Battle of the Pyrenees
Encyclopedia
The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal
Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult
from the Pyrénées
region on Emperor Napoleon’s
order, in the hope of relieving French garrisons under siege at Pamplona
and San Sebastián
. After initial success the offensive ground to a halt in face of increased allied resistance under the command of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington
. Soult abandoned the offensive on 30 July and headed toward France, having failed to relieve either garrison.
The Battle of the Pyrenees involved several distinct actions. On 25 July, Soult and two French corps fought the reinforced British 4th Division
and a Spanish division at the Battle of Roncesvalles
. The Allied force successfully held off all attacks during the day, but retreated from the Roncesvalles Pass
that night in the face of overwhelming French numerical superiority. Also on the 25th, a third French corps severely tried the British 2nd Division at the Battle of Maya
. The British withdrew from the Maya Pass that evening. Wellington rallied his troops a short distance north of Pamplona and repelled the attacks of Soult's two corps at the Battle of Sorauren
on 28 July.
Instead of falling back to the northeast toward Roncesvalles Pass, Soult made contact with his third corps on 29 July and began to move north. On 30 July, Wellington attacked Soult's rearguards at Sourauren, driving some French troops to the northeast, while most continued to the north. Rather than use the Maya Pass, Soult elected to head north up the Bidassoa River valley. He managed to evade Allied attempts to surround his troops at Yanci on 1 August and escaped across a nearby pass after a final rearguard action at Etxalar
on 2 August. The French suffered nearly twice as many casualties as the Allied army.
, Marshal Soult consolidated the remnants of four armies into a single force of 80,000 troops. Soult ordered General of Division Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon
commanding one corps (21,000 men) to attack and secure the Maya Pass. General of Division Honoré Reille
was ordered by Soult to attack and seize the Roncesvalles Pass with his corps and the corps of General of Division Bertrand Clausel (40,000 men). Marshal Soult’s plan was to relieve the siege at Pamplona first, then swing the army westward to relieve the siege at San Sebastián.
, and Eloi Charlemagne Taupin
. Conroux's 4th Division had 7,056 men in nine battalions; Vandermaesen's 5th Division counted 4,181 troops in seven battalions; Taupin's 8th Division numbered 5,981 infantry in nine battalions. D'Erlon's Lieutenancy of the Center included the infantry divisions of Generals of Division Jean Barthélemy Darmagnac, Louis Jean Nicolas Abbé, and Jean-Pierre Maransin
. Darmagnac's 2nd Division counted 6,961 troops in eight battalions; Abbé's 3rd Division was made up of 8,030 soldiers in nine battalions; Maransin's 6th Division had 5,966 men in seven battalions. Reille's Lieutenancy of the Right had the divisions of Generals of Division Maximilien Sebastien Foy
, Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune
, and Thomas Mignot de Lamartinière. Foy's 1st Division numbered 5,922 soldiers in nine battalions; Maucune's 7th Division had 4,186 infantry in seven battalions; Lamartinière's 9th Division comprised 7,127 troops in 10 battalions.
Each Corps had a single cavalry regiment attached for scouting purposes, for a total of 808 horsemen. The French Reserve under General of Division Eugene-Casimir Villatte
held the defences on the lower Bidassoa River near the Bay of Biscay
. The reserves numbered 9,102 French troops in 14 battalions, 2,066 Germans in four battalions, 1,349 Italians in three battalions, 1,168 Spanish in three battalions, 1,550 French National Guards, and 2,019 King's Guards in three battalions, the last being the remnant of Joseph Bonaparte
's bodyguard. In addition, General of Division Pierre Benoît Soult
commanded 3,981 light cavalrymen in 10 regiments and General of Division Anne-François-Charles Trelliard
led 2,358 dragoons in six regiments. The two cavalry divisions remained in the rear. There were about 7,900 gunners, sappers, wagon drivers, and other troops. General of Brigade Louis Emmanuel Rey
and 3,000 troops garrisoned San Sebastián while General of Brigade Louis Pierre Cassan held Pamplona with a 3,500-man garrison. At Bayonne
were 5,595 French conscripts. Altogether, Soult had 99,906 troops under his orders. Of this total he used 63,572 men in his offensive.
Wellington defended the line of the western Pyrenees with a covering force of 62,000 men. These faced to the northeast, with the left anchored on the Bay of Biscay at the mouth of the Bidassoa River. From left to right, he deployed the following infantry divisions: Major General
Kenneth Howard's 1st on the coast, Major General Charles Alten
's Light
at Lesaka
, Lieutenant General
George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie
's 7th at Etxalar
, Lieutenant General William Stewart
's 2nd at the Maya Pass and Elizondo
, Major General Francisco Silveira, Count of Amarante
's Portuguese near Izpegi Pass
, Lieutenant General Lowry Cole's 4th
at Roncevaux Pass
and Major General Pablo Morillo
's Spanish also at Roncevaux. In reserve were Major General Denis Pack's 6th Division at Doneztebe
, and Lieutenant General Thomas Picton
's 3rd Division at Olague, plus other Portuguese and Spanish units. Cavalry being of little value in the mountains, Wellington stationed most of his far to the rear, except for two light dragoon brigades.
The Siege of San Sebastián
was conducted by Major General James Leith's 5th Division and other units under the direction of Lieutenant General Thomas Graham. Pamplona was besieged by General Henry O'Donnell, 1st Count of la Bisbal's Spanish division and other units.
valley to seize the Pass of Velate at 43°2′48"N 1°36′48"W, north of Pamplona. After storming Roncesvaux Pass, Clausel and Reille were instructed to march southwest toward Pamplona. Soult had trouble securing rations for his soldiers, so he launched his offensive with only four days' rations.
The responsibility for Maya Pass lay with Stewart's 2nd Division. That morning, Stewart decided that the French would not attack, left the brigades of Major General William Pringle and Lieutenant Colonel
John Cameron in the valley and rode to Elizondo, ten miles to the south. Some French soldiers were seen and light companies were sent up in support of the picket. When the French attacked in force, the British forces in the valley had to climb to the pass in full kit. By the time they got up, the picket force was wiped out and 10,000 of d'Erlon's men occupied the pass. In the Battle of Maya
, Pringle opposed Darmagnac's division, while Cameron faced the rest of the French corps. The 4,000 British tried manfully to retake the pass, but they were unable to do so. On the other hand, the narrowness of the defile
helped the British to hold off d'Erlon's immensely superior force. When Stewart returned at 2:00 pm, he pulled the redcoats back to a second position. By 3:00 pm, the British were on the verge of disaster. At this point, Major General Edward Barnes's brigade of Dalhousie's 7th Division arrived from the west to strike d'Erlon in the flank and the battle died down. The British lost 1,610 men and four cannons out of 6,000, while French losses numbered 2,100 out of 20,900. That evening, Lieutenant General Rowland Hill
authorized a retreat to Elizondo. D'Erlon worried about Barnes's incursion and pursued very cautiously the next day. He only advanced six miles on the 26th.
Cole held Roncesvalles Pass with his 4th Division, Morillo's Spanish Division and Major General John Byng's brigade of the 2nd Division, a total of 11,000 men. From 6:00 to 9:00 am, Byng's brigade took the brunt of Clausel's assault in the Battle of Roncesvalles
, while Cole rushed up reinforcements. Cole fended off the French until 5:00 pm when thick fog rolled in. The Allies lost 350 men while French casualties were about 530. Troubled by a small French probe of his right flank and fearful that 36,000 Frenchmen would swamp him out of the mist, Cole quit the area and retreated toward Pamplona, though he had been ordered to hold the pass "to the utmost". A worse mistake in Wellington's eyes was Cole's failure to report his actions in a timely manner. When Picton appeared with his 6,000-man 3rd Division, Cole convinced him to retreat also.
Because of the fog, the French did not realise that the British had decamped until the next morning. Clausel pursued, but did not come into contact with Cole's rear guard until late in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Reille's corps attempted to use an alternate path across the mountains and wound up marching in a circle. A push on 27 July from Roncesvalles Pass by troops personally commanded by Marshal Soult, got within 10 miles of Pamplona. However, Picton's British and Portuguese forces made a stand on an excellent defensive position near the village of Sorauren
, just north of Pamplona.
Believing d'Erlon's corps to be the main French attack and receiving no information from Cole, Wellington spent 26 July setting up his defences in the direction of Maya Pass. Leaving Hill in charge at Elizondo, he then rode toward Pamplona on 27 July to find out what was happening. He ordered Pack's 6th Division to join Cole and Picton.
joined the 17,000 British and Portuguese force at Sorauren. To Clausel's intense frustration, Soult decided to wait for Reille's tardy corps to arrive and even took a nap. The next day, the Battle of Sorauren
was fought when Soult's 36,000 men tried unsuccessfully to defeat the 24,000 allied forces in front of Pamplona. The Allies lost 2,652 casualties while French losses were probably heavier. Hill's corps, blocking d'Erlon, was pulled back by Wellington toward Sorauren. But d'Erlon was never able to reach Sorauren to help Soult. Instead, when d'Erlon's cavalry made contact with Soult on the morning of 29 July, the French Marshal decided to move to the north rather than retreat northeast toward Roncesvalles. As 30 July dawned, Soult's men could be seen retreating east to west across the British front. Now reinforced by his 7th Division, Wellington ordered an attack.
The French clung to Sorauren village in a bitter fight before being driven away. The British reported 538 casualties while French losses were much heavier. Cut off by the sudden British offensive, Foy's division at the east end of the French line retreated by way of Roncesvalles Pass to the northeast. Foy was joined by elements of Reille's and Clausel's commands so that he took as many as 12,000 men with him. Meanwhile, d'Erlon led the rest of the French army in a retreat to the north, pushing back Hill's forces back just enough to get through. On 30 July at Beunza, Abbé's division of d'Erlon lost 750 casualties, while the Allies lost 1,056, including 156 British and 900 Portuguese.
Instead of retreating over Maya Pass as Wellington expected, Soult marched north up the Bidassoa River valley. At Yanci, part of Major General Francisco de Longa
's Spanish division blocked a key bridge. For two hours, without support from the rest of their division, a battalion of the 2nd Asturias Regiment held off d'Erlon's entire corps. Finally, five French battalions stormed the bridge and Soult's defeated army crossed over it. Too late to block the retreat, Alten's Light Division arrived from Leitza and fired into the gorge from above, causing chaos in the French column. His starving army fast disintegrating into a mob, Soult swung northeast through Etxalar (Echelar) and reached the French frontier via the Col de Lizarrieta at 43°15′39"N 1°37′8"W on 2 August. On that day, elements of Conroux's and Lamartinière's divisions fought a rearguard action at Etxalar against Major General Robert Ross' brigade of Cole's division, Barnes' brigade, and the 95th Rifles. The French suffered about 300 casualties, while inflicting a loss of 368 killed, wounded, and missing on their pursuers. Meanwhile, over 1,000 French wounded were abandoned and captured by the Allies.
at the end of August.
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult
Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult
Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia , the Hand of Iron, was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804. He was one of only six officers in French history to receive the distinction of Marshal General of France...
from the Pyrénées
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
region on Emperor Napoleon’s
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
order, in the hope of relieving French garrisons under siege at Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
and San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
. After initial success the offensive ground to a halt in face of increased allied resistance under the command of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
. Soult abandoned the offensive on 30 July and headed toward France, having failed to relieve either garrison.
The Battle of the Pyrenees involved several distinct actions. On 25 July, Soult and two French corps fought the reinforced British 4th Division
4th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
The 4th Infantry Division is a regular British Army division with a long history having been present at the Peninsular War the Crimean War , the First World War , and during the Second World War.- Napoleonic Wars :...
and a Spanish division at the Battle of Roncesvalles
Battle of Roncesvalles (1813)
The Battle of Roncesvalles was a battle between French and Anglo-Portuguese forces during the Peninsular War .-Background:...
. The Allied force successfully held off all attacks during the day, but retreated from the Roncesvalles Pass
Roncevaux Pass
Roncevaux Pass is a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees near the border between France and Spain. The pass itself is entirely in Spain.According to tradition, it is the site where Roland died during the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778, a landmark in Basque history leading to the foundation of the...
that night in the face of overwhelming French numerical superiority. Also on the 25th, a third French corps severely tried the British 2nd Division at the Battle of Maya
Battle of Maya
The Battle of Maya was a battle between French and British forces during the Peninsular War .-Background:After Wellington's decisive defeat of King Joseph at Vitoria, he advanced to capture San Sebastián and Pamplona, the last French outposts on Spanish soil.While Wellington concentrated his...
. The British withdrew from the Maya Pass that evening. Wellington rallied his troops a short distance north of Pamplona and repelled the attacks of Soult's two corps at the Battle of Sorauren
Battle of Sorauren
The Battle of Sorauren was part of a series of engagements in late July 1813 called the Battle of the Pyrenees in which a combined British and Portuguese force under Sir Arthur Wellesley held off Marshal Soult's French forces attempting to relieve San Sebastián.With sizable Anglo-Portuguese forces...
on 28 July.
Instead of falling back to the northeast toward Roncesvalles Pass, Soult made contact with his third corps on 29 July and began to move north. On 30 July, Wellington attacked Soult's rearguards at Sourauren, driving some French troops to the northeast, while most continued to the north. Rather than use the Maya Pass, Soult elected to head north up the Bidassoa River valley. He managed to evade Allied attempts to surround his troops at Yanci on 1 August and escaped across a nearby pass after a final rearguard action at Etxalar
Etxalar
Etxalar is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:*...
on 2 August. The French suffered nearly twice as many casualties as the Allied army.
Background
After the decisive French defeat at the Battle of VitoriaBattle of Vitoria
At the Battle of Vitoria an allied British, Portuguese, and Spanish army under General the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, leading to eventual victory in the Peninsular War.-Background:In July 1812, after...
, Marshal Soult consolidated the remnants of four armies into a single force of 80,000 troops. Soult ordered General of Division Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, comte d'Erlon was a marshal of France and a soldier in Napoleon's Army. D'Erlon notably commanded the I Corps of the Armée du Nord at the battle of Waterloo....
commanding one corps (21,000 men) to attack and secure the Maya Pass. General of Division Honoré Reille
Honoré Charles Reille
Honoré Charles Michel Joseph Reille was a Marshal of France, born in Antibes.Reille served in the early campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars under Dumouriez and Masséna, whose daughter Victoire he married. In 1800, Reille was appointed commander of the Italian city of Florence...
was ordered by Soult to attack and seize the Roncesvalles Pass with his corps and the corps of General of Division Bertrand Clausel (40,000 men). Marshal Soult’s plan was to relieve the siege at Pamplona first, then swing the army westward to relieve the siege at San Sebastián.
Forces
Clausel's Lieutenancy (army corps) of the Left consisted of the infantry divisions of Generals of Division Nicolas François Conroux, Edmé-Martin VandermaesenEdmé-Martin Vandermaesen
Edmé-Martin Vandermaesen was a French general of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
, and Eloi Charlemagne Taupin
Eloi Charlemagne Taupin
General Eloi Charlemagne Taupin became a French soldier before the French Revolutionary Wars, rose in rank to command a division in the armies of Napoleon and was killed leading his troops in battle in 1814...
. Conroux's 4th Division had 7,056 men in nine battalions; Vandermaesen's 5th Division counted 4,181 troops in seven battalions; Taupin's 8th Division numbered 5,981 infantry in nine battalions. D'Erlon's Lieutenancy of the Center included the infantry divisions of Generals of Division Jean Barthélemy Darmagnac, Louis Jean Nicolas Abbé, and Jean-Pierre Maransin
Jean-Pierre Maransin
Jean-Pierre Maransin was a Général de Division of the First French Empire who saw action during the Peninsular War. He was made Colonel of the 1st Legion du Midi on 27 January 1807 and promoted to Général de Brigade on 8 November 1808. He fought at the Battle of Albuera on 16 May 1811...
. Darmagnac's 2nd Division counted 6,961 troops in eight battalions; Abbé's 3rd Division was made up of 8,030 soldiers in nine battalions; Maransin's 6th Division had 5,966 men in seven battalions. Reille's Lieutenancy of the Right had the divisions of Generals of Division Maximilien Sebastien Foy
Maximilien Sebastien Foy
Maximilien Sébastien Foy was a French military leader, statesman and writer.-Revolution:He was born in Ham, Somme, and educated in the military school of La Fere, and made sub-lieutenant of artillery in 1792. He was present at the battles of Valmy and Jemappes, and in 1793 obtained a company, as...
, Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune
Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune
Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune joined the pioneer corps of the French army in 1786 and was a lieutenant by the time the French Revolutionary Wars broke out. He fought in the north in 1792 and in the Alps in 1793. Afterward he served in Italy through 1801. During this period, he fought at Arcole in...
, and Thomas Mignot de Lamartinière. Foy's 1st Division numbered 5,922 soldiers in nine battalions; Maucune's 7th Division had 4,186 infantry in seven battalions; Lamartinière's 9th Division comprised 7,127 troops in 10 battalions.
Each Corps had a single cavalry regiment attached for scouting purposes, for a total of 808 horsemen. The French Reserve under General of Division Eugene-Casimir Villatte
Eugene-Casimir Villatte
Eugène-Casimir Villatte, Comte d'Oultremont fought in the French army during the Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. He rose to command a division at many of the important battles in the Peninsular War...
held the defences on the lower Bidassoa River near the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
. The reserves numbered 9,102 French troops in 14 battalions, 2,066 Germans in four battalions, 1,349 Italians in three battalions, 1,168 Spanish in three battalions, 1,550 French National Guards, and 2,019 King's Guards in three battalions, the last being the remnant of Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
's bodyguard. In addition, General of Division Pierre Benoît Soult
Pierre Benoît Soult
Pierre Benoît Soult joined the French royal army before the French Revolution. He fought in the French Revolutionary Wars, emerging from the conflict as colonel of a cavalry regiment. A good deal of his early career was spent as aide-de-camp to his more talented brother Nicolas Soult who became...
commanded 3,981 light cavalrymen in 10 regiments and General of Division Anne-François-Charles Trelliard
Anne-François-Charles Trelliard
Anne-François-Charles Trelliard or Treillard or Treilhard, born 7 February 1764 – died 14 May 1832, joined the cavalry of the French Royal Army as a cadet gentleman in 1780. During the French Revolutionary Wars he fought in Germany and Holland, eventually rising in rank to become a general...
led 2,358 dragoons in six regiments. The two cavalry divisions remained in the rear. There were about 7,900 gunners, sappers, wagon drivers, and other troops. General of Brigade Louis Emmanuel Rey
Louis Emmanuel Rey
Louis Emmanuel Rey, born 22 September 1768, Grenoble – died 18 June 1846, Paris, joined the French royal army and won rapid promotion to general officer during the French Revolutionary Wars. He continued to serve the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. He fought in the Peninsular...
and 3,000 troops garrisoned San Sebastián while General of Brigade Louis Pierre Cassan held Pamplona with a 3,500-man garrison. At Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
were 5,595 French conscripts. Altogether, Soult had 99,906 troops under his orders. Of this total he used 63,572 men in his offensive.
Wellington defended the line of the western Pyrenees with a covering force of 62,000 men. These faced to the northeast, with the left anchored on the Bay of Biscay at the mouth of the Bidassoa River. From left to right, he deployed the following infantry divisions: Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Kenneth Howard's 1st on the coast, Major General Charles Alten
Charles Alten
Sir Charles Alten , Hanoverian and British soldier, son of Baron Alten, a member of an old Hanoverian family, entered the service of the elector as a page at the age of twelve. He led a famous Anglo-Portuguese division during the Peninsular War. At the Battle of Waterloo, he commanded a division...
's Light
Light Division
The Light Division was a light infantry Division of the British Army formed in the early 19th Century. It can trace its origins to the Light Companies which had been formed to move at speed over inhospitable terrain and protect the main forces by skirmishing tactics...
at Lesaka
Lesaka
Lesaka is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, in Spain.-External links:*...
, Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie
George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie
General George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie GCB , styled Lord Ramsay until 1787, was a Scottish soldier and colonial administrator...
's 7th at Etxalar
Etxalar
Etxalar is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:*...
, Lieutenant General William Stewart
William Stewart (1774-1827)
Lieutenant-General Sir William Stewart, GCB was a British military officer who was the first Commanding Officer of the Rifle Corps, a Division Commander in the Peninsula and a Scottish Member of Parliament in the British Parliament...
's 2nd at the Maya Pass and Elizondo
Elizondo, Navarre
Elizondo is a town located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. It is located on both banks of the Baztan River. The town is the capital of the Baztan valley and where most service establishments are concentrated. Elizondo is one of fifteen settlements in the valley...
, Major General Francisco Silveira, Count of Amarante
Francisco Silveira, Count of Amarante
Francisco Silveira, Count of Amarante or Francisco Silveira, Conde de Amarante joined the Portuguese army and fought in the Napoleonic Wars. In March 1809 he led a force which carried out the successful Siege of Chaves from its French garrison...
's Portuguese near Izpegi Pass
Izpegi Pass
The Izpegi Pass is a 672 m high Pyrenean mountain pass located right on the border between Spain and France, linking the Baztan and Baigorri valleys in the Basque Country. The river Bidasoa, called Baztan on its upper stage, rises close-by on the western side of the Iparla mountain range...
, Lieutenant General Lowry Cole's 4th
4th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
The 4th Infantry Division is a regular British Army division with a long history having been present at the Peninsular War the Crimean War , the First World War , and during the Second World War.- Napoleonic Wars :...
at Roncevaux Pass
Roncevaux Pass
Roncevaux Pass is a high mountain pass in the Pyrenees near the border between France and Spain. The pass itself is entirely in Spain.According to tradition, it is the site where Roland died during the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778, a landmark in Basque history leading to the foundation of the...
and Major General Pablo Morillo
Pablo Morillo
Pablo Morillo y Morillo, Count of Cartagena and Marquess of La Puerta, aka El Pacificador was a Spanish general....
's Spanish also at Roncevaux. In reserve were Major General Denis Pack's 6th Division at Doneztebe
Doneztebe
Doneztebe-Santesteban is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:*...
, and Lieutenant General Thomas Picton
Thomas Picton
Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton GCB was a Welsh British Army officer who fought in a number of campaigns for Britain, and rose to the rank of lieutenant general...
's 3rd Division at Olague, plus other Portuguese and Spanish units. Cavalry being of little value in the mountains, Wellington stationed most of his far to the rear, except for two light dragoon brigades.
The Siege of San Sebastián
Siege of San Sebastian
In the Siege of San Sebastián Allied forces under the command of General Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington captured the city of San Sebastián in northern Spain from its French garrison under Brigadier-General Louis Rey...
was conducted by Major General James Leith's 5th Division and other units under the direction of Lieutenant General Thomas Graham. Pamplona was besieged by General Henry O'Donnell, 1st Count of la Bisbal's Spanish division and other units.
Maya and Roncesvalles
The surprise offensive opened on 25 July 1813. The passes of Maya (north of Pamplona) and Roncesvaux (northeast of Pamplona) were both weakly held by the allies spread over a 50-mile front from Pamplona to the sea. After breaking through the Maya Pass, d'Erlon was to move southwest through the BaztanBaztan (valley)
Baztan is a comarca located in a wide valley in Navarre, Spain, with the Baztan river running through it. The valley belongs to the Merindad de Pamplona.-Municipal terms:*Baztán*Urdax*Zugarramurdi...
valley to seize the Pass of Velate at 43°2′48"N 1°36′48"W, north of Pamplona. After storming Roncesvaux Pass, Clausel and Reille were instructed to march southwest toward Pamplona. Soult had trouble securing rations for his soldiers, so he launched his offensive with only four days' rations.
The responsibility for Maya Pass lay with Stewart's 2nd Division. That morning, Stewart decided that the French would not attack, left the brigades of Major General William Pringle and Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
John Cameron in the valley and rode to Elizondo, ten miles to the south. Some French soldiers were seen and light companies were sent up in support of the picket. When the French attacked in force, the British forces in the valley had to climb to the pass in full kit. By the time they got up, the picket force was wiped out and 10,000 of d'Erlon's men occupied the pass. In the Battle of Maya
Battle of Maya
The Battle of Maya was a battle between French and British forces during the Peninsular War .-Background:After Wellington's decisive defeat of King Joseph at Vitoria, he advanced to capture San Sebastián and Pamplona, the last French outposts on Spanish soil.While Wellington concentrated his...
, Pringle opposed Darmagnac's division, while Cameron faced the rest of the French corps. The 4,000 British tried manfully to retake the pass, but they were unable to do so. On the other hand, the narrowness of the defile
Defile (geography)
Defile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front...
helped the British to hold off d'Erlon's immensely superior force. When Stewart returned at 2:00 pm, he pulled the redcoats back to a second position. By 3:00 pm, the British were on the verge of disaster. At this point, Major General Edward Barnes's brigade of Dalhousie's 7th Division arrived from the west to strike d'Erlon in the flank and the battle died down. The British lost 1,610 men and four cannons out of 6,000, while French losses numbered 2,100 out of 20,900. That evening, Lieutenant General Rowland Hill
Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill
General Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill of Almaraz GCB, GCH served in the Napoleonic Wars as a trusted brigade, division and corps commander under the command of the Duke of Wellington. He became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1829.-Early career:Educated at a school in Chester, Hill was...
authorized a retreat to Elizondo. D'Erlon worried about Barnes's incursion and pursued very cautiously the next day. He only advanced six miles on the 26th.
Cole held Roncesvalles Pass with his 4th Division, Morillo's Spanish Division and Major General John Byng's brigade of the 2nd Division, a total of 11,000 men. From 6:00 to 9:00 am, Byng's brigade took the brunt of Clausel's assault in the Battle of Roncesvalles
Battle of Roncesvalles (1813)
The Battle of Roncesvalles was a battle between French and Anglo-Portuguese forces during the Peninsular War .-Background:...
, while Cole rushed up reinforcements. Cole fended off the French until 5:00 pm when thick fog rolled in. The Allies lost 350 men while French casualties were about 530. Troubled by a small French probe of his right flank and fearful that 36,000 Frenchmen would swamp him out of the mist, Cole quit the area and retreated toward Pamplona, though he had been ordered to hold the pass "to the utmost". A worse mistake in Wellington's eyes was Cole's failure to report his actions in a timely manner. When Picton appeared with his 6,000-man 3rd Division, Cole convinced him to retreat also.
Because of the fog, the French did not realise that the British had decamped until the next morning. Clausel pursued, but did not come into contact with Cole's rear guard until late in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Reille's corps attempted to use an alternate path across the mountains and wound up marching in a circle. A push on 27 July from Roncesvalles Pass by troops personally commanded by Marshal Soult, got within 10 miles of Pamplona. However, Picton's British and Portuguese forces made a stand on an excellent defensive position near the village of Sorauren
Sorauren
Sorauren is a small village close to Pamplona in Navarre, Spain. It is surrounded by the mountains "Ezkaba", "Lanzador" and "Txaraka". There can be found the famous romanic stone bridge....
, just north of Pamplona.
Believing d'Erlon's corps to be the main French attack and receiving no information from Cole, Wellington spent 26 July setting up his defences in the direction of Maya Pass. Leaving Hill in charge at Elizondo, he then rode toward Pamplona on 27 July to find out what was happening. He ordered Pack's 6th Division to join Cole and Picton.
Sorauren and Soult's retreat
On 27 July, WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
joined the 17,000 British and Portuguese force at Sorauren. To Clausel's intense frustration, Soult decided to wait for Reille's tardy corps to arrive and even took a nap. The next day, the Battle of Sorauren
Battle of Sorauren
The Battle of Sorauren was part of a series of engagements in late July 1813 called the Battle of the Pyrenees in which a combined British and Portuguese force under Sir Arthur Wellesley held off Marshal Soult's French forces attempting to relieve San Sebastián.With sizable Anglo-Portuguese forces...
was fought when Soult's 36,000 men tried unsuccessfully to defeat the 24,000 allied forces in front of Pamplona. The Allies lost 2,652 casualties while French losses were probably heavier. Hill's corps, blocking d'Erlon, was pulled back by Wellington toward Sorauren. But d'Erlon was never able to reach Sorauren to help Soult. Instead, when d'Erlon's cavalry made contact with Soult on the morning of 29 July, the French Marshal decided to move to the north rather than retreat northeast toward Roncesvalles. As 30 July dawned, Soult's men could be seen retreating east to west across the British front. Now reinforced by his 7th Division, Wellington ordered an attack.
The French clung to Sorauren village in a bitter fight before being driven away. The British reported 538 casualties while French losses were much heavier. Cut off by the sudden British offensive, Foy's division at the east end of the French line retreated by way of Roncesvalles Pass to the northeast. Foy was joined by elements of Reille's and Clausel's commands so that he took as many as 12,000 men with him. Meanwhile, d'Erlon led the rest of the French army in a retreat to the north, pushing back Hill's forces back just enough to get through. On 30 July at Beunza, Abbé's division of d'Erlon lost 750 casualties, while the Allies lost 1,056, including 156 British and 900 Portuguese.
Instead of retreating over Maya Pass as Wellington expected, Soult marched north up the Bidassoa River valley. At Yanci, part of Major General Francisco de Longa
Francisco de Longa
Francisco Tomás de Anchia Longa was a Spanish guerrilla He was born April 10, 1783 in the village of Longa Mallabia . A blacksmith by trade, he and 100 men enganged the French in guerilla warfare, attacking the lines of communication around Pancorbo, Orduña and Valdeajos. From these humble...
's Spanish division blocked a key bridge. For two hours, without support from the rest of their division, a battalion of the 2nd Asturias Regiment held off d'Erlon's entire corps. Finally, five French battalions stormed the bridge and Soult's defeated army crossed over it. Too late to block the retreat, Alten's Light Division arrived from Leitza and fired into the gorge from above, causing chaos in the French column. His starving army fast disintegrating into a mob, Soult swung northeast through Etxalar (Echelar) and reached the French frontier via the Col de Lizarrieta at 43°15′39"N 1°37′8"W on 2 August. On that day, elements of Conroux's and Lamartinière's divisions fought a rearguard action at Etxalar against Major General Robert Ross' brigade of Cole's division, Barnes' brigade, and the 95th Rifles. The French suffered about 300 casualties, while inflicting a loss of 368 killed, wounded, and missing on their pursuers. Meanwhile, over 1,000 French wounded were abandoned and captured by the Allies.
Conclusion
Soult failed to relieve the siege at San Sebastian and Pamplona, suffered about 13,000 casualties, and had to withdraw to French soil weakened and demoralised. Soult's army lost 1,313 killed, 8,582 wounded, and 2,702 captured. Out of 1,318 French officers, 423 became casualties. Wellington's total losses for the campaign were 7,000. The next action was the Battle of San MarcialBattle of San Marcial
At the Battle of San Marcial, 31 August 1813, the Spanish Army of Galicia under General Freire turned back MarshalNicolas Soult's last major offensive against Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's allied army.-Background:...
at the end of August.