Qualla: Battle of Nivelle https://qualla.com/battle-of-nivelle en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:18 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/y/battle-of-nivelle-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Nivelle https://qualla.com/battle-of-nivelle Battle of Nivelle: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-nivelle/ Photo credit James Grant, Public domain. Colborne's men took the star-shaped fort without suffering a single fatality. On 10 November 1813, the 52nd Light Infantry materialized from the treeline below the Mouiz plateau so suddenly that the French garrison, believing soldiers had appeared from the earth itself, broke and fled before a shot was fired. It was the kind of tactical surprise that defined the Battle of Nivelle - a day when Wellington's carefully orchestrated assault along a twenty-mile front shattered Marshal Soult's defensive line in the foothills of the western Pyrenees and drove the French army streaming back across the River Nivelle by two o'clock in the afternoon.

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Image: James Grant | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/y/battle-of-nivelle-wp/ezwy-battle-of-nivelle-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Nivelle: Stretched to Breaking https://qualla.com/battle-of-nivelle/ Photo credit William Heath, Public domain. Soult's position looked formidable on paper. His army occupied a chain of hilltop redoubts stretching from the Atlantic coast to the snow-covered pass of Roncesvalles, with the craggy, gorse-covered mass of La Rhune dominating the center of the line at nearly 3,000 feet. But the ...

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Image: William Heath | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/y/battle-of-nivelle-wp/ezwy-battle-of-nivelle-stretched-to-breaking.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Nivelle: Ghosts on the Greater Rhune https://qualla.com/battle-of-nivelle/ Photo credit W Heath et James Jenkins, Public domain. The attack began before dawn. The Light Division advanced toward the plateau atop the Greater Rhune, which French troops had already abandoned after the skirmish at the Bidassoa weeks earlier, fearing they would be cut off from their own army. The division's objective was to swee...

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Image: W Heath et James Jenkins | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/y/battle-of-nivelle-wp/ezwy-battle-of-nivelle-ghosts-on-the-greater-rhune.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Nivelle: Appearing from the Earth https://qualla.com/battle-of-nivelle/ Photo credit W Heath et James Jenkins, Public domain. While the 43rd and 95th cleared the Rhune positions, a powerful star-shaped fort remained on the Mouiz plateau below, reaching toward the coast. Colborne led his 52nd Light Infantry against it, supported by riflemen of the 95th. The approach used dead ground so effectively that t...

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Image: W Heath et James Jenkins | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/y/battle-of-nivelle-wp/ezwy-battle-of-nivelle-appearing-from-the-earth.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Nivelle: The Bridge at Amotz https://qualla.com/battle-of-nivelle/ Photo credit W Heath et James Jenkins, Public domain. With the mountain positions falling, the main British assault swept forward across a five-mile front. Nine divisions fanned out against Soult's disintegrating line. The decisive moment came when the 3rd Division seized the bridge at Amotz, severing all communication between the t...

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Image: W Heath et James Jenkins | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/y/battle-of-nivelle-wp/ezwy-battle-of-nivelle-the-bridge-at-amotz.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Nivelle: Double Triumph https://qualla.com/battle-of-nivelle/ Photo credit en:George Théodore Berthon (1806-1892), Public domain. News of the victory at the Nivelle reached London at the same time as reports of the liberation of Hanover by allied forces in northern Europe, giving the British public a rare double celebration. For Wellington, the battle confirmed what San Marcial and the Bidassoa crossing had...

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Image: en:George Théodore Berthon (1806-1892) | Public domain

]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/y/battle-of-nivelle-wp/ezwy-battle-of-nivelle-double-triumph.mp3 0:06 6 full