In 1640, following the death of
Philip II, the conflict known as the
Portuguese Restoration War began. The new Spanish King,
Philip III of Spain, intended to make Portugal a Spanish province, and Portuguese nobles stood to lose all of their power. As a consequence the Portuguese restored their independence from Spain. On the 1 December 1640, following a military coup the Duke of Braganza was proclaimed king of Portugal and became
John IV. northwest of Almeida, his troops were stopped by Portuguese
insurgents. On retreating to Almeida, Loison received a fresh dispatch from General
Junot, ordering him to march on
Lisbon which was threatening insurrection. Before leaving Almeida, Loison arranged to have the cannons and garrison of Fort Concepcion moved to Almeida and to have the northernmost bastions was signed by General
Junot, under whose terms the French Army, all its equipment and all its baggage were to be evacuated from Portugal and eastern Spain by the British Navy, from Porto, as soon as possible. By October British Forces had re-occupied the fortress of Concepcion and the fortress of Almeida. Despite the retreat of General
Sir John Moore to
A Coruña in January, 1809 the fortress remained in the hands of the Portuguese and British.
1810 Unable to resume command personally,
Napoleon appointed his most dependable Marshal,
Masséna to take charge of the
Army of Portugal in April,1810. This army of three corps had a total of 65,000 men, with a further reinforcement of 20,000 troops promised once they were ready. By May, 1810 Wellington's forces were becoming stronger as supplies and manpower increased. Wellington's espionage network had informed him of Masséna's appointment and a French lieutenant who had deserted to one of
Craufurd's pickets revealed that the French had moved 80,000 troops to the province and where preparing to invade Portugal once more. Wellington's response to an impending invasion of Portugal from
Ciudad Rodrigo was to strengthen his defences in the border region. He ordered the refortifying of the Fortress of the Concepcion, and repair to the fort's partially destroyed bastions, which had been blown up by the French in their 1808 retreat. Brigadier General William Cox, the military governor of
Almeida was in charge of the works. He attempted to enlist Spanish labourers to do the work but was unsuccessful, and he was forced to use soldiers of the Portuguese 9th Line to complete the work. The rebuilding were overseen by
Captain John Burgoyne of Corps of
Royal Engineers. As well as the Portuguese soldiers, Burgoyne also had a small collection of skilled Portuguese stonemasons and carpenters at his disposal. The workforce set about clearing all the debris in the surrounding ditches caused by the French demolitions, and palisades were erected. Repairs were also made to the bastions at the north end of the fortress. The bridge into the fortress was repaired along with the drawbridge, covered walkways and gates. Burgoyne was also ordered to sink mines into the two previously undamaged formidable bastions. Six tons of
gunpowder These troops would quickly reinforce the fortress if it came under attack.
Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo On the 26 April 1810 the French Army of Portugal took up position to
besiege the Spanish fortified town of
Ciudad Rodrigo as a prelude to its invasion of Portugal. Under Masséna's plan, his forces were to capture and consolidate this border town as a base for the invading army. On 25 June a concerned Wellington decided to visit the fortified town of Almeida. He held discussions with Brigadier-General Cox, the governor of the fortress, and toured the local picket posts and positions along the border manned by Crauford's Light Division. He also visited the fortress of the Concepcion, inspecting the repairs and preparations made by Captain Burgoyne. After his tour of inspection, Wellington returned to Almeida and wrote a memo to Crauford suggesting modifications and improvements which he should make. Along with these recommendations were suggestions of the way a
tactical withdraw should proceed, when, as Wellington expected, the French attacked the border. The Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo ended on 9 July when the French VI Corps, under the command of Marshal
Michel Ney, took the fortified city after its Governor, Don Andrés Perez de Herrasti, surrendered his 5,500-man Spanish garrison, which had put up a gallant defence of the city to be beaten only when Ney's artillery opened a large, practicable breach in the walls. The siege had delayed Masséna's invasion plans for Portugal by over a month, but now the French were ready to move west towards Almeida, with the Fort of Concepcion lying in their path.
The capture and destruction of the Fort of Concepcion Even before the fall of
Ciudad Rodrigo, the French had probed the defending British pickets to the west of the city, towards the border. On 4 July, General
Junot had accompanied General Sainte-Croix on a reconnaissance of the area. Following several skirmishes and actions Junot had reconnoitred the fortress of Concepcion, after which he temporarily withdrew his forces to Ciudad Rodrigo. Wellington's strategy now instructed Burgoyne to prepare to evacuate the fortress and to demolish it with his prepared charges. By 4 July, the Portuguese 9th line, Portuguese Artillery battery and the four companies of the 45th foot had withdrawn to
Picton's Division near the town of
Pinhel. At the fortress the three companies of Portuguese
Caçadores who had been left on picket duty were replaced with horseman of the
14th Light Dragoons, and two companies of the
95th Rifles, who were tasked with guarding the fortress and setting off the mines as they left. In the early hours of the morning of 21 July, Loison's
25th Dragoons, 3rd Hussars and supporting infantry crossed the Dos Casas stream and rapidly proceeded up the hillside from
Aldea del Obispo towards the Fortress of Concepcion. In front of them, in full retreat were the 14th Light Dragoons. Captain
Brotherton sent one of his officers ahead of the retreat to inform Burgoyne that his Light Dragoons were retreating and that time was short before the French would be on the fortress. Brotherton was able to delay the French long enough for Burgoyne's mines to be fired. At 4:45 am, a large explosion hurled debris from the fortress's masonry across the surrounding countryside. A number of men and horses of the dragoons were caught and killed in the explosion. Burgoyne reported that one side of the fortress had blown up, although he was unable to ascertain the extent of damage because the British had had to evacuate so rapidly. The Fortress had been severely damaged but the French, who now took possession, discovered that only one of the four mines had detonated. There had been several other smaller explosions and the fortress's defences had been seriously compromised.
The second French occupation Following the explosions,
Loison, under
Ney's orders took possession of Concepcion and its surrounding plateau for the second time. The French now would use Concepcion's close proximity to the
Fortress of Almeida as a base for the organisation of the
Investment of the Fortress. There now began a period of activity which involved preparation for Concepcion to be the Headquarters for Marshal
Masséna. The men of Masséna
État-major (Staff) moved into some of the remaining bomb proof casemates along with their horses. Masséna's first
aide-de-camp,
Pelet also took up residence in a casemate. With this influx of staff and men into the fortress came some new resources, including four baking ovens along with many bakers. Three companies of
Taupin's infantry provided the garrison. The French army laid siege to Almeida on July 25, 1810. On 16 August, Masséna took up residence in the old Governor's quarters to oversee operations personally. However Masséna's stay at Concepcion was short. By the 26 August the
Siege of Almeida was over. Masséna's Army of Portugal swiftly took over Almeida and then moved on towards
Lisbon. Wellington's tactics of delaying Masséna along the borderlands close to Concepcion and his tactical withdrawal from the border fortresses had given him time to strengthen the
Lines of Torres Vedras, which Masséna decided were too formidable to overrun, leading to the eventual French withdrawal from Portugal in 1811.
Second French withdrawal By October Masséna's army was at the Lines of Torres Vedras, which proved to be the obstacle that stopped the French from taking Lisbon. Wellington's Allied Army grew stronger, with reinforcements of troops, supplies and equipment from Britain arriving daily. The Portuguese army was now well trained and its numbers had increased. Napoleon, despite requests from Masséna, had only sent a further 7,000 troops to reinforce the Army of Portugal. However, the biggest obstacle to Masséna was the lack of supplies, both of food and ammunition. Masséna could not be supplied from Spain and thus his army had to be fed by foraging in the surrounding countryside. Wellington, however, had taken the precaution of having most resources in the area destroyed or hidden. By March, 1811 the Army of Portugal was starving and its munitions and powder were almost depleted. Seeing this buildup and with no orders to hold out, the small French garrison left at the Fortress of the Concepcion quickly withdrew, leaving without further damage being inflicted on the Fortress. == Gallery ==