Misplaced Pages

Battle of Arlabán (1811)

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
1811 battle during the Peninsular War
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (March 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Battle of Arlabán (1811)
Part of the Peninsular War
Date25 May 1811
LocationMountain pass between Álava and Guipúzcoa, Spain42°58′38″N 2°34′17″W / 42.97722°N 2.57139°W / 42.97722; -2.57139
Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
First French Empire French Empire Spain
Commanders and leaders
First French Empire Colonel Laffitte (POW) Francisco Espoz y Mina
Strength
1,600 3,000–4,500
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown
Peninsular War
Castile 1811–13
Peninsular War
Castile 1811–13 About OpenStreetMapsMaps: terms of use 200km
125miles 20Battle of Tordesillas (1812) at Tordesillas, from 25 to 29 October 1812 19Battle of Venta del Pozo at Villodrigo, on 23 October 1812 Burgos18Siege of Burgos at Burgos, from 19 September to 21 October 1812 17Battle of Majadahonda at Majadahonda, on 11 August 1812 16Battle of García Hernández at Garcihernández, on 23 July 1812 Salamanca15Battle of Salamanca at Salamanca, on 22 July 1812 Astorga14Siege of Astorga (1812) at Astorga, from 29 June to 19 August 1812 13Battle of Maguilla at Maguilla, on 11 June 1812 12Battle of Almaraz at Almaraz, from 18 to 19 May 1812 11Battle of Villagarcia at Villagarcia, on 11 April 1812 Ciudad Rodrigo10Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812) at Ciudad Rodrigo, from 7 to 20 January 1812 9Battle of Navas de Membrillo at Navas de Membrillo, on 29 December 1811 8Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos at Arroyo dos Molinos, on 28 October 1811 7Battle of Cogorderos at Cogorderos, on 23 June 1811 Arlabán6Battle of Arlabán (1811) on 25 May 1811 Battle of Arlabán (1812) on 9 April 1812 5Battle of Usagre at Usagre, on 25 May 1811 Albuera4Battle of Albuera at Albuera, on 16 May 1811 Campo Maior3Battle of Campo Maior at Campo Maior, on 25 March 1811 2Battle of the Gebora at Gebora, on 19 February 1811 Badajoz1First siege of Badajoz (1811) from 26 January 1811 to 11 March 1811 Second siege of Badajoz (1811) from 22 April to 12 May 1811 from 19 May to 10 June 1811 Siege of Badajoz (1812) from 16 March to 6 April 1812    current battle

The Battle of Arlabán, also known as the First Surprise of Arlabán, took place at the heights of Arlabán, the mountain pass that separates the Basque provinces of Guipúzcoa and Álava, on 25 May 1811, during the Peninsular War.

Battle

At eight o'clock in the morning, a Spanish guerrilla force numbering between 3,000 and 4,500 men, led by Francisco Espoz y Mina, ambushed and captured the central part of a convoy made up of 150 wagons and 1,050 prisoners, escorted by 1,600 French troops led by Colonel Laffitte and spread out over 5 km. Seven hours later, the French finally surrendered. The Spanish captured a variety of supplies and weapons (the convoy was valued at 4 million reales), and 1,042 British, Portuguese and Spanish prisoners were released. The convoy became known as the convoy de los Ingleses because most of the prisoners were British.

Aided by local guerrilla groups that knew the terrain well, Espoz y Mina had positioned his guerrilleros on both sides of the pass, on the route to France, some 20 km north of Vitoria, at four o'clock in the morning.

Aftermath

This was the last action that Espoz y Mina led as a guerrilla leader in Navarre. On 5 June, his forces, the División de Navarra, were integrated into the regular Army of Spain, but he would continue to lead his troops into battle against the French, including at the Second Surprise of Arlabán, on 9 April 1812.

Notes

  1. ^ elcorreo 2013.
  2. noticiasdegipuzkoa 2013.
  3. euskomedia 2013.

References

Further reading

External links

Categories: