Évora – 29 July 1808
a scenario for Command and Colors Napoleonic

Historical Background

The Spanish Dos de Mayo uprising against the French quickly spread throughout Spain and crossed the border into Portugal. The Portuguese countryside rose against the French and General Junot and his troops in Lisbon had their lines of communications cut with Spain and France. At the end of the July, Junot decided to send General Loison with a force of at least 7,000 men and eight artillery pieces to clear a path to the border fortress of Elvas.

On 29 July 1808, Loison's troops reached the outskirts of Évora to find a Portuguese-Spanish force arrayed across their path with 2,000 men and seven artillery pieces. Behind them, manning the ancient walls of Évora was a motley collection of poorly armed townsmen and peasants.

The French advanced quickly in three columns. The charging dragoons caused the Spanish hussars to flee. The impact of the infantry charge quickly broke the defenders leaving the town at the mercy of the French, the sacking of which lasted all night and following morning.

The stage is set. The battle lines are drawn and you are in command. Can you change history?

Battle Notes

Portuguese-Spanish Army

Commander: General Francisco de Paula Leite de Sousa
4 Command Cards

French Army

Commander: General Louis-Henri Loison
5 Command Cards
Move First

Victory

6 Victory Banners

Special Rules

The French use British line infantry blocks for the Hanoverian Legion. The Hanoverian Legion is treated as French Line Infantry except that they do not get +1 when in Melee vs Infantry.
The French gain Victory Banners in the normal way; one is gained for each enemy leader or enemy unit entirely eliminated. However no Victory Banners are gained for eliminating Portuguese Milita.
The Portuguese-Spanish gain one Victory Banner when the FIRST block of a unit is eliminated and one additional Victory Banner when the LAST block of of a unit is eliminated. When a leader is eliminated, collect one Victory Banner.
The Portuguese Milita may not voluntarily leave the town of Évora.

Notes

The battle was not balanced. With 7,000 good French troops against 2,000 inexperienced Portuguese-Spanish there was really no doubt about the outcome once the allies had decided to meet the French outside the walls. The French lost 90 dead and 200 wounded. The whole Portuguese-Spanish army was routed with huge loss.