On 30 September 1813, Wellington ordered the Portuguese Division, temporarily commanded Brigadier General Archibald Campbell, to assault the French position at Banca, France. This was supposed to possibly mislead Marshal Soult on where he planned to assault into France.
General Campbell wrote in his after-action-report on 2 October that:
“I ordered Lieutenant Colonel McDonald, 14th Regiment, with a detachment of the 2nd Brigade, to flank the enemy's position on our right, and to Lieutenant Colonel McNeill, 10th Regiment, with another detachment from the 4th Brigade, on the left. The former went by the Arrola Mountain and the latter by the left of the Huessa Mountain.”
I am trying to determine where Arrola and Huessa Mountains are.
1. I can not find them on Google Maps.
2. Oman, in Vol. 7, page 118 of his History of the Peninsular War spells it Airola.
3. Numerous Scottish histories spell it Arolla.
4. Please note that these mountains are in the Pyrenees.
Does anyone know what the mountains are called today?
Thanks!
Bob
Hi, Maybe the Arrola Mountain on the right flank is the Arrolako Harria 1060m just at the east of Banca (most height at the right of Banca and near this village). There is a road crossing this mount and going to Banca.
https://www.mendikat.net/com/mount/1727#
And as for the Huessa Mountain, maybe you should think about the Hautza Mountain (major mount on the Left wing with 1304m). On the left of this mountain, there is a "road" leading to Banca
https://www.mendikat.net/com/mount/1022#
Just at the south of Banca the redoubt of Lindus occupied by the British in july 1813 and then the French after the fights at the redoubt of Achistoy. And maybe was fortified again by the French in late september.
Hope this helps (maybe add more questions...)
HKW: Thanks! Compounding the problem is the fact that most of the place names are written in Basque on Google Maps.
Probably, Campbell and his men just asked the people of La Fonderie (old name of Banca) about the names of the hills and didn't cope well with the local dialect. To identify the hills in question, you could start with the initial position of Cambell's troops and try your luck here:
https://www.wikiloc.com/trails/outdoor/france/aquitaine/banca
There is a mountain variantly called Urruska (Google), Urrixca, Urriska, Urrizca, Urrizcaco-gaina, Urruxka, Urrusk or Urises, ca. 5 km west of Banca:
https://www.mendikat.net/com/mount/1352
Maybe that is Huessa Mountain.
Cassini's map doesn't give the names of the mountains.