Qualla: Battle of San Marcial https://qualla.com/battle-of-san-marcial 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/w/battle-of-san-marcial-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of San Marcial https://qualla.com/battle-of-san-marcial Battle of San Marcial: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-san-marcial/ Photo credit Gabriel761, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wellington refused to send reinforcements. It was 31 August 1813, and Spanish General Manuel Freire's battered troops had just thrown back a second French assault on the heights of San Marcial near Irun, at the Franco-Spanish border. When Freire requested British soldiers to shore up his line, Wellington replied with words that became legendary: "As he has already won his victory, he should keep the honour of it for his countrymen alone." It was one of the finest hours in the Spanish army's long Peninsular War, fought by troops who had not eaten full rations in days, against a French force that outnumbered them on the slopes.

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/w/battle-of-san-marcial-wp/ezww-battle-of-san-marcial-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of San Marcial: The Trap Between Two Sieges https://qualla.com/battle-of-san-marcial/ Photo credit Ernestobanpiroa, CC BY-SA 4.0. By late August 1813, Wellington's allied army was caught between two urgent tasks. The siege of San Sebastian consumed enormous resources - the assault on 31 August alone would cost 2,376 British dead and wounded. Meanwhile, Soult had rebuilt his battered field army far faster th...

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/w/battle-of-san-marcial-wp/ezww-battle-of-san-marcial-the-trap-between-two-sieges.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of San Marcial: Bayonets on the Heights https://qualla.com/battle-of-san-marcial/ Photo credit Ernestobanpiroa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Seven French divisions crept toward the Bidassoa at dawn through early morning mist, fording the river under covering artillery. They surprised allied positions at Vera and Irun, but the alert reached Freire in time. He drew his men into line along the heights and waited. The Fre...

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/w/battle-of-san-marcial-wp/ezww-battle-of-san-marcial-bayonets-on-the-heights.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of San Marcial: Seventy Rifles at the Bridge https://qualla.com/battle-of-san-marcial/ Photo credit Ernestobanpiroa, CC BY-SA 4.0. The drama did not end with Soult's retreat. That afternoon, a violent thunderstorm turned the Bidassoa into a torrent, stranding General Clausel's rearguard on the wrong side of the river with six feet of floodwater covering the fords. General Vandermaesen led 10,000 French troop...

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/w/battle-of-san-marcial-wp/ezww-battle-of-san-marcial-seventy-rifles-at-the-bridge.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of San Marcial: Dawn and Its Cost https://qualla.com/battle-of-san-marcial/ Photo credit Ernestobanpiroa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Skerrett eventually repeated his order, and Cadoux reluctantly prepared to comply. But dawn had broken, the rain had stopped, and French gunpowder was now dry. As the green-jacketed riflemen abandoned their buildings, French muskets opened fire. Cadoux fell dead alongside sixteen...

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/w/battle-of-san-marcial-wp/ezww-battle-of-san-marcial-dawn-and-its-cost.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of San Marcial: The Last Spark of Soult's Army https://qualla.com/battle-of-san-marcial/ Photo credit Ernestobanpiroa, CC BY-SA 4.0. San Marcial broke something in the French army that could not be repaired. Historians would later write that Soult's divisions, "war-weary and despondent, had lost all heart and, except in a few inspired flashes, were never again to fight with their once customary skill and zeal....

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]]> Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/z/w/w/battle-of-san-marcial-wp/ezww-battle-of-san-marcial-the-last-spark-of-soults-army.mp3 0:06 6 full