The Battle of Pombal (March 11, 1811) was a sharp skirmish during Marshal Masséna's retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras, the first in a series of lauded rearguard actions fought by Michel Ney. The French were pursued by Wellington and his British-Portuguese but the Allied advance was energetically contested by Ney's efforts, preventing Wellington from crushing Masséna's army when it was critically vulnerable. At the Battle of Pombal, Ney turned to face the Anglo-Portuguese forces and inflicted on them a sharp defeat.