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4 unusual facts about Battle of Vitoria


Battle of Vitoria

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.)

Dyer baronets

The ninth Baronet was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army and served in the Peninsular War, where he was present at Badajoz, Vitoria, San Sebastian, the Pyrenees, Nive, Orthez and Toulouse.

Panharmonicon

Beethoven apparently composed his piece "Wellington's Victory" (Op. 91) to be played on this behemoth mechanical orchestral organ to commemorate Arthur Wellesley's victory over the French at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813.


14th King's Hussars

During the Battle of Vitoria in 1813 the regiment captured a silver chamberpot belonging to King Joseph Bonaparte, brother of the Emperor Napoleon, which resulted in the regimental nickname of "The Emperor's Chambermaids".

Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby

At Vitoria, his regiment was part of the force, under Sir Thomas Graham, that blocked the French retreat towards Bayonne.

Jacques Thomas Sarrut

He was mortally wounded while leading his soldiers against the Anglo-Allied army at the Battle of Vitoria.

Jean Isidore Harispe

In 1814, he was send to Barcelona to serve as reinforcements to Soult, who after Vitoria was tasked with preventing the Duke of Wellington from invading southern France.

Vittoria

Battle of Vitoria, an 1813 battle in Spain during the Napoleonic Wars

Wellington's Victory

Wellington's Victory, or, the Battle of Vitoria, Op. 91 (Wellingtons Sieg oder die Schlacht bei Vittoria) is a minor 15-minute long orchestral work composed by Ludwig van Beethoven to commemorate the Duke of Wellington's victory over Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Vitoria in Spain on 21 June 1813.


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