WELLINGTON AND THE LINES OF TORRES VEDRAS

George Nafziger Mark S. Thompson Helion & Company (2021) £25.00 224 pages (softback) ISBN:9781914059858 helion.co.uk

Mark S. Thompson first describes the French occupation of Portugal in1807-1808, the Portuguese defence of Lisbon between 1808 and 1810, and the threat to Portugal in 1810. He then examines Wellington’s ‘Memorandum for Lieutenant Colonel Fletcher, Commanding Royal Engineer’ dated 20th October 1809, and provides a useful diagrammatic summary of his instructions for creating the Lines. The text of the Memorandum is reproduced in Appendix I.

Two chapters describe the construction of the Lines, from November 1809 to October 1810.

Communications on the Lines contains a map of the telegraph networks around Lisbon; diagrams include the French Chappe and Portuguese Ciera telegraphs; the British Telegraph Codes; Captain John Burgoyne’s description of the British telegraph, and British and Portuguese Telegraph number examples.

The remainder of the book describes the campaign of 1810, how Wellington retired his army into the Lines after the Battle of Busaco and how Massena’s army, unable to pierce the defences, was eventually compelled to withdraw because it could not obtain sufficient supplies to maintain itself before the Lines.

Building Work on the Lines from October 1811 describes the maintenance work that continued to the end of the war, as Wellington could not be sure that there would not be another French invasion. The book benefits from numerous illustrations: there are sixteen colour plates. Two are diagrams of the typical layout of a fort and the defences and heights at Alhandra. A reproduction of the cover illustration by Chris Collingwood, and a map of the Lines, are both divided into two separate plates so that no details are lost in the central binding. Modern photographs show a reconstruction of a Portuguese Ciera Indicator Telegraph; Wellington’s headquarters at Pero Negro; Beresford’s headquarters at Casal Cochim; the church in Sobral town square, and fourteen views of, or from, various forts.

There are full page maps of Portugal and Central Spain, Central Portugal and the Lisbon Peninsula. Others, distributed throughout the book, include the Routes to Lisbon; the Lisbon City Defences in 1810; Early defences at Sao Juliao; Initial defences at Alhandra; Forts completed by June 1810; Second Line forts on banks of Tagus; the final configuration of the Third Line; the final configuration of the Alhandra defences; the Lines from Alhandra to Sobral; defensive positions between Arruda and Alhandra; Sobral to Torres Vedras, before and after October 1810; defences to the west of Torres Vedras, before and after October 1810, and the Fourth Line, south of the Tagus.

Diagrams show the Standard dimensions of ditches on the Lines and give Profiles of Fleche and Line on Defensive Line 110. Plans include Sao Juliao da Barra and Fort 98, Fort Sao Vicente Torres Vedras, Fort 95 Forte do Zambujal and Fort 9A Forte Montinhoso.

Campaign maps show the first phase of the 1810 campaign, the withdrawal to Lisbon in October 1810; the position of forces on 10th October 1810; positions of troops from October to November 1810 and the positions of the armies on 19 November 1810 and 1 December 1810.

Appendix II is a Complete List of the Forts to Defend Lisbon, giving their names, districts, garrison strengths, and the numbers and weights of shot of their guns and howitzers and a four-page bibliography concludes the book.

An excellent account of the defensive works that played such a significant part in defeating the French.