Battle of Albuera - Prelude To Battle - Allies Invest Badajoz

Allies Invest Badajoz

Beresford now began the task of positioning his army to invest Badajoz, but a series of mishaps delayed the Allied advance into Spain. The Guadiana, a major river of Spain and Portugal that delineates part of the border, lay across Beresford's line of march. Wellington had promised a stock of Spanish pontoon boats so that a bridge could be erected, but these were not forthcoming. Instead, a bridge had to be fashioned in situ—a task that would take until 3 April to complete. Furthermore, the rations promised to Beresford, to be taken from the town of Estremoz, had been consumed by the remnants of Mendizabal's Army of Extremadura, which had settled in the region following their defeat by Soult at the start of the year. Beresford's troops eventually had to draw on rations from the fortress-town of Elvas in order to feed themselves. Finally, the shoes of the 4th Division had completely worn out following two weeks of marching, and replacements from Lisbon would take a week to arrive. These delays gave the Badajoz garrison time to work on the fortifications, taking them from a state of serious disrepair on 25 March to being tenable on 3 April. Beresford began to bring his army forward on 4 April, but a sudden flood swept away his makeshift bridge across the Guadiana, trapping the Allied vanguard on the eastern bank. This could have proved disastrous for Beresford, but Mortier had been recalled to Paris leaving Latour-Maubourg in command at Badajoz, and he was more concerned with repairing the fortress's defences than confronting the Allied army. After a minor success involving the capture of an entire squadron of the 13th Light Dragoons, Latour-Maubourg retired before Beresford's superior forces, leaving 3,000 men garrisoning Badajoz and 400 in Olivenza.

By 8 April new bridges had been thrown across the Guadiana and the following day Beresford's army moved to Olivenza; they were now over the border and 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of Badajoz. While the British 4th Division tackled the small French garrison there, the main Allied army followed Latour-Maubourg south while sending covering forces to watch the Badajoz garrison from Valverde and Albuera. Beresford coordinated his movements with the remnants of the Spanish Army of Extremadura (now under the command of General Castaños), adding 3,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry to his strength. On 15 April, Olivenza fell to the 4th Division, which technically put Beresford in a position to commence the more important task of besieging Badajoz. However, neither Beresford nor Wellington had provided a siege-train for the expedition, so one had to be improvised on the spot. The solution adopted was to take sufficient artillery pieces of various qualities and vintages from the fortress of Elvas, but this expedient caused yet another delay in Allied progress. Beresford took the opportunity presented by this delay to have his forces clear southern Extremadura of French forces and Latour-Maubourg was pushed back to Guadalcanal. Beresford left his cavalry and a brigade under Lieutenant Colonel John Colborne, along with a detachment of Spanish horse, to watch Latour-Maubourg's movements and dissuade him from returning to Extremadura. Wellington was so concerned by the lack of progress that he decided to pay a flying visit to the region. He and Beresford conducted a reconnaissance of Badajoz on 22 April and by the time he left for the north, he had prepared for Beresford a detailed set of memorandum concerning how he should conduct the impending siege and the rest of the campaign. Beresford followed the instructions slowly but surely and finally began to invest Badajoz on 4 May.

A positive development for the Allies during this time was the appearance of another Spanish force in the region. The Spanish Regency at Cádiz had sent General Joaquín Blake, with the two divisions of Zayas and Lardizábal, by sea to Ayamonte on the mouth of the Guadiana. Landing on 18 April, Blake's army moved to join General Francisco Ballesteros at the Spanish town of Xeres. Although Blake was himself a member of the Spanish Regency, he was junior to Castaños in the military hierarchy (but senior to Ballasteros). He consequently did not protest when General Castaños agreed that Marshal Beresford, who was also junior to Castaños in rank, should command the combined Allied armies in any battle because there were more men in the Anglo-Portuguese force.