Wellington meanwhile, made a rare mistake, deploying a lone division (the Seventh) two miles to the south of Fuentes D’Onoro at Poco Velho where it had very little support. At dawn on the 5th May, the French attacked the 7th Division with a large force. Wellington immediately pulled the 7th Division back, creating a new front line from Fuentes D’Onoro to Frenada. First however, the 7th had to be rescued from the French forces closing in. He therefore sent the Light Division to support them as they withdrew. In phenomenal display of calm and discipline, especially in the face of repeated French cavalry charges, they were able to pull back with less than 500 casualties.

Massena then resorted to a further assault on Fuentes D’Onoro, with predictable results. Although the fighting ebbed and flowed in the village over the course of the day, the French made no progress. After two days of fighting, and over 2,800 casualties, Massena decided to pull back, signalling to the garrison at Almeida to abandon the fortress, which they did on the night of 10th-11th April. Wellington was furious at the garrison’s escape, but otherwise Fuentes D’Onoro was a considerable success. The Allies had lost 1,800 casualties, had defeated the French in battle once again, raised the confidence of the army and captured a fortress. Wellington therefore had reason to be optimistic about the year’s potential. Little did he realise that the Allies would make little further progress that year.