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In the Battles of San Millán and Osma (18 June 1813) two divisions of the Allied army of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington clashed with two divisions of King Joseph Bonaparte's Imperial French army in northeast Spain.〔Richard Humble Napoleon's Peninsular Marshals 1973 - Page 201 "extremely punishing couple of miniature battles at Osma and San Millan which ruined Maucune's division and sent the Army of ... There were in fact two armies involved in the campaign of 1813 "〕〔Ian Fletcher ''Vittoria 1813: Wellington Sweeps the French from Spain'' 2012 - Page 24 "Contact was, however, inevitable and on 18 June there was a sharp fight at the small village of San Millan, when the Light ... The French tried to make a stand at Osma the same day, but this was effortlessly beaten back and with it went .."〕 At San Millán de San Zadornil, Charles Alten's Light Division mauled Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune's French division. At Osma, to the northeast, Jacques Thomas Sarrut's French division fought an inconclusive skirmish with Kenneth Howard's division before withdrawing to the southeast. San Millán de San Zadornil is located in the Province of Burgos while Osma is in Álava, Basque Country. The actions occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the wider Napoleonic Wars. In the summer of 1813, Wellington's army thrust into Spain from Portugal with a powerful army composed of British, Portuguese, and Spanish soldiers. The British general outmaneuvered his opponents and forced the French to abandon Salamanca, Valladolid, Madrid, and Burgos. King Joseph and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan believed their position behind the Ebro River was secure, but Wellington sent his troops marching to outflank the line on the north. As Sarrut moved north, his troops bumped into Howard's soldiers. Maucune's division at San Millán was suddenly attacked from the west by Alten. Believing Maucune's division was no longer fit for combat, Joseph used it to escort a convoy and it missed the decisive Battle of Vitoria three days later. ==Background== After the campaign in the fall of 1812, Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's army was in poor shape, with 18,000 soldiers on the sick list. On the other hand, the campaign resulted in the capture of the cities of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Astorga, and Seville, and the provinces of Andalusia, Asturias, and Extremadura. Also, 5,000 new replacements came out from Great Britain.〔Gates (2002), p. 375〕 The winter of 1812 also witnessed the destruction of Emperor Napoleon's army during the French invasion of Russia. In order to rebuild his army in Germany, Napoleon demanded reinforcements of 15,000 men from King Joseph Bonaparte's army and 5,000 men from Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet's army in eastern Spain. To Joseph's relief, Marshal Nicolas Soult was also recalled to join Napoleon and was replaced by Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. The various withdrawals left Joseph in control of 95,000 troops in three armies. These were the 42,000-man Army of Portugal under Honoré Charles Reille, the 36,000-strong Army of the South led by Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan de la Peyrière and the 17,000-man Army of the Center directed by Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon.〔Glover (2001), p. 226〕 Meanwhile, Joseph's forces reimposed control over northern and central Spain. However, guerrilla warfare in northern Spain soon spiralled out of control and Napoleon ordered Bertrand Clausel to replace Marie-Francois Auguste de Caffarelli du Falga as commander of the Army of the North.〔Gates (2002), p. 377〕 Obsessed with the Spanish partisans' disruption of communications with France, the emperor ordered the Army of Portugal's six divisions be made available to Clausel for anti-guerrilla operations.〔Glover (2001), pp. 226-227〕 With heavy reinforcements from the Army of Portugal, Clausel set about trying to suppress the Navarrese partisans. On 30 March 1813, the French general suffered a setback when guerrilla chief Francisco Espoz y Mina ambushed a French column.〔 While two battalions were busily plundering Lerín, Mina surprised them with 2,100 guerillas, including 200 lancers. Out of 1,500 French soldiers, only a handful escaped the disaster and 663 were made prisoner. Marie Étienne de Barbot, commander of the 2nd Division of the Army of Portugal, was nearby with six battalions but failed to succor his ambushed column.〔Smith (1998), p. 412〕 On 12 May 1813, Clausel found and destroyed Mina's encampment in the Roncal Valley, inflicting 1,000 casualties on the guerillas. On the same day, Maximilien Sebastien Foy recaptured Castro Urdiales on the Bay of Biscay.〔Gates (2002), pp. 377-378〕 Foy commanded his own 1st Division and Jacques Thomas Sarrut's 4th Division, both of the Army of Portugal, and Giuseppe Federico Palombini's Italian Division from the Army of the Center. The Franco-Italians lost 150 killed and wounded out of 10,000 men and 18 siege guns. Colonel Pedro Alvarez's 1,000 Spanish soldiers suffered losses of 160 killed and wounded. Before being evacuated by the Royal Navy, Alvarez's men detonated the powder magazines and threw their cannons into the bay.〔Smith (1998), p. 419〕 While Clausel and Foy were employed hunting down guerillas, critical events were occurring elsewhere in Spain.〔Gates (2002), p. 378〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of San Millan-Osma」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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