Battle of Sorauren

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Battle of Sorauren
Part of Peninsular War
Date July 28 - August 1, 1813 Location Result Anglo-Portuguese victory
Combatants
Britain Spain Portugal	First French Empire
Commanders
Arthur Wellesley	Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult

Peninsular War, 1810–1814
Fuengirola – Barrosa – Fuentes de Onoro – Albuera – Badajoz – Salamanca – Vitoria – Maya – Roncesvalles – Sorauren – Nivelle – Nive – Orthez – Toulouse

The Battle of Sorauren was part of a series of engagements in late July 1813 called the Battle of the Pyrenees in which a combined British and Portugese force under Sir Arthur Wellesley held off Marshal Soult's French forces attempting to relieve San Sebastian.

With sizable British forces tied up in assaulting San Sebastion and besieging Pamplona, the new French C-in-C Marshal Soult launched a counterattack through the Pyrenees in three columns. Although the French initially enjoyed local superiority, the tough terrain combined with stubborn British and Portuguese resistance slowed the French advance to a crawl.

The main French column, about 30,000 men under Soult was marching to attack Sorauren. On the 27th the heavily outnumbered British forces there were drawn up on a ridge. Wellesley made a dramatic ride along the ridge in front of the cheering British and Portuguese troops and Soult postponed the attack until the next day. By the time the French attack was launched, reinforcements had arrived, bringing the total allied force to about 24,000 men

The fighting at the top of the ridge was bitter and bloody, but the defenders held the French off. About midday, British reinforcements arrived and Wellington sent them to assault the French right flank. More fresh units reached the field and soon Soult soon ordered a withdrawal. The French suffered 4,000 casualties, while Wellesley's army lost 2,600 men.

Two smaller battles occurred two days later as the French tried to get between Wellesley's army and the troops surrounding San Sebastian. At Tolosa, General Hill fended one attempt off. A night retreat, again near Sorauren, cost the French 3,500 casualties.

With his momentum lost, Soult withdrew into France to prepare his defences against the imminent British offensive. 10,000 men under the command of General Vandamme were cut off. They were nearly cut off at the first battle of Vera, but the British failure to reinforce the holding force allowed them to escape.