First Battle of Porto
| First Battle of Porto | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Peninsular War | |||||||
Marshall Soult surveys the broken bridge as Oporto falls to the French on 29 March 1809. In the foreground a grenadier rescues an orphaned baby. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Portugal | French Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Caetano José Vaz Parreiras | Jean de Dieu Soult | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 30,000 | 16,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
8,000–10,000 killed Unknown wounded | 500 killed or wounded | ||||||
Peninsular War: Second French invasion
current battle
In the First Battle of Porto (29 March 1809) the French under Marshal Soult defeated the Portuguese, under General Parreiras, outside the city of Porto during the Peninsular War. Soult followed up his success by storming the city, in the course of which thousands of fleeing citizens drowned in the Porto Boat Bridge disaster.