Battle of The Bidassoa (1813) - Results

Results

In Reille's sector, the French lost 390 killed and wounded, plus 60 men and eight cannons captured. In Clausel's sector, the French suffered 600 killed and wounded, plus 598 men and nine cannons captured. The British lost 82 killed, 486 wounded, and five missing, or a total of 573. The Portuguese lost 48 killed, 186 wounded, and eight missing, or a total of 242. The Spanish suffered the balance of the 1,600 total Allied casualties. The defeat lowered morale in Soult's army. Except at La Rhune, French troops did not obstinately defend their positions. Villatte commented, "with troops like these we can expect only disgrace." Soult made Maucune the scapegoat, dismissed him from his division, and sent him to the rear. After the battle, some of the Allied troops indulged themselves in the looting of French homes and towns. Wellington came down harshly on British troops caught plundering. He felt sympathetic to the Spanish, who had seen their nation ravaged by French soldiers, but he determined to tolerate no looting for fear of provoking a guerilla war.

During the follow-up to this victory, Spanish troops seized the Sainte-Barbe Redoubt at 43°18′1″N 1°34′55″W / 43.30028°N 1.58194°W / 43.30028; -1.58194 (Sainte-Barbe Redoute), 1.4 km south of the village of Sare. On 12 October, Conroux's division recaptured the fort from its garrison of La Torre's division and drove off a five-battalion Spanish counterattack. French casualties are estimated at 300, while the Spanish lost 300 killed and wounded, plus 200 captured. The next engagement was the Battle of Nivelle on 10 November 1813.