| War of the Pyrenees | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theWar of the First Coalition | |||||||||
 Battle of Boulou | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 French Republic |  Spain Portugal Armée des Émigrés | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Louis de FlersEustache d'AoustLuc DagobertLouis Marie TurreauJ. Dugommier †Dominique PérignonBarthélemy SchérerBon-Adrien MonceyPierre AugereauPierre SauretClaude Victor-PerrinHenri Delaborde | Antonio RicardosLuis de la Union †Jerónimo GirónJosé de UrrutiaGregorio CuestaPedro Téllez-GirónJuan de LángaraFederico GravinaJohn ForbesCount of FeiraGomes FreireCount of Subserra Duc of Ghent | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Army of the Eastern PyreneesArmy of the Western Pyrenees |  Army of Catalonia Army of Assistance to the Crown of Spain | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | 5,052 men | ||||||||
TheWar of the Pyrenees, also known asWar of Roussillon orWar of the Convention, was thePyrenean front of theFirst Coalition's war against theFirst French Republic. It pitted Revolutionary France against the kingdoms ofSpain andPortugal from March 1793 to July 1795 during theFrench Revolutionary Wars.[1]
The war was fought in the eastern and westernPyrenees, at the French port ofToulon, and at sea. In 1793, a Spanish army invadedRoussillon in the eastern Pyrenees and maintained itself on French soil through April 1794. TheFrench Revolutionary Army drove theSpanish Army back intoCatalonia and inflicted a serious defeat in November 1794. After February 1795, the war in the eastern Pyrenees became a stalemate. In the western Pyrenees, the French began to win in 1794. By 1795, the French army controlled a portion of northeast Spain.
The war was brutal in at least two ways. TheCommittee of Public Safety decreed that all French royalist prisoners be executed. Also, French generals who lost battles or otherwise displeased therepresentatives-on-mission often faced prison or execution. Commanders of theArmy of the Eastern Pyrenees were especially unlucky in this regard.[2]
On 21 January 1793, theNational Convention of Franceexecuted Louis XVI byguillotine, enraging the other monarchs of Europe. France was already at war with theHabsburg monarchy, theKingdom of Prussia and theKingdom of Sardinia. After winning theBattle of Jemappes, the French army occupied theAustrian Netherlands. Emboldened, the French government decreed annexation of the territory (modernBelgium), provoking a diplomatic break withGreat Britain. On 1 February, France declared war on Britain and theDutch Republic. On 7 March, France declared war on its former ally, Spain.[3]
Spanish forces took part in theSiege of Toulon, which lasted from 18 September to 18 December 1793. The French were led byJacques François Dugommier, and the Anglo-Spanish defenders were commanded by admiralsJuan de Lángara,Federico Gravina,Samuel Hood and GeneralCharles O'Hara. The Allies abandoned the port after a young officer of artillery,Napoleon Bonaparte, brought the fleet's anchorage under cannon fire. The French navy lost 14ships of the line burned and 15 more captured. French casualties numbered 2,000, and Allied losses were twice as great. Afterward, the victors massacred up to 2,000 French royalists, who had been taken prisoner.[4]
TheAction of 14 February 1795 in theGulf of Roses was a defeat for the French navy.
At the outbreak of war, KingCharles IV of Spain appointedCaptain GeneralAntonio Ricardos to command the Army of Catalonia in the eastern Pyrenees. Ricardos invaded theCerdagne and capturedSaint-Laurent-de-Cerdans on 17 April 1793. Three days later, he routed a French force atCéret on theTech.[5] In despair, the elderly French commander in charge ofRoussillon, Mathieu Henri Marchant de La Houlière, committed suicide. On 30 April, the French government divided theArmy of the Pyrenees into theArmy of the Eastern Pyrenees and theArmy of the Western Pyrenees.
In theBattle of Mas Deu on 19 May 1793, Ricardos defeatedLouis-Charles de Flers, which allowed the Spanish to invest theFort de Bellegarde on 23 May. TheSiege of Bellegarde ended by the French garrison surrendering on 24 June. During theBattle of Perpignan on 17 July, de Flers turned back the Spanish though French losses were heavier.[6] On 28 August,Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert defeated a Spanish force underManuel la Peña atPuigcerdà, in the Cerdagne.[7]
In September, Ricardos sent two divisions underJerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarilas andJuan de Courten to cut off the fortress ofPerpignan. However,Eustache Charles d'Aoust rallied the French to win theBattle of Peyrestortes, on 17 September.[5] That represented the farthest Spanish advance in Roussillon. Five days later, Ricardos defeated Dagobert at theBattle of Truillas before he fell back to the Tech Valley. Ricardos repulsed d'Aoust atLe Boulou, on 3 October.[8] The Battle of the Tech (Pla del Rei) on 13–15 October saw the Spanish repel the assaults ofLouis Marie Turreau.[9] A 5,000-man Portuguese division led byJohn Forbes joined Ricardos in time to defeat d'Aoust at the Battle ofVillelongue-dels-Monts, on 7 December.[10] At theBattle of Collioure,Gregorio García de la Cuesta captured the ports ofCollioure andPort-Vendres from the French, on 20 December.[11]
Ricardos died on 6 March 1794,[12] and Spanish success died with him. Captain GeneralAlejandro O'Reilly died ten days after the man whom he was to have succeeded, andLuis Firmin de Carvajal, Conde de la Union was appointed to command the Army of Catalonia instead. The Army of the Eastern Pyrenees also had a new commander,Jacques François Dugommier. At theBattle of Boulou, from 29 April to 1 May, Dugommier drove de la Union's army south of the border and forced the Spanish to abandon all their artillery and trains. Collioure fell to the French in late May andEugenio Navarro's 7,000-man Spanish garrison became prisoners. The French royalist defenders fled in fishing boats before the surrender to avoid execution.[13] Dugommier imposed a blockade on Bellegarde starting on 5 May.[14] The inconclusive Battle ofLa Junquera was fought on 7 June.[15] At theBattle of San-Lorenzo de la Muga (Sant Llorenç de la Muga) on 13 August,Pierre Augereau repulsed a Spanish attempt to relieve Bellegarde. The fortress fell on 17 September after the Spanish garrison had been starved out.[14] From 17 to 20 November, the climacticBattle of the Black Mountain saw both Dugommier and de la Union killed in action.Dominique-Catherine de Pérignon took command of the French and led them to victory.Figueres and itsSant Ferran Fortress quickly fell to the French with 9,000 prisoners.[16]
Pierre François Sauret successfully concluded theSiege of Roses, on 4 February 1795. Pérignon was replaced in army command byBarthélemy Louis Joseph Schérer. On 14 June 1795, Schérer was defeated near theFluvià River byJosé de Urrutia y de las Casas at theBattle of Bascara.[17] After peace was signed but before word had reached the fighting front, Cuesta recaptured Puigcerdà andBellver de Cerdanya from the French on 26 and 27 July.[18]
A number of minor clashes occurred in 1793, including actions fought byBon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey's 5th Light Demi-Brigade at Chateau-Pignon on 6 June,Aldudes in June, andSaint-Jean-de-Luz on 23 July.[19]
On 5 February 1794, at theBattle of Sans Culottes Camp, the French successfully defended a fortified hilltop position nearHendaye against 13,000 Spanish infantry and 700 cavalry and artillery led byJosé Urrutia y de las Casas. Spanish casualties numbered 335, and French losses were 235.[20] On 3 June, a 2,300-man French brigade commanded by Lavictoire stormed the Casa Fuerte position atIzpegi Pass (Col d'Ispeguy) 13.5 km west ofSaint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The 1,000 defenders, including a battalion of the SpanishZamora Infantry Regiment, three companies of theAldudes Rifles, and the FrenchémigréLégion Royal battalion, lost 94 killed and wounded, and 307 were captured. The losses of the French brigade, which were part of Mauco's division, were described as "light". The same day, Jacques Lefranc's 2,000 French Republican troops seized the Izpegi Ridge.[21]
On 3 March 1794, the bordering villages ofSara,Itxassou,Ascain and another nine Basque villages were declaredignoble by the republican authorities after 74 young residents, instead of watching the border for the French army, had fled south to theSpanish Basque region. All of the villages' inhabitants were held accountable for the flight, and draconian measures were imposed on them. All inhabitants of the villages 3 to 88 were crammed in carts like criminals and carried off to theLandes of Gascony. Men and women were segregated, and their valuable possessions seized or burnt. The victims of the massive deportation may amount to several thousand, and in five months, some 1,600 had died, 600 being from Sara.[22] In a few years, many survivors would manage to return home.
On 23 June,Captain GeneralVentura Caro with 8,000 infantry and 500 cavalry and artillery tried unsuccessfully to oust a French force from a fortified position atop Mont Calvaire. The Spanish suffered 500 killed and wounded, as well as 34 captured. The French admitted 30 killed and 200 wounded. On 10 July,Antoine Digonet with a brigade of 4,000 troops overwhelmed theZamora Infantry and theLégion Royal defending Mount Argintzu (Mont Arquinzu), at43°3′23″N1°29′40″W / 43.05639°N 1.49444°W /43.05639; -1.49444 (Monte Argintzu), 10 km south ofElizondo. Spanish losses numbered 314, and the French royalist commander,Marquis de Saint-Simon, was badly wounded. The French Republicans executed 49 French royalist prisoners.[23]
On 23 July, the Army of the Western Pyrenees attacked Spanish fortified positions with the divisions of Moncey,Henri François Delaborde, and Jean Henri Guy Nicolas de Frégeville. Jacques Léonard Muller commanded the army at the time, but Moncey exercised tactical control of operations during theBattle of the Baztan Valley. In the fighting near Elizondo andDoneztebe (Santesteban), Moncey overran the Spanish defenses. The French then followed theBidasoa river northward in late July to seize the heights of San Marcial and the town ofHondarribia (Fuenterrabia), near the coast. In the latter operation, Moncey captured Don Vicente de los Reyes, 2,000 Spanish soldiers and 300 cannon on 1 August. Moncey followed the exploit by capturing San Sebastián without resistance on 3 August, with an additional 1,700 Spanish soldiers and 90 cannon falling into French hands. Soon afterward, the French also captured the town ofTolosa, and Moncey was soon promoted to army commander.[24][25]
On 14 August 1794, theGeneral Assembly ofGipuzkoa reunited in the coastal town ofGetaria with the support of theSan Sebastián bourgeoisie, followed by tense negotiations with senior officials of the French army. Besides embracing the French revolutionary ideas, the council made a formal petition: detachment from the Kingdom of Spain, respect for theregion specific laws, allegiance of Gipuzkoa to France, free Catholic practice and a set of rules for the management of war-related circumstances.[26] However, with negotiations leading to thePeace of Basel being in place, the French army's representatives of theNational Convention, Jacques Pinet andJean-Baptiste Cavaignac refused to accept the demands, and the Gipuzkoan representatives were imprisoned or exiled. Given the circumstances, another assembly was held inMondragón on 13 September in which the attending regional representatives decided this time to supportFerdinand VII[27] and mustered an autonomous provincial militia against the French army. However, on an unspecified date soon afterward, the more diplomatic Moncey restored the governing institutions of Gipuzkoa. The news of the declaration issued in Getaria by the Gipuzkoan representatives spread like fire to Madrid and sparked outrage in Spanish ruling circles and press, which lashed out at the Basque province and its inhabitants.[28] Also, after the imprisonment in Bayonne, the Gipuzkoan representatives were persecuted by Spanish authorities and tried on high treason charges andunpatriotic behaviour.
From 15 to 17 October, Moncey, launched a broad front offensive from the Baztan Valley and theRoncevaux Pass to the south towardPamplona. TheBattle of Orbaitzeta saw clashes at Mezkiritz (Mezquiriz),Orbaitzeta,Lekunberri and Villanueva (Hiriberri). The 46,000-man French army drove back 13,000 Spanish troops under the command ofPedro Téllez-Girón, 9th Duke of Osuna, with 4,000 casualties and the loss of 50 cannon. French losses are unknown. The arms foundries at Orbaitzeta and Eugi, as well as the Spanish navy's mast store at Irati, fell to the French. However, the onset of winter weather and the outbreak of disease caused operations to be suspended for the year.[25][29] A final clash occurred atBergara on 7 November in which the French inflicted losses of 150 killed and 200 men and one cannon captured on a 4,000-man division led byCayetano Pignatelli, 3rd Marquis of Rubí.[30] The town was sacked, but a detachment of the territorial militia, led byGabriel Mendizabal, who was to be promoted to general during thePeninsular War, managed to recapture it.[28]
During the winter, Moncey reorganised his army, which had lost 3,000 men to disease. He finally secured a siege train and in June 1795, 12,000 reinforcements arrived from theArmy of the West. Moncey's offensive began on 28 June and soon drove back Crespo's Spanish forces.Vitoria fell to the French on 17 July andBilbao two days later. When news of the Peace of Basel arrived in early August, Moncey had crossed theEbro and was preparing to invest Pamplona.[31]
ThePeace of Basel ended the war on 22 July 1795, with Moncey close on the gates of Pamplona, theBasques fearing abolition of their self-government and Spanish Prime MinisterManuel Godoy panicking at the prospect of the still-autonomous Basque region switching allegiances to France and detaching from Spain. In the peace, Spain gave up the eastern two-thirds of the island ofHispaniola in exchange for keepingGipuzkoa.[28] Additionally, at the behest of Moncey and theCommittee of Public Safety (Jean-Lambert Tallien), an annex was added to the treaty by which the Spanish Basques and specifically the Gipuzkoans, who had shown sympathies for the French, were given guarantees of receiving no reprisals from Spanish authorities, which was agreed. Notwithstanding that provision, at least the city council of San Sebastián was arrested and put to a court-martial trial in Pamplona that was held as of February 1796.[32]
Under theSecond Treaty of San Ildefonso on 19 August 1796, an alliance was established between France and Spain. However, peace was not concluded with the Portuguese, who remained part of the anti-French coalition.