SALAMANCA

After years of largely defensive campaigning, Lieutenant General Arthur Wellesley went on the offensive against a French invasion of Andalusia

-  LOUIS HARDIMAN

Arthur Wellesley dismounted to settle in for dinner on early afternoon, 22 July 1812. For almost a week, his army had raced to keep up with French manoeuvres to avoid being outflanked. As he tucked into his chicken on the Lesser Arapiles observation point, Wellesley (who was given the title Duke of Wellington in 1814) could see the French Army deploying below. Looking to his right, he saw five of Auguste de Marmont's divisions shifting west, ready to cut off the British retreat back to Portugal. "My God! That will do," Wellesley exclaimed, seeing that the Seventh Division led by Jean Guillaume Barthélemy Thomières, followed by Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune's Fifth Division, had outstripped their comrades. Tossing a half-eaten chicken leg over his shoulder, Wellesley jumped onto his horse and rode three miles (5km) west. His destination was Major General Edward Pakenham, his brother-in-law and commander of the Third Division. "Edward, move on with the third division - take the hills in your front and drive everything before you," Wellesley ordered. "I will, my Lord, by God!" Pakenham replied, and his division raced to engage Thomières' men before the other French divisions could catch up.

Wellesley's opportunism sparked the 1812 offensive in the Peninsular War. A chance to cross the border from Portugal and challenge French dominance in Spain came when Napoleon sent 25,000 men east to join the invasion of Russia that, combined with his attack on Valencia, left French forces in Spain stretched. While Spanish guerillas distracted the occupiers, Wellesley entered Spain on 19 January, seizing Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Sir Rowland Hill led a force to destroy the bridge over the Tagus at Almaraz, isolating Marmont's Army of Portugal at Salamanca from Nicolas-Jean de Dieu Soult's Army of the South at Seville.