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21 June in military history: Battle of Vitoria, 1813

Military history · 21 June · Peninsular WarFull calendar

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Colored print of the Battle of Vitoria: British redcoats in tall bearskin caps advance with bayonets and flags past an overturned French gun and a fallen white horse, an officer with a raised saber in the center, wounded soldiers and a drum on the ground, and mountains with a distant town behind the smoke.
The Battle of Vitoria, 21 June 1813, in a colored print published in Nuremberg by Fr. Campe. Public domain. Bibliothèque nationale de France (Hennin 13444).
Quick answer

On 21 June 1813, at Vitoria in northern Spain, the Marquess of Wellington's British, Portuguese and Spanish army defeated the French army of King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan, which fled toward Pamplona leaving 151 guns and its baggage. On the same date in 1945 the American commander on Okinawa declared organized resistance ended.

Battle of Vitoria

21 June 1813 · 213 years ago

The road back to France

In June 1813 Wellington crossed the Ebro and kept working round the right flank of the retreating French army. Joseph fell back on Vitoria and decided to stand there: a lost battle, or a further retreat, would cost him the high road to France and the great convoys of Spanish refugees, treasure and stores that had come with the army. Jourdan and Oman both write that Joseph was also waiting for General Clausel, who commanded the Army of the North. Clausel came near Vitoria only on the 22nd.1

The strengths are disputed. On 23 June Joseph wrote that the French army had been attacked by forces double its own (our translation), and Jourdan reasons the same way. Oman calls Jourdan's similar reckoning a gross over-estimate and puts the odds at 75,000 to 57,000, not counting the troops of Pakenham and Giron but including Longa's and Morillo's. Fortescue counts about 72,000 Allied sabres and bayonets, without Giron's division, against about 43,000 French infantry and 6,000 to 7,000 cavalry.2

Four columns across the Zadorra

Joseph commanded with Marshal Jourdan as his major general, the chief of staff. Toreno places Gazan's Army of the South on the left, d'Erlon's Army of the Center in the middle and Reille's Army of Portugal on the right; Wellington's despatch rests the French left on the heights ending at La Puebla de Arganzón. Wellington attacked in four columns, Fortescue writes, and Oman and Jourdan put the opening at about eight in the morning.3

On the right, Sir Rowland Hill sent a brigade of Pablo Morillo's Spanish division up the heights of La Puebla, which, Wellington wrote, the French "had not occupied in great strength". The French reinforced them, but Hill fed in the 71st and other troops and the Allies held the crest; Morillo was wounded but stayed in the field, and Lieutenant Colonel Cadogan of the 71st was mortally wounded.4

The river lay open. Oman writes that none of the eleven bridges between the defile of La Puebla and Durana had been ruined and only three obstructed; Toreno, that the French had broken none of the bridges there. The 4th Division crossed at Nanclares, the Light Division at Tres Puentes and the 3rd and 7th higher up near Mendoza, and the French in the valley fell back toward Vitoria.5

Graham closes the road

In the north, Wellington reported, Graham advanced from Murguía by the high road from Bilbao. Robinson's brigade of the 5th Division stormed Gamarra Mayor, taking three guns, and the 1st Division carried Abechuco, taking three guns and a howitzer on the bridge. Oman describes "an absolute deadlock at Gamarra Mayor till nearly five o'clock in the afternoon", but Longa's Spaniards had seized Durana and cut Joseph's communication with France. Graham's advance, Wellington wrote, "intercepted the enemy's retreat by the high road to France"; Toreno writes that it forced the French right onto the Pamplona road.6

Fortescue puts Joseph's order to retreat by the Salvatierra road at about five o'clock; Jourdan writes that a general retreat was ordered on Salvatierra. On that bad road broken caissons blocked the artillery park, and then, Jourdan writes, the enemy hussars came through the gap between the columns: "Their presence threw the drivers into terror. Each hastened to unhitch his horses, and the park was abandoned" (our translation); Oman also has the British hussars reach the blocked roads behind the town. The pursuit, Wellington wrote, went on "till after it was dark".7

Guns, baggage and a marshal's baton

In his despatch of 22 June to Lord Bathurst, the Marquess of Wellington reported "a complete victory" and listed "one hundred and fifty-one pieces of cannon, four hundred and fifteen waggons of ammunition, all their baggage, provisions, cattle, treasure, &c. and a considerable number of prisoners". Oman and Toreno also give 151 guns. Wellington believed the French had carried off "one gun and one howitzer only"; on 24 June he reported that they had entered Pamplona "with one howitzer only".8

Joseph, Fortescue writes, "if we are to believe more than one narrative", barely escaped the 18th Hussars by leaving his carriage for his horse; Toreno says letters and a sword given him by the city of Naples were taken in the coach. Wellington sent home "Marshal Jourdan's baton of a Marshal of France taken by the 87th regiment". Fortescue has a corporal of the 18th Hussars take it first and a drummer of the 87th steal it from him; Oman, Fortescue and Toreno record that it went to the Prince Regent.9

Then came the plunder. Oman writes that only one twentieth of the five million francs of the French subsidy was recovered; Fortescue, that only one twentieth of the French treasure was secured for public purposes. Fortescue adds that Ponsonby's cavalry brigade passed a heap of dollars untouched, so Ponsonby left a sergeant-major to bring in as many coins as his horse could carry, enough for five dollars apiece for the 1,300 men; the Queen's Royal Hussars Museum gives 1,500 dragoons.10

Counting the cost

The French official returns printed by Oman give 42 officers and 714 men killed, 226 officers and 4,188 men wounded and 23 officers and 2,801 men prisoners or missing, 8,008 in all, a total Oman thinks "several hundreds too small". In his narrative, however, Oman cites a definitive report made after the three armies had got back into France and puts the real total at "very much about the 8,000 men given by the official return". Jourdan gives 6,960 killed, wounded and prisoners; Fortescue says his figures actually come to 7,160 and puts French losses probably below eight thousand. For the Allies, the return sent home with Wellington's despatch and Napier give 5,176 killed, wounded and missing, Oman's table 5,158, and Fortescue something over five thousand.11

On 23 June Joseph wrote to Clarke: "The army has neither bread nor artillery; the loss in men is not immense, but great efforts will be needed to remount its artillery; it has saved all its teams" (our translation)12

Pictures from a royal palace

Oman writes that the finest Italian pictures from the royal collections of Madrid were found rolled up in the "imperials" of Joseph's own carriages; the Wellington Collection also has them rolled up in the big trunks called imperials. The Wellington Collection says Joseph had taken over 200 paintings from the Spanish royal palaces and that Wellington's men saved most of them, among them works by Velázquez, Titian, Rubens and Brueghel; English Heritage writes that two hundred were recovered.13

When Wellington learned where the paintings came from, the Wellington Collection says, he offered them back to the restored King Ferdinand VII, who let him keep them; English Heritage says Ferdinand later gave them to him officially. The Wellington Collection counts 82 on display at Apsley House today, English Heritage 83. Wellington's career is told in our biography of the Duke of Wellington, and Waterloo in our article on the battle.14

Also on 21 June: Okinawa, 1945

On Okinawa, General Simon B. Buckner, commander of the US Tenth Army, was killed on 18 June, and General Roy S. Geiger took over. The Marine Corps history records that Geiger declared the island secure and organized resistance ended by 13:05 on 21 June. The Army history counts organized fighting until Hill 85 fell on 22 June; both histories describe a ceremony that morning marking the end of resistance.15

According to the Army history, daily Japanese casualties reached more than 4,000 on 21 June, and that evening the Japanese commander, General Mitsuru Ushijima, radioed his last message to Imperial Headquarters; his chief of staff, General Isamu Cho, explained that "Our strategy, tactics, and technics" "all were used to the utmost and we fought valiantly, but it was as nothing before the material strength of the enemy". Both generals killed themselves on the night of 21 to 22 June, the Marine history writes. The landings that opened the battle are told on our page for 1 April.16

Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow, 1919

21 June 1919 · 107 years ago

Interned at the British naval base of Scapa Flow after World War I, the German High Seas Fleet was sunk by its own crews on the orders of Admiral Ludwig von Reuter. British guard ships beached some vessels, but most went to the bottom.

Read the full story of Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow, 1919 ›

Frequently asked questions

Who won the Battle of Vitoria?

Wellington's British, Portuguese and Spanish army. The French army of King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan retreated toward Pamplona and left behind almost all its artillery and baggage.

Why did the French lose almost all their guns?

Graham's attack in the north closed the high road to France, so the army had to retreat by a bad road toward Pamplona. Jourdan writes that enemy hussars reached the artillery park, the drivers unhitched their horses and the park was abandoned.

What did Wellington capture at Vitoria?

By his own despatch, 151 guns, ammunition waggons, the baggage, provisions and treasure and a considerable number of prisoners, with Marshal Jourdan's baton. Paintings from the Spanish royal collection found in Joseph's carriages are now at Apsley House in London.

How many soldiers were lost at Vitoria?

Figures differ. The French official returns printed by Oman give 8,008 killed, wounded and prisoners or missing, which Oman thinks several hundred too low; Jourdan gave 6,960. For the Allies, the return sent with Wellington's despatch gives 5,176 killed, wounded and missing and Oman 5,158.

What happened on Okinawa on 21 June 1945?

The Marine Corps history says General Geiger declared organized resistance ended that day. The Army history dates the end of organized fighting to 22 June, when a ceremony at Tenth Army headquarters marked it.

Notes

A number in the text points to a note; each note names the works that paragraph draws on, listed in full under Sources.

  1. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, “Mémoires militaires du maréchal Jourdan (guerre d'Espagne)”; The London Gazette Extraordinary, “War Department, Downing-Street, July 3, 1813”; Lt. Col. John Gurwood, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”. ↩
  2. Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, “Mémoires militaires du maréchal Jourdan (guerre d'Espagne)”; Joseph Bonaparte to Clarke, “Mémoires et correspondance politique et militaire du roi Joseph”; Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”. ↩
  3. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; The London Gazette Extraordinary, “War Department, Downing-Street, July 3, 1813”; Lt. Col. John Gurwood, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”; Conde de Toreno, “Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España”; Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, “Mémoires militaires du maréchal Jourdan (guerre d'Espagne)”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”. ↩
  4. The London Gazette Extraordinary, “War Department, Downing-Street, July 3, 1813”; Lt. Col. John Gurwood, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”; Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; Conde de Toreno, “Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España”. ↩
  5. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; Conde de Toreno, “Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España”; The London Gazette Extraordinary, “War Department, Downing-Street, July 3, 1813”; Lt. Col. John Gurwood, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”. ↩
  6. The London Gazette Extraordinary, “War Department, Downing-Street, July 3, 1813”; Lt. Col. John Gurwood, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”; Conde de Toreno, “Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España”; Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France”. ↩
  7. Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, “Mémoires militaires du maréchal Jourdan (guerre d'Espagne)”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”; Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; The London Gazette Extraordinary, “War Department, Downing-Street, July 3, 1813”; Lt. Col. John Gurwood, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”. ↩
  8. The London Gazette Extraordinary, “War Department, Downing-Street, July 3, 1813”; Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; Conde de Toreno, “Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España”; Lt. Col. John Gurwood, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”. ↩
  9. J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”; Conde de Toreno, “Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España”; The London Gazette Extraordinary, “War Department, Downing-Street, July 3, 1813”; Lt. Col. John Gurwood, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”; Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”. ↩
  10. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”; The Queen's Royal Hussars Museum, “3rd Hussars”. ↩
  11. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, “Mémoires militaires du maréchal Jourdan (guerre d'Espagne)”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”; The London Gazette Extraordinary, “War Department, Downing-Street, July 3, 1813”; W. F. P. Napier, “History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France”. ↩
  12. Joseph Bonaparte to Clarke, “Mémoires et correspondance politique et militaire du roi Joseph”. ↩
  13. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; The Wellington Collection, “The Story of the Collection”; English Heritage, “Apsley House Collection Highlights”. ↩
  14. The Wellington Collection, “The Story of the Collection”; English Heritage, “Apsley House Collection Highlights”. ↩
  15. Roy E. Appleman, “Okinawa”; Maj. Chas. S. Nichols, “Okinawa”. ↩
  16. Roy E. Appleman, “Okinawa”; Maj. Chas. S. Nichols, “Okinawa”. ↩

Sources

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