First Battle of Arquijas
The battle began when Liberal forces found Carlist general Tomás de Zumalacárregui waiting at the bridge of Arquijas over the Ega River in Navarre; about the middle of the day, some gunshots were exchanged between the several advanced posts.
[3] A column of picked men, composed of carabiniers and peseteros, attempted to cross the bridge.
[3] The Carlist Fourth Battalion of Navarre, reinforced by the tercios of Guipuzcoa,[4] protecting the bridge, threw the Liberals back.
[5] "A few of the most adventurous [Liberal soldiers] succeeded, with great trouble, in gaining the opposite bank; but soon the bridge was covered with carcasses, and, despite all their efforts, they could not advance a step further.
[5] There were about 2,000 troops under Liberal general Oraá that had been detached by Córdova and sent to attack the Carlist rear.
[5] Another states that Ituralde, "urged by an inconsiderate ardour which overcame his judgment, brought forward into sight his four battalions.
[9] Oraá instantly saw the snare into which he was about to fall, and changed his line of advance from north to west, moving directly upon Ituralde's division, throwing out at the same time two battalions so as to outflank him.
One source states that Oraá attacked but his detachment of over 2,000 men was dispersed in the Lana valley and fled, the nighttime covering their retreat.
[2] However, another source states that “the superiority of position and numbers had given the [Liberals] an advantage against which the Carlists found it impossible to contend.”[9] "One has to recognize that in the battle at Arquijas," Vicente Blasco Ibáñez has written, "the victory would have been the Carlists' had it not been for the skill and daring of Oráa, who knew how to extricate himself from a dire situation, as General Córdova had shown lamentable irresolution retreating from the battlefield before hostilities had ceased.
Córdova had withdrawn to Los Arcos, where he got orders from Espoz y Mina to quit his command and go to Madrid.
