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538:; the first of a number of engagements as Wellington and Masséna competed for position along the Portuguese and Spanish border. After forcing Masséna to abandon Sabugal, Wellington turned his attention towards Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo; two fortresses that guarded the northern approach to Portugal. Wellington had planned to capture both while Masséna's army was still in disarray but the loss of Badajoz to
569:(19 May – 10 June 1811). The engineers suffered many casualties in their attempts to dig the thin rocky soils around a fort that had been repaired and reinforced since the last unsuccessful siege. Running short of ammunition and having sustained heavy losses; and with news that French reinforcements were on the way, Wellington withdrew his forces to Elvas on 10 June. Fletcher was also present when
527:
494:. These three lines of defence; the first 6 miles in front of the principal one and the last 20 miles behind, were intended to protect Lisbon and provide a line of retreat for the British to their ships should it be required. Fletcher began work on these defences on 20 October 1809, using Portuguese soldiers and civilians for the bulk of the labour. Rocky slopes were steepened and reinforced, and
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261:, he married Elizabeth Mudge the daughter of a doctor. Fletcher and his wife went on to have five children together; two sons and three daughters. Though Fletcher was buried near to where he was killed at San Sebastián, a monument to his memory, purchased by the Royal Engineers, stands at the western side of the north aisle in Westminster Abbey, London.
514:, who was shocked to find such extensive defences, having been promised by Portuguese rebels that the road to Lisbon was an easy one. Wellington's superiors were equally surprised to hear about the defences when they later received his report. After an unsuccessful attack on 18 October, Masséna initially retreated to
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were captured. In the latter engagement it was
Fletcher who identified the weak point in the defences and so ultimately decided where the main attack should be. On 19 March, Fletcher was shot in the groin when a French sortie in the fog reached the trenches where he and his engineers were working.
498:
were obstructed with forts and earthworks; trees and vegetation were removed to deprive the enemy of cover and sustenance, watercourses were dammed in order to construct impassable lakes or swamps and any buildings were either fortified or destroyed. Fortifications guarded every approach and
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and
Fletcher was forced to walk across two miles of ice before reaching land. After three months travelling through Austria and Ottoman territories in the Balkans, Fletcher finally arrived in Constantinople on 29 March 1799. In June 1799, Fletcher, alongside Ottoman troops, advanced into
398:
the following year. An expedition to reconnoitre the
Egyptian port of Alexandria, led to Fletcher's capture when, while returning to his ship after a night reconnaissance mission ashore, Fletcher was intercepted by a French patrol vessel. He was held prisoner in Alexandria until its
546:, with orders to re-take Badajoz, while his remaining force, which included Fletcher, would lay siege to Almeida. Masséna, now with a superior force, marched to relieve Almeida and Wellington, not wishing to fight under those conditions, withdrew to the town of
554:(3–5 May), but ultimately remained under British control. Massénna's troops were neither able to reach the fort nor stay in the open and were thus forced to leave on 8 May. Wellington continued his siege and took possession of Almeida two days later.
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batteries commanded the highground, while a system of signal stations and roads ensured that troops could be sent quickly to where they were needed the most. And all was conducted with the utmost secrecy so that neither
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in his pocket which took the main force of the musket ball. Fletcher's injury had him confined to his tent where
Wellington, desperately short of good engineers, visited him daily for advice. Fletcher returned to
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257:
Little is known of
Richard Fletcher's early life, even his exact date of birth is obscure. It is known however that the year was 1768 and his father was a clergyman. On 27 November 1796, at
47:
482:
It was while
Wellington was making preparations for a retreat to Portugal, that Fletcher became famous for one of the greatest military engineering feats in history. The celebrated
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323:, which occurred between February and April 1794. It was during the capture of St Lucia he received a gunshot wound. Fletcher was transferred to the British controlled island of
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was signed on 25 March 1802 but peace was short-lived and war broke out in May the following year. Fletcher was again sent to
Portsmouth where he helped bolster the defences of
510:(27 September 1810) where he again distinguished himself and was mentioned in dispatches. Wellington fell back to the Lines of Torres Vedras in October 1810, pursued by
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In July 1810, shortly before completion of the lines, Fletcher left the fortifications to serve alongside
Wellington once more in the field, and was thus at the
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1036:
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Fletcher, as part of
Wellington's forces, chased Masséna to Sabugal where, after some skirmishing, on 2 April, Masséna was finally brought to action at the
959:
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nor even the
British Government were aware of the lines' existence until Wellington was obliged to retreat behind them later the following year.
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on 11 March, which protected the south, compelled him to divide his force. Wellington sent a quarter of his troops to reinforce
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Badajoz; where Fletcher's engineers suffered heavy losses in two sieges and where in March 1812, Fletcher himself was wounded
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282:
17:
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but when his supplies ran out the following March, he abandoned any thoughts of another attempt and headed north.
440:
Soon after the start of the Peninsular War, Fletcher was sent to Portugal. He was part of the force that occupied
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566:
238:
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159:
406:
In October 1801, when the general armistice was signed, Fletcher returned to England, having been promoted to
606:
Fletcher returned to the Peninsular in 1813 and received a further mention in dispatches for his role in the
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While in the West Indies, Fletcher played an active role in the successful attacks on the French colonies of
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on 16 January 1793 and when France declared war on Britain, later that year, he was sent to serve in the
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During 1799, after his return from Syria, Fletcher took part in the preparation of the defences for the
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Online transcription of Fletcher's entry in the Dictionary of National Biography (1885–1900)
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378:, Fletcher returned to Syria in June 1800, to oversee the construction of fortifications at
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in the army, 2 March 1809, and then the Royal Engineers, 24 June 1809, he fought at the
410:
while he was imprisoned and later decorated by the Ottoman Empire for his services. The
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618:. He was killed in action during the final assault on San Sebastián on 31 August 1813.
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30:
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The Lines of Torres Vedras constructed to protect Lisbon and provide a line of retreat
350:, Fletcher set sail from England but his ship was wrecked near the mouth of the river
245:. Fletcher was twice wounded in the line of duty before being killed in action at the
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Fletcher was again mentioned in dispatches when serving as chief engineer at the
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where he was appointed chief engineer before being sent home at the end of 1796.
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Sir Richard is remembered on a panel commemorating the Peninsular War in
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British military personnel killed in action in the Napoleonic Wars
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460:(27-28 July 1809) for which he received a mention in dispatches.
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Panel to the losses of the Peninsular War in Rochester Cathedral
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His injury might have been much worse if it had not been for a
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until December 1798 when he was sent to Constantinople (now
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Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis
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in the Dardanelles. After a spell with Ottoman forces in
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British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
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Wellington's Peninsular War Generals and Their Battles
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were constructed on the narrow peninsula between the
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for Talavera, Bussaco, Ciudad Rodrigo, and Badajoz.
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on 14 December 1812, and awarded a pension of ÂŁ1.00
213:(1768 – 31 August 1813) was an engineer in the
550:. The town changed hands a number of times during
1047:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
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530:1837 engraving of the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro
452:as his chief engineer in the field. Promoted to
394:Bay, practising beach assaults for the expected
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277:on 7 October 1782. He began his career in the
1032:British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
16:For other people named Richard Fletcher, see
1037:British Army personnel of the Peninsular War
610:on 21 June. Fletcher directed the sieges of
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269:Richard Fletcher enrolled as a cadet in the
926:Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 19
701:. The Dean and Chapter of Westminster. 2013
422:on 2 April 1807, Fletcher took part in the
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289:on 29 June 1790. Fletcher was promoted to
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909:. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books.
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18:Richard Fletcher (disambiguation)
969:Baronetage of the United Kingdom
924:Editor: Stephen, Leslie (1889).
880:Dictionary of National Biography
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175:Third Siege of Badajoz
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35:Sir Richard Fletcher
647:Edward Hodges Baily
636:Rochester Cathedral
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208:Lieutenant-Colonel
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100:Lieutenant Colonel
31:Lieutenant Colonel
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653:References
599:; and the
450:Wellington
336:Portsmouth
317:Gaudeloupe
313:Martinique
291:lieutenant
74:Allegiance
934:cite book
622:Memorials
612:Pamplona
593:per diem
516:Santarém
501:Napoleon
490:and the
488:Atlantic
392:Marmaris
384:El Arish
340:Istanbul
332:adjutant
325:Dominica
321:St Lucia
275:Woolwich
259:Plymouth
231:Talavera
84:Service/
982:Baronet
589:baronet
585:England
496:defiles
416:Gosport
408:captain
348:Hanover
243:Vitoria
239:Badajoz
191:†
38:baronet
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705:29 May
442:Lisbon
376:Cyprus
235:Busaco
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86:branch
492:Tagus
420:major
380:Jaffa
372:Turks
365:Egypt
357:Syria
946:help
911:ISBN
707:2014
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
