The Battle of Valencia de Alcántara took place in August 1762 when an

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to peopl ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

force led by

John Burgoyne General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several bat ...

surprised and captured the town of

Valencia de Alcántara Valencia de Alcántara (Population: 6178) is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is near the Portuguese border ( District of Portalegre), separated from it by the Sever. His ...

from its

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

defenders during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

. The town was taken on 27 August as part of the defence against the Spanish invasion of Portugal. The force that captured Almeida was part of a major Spanish offensive to overrun Portugal. A northern pincer invaded Portugal from

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

crossing the

Douro The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...

and threatening

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

while the southern force crossed the border from

Ciudad Rodrigo Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district. The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky rise on the right ban ...

. With Spain invading Portugal in support of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Britain sent reinforcements to aid the Portuguese; in total around 8,000 men led by John Burgoyne. On 24 August Count of Lippe decided to attack the Spanish town of Valencia de Alcántara which was a main supply base for the invasion. He sent John Burgoyne, a colonel of the

16th Light Dragoons The 16th The Queen's Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1759. It saw service for two centuries, before being amalgamated with the 5th Royal Irish Lancers to form the 16th/5th Lancers in 1922. History Early wars ...

now local rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

with an Anglo-Portuguese contingent of around 2,800 men (400 light

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

s, six British infantry companies of the

3rd Regiment of Foot Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

, eleven Portuguese

grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was originally a specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in battle. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when grenadiers were recruited from ...

s companies, two howitzers and two light guns). Burgoyne passed the

Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to e ...

Abrantes Abrantes () is a municipality in the central Médio Tejo subregion of Portugal. The population was 39,325, in an area of . The municipality includes several parishes divided by the Tagus River, which runs through the middle of the municipalit ...

. At

Castelo de Vide Castelo de Vide () is a municipality in Portugal, with a population of 3,407 inhabitants in 2011, in an area of . History It is unclear when humans settled Castelo de Vide, although archaeologists suggest the decision came from the morphology of ...

, Burgoyne was joined by 100 Portuguese foot, 50 irregular cavalry and about 40 armed peasants. On 27 August, after a forced march totalling 45 miles, they attacked and captured the town surprising the Spanish defenders; Burgoyne leading his cavalry with effect. Once the town had been captured the British and Portuguese quickly cleared the neighbourhood of the Spanish troops, taking a number of prisoners including a Spanish general. In all several companies of the Spanish regiment of Seville which were garrisoning the frontier town was effectively annihilated. In addition the town was left undamaged and had to pay a ransom of a year's taxes in corn. This little victory raised Portuguese morale. Burgoyne was given a large diamond and the Spanish Colours were captured. The victory also set back the invasion and contributing to the general victory that year. Two months later he defeated the Spanish again at the battle of Vila Velha.Jaques p.1058

References

Bibliography

* Jaques, Tony. ''Dictionary of Battles and Sieges''. Greenwood Press, 2007 * Kirby, Mike, The Portuguese Army - Seven Years War, Seven Years War Association Journal, Vol. XII No. 3 * Pereira Sales, Ernesto Augusto; ''O Conde de Lippe em Portugal, Vila Nova de Famalicao: Publicacoes da Comissao de Historia Militar'', 1936, pp. 55–62

References

Bibliography

See also