   in the battle of roliÃ§a (17 august 1808) an anglo-portuguese army under sir arthur wellesley defeated an outnumbered french army under general henri delaborde, near the village of roliÃ§a in portugal. the french retired in good order. formerly spelled roleia in english, it was the first battle fought by the british army during the peninsular war.wellington: the years of the sword, elizabeth longford, harper & row, 1969, pp. 148-152 ==background== in the months after occupying portugal, napoleon undertook the conquest and control of spain. he met much resistance but it was disorganised even when it was effective. by the end of july the spanish had met the french a dozen times, winning, or at least not losing, at seven of those meetings. their most spectacular victory was in southern spain on 23 july 1808, when general castaÃ±os surrounded and forced 18,000 french under general dupont to surrender at baylen. on 30 july 1808, the french general loison massacred the population, men, women, and children, of Ãvora. both of these events were to have an effect on the future of each nation's relationships with british troops. on the same day, wellesley received a letter from castlereagh, the secretary of war. it informed wellesley that general jean-andoche junot's forces numbered more than 25,000. castlereagh forwarded his plans to augment the british army in portugal by another 15,000 men. general sir john moore was to arrive with an army from sw
1808_in_Portugal Battle_honours_of_the_King\'s_Royal_Rifle_Corps Battles_involving_France Battles_involving_Portugal Battles_involving_the_United_Kingdom Battles_of_the_Peninsular_War Conflicts_in_1808