On 16 May 1811 Marshal William Beresford's Allied army fought Marshal Soult's French at Albuera in Spain. The Allies won, but at a terrible cost: Soult withdrew two days later, and Beresford's exhausted army could not pursue him.
A victory at a terrible cost
The Allies had about 35,000 men, including British, Portuguese and Spanish troops. Soult had judged that about 25,000 men would be enough to sweep the Allies out of Estremadura. Allied losses were 5,916: 4,159 British (882 dead, 2,733 wounded and 544 missing), 389 Portuguese and 1,368 Spanish. The French column broke and fled, Soult began his retreat to Andalusia on 18 May, and the Allies had won, but at a terrible cost.1
French losses are less certain. The publisher's summary of Guy Dempsey's study of the battle, published by the Fondation Napoléon, puts them at about 7,000, against about 6,000 for the Allies.2
Little strategic effect
Soult had failed to relieve Badajoz. Wellington's second siege of Badajoz made little progress, and a much stronger French relief army forced him to retreat into Portugal.3
