On the anniversary of the Battle of the Côa, we remember one of the most emblematic sites of the Peninsular War: the Bridge over the River Côa.

The engraving published by Adam Neale in Letters from Portugal and Spain (1809) (Image 1) is a remarkable visual record of this important river crossing. A military surgeon serving under Arthur Wellesley, Neale meticulously documented the landscapes and military infrastructure he encountered throughout the campaign, leaving us a detailed depiction of the bridge before the destruction of one of its arches, as well as a valuable record of its strategic importance in the defence of the Fortress of Almeida.

It was in the vicinity of this bridge that, on 24 July 1810, the Battle of the Côa was fought between the Anglo-Portuguese forces commanded by Robert Craufurd and the French troops of General Loison's Division.

According to the research of Dr Marco Noivo, the Battle of the Côa marked the beginning of the Third French Invasion of Portugal, when Craufurd's Light Division was caught by surprise by Marshal Ney's army. The researcher highlights the determined resistance of the British troops during their withdrawal to the Bridge over the River Côa, where they repelled repeated French assaults and inflicted heavy casualties on Napoleon's forces. Although the British withdrew at midnight, relinquishing the ground, the battle became one of the defining episodes in the defence of the approaches to the Fortress of Almeida.

The battle was later recreated by historical illustrator Christa Hook (Image 2), whose artwork depicts the moment when the Light Division repelled the grenadiers of the 66th French Line Regiment on the Bridge over the River Côa.

Two hundred and sixteen years later, these images continue to remind us of a place where history left a profound mark on both the landscape and the memory of Almeida.

Images

Image 1 – Adam Neale, Bridge over the River Coa near Almeida. Engraving by Adam Neale, published in Letters from Portugal and Spain, during the Campaigns of 1808 and 1809. London: Henry Colburn, 1809.

Image 2 – Christa Hook, La division légère repoussant les grenadiers du 66e de ligne sur le pont de la Côa (The Light Division repelling the grenadiers of the 66th French Line Regiment on the Bridge over the River Côa). Historical illustration. Reproduced with permission of the artist. © Christa Hook.

Image 3 – The Bridge over the River Côa today.

Bibliographical Sources

• COBOS, Fernando; CAMPOS, João – Almeida / Ciudad Rodrigo: la fortificación de la Raya Central = A Fortificação da Raia Central. Ciudad Rodrigo: Consorcio Transfronterizo de Ciudades Amuralladas, 2013.

• NEALE, Adam – Letters from Portugal and Spain, during the Campaigns of 1808 and 1809. London: Henry Colburn, 1809.

• NOIVO, Marco António do Carmo Gomes – Battlefield Tourism: Strategies and Tactics for the Development and Tourism Planning of the Battlefields of the War of Independence/Peninsular War in Spain and Portugal. PhD Thesis. Seville: Faculty of Tourism and Finance, University of Seville, 2023.