Battle of Castalla 1813
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 13 April 1813 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1813 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Spain | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Peninsular War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | First French Empire, Kingdom of Sicily, Kingdom of Spain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 38.6000, -0.6667 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
In the Battle of Castalla on 13 April 1813, an Anglo-Spanish-Sicilian force commanded by Lieutenant General Sir John Murray fought Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet's French Army of Valencia and Aragon. Murray's troops successfully repelled a series of French attacks on their hilltop position, causing Suchet's III corps to retreat. The action took place during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Castalla is located 35 kilometers north-northwest of Alicante, Spain.
General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington wanted to prevent Suchet from reinforcing the other French armies in Spain. He ordered Murray, whose army had been built up to over 18,000 Allied troops, to accomplish this purpose. Murray's manoeuvres were ineffective and prompted Suchet to lash out against his force. The French marshal fell upon a nearby Spanish force, beating it with heavy losses. Suchet then focused on crushing Murray. One of the British brigadiers, Frederick Adam conducted a rear guard action on 12 April, allowing Murray to draw up his army in a formidable defensive position near Castalla. On the 13th, Suchet's frontal attacks were repulsed with heavy losses by British troops under Adam and John Mackenzie and by Spanish troops led by Samuel Ford Whittingham.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Castalla (revision 1370436514), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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