Orthez

Wednesday 3 July 1996

It’s a 65 mile drive from Sare to Orthez, so we had postponed the visit until the weather improved. This morning we had a dry, if cloudy, sky and as our holiday was nearing its end decided to go anyway.

Fought on 27 February 1814 this was one of the last battles of the Peninsular War. Soult withdrew his main army from Bayonne, and took up a defensive position at Orthez. The battlefield covers a large area and despite a lot of preparation we found it quite difficult to explore, even on foot.

We found a picnic site where we got out our maps and books to orientate ourselves and decide how best to tackle the battlefield.

We found the church of St Boes quite easily. This village was the centre of the early fighting, and helped us to get our bearings. This photograph was taken from the main French position on the road between the St Boes and Orthez.

We did find the Roman Camp, but it is now completely overgrown by large trees and thick undergrowth. We walked around the whole area, but could not find even one good view of St Boes. Hot and tired we eventually retired to the local pub to rethink our strategy.

The terrain made it very difficult to follow the main attack from the Roman Camp, so we decided to search for the main French position. Driving along the new road we found this memorial to Marshal Foy, who was wounded during the battle. We knew that the original road marked the main French position.

We then made our way to Orthez and found the medieval bridge over the Gave de Pau. The British crossed the river above and below the village, so the bridge was not the scene of any fighting and consequently was not damaged. The village is very pretty, but not particularly interesting in relation to the battle.

I had done a lot of preparation for our visit to Orthez, and had found a very detailed map of the battle. So we were expecting to experience little difficulty in walking the battlefield. However we wasted a lot of time around the Roman Camp and the area between there and the French position. Although interesting to explore St Boes and the French position, we were disappointed that the area around the Roman Camp proved so difficult and unrewarding.

The Bayonet Ridge

Tuesday 2 July 1996

Overcast skies yet again. We had planned to drive to Orthez, but the dismal weather decided us to postpone the 65 mile journey in the hope of better weather. Instead we decided to return to Vera and explore the Bayonet Ridge again.

The ridge is dominated by a collection of duty free shops, with a large car park and plenty of places to eat and drink. There is nothing to show that it played a critical part in the campaign of 1813, and I doubt if many of the thousands who visit each week are aware of its colourful history.

The hill in the background is Le Grande Rhune.

From our earlier visit we had a good knowledge of the area, and we quickly found a path which led away from the shops towards the bayonet redoubt and the area of fighting. It is appropriate that this path is called Commissari Ridge on the map.

The weather quickly took a turn for the worse, and it was soon raining heavily. Despite our waterproofs we had to seek shelter in a small cave. We immediately noticed a very wet donkey who stood a few feet away and stared at us resentfully. Our cave was obviously his home! He looked so miserable that we felt guilty keeping him in the rain. Despite the weather we left the cave and walked back to the shops. As soon as we left he scooted into the cave.

It was clear that the heavy rain would not soon clear up, so we settled for a hot coffee in the café and returned to Sare. This was not the first, nor would it be the last, battlefield walk which we had to abandon due to the weather.

Roncesvalles Pass

Monday 1 July 1996

On our previous visit to Roncesvalles we had explored the area from the Pass itself, which was the British position. This time we wanted to explore the approach to the Pass used by the French. This involved a 60 miles drive to St Jean Pied du Port and then another 6 miles up a steep, narrow and winding minor road to the Redoubt de Chateau Rignon. This was the position held by the forward picquets on 25 July 1813. The photo shows the position from behind the Redoubt looking towards the French approach area.

The French approached on both sides of the Pass of Roncesvalles. The main fighting was all on the right of the map. The area we visited today was between 1 and 3 on the map.

The new road goes off to the right, and this is where we left the car. I am standing on the 1813 road on the Redoubt de Chateau Rignon.

The British picquets retreated from Chateau Rignon to Pic de Leizar Atheha, which was held by seven British and one Spanish light companies. They were now attacked by 17,000 French infantry. I am standing on the road used by the French and the Pic is directly ahead. Because of the steep slopes either side of the road, the light infantry were able to hold this position for most of the morning and allowed the British troops to concentrate on the Roncesvalles Pass two miles beyond.

We were surprised to find quite a few walkers in such an isolated area, but when we found this marker we realised we were on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostella.

We had lunch in the Pic de Leizar reading descriptions of the fighting here. The light infantry were spread amongst the rocks and held off repeated attacks by enemy skirmishers. Because the sides of the mountain are very steep, the French were unable to deploy their men and make use of their vastly superior numbers. Eventually they formed dense columns and marched right over the position, forcing the light infantry to retire to the main position on the Pass.

Ainhoa Redoubt and Bridge at Amotz

Sunday 30 June 1996

At last a dry, if cloudy, day. We decided to explore the area from the bridge at Amotz to the redoubts above the village of Ainhoa. This bridge spans the river Nivelle and carried the only lateral communications between the left and right sections of the French army.

Today the bridge is closed to motor traffic and overgrown with grass and weeds. Despite this it is apparently still used by local farmers. It is set back from the main road and was quite difficult to find. We parked near the old bridge, crossed over the river Nivelle and began our search for the original road to Ainhoa. We followed the obvious road, but found it led us in the wrong direction. Returning to the bridge we found a dirt road leading towards Ainhoa. It was quite clear of weeds and presumably used by local farmers.

The deeply rutted track led sharply uphill from the river and followed the crest of the hill towards Ainhoa. Looking back there were impressive views of The Rhune. Whilst the Light Division stormed the Rhune, Colville’s Third Division took the line of redoubts on the hills overlooking Ainhoa and protecting the road over the bridge at Amotz

Although overcast it was very hot and though well used to walking in UK we found it quite hard going for the four or five miles from the bridge to the main redoubt overlooking Ainhoa.

It was quite difficult to find the redoubt. All were completely overgrown and really just grassy depressions. It was only when we realised that most were surrounded or covered by trees that we finally found what I think was the main one. Once the general area was located it was easy to find the shape of the redoubt, and we were grateful for the shade provided by the trees.

This is the view from the top of the redoubt looking down on Ainhoa (the village left of centre). It provides a commanding view of any approach from the valley, and long views over the distant Pyrenees.