The Battle of Tolosa (26 June 1813) saw a British-Portuguese-Spanish column led by Thomas Graham attempt to cut off a retreating Franco-Italian force under Maximilien Sébastien Foy. Assisted by Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune's division, which fortuitously appeared, the French parried Graham's initial attacks then slipped away when threatened with envelopment. The town of Tolosa is located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of San Sebastián. The clash occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the wider Napoleonic Wars.
In the late spring of 1813, the Allied army of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington launched a powerful offensive designed to drive King Joseph Bonaparte's Imperial French army from Spain. On 21 June, Wellington's army inflicted a decisive defeat on Joseph's troops at the Battle of Vitoria. As the defeated French armies withdrew toward the Pyrenees, Wellington tried to intercept Foy's column in the north and Bertrand Clausel's forces in the south. Neither Foy nor Clausel had fought at Vitoria. Graham caught up with Foy's column, but after some fighting, the French got away. Clausel also managed to avoid being cut off, but except for the Sieges of San Sebastian and Pamplona, northern Spain was soon free of French occupation. The next pitched battle was the Battle of the Pyrenees which began on 25 July.
Background
Vitoria campaign
In the spring of 1813, the French were capable of deploying 95,000 troops to defend Spain against Wellington's army. There were 42,000 men in Honoré Charles Reille's Army of Portugal, 36,000 in Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan de la Peyrière's Army of the South and 17,000 in Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon's Army of the Center. However, Emperor Napoleon ordered Reille's six divisions to hunt down Spanish guerillas in northern Spain. This operation left King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan with only 33,000 infantry and 9,000 cavalry and 100 guns. When Joseph protested, his concerns were brushed aside. In fact, Wellington advanced with 52,000 British, 28,000 Portuguese and 25,000 Spanish soldiers. Meanwhile, the Army of the North counted 40,000 troops but most of these were tied up in garrisons so that only 10,000 were available for field operations. On 14 January, Napoleon ordered Clausel to replace Joseph Caffarelli in command of the Army of the North. The new leader was expected to suppress the guerillas of northern Spain and clear the main highway between France and Spain.
During the month of June 1813, Wellington's army repeatedly turned the French army's north flank, compelling Joseph to order a long retreat. During the withdrawal, three of Reille's divisions joined Joseph, but the location of Clausel's soldiers remained a mystery. On 18 June, Reille's three divisions blundered into the path of Wellington's advance at the Battle of San Millan-Osma. Two divisions avoided serious losses, but Maucune's division got such a drubbing that Joseph thought it was only fit to guard the army's wagon train. Wellington's advance was so rapid that the French never had time to fully concentrate their forces. Late on 19 June, Joseph's army reached Vitoria where it waited vainly for Clausel to join it. On 21 June, Wellington with 88,276 Allies with 90 guns attacked Joseph's 46,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry and 2,300 gunners in the Battle of Vitoria. The Allies sustained losses of 4,927 men, including 850 killed, 4,035 wounded and 42 captured. The French suffered 8,008 casualties, including 756 killed, 4,414 wounded and 3,215 captured and missing. The French also lost 151 guns, 415 caissons, 25 million francs and vast amounts of loot plundered from Spain.
Though the French retreat soon degenerated into a mad scramble to the rear, the Allies failed to launch an all-out pursuit. Seven of Wellington's nine Allied cavalry brigades never came into action at all. Some of the Allied units tried to pursue the beaten French, but most others turned aside to plunder the immense wagon train of booty that their opponents left behind. There were other reasons why the French army got away. The Allied soldiers had marched 20 miles (32 km) that day and were exhausted. The two Army of Portugal divisions fought well and retreated in good order. The French 3rd Hussars and 15th Dragoons acted as the army's rearguard and fended off Allied pursuit.
Wellington's army set out in pursuit of Joseph at mid-morning on 22 June, headed east toward Salvatierra. The British commander also sent Spanish troops under Pedro Agustín Girón and Francisco de Longa to the northeast in an attempt to catch up with Maucune's convoy. At Salvatierra, Wellington sent an additional column under Graham north to cut off Foy and Maucune. Joseph's beaten army retreated past Pamplona on 24 June. D'Erlon's army was sent north toward Maya Pass via the Baztan Valley while Gazan's army moved northeast toward the Roncevaux Pass. Reille's soldiers had already earlier split off from the main body and headed north toward the Biscay coast. On 26 June, the Allies surrounded and began the Siege of Pamplona. That day Wellington received information from the Spanish guerilla leader Francisco Espoz y Mina that Clausel's column was to his south. He detailed several divisions to hunt down the French.
Clausel's operations
Clausel assumed command of the Army of the North on 21 February 1813. Meanwhile, Mina with 2,800 guerillas repulsed the attacks of the 3,150 French soldiers of Louis Jean Nicolas Abbé's Army of the North division at Tiebas-Muruarte de Reta on 8 February. After this defeat the 328 survivors of the French garrison of Tafalla surrendered. Mina inflicted another disaster on the French at Lerín on 31 March. His 2,100 guerillas surprised and wiped out two battalions that were busily sacking the town. These 1,500 troops belonged to Marie Étienne de Barbot's 2nd Division of the Army of Portugal. The Spanish captured 663 French soldiers in the debacle. Though Barbot was nearby with six battalions, he failed to intervene.
After one abortive attempt to catch Mina, Clausel decided to strike at the guerilla leader's mountain base at Roncal. He assembled Edmé-Martin Vandermaesen's division of the Army of the North plus the troops of Abbé and Barbot for the operation. Clausel left Eloi Charlemagne Taupin's 3rd Division of the Army of Portugal behind to police Navarre. The raid on 12–13 May destroyed the base and inflicted 1,000 casualties on the guerillas, but Mina himself got away. Clausel treated his prisoners humanely, but laid a harsh hand on the villages of northwest Navarre. The mountain operation was so remote that King Joseph was unable to communicate with Clausel's army.
On 27 May, Joseph sent Clausel an order asking for him to return the divisions of Barbot, Foy and Taupin, if he was finished using them. At this time it might take eight to ten days to get a courier through to Clausel's 15,000-man column. On 15 June, Clausel marched from Pamplona, heading for Logroño, hoping to join Joseph. From Logroño he turned northwest and reached Treviño on 22 June, completely unaware of the Battle of Vitoria the day before. At last, Clausel heard about the French defeat and his column marched south to Viana on 23 June. The next day he tried to go north to Salvatierra but turned around when he received reports of the magnitude of the Vitoria disaster. On 25 June Clausel picked up the garrison of Logroño and marched northeast toward Pamplona. But reports that the British were trying to intercept his column caused him to swerve south and cross the Ebro River at Lodosa on 26 June.
Wellington ordered two columns to hunt down Clausel. Henry Clinton with the British 6th Division and Robert Hill's Household Cavalry brigade started from Vitoria on 26 June. Clinton pursued as far as Lerín but turned back when he realized that Clausel had a 2-day lead. Lowry Cole with the British 4th and Light Divisions and Colquhoun Grant's hussar brigade set out from Pamplona toward Tafalla on 26 June. They were to be followed by the British 3rd and 7th Divisions and William Ponsonby's heavy cavalry brigade.
On 28 June Clausel reached Tudela and picked up its garrison before heading southeast along the Ebro River. By 30 June his column was at Zaragoza where Clausel gave his soldiers three days of rest. Then the column headed north to Jaca which was reached on 6 July. Clausel crossed the Pyrenees by the Somport (Canfranc) Pass on 12 July with 11,000 infantry, 500 cavalry and six mountain guns. Approximately 1,500 men became sick or could not keep up and became Mina's prisoners. After turning Cole's column east, Wellington abandoned his effort to cut off Clausel on 29 June. The Allied soldiers regarded the chase after Clausel to be a fool's errand and there had been a great deal of straggling.
Foy's operations
On 21 April 1813, Foy's division (5,513 men) arrived at Bilbao in Vizcaya in northern Spain and was soon joined by Jacques Thomas Sarrut's division (4,500). Foy controlled over 16,000 men, counting Giuseppe Federico Palombini's Italian division (2,474), Pierre Gabriel Aussenac's brigade (1,500), Claude Pierre Rouget's brigade (2,000) and 409 artillerists. Clausel ordered Foy to capture the port of Castro Urdiales. In October 1812, Foy's 1st Division of the Army of Portugal was made up of two battalions each of the 39th, 69th and 76th Line Infantry Regiments and one battalion of the 6th Light Infantry. Jacques Thomas Sarrut's 4th Division of the same army included two battalions each of the 2nd and 4th Light and the 36th Line Infantry Regiments. Aussenac's brigade comprised two battalions each of the 3rd and 105th Line and one battalion each of the 64th, 100th and 103rd Line. Palombini's division consisted of two battalions each of the 4th and 6th Italian Line, three battalions of the 2nd Italian Light, the Napoleone Dragoons and two artillery batteries.
On 25 April 1813, Foy left Bilbao with his own, Sarrut's and Palombini's divisions, altogether over 11,000 troops, and reached Castro Urdiales that evening. The port was defended by 1,000 Spanish soldiers under Pedro Alvarez and supported by three British sloops, Lyra (10), Royalist (18) and Sparrow (16). The French took several days to bring up heavy cannons, but once they opened fire, the town walls were quickly breached. On the night of 11 May, the French stormed the town. While many of the attackers indulged themselves in rape and looting, the British ships successfully evacuated most of the garrison. Both sides lost about 180 casualties. On 30 May, Foy cornered a battalion of Spanish irregulars, killing 200 and capturing 360. Two other guerilla forces were caught but they managed to slip away with minor losses.
When Foy finally received instructions on 19 June, he was at Bergara with only one battalion, though there were 20,000 Franco-Italian troops scattered across his area of operations. By this time Sarrut's division had returned to Joseph's main army. The orders, which came via Pierre Thouvenot at Vitoria stated, "If General Foy and his division are in your neighborhood, you are to bid him give up his march on Bilbao, and draw in towards Vitoria, unless his presence is absolutely necessary at the point where he may be at present". Not appreciating the dire strategic situation, Foy declined to join the main army and his 5,000-man division was missed at Vitoria.
Battle
Actions 22–25 June
On 20 June Foy issued orders to evacuate Bilbao. On 21 June, the day of battle, Maucune's division set off at dawn from Vitoria, escorting a large convoy toward the French frontier. That evening Maucune told Foy at Bergara that he had heard the sound of cannon fire behind him. The next day, refugees appeared, telling of a disaster and warning that Allied troops were in pursuit. Longa's division left Vitoria at dawn on 22 June. Girón's tired troops left Vitoria in the afternoon but were soon halted when Clausel was discovered to the south. With only two battalions, Foy was able to slow Longa's advance at the cost of about 200 casualties. By 23 June, Foy collected about 3,000 soldiers at Bergara and with these he confronted Longa's division while waiting for the garrison of Bilbao and Vertigier Saint Paul's Italian brigade to reach him. The Army of Galicia arrived at noon, but since the soldiers were in a state of exhaustion, Girón planned to attack Foy the following day. As soon as the missing French units reached Bergara in the afternoon, Foy marched east to Villareal de Álava.
Both Girón's Spanish Army of Galicia and Graham's column were told off to intercept the retreat of Foy's forces. However, poor staff work and heavy rains delayed the advance of Graham's column. The King's German Legion (KGL) light infantry brigade made good progress on 22 June, but the remainder of the British 1st Division and Thomas Bradford's Portuguese brigade lagged behind. Farther to the rear were Denis Pack's Portuguese brigade and George Anson's British cavalry brigade.