Battle of the Pyrenees

Battle of the Pyrenees
Part of the Peninsular War
Battle of the Pyrenees, July 28th 1813, by Thomas Sutherland
Date 25 July – 2 August 1813 Location North Pyrenees, 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
French Empire	Coalition Forces British Empire Portuguese Empire Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Jean-de-Dieu Soult	Arthur Wellesley Francisco de Longa
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

50km
30miles

San Marcial

8

Maya

7

Pyrenees

6

San Sebastián

5

Pamplona

4

Tolosa

3

Vitoria

2

San Millan

1

  

  current battle

The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive (the author David Chandler recognises the 'battle' as an offensive^[6]) 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 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.