barr7430 wrote:I am researching an article right now and have hit a brickwall on the above action. It allegedly took place in Portugal/Spain in 1712 between a Portuguese Army (Grand Alliance) and a Spanish (Bourbon) Army.
I can find nothing anywhere on it.
Anyone got anything? an overview, an orbat? a reference?
Would be much appreciated
thanks
B
Hi Barry,
like you I had no luck finding anything
Only here is a short description of what happened:
http://centretruths.co.uk/mjcapctwiie/Chapter_Eight.htm
"...Not only as a dramatic military feat, but also as a model of advanced tactics, Hogan's night-time manoeuvre and role in the defeat of the Spanish invasion force became a part of military history. Hogan's feat became so noteworthy that the historian John O'Callaghan was prompted to include it in his
The History of the Irish Brigade in the Service of France*, not only because of Hogan's one-time service in the Brigade, but also as an example of the fighting spirit and innovative tactics typical of the Brigade.
The last affair of arms in this war between Spain and Portugal occurred in the campaign of 1712, under circumstances so creditable to the Irish officer as to deserve notice here, though that gentleman was not of the Irish Brigade. Notwithstanding the negotiations for peace at Utrecht, no truce having taken place by September between the two peninsular kingdoms, the Marquis de Bey (styled "The Scourge of the Portuguese") appeared on the 28th, with nearly 20,000 men before Campo Maior in Portugal and broke ground, October 4th-5th, the place being then in anything but a condition to make suitable resistance. As, however, it was of the utmost consequence to preserve it, the Count de Riberia and a gallant French Protestant engineer officer, Brigadier de Massi, contrived a day or two after to make their way into the town with 200 or 300 Portuguese grenadiers, and 400 or 500 more Portuguese subsequently succeeded in doing so likewise under an Irish Officer, Major General Hogan - apparently the same M. Hogan, Irlandaise Lieutenant Colonel in the Bavarian Guards tried by Court Martial in 1706 at Mons for killing a Captain and countryman of his own in a duel, and hence, most probably, obliged to enter another service. Having assumed command of the garrison, the Major General [At the time of Campo Maior, Hogan was a Brigadier General.] took due measures for the defence. After battering and bombing the place from October 4th with 33 cannons and mortars, the Marquis de Bey ordered a grand assault to be made on the 27th, in the morning, by 15 battalions, 32 companies of grenadiers and a regiment of dismounted dragoons, under Lieutenant General Zuniga.
"By help of a prodigious fire from the cannons and small arms, observes my English narrative of the Compleat History of Europe for 1712, with respect to the enemy, they made a descent into a part of the ditch that was dry and gave 3 assaults with a great deal of fury; but they were as bravely repulsed by the Portuguese under Major General Hogan, and forced to retire after an obstinate fight that lasted 2 hours, though the breach was very practicable, and so wide that 30 men might stand abreast in it. Their disorder was so great that they left most of their arms and 6 ladders behind. This action cost them 700 men killed and wounded, whereas the Portuguese loss did not amount to above 100 killed and 87 wounded, and such was their ardour that they pursued the enemy into their very trenches without any manner of order (notwithstanding the endeavours of Major General Hogan to put a stop to them), which might have proved very fatal to them, if the enemy had courage to improve the opportunity."
The next day, the Spanish lifted the siege and moved back into Spanish territory, ending the threat to Portugal. A short time later, the delegates to the peace conference in Utrecht signed a treaty and the War of Spanish Succession ended with Portuguese territory intact. King Joao recognized Portugal's debt to Michael Hogan by promoting him to Major General and awarding him a villa and an annual stipend. Hogan continued to serve in the army of Joao V, teaching other officers horsemanship and cavalry tactics. He married a woman related to the royal family of Bragança and was a frequent visitor to the King's court in Lisbon.
Michael Hogan's night ride to Campo Maior became legendary in the Portuguese cavalry. From the success of this action, other army officers came to view cavalry as a highly mobile strike force that could quickly be sent to the point of greatest threat. As obvious as relying on the mobility of cavalry may seem today, it required Hogan's extraordinary achievement to make the tactic a part of Portuguese military operations."
*The book can be found here read online or as a pdf.
http://archive.org/details/historyofirishbr00ocaluoft
