Fuentes de Onoro, battle of
Fuentes de Onoro, battle of, 1811. On 3 May 1811 Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese army of 37,000 men tried to halt Marshal Masséna's 47,000-strong French army advancing to relieve Almeida. Masséna's attacks on the village of Fuentes de Onoro were repulsed but on 5 May French forces manœuvred around the British flank. Craufurd's Light Division conducted a fighting retreat, buying vital time for Wellington to redeploy. Masséna wasted his forces in four massive but unsuccessful attacks on Fuentes village, and then broke off the battle. Along with Albuera, Fuentes de Onoro stalemated the situation along the Portuguese border.
Gary Sheffield
More From encyclopedia.com
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
Fuentes de Onoro, battle of