First Battle of Porto

First Battle of Porto
Part of the Peninsular War
Marshall Soult surveys the broken bridge as Oporto falls to the French on 29 March 1809. In the foreground a grenadier rescues an orphaned baby.
Date 29 March 1809 Location Porto, Portugal 41°9′43.71″N 8°37′19.03″W Result French victory
Belligerents
Portugal	French Empire
Commanders and leaders
Caetano Parreiras	Jean de Dieu Soult
Strength
30,000	16,000
Casualties and losses
8,000–10,000 killed Unknown wounded	500 killed or wounded
4,000 civilians killed

Peninsular War: Second French invasion

110km
68miles

6

Sanpayo

5

Grijó

4

Porto

3

Braga

2

Villafranca

1

Chaves

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  current battle

In the First Battle of Porto (29 March 1809) the French under Marshal Soult defeated the Portuguese, under General Parreiras, outside the city of Porto during the Peninsular War. Soult followed up his success by storming the city, in the course of which thousands of fleeing citizens drowned in the Porto Boat Bridge disaster.