Vittoria
This battle gave Wellington his baton of Field-Marshal.
The Honour is borne on the Guidon of the 4th Hussars.
Detail
The attack on the French positions began at half-past eight in the morning of the 21st of June, 1813, with the advance of skirmishers.
When the preliminary positions were obtained Wellington attacked in four columns, timing and directing the attacks brilliantly. One column attacked on the extreme left, turning the French right-wing and so closing the main road to France.
The other columns attacked the French centre and right.
The battle lasted throughout the day, and gradually as the four columns closed in the French were driven back into Vittoria. By half-past seven in the evening Joseph’s army was in full flight.
The pursuit was kept up for nearly ten miles when darkness brought it to an end, and the brigade rode back to Vittoria.
Ponsonby’s brigade was not called upon for any action during the day, and in fact, the regiment suffered no casualties at all.
The shattered French army retreated to Pamplona and thence across the Pyrenees into France.
