Editing Battle of Vitoria (section)

==Background==
In July 1812, after the [[Battle of Salamanca]], the French had evacuated [[Madrid]], which Wellington's army entered on 12 August 1812. Deploying three divisions to guard its southern approaches, Wellington marched north with the rest of his army to lay siege to the fortress of [[Burgos]], {{convert|140|mi|km}} away, but he had miscalculated the enemy's strength, and on 21 October he had to abandon the [[Siege of Burgos]] and retreat. By 31 October he had abandoned Madrid too and retreated first to [[Salamanca]] then to [[Ciudad Rodrigo]], near the Portuguese frontier, to avoid encirclement by French armies from the north-east and south-east.

Wellington spent the winter reorganizing and reinforcing his forces to [[Peninsular War#Defeat of King Joseph|attack King Joseph in Madrid]]. Napoleon recalled to France numerous soldiers to reconstruct his main army after his [[French invasion of Russia|disastrous invasion]] of [[Russia]]. By 20 May 1813 Wellington marched 121,000 troops (53,749 British, 39,608 Spanish and 27,569 Portuguese{{sfnp|Gates|2002|p=521}}) from northern [[Portugal]] across the mountains of northern Spain and the [[Esla River]] to outflank Marshal Jourdan's army of 68,000, 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. Wellington himself commanded the small central force in a strategic feint, while [[Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch|Sir Thomas Graham]] conducted the bulk of the army around the French right flank over landscape considered impassable.

Wellington launched his attack with 57,000 British, 16,000 Portuguese and 8,000 Spanish at Vitoria on 21 June, from four directions.{{sfnp|Gates|2002|p=386}}

===Terrain===
The battlefield centres on the [[Zadorra|Zadorra river]], which runs from east to west. As the Zadorra runs west, it loops into a hairpin bend, finally swinging generally to the southwest. On the south of the battlefield are the Heights of La Puebla. To the northwest is the mass of Monte Arrato. Vitoria stands to the east, two miles (3&nbsp;km) south of the Zadorra. Five roads radiate from Vitoria, north to [[Bilbao]], northeast to [[Leintz-Gatzaga|Salinas]] and [[Bayonne]], east to [[Salvatierra/Agurain|Salvatierra]], south to [[Logroño]] and west to [[Burgos]] on the south side of the Zadorra.

===Plans===
Jourdan was ill with a fever all day on 20 June. Because of this, few orders were issued and the French forces stood idle. An enormous wagon [[Train (military)|train]] of booty clogged the streets of Vitoria. A convoy left during the night, but it had to leave siege artillery behind because there were not enough draft animals to pull the cannons.

[[Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan de la Peyrière|Gazan]]'s divisions guarded the narrow western end of the Zadorra valley, deployed south of the river. Maransin's brigade was posted in advance, at the village of [[Subijana de Álava|Subijana]]. The divisions were disposed with [[Jean François Leval|Leval]] on the right, Daricau in the centre, [[Nicolas François Conroux|Conroux]] on the left and [[Eugène-Casimir Villatte|Villatte]] in reserve. Only a picket guarded the western extremity of the Heights of La Puebla.

Further back, [[Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon|d'Erlon]]'s force stood in a second line, also south of the river. [[Jean Barthélemy Darmagnac|Darmagnac's]] division deployed on the right and [[Louis Victorin Cassagne|Cassagne's]] on the left. D'Erlon failed to destroy three bridges near the river's hairpin bend and posted Avy's weak cavalry division to guard them. [[Honoré Charles Reille|Reille]]'s men originally formed a third line, but [[Jacques Thomas Sarrut|Sarrut]]'s division was sent north of the river to guard the Bilbao road while Lamartinière's division and the Spanish Royal Guard units held the river bank.

Wellington directed Hill's 20,000-man Right Column to drive the French from the Zadorra [[defile (geography)|defile]] on the south side of the river. While the French were preoccupied with Hill, Wellington's Right Centre column moved along the north bank of the river and crossed it near the hairpin bend behind the French right flank.

Graham's 20,000-man Left Column was sent around the north side of Monte Arrato. It drove down the Bilbao road, cutting off the bulk of the French army. Dalhousie's Left Centre column cut across Monte Arrato and struck the river east of the hairpin, providing a link between Graham and Wellington.