SKETCH-MAP
ILLUSTRATING MOVEMENTS OF
LIGHT DIVISION
DURING THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1809-12.
CAMPAIGN OF 1813
Napoleon's failure in Russia considerably altered the aspect of affairs in the Peninsula, since he once again drafted thousands of his best soldiers and officers to stiffen the new levies with which he strove to oppose his enemies in Germany. Notwithstanding this, he had still 230,000 men in the Peninsula, of which 120,000 were barring the northern route from Spain to France, with reserves at Bayonne. It was at this juncture, in May 1813, that Wellington ordered Graham to advance from Portugal through Tras os Montes to the Esla River with an army of 40,000 men, so as to turn the line of the Douro, whilst he himself, with 30,000, moved direct on the Tormes, with the object of forcing a passage at Salamanca, crossing the Douro, and joining hands with Graham. The Galicians under Castaños were now to meet him, and the three forces, amounting to 90,000 men, were then to advance on a broad front and force the French back on the Pyrenees. "A grand design and grandly executed" are the words of Napier.
King Joseph made desperate efforts to assemble his scattered forces, and after various changes of plans, fell back to the Ebro and took up a position behind the Zadorra River, covering Vitoria, where an immense amount of war material and treasure was collected.