Battle of Garris

Battle of Garris
	Part of the Peninsular War
Date	15 February 1814
Location	Garris, Pyrénées Atlantiques, French Empire43°20′36″N 1°03′36″W / 43.34333°N 1.06000°W
Result	Coalition victory
Belligerents
French Empire	United Kingdom; Portugal; Spain
Commanders and leaders
Jean Isidore Harispe	Arthur Wellesley; Rowland Hill; Carlos Lecor; Pablo Morillo
Strength
7,000	11,000
Casualties and losses
500 killed, wounded or captured	170 killed, wounded or captured
	class=notpageimage\| Location within Europe

Peninsular War:
Campaign in south-west France

50km
30miles

Bayonne

7

Toulouse

6

5

Garris

4

3

2

1

current battle

The Battle of Garris (Basque Garrüze) or Battle of Saint-Palais (15 February 1814) saw an Allied force under the direct command of General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess Wellington attack General of Division Jean Harispe's French division. The French defenders were driven back into the town of Saint-Palais in confusion. Because of this minor victory, the Allies were able to secure a crossing over the Bidouze River during this clash from the final stages of the Peninsular War.

In the Battle of the Nive on 9–13 December 1813, Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult's army failed to drive Wellington's forces away from Bayonne. After the Nive, bad weather imposed a 2-month pause in military operations, during which time the French confined the Allied forces to an area south and west of the fortresses of Bayonne and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. To break out of the region, Wellington launched an offensive toward the east in February, pressing back Soult's left wing. A column under Rowland Hill encountered Harispe's division at Garris. The next action was the Battle of Orthez.