General de Brigade

[RAMCSEARCH]

French
C-in-C Gen De Division Delaborde

Field artillery Battery,probably 6pdr 6 Guns
26th Chausseurs a cheval 250 men in 2 squadrons 12 figures

Gen de Brigade Brennier

2nd Leger 1 battn , no carabinier company 950men 48 figures
4th Leger 1 battn, no carabinier company 970men 48 figures

1/70th ligne , no grenadier company 1,830 men total 48 figures
2/70th ligne , no grenadier company 48 figures

Swiss contingent, 2 companies 240men 12 figures
These fellows roll a die on first contact with the british
and surrender on a roll of 123, a 456 and they fight normally

French are positioned in line atop a hill described as a steep climb with 3 gullies and are on hold orders.

British
C-in-C Wellington

1st Brigade, Hill

1/5th Northumberland (Gosling green) 990 men 48 figures
1/9th East Norfolk (yellow) 840 men 40 figures
1/38th Staffordshire (yellow) 960 men 48 figures

3rd Brigade, Nightingale

1/29th Worcestershire (yellow) 810men 40 figures
1/82nd Prince of wales Vol (Yellow) 940 men 48 figures

6th Brigade, Fane

5th/60th Rifles 940men 48 figures
2/95th Rifles 400men 4 companies 20 figures
1/45th Nottinghamshire (Dark Green) 670men 36 figures

5th Brigade , Crawford , Reserve

1/50th West Kent (Black) 950 men 48 figures
1/91st Argylshire (kilted) (yellow) 920 men 48 figures
Cacadores Battalion 560 men 28 figures

No artillery , masked by advancing infantry, and the sneaky French are hidden atop the hill...
No cavalry, slope too steep and ground too broken, and the limited cavalry available were deployed on the flanks. NB French cavalry not allowed on the slope either, they should only really cover the french retreat !

The 3rd Brigade starts on assault orders and leads the attack which went off prematurely thanks to the Co of the 1/29th! , 1st and 6th brigades on hold orders. If the British have to call upon the services of Crawfords Reserve then the French can claim a moral victory.

For the British to win they must break the french and force them to retreat off table, whilst sustaining fewer casualties. The french win if they hold the hill or cause more British casualties before being forced to retreat.

Enjoy, Only 3-4 turns at most !

Sources: Osprey Campaign 90 Vimeiro 1808,
Miniature Wargames no59
Napoleonic Wars Data Book, Digby Smith

[ADC Sprunglin]

Hi RAmC, nice one. Your posting has got me thinking about these early actions again (I'm curently "stuck" in 1809 to 1811...

Anyone interested in the Peninsular might find it useful to have a look on the following website, http://www.napoleon-series.org. João Centeno has copied onto the web site some excellent maps of the major engagements of the Peninsular War and come of the campaigns. The maps are from História da Guerra Civil e do Estabelecimento do Governo Parlamentar em Portugal: Comprehendendo a história diplomatica, militar e política d'este reino desde 1777 até 1834

They are all in colour, and are unique as they provide a Portuguese perspective of the battles and campaigns. All forces, Anglo-Portuguese and French are shown. The detail of place names and topography are excellent – see under the what’s new section and look for Centeno.

I don’t have all my sources to hand, and I have had a little difficulty establishing the full extent of French forces engaged in the three or four separate combats in this initial phase of the Peninsular War....

Certainly, most sources agree that the French are limited to around 4,500 troops of all arms. But there’s is some doubt as to the contribution of the 4th leger - the units engaged are from from both Delaborde and Loison. The very small combat that took place between Anglo and French pickets north of Obidos can be discounted. The French’s first position was indeed on low rising ground near the settlement of Roliça. Wellesley was advancing from the North and had sent Ferguson’s strong detachment off to the east, his left, and the Portuguese troops to the west (right) in two outflanking marches.

There is a road to the east of Roliça towards Bombarral which makes its way somewhat to the (Allied) left of Delaborde’s second position behind the settlement of Columbeira. Wellesley had detached Ferguson with two and half brigades, six guns and some cavalry, to both outflank Delaborde and to guard against a possible French move on the British flank. Delaborde, when retreating from Obidos, had also made some small detachments to Bombarral and Cadaval in the hope of making contact with these expected French reinforcements (approaching from the direction of Abrantes). There is also an account of him detaching (at least some of) the Swiss to Peniche

Upon seeing the outflanking marches, Delaborde skilfully retires behind his screen of light cavalry and infantry screen to his second position away from the advance of Wellesley’s remaining British brigades. As you point out, this position is naturally very strong. According to some accounts the French had cleared their initial position and Wellesley deployed his brigades into battle line. British skirmishers exchanged fire with the retiring French – who were also in reach of and came under fire from the British artillery. Other accounts report at least three separate British assaults before the French are forced to give way in the face of superior numbers. Certainly, we know of the attacks of Nightingale’s brigade – Hill ordered a general advance of the British line and the heights were eventually gained (on the western side). The French had put up a fairly stubborn resistance but had to retire once the heights were gained. Delaborde withdrew losing some of his artillery - the final stages of the action taking place near to Azambugeira.

The ground immediately to the north of Roliça is undulating but suitable for cavalry. The ground between Roliça and the heights above Columbeira is more broken, but (obviously) still passable by formed cavalry (albeit in small numbers) until the height themselves are reached. Apart from the rough ground in the defiles, the heights themselves can also be reached by a very steep road to the British right and French left. Once reached, the ground beyond the heights is more open but undulating.

There’s a useful description of the combat and a photo of the heights in Robertson, “Wellington at war in the Peninsular”, pp 31-39, some useful directions for finding the sites in Paget’s “Wellington’s Peninsular War” pp 61-66 and two first hand accounts of the battle itself in on pp13-14 of Fletcher, “Voices from the peninsular: eyewitness accounts by soldiers of Wellington’s Army 1808-1814”. Windrow and Embleton have a plate of a battalion company private 29th and drummer of the 50th.

Best wishes

Sprunglin
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Colonel Sprünglin

[RAMCSEARCH]

Tried to bump this old OB to the top so its near to the photos. Just shows how long it takes to get from the OB to the actual battle !!!

However its in General Discussion, not Gen de Brigade
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Simon W

[Cacadores]

[RAMCSEARCH]

Cacadores,

Thanks for the information. I've not played any "what if" situations yet but that is a great one to consider, and as you say Loison would have evened things up considerably for the |French had he managed to unite with Delaborde. I'm still struggling to finish French for a rather delayed Corunna. They are 4 rather boring generic French Line in campaign uniforms which I've done before and I'm having trouble getting inspired and keep getting sidetracked ! Currently detailing a WW2 QLR Y service truck for a mates birthday present
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Simon W

[Cacadores]

[RAMCSEARCH]

Cacadores,

You are a star ! Truly inspirational maps. I was originally drawn to this battle initially as the Britsh had only a few artillery and no cavalry, like myself at the time ! The French also had the Dragoons, as for Vimerio which were already done. I just underestimated the time to do the French infantry.

I note you give the French divisional strengths , which is very useful as I had not come across these anywhere else. I'm planning on doing the main part of the battle and have just 'bumped' my Corunna OB to the top of the discussion.

Inspired once more
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Simon W

[Cacadores]

Well, best of luck - waiting for the photos with baited breath!
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