Battles fought in North
Spain
Campaign History
By
the end of January 1813 most of the experienced French troops had been
withdrawn from Spain to form the new Grand Army in Germany. Marshal Soult was ordered to organize all
remaining troops in Northern Spain into the new Fourth French Army. He was to concentrate them at Burgos and to
hold the northern border with Portugal
On
2 February 1813 Wellington took the border city of Cuidad Rodrigo and marched
his Army east to drive the French out of Spain. He reached Zamora on 27 February 1813, where
he received reports that the Soult was still at Burgos but preparing to march
on Valladolid.
Wellington
halted at Zamora on 28 February 1813, to allow his army to rest and reorganise
after their long march from Portugal. He
was aware that the French were at Burgos, and that he would have to fight to
take Valladolid.
1
March 1813 – Valladolid Campaign.
Wellington opened the campaign by defeating the French and occupying
Valladolid. The French counter attacked
and won the battles of Arriba and Medina.
Wellington halted the French advance at Palencia and went on to defeat
them again at Palencia. Soult was
forced to retreat east.
9
March 1813 – Burgos Campaign. The
campaign opened with a determined French attack during which they won the
battles of Agular, Sarracin and Burgos.
Wellington rallied and counter attacked to win at Agular, Castrojarez
and Burgos. However Soult won the third
battle of Burgos and with it the campaign.
Wellington was forced to retreat towards Portugal.
25
March 1813 – Zamora Campaign. The
French won the first battle at Morales.
However Wellington won at Zamora, Benavente and again at Morales. Soult regrouped and won a series of four
battles at Zamora and Benavente resulting in the French also winning the
campaign. Once more Wellington had to
retreat.
5
April 1813 – Armistice. Wellington was
forced to accept the seven day cease fire in order to rally and reorganise his
shattered army. He ordered them to
retreat to Oporto and concentrate there.
Soult halted his army at Zamora
12
April 1813 – Oporto Campaign.
Wellington was determined to prevent a retreat into Portugal and opened
the campaign with an aggressive advance.
He was defeated at the first battle at Chaves, but won the three battles
for Murca. This town became the centre
of the campaign, and the French attacked again and again. By 19 April both armies were battered, had
lost considerable battle casualties and were low on supplies. But when Wellington defeated the third
attempt to take Murca Soult ordered his army to withdraw.
28
April 1813 – Tordesillas Campaign.
Soult was determined to hold Wellington on the Spanish/Portuguese
border. But Wellington was equally
determined to establish himself in Spain.
This campaign developed into a series of victories for Wellington. He won six of the seven battles fought, and
the seventh was a draw. He took
Tordesillias, pursued the retreating French and took Valladolid after two days
of fighting. Both armies were battered
during the 14 day campaign. On 11 May
1813 Soult ordered his army to retreat
to Burgos to rally and regroup.
Wellington called a halt at Valladolid.
10
August 1813 – Leon Campaign. Wellington
needed to take Leon in order to secure a port on the north coast to shorten his
lines of communications. The campaign
opened badly for the British, with their defeat at Sanabria. The French went on the attack but were
defeated at Mayorga. Wellington
defeated the French at Sanabria and Benevente.
But he lost the last two battles at Leon and again at Sanabria. Wellington was forced to retreat to the
river Duero. Both armies suffered heavy
casualties, but the French clearly won the campaign.
Reference
The
campaign diary contains comprehensive details of the whole campaign. The labels on the right are an index to
various parts of the campaign.
01
- introduction to the 1813 campaign
02
- the five campaign areas
40
- introduction to the campaign in North Spain
41
- French order of battle
42
- British order of battle
43
- daily diary for the campaign in North Spain
44
- battle reports of all battles fought in North
Spain
