Battle of the Bidassoa

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Battle of the Bidassoa (1813)
Part of
La Rhune
43°20′16″N 1°43′7″W / 43.33778°N 1.71861°W / 43.33778; -1.71861 (Mont Calvaire)
Result Allied victory
Belligerents First French Empire French Empire United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom
Kingdom of Portugal Portugal
Spain SpainCommanders and leaders
Nicolas Soult
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Duke of WellingtonStrength 62,000[1] 89,000[2]Casualties and losses 1,676[3]
17 cannons[4] 825[5]-1,600[6]
Battle of the Bidassoa is located in Europe
Battle of the Bidassoa
Location within Europe
  current battle

In the Battle of the Bidasoa (or the Battle of Larrun) on 7 October 1813 the Allied army of

La Rhune (Larrun). The nearest towns to the fighting are Irun on the lower Bidassoa and Bera on the middle Bidasoa. The battle occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the wider Napoleonic Wars
.

Wellington aimed his main assault at the lower Bidasoa, while sending additional troops to attack Soult's centre. Believing his coastal sector secure, Soult held the right flank with a relatively weak force while concentrating most of his strength on his left flank in the mountains. However, the British general obtained local intelligence that indicated that water levels on the lower river were much lower than the French suspected. After careful planning, Wellington launched a surprise assault which easily overran the French left flank defences. In the centre, his army also won through the French defenses, though his Spanish allies were repulsed in one attack. At the beginning of the fighting, Soult realised that his left flank was in no danger, but it was too late to reinforce his positions on the right. Some French generals were shocked at how poorly their soldiers fought.

Background

Operations

In the

Bidassoa River. If successful, his army would be the first Allied army to establish itself on French soil.[citation needed] The British commander also wanted to capture French positions that overlooked the Allied lines on the west side of the Bidassoa.[7]

Preparations

Because the French troops had begun to plunder their fellow citizens,

Emperor Napoleon's Minister of War, Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke ordered Marshal Soult to defend a position as close to the frontier as possible. He had to hold a 48 km (30 mi) front in the Pyrenees mountains. The area was highly defensible, but lateral communications were poor.[7]

Full-length portrait of a frowning Soult in dark blue marshal's uniform with one hand on his hip and the other holding a spyglass. His breeches are white with black knee boots and he has a gold sash around his waist.
Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult

Deciding that the coastal sector was the strongest part of his line, Soult posted

Eugene-Casimir Villatte's 8,018-man Reserve Division.[9]

General of Division

Nivelle River near Ainhoa.[8] Conroux's 4th Division numbered 4,962 men; Maransin's 5th Division counted 5,575 troops; Taupin's 8th Division had 4,778 soldiers and held the area just north of Bera. Soult's gunners, sappers, and other troops added up to 2,000 and his total forces numbered 55,088 effectives. His cavalry was stationed in the Nive valley.[9]

Fearing an allied thrust over the Maya Pass and down the

St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, covering the Maya and Roncevaux Passes.[8] Darricau's 4,092-man 6th Division was deployed between Ainhoa and Sare; Abbé's 6,051-strong 3rd Division was west of Ainhoa; Darmagnac's 4,447-man 2nd Division held Ainhoa; Foy's 4,654-strong 1st Division held the fortress at the extreme left flank.[9]

The Guards entering France, 7th Oct. 1813 by Robert Batty.

Wellington had 64,000 Anglo-Portuguese infantry and artillery, plus 25,000 Spanish soldiers from the Army of Galicia. Since cavalry was of little use in the mountains, the

Basque fishermen. Allied intelligence knew that the next low tide was 7 October.[2]

The crossing was meticulously planned. Near the lower fords, British engineers built a turf wall near the river. This would shelter Andrew Hay's 5th Division during the time before it crossed the river. Wellington positioned five field batteries and three 18-pound siege cannon to provide fire support to the attacking infantry.[10]

Battle

Allied Army

Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington (89,000, 24,000 engaged)[11]

Coastal Sector[a] La Rhune Sector[a]
  • Light Division: Major General
    Charles Alten
    • 1st Brigade: Major General James Kempt
      • 1/
        95th Rifles
        , 3/95th Rifles, 3rd Caçadores bn
    • 2nd Brigade: Lieutenant Colonel John Colborne
      • 1/
        52nd Foot
        , 2/95th Rifles, 17th Portuguese Line Regt, 1st Caçadores bn
  • 6th Division: Lieutenant General
    Henry Clinton
    • Portuguese Brigade: Major General George Allan Madden
      • 8th and 12th Line Regts, 8th Caçadores bn
  • Reserve of Andalusia: Lieutenant General Pedro Agustín Girón
    • 1st Division: Major General Virues
    • 2nd Division: Major General La Torre
  • 6th Galician Division: Brigadier General Francisco de Longa
  • Artillery

French Army

Soult's Army defending the Bidassoa River in October 1813[9]
Corps Division Battalions Strength
Right
General of Division Honoré Charles Reille
7th Division: General of Division Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune 8 3,996
9th Division: General of Division Pierre François Joseph Boyer 12 6,515
Center
General of Division Bertrand Clausel
4th Division: General of Division Nicolas François Conroux 9 4,962
5th Division: General of Division Jean-Pierre Maransin 9 5,575
8th Division: General of Division Eloi Charlemagne Taupin 10 4,778
Left
General of Division Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon
1st Division: General of Division Maximilien Sebastien Foy 8 4,654
2nd Division: General of Division Jean Barthélemy Darmagnac 9 4,447
3rd Division: General of Division Louis Jean Nicolas Abbé 8 6,051
6th Division: General of Division Augustin Darricau 7 4,092
Reserve
General of Division Eugene-Casimir Villatte
8th Division: General of Division Eugene-Casimir Villatte 18 8,018
Artillery: - 2,000

Bidassoa

At 7:25 am the 5th Division launched its attack from near

Hondarribia (Fuenterrabia). It came as a complete surprise to the French, who had deployed only Maucune's 4,000 men to defend six km (four miles) of river. Immediately, Hay's men gained a foothold at the village of Hendaye and swung two brigades to the right to assist the crossing of Kenneth Howard's 1st Division. At 8:00 am, Howard's men, Thomas Bradford's independent Portuguese brigade and Lord Aylmer's independent British brigade forded the river near a destroyed bridge at Béhobie. Three Spanish brigades from Manuel Freire's two divisions (Del Barco and Barcena) crossed farther to the right. Rapidly, the British overran the Croix des Bouquets position and the Spanish captured Mont Calvaire at 43°20′16″N 1°43′7″W / 43.33778°N 1.71861°W / 43.33778; -1.71861 (Mont Calvaire). The entire ridge on the French side of the river fell into Allied hands at the cost of only 400 casualties. With the high ground in his possession, Wellington suspended the attack.[12]

That morning Soult was absorbed in watching

Urdax ironworks, losing 150 men in the combat. Soult suddenly realised the operation was only a demonstration. He rode off to his coastal sector but he was too late to help Reille.[2]

La Rhune

La Rhune
, where the French repelled a Spanish attack.

The toughest fighting of the day occurred in Clausel's sector.

95th Rifles Foot. Suddenly the 1/52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) appeared out of the trees and quickly turned the tables. Following closely behind the retreating French, the redcoats of the 52nd overran the redoubt with surprising ease.[13]

Meanwhile, James Kempt's other Light Division brigade and Francisco de Longa's Spanish division attacked up two spurs of La Rhune to secure some positions. To their right, Pedro Girón's two Andalusian divisions (Virues and La Torre) attacked the summit of La Rhune. Though the Spanish attacked repeatedly, they were defeated. However, the next day the French abandoned the position to avoid encirclement.[14][15][16]

Results

The Allies were victorious for the first time on French soil. In Reille's sector, the French lost 390 killed and wounded, plus 60 men and eight cannons captured. In Clausel's sector, the French suffered 600 killed and wounded, plus 598 men and nine cannons captured. The British lost 82 killed, 486 wounded, and five missing, or a total of 573. The Portuguese lost 48 killed, 186 wounded, and eight missing, or a total of 242.[4] The Spanish suffered the balance of the 1,600 total Allied casualties.[14] The defeat lowered morale in Soult's army. Except at La Rhune, French troops did not obstinately defend their positions. Villatte commented, "with troops like these we can expect only disgrace".[17] Soult made Maucune the scapegoat, dismissed him from his division, and sent him to the rear.[12] After the battle, some of the Allied troops indulged themselves in the looting of French homes and towns. Wellington came down harshly on British troops caught plundering. He felt sympathetic to the Spanish, who had seen their nation ravaged by French soldiers, but he determined to tolerate no looting for fear of provoking a guerilla war.[18]

During the follow-up to this victory, Spanish troops seized the Sainte-Barbe Redoubt at 43°18′1″N 1°34′55″W / 43.30028°N 1.58194°W / 43.30028; -1.58194 (Sainte-Barbe Redoute), 1.4 kilometres (0.9 mi) south of the village of Sare. On 12 October, Conroux's division recaptured the fort from its garrison of La Torre's division and drove off a five-battalion Spanish counterattack. French casualties are estimated at 300, while the Spanish lost 300 killed and wounded, plus 200 captured.[19] The next engagement was the Battle of Nivelle on 10 November 1813.[20]

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ a b Only the engaged units are listed in the order of battle.

Notes

  1. ^ Glover's text states 61,000, but his order of battle footnote adds up to 62,170 (Glover 2001, p. 281).
  2. ^ a b c Glover 2001, p. 283.
  3. ^ Oman 1930, p. 536.
  4. ^ a b Smith 1998, pp. 459–460.
  5. ^ Oman 1930, p. 535.
  6. ^ Bodart 1908, p. 460.
  7. ^ a b Glover 2001, p. 280.
  8. ^ a b c d Glover 2001, p. 281.
  9. ^ a b c d e Gates 2002, p. 523.
  10. ^ Glover 2001, pp. 283–284.
  11. ^ Glover's Nivelle order of battle was used (Glover 2001, pp. 385–387).
  12. ^ a b Glover 2001, p. 285.
  13. ^ Glover 2001, pp. 285–286.
  14. ^ a b Glover 2001, p. 286.
  15. ^ Smith specified Girón as the Spanish commander (Smith 1998, p. 460).
  16. ^ Although Glover does not mention Girón in his account of the La Rhune attacks (Glover 2001, p. 386); Girón's division commanders are inferred from the Nivelle order of battle.
  17. ^ Glover 2001, p. 287.
  18. ^ Glover 2001, pp. 286–287.
  19. ^ Smith 1998, p. 460.
  20. ^ Smith 1998, p. 476.

References

  • Gates, David (2002), The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War, London: Pimlico,
  • Glover, Michael (2001), The Peninsular War 1807-1814, London: Penguin,
  • Oman, Sir Charles William Chadwick (1930). A History of the Peninsular War: August 1813 – April 14, 1814. Vol. VII. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  • Smith, Digby (1998), The Napoleonic Wars Data Book, London: Greenhill,
  • Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 8 June 2023.

External links

Preceded by
Battle of Wartenburg
Napoleonic Wars
Battle of the Bidassoa
Succeeded by
Battle of Leipzig