Battle of the Pyrenees

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Battle of the Pyrenees
Part of the
Spain
43°2′48″N 1°36′48″W / 43.04667°N 1.61333°W / 43.04667; -1.61333 (Port de Velate)
Result Coalition victory
Belligerents First French Empire French Empire
Coalition Forces
Commanders and leaders First French Empire Jean-de-Dieu Soult
Strength 60,000[1]-79,000[2] 55,000[1]-62,000[3]Casualties and losses 12,501 killed, wounded or captured[4] 7,000 killed, wounded or captured[5]
Peninsular War
Vitoria and the Pyrenees, 1813–1814
Map
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Maps: terms of use
50km
30miles
San Marcial
8
Battle of San Marcial at San Marcial, on 31 August 1813
Maya
7
Battle of Maya at Maya, on 25 July 1813
Pyrenees
6
San Sebastián
5
Siege of San Sebastián at San Sebastián, from 7 July to 8 September 1813
Pamplona
4
Siege of Pamplona (1813) at Pamplona, from 26 June to 31 October 1813
Tolosa
3
Battle of Tolosa (1813) at Tolosa, on 26 June 1813
Vitoria
2
Battle of Vitoria at Vitoria, on 21 June 1813
San Millan
1
Battle of San Millan-Osmaat San Millan, on 18 June 1813
  current battle

The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive (the author David Chandler recognises the 'battle' as an offensive

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 the 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.

Background

Wellington at Sorauren by Thomas Jones Barker

After the decisive French defeat at the

Bertrand Clausel of 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.[7]

Forces

Clausel's Lieutenancy (

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.[8]

Each Corps had a single cavalry regiment attached for scouting purposes, for a total of 808 horsemen. The French Reserve under General of Division

General of Brigade Louis Emmanuel Rey and 3,000 troops garrisoned San Sebastián while General of Brigade Louis Pierre Jean 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.[9]

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:

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.[3]

The

Henry O'Donnell, 1st Count of la Bisbal's Spanish division and other units.[11]

Battle

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

Baztan valley to seize the Pass of Velate at 43°2′48″N 1°36′48″W / 43.04667°N 1.61333°W / 43.04667; -1.61333 (Port de Velate), 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.[12]

Battle of the Pyrenees, 25 July 1813

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.[13] 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.[14] D'Erlon worried about Barnes's incursion and pursued very cautiously the next day. He only advanced six miles on the 26th.[15]

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.[16] The Allies lost 350 men while French casualties were about 530.[17] Troubled by a small French probe of his right flank and fearful that 36,000 Frenchmen would swamp him from 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.[18]

Fog at Roncesvalles

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.[19] A push on 27 July from Roncesvalles Pass by troops personally commanded by Marshal Soult, got within 10 miles of Pamplona. Note that this is disputed.[20] However, Picton's British and Portuguese forces made a stand on an excellent defensive position near the village of Sorauren, just north of Pamplona.[21]

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.[15]

Sorauren and Soult's retreat

On 27 July, Wellington joined the 17,000 British and Portuguese troops at Sorauren.[7] To Clausel's intense frustration, Soult decided to wait for Reille's tardy corps to arrive and even took a nap.[22] The next day, in the Battle of Sorauren, Soult's 36,000 men unsuccessfully attacked the 24,000 Allied troops 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, Soult 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.[23]

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.[24] On 30 July at Beunza, Abbé's division of d'Erlon suffered 750 casualties, while the Allies suffered 1,056: 156 British and 900 Portuguese.[4]

Instead of retreating over Maya Pass as Wellington expected, Soult marched north up the Bidassoa River valley. At Yanci, part of Major General

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.[26]

Conclusion

Soult failed to relieve the sieges at

San Sebastian and Pamplona, suffered about 13,000 casualties,[7] and had to withdraw to French soil weakened and demoralised. Soult's army lost 1,313 killed, 8,582 wounded, and 2,702 captured.[4] Out of 1,318 French officers, 423 became casualties. Wellington's total losses for the campaign were 7,000.[5] The next action was the Battle of San Marcial at the end of August.[27]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Bodart 1908, p. 453.
  2. ^ Glover 2001, p. 248.
  3. ^ a b Glover 2001, p. 249.
  4. ^ a b c Smith 1998, p. 434.
  5. ^ a b Glover 2001, p. 258.
  6. ^ Chandler 1979, p. 351.
  7. ^ a b c Fisher & Fremont-Barnes 2004, p. 235.
  8. ^ Glover 2001, p. 393.
  9. ^ Gates 2002, pp. 522–523.
  10. ^ Smith 1998, p. 448.
  11. ^ Chandler 1979, p. 327.
  12. ^ Glover 2001, p. 251.
  13. ^ Glover 2001, pp. 251–252.
  14. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 432–433.
  15. ^ a b Glover 2001, p. 253.
  16. ^ Chandler 1979, p. 384.
  17. ^ Smith 1998, p. 432.
  18. ^ Glover 2001, pp. 252–253.
  19. ^ Glover 2001, pp. 253–254.
  20. ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 462.
  21. ^ Glover 2001, p. 254.
  22. ^ Glover 2001, p. 255.
  23. ^ Glover 2001, pp. 256–257.
  24. ^ Glover 2001, p. 257.
  25. ^ Glover 2001, pp. 257–258.
  26. ^ Smith 1998, p. 439.
  27. ^ Glover 2001, p. 263.

References

  • Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618–1905).
  • ISBN 0-02-523670-9
    .
  • Esdaile, Charles J. (2003). The Peninsular War: A new History. Penguin Books.
  • Fisher, T.; Fremont-Barnes, G. (2004). The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. Osprey Pub.
  • 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. Penguin.
    ISBN 0-14-139041-7
    .
  • ISBN 1853672769
    .

Further reading

External links
Preceded by
Siege of San Sebastián 		Napoleonic Wars
Battle of the Pyrenees 		Succeeded by
Battle of Sorauren
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