Editing Peninsular War (section)

====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}}