Battle of Campo Maior

Overview

In the Battle of Campo Maior, or Campo Mayor, on 25 March 1811, Brigadier General Robert Ballard Long with a force of Anglo-Portuguese cavalry, the advance-guard of the army commanded by William Beresford, clashed with a French force commanded by General of Division Marie Victor de Fay, marquis de Latour-Maubourg that was escorting a convoy of siege cannon. Initially successful, some of the Allied horsemen indulged in a reckless pursuit of the French. An erroneous report was given that they had been captured wholesale. In consequence, Beresford halted his forces and the French were able to escape and recover their artillery pieces.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

At Campo Maior on 25 March 1811, an Anglo-Portuguese cavalry force under Long, acting as the advance-guard of Beresford's army, intercepted a French column under Latour-Maubourg escorting a convoy of siege artillery. The engagement produced an outcome that undermined what had been an initial Allied tactical success: a reckless pursuit by part of the Allied cavalry led to an erroneous report that those horsemen had been captured en masse. Beresford halted his forces on the strength of that false intelligence, allowing the French to disengage and retain their artillery train. The loss of the opportunity to seize the siege cannon was a tangible operational setback, as those guns remained available to French forces for subsequent operations in the Peninsular campaign. The episode also highlighted the risks of uncoordinated cavalry pursuit and the consequences of faulty battlefield reporting on command decisions.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)