Battle of San Millan-Osma
Battles of San Millán and Osma | |
---|---|
Part of 42°51′N 3°08′W / 42.85°N 3.14°W | |
Result | Anglo-Allied victory |
Portugal
Spain
Antoine Maucune
Jacques Sarrut
Osma: 3,800–4,802
Osma: 1,200–4,854
Osma: 120
Osma: 50–60
Vitoria and the Pyrenees, 1813–1814
In the Battles of San Millán and Osma (18 June 1813) two divisions of the Allied army of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington clashed with two divisions of King Joseph Bonaparte's Imperial French army in northeast Spain. "extremely punishing couple of miniature battles at Osma and San Millan which ruined Maucune's division and sent the Army of ... There were in fact two armies involved in the campaign of 1813 "[1] "Contact was, however, inevitable and on 18 June there was a sharp fight at the small village of San Millan, when the Light ... The French tried to make a stand at Osma the same day, but this was effortlessly beaten back and with it went .."[2]
At San Millán de San Zadornil,
In the summer of 1813, Wellington's army thrust into Spain from Portugal with a powerful army composed of British, Portuguese, and Spanish soldiers. The British general outmaneuvered his opponents and forced the French to abandon Salamanca, Valladolid, Madrid, and Burgos. King Joseph and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan believed their position behind the Ebro River was secure, but Wellington sent his troops marching to outflank the line on the north. As Sarrut moved north, his troops bumped into Howard's soldiers. Maucune's division at San Millán was suddenly attacked from the west by Alten. Believing Maucune's division was no longer fit for combat, Joseph used it to escort a convoy and it missed the decisive Battle of Vitoria three days later.
Background
After the campaign in the fall of 1812, Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's army was in poor shape, with 18,000 soldiers on the sick list. On the other hand, the campaign resulted in the capture of the cities of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Astorga, and Seville, and the provinces of Andalusia, Asturias, and Extremadura. Also, 5,000 new replacements came out from Great Britain.[3]
The winter of 1812 also witnessed the destruction of Emperor
Meanwhile, Joseph's forces reimposed control over northern and central Spain. However, guerrilla warfare in northern Spain soon spiralled out of control and Napoleon ordered
With heavy reinforcements from the Army of Portugal, Clausel set about trying to suppress the Navarrese partisans. On 30 March 1813, the French general suffered a setback when guerrilla chief Francisco Espoz y Mina ambushed a French column.[5] While two battalions were busily plundering Lerín, Mina surprised them with 2,100 guerillas, including 200 lancers. Out of 1,500 French soldiers, only a handful escaped the disaster and 663 were made prisoner. Marie Étienne de Barbot, commander of the 2nd Division of the Army of Portugal, was nearby with six battalions but failed to succor his ambushed column.[7]
On 12 May 1813, Clausel found and destroyed Mina's encampment in the Roncal Valley, inflicting 1,000 casualties on the guerillas. On the same day,
Allied offensive
After the various subtractions of strength, Joseph had only 33,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, and 100 guns to face Wellington. Napoleon assured his brother Joseph that the British general was too cautious to take advantage of the situation, and in any case could only deploy 30,000 British and 20,000 Portuguese soldiers. In fact, Wellington was on the march with 52,000 British, 28,000 Portuguese, and 25,000 Spanish troops.[11] The three-division right wing under Rowland Hill was ordered to advance northeast to Salamanca while the six-division left wing led by Thomas Graham crossed to the north bank of the Douro River inside Portugal.[12]
Joseph and Jourdan posted Gazan's Army of the South and d'Erlon's Army of the Center to cover
The same day, Colquhoun Grant's cavalry brigade consisting of the 10th, 15th, and 18th Hussar Regiments defeated a French cavalry force at Morales de Toro.[15] The French mounted troops comprised the 16th and 21st Dragoon Regiments under Pierre Benoît Soult and their horses were in very bad condition. The 16th was virtually destroyed, with two officers and 308 troopers being made prisoners; of these 100 were wounded. British casualties in the clash were only 16 killed and wounded.[16] On 3 June, Hill's wing joined Graham on the north bank of the Douro at Toro. At this time, Wellington had 90,000 troops concentrated while the French could only count 51,000 men. Alarmed at the odds against them, Joseph and Jourdan sent a frantic message to Clausel asking for help and withdrew toward Burgos.[14]
Joseph and Jourdan expected Wellington to advance along the great road from Valladolid to
During the French retreat, Reille turned up with three divisions of the Army of Portugal, adding 15,000 men to Joseph's army. Clausel's 25,000 troops were at large but Joseph had no idea where they were. For his part, Clausel never received any messages from the king until 15 June, at which time he gathered four divisions and set out to join the main army.[18] Joseph massed his army behind the Ebro River, believing that it would be impossible for Wellington's army to outflank the line on the north.[14] On 15 June, Hill's wing crossed the Ebro at Puente Arenas and Graham's wing crossed at San Martin de Lines. From the 13th until a cavalry encounter on 17 June, the French lost all contact with their adversaries.[2]
Osma
Joseph found out that Girón's column was menacing
Sarrut's division was organized into two brigades under
San Millan
On 18 June 1813,
The Light Division was commanded by
Maucune lost about 400 casualties.[2] Of these, about 300 were captured along with the division's baggage train. British losses were about 100 killed and wounded. As the French soldiers fled, many threw away their knapsacks. The division reorganized at Miranda de Ebro.[19] Joseph was furious with Maucune for allowing his division to be routed.[2] The unit was so roughly handled that the king decided it was no longer fit for combat and assigned it to guard a convoy bound for France.[25] The convoy set out from Vitoria at 2:00 AM on the morning of the 21st.[26] The division would be sorely missed at the Battle of Vitoria later that day.[2]
Notes
- ^ Humble 1973, p. 201.
- ^ a b c d e f Fletcher 2005, p. 24.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 375.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 226.
- ^ a b Gates 2002, p. 377.
- ^ Glover 2001, pp. 226–227.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 412.
- ^ Gates 2002, pp. 377–378.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 419.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 378.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 227.
- ^ a b Fletcher 2005, p. 20.
- ^ Fletcher 2005, pp. 21–22.
- ^ a b c Gates 2002, p. 384.
- ^ a b c Fletcher 2005, p. 23.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 424.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 230.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 232.
- ^ a b c d Smith 1998, p. 426.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 425.
- ^ Fletcher 2005, p. 33.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 384.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 383.
- ^ Fletcher 2005, p. 31.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 233.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 237.
References
- Fletcher, Ian (2005). Vittoria 1813: Wellington Sweeps the French from Spain. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-98616-0.
- Gates, David (2002). The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War. London: Pimlico. ISBN 0-7126-9730-6.
- Glover, Michael (2001). The Peninsular War 1807-1814. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-141-39041-7.
- Humble, Richard (1973). Napoleon's Peninsular Marshals. New York, Taplinger Pub. Co. ISBN 9780800854652. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
External links
- Media related to Battle of San Millan-Osma at Wikimedia Commons