First Battle of Porto

Overview

In the First Battle of Porto the French under Marshal Soult defeated the Portuguese, under General Parreiras, outside the city of Porto during the Peninsular War. Soult followed up his success by storming the city, in the course of which thousands of fleeing citizens drowned in the Porto Boat Bridge disaster.

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

Significance

At Porto in March 1809, Marshal Soult's French force, numbering roughly half the strength of the defending Portuguese under General Parreiras, defeated and routed an army of around 30,000, inflicting estimated casualties of 8,000–10,000. Soult pressed the victory immediately by storming the city itself. The collapse of the defense triggered a mass civilian flight that ended in the Porto Boat Bridge disaster, in which thousands of fleeing citizens drowned. The fall of Porto gave French forces control of one of Portugal's principal cities and represented a serious blow to Portuguese resistance early in the Peninsular War campaign.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)