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these two movements without molestation from the allies, who were wearied with the long march, not having united at Espeja till it was dark. At midday on the 19th the allies arrived before Reille's position, and by a front and flank attack forced him across the Zadora; but by this time D'Erlon had taken up his line, and Gazan was forming the second line. The allies, therefore, pitched their tents on the Bayas.

The battle-field of Vitoria.

The pleasant little town of Vitoria,* which is said to derive its name from a victory of the Visigoths over the Suevi, stands on a gentle elevation three-quarters of a mile from the Zadora, 70 miles west of the great frontier fortress of Pampeluna, and in the same district as the battle-field of Najara, or Navarette, on which, in 1367, Edward the Black Prince, supporting the exiled Pedro the Cruel, routed a Castilian army. The Zadora, a narrow stream within difficult banks, keeps a westerly course along a plain for about three miles, and then sweeps round to the south along the offshoots of the Morilla Mountains, and makes its way through a narrow gorge called the Puebla Pass, between these mountains and the Puebla range, several spurs from the latter descending to the southern bank of the river. The Vitoria basin is very diversified in some places wooded, in others open and covered with corn-fields, broken by ditches and vineyards, and dotted with several hamlets. The royal road from Madrid to Bayonne traverses it from south-west to north-east. Joseph's only line of retreat lay along this road, and as the allies were prolonging their left so as to make the line of battle run parallel to the road, the French were in great danger of being cut off.

On the 20th June each army confined itself to reconnoitring; and for this purpose Reille advanced as far as Murguia on the Bayas, where he skirmished with Longa's Spaniards. At three o'clock in the morning of the 21st June,

Skirmish at
Murguia.

* It is a somewhat singular coincidence that the Portuguese Government in Brazil had just conferred the title of Duke of Vitoria on Wellington,

Maucune's division, 3,000 strong, departed to France with a second convoy; but still the basin west of Vitoria was crowded with baggage and equipage of every kind.

Joseph had about 60,000 combatants for the impending battle, and these were spread over a line of nearly eight miles. The veteran Marshal Jourdan was suffering so severely from fever that he could not mount a horse, otherwise Joseph's arrangements would have been better conceived. Reille's division held the right -the bridges of Gamara Mayor and Ariaga,-the Franco-Spanish brigade of infantry with light cavalry being advanced on the extreme right to Durana ; Digeon's dragoons and some light cavalry were placed in reserve near Zuazo de Alava and La Hermandad. Gazan, in the centre

Dispositions of the French army.

and left, occupied the hill range that runs from the river near Margarita across the royal road to Subijana de Alava, the extreme left being held by Maransin with a brigade on the Puebla range. In front 50 guns were massed to command the bridges of Mendoza, Tres Puentes, Villodas, and Nanclares; but none of the bridges were either broken or entrenched. D'Erlon's division formed the second line in the centre and left; and the Royal Guards, most of the cavalry, and several guns were placed in reserve near the village of Gomecha, which was considered by the French staff the most vulnerable point.

Wellington's plan of battle.

Wellington was able to bring into the field 80,000 men, of whom 20,000 were Spaniards. His quietness on the 20th had been due to the necessity for allowing the rear, which was very much scattered, to regain order. Having surveyed the enemy's position, he determined to deliver on the following day an attack upon three different points. (1.) On the right of the allies, Hill, with 20,000 men (consisting of Morillo's Spaniards, Silveira's Portuguese, the 2nd British division, with cavalry and guns) was to force a passage at the bridge of La Puebla, attack Maransin, drive in the French left, and seize the bridge of Nanclares. (II.) In the centre Wellington, with 30,000 men (composed of the 3rd, 4th, 7th, and light divisions, with the

heavy and D'Urban's Portuguese cavalry) and most of the artillery, was to attack the bridges of Villodas, Tres Puentes, and Mendoza. (III.) On the extreme left of the allies, Graham, with 20,000 men (Portuguese, Longa's Spaniards, and Anson's and Bock's cavalry) and 18 guns, was to march from Murguia and force the passage at Gamara Mayor and Ariaga, and, by turning the French right, shut them up in the Vitoria basin, between the channel of the Zadora and the Puebla range.

As the morning of the 21st June was breaking in thick mist, rolling along the mountain-sides, and drizzling rain, the allies began the march from their encampments near the Bayas. At ten o'clock Hill seized the village of La Puebla, and sent Morillo's brigades to climb the steep sides of the Puebla range. No opposition was offered to them till they were near the summit, when a sharp fire opened. Colonel Cadogan, with the 71st-their pipers playing the lively air of "Johnny Cope "-and a battalion of light infantry was sent as a reinforcement to the Spaniards; Maransin was reinforced with Villatte's division; and a fierce fight was maintained with terrible carnage, the 71st -whose colonel had fallen-reaching the summit, but being unable to force their way further. Another reinforcement was pushed up the mountain; and the remainder of Hill's troops, marching through the pass, carried the village of Subijana de Alava at one o'clock.

The battle of
Vitoria.

In the meantime Wellington had traversed the Morillas ridge, and placed his centre in the rugged ground and the wood opposite Nanclares and Villodas, and from the latter point the light division opened fire on the enemy's skirmishers. While waiting for the 3rd and 7th divisions to take up their positions (their route being over very rough ground), Kempt's brigade was conducted by a Spanish peasant to the bridge of Tres Puentes-which he reported to be unguarded-and, crossing at the double, halted close under the crest of an undulation a few hundred yards to the rear of the French advanced post. They were discovered by the cavalry, and

a couple of round shots were fired by the enemy, one of which killed the peasant. The French, extraordinary as it appears, made no further movement, and the 15th Hussars therefore galloped over in single file.

The mists had now disappeared from the mountain-sides, to which the puffs of smoke were slowly ascending; the summer sun was shining brightly in a cloudless sky on the brilliant scene,—on the hill-sides the gleaming bayonets, the waving silken standards of many a hue, the scarlet tunics of the British, and the blue uniforms of the Portuguese, relieved by the sombre brown of the Spaniards and the dark dress of the riflemen; and on the Vitoria heights the blue-coated masses of the French line and light infantry regiments and horse artillery, the green uniforms and brass helmets of the heavy cavalry, the gay dresses of the lancers and hussars, and the buff belts and cocked hats of the gendarmerie-à-cheval ; and, around Vitoria itself, the parti-coloured mob which collected to witness the struggle which had now begun along the whole line. For, just as the musketry of Hill's troops was rattling about the houses of Subijana de Alava, the distant booming of guns and the wreaths of smoke rising by the upper Zadora announced that Graham had assailed the enemy's extreme right. Joseph, finding both left and right attacked, withdrew the reserve from Gomecha, and ordered Gazan to retire in successive masses. But at that moment the 3rd and 7th British divisions were seen moving upon the bridge of Mendoza: the French guns opened, and their cavalry and light troops advanced to the bridge. Their light troops and gunners were instantly assailed on the flank by Barnard with the riflemen of Kempt's brigade. This attack,-so unexpected that the riflemen were mistaken by the British across the river for the enemy and were fired upon,-enabled the British divisions to cross the river, by the bridge and by the fords higher up, without opposition. The French retired from the front of Villodas: their troops before Margarita and La Hermandad were hotly assailed by Colville's brigade and others, and at the same instant Wellington in person boldly conducted a force at the double along the front of both

armies to the "Englishman's Hill" (Altura de los Ingleses*), in front of Arinez, which was weakly held. The advance of Cole with the 4th division from the bridge of Nanclares, and of the heavy cavalry, completed the confusion of the French. But they covered their retreat to the heights in front of Gomecha with a cloud of skirmishers and the fire of 50 pieces of artillery. They clung to the village of Arinez with the courage of despair; but finally they were driven from it by Picton's troops, and the battery in the village of Margarita was carried by Colonel Gibbs with the 52nd. The whole basin was the scene of a fierce battle: every valley, and height, and woodland was covered with sheets of flame, and every vineyard wall and hedgerow served as a breastwork, and was desperately contested.

By the capture of Arinez the French left near Subijana de Alava was turned, and the enemy fell back before Hill's force in great disorder, under a cloud of dust and the thunder of artillery, but they were not molested by cavalry, the ground being unsuitable for that arm. The whole French line was now retreating in confusion, keeping up a running fight and cannonade for five miles in dust and tumult to the last height in front of the village of Vitoria, around which the panic-stricken mob of men, women, and children was surging towards the Bayonne road, among the carriages and draught animals, frenzied by the bullets whistling over their heads. Making their last stand on the heights between Ali and Armentia, with the frantic energy of a martial race the French poured their shot and shell from 80 pieces of artillery, and their musketry covered the hill with one mass of fire. While the allies were reeling under the tempest of iron, the French infantry on their right began to retire by echelons of divisions. But suddenly the British 4th

* The eminence was so named from the gallant stand made here by two English knights and their followers against a large body of Spaniards under Don Telo, brother of Henry (the rival of Pedro the Cruel) of Castile. Telo had advanced to reconnoitre the position of the Black Prince on the eve of the battle of Najara. Except a few youths, who escaped by the fleetness of their horses, all the English on the hill were killed or made prisoners.

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