Battle of Castalla In the Battle of Castalla on 13 April 1813 , an Anglo - Spanish - Sicilian force commanded by Lieutenant General John Murray , 8th Baronet fought Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet ' s French Army of Valencia and Aragon . Murray ' s troops successfully repelled a series of French attacks on their hilltop position , causing Suchet to retreat . The action took place during the Peninsular War , part of the Napoleonic Wars . Castalla is located 35 kilometers north - northwest of Alicante , Spain . General Arthur Wellesley , Marquess of Wellington wanted to prevent Suchet from reinforcing the other French armies in Spain . He ordered , Murray , whose army had been built up to over 18 , 000 Allied troops , to accomplish this purpose . Murray ' s maneuvers were ineffective and prompted Suchet to lash out at his force . The French marshal fell upon a nearby Spanish force , beating it with heavy losses . Suchet then focused on crushing Murray . One of the British brigadiers , Frederick Adam conducted a splendid rear guard action on 12 April , allowing Murray to draw up his army in a formidable defensive position near Castalla . On the 13th , Suchet ' s frontal attacks were repulsed with heavy losses by British troops under Adam and John Mackenzie and by Spanish troops led by Samuel Ford Whittingham . The French withdrew and Murray did not follow up his victory . Background . Alone among Napoleon ' s marshals , Suchet won his baton by his victories in Spain . However , he avoided cooperating with his fellow French commanders and acted as though the provinces of Aragon and Valencia were his private kingdom . Even so , General Arthur Wellesley , Marquess Wellington knew that if Suchet ' s forces intervened in the battles in central and northern Spain , things might go badly for the British army . So Wellington requested that amphibious operations be directed against the east coast of Spain in order to keep Suchet ' s men occupied . Since the summer of 1812 , an 8 , 000 - strong Anglo - Sicilian force , joined by about 6 , 000 Spanish troops from Minorca , occupied the port of Alicante on the east coast of Spain . The army frequently changed generals but did nothing to contribute to the Anglo - Allied war effort . In February 1813 , Murray was appointed to command the reinforced 18 , 000 - man force . Prelude . In early April , after making some indecisive maneuvers , Murray posted his small army at Villena , northwest of Alicante . Meanwhile , Suchet decided to surprise the British general and his Spanish allies . The French marshal split his force into two columns , sending one column under General of Division Jean Isidore Harispe to attack a Spanish force at Yecla . A second column under Suchet ' s personal command marched against Murray at Villena . On 11 April 1813 , Harispe fell upon General Mijares and his 3 , 000 Murcians at Yecla . In a surprise attack led by the 4th Hussar and 24th Dragoon Regiments , the Spanish troops were routed , losing 400 killed and 1 , 000 prisoners . Two infantry battalions were virtually annihilated . The French admitted losses of 18 killed and 61 wounded . Murray heard about the disaster by noon that day . He immediately beat a retreat toward Alicante , dropping off a 2 , 200 - man all - arms brigade under Colonel Frederick Adam at the pass of Biar to cover his withdrawal . On the morning of 12 April , Suchet captured a Spanish battalion at Villena and set out in pursuit of Murray . At Biar , the French came up with Adam ' s rearguard but were unable to overrun the well - handled force , which consisted of British , King ' s German Legion , Italian and Spanish elements . In a brilliant five - hour action , Adam successfully fended off his French pursuers , allowing Murray to concentrate his army at Castalla . In one incident , Suchet ' s cavalry raced after their enemies after flushing the Allied soldiers from Biar . But this attempt to turn a retreat into a rout failed when the French troopers charged into a neatly executed ambush by three companies of the 2 / 27th Foot . During the action , the French suffered about 300 casualties and Adam lost 260 killed and wounded plus 41 missing . The British colonel was forced to abandon two of his four cannons . Battle . Murray ' s army consisted of 18 , 716 men organized into an advanced guard , two Anglo - Italian divisions , two Spanish divisions , cavalry , and artillery . Adam ' s advanced guard consisted of 1 , 179 men in three battalions and various detachments . Lieutenant General William Henry Clinton ' s 1st Division numbered 4 , 036 men in five battalions . General John Mackenzie ' s counted 4 , 045 soldiers in five battalions . Colonel Samuel Ford Whittingham ' s 1st Spanish Division had 3 , 901 troops in six battalions , while General Phillip Roche ' s 2nd Spanish Division included 4 , 019 men in five battalions . There were 1 , 036 cavalry troopers in nine squadrons and 30 guns manned by about 500 artillerists . The strong Castalla position consisted of a castle - topped ridge that overlooked a deep stream bed . A spur projecting forward from the ridge tended to split any attack on the position . Further , a flooded stream protected the right of the Anglo - Allied line . Murray put Whittingham ' s Spanish division in a fortified position on the left flank . Adam ' s brigade held the left - center and Mackenzie ' s division held the right - center . The British commander posted Clinton ' s division on the right flank . Part of General Roche ' s division was placed in front of Clinton , supporting a cavalry screen . The remainder of Roche ' s men and the rest of the cavalry were positioned behind Castalla castle in reserve . Suchet had one cavalry and three infantry divisions available . General of Division André Joseph Boussart commanded 1 , 424 horsemen in eight squadrons . In the absence of General of Division Louis Francois Felix Musnier , General of Brigade Louis Benoit Robert led the 1st Division ' s 5 , 084 men in eight battalions . Harispe ' s 2nd Division counted 4 , 052 troops in six battalions , while General of Division Pierre - Joseph Habert ' s 3rd Division included 2 , 722 soldiers in four battalions . The French had 282 gunners manning 24 artillery pieces . Suchet planned to send Robert and Habert with their divisions at the center of Murray ' s line . Meanwhile , five " voltigeur " ( light ) companies would threaten the extreme Anglo - Allied left flank and Boussart ' s cavalry would envelop the enemy right flank . Harispe ' s division was kept in reserve . The French expected that a hard blow would send the Spanish and Italian infantry fleeing . Before the action commenced , Murray ordered Whittingham to shift his division west in order to overlap the French right flank . Accordingly , Whittingham began to carry out his instructions by putting his troops in motion and opening up a gap in the center . At noon on 13 April , the French troops surged forward . Robert ' s attack was carried out in five columns . On his own initiative , Whittingham ignored his orders and moved his division back to its original position . He detached one battalion to deal with the " voltiguers " . Robert ' s three right - hand columns , together with the skirmishers , were repulsed by Whittingham ' s steady Spaniards . The two left - most columns came up against Adam and were likewise hurled back . In a short , close - range musketry duel , Adam ' s 2 / 27th Foot , deployed in line , inflicted 369 casualties on the 121st Line ' s attack column . Habert ' s advance was blocked by Mackenzie and Boussart ' s cavalrymen were unable to cross the flooded stream . With his infantry defeated , his cavalry off to one flank and his men outnumbered , Suchet found himself in a difficult spot . Murray proved slow to take advantage of his success , however , and the French were able to retreat almost unmolested . Suchet ' s rearguard ably defended the pass of Biar and allowed the French to get away with little additional loss . Results . The Anglo - Allied force lost 440 casualties . Whittingham ' s men suffered 233 casualties , Adam lost 70 and Mackenzie lost 47 . Suchet admitted 800 casualties at Yecla , Biar and Castalla , but this is probably too low . Murray claimed to have inflicted 2 , 500 losses on his enemies . A more likely figure is 1 , 300 French casualties at Castalla . Murray failed to benefit from his victory when he continued his retreat to Alicante . The next action in the theater was the Siege of Tarragona . Orders of Battle . Allied Order of Battle . Murray ' s army counted 17 , 080 infantry , 1 , 036 cavalry , and 30 guns . It consisted of two Anglo - Italian and two Spanish infantry divisions , plus Adam ' s brigade . The army was organized as follows . French Order of Battle . Suchet ' s force numbered 11 , 848 infantry , 1 , 424 cavalry , and 24 artillery pieces . The Army of Aragon and Valencia was organized as follows .