"Portugese Light Companies" Topic

Did Portugese Line Infantry contain inherent light companies during the Peninsular War as their British and French counterparts, or did they rely on Cacadores to do all their skirmish work?

They had light companies up until the Loyal Lusitanian Legion's three battalions were converted to the 7th, 8th and 9th Cacadores. (The Legion had a battalion in Lowry cole's IVth Division up through Albuera.) The light companies allegedly were taken from the line regiments and made into the 10th, 11th and 12 Cacadores.

Oman described an attack (Nive? Nivelle?) late in the war headed by a Cacadore battalion, reinforced by the light companies of the line brigade (should not have existed by then), then the 4 line battalions of the brigade – probably in closed columns. I would love to hear that the units recruited new light companies!

GdeP

Garde de Paris wrote:

I would love to hear that the units recruited new light companies!

They did not need to. The Anglo-Portuguese system was that skirmishing was a Brigade level function, not performed by individual battalions. Wellington issued orders for British Brigades to do this by detaching all of their 3 or 4 battalion light companies, and the Brigade rifle company (5/60th or Brunswick Oels) into a combined Brigade light battalion whenever the Brigade moved or was likely to be in combat. The Portuguese provided Brigade skirmish screens in exactly the same way with their Cacadores battalions of four musket armed companies and one rifle (Atritadores) company.

In the rare occasions that a Portuguese Brigade did not have a Cacadores battalion then the battalion grenadier companies would perform this role (there was an instruction to this effect).

Rod

Thank you for the information.I am doing Lasalle, I guess I will simply paint up some Cacadores to serve as my skirmishers for the Portugese line battalions.

The Osprey series suggests that Portuguese cacadore battalions were first formed, and went through the war, with 5 companies. 1 was called "Atiradores" or sharpshooters, their elite company.

The line battalions, according to Oman, were of 7 companies – 1 grenadier; 5 center; and 1 light. Osprey contends that this may have been well before the Peninsular War, and that Portuguese regiments were really battalions of 10 companies with 1 grenadier and 1 light. They were allegedly split into 5 company half-battalions. If you game the early period before the formation of the 7th through 12th cacadores, you would have two light companies from among the line units in the brigade, and 2 grenadier companies to use as skirmishers. If the brigade gained the 2nd, 4th or 6th cacadores that would be 5 more companies.

GdeP

Garde de Paris wrote:

The line battalions, according to Oman, were of 7 companies – 1 grenadier; 5 center; and 1 light. Osprey contends that this may have been well before the Peninsular War, and that Portuguese regiments were really battalions of 10 companies with 1 grenadier and 1 light. They were allegedly split into 5 company half-battalions. If you game the early period before the formation of the 7th through 12th cacadores, you would have two light companies from among the line units in the brigade, and 2 grenadier companies to use as skirmishers. If the brigade gained the 2nd, 4th or 6th cacadores that would be 5 more companies.

I am afraid Oman was quite wrong. He was very good on his general history , but made errors regarding military organisations. His "Wellington's Army contains (at Appendix 1) what purports to be all the Regimental establishments of the British Army in 1809. It is rubbish because there was no such thing as a Regimental establishment for infantry, apart from in the Foot Guards. All other infantry establishments were by individual battalions, which could be any of 400, 600, 800, 1,000 or 1,200 rank and file (the size depending on role, Field Army normally 1,000 or increasingly 1,200, static garrisons 600 or 800, reserve in UK 400). Oman had added together all of these separate battalion establishments to make the structure look much more varied and confusing than it actually was.

I have researched the entire British Army establishments form 1802 to 1815 and published this as a pair of articles, each 9,000 words, for the Society of Army Historical Research. The only other significant variations were one extra Sergeant and Corporal per company in Light & Rifle battalions. Also single battalion Regiments posted abroad or multi battalion Regiments which sent with more than one battalion abroad received an extra Recruiting Company (officers, sergeants, corporals & drummers, but no privates). Oman's portrayal of this is inaccurate and confusing.

Oman's other major error in that same book on page 75 where he says "Wellington…did occasionally create a light battalion of light companies – even this was exceptional". Again this is rubbish. Wellington issued orders that such brigade light battlions were always to be formed whenever brigades moved or were likely to be in combat. I have published the full detail in a separate post.

The 7 company Portuguese organisation, inaccurately described by Oman as still in use during the Napoleonic Wars, was an 18th century structure, dating from 1762, on a modified Prussian system which expected grenadier companies to be detached into separate grenadier battalions. It was still used up to 1801 after which date Regiments had 10 companies, divided into two battalions with a grenadier company in one and a light company in the other.

New Portuguese Regulations were issued by Beresford in 1810. I have a copy of these and they quite clearly show each regiment organised as two battalions, each of five companies including a grenadier company in each battalion, but with no light companies. This pre-dates the formation of 7th to 12th Cacadores in 1811.

Rod