Fuentes de Onoro 1811

Fuentes de Onoro 1811 focus on the last events of the fight between Masséna and Wellington in Portugal and Spain. It includes three battles: Foz do Arouce, Fuentes de Oñoro and El Bodon 1811 which are thus be the 32nd, 33rd and 34th battles of the series.

The game is also the 6th entry in the Vae Victis Wargame Collection. The main battle, Fuentes de Oñoro, has an A2 map and the two smaller ones have A3 maps. The game include 216 counters and markers.

Foz do Arouce, 15th March 1811

The fight took place just after Redhina and Casal Novo but before Sabugal and Fuentes de Onoro, as Wellington followed Massena out of the lines of Torres Vedras. It included two popular British divisions, the 3rd and the Light. The French under Ney held a ridge with a river behind it that was crossed by a single bridge. The French ridge on their left was much higher than the one on the right. In the centre there was a gap of about 200 yards, occupied by the village of Foz d'Arouce. Some companies of the 95th rifles penetrated down a hollow road there, almost unopposed, quite close to the bridge. The rest of the Light division held Marchand in a frontal fight on the French right. Half of Mermet’s division on the French left faced the 3rd Division. The 39th lost its eagle in the river as they tried to cross a deep ford below the bridge, and many men were drowned.

Fuentes de Oñoro, 3rd to 5th May 1811

On the 3rd of May, Masséna launched a frontal assault against the British-Portuguese pickets holding the barricaded village, while subjecting the British-Portuguese on the heights east of the village to a heavy artillery bombardment. The village was the centre of the fighting for the whole day, with French soldiers of Ferey's and Marchand's divisions clashing with the British redcoats of the 1st and 3rd Divisions. May 4 saw little combat. Both sides recovered from the ferocity of the previous day of fighting and reconsidered their options and battle plans. A French reconnaissance revealed that Wellington's right flank was weakly held by a unit of partisans near the hamlet of Pozo Bello. Action began again at dawn on the 5th of May. Wellington had left the 7th Division exposed on his right flank. Masséna launched a heavy attack on the weak British-Portuguese flank, led by Montbrun's dragoons and supported by the infantry divisions of Marchand, Mermet and Solignac. Right away, two 7th Division battalions were roughed up by French light cavalry. This compelled Wellington to send reinforcements to save the 7th Division from annihilation. This was only achieved by the efforts of the Light Division and the British and King's German Legion cavalry. In response, Wellington counterattacked with units from the 1st and 3rd Divisions, plus the Portuguese 6th Caçadores. Led by the 88th Connaught Rangers Foot, this effort broke Drouet's attack and the tide began to turn. Low on ammunition, the French had to resort to the bayonet in