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)
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]

Prelude

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]

Battle

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]

Aftermath

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]}