Bayonne and Toulouse: 1813-14 ; Wellington invades France

Description

The news of Wellington's momentous victory at Vitoria on 21 June 1813 reached London in early July. The celebration spawned an expectation of a rapid conclusion to events in the Peninsula. His Majesty's Government gave authority for Wellington to invade France and made noises and plans for the redeployment of the Peninsular Army in support of Russia and Prussia. Wellington, however, did not see things in quite the same way. His army was worn out and there remained sizeable French forces in Spain, so what followed had to be a carefully thought out and planned campaign. The invasion of France is a complicated aspect of the culmination of the War in Iberia: indeed many historians consider the invasion and subsequent operations in southern France as separate from the Peninsular War as a whole. The preliminaries include Wellington's need to capture Pamplona and San Sebastian prior to the invasion and Soult's attempts to relieve both garrisons resulting in the Battle of the... Origins of the campaign /Chronology /Opposing commanders /Opposing armies /Orders of battle /Opposing plans /The campaign /Aftermath /The battlefields today /Further reading /Index