Battle of Redinha

Overview

The Battle of Redinha was a rearguard action which took place on March 12, 1811, during Masséna's retreat from Portugal as part of the Peninsular War, by a French division under Marshal Ney against a considerably larger Anglo-Portuguese force under Wellington. Challenging the Allies with only one or two divisions, Ney's 6,000 troops were pitched against 30,000 men. In a typical rearguard action, Ney delayed the Allied advance for a day and bought valuable time for the withdrawal of the main body of the French army.

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

Significance

The Battle of Redinha was a rearguard action fought during Masséna's retreat from Portugal, a critical phase of the Peninsular War in which French forces were withdrawing under sustained Allied pressure. With roughly 6,000 troops, Marshal Ney's force engaged Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese army of approximately 30,000, holding the Allies for a full day before withdrawing. The engagement succeeded in its operational purpose: buying time for the main French body to continue its retreat in better order. Though the Allied force suffered around 1,000 casualties, the disparity in numbers made the French position untenable beyond a single day's delay. Redinha illustrates the pattern of Masséna's retreat — French rearguard commanders using disciplined resistance to manage the pace of withdrawal against a numerically superior pursuing force, preventing the kind of collapse that could have turned an orderly retreat into a rout.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)