As the winter of 1810-11 drew to a close, Wellington prepared to move against Masséna's Army of Portugal which, having ground to a halt in front of the Lines of Torres Vedras, had spent the winter between Santarém and Rio Maior. At the same time, he was obliged to despatch the 2nd and 4th Divisions in the Alemtejo to counter a threat from Soult's Army of the South which took Badajoz on 11th March. In the space of 5 weeks, Wellington harried Masséna out of Portugal, isolating a French garrison at Almeida on 7th April.
To his great credit, Masséna brought his army back to a state of operational readiness in remarkably short time. It was his army's misfortune that he chose to throw it against Wellington in a desperate attempt to relieve Almeida and save something of his reputation.
On 2nd May, Masséna advanced from Ciudad Rodrigo with a force of 42,000 infantry, 4,500 cavalry and 38 guns. In response, Wellington deployed 34,000 infantry, 1,850 cavalry and 48 guns along a defensive line extending south from the ruins of Fort Concepcion to the village of Fuentes de Oñoro. North of the village, the western heights of the ravine through which flowed the Dos Casas river were entrusted to the 5th and 6th Divisions; the 1st, 3rd, 7th and Light Divisions, as well as Ashworth's Portuguese Brigade, were held on the high ground behind the village while the village itself was garrisoned by 1,800 light infantry supported by 460 men of the 2/83rd.1 Further south, two battalions held Poço Velho2 while Julian Sanchez's guerrillas occupied Nave de Haver.
In the early afternoon of 3rd May, Masséna sent all ten battalions of Ferey's Division into a direct assault against Fuentes de Oñoro. Crossing the Dos Casas under heavy fire, the French forced their way uphill through the maze of alleyways in the village, reaching the church before being driven back by three battalions of the 1st Division.3 After being reinforced by four battalions from Marchand's Division, the French attacked again but failed to regain a foothold on the western side of the stream. The casualties in the day's fighting amounted to 652 French and 259 British and Portuguese.
After spending the 4th reconnoitring the Allied positions, Masséna recognized the possibility of turning Wellington's right by striking south of Fuentes de Oñoro; 17,000 infantry and 3,500 cavalry were allocated to the flank attack while 14,000 infantry were concentrated in front of Fuentes de Oñoro ready to make a co-ordinated, renewed attack across the Dos Casas. Given that Wellington saw the threat, it is surprising that he chose to defend the flank with his weakest division - the 4,000-strong 7th (Houston) - alongside the whole of his cavalry.
At daybreak on the 5th, French cavalry under the command of Montbrun drove Sanchez's guerrillas from the battlefield and forced the British cavalry (Cotton) to regroup in front of the 7th Division west of Poço Velho. Shortly after, two infantry divisions under Marchand and Mermet drove the Allied battalions out of Poço Velho, threatening both the right flank of the Allied position at Fuentes de Oñoro and to cut off the isolated 7th Division. Wellington now reacted quickly and decisively, redeploying the the 1st (Spencer) and 3rd (Picton) Divisions and the Portuguese Brigade to form a new defensive line facing south, and sending Crauford's Light Division to the rescue of the 7th. As the 7th Division pulled back, 1,400 British cavalry4 fought to stave off furious attacks from twice their number in four of Montbrun's cavalry brigades. As the exhausted British cavalry drew up behind the 7th Division, Montbrun made one unsuccessful attempt to break the infantry before pausing to reorganize. During the lull in the fighting, the Light Division took the place of the 7th with orders to hold the ground until the 7th had safely withdrawn, and then to pull back to the rear of the 1st Division. Constantly harried by Montbrun's cavalry, Crauford brought his division back to safety in a line of battalion squares protected by the cavalry and a battery of horse artillery. In the