Battle of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Spain

In July 1812, after the Battle of Salamanca, the Army of Marechal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan evacuated Madrid, which the Duke of Wellington's army entered on the 12th of August, 1812. Deploying a large force to guard its southern approaches, Wellington marched north with the rest of his army to lay siege to the fortress of Burgos, but he had underestimated the enemy's strength and on the 21st of October he had to abandon the Siege of Burgos and retreat. As he moved further north, he intercepted the retreating force of Joseph Bonaparte and Marechal Jourdan at Vitoria-Gasteiz, a small low-lying village with large expansions of undulating fields. The Duke of Wellington would go on to win decisively here.