Wellington Breaks French Spain at Vitoria
A French army under King Joseph is routed, and Bonapartist Spain collapses within months
Quick facts
- Location
- Vitoria, northern Spain
- Date
- 21 June 1813
- Commanders
- Duke of Wellington; King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan
- Result
- French driven from Spain; Ferdinand VII restored 11 December 1813
What happened
By June 1813 the Duke of Wellington had pushed an Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese army of about 121,000 through northern Spain, and on 21 June he engaged a French force of roughly 65,000 commanded by King Joseph and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan at Vitoria. Wellington's army broke the French line and chased the retreating force all the way to the Pyrenees, seizing so much abandoned baggage and loot that discipline among the pursuing troops briefly collapsed. The defeat finished Joseph's kingship in all but name, and the restored Bourbon King Ferdinand VII returned to the Spanish throne on 11 December 1813 as Wellington's army pushed into southern France.
Why it matters
Vitoria ended organized French rule in Spain five years after it began at Dos de Mayo, freeing Wellington's army to open a new front against Napoleon from the south just as the Sixth Coalition closed in from the east. The composer Beethoven marked the victory with his orchestral work Wellington's Victory within the same year.
How we know
World History Encyclopedia's Peninsular War timeline dates the battle, the troop strengths on both sides, and Ferdinand VII's restoration to the Spanish throne five months later.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Peninsular War · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Fondation Napoleon. Wellington and the Vitoria Campaign 1813: Never a Finer Army · General sourcenapoleon.org · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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