Welcome to the first talk in our third year of the Winter Lecture Series. This lecture places the liberation of Portugal (1808) within its economic, logistical, political, and social context. It culminated in the defeat of Junot at Vimeiro and the Convention of Cintra. The French had no option but to accept evacuation on British ships with uprisings in Spain and Portugal. This gave Britain a land base for little cost. The brilliance of Sir Arthur Wellesley built upon the work of Sir John Moore and the Duke of York’s reforms.

Dr Stephen Summerfield was born within cannon-shot of Woolwich and has written 100 books on European military and technical subjects (1740-1860). The 7 th and 8 th book for the Shorncliffe Trust with Susan Law are published in November 2022. He is editor of the Smoothbore Ordnance Journal and responsible for design/layout of Ken Trotman Books.

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