Editing Peninsular War (section)

==1813==

===Defeat of King Joseph===
{{Campaignbox Peninsular War (1813-1814)}}
[[File:Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.png|thumb|right|alt=Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.|''[[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington]]'' by [[Thomas Lawrence]]]]

By the end of 1812, the large army that had invaded the [[Russian Empire]], the {{lang|fr|[[Grande Armée]]}}, had ceased to exist. Unable to resist the oncoming Russians, the French had to evacuate [[East Prussia]] and the [[Grand Duchy of Warsaw]]. With both the [[Austrian Empire]] and the Kingdom of Prussia joining his opponents, Napoleon withdrew more troops from Spain,{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=428}} including some foreign units and three battalions of sailors sent to assist with the siege of Cádiz. In total, 20,000 men were withdrawn; the numbers were not overwhelming, but the occupying forces were left in a difficult position. In much of the area under French control—the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque]] provinces, [[Navarre]], Aragon, Old Castile, [[La Mancha]], the [[Levante, Spain|Levante]], and parts of [[Catalonia]] and [[Province of León|León]]—the remaining presence was a few scattered garrisons. Trying to hold a front line in an arc from [[Bilbao]] to Valencia, they were still vulnerable to assault, and had abandoned hopes of victory. According to Esdaile, the best policy would have been to have fallen back to the Ebro, but the political situation in 1813 made this impossible; Napoleon wanted to avoid being seen as weak by the German princes, who were watching the advancing Russians and wondering whether they should change sides.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=429}} French prestige suffered another blow when on 17 March ''el rey intruso'' (the ''Intruder King'', a nickname many Spanish had for King Joseph) left Madrid in the company of another vast caravan of refugees.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=429}}

In 1813, Wellington marched 121,000 troops (53,749 British, 39,608 Spanish, and 27,569 Portuguese){{sfn|Gates|2002|p=521}} from northern Portugal across the mountains of northern Spain and the Esla River, skirting Jourdan's army of 68,000 strung out between the Douro and the Tagus. Wellington shortened his communications by shifting his base of operations to the northern Spanish coast, and the Anglo-Portuguese forces swept northwards in late May and seized Burgos, outflanking the French army and forcing Joseph Bonaparte into the Zadorra valley.

At the [[Battle of Vitoria]] on 21 June, Joseph's 65,000-man army was defeated decisively by Wellington's army of 57,000 British, 16,000 Portuguese and 8,000 Spanish.{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=521}} Wellington split his army into four attacking "columns" and attacked the French defensive position from south, west and north while the last column cut down across the French rear. The French were forced back from their prepared positions, and despite attempts to regroup and hold were driven into a rout. This led to the abandonment of all of the French artillery as well as King Joseph's extensive baggage train and personal belongings. The latter led to many Anglo-Allied soldiers abandoning the pursuit of the fleeing troops, to instead loot the wagons. This delay, along with the French managing to hold the east road out of Vitoria towards Salvatierra, allowed the French to partially recover. The Allies chased the retreating French, reaching the Pyrenees in early July, and began operations against [[San Sebastián|San Sebastian]] and [[Pamplona]]. On 11 July, Soult was given command of all French troops in Spain and in consequence Wellington decided to halt his army to regroup at the Pyrenees.

The war was not over. Although Bonapartist Spain had effectively collapsed, most of France's troops had retreated in order and fresh troops were soon gathering beyond the Pyrenees. By themselves, such forces were unlikely to score more than a few local victories, but French troop losses elsewhere in Europe could not be taken for granted. Napoleon might yet inflict defeats on Austria, Russia and Prussia, and with the divisions between the allies there was no guarantee that one power would not make a separate peace. It was a major victory and gave Britain more credibility on the continent, but the thought of Napoleon descending on the Pyrenees with the {{lang|fr|Grande Armée}} was not regarded with equanimity.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=454}}

===End of the war in Spain===
====Campaign in the eastern Atlantic region====
[[File:Battle of the Pyrenees 1813 Map.JPG|thumb|[[Battle of the Pyrenees]], 25 July 1813]]
[[File:Battle of the Bidassoa - October 9th 1813 - Fonds Ancely - B315556101 A HEATH 032.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of the Bidassoa]], 1813]]

In August 1813, British headquarters still had misgivings about the eastern powers moving into France. Austria had now joined the Allies, but the Allied armies had suffered a significant defeat at the [[Battle of Dresden]]. They had recovered somewhat, but the situation was still precarious. Wellington's brother-in-law [[Edward Pakenham]] wrote, "I should think that much must depend upon proceedings in the north: I begin to apprehend&nbsp;...&nbsp;that Boney may avail himself of the jealousy of the Allies to the material injury of the cause."{{sfn|Pakenham|2009|p=221}} But the defeat or defection of Austria, Russia, and Prussia was not the only danger. It was also uncertain that Wellington could continue to count on Spanish support.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=455}}

The summer of 1813 in the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque]] provinces and [[Navarre]] was a wet one, with the army drenched by incessant rain, and the decision to strip the men of their greatcoats was looking unwise. Sickness was widespread—at one point a third of Wellington's British troops were ''[[hors de combat]]''—and fears about the army's discipline and general reliability grew. By 9 July, Wellington reported that 12,500 men were absent without leave, while plundering was rife. Major General Sir [[Frederick Philipse Robinson|Frederick Robinson]] wrote, "We paint the conduct of the French in this country in very&nbsp;...&nbsp;harsh colours, but be assured we injure the people much more than they do&nbsp;...&nbsp;Wherever we move devastation marks our steps."{{sfn|Robinson|1956|p=165}} With the army poised on the borders of France, desertion had become a problem. The [[Chasseurs Britanniques]]—recruited mainly from French deserters—lost 150 men in a single night. Wellington wrote, "The desertion is terrible, and is unaccountable among the British troops. I am not astonished that the foreigners should go&nbsp;...&nbsp;but, unless they entice away the British soldiers, there is no accounting for their going away in such numbers as they do."{{sfn|Muir|2021}} Spain's "ragged and ill-fed soldiers" were also suffering with the onset of winter. The fear that they would likely "fall on the populace with the utmost savagery"{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=457}} in revenge attacks and looting was a growing concern to Wellington as the Allied forces pushed to the French border.

Marshal Soult began a counter-offensive (the [[Battle of the Pyrenees]]) and defeated the Allies at the [[Battle of Maya]] and the [[Battle of Roncesvalles (1813)|Battle of Roncesvalles]] (25 July). The Roncesvalles wing of Soult's army pushed on into Spain, and by 27 July  was within ten miles of Pamplona. There its way was blocked by a substantial allied force posted on a high ridge in between the villages of Sorauren and Zabaldica. The French lost momentum and were repulsed by the Allies at the [[Battle of Sorauren]] (28 and 30 July){{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=462}} Soult ordered [[General of Division]] [[Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon]] commanding one corps of 21,000 men to attack and secure the Maya Pass. General of Division [[Honoré Charles Reille|Honoré Reille]] was ordered by Soult to attack and seize the Roncesvalles Pass with his corps and the corps of General of Division [[Bertrand Clausel]] of 40,000 men. Reille's right wing suffered further losses at Yanzi (1 August); and Echallar and Ivantelly (2 August) during its retreat into France.{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=95}}{{sfn|COS|2014}}{{better source needed|date=November 2014}}{{sfn|Napier|1879|pp=321–325}} Total losses during this counter-offensive were about 7,000 for the Allies and 10,000 for the French.{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=95}}

With 18,000 British and Portuguese troops, Wellington [[Siege of San Sebastián|besieged the French-garrisoned city of San Sebastián]] under Brigadier-General [[Louis Emmanuel Rey]] from 7 to 25 July. Wellington interrupted the siege during Soult's counter-offensive, but left sufficient forces under [[Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch|Graham]] to prevent sorties or any relief getting in. The siege was resumed on 22 August. On 31 August, the allies stormed the city with heavy losses. The attacking troops became drunk, and sacked and burned the entire city. Meanwhile, the French garrison retreated into the city's citadel. They held out until 8 September, and marched out the next day with full military honours.{{sfn|Napier|1879|pp=334–343}} on the day that San Sebastián fell, Soult attempted to relieve it, but in the battles of [[Battle of Vera|Vera]] and [[Battle of San Marcial|San Marcial]] was repulsed{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=95}} by the Spanish Army of Galicia under General [[Manuel Freire de Andrade|Manuel Freire]].{{sfn|Glover|2001|pp=280–287}} The losses in the entire siege were about 4,000 alles, and 20,000 French. Wellington next determined to throw his left across the river [[Bidassoa]] to strengthen his own position, and secure the port of [[Fuenterrabia]].{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=95}}

At daylight on 7 October 1813 Wellington crossed the Bidassoa in seven columns, and attacked the entire French position, which stretched in two heavily entrenched lines from north of the [[Irun]]–[[Bayonne]] road, along mountain spurs to the [[Rhune|Great Rhune]],  {{convert|2800|ft|m}} high.{{sfn|Robinson|1911|pp=95–96}} The decisive movement was a passage in strength near Fuenterrabia to the astonishment of the French, who in view of the width of the river and the shifting sands, had thought the crossing impossible at that point. The French right was then rolled back, and Soult was unable to reinforce his right in time to retrieve the day. His works fell in succession after hard fighting, and he withdrew towards the river [[Nivelle]].{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=96}} The losses were about—Allies, 800; French, 1,600.{{sfn|Oman|1930|pp=535, 536}} The [[Battle of the Bidassoa|passage of the Bidassoa]] "was a general's not a soldier's battle".{{sfn|Napier|1879|p=367}}{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=96}}

On 31 October [[Siege of Pamplona (1813)|Pamplona surrendered]], and Wellington was now anxious to drive Suchet from Catalonia before invading France. The British government, however, in the interests of the continental powers, urged an immediate advance over the northern Pyrenees into south-eastern France.{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=95}} Napoleon had just suffered a major defeat at the [[Battle of Leipzig]] on 19 October and was in retreat,{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} so Wellington left the clearance of Catalonia to others.{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=95}}

====Campaign in the northern Mediterranean region====
[[File:Battle of Castalla 1813 Print.JPG|thumb|The [[Battle of Castalla]] ]]

In the northern Mediterranean region of Spain ([[Catalonia]]) Suchet had defeated Elio's Murcians at [[Yecla]] and [[Villena]] (11 April 1813), but was subsequently routed by Lieutenant General [[Sir John Murray, 8th Baronet|Sir John Murray]], Commander of a British expedition from the Mediterranean islands{{Sfn|Robinson|1911|p=96}} at the [[battle of Castalla]] (13 April), who then [[siege of Tarragona (1813)|besieged Tarragona]]. The siege was abandoned after a time, but was later on renewed by Lieutenant General [[Lord William Bentinck]]. Suchet, after the [[Battle of Vitoria]], evacuated Tarragona (17 August) but defeated Bentinck in the [[battle of Ordal]] (13 September).{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=96}}

The military historian Sir [[Charles Oman]] wrote that because of "[Napoleon's]<!--not a broken link but replacement of "the Emperor"--> absurdly optimistic reliance on" the [[Treaty of Valençay]] (11 December 1813),{{sfn|Oman|1930|pp=310}} during the last month of 1813 and the early months of 1814 Suchet was ordered by the French War office to relinquish command of many of his infantry and cavalry regiments for use in the [[campaign in north-east France (1814)|campaign in north-east France]] where Napoleon was greatly outnumbered. This reduced Suchet's French Catalonian army from 87,000 to 60,000 of whom 10,000 were on garrison duty. By the end of January through redeployment and wastage (through disease and desertion) the number had fallen to 52,000 of whom only 28,000 were available for field operations; the others were either on garrison duties or guarding the lines of communication back into France.{{sfn|Oman|1930|pp=308–311, 402}}

Suchet thought that the armies under the command of the Spanish General [[Francisco Copons y Navia|Copons]] and the British General [[Henry Clinton (Napoleonic Wars)|Clinton]] amounted to 70,000 men (in fact they only had about as many as he did), so Suchet remained on the defensive.{{sfn|Oman|1930|p=406}}

On 10 January 1814 Suchet received orders from the French War Ministry that he withdraw his field force to the foothills of the Pyrenees and to make a phased withdraw from the outlying garrisons. On ratification of the Treaty of Valençay he was to move his force to the French city of [[Lyons]].{{sfn|Oman|1930|p=411}} On 14 January he received further orders that because the situation was so grave on the eastern front he was to immediately send further forces to the east, even though ratification of the Treaty of Valençay had not been received. This would reduce the size of Suchet's field army to 18,000 men.{{sfn|Oman|1930|p=412}}

The Allies heard that Suchet was hemorrhaging men and mistakenly thought that his army was smaller than it was, so on 16 January they attacked. Suchet had not yet started the process of sending more men back to France and was able to stop the Sicilians (and a small contingent of British artillery in support) at the [[Battle of Molins de Rei|Battle of Molins de Rey]] because he still had a local preponderance of men. The allies suffered 68 casualties; the French, 30 killed and about 150 wounded.{{sfn|Oman|1930|p=411}}

After Suchet sent many men to Lyons, he left an isolated garrison in Barcelona and concentrated his forces on the town of Gerona calling in [[flying column]]s and evacuating some minor outposts. However his field army was now down to 15,000 cavalry and infantry (and excluding the garrisons in northern Catalonia).{{sfn|Oman|1930|p=415}}

The last actions in this theatre happened at the [[Siege of Barcelona (1808)|siege of Barcelona]] on 23 February; the French sallied out of Barcelona to test the besiegers' lines, as they thought (wrongly) that the Anglo-Sicilian forces had departed. They failed to break through the lines, and forces under the command of the Spanish General [[Pedro Sarsfield]] stopped them. The French General [[Pierre-Joseph Habert]] tried another sortie on 16 April and the French were again stopped with about 300 of them killed.{{sfn|Oman|1930|p=431}} Habert eventually surrendered on 25 April.{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=459}}

On 1 March Suchet received orders to send 10,000 more men to Lyons. On 7 March Beurmann's division of 9,661 men left for Lyons. With the exception of [[Figueras]], Suchet abandoned all the remaining fortresses in Catalonia that the French garrisoned (and that were not closely besieged by Allied forces), and in doing so was able to create a new field force of about 14,000 men, which were concentrated in front of Figueras in early April.{{sfn|Oman|1930|pp=424–425, 431}}{{efn|There were a further 13,000 French troops besieged in Barcelona, Tortosa, Saguntun and other fortresses, who were under siege and not able to extract themselves to join Suchet at Figueras {{harv|Oman|1930|p=425}}.}}

In the meantime, because the Allies underestimated the size of Suchet's force and believed that 3,000 more men had left for Lyon and that Suchet, with the remnant of his army, was crossing the Pyrenees to join Soult in the Atlantic theatre, the Allies began to redeploy their forces. The best of the British forces in Catalonia were ordered to join Wellington's army on the river [[Garonne]] in France.{{efn|The Anglo-Italian battalions, the Calabrians and the Sicilian "Estero" regiment were sent to Sicily {{harv|Oman|1930|p=429}}.}} They left to do so on 31 March, leaving the Spanish to mop up the remaining French garrisons in Catalonia.{{sfn|Oman|1930|p=431}}

In fact, Suchet remained in Figueras with his army until after the amnesty signed by Wellington and Soult. He spent his time arguing with Soult that he had only 4,000 troops available to march (although his army numbered around 14,000) and that they could not march with artillery, so he could not assist Soult in his battles with Wellington.{{sfn|Oman|1930|pp=431–432}} The military historian Sir Charles Oman puts this refusal to help Soult down to Suchet's personal animosity rather than strong strategic reasons.{{sfn|Oman|1930|pp=432, 500}}

===Invasion of France===
{{main|Campaign in south-west France (1814)}}
{{See also |Campaign in north-east France (1814)}}

====Battles of the Nivelle and the Nive====
On the night of 9 November 1813 Wellington brought up his right from the Pyrenean passes to the northward of [[Maya, Baztan|Maya]] and towards the [[Nivelle (river)|Nivelle]]. [[Marshal Soult]]'s army (about 79,000), in three entrenched lines, stretched from the sea in front of [[Saint-Jean-de-Luz]] along commanding ground to [[Amotz]] and thence, behind the river, to [[Mondarrain|Mont Mondarrain]] near the [[Nive]].{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=96}} Wellington on 10 November 1813 attacked and drove the French to [[Bayonne]]. The allied loss during the [[Battle of Nivelle]] was about 2,700; that of the French, 4,000, 51 guns, and all their magazines. The next day Wellington closed in upon Bayonne from the sea to the left bank of the [[Nive]].{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=96}}

After this there was a period of comparative inaction, though during it the French were driven from the bridges at Urdains{{efn|The bridge crosses the Urdains brook (a tributary of the Nive) just north of the [[Château d'Urdain]].}} and [[Cambo-les-Bains]]. [[George Bell (British Army officer)|George Bell]], a junior British officer in the [[34th Foot]] during this period of inaction, told in his biography of an "Irish sentry who was found with a French and an English musket on his two shoulders, guarding a bridge over a brook on behalf of both armies. For he explained to the officer going the rounds that his French neighbour had gone off on his behalf, with his last precious half-dollar, to buy brandy for both, and had left his musket in pledge till his return. The French officer going his rounds on the other side of the brook then turned up, and explained that he had caught his sentry, without arms and carrying two bottles, a long way to the rear. If either of them reported what had happened to their colonels, both sentries would be court-martialled and shot. Wherefore both subalterns agreed to hush up the matter".{{sfn|Oman|1930|p=295}} The weather had become bad, and the Nive unfordable; but there were additional and serious causes of delay. The Portuguese and Spanish authorities were neglecting the payment and supply of their troops. Wellington had also difficulties of a similar kind with his own government, and also the Spanish soldiers, in revenge for many French outrages, had become guilty of grave excesses in France, so that Wellington took the extreme step of sending 25,000 of them back to Spain and resigning the command of their army (though his resignation was subsequently withdrawn). So great was the tension at this crisis that a rupture with Spain seemed possible, but this did not happen.{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=96}}{{efn|On 11 December, Napoleon, beleaguered and desperate, agreed to a separate peace with Spain under the [[Treaty of Valençay]], under which he would release and recognize Ferdinand in exchange for a complete cessation of hostilities. But the Spanish had no intention of trusting Napoleon and the fighting continued.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}}}

Wellington occupied the right as well as the left bank of the Nive on 9 December 1813 with a portion of his force only under [[Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill|Rowland Hill]] and [[William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford|Beresford]], [[Ustaritz]] and Cambo-les-Bains, his loss being slight, and thence pushed down the river towards [[Villefranque, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Villefranque]], where Soult barred his way across the road to Bayonne. The allied army was now divided into two portions by the Nive; and Soult from Bayonne at once took advantage of his central position to attack it with all his available force, first on the left bank and then on the right.{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=96}} Desperate fighting now ensued, but owing to the intersected ground, Soult was compelled to advance slowly, and Wellington coming up with Beresford from the right bank, the French retired baffled.{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=96}} Renewed French attacks on 13 December were also stopped. The losses in the four days' fighting in the battles before Bayonne (or [[battles of the Nive]]) were-Allies about 5,000, French about 7,000.{{sfn|Robinson|1911|p=96}}{{efn|On the evening of 10 December, some 1,400 troops from three German battalions deserted in response to a secret message from the [[Duke of Nassau]]—one of the many German rulers who had surrendered following the [[Battle of Leipzig]]—ordering them to surrender to the Allies. In addition, Soult and Suchet lost the rest of their German units—another 3,000 men—as it was felt that they became unreliable. This left the [[Adour]]'s defenders much depleted and incapable of further offensive action.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=481}} }}

<gallery widths="200px" heights="145px">
File:Bataille de la Nivelle.jpg|The Battle of Nivelle
File:Battle of St Jean de Luz - December 10th 1813 - Fonds Ancely - B315556101 A HEATH 023.jpg|The [[Battle of St Jean de Luz]], 10 December 1813 by [[Thomas Sutherland (artist)|Thomas Sutherland]]
</gallery>