Battle of Sabugal The Battle of Sabugal was an engagement of the Peninsular War which took place on 3 April 1811 between Anglo - Portuguese forces under Arthur Wellesley ( later the Duke of Wellington ) and French troops under the command of Marshal André Masséna . It was the last of many skirmishes between Masséna ' s retreating French forces and those of the Anglo - Portuguese under Wellington , who were pursuing him after the failed 1810 French invasion of Portugal . In poor weather , with heavy rain and fog , Allied forces succeeded in forcing the demoralized French force into retreat . The victory was lauded by the British ; Sir Harry Smith , then a junior officer of the 95th Rifles and a participant in the battle , remarked " Oh , you Kings and usurpers should view these scenes and moderate ambition " while Wellesley later referred to the Light Division ' s action in the battle as " one of the most glorious that British troops were ever engaged in " . Background . By October 1810 , Marshal Massena ’ s French army had been halted by the Lines of Torres Vedras , and the Peninsular War had reached a stalemate . Realising that a drive on to Lisbon before the onset of winter was unlikely , Masséna prepared to see out the winter months and renew the fight in the spring , despite scorched earth policies by the Allies rendering foraging for food very difficult . Having survived the winter , however , Massena order a general retreat on 3 March 1811 , and the British forces under Wellesley followed . By the onset of April , the French forces were just inside Portugal , aligned along the Côa river . Jean - Baptiste Drouet , Comte d ' Erlon ' s 9th Corps defended to the north , Louis Henri Loison ' s 6th Corps was in the centre and Jean Reynier ' s 2nd Corps held the south flank at Sabugal . Resting in the rear areas was Jean - Andoche Junot ' s 8th Corps . It was at Sabugal that Wellesley attempted to crush the French flank by attacking forces of the isolated 2nd Corps . While the 1st , 3rd , 5th and 7th British - Portuguese divisions performed a frontal attack , the flanking Light Division miscalculated and attacked the French 2nd Corps in the flank rather than from the rear . With the leading British units cut off , and poor weather approaching , the British situation became increasingly difficult . The battle . The 1st Brigade of the British - Portuguese Light Division crossed the Côa at 10 . 00 hrs on the morning of 3 April . The French 4th " Légére " ( Light ) from Pierre Hugues Victoire Merle ' s 1st Division was alerted by musket fire as the 1st Brigade drove off a small number of French pickets . The French formed a column and advanced on the British . While making good progress initially , the concentrated French force was driven back by British artillery . The 1st Brigade followed the retreating French forces up a nearby hill , however it was quickly ousted by the remaining French forces , who still held a considerable numerical advantage . The British were forced back into cover behind some small stone walls . Heavy rain had also begun to interfere with the musket s of both sides . An attempted counter - attack by the 1st Brigade also ended in failure , as the French had in the meantime set up artillery . Together with further French reinforcements , Reynier forced the British back to the cover of the stone walls at the foot of the hill . The crest was attacked for a third time by the 1st Brigade , now supported by the 2nd Brigade , which had arrived on the battlefield . While the French were initially pushed back , Reynier sent in a stream of French units to meet the arriving British 16th Light Dragoons and the surviving soldiers of the 1st and 2nd . With the rain clearing , Reynier could also see the British divisions beginning a frontal assault . This sight persuaded Reynier to pull back , however the British were successful in seizing both his and General Pierre Soult ' s baggage carts , even if bad weather did prevent them from mounting a full pursuit . A French commander , Baron Thiébault , blamed the collapse of the 2nd Corps for the French defeat on 3 April , stating that " It might have been avoided if General Reynier had had faith in Massena ’ s foresight " . Sources differ in the number of French prisoners taken , ranging from 186 to over 1 , 500 . Erskine ' s strange role . Major - General William Erskine commanded the Light Division during the battle . Wellington planned to have the Light Division and two brigades of cavalry circle behind Reynier ' s open left flank while the other four divisions attacked in front . When the day dawned with heavy fog , the other commanders decided to wait until visibility improved . Undeterred , Erskine peremptorily ordered Lieut - Colonel Thomas Sydney Beckwith ' s 1st Brigade forward . Instead of crossing the Côa beyond Reynier ' s flank , the brigade drifted to the left in the fog , crossed at the wrong location and struck the French left flank . Erskine , who was very nearsighted and mentally unbalanced , then became cautious and issued explicit instructions to Colonel George Drummond not to support his fellow brigade commander . At this point , Erskine rode off to join the cavalry , leaving the Light Division leaderless for the rest of the battle . Reynier switched most of his 10 , 000 - man corps against Beckwith ' s 1 , 500 and pressed the light infantry back . When Drummond heard the sounds of battle approaching , he deduced that Beckwith ' s men were retreating . Disobeying orders , Drummond led his 2nd Brigade across the Côa and joined Beckwith . Together they drove the French back . When the mist cleared , Reynier saw the other four divisions advancing in front , led by Thomas Picton ' s 3rd Division . He quickly withdrew the bulk of the II Corps , leaving 3 , 000 men of his right flank to hold off four divisions . William Grattan of the 88th Foot noted of the badly outnumbered French , " They never fought better . So rapidly did they fire that instead of returning their ramrods , they stuck them in the ground and continued to fight until overpowered by our men . " Reynier admitted the loss of 760 men .