Battle of the Pyrenees

The surprise offensive opened on 25 July 1813. The passes of Maya (north of Pamplona) and Roncesvaux (northeast of Pamplona) were both weakly held by the allies spread over a 50-mile front from Pamplona to the sea. After breaking through the Maya Pass, d'Erlon was to move southwest through the Baztan valley to seize the Pass of Velate at 43°2′48″N 1°36′48″W, north of Pamplona. After storming Roncesvaux Pass, Clausel and Reille were instructed to march southwest toward Pamplona. Soult had trouble securing rations for his soldiers, so he launched his offensive with only four days' rations.[11]

Battle of the Pyrenees, 25 July 1813

The responsibility for Maya Pass lay with Stewart's 2nd Division. That morning, Stewart decided that the French would not attack, left the brigades of Major General William Pringle and Lieutenant Colonel John Cameron in the valley and rode to Elizondo, ten miles to the south. Some French soldiers were seen and light companies were sent up in support of the picket. When the French attacked in force, the British forces in the valley had to climb to the pass in full kit. By the time they got up, the picket force was wiped out and 10,000 of d'Erlon's men occupied the pass. In the Battle of Maya, Pringle opposed Darmagnac's division, while Cameron faced the rest of the French corps. The 4,000 British tried manfully to retake the pass, but they were unable to do so. On the other hand, the narrowness of the defile helped the British to hold off d'Erlon's immensely superior force. When Stewart returned at 2:00 pm, he pulled the redcoats back to a second position. By 3:00 pm, the British were on the verge of disaster. At this point, Major General Edward Barnes's brigade of Dalhousie's 7th Division arrived from the west to strike d'Erlon in the flank and the battle died down.[12] The British lost 1,610 men and four cannons out of 6,000, while French losses numbered 2,100 out of 20,900. That evening, Lieutenant General Rowland Hill authorized a retreat to Elizondo.[13] D'Erlon worried about Barnes's incursion and pursued very cautiously the next day. He only advanced six miles on the 26th.[14]

Cole held Roncesvalles Pass with his 4th Division, Morillo's Spanish Division and Major General John Byng's brigade of the 2nd Division, a total of 11,000 men. From 6:00 to 9:00 am, Byng's brigade took the brunt of Clausel's assault in the Battle of Roncesvalles, while Cole rushed up reinforcements. Cole fended off the French until 5:00 pm when thick fog rolled in.[15] The Allies lost 350 men while French casualties were about 530.[16] Troubled by a small French probe of his right flank and fearful that 36,000 Frenchmen would swamp him out of the mist, Cole quit the area and retreated toward Pamplona, though he had been ordered to hold the pass "to the utmost". A worse mistake in Wellington's eyes was Cole's failure to report his actions in a timely manner. When Picton appeared with his 6,000-man 3rd Division, Cole convinced him to retreat also.[17]

Fog at Roncesvalles

Because of the fog, the French did not realise that the British had decamped until the next morning. Clausel pursued, but did not come into contact with Cole's rear guard until late in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Reille's corps attempted to use an alternate path across the mountains and wound up marching in a circle.[18] A push on 27 July from Roncesvalles Pass by troops personally commanded by Marshal Soult, got within 10 miles of Pamplona.[19] However, Picton's British and Portuguese forces made a stand on an excellent defensive position near the village of Sorauren, just north of Pamplona.[20]

Believing d'Erlon's corps to be the main French attack and receiving no information from Cole, Wellington spent 26 July setting up his defences in the direction of Maya Pass. Leaving Hill in charge at Elizondo, he then rode toward Pamplona on 27 July to find out what was happening. He ordered Pack's 6th Division to join Cole and Picton.[14]

On 27 July, Wellington joined the 17,000 British and Portuguese troops at Sorauren.[6] To Clausel's intense frustration, Soult decided to wait for Reille's tardy corps to arrive and even took a nap.[21] The next day, in the Battle of Sorauren, Soult's 36,000 men unsuccessfully attacked the 24,000 Allied troops in front of Pamplona. The Allies lost 2,652 casualties while French losses were probably heavier. Hill's corps, blocking d'Erlon, was pulled back by Wellington toward Sorauren. But d'Erlon was never able to reach Sorauren to help Soult. Instead, when d'Erlon's cavalry made contact with Soult on the morning of 29 July, Soult decided to move to the north rather than retreat northeast toward Roncesvalles. As 30 July dawned, Soult's men could be seen retreating east to west across the British front. Now reinforced by his 7th Division, Wellington ordered an attack.[22]

The French clung to Sorauren village in a bitter fight before being driven away. The British reported 538 casualties while French losses were much heavier. Cut off by the sudden British offensive, Foy's division at the east end of the French line retreated by way of Roncesvalles Pass to the northeast. Foy was joined by elements of Reille's and Clausel's commands so that he took as many as 12,000 men with him. Meanwhile, d'Erlon led the rest of the French army in a retreat to the north, pushing back Hill's forces back just enough to get through.[23] On 30 July at Beunza, Abbé's division of d'Erlon suffered 750 casualties, while the Allies suffered 1,056: 156 British and 900 Portuguese.[3]

Instead of retreating over Maya Pass as Wellington expected, Soult marched north up the Bidassoa River valley. At Yanci, part of Major General Francisco de Longa's Spanish division blocked a key bridge. For two hours, without support from the rest of their division, a battalion of the 2nd Asturias Regiment held off d'Erlon's entire corps. Finally, five French battalions stormed the bridge and Soult's defeated army crossed over it. Too late to block the retreat, Alten's Light Division arrived from Leitza and fired into the gorge from above, causing chaos in the French column. His starving army fast disintegrating into a mob, Soult swung northeast through Etxalar (Echelar) and reached the French frontier via the Col de Lizarrieta at 43°15′39″N 1°37′8″W on 2 August.[24] On that day, elements of Conroux's and Lamartinière's divisions fought a rearguard action at Etxalar against Major General Robert Ross' brigade of Cole's division, Barnes' brigade, and the 95th Rifles. The French suffered about 300 casualties, while inflicting a loss of 368 killed, wounded, and missing on their pursuers. Meanwhile, over 1,000 French wounded were abandoned and captured by the Allies.[25]