Battle of Vitoria
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| Peninsular War |
|---|
| Bailén – Roliça – Vimeiro – Corunna – Talavera – Buçaco – Fuengirola – Torres Vedras – Barrosa – Fuentes de Onoro – Albuera – Badajoz – Salamanca – Vitoria - Sorauren |
The Battle of Vitoria was fought on June 21 1813 during the Peninsular War, between 78,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops, with 96 guns, under the Marquis of Wellington, and 58,000 French with 153 guns under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan.
Background
In July 1812, after the Battle of Salamanca, the French had evacuated Madrid, which Wellington's army entered on August 12, 1812. Deploying three divisions to guard the capital's southern approaches, he then marched north with the rest of his army to lay siege to the fortress of Burgos, 140 miles away, but he had underrated the enemy's strength and on October 21 he had to abandon the siege and retreat. By October 31 he had abandoned Madrid too, and retreated first to Salamanca then finally to Ciudad Rodrigo, near the Portuguese frontier, to avoid encirclement by French armies from the north-east and south-east.Wellington spent the winter reorganising and strengthening his forces. By contrast, Napoleon withdrew many French soldiers to rebuild his main army after his disastrous invasion of Russia. The following year, Wellington marched his troops from northern Portugal across the mountains of northern Spain and the Esla river, by May 20, 1813, to outflank Marshal Jourdan's army of 58,000 strung out between the Douro and the Tagus. The French retreated to Burgos, with Wellington's forces marching hard to cut them off from the road to France.
Battle
Finally, Wellington launched his attack at Vitoria on June 21, in three columns. After hard fighting Thomas Picton's 3rd Division broke the enemy's centre and soon the French defence crumbled. Their retreat became a rout, with the losses of 8,000 killed or wounded and 2,000 prisoners, compared to Wellington's 4,500 killed or wounded. 152 guns were also taken in this battle that ended Napoleon's rule in Spain.Unfortunately, the British soldiers failed to pursue the fleeing French troops, preferring instead to plunder the abandoned French wagons, containing "the loot of a kingdom". It is estimated that over one million pounds of booty [perhaps $100 million in modern equivalence] was seized, but the gross abandonment of discipline caused an enraged Wellington to write in his official dispatch, "the British soldier is the scum of the earth, enlisted for drink".
Aftermath
Order was soon restored, and by December, after detachments had seized San Sebastian and Pamplona, Wellington's army was encamped in France.The battle was the inspiration for Beethoven's Opus 91, often called the "Battle Symphony," or simply "Wellington's Victory", which portrays the battle in a form of a musical drama.
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