A victory that was worth a country. In this single sentence, we can summarize the battle of Vitoria, in which -after several years of Gallic rule in the Iberian Peninsula- an alliance formed by English, Portuguese, and Spanish troops managed to put the French army commanded by José Bonaparte to flight – Napoleon’s brother-, and began the final reconquest of the territory seized by the “little Corsican.” Such was the defeat that the French leader’s brother had to gallop away leaving behind many of his belongings, including a chamber pot, to avoid being captured by the allied troops. Today, 200 years after that event, Vitoria proudly carries the honor of having hosted one of the battles that, in the end, forced the French to abandon the Iberian conquest. That day, without a doubt, Spain said “au revoir” to the imperial army.
Jose, go back to France, Although Vitoria marked the beginning of the end of the Gallic occupation of Spain, it was necessary to wait no less than five years of hard fighting to reach it. Specifically, the uprising against the French began in the capital, Madrid, on May 2, 1808. The battle meant the beginning of the end of the French army in Spain On that magical date, the Madrid people, at the hands of captains Luis Daoiz and Pedro Velarde, rebelled against the occupation of the country and took up arms against Bonaparte, who wanted -and He managed to take over the Spanish throne and leave it in the hands of his brother. Despite that day, the uprising was not definitive, it did cause sentiment against the French to spread throughout the territory. The War of Independence had just begun.
Thus, hostilities officially began against the “little Corsican” who, determined to take the entire Peninsula at the cost of the blood of its soldiers, gave the starting signal to an invasion, that of Spain, which was already on everyone’s lips. However, what that president did not know was that in front of him was the people of Spain, who stood up to his experienced soldiers and gave them several strategic slaps.
English help
The situation became so precarious for the Gauls that the French leader had to pay a visit to try to quell the uprising. “It was too much for Napoleon, who came to Spain” to put order “, returned Madrid to José at the beginning of December and persecuted the English to expel them from the country before having to return to Paris urgently, leaving several marshals to finish the matter”, explains Emilio Larreina in his book .The battle of Vitoria 1813. Unfortunately, and after Napoleon’s departure, defeats began to follow one another on the Spanish side. For this reason, in addition to its interest, England decided in 1812 to send Arthur Wellesley -Duke of Wellington- a lord who united the English, Portuguese and Spanish against the army of Jose Bonaparte.
Flight to Vitoria
After taking several cities of great strategic importance from the Gauls, Wellington, moved by his hatred of the imperial army, began his greatest offensive when he received news that Napoleon had withdrawn troops from Spain to continue his campaign in Russia. It was time to draw the sword, and the English knew it. His attack was of such caliber that the French leader advised his brother to “pack up” and leave Madrid with his entire cohort in the direction of Valladolid.
More than 10,000 French died or were injured However, no land was safe for the French brother, who began a swift flight from Valladolid to save his life and, of course, the great wealth that he had snatched from the Spanish land. “An increasingly hasty retreat began for the imperialists and threatened by an unknown Wellington in its speed of maneuver, which also has the Spanish troops of the Galician Army and has almost 100,00 men, surpassing the invaders”, adds the writer.
There was only one way out for José and the immense retinue of carts that accompanied him: to go to Vitoria. And it is that in that territory had requested the meeting of the French army located in the north of Spain. In this way, he could stand up to the allied soldiers and, in the worst case, initiate his definitive withdrawal to France.
Several weeks later, and once at the destination, both Jose Bonaparte and his field marshal, Jean Baptiste Jourdan, had only one idea in mind: to resist the imminent Allied siege with their army. However, they lacked a defined strategy. “At dusk on 19 (June) the (French) soldiers camped out in the Llanada de Vitoria without any criteria, as there was no defined plan of operations,” explains Larreina.
Preparations for the fight
Ready for the fight, Jose Bonaparte deployed his army around the city of Vitoria. «The battle took place in a kind of” pot “known as Llanada Alavesa. It is a relatively flat terrain about the surrounding mountains, with the shape of an irregular elongated oval towards the east and with the capital, Vitoria, located in the first third of the longitudinal axis ”, the expert points out in the text. In this way, and taking advantage of the fact that the terrain was plagued with mountains in its surroundings and that the Zadorra River crossed through it, the brother of the “little Corso” and his field marshal decided to deploy their more than 57,000 men and 140 guns in three sections.
The allies managed to capture 151 artillery pieces. On the left flank, located near the towns of Subijana (located 14 km southwest of Vitoria) and Puebla de Arganzon, the French stationed their first force. This, commanded by Gazán, had approximately 24,000 soldiers from the so-called “Army of Andalusia.” For its part, the center was assigned to d´Erlon and his almost 11,000 military and artillery pieces. In turn, the majority of the cavalry was in reserve due to the terrain, which prevented a swift ride.
Finally, the right flank was offered to Reille’s “French Army of Portugal” and his 22,000 men. It should be noted that in this area there was a unit made up of Spaniards who, presumably, were loyal to France. Specifically, this group, known as the “Josefinos” was sent to cover an isolated town due to a shortage of French troops.
On the other hand, and according to Larreina, the disposition that was made was totally wrong: «The positions did not respond to a determined plan, since it did not exist, prevented by a strong attack of fever by Marshal Jourdan on the morning of the 20th when he was preparing to the positions, but they respond to the maintenance of a wrong idea: to suppose that Wellington will attack head-on from the west.
For their part, the allies divided their forces into several columns with the intention of besieging and encircling the French army, making use, among other things, of the knowledge that a Spanish officer who accompanied Wellington had of the territory. “The Lord was able to perfectly study the opposite positions, preparing an ambitious and brilliant attack, undoubtedly aided by the knowledge of the terrain of his friend, General Álava, born in Vitoria”, determines the expert.
Using strategy, Wellington – which had not shown the French all the forces available to him to gain the surprise factor – organized his 78,000 men and 96 guns into four very similar combat corps. However, on the flanks you could see, above the rest, the Spanish badges carried by the 1st Spanish Division of Murillo and the 6th Spanish Division of Longa (made up of about 7,000 soldiers in total, located to the left and right respectively). Everything was prepared for battle. Finally, the right flank was offered to Reille’s “French Army of Portugal” and his 22,000 men. It should be noted that in this area there was a unit made up of Spaniards who, presumably, were loyal to France. Specifically, this group, known as the “Josefinos” was sent to cover an isolated town due to a shortage of French troops.
On the other hand, and according to Larreina, the disposition that was made was totally wrong. The positions did not respond to a determined plan, since it did not exist, prevented by a strong attack of fever by Marshal Jourdan on the morning of the 20th when he was preparing to the positions, but they respond to the maintenance of a wrong idea: to suppose that Wellington will attack head-on from the west.
For their part, the allies divided their forces into several columns with the intention of besieging and encircling the French army, making use, among other things, of the knowledge that a Spanish officer who accompanied Wellington had of the territory. “The Lord was able to perfectly study the opposite positions preparing an ambitious and brilliant attack, undoubtedly aided by the knowledge of the terrain of his friend, General Álava, born in Vitoria”, determines the expert.
Using strategy, Wellington – which had not shown the French all the forces available to him to gain the surprise factor – organized his 78,000 men and 96 guns into four very similar combat corps. However, on the flanks you could see, above the rest, the Spanish badges carried by the 1st Spanish Division of Murillo and the 6th Spanish Division of Longa (made up of about 7,000 soldiers in total, located to the left and right respectively). Everything was prepared for battle. In addition to this advance, critical for the French flank, everything was complicated when the Gauls, who wanted to reinforce that position, were deceived by a local who, risking his life, offered to guide his guns to a good firing position. However, what he really did was take them to a narrow mountain path that prevented the artillery from moving. Fortunately, the makeshift ally was able to escape without problems. For their part, several brigades of the British army decided to support the Spanish and continue to press the right flank. In fact, the force of the attack forced the French to divert several units to stop the redcoats, who were now launching into combat determined to break through the Gallic defense lines.
In turn, Jourdan saw life pass before his eyes when he observed that new Spanish units appeared in the approaches to Vitoria from Logrono (on the far right of his flank). “Ironically, the troops spotted on the Logrono road causing such a stir are there by chance. They are the guerrillas from Alava under the orders of Sebastian Fernandez de Leceta “Dos Pelos” and Prudencio Cortazar “el Fraile”, respectively, plus the lancers of Julián Sánchez “el Charro” , Larreina sentence. However, its non-military character relaxed the French, who saw it possible for his well-trained troops to resist the advance.
Finally, after several rifle volleys, the Spanish troops on the right flank began to run out of ammunition which, together with their great physical effort, caused them to be transferred to the second line. From that moment on, the bulk of the fighting on that flank fell on the Portuguese, the Redcoats, and some Scots units, who managed to put the imperial army to flight at the end of the day. Longa: The Spanish on the left For their part, Longa’s troops were also in charge of being in the vanguard, guiding the rest of the left-wing through a terrain that they knew perfectly well. The Longa division will lead, followed by the Alava from Salcedo, the own cavalry and a squad of the 12th Light Dragons from Anson (light cavalry to carry out support and reconnaissance missions), behind, the Portuguese Brigade of Pack, Oswald’s 5th Anglo-Portuguese Division and Lawson’s artillery battery ”, explains the expert.
Curiously, the first objective of these Spaniards from the allied side was to dislodge the “Josefinos”, their compatriots who fought on the side of Bonaparte. On the other hand, their combat against them was little because, in view of their numerical inferiority (the Frenchified were outnumbered in a proportion of one against five), they decided to abandon their positions. This left Wellington’s soldiers on a plate with one of the most prominent positions, that of “Gamarra Menor”, which allowed them to advance to more compromised places.
Longa: The Spanish on the left
For their part, Longa’s troops were also in charge of being in the vanguard, guiding the rest of the left-wing through a terrain that they knew perfectly well. The Longa division will lead, followed by the Alava from Salcedo, the own cavalry and a squad of the 12th Light Dragons from Ansón (light cavalry to carry out support and reconnaissance missions), behind, the Portuguese Brigade of Pack, Oswald’s 5th Anglo-Portuguese Division and Lawson’s artillery battery ”, explains the expert.
Curiously, the first objective of these Spaniards from the allied side was to dislodge the “Josefinos”, their compatriots who fought on the side of Bonaparte. On the other hand, their combat against them was little because, in view of their numerical inferiority (the Frenchified were outnumbered in a proportion of one against five), they decided to abandon their positions. This left Wellington’s soldiers on a plate with one of the most prominent positions, that of “Gamarra Menor”, which allowed them to advance to more compromised places. After seizing Gamarra Menor, Longa decisively attacks the Durana bridge, entrenched and briefly defended by the “Josefinos”, also expelling them from the town at the point of a bayonet ”, adds Larreina in his book. After this setback, the Frenchified continued to flee to the next imperial defense line, where they were reinforced by several Gallic units and faced their compatriots on the Allied side.
A Chronicle of a Death Foretold
After several hours, the panorama of the battlefield was Dantesque for the French, and it is that, after multiple charges of the English cavalry, they had been overcome on several fronts. Apparently, at times sabers and spears can be more deadly than the most accurate of rifles. On the flanks, the forces were still holding out but greatly diminished. For its part, the center had lost a large amount of ground and was now defending itself, very close to Vitoria, in a single line against the bulk of the enemy army. Among its ranks, you could already see the Royal Guards of José Bonaparte, who were part of the reserve.
Hours later, morale began to take its toll on the imperial troops, who began a disorganized retreat. Finally, the allies managed to penetrate the French defenses with blood, swords, and continuous firing shots. Thus, around 6 in the afternoon, José Bonaparte and Jourdan saw their army overwhelmed on all fronts and decided to retreat. There had been no victory for the French and the only thing left to do was save their lives.
