Battle of Vitoria - Aftermath

Aftermath

The Allied army lost about 5,000 men. By nationality, there were 3,675 British, 921 Portuguese and 562 Spanish casualties. French losses totaled at least 5,200 killed and wounded, plus 2,800 men and 151 cannon captured. By army, the losses were South 4,300, Centre 2,100 and Portugal 1,600. There were no casualty returns from the Royal Guard or the artillery.

French losses were not higher for several reasons. First, the Allied army had already marched 20 miles (32 km) that morning and was in no condition to pursue. Second, Reille's men valiantly held off Graham's column. Third, the valley by which the French retreated was narrow and well-covered by the 3rd Hussar and the 15th Dragoon Regiments acting as rearguard. Last, the French left their booty behind.

Many British soldiers turned aside to plunder the abandoned French wagons, containing "the loot of a kingdom". It is estimated that over one million pounds of booty (perhaps £100 million in modern equivalence) was seized, but the gross abandonment of discipline caused an enraged Wellington to write in a dispatch to Earl Bathurst, "We have in the service the scum of the earth as common soldiers". The British general also vented his fury on a new cavalry regiment, writing, "The 18th Hussars are a disgrace to the name of soldier, in action as well as elsewhere; and I propose to draft their horses from them and send the men to England if I cannot get the better of them in any other manner." (On 8 April 1814, the 18th redeemed their reputation in a gallant charge at Croix d'Orade, shortly before the Battle of Toulouse.)

Order was soon restored, and by December, after detachments had seized San Sebastián and Pamplona, Wellington's army was encamped in France.

The battle was the inspiration for Beethoven's Opus 91, often called the "Battle Symphony," or simply "Wellington's Victory", which portrays the battle in a form of a musical drama. The climax of the movie The Firefly, starring Jeanette MacDonald, occurs with Wellington's attack on the French centre. (The film used music from an opera of the same name by Rudolf Friml, but with a totally different plot.)