page_title: Siege of Uxellodunum
section_title: Gallic blunders
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Uxellodunum / Actions leading up to the siege / Gallic blunders
caption_attribution_description: English: The 51 BC Siege of Uxellodunum, one of the last battles of the Gallic Wars.
context_page_description: The Siege of Uxellodunum was one of the last battles of the Gallic Wars. It took place in 51 BC at Uxellodunum. It was the last major military confrontation of the Gallic Wars and marked the pacification of Gaul under Roman rule. The battle resulted in a decisive Roman victory.
context_section_description: The Gauls trapped inside the oppidum (Latin for "town" or "city"), having learned the lessons of starvation from the disaster at the Siege of Alesia (where Lucterius had been present), made plans to leave the settlement by night to forage for food and provisions. Climbing over the ramparts, Lucterius and Drapes left a garrison of around 2,000 men inside Uxellodunum, taking the remainder of their force to forage en masse. Some of the local Carduci Gauls in the surrounding areas freely gave the rebels supplies, but much of the provisions were taken by force. The Gauls then tried to again sneak past the Roman sentries set by Caninius Rebilus, but were spotted. Caninius Rebilus, upon learning of the Gauls' plans, concentrated the bulk of his legions and unleashed them on the Gaulish convoy. Lucterius, who was in charge of the convoy, immediately took flight with his war-bands without informing Drapes. The rest of the Gauls were massacred almost to a man, some sources saying that as many as 12,000 Gauls were killed in the action.
  Caninius Rebilus left one of his legions behind to defend his three camps and gathered the rest of his soldiers to pursue Drapes. He destroyed the remaining Gaulish forces in the area under Drapes (Lucterius having already fled), capturing Drapes, who was executed shortly thereafter.
  Safe in the knowledge that further Gallic reinforcements would not likely be coming to the aid of Uxellodunum due to the blunders of Lucterius and Drapes, Gaius Caninius Rebilus intensified his siege works around Uxellodunum. Shortly after, Gaius Fabius, another of Caesar's legates in Gaul who had been tasked with subduing the Senones, arrived fresh from his victory at the Battle of the Loire with a full 25 cohorts of legions (roughly two and a half legions). These reinforcements put the Roman forces at four and a half legions, enough to construct competent siege works and completely encircle the fort.
caption: A map of the siege
exif: {"Image Copyright": "Public Domain, from the British Library's collections, 2013"}