PORTUGUESE INFANTRY, PENINSULAR WAR 1807-14

Portugal joined the wars with revolutionary France, but the fiercest battles began in 1807, i.e. from the beginning of the French intervention on the Iberian Peninsula. In the period 1806-1807, the Portuguese army underwent a deep reorganization in which its infantry was divided into 24 line regiments and independent light infantry units. It is worth adding that the Portuguese army also began to be formed into permanent divisions, each of which consisted of 8 infantry regiments, and a brigade consisting of two regiments was used as an intermediate unit. Light infantry formations were also expanded (cf. cacadores). It is worth adding that as a result of the French invasion, a large part of the Portuguese army fell under the French command, where it formed the so-called The Portuguese Legion, but part of the same army later became part of the so-called British Portuguese Army reformed by British officer General Beresford. It is worth adding that these troops fought, inter alia, at Bucaco in 1810.