"Portuguese Cacadores: deployment in battle question" Topic

Hi, I am wondering how best to base my cacadores.

When deployed for a pitched battle, were the cacadores in Portuguese Brigades deployed in line with the Portuguese line battalions, or were they dispersed in companies to the 'skirmish screen' in the way rifle companies were?

As a secondary question, if they were dispersed to the skirmish screen, were they dispersed to the Portuguese brigade screen, or more widely to support the division as a whole?

I find the general deployment of 'British trained' light battalions utterly confusing but, for now, Cacadores are my most pressing concern.

Thanks,

James

BTW. I understand how the British lights were trained and how skirmishing worked. It's the bit about British trained light battalions performing in a skirmishing role, or in the function of a line battalion, as need dictated from one engagement to the next.

From what I'm reading, light battalions tended to fight as line battalions most of the time, and didn't switch from battalion fighting in line and battalion dispersed, and back again, during engagements – tending to be used one way or the other for the duration of the encounter. Hence my question about the use of Portuguese cacadores, which are not specifically mentioned in my sources.

O,

I think you are probably right.

Basically battalions adopted their "battle stance" and stayed in that stance, i.e. if you're skirmishing you stay skirmishing, if in close order you stay in close order.

I've not come across many examples where units moved from skirmish to close order and then back again. Though I have come across examples of French Legere battalions being sent out to skirmish and then later falling back to reform into close order. But whether they then took any further significant part in the action is unknown. I suspect not, but would be grateful for any concrete examples of where this did happen, the early Revolutionary Wars might well have some cases?

DB

As I understand it, the Cacadores fought in the 'British manner'. The whole battalion could be deployed as skirmishers or fight as close order infantry. Of course, 'the whole battalion' is a bit of misnomer as much of the unit would remain in close order as supports and sources of reinforcement. The Cacadores were the light infantry of a Portuguese brigade as the light companies within the line battalions were done away with. The companies could be deployed across the front of the whole division of which they were a part with the 'Tiradores' rifle company providing extra 'firepower' at key points.

Basically, you cannot have too many skirmishers in front of an Anglo-Portuguese division as the Peninsular War goes on. The skirmish line could be so thick at times that the French, with their memories of battalions 'en grande bandes', thought that they had met the main defensive line. When this line withdrew, they thought 'La Victoire est a Nous' and were doubly shocked when they met the close order line and its crushing volleys.

I agree with all except that it may depend on the length of the action.

In a marathon eight-hour, multi-corps slugfest, I could reasonably see a recall (of those four companies detached to skirmish in a wood), reform, refit, and advance as a solid battalion mass again; considering there are returning survivors, of course.

The recall could probably be accomplished within an hour, depending on how far the detachment operates from the colors(300-400 yards away max?).

At Villamuriel, Dudley Hill defended the ford at Calabazanos with his Cacadores N.8. He described how he split the battalion into two wings, one wing dispersed as skirmishers with the other wing in close order in support. He then swapped them over when ammunition ran low. He held the position for 4 hours in this way. link

I have read somewhere ( sorry, can't remember which book ) that light troops were a sort of 'divisional asset', to use an anachronistic term!

Each division had a number of individual rifle companies from the 60th or 95th plus a Cacadores battalion. In a major battle these would form the skirmish line for the whole division, bolstered by the light companies from the line battalions.

This can be awkward to represent on the wargames table as we tend to deal in battalions and regiments, not odd companies operating away from their parent units!

They were a brigade asset although the two brigade units had a field officer commanding them together. This TMP thread from 2013 gives the background TMP link

Ah, there you go. I knew it were something like that. The old memory ain't what it was…

Great stuff, thanks.

Yes, the link to Rod MacArthur's input supplemented by others is most useful.