I

THE FRENCH ARMY IN PORTUGAL, JAN. 1, 1811

[FROM A RETURN IN THE ARCHIVES NATIONALES, PARIS]

Present under Arms.
Officers.Men.Detached.Sick.Total.
2nd Corps. Reynier. At and about Santarem:
1st Infantry Division, Merle1544,2141501,5496,067
2nd Infantry Division, Heudelet1965,5224512,6168,785
Cavalry Brigade, Pierre Soult981,0485232311,900
Artillery, Train, &c.331,25152891,425
État-Major65———65
Corps Total54612,0351,1764,48518,242
6th Corps. Ney. Head quarters, Thomar:
1st Infantry Division, Marchand1824,8055291,1216,637
2nd Infantry Division, Mermet2126,0407431,0778,072
3rd Infantry Division, Loison1744,4151,037[778]3,2918,917
Cavalry Brigade, Lamotte486046631171,432
Artillery, Train, &c.341,735471651,981
État-Major77———77
Corps Total72717,5993,0195,77127,116
8th Corps. Junot. Head quarters, Torres Novas:
1st Infantry Division, Clausel1853,8224843,9898,480
2nd Infantry Division, Solignac2364,7611,958[779]3,53710,492
Cavalry Brigade868956982381,917
Artillery, Train, &c.231,083243921,522
État-Major69———69
Corps Total59910,5613,1648,15622,480
Reserve Cavalry, Montbrun1402,7291,486[780]1784,533
Artillery Reserve, Génie, &c.421,5462192832,090
Gendarmerie7190——197
General État-Major of the Army66———66
Total2,12744,6609,06418,87374,724

Total present under arms of all ranks, 46,787 [Fririon gives only 45,131].

N.B.—The 9,064 detached include 2,854 men left at Rodrigo and Almeida, and 6,210 men left behind in Spain at Salamanca and elsewhere.

Note the terrible proportion of sick in the raw divisions of Junot and Loison, as compared with the lower percentage in the old divisions of Ney’s and Reynier’s Corps.

Present under Arms.
Officers.Men.Detached.Sick.Total.
9th Corps. Drouet D’Erlon. Head quarters approaching Leiria:
1st Division of Infantry, Claparéde
(at Guarda)		2467,6173694828,714
2nd Division of Infantry, Conroux
(near Leiria)		2257,3674471,2999,338
Cavalry Brigade, Fournier
(at the rear)		711,627601141,872
Artillery, Train, &c.13657—72742
État-Major66———66
Corps Total62117,2688761,96720,732

Only Conroux’s division being with the main army, its 7,592 effective men alone have to be added to Masséna’s force, making a grand total of 54,116 for the available strength of the Marshal on Jan. 1, 1811.

On March 15th the total of 46,787 effectives in the old Army of Portugal had gone down to 44,407 (according to the return in the Paris Archives—Fririon says to only 40,751), though 1,862 drafts were brought up to the front by Foy on Feb. 5. This shows a shrinkage of 4,242 men effective since Jan. 1. But the loss in the sick is terrible—on Jan. 1 there were 18,873; on March 15 only about 6,000 (5,424 in the three army corps; no figures preserved for artillery, train, engineers, gendarmerie, &c.). Apparently multitudes must have perished in hospital during these eleven weeks.

Conroux’s division had about 6,400 effectives on March 15, which would make Masséna’s effective fighting force on that day 50,807. Claparéde’s division (at Guarda and Celorico) was on March 15 about 6,000 strong.

On April 1 the total of 44,407 effectives of the old army on March 15 had gone down to 39,905 present with the colours, not including Conroux and Claparéde.

On April 15 (the retreat having ended on April 5) the total of effectives was 39,546, not including Conroux and Claparéde.

The states of May 1 (Paris Archives) will be found under the Table ([No. XII]) entitled ‘The French Army at Fuentes de Oñoro.’