The Battle of the Pyrenees was a large-scale offensive (the author David Chandler recognises the 'battle' as an offensive[6]) launched on 25 July 1813 by Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult from the Pyrénées region on Emperor Napoleon's order, in the hope of relieving French garrisons under siege at Pamplona and San Sebastián.

After initial success the offensive ground to a halt in the face of increased allied resistance under the command of Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington.

The Allied force successfully held off all attacks during the day, but retreated from the Roncesvalles Pass that night in the face of overwhelming French numerical superiority.

Wellington rallied his troops a short distance north of Pamplona and repelled the attacks of Soult's two corps at the Battle of Sorauren on 28 July.

Instead of falling back to the northeast toward Roncesvalles Pass, Soult made contact with his third corps on 29 July and began to move north.

On 30 July, Wellington attacked Soult's rearguards at Sourauren, driving some French troops to the northeast, while most continued to the north.

After the decisive French defeat at the Battle of Vitoria, Marshal Soult consolidated the remnants of four armies into a single force of 80,000 troops.

Soult ordered General of Division Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon commanding one corps of 21,000 men to attack and secure the Maya Pass.

The French Reserve under General of Division Eugene-Casimir Villatte held the defences on the lower Bidassoa River near the Bay of Biscay.

[10] Pamplona was besieged by General Henry O'Donnell, 1st Count of la Bisbal's Spanish division and other units.

That morning, Stewart decided that the French would not attack, left the brigades of Major General William Pringle and Lieutenant Colonel John Cameron in the valley and rode to Elizondo, ten miles to the south.

In the Battle of Maya, Pringle opposed Darmagnac's division, while Cameron faced the rest of the French corps.

At this point, Major General Edward Barnes's brigade of Dalhousie's 7th Division arrived from the west to strike d'Erlon in the flank and the battle died down.

[17] Troubled by a small French probe of his right flank and fearful that 36,000 Frenchmen would swamp him from out of the mist, Cole quit the area and retreated toward Pamplona, though he had been ordered to hold the pass "to the utmost".

[20] However, Picton's British and Portuguese forces made a stand on an excellent defensive position near the village of Sorauren, just north of Pamplona.

[21] Believing d'Erlon's corps to be the main French attack and receiving no information from Cole, Wellington spent 26 July setting up his defences in the direction of Maya Pass.

[7] To Clausel's intense frustration, Soult decided to wait for Reille's tardy corps to arrive and even took a nap.

Cut off by the sudden British offensive, Foy's division at the east end of the French line retreated by way of Roncesvalles Pass to the northeast.

At Yanci, part of Major General Francisco de Longa's Spanish division blocked a key bridge.

Too late to block the retreat, Alten's Light Division arrived from Leitza and fired into the gorge from above, causing chaos in the French column.

[26] Soult failed to relieve the sieges at San Sebastian and Pamplona, suffered about 13,000 casualties,[7] and had to withdraw to French soil weakened and demoralised.