Battle of Oriamendi

Battle of Oriamendi
Part of First Carlist War
View of the Hernani from the Venta de Oriamendi plateau. The Carlists attacking the position defended by General Evans, on 16 March 1837, and the last position of the soldiers of the British Auxiliary Legion.
Date 16 March 1837 Location Oriamendi hill, south of San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain Result Carlist victory
Belligerents
Carlists	Liberal Christinos British Auxiliary Legion
Commanders and leaders
Sebastian de Borbón	Baldomero Espartero Pedro Sarsfield De Lacy Evans Robert Cannon
Strength
	9,300 (½ Spanish)[1]
Casualties and losses
	~1,000-1,500 killed, wounded, captured or missing

The Battle of Oriamendi (Basque: Oriamendiko Gudua) was fought on 16 March 1837 during the First Carlist War.^[2] The battle was an overwhelming victory for the Carlists.^[3][4]

The battle was part of a campaign in spring 1837 when the liberal Army tried to chase the Carlists from the Basque Country.^{[citation needed]}

General Pedro Sarsfield, marching from Pamplona, was supposed to threaten the Lecumferri pass, while General Espartero was to advance from Bilbao with the purpose of distracting the Carlists.^[5] It was planned that the British-Spanish force, starting at San Sebastián, led by George de Lacy Evans would attack the Carlist-held Hernani.^[5] This concentric attack was planned by General Sarsfiel with the goal of annihilating Carlist forces.^[1]

On 15 March the British Auxiliary Legion conquered a fortification known as Oriamendi on a strategic hill near San Sebastián.^[6] The hill was defended by Carlist Guipuzcoans.^[3]

The next day the Carlists under Sebastian de Borbón counterattacked and routed the liberal forces supported by the British Legion, both of which suffered heavy losses.^[7] Due to the battle, the British-liberal army retreated to their trenches outside San Sebastian.^{[citation needed]} This force had suffered between 1,000 and 1,500 casualties and covering fire from the Royal Navy prevented the withdrawal from becoming a disaster.^{[citation needed]} The success of the Carlist troops laid in a defence-in-depth and their infantry's high mobility.^[8]

After the battle, the Carlists tightened their grip around San Sebastián, but never succeeded in taking the city.^{[citation needed]}

The defeat caused an outrage at the British parliament.^{[citation needed]} The battle was a great boost in morale for the Carlists, and lives on in the Marcha de Oriamendi, which became the anthem of the Carlist movement.^{[citation needed]}

• Battle of Andoain
• Oliver de Lancey
• Maurice O'Connell

• Alison, Archibald (1871). "XXXV – Spain, from the Death of Zumalacarregui in 1835, to the termination of the Carlist War in 1840.". History of Europe 1815-1852. Vol. 5. William Blackwood and Sons.
• de la Cuesta, Julio Albi (7 May 2017). "Carlistas contra británicos. La batalla de Oriamendi" [Carlists against the British. The battle of Oriamendi] (in Spanish).
• Esposito, Gabriele (2017). Armies of the First Carlist War 1833–39. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472825247.
• Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313335389.
• Thomas, Neil (2012). "8 – The Battle of Oriamendi (16 March 1837)". Wargaming: Nineteenth Century Europe, 1815–1878. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 9781781594063.
• Thieblin, Nicolas Leon (1874). Spain and the Spaniards. Hurst and Blackett.

• Balagan
• Historia militar del siglo XIX en el País Vasco^{[permanent dead link]}

43°16′00″N 1°58′00″W / 43.2667°N 1.9667°W / 43.2667; -1.9667