History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 6

In Short

This volume forms the definitive conclusion to Colonel W. F. P. Napier’s massive history of the Peninsular War. Covering the brutal campaign from mid-1813 to the spring of 1814, the text follows the Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish forces as they drive Marshal Soult’s French army out of Spain and across the Pyrenees into southern France. Through meticulous operational detail, Napier captures the sieges of San Sebastian and Pampeluna, the fierce mountain combats of Pyrenean passes, and the final battles around Bayonne, Orthes, and Toulouse. Beyond troop movements, the work serves as a fiery defense of military truth, containing extensive polemical justifications in which the author vigorously dismantles rival historians and reviewers. It has endured as a masterpiece of military literature because Napier writes not as a detached scholar, but as a veteran officer who understands both the grand statecraft of war and the raw, bloody reality experienced by soldiers in the field.

The Story

The narrative opens amidst the chaotic aftermath of the French retreat, focusing first on the complicated, often mismanaged operations along the eastern coast of Spain. Sir John Murray’s disastrous siege of Taragona, marked by hesitation and abandoned artillery, illustrates the friction and frailty of coalition warfare. Yet as Wellington consolidates his hold on northern Spain, the grand strategic focus shifts to the mountain barrier of the Pyrenees. To secure his invasion of France, Wellington must first reduce the vital fortresses of San Sebastian and Pampeluna.

The siege of San Sebastian unfolds with harrowing intensity. Napier documents the repeated, costly assaults against solid masonry and casemated bastions, where British soldiers face murderous defensive fires, mines, and ruined breaches. When the fortress finally falls, the triumph is darkened by disorder, reflecting the brutalizing nature of siege craft. Meanwhile, Napoleon dispatches Marshal Soult to reorganize the shattered French forces and launch a massive counter-offensive to relieve the blockaded garrison at Pampeluna.

Soult’s thrust through the steep mountain passes initiates the Battles of the Pyrenees. Moving through thick fogs, torrential rains, and precipitous ravines, French columns force their way through the passes of Roncesvalles and Maya. The fighting is furious and fragmented. At Sauroren, Wellington arrives at racing speed, halting his horse to write revised orders on the parapet of a bridge just as French skirmishers enter the village. His presence instantly rallies the allied troops, whose cheering echoes down the ridge and causes Soult to hesitate, granting the allies time to concentrate and throw back the French advance. The retreat of Soult’s army through narrow gorges like Yanzi turns into a desperate struggle for survival, where jammed supply trains, panicking cavalry, and mountain skirmishing result in heavy slaughter.

Undeterred by terrain or weather, Wellington pushes the offensive into French territory, forcing the passage of the Lower Bidassoa, the Nivelle, and the Nive. Napier portrays the invasion not merely as a sequence of tactical victories, but as an agonizing operational chess match. Soult leverages the rivers and fortified positions around Bayonne to launch fierce counter-strikes against Wellington’s divided wings. Deep mud, knee-deep roads, and constant rain exhaust both armies, but British discipline and tactical cohesion repeatedly break the French attacks.

Parallel to the field operations, political intrigue simmers in the rear. Napier details the friction between the British commander and the Spanish Cortez at Cadiz. Democratic factions, anti-English sentiment, and royalist conspiracies complicate the allied effort, while Napoleon attempts to fracture the alliance by releasing King Ferdinand through the Treaty of Valençay. Wellington must constantly navigate diplomatic fragility, poor army supply lines, and the negligence of his own government in London, which fails to send winter clothing to soldiers left half-naked on snowy summits.

The final act of the war takes place deep inside France. Pushing past the Gaves, Wellington maneuvered Soult out of defensive positions and defeats him in the hard-fought Battle of Orthes. Driven back toward Toulouse, Soult transforms the city and its surrounding heights into an entrenched stronghold. The resulting Battle of Toulouse is a violent climax. British and Portuguese divisions scramble up steep embankments and redoubts under a punishing artillery and musket fire. Despite furious French counter-attacks led by General Harispe, the allied infantry holds the crests and secures the platform, forcing Soult to evacuate the city. War ends not with a grand theatrical flourish, but with the quiet realization that the fighting was sustained to the very end, concluding a seven-year conflict that reshaped Europe.

How It Unfolds

The siege of Taragona collapses Sir John Murray embarks an expedition to invest Taragona, but panics upon the approach of French relief columns under Suchet and Maurice Mathieu. He hastily raises the siege, abandoning his heavy guns and re-embarking his troops in confusion.

San Sebastian is besieged Allied forces surround the coastal fortress of San Sebastian, initiating a punishing artillery bombardment against its high curtain walls and horn-works. The French garrison under General Rey conducts a spirited defense, repairing breaches and springing mines against assault parties.

Soult strikes in the Pyrenees Marshal Soult assumes command of the French army and launches an offensive through the mountain passes to relieve Pampeluna. Heavy combat ensues in the valleys of Roncesvalles and Maya as allied forces resist the French advance.

Wellington arrives at Sauroren Riding at full speed to join his army, Wellington writes orders on a bridge parapet before French light cavalry enter the village. His sudden appearance on the mountain crest prompts a roaring cheer from his soldiers, causing Soult to delay his attack and allowing reinforcements to arrive.

The French retreat through Yanzi Defeated in the mountain combats, Soult’s army retreats through narrow, cliff-bound gorges. Allied light troops pour a destructive fire from the precipices onto jammed French columns wedged along the riverbanks.

The invasion of France begins Wellington forces the passage of the Bidassoa and Nivelle rivers, carrying fortified redoubts and mountain positions like the Great Rhune. Allied troops cross into French territory, establishing lines despite relentless damp weather and deep mud.

Soult counter-attacks around Bayonne Operating from the fortress of Bayonne, Soult concentrates sixty thousand men to strike Wellington’s divided wings along the Nive. Multi-day combats around Barrouilhet and Arcangues result in heavy casualties on both sides before the French are repulsed.

The Treaty of Valençay fails Napoleon attempts to remove Spain from the war by signing a treaty to restore Ferdinand VII to the throne. The Spanish Cortez and Wellington reject the arrangement, maintaining the allied coalition despite political friction in Cadiz.

The allies prevail at Orthes Wellington attacks Soult’s strong position on the heights of Orthes, coordinating divisional thrusts across difficult marshland and ridges. The French are forced into a general retreat, prompting Soult to issue a passionate address urging French citizens to resist the invaders.

The bloody climax at Toulouse Allied columns storm the fortified heights of Calvinet and St. Sypiere outside Toulouse, taking redoubts under devastating fire. After brutal close-quarters fighting, Soult abandons the city, bringing the long Peninsular struggle to its final end.

The People

• Lord Wellington: The formidable allied commander-in-chief whose calm, decisive operational judgment dominates the campaign. He wants to crush French military power in the Peninsula while keeping his fragile multinational coalition together, facing obstacles such as harsh terrain, negligence from the British cabinet, and political hostility from Spanish authorities. He finishes the war triumphant, having systematically outmaneuvered every French general sent against him.
• Marshal Soult: The Duke of Dalmatia and primary French commander, tasked by Napoleon with restoring order to a demoralized army and defending the southern frontier of France. Driven by a fierce patriotic duty, he faces insubordination among his lieutenants, an exhausted army, and a war-weary population. Despite his energetic maneuvers and tactical skill, he ends the campaign forced out of every position and retreating from Toulouse.
• Major-General Murray: The British officer commanding the eastern coastal expedition, who desires to capture Taragona and support regional Spanish forces. Hesitant under pressure, he panics when enemy reinforcements approach, abandoning his artillery and suffering severe damage to his reputation before being brought to trial.
• General Emanuel Rey: The stubborn French governor of San Sebastian, whose sole objective is to hold the fortress at all costs to delay the allied advance into France. Surrounded and lacking clean water or bomb-proofs, he utilizes every engineering resource to repel assaults until the total destruction of his works compels him to surrender.
• Major Dulong: A exceptionally brave French officer selected to lead high-risk assault missions, such as capturing vital bridges under direct fire. Desiring only to serve his nation with honour, he braves severe hazards—crawling over broken bridge beams and sustaining terrible wounds—and emerges as an emblem of soldierly devotion.
• Marshal Suchet: The French commander in eastern Spain, who seeks to preserve his army and protect his garrisons in Catalonia. He resists Soult’s grand strategic plans, preferring cautious defensive maneuvers, and ultimately oversees the gradual evacuation of French forces as the empire collapses.

In Its Own Voice

"Yonder is a great commander, but he is a cautious one and will delay his attack to ascertain the cause of these cheers; that will give time for the sixth division to arrive and I shall beat him."

Wellington utters these words on the mountain crest above Sauroren after his arrival causes a massive cheer among his troops, correctly predicting that Soult will halt his advance long enough for allied reinforcements to reach the field.

"Attack, vigorously with the bayonet you will succeed or you will die. I want no news save that of your success, send me no other report, your silence will be sufficient in a contrary case."

Marshal Soult delivers this relentless command to Major Dulong prior to a night assault on the bridge of Ponte Nova, illustrating the stern discipline expected of French vanguard officers.

"Soldiers, at the battle of Orthes you did your duty, the enemy’s losses surpassed yours, his blood moistened all the ground he gained. You may consider that feat of arms as an advantage."

This passage forms part of Marshal Soult’s spirited proclamation to his army after the retreat from Orthes, wherein he attempts to bolster troop morale and incite national resistance against the invading allied forces.

What It's Really About

Beneath its dense accounts of tactical maneuvers and sieges, this work is an interrogation of the true nature of war, leadership, and human endurance under extreme pressure. Napier rejects idealized, heroic portrayals of combat in favor of a clear-eyed examination of military friction. He demonstrates that battles are rarely decided by grand theoretical designs alone, but by supply lines, weather, political will, and the physical stamina of ordinary soldiers.

A central argument of the book concerns the delicate relationship between military command and civil government. Napier consistently contrasts Wellington’s operational brilliance with the incompetence, political factionalism, and administrative neglect of the British cabinet and Spanish authorities. The narrative highlights how political squabbling over prize money, delayed uniforms, and diplomatic rivalries continually threaten to undo victories achieved by blood on the battlefield.

Furthermore, the volume serves as a passionate defense of the professional soldier regardless of nationality. Napier actively combats nationalistic prejudice, refusing to vilify the French enemy to pander to contemporary British chauvinism. He treats the courage of French commanders like Soult and Dulong with the same gravity as Wellington’s achievements, arguing that true honor in war is found in discipline, self-devotion, and military skill rather than political rhetoric or partisan rancor.

Why Read It Today

Readers drawn to narrative history, military strategy, and nineteenth-century literature will find this volume a deeply rewarding experience. It offers a rare, insider perspective on one of history's great military conflicts, written by a man who possessed both high-level professional understanding and an extraordinary command of English prose. Napier’s battle scenes possess a visceral, gripping clarity; he captures the roar of mountain torrents, the smoke of breaching batteries, and the grim reality of jammed infantry columns with remarkable vividness.

The primary difficulty modern readers will encounter is the sheer density of detail. Napier assumes a reader comfortable with classic nineteenth-century prose, complex sentence structures, and an exhaustive level of geographical and organizational detail. The narrative is filled with specific references to obscure Pyrenean valleys, minor bridge-heads, divisional states, and military terminology. Additionally, the introductory "Justificatory Pieces" contain protracted, highly specific arguments against rival historians and reviewers of the 1830s, which can feel alienating to those looking for a simple narrative.

Nevertheless, the reward for pushing through these period hurdles is an unvarnished, sweeping view of history in the making. Napier does not coat the reality of war in romantic hype; he documents the misery of half-naked soldiers in mountain snow, the horrors of pillage, and the agonizing weight of command decisions. What stays with the reader long after finishing is the sheer magnitude of the human effort involved, conveyed through a voice of authoritative, unyielding conviction.