page_title: Portuguese Army
section_title: Peninsular War
hierarchical_section_title: Portuguese Army / History / Peninsular War
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Soldat/Schütze der 6. Portugiesischen Caçadores im Jahre 1811 English: A soldier (rifleman) of the 6th Portuguese Caçadores in 1811 Português: Soldado do Batalhão de Caçadores n.º 6, 1811
context_page_description: The Portuguese Army is the land component of the Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its origins going back to the 12th century, it can be considered as one of the oldest armies in the world.
  The Portuguese Army is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the Army, a subordinate of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for the operational matters and a direct subordinate of the Ministry of National Defense for all other matters. The CEME is the only officer in the Army with the rank of General.
  Presently, the Portuguese Army is an entirely professional force made of career personnel and of volunteer personnel. Until the early 1990s, conscripts constituted the bulk of the Army personnel, with a cadre of career officers and NCOs responsible for their training. Conscription was however gradually reduced since the middle 1990s, until being finally formally abolished in 2004.
  As 2014, the Portuguese Army employed 5,667 career personnel and 10,444 volunteers, this representing a total of 16,111 military personnel.
context_section_description: At the end of the 18th century, Portugal joined in the Revolutionary Wars, when it sent an expeditionary army to aid Spain against the Revolutionary French in the War of the Pyrenees (Roussillon campaign). However, Spain made a separate peace with France and turned itself against Portugal. In 1801, the Spanish Army invaded Portugal with the aid of France, with the Portuguese Army facing the invaders in the War of Oranges. The refusal from Portugal to antagonize Britain, its old ally, and to adhere to the Continental System, led to the start of the Peninsular War, with the French Army invading Portugal in 1807. The French invasion obliged the strategic transference of the Portuguese Crown to Brazil and put the Portuguese Army in disarray. Under French occupation, the Army was disbanded and its most important units were integrated into the Portuguese Legion raised by order of Napoleon, that would fight for him in the campaigns of Germany, Austria and Russia. Reconstituted and integrated into the Anglo-Portuguese Army, led by the British General Arthur Wellesley, the Portuguese Army performed well in the remainder of the Peninsular War. The first major battle of the Anglo-Portuguese Army was the Battle of Bussaco in 1810, the success of which gave the inexperienced Portuguese troops confidence in their abilities. The infantry and artillery went on to perform well up until the final Battle of Toulouse in 1814 when news arrived of Napoleon's abdication.
  The experience from the Roussillon campaign highlighted some gaps in the Portuguese Army, including the lack of light infantry troops. This led to the inclusion of a caçadores (light infantry) company in each of the infantry regiments and the raising of the elite Legion of Light Troops in 1796. This Legion was an experimental all-arms unit, that included an infantry battalion (occasionally referred as caçadores), three cavalry squadrons (occasionally referred as hussars) and a horse artillery battery.
  The Portuguese Army underwent a major reorganization in 1807, being focused mainly on the territorial military division of the country, for recruitment, mobilization and training purposes, taking advantage of the data obtained in the 1801 census about the number and distribution of the Portuguese population. The country was divided into three grand military divisions (North, Center and South), these being in turn subdivided into 24 recruiting districts called Ordenança brigades. This geometrical division was established so that each Ordenança brigade would cover an identical population and would be responsible for the raising of a line infantry and two militia regiments. Each grand division then included eight line infantry regiments (grouped in four brigades), four cavalry regiments, one artillery regiment, eight militia regiments and four Ordenanças brigades. The South Division included further the Legion of Light Troops and a second artillery regiment. The existing line infantry, cavalry and artillery regiments were kept, but became numbered instead of being designated after their garrison places or the name of their commanding officers as they were previously. Lisbon's inhabitants also became eligible to be drafted for the Militias, with two regiments being created in the city (the regiments of Royal Volunteers of Foot Militias of Eastern and Western Lisbon). The Army was then to be composed of 24 infantry, 12 cavalry, four artillery and 48 militias regiments, the Legion of Light Troops, the 24 Ordenanças brigades, the Army military corps (Army Staff, Engineers, Fortresses Staff, Fortress fixed garrisons, Guides and Artificiers) and the Army civil corps (Treasury, Hospitals, Hospital Guardianship, Transportation and Army Police). Shortly afterwards, a militia cavalry regiment (the Regiment of Royal Volunteers of Horse Militias) was raised in Lisbon and added to the Army .
  The transference of the Portuguese Government and Crown to Brazil meant that some of the most important military officers were also transferred. Most of the remaining more experienced officers and best units
caption: Soldier of the 6th Caçadores Battalion in 1811
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