1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Almeida

ALMEIDA, a town of north-eastern Portugal, in the district of Guarda and formerly included in the province of Beira; situated in hilly country between the river Côa, a tributary of the Douro, and the river Turones, a branch of the Agueda. Pop. (1900) 2330. Almeida was long one of the principal frontier fortresses of Portugal. It was captured by the Spaniards in 1762. During the Peninsular War (q.v.), the country between the Coa and the Spanish fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo, 25 m. E.S.E., was the scene of hard fighting. Almeida was taken by the French in 1810, and its recapture, by the allied British and Portuguese forces under Lord Wellington, was only effected after a relieving force under Marshal Masséna had been defeated at Fuentes d’Onor (or Fuentes de Oñoro), 13 m. S.S.E. The battle was fought on the 5th of May 1811 and the fortress fell five days later.