Battle of the Baztan Valley

Battle of the Baztan Valley
Part of the War of the Pyrenees
Doneztebe-Santesteban near the Baztan valley
Date 23 July – 1 August 1794 Location Baztan Valley, Spain Result French victory
Belligerents
French Republic	Spain French Émigrés
Commanders and leaders
Jacques Muller Bon-Adrien Moncey	Don Ventura Caro Marquis Saint-Simon Col. Gabriel de Mendizábal Iraeta
Strength
3 divisions	Not known
Casualties and losses
Over 600	Over 2,000, 300 cannons

The Battle of the Baztan Valley was fought between 23 July and 1 August 1794 during the French Revolutionary War, between a French force from the Army of the Western Pyrenees commanded by Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey and the Spanish forces led by Don Ventura Caro. The French army drove the Spanish from their defenses, then followed the valley northward to the Atlantic coast. The Spanish forces holding the coastal defenses were compelled to surrender or flee.

Jacques Léonard Muller was appointed commander of the French Army of the western Pyrenees on 5 October 1793. The year 1793 saw no major battles in the western Pyrenees, though a number of skirmishes occurred between French and Spanish forces. On 5 February 1794, José Urrutia y de las Casas attacked a fortified hilltop near Hendaye and was defeated in the Battle of Sans Culottes Camp. Out of 13,000 Spanish infantry, and their 700 supporting cavalry and artillery, Spanish casualties numbered 335. French losses were 235.

On 3 June, a 2,300-man French brigade led by Lavictoire stormed Casa Fuorte, a position at the Izpegi Pass (Col d'Ispeguy), 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) west of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The 1,000 defenders, including a battalion of the Spanish Zamora Infantry Regiment, three companies of the Aldudes Rifles, and the French Émigré Légion Royal, lost 94 killed and wounded, plus 307 captured. Other Spanish defenses on Izpegi Ridge and the Maya Pass were also overrun that day. On 23 June, Captain General Don Ventura Caro with 8,000 infantry and 500 cavalry and artillery unsuccessfully assailed Mont Calvaire near Bera (Vera). The Spanish lost 500 killed and wounded, plus 34 captured. The French defenders lost 30 killed and 200 wounded.

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