Battle of Bussaco The Battle of Buçaco ( ) or Bussaco ( 27 September 1810 ) resulted in the defeat of French forces by Lord Wellington ' s Anglo - Portuguese Army , in Portugal during the Peninsular War . Having occupied the heights of Bussaco ( a 10 - mile long ridge located at 40°20 ' 40 " N , 8°20 ' 15 " W ) with 25 , 000 British and the same number of Portuguese , Wellington was attacked five times successively by 65 , 000 French under Marshal André Masséna . Masséna was uncertain as to the disposition and strength of the opposing forces because Wellington deployed them on the reverse slope of the ridge , where they could neither be easily seen nor easily softened up with artillery . The actual assaults were delivered by the corps of Marshal Michel Ney and General of Division ( MG ) Jean Reynier , but after much fierce fighting they failed to dislodge the allied forces and were driven off after having lost 4 , 500 men against 1 , 250 Anglo - Portuguese casualties . Background . Operations . In 1810 , Emperor Napoleon I ordered Masséna to drive the British from Portugal . Accordingly , the French marshal began the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo in April . The Spanish garrison held out until 9 July when the fortress fell . The Battle of the Côa was fought soon after . The Siege of Almeida ended with the fall of the Portuguese fortress in August . With all obstacles cleared from their path , the French marched on Lisbon in strength . Using selective demolition of bridges and roads , Viscount Wellington restricted the choice of routes the French could use , resulting in , at the end of September , the meeting where they found Wellington ' s army drawn up on the ridge of Bussaco . Allied organization . Wellington had six British infantry divisions , the Light under Brigadier General ( BG ) Robert Craufurd , 1st led by Major General ( MG ) Brent Spencer , 2nd commanded by MG Rowland Hill , 3rd under MG Thomas Picton , 4th led by MG Lowry Cole , and 5th under MG James Leith . The latter three divisions each had a Portuguese brigade attached . In addition , there was a two - brigade Portuguese infantry division under MG John Hamilton , and three independent Portuguese brigades led by BG Denis Pack , BG Alexander Campbell and BG John Coleman . BG George DeGrey , BG John Slade , BG George Anson and BG Henry Fane led four British cavalry brigades , plus four regiments of Portuguese cavalry . In batteries of six guns apiece , there were six British ( Ross RHA , Bull RHA , Thompson , Lawson , two unknown ) , two King ' s German Legion ( Rettberg , Cleeves ) and five Portuguese ( Rozierres , Da Cunha Preto , Da Silva , Freira , Sousa ) batteries under BG Edward Howorth . This was the first major battle of the Peninsular War in which units of the reconstituted Portuguese Army fought , and it served as a great morale boost to the inexperienced troops . French organization . Masséna ' s army included the II Corps under Reynier , the VI Corps led by Ney , the VIII Corps under MG Jean Andoche Junot and a cavalry reserve led by MG Louis Pierre , Count Montbrun . The divisions of MG Pierre Hugues Victoire Merle and MG Étienne Heudelet de Bierre made up Reynier ' s corps . Ney ' s corps had three divisions under MGs Jean Marchand , Julien Mermet and Louis Loison . Junot had the divisions of MG Bertrand Clausel and MG Jean - Baptiste Solignac . Each French corps contained the standard brigade of light cavalry . General of Brigade ( BG ) Jean Baptiste Eblé , Masséna ' s artillery chief , commanded 112 guns . Plans . Wellington posted his army along the crest of Bussaco Ridge , facing east . To improve his lateral communications , he had his engineers cut a road that ran the length of the ridge on the reverse slope . Cole held the left ( north ) flank . Next came Craufurd , Spencer , Picton and Leith . Hill held the right ( south ) flank with Hamilton ' s men attached . Masséna , goaded by Ney and other officers to attack the British position rather than go around it , ordered a reconnaissance of the steep ridge . Very few of Wellington ' s troops were visible , as they remained on the reverse slope and were ordered not to light cooking fires . The French General planned to send Reynier at the centre of the ridge , which he believed to be the British right flank . Once the II Corps attack showed some signs of success , Masséna would launch Ney ' s corps at the British along the main road . The VIII Corps stood behind the VI Corps in reserve . While Ney announced that he was ready to attack and conquer , Reynier suddenly had second thoughts , predicting his attack would be beaten . Battle . II Corps attack . Reynier ' s troops struck in the early morning mist . Heudelet sent his leading brigade straight up the slope in a formation one company wide and eight battalions deep . When the leading regiment reached the top of the ridge , they found themselves facing the 74th Foot and two Portuguese battalions in line , plus 12 cannon . The French tried to change formation from column into a line . Pelet says , " The column began to deploy as if at an exercise . " But the Allies brought intense musketry to bear . Soon , the French infantrymen were thrown into confusion . However , they clung to a precarious toehold on the ridge . Several hundred yards to the north , Merle ' s division thrust up the ridge in a similar formation . Picton hurriedly massed his defenders by utilizing the ridgetop road . Met at the crest by the 88th Foot and the 45th Foot and two Portuguese battalions in a concave line , the French tried unsuccessfully to deploy into line . Crushed by converging fire , the French fled down the slope . Merle was wounded while General of Brigade Jean François Graindorge fell mortally wounded . Wellington rode up to Colonel Alexander Wallace of the 88th and remarked , " Wallace , I have never witnessed a more gallant charge . " Seeing Heudelet ' s second brigade standing immobile at the foot of the ridge , Reynier rode up to BG Maximilien Foy and demanded an immediate attack . With the Allies out of position after defeating the first two attacks , Foy hit a weak spot in their defences . Fortuitously , the French struck the least prepared unit in the Allied army — a Portuguese militia unit — and routed it . But the morning mist cleared , revealing no enemies in front of the British right flank . Wellington had already ordered Leith to shift his men to the north to assist Picton . Before Foy ' s men could consolidate their gain , they were attacked by the 9th Foot and 38th Foot of Leith and some of Picton ' s men . The French were swept off the ridge and Foy wounded . After seeing this rout , Heudelet ' s other brigade withdrew to the base of the ridge . VI Corps attack . Hearing gunfire , Ney assumed Reynier ' s men were enjoying success and ordered an attack . In this sector , the main highway climbed a long spur past the hamlets of Moura and Sula to reach the crest at the Convent of Bussaco . Against a very heavy British skirmish line , Loison ' s division fought its way forward . Near the crest , 1 , 800 men of the 1 / 43rd and 1 / 52nd Light Infantry battalions lay down waiting . As Loison ' s leading brigade approached the convent grounds , the two British units stood up , fired a terrific volley at point blank range and charged with the bayonet . The French brigade collapsed and fled leaving BG Édouard Simon , their commander , wounded and a prisoner . A short time later and slightly further south , Loison ' s second brigade under BG Claude François Ferey ran into a close - range fire from two batteries plus Anglo - Portuguese musketry . This unit was also routed . A final thrust by BG Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune ' s brigade of Marchand ' s division met defeat when it ran into Denis Pack ' s Portuguese brigade . The two sides occupied the rest of the day in vigorous skirmishing , but the French did not try to attack in force again . Aftermath . The French suffered 522 dead , 3 , 612 wounded , and 364 captured . The Allied losses numbered 200 dead , 1 , 001 wounded , and 51 missing . The British and Portuguese each lost exactly 626 men . Masséna then moved off to the right to flank the position , and Wellington , after spending the night in the convent , resumed the retreat of his army into the previously fortified Lines of Torres Vedras . He reached these by 10 October . After probing the Lines in the Battle of Sobral on 14 October , Masséna found them too strong to attack and withdrew into winter quarters . Deprived of food for his men and harried by Anglo - Portuguese hit - and - run tactics , he lost a further 25 , 000 men captured or dead from starvation or sickness before he retreated into Spain early in 1811 . This finally freed Portugal from French occupation except for the fortress of Almeida , near the frontier . During the retreat , several actions were fought , including the Battle of Sabugal . In Fiction . Sharpe ' s Escape by Bernard Cornwell covers the Battle of Bussaco .