquess of Wellington | Field Marshal the Marquess of Wellington | Field Marshal the Marquess of Wellington | |||||
| Corps Commanders | Maj Gen Rowland Hill[16] | Lt Gen Sir Rowland Hill[17] Lt Gen the Earl of Dalhousie[18] Lt Gen Sir Thomas Graham[19] | Lt Gen Sir Rowland Hill[20] Lt Gen the Hon Sir John Hope[21] Maj Gen Charles, Baron von Alten[22] Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford[23] | Lt Gen Sir Rowland Hill[24] Lt Gen the Hon Sir John Hope[25] Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford[26] | |||||
| Cavalry | Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton | Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton | Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton[27] | Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton | |||||
| 1st Division | Maj Gen Henry Frederick Campbell | Maj Gen Kenneth Alexander Howard | Maj Gen Kenneth Alexander Howard | Maj Gen Kenneth Alexander Howard[28] | |||||
| 2nd Division | Maj Gen the Hon William Stewart[29] | Lt Gen the Hon William Stewart | Lt Gen the Hon William Stewart | Lt Gen the Hon William Stewart | |||||
| 3rd Division | Col the Hon Edward Pakenham | Lt Gen Sir Thomas Picton | Maj Gen the Hon Charles Colville | Lt Gen Sir Thomas Picton | |||||
| 4th Division | Maj Gen the Hon Lowry Cole | Lt Gen the Hon Sir Lowry Cole | Lt Gen the Hon Sir Lowry Cole | Lt Gen the Hon Sir Lowry Cole | |||||
| 5th Division | Maj Gen James Leith | Maj Gen John Oswald | Maj Gen Andrew Hay | Maj Gen Andrew Hay[30] | |||||
| 6th Division | Maj Gen Henry Clinton | Maj Gen Henry Clinton[31] | Lt Gen Sir Henry Clinton | Lt Gen Sir Henry Clinton | |||||
| 7th Division | Maj Gen John Hope[32] | Lt Gen the Earl of Dalhousie | Maj Gen Carlos Lecor | Maj Gen George Townshend Walker[33] | |||||
| Light Division | Maj Gen Charles, Baron von Alten | Maj Gen Charles, Baron von Alten | Maj Gen Charles, Baron von Alten | Maj Gen Charles, Baron von Alten | |||||
| Portuguese Division | Maj Gen John Hamilton[34] | Maj Gen Francisco da Silveira | Lt Gen Sir John Hamilton | Maj Gen Carlos Lecor | |||||
| Independent Brigades |
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. Arthur Bryant. The Age of Elegance: 1812–1822. registration. London. Collins. 1950.
. Paul Fregosi. Dreams of Empire: Napoleon and the first World War, 1792–1815. Hutchinson. 1989. 0-09-173926-8.
. Philip Haythornthwaite. 1987. British Infantry of the Napoleonic Wars. London. Arms and Armour Press. 0-85368-890-7.
. William Francis Patrick Napier. 1952. English Battles and Sieges in the Peninsula. London. Chapman & Hall.
. Albert Nofi. The Waterloo Campaign: June 1815. 1998. USA. Da Capo Press. 0-938289-98-5.