Battle of San Millan-Osma

Overview

In the Battles of San Millán and Osma 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. "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" "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 …"

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battles of San Millán and Osma on 18 June 1813 formed part of Wellington's broader 1813 campaign in northeast Spain, a drive that brought two Allied divisions into sharp contact with two divisions of King Joseph Bonaparte's French army. The engagements proved costly to the French: the fight at San Millán was described as extremely punishing to Maucune's division, and a subsequent French attempt to hold a defensive position at Osma the same day was beaten back with little difficulty. Together the two actions degraded French cohesion at a critical moment in the campaign, stripping Joseph's army of the ability to anchor a line in the region and contributing to the unraveling of French operational control in northern Spain ahead of the decisive confrontation that followed.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (7)