A number of minor clashes occurred in 1793, including actions fought by
Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey's 5th Light Demi-Brigade at Chateau-Pignon on 6 June,
Aldudes in June, and
Saint-Jean-de-Luz on 23 July. On 5 February 1794, at the
Battle of Sans Culottes Camp, the French successfully defended a fortified hilltop position near
Hendaye against 13,000 Spanish infantry and 700 cavalry and artillery led by
José Urrutia y de las Casas. Spanish casualties numbered 335, and French losses were 235. On 3 June, a 2,300-man French brigade commanded by Lavictoire stormed the Casa Fuerte position at
Izpegi Pass (Col d'Ispeguy) 13.5 km west of
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The 1,000 defenders, including a battalion of the Spanish
Zamora Infantry Regiment, three companies of the
Aldudes Rifles, and the French
émigré Légion Royal battalion, lost 94 killed and wounded, and 307 were captured. The losses of the French brigade, which were part of Mauco's division, were described as "light". The same day, Jacques Lefranc's 2,000 French Republican troops seized the Izpegi Ridge. On 3 March 1794, the bordering villages of
Sara,
Itxassou,
Ascain and another nine Basque villages were declared
ignoble by the republican authorities after 74 young residents, instead of watching the border for the French army, had fled south to the
Spanish Basque region. All of the villages' inhabitants were held accountable for the flight, and draconian measures were imposed on them. All inhabitants of the villages 3 to 88 were crammed in carts like criminals and carried off to the
Landes of Gascony. Men and women were segregated, and their valuable possessions seized or burnt. The victims of the massive deportation may amount to several thousand, and in five months, some 1,600 had died, 600 being from Sara. In a few years, many survivors would manage to return home. On 23 June,
Captain General Ventura Caro with 8,000 infantry and 500 cavalry and artillery tried unsuccessfully to oust a French force from a fortified position atop Mont Calvaire. The Spanish suffered 500 killed and wounded, as well as 34 captured. The French admitted 30 killed and 200 wounded. On 10 July,
Antoine Digonet with a brigade of 4,000 troops overwhelmed the
Zamora Infantry and the
Légion Royal defending Mount Argintzu (Mont Arquinzu), at , 10 km south of
Elizondo. Spanish losses numbered 314, and the French royalist commander,
Marquis de Saint-Simon, was badly wounded. The French Republicans executed 49 French royalist prisoners. On 23 July, the Army of the Western Pyrenees attacked Spanish fortified positions with the divisions of Moncey,
Henri François Delaborde, and Jean Henri Guy Nicolas de Frégeville. Jacques Léonard Muller commanded the army at the time, but Moncey exercised tactical control of operations during the
Battle of the Baztan Valley. In the fighting near Elizondo and
Doneztebe (Santesteban), Moncey overran the Spanish defenses. The French then followed the
Bidasoa river northward in late July to seize the heights of San Marcial and the town of
Hondarribia (Fuenterrabia), near the coast. In the latter operation, Moncey captured Don Vicente de los Reyes, 2,000 Spanish soldiers and 300 cannon on 1 August. Moncey followed the exploit by capturing San Sebastián without resistance on 3 August, with an additional 1,700 Spanish soldiers and 90 cannon falling into French hands. Soon afterward, the French also captured the town of
Tolosa, and Moncey was soon promoted to army commander. On 14 August 1794, the
General Assembly of
Gipuzkoa reunited in the coastal town of
Getaria with the support of the
San Sebastián bourgeoisie, followed by tense negotiations with senior officials of the French army. Besides embracing the French revolutionary ideas, the council made a formal petition: detachment from the Kingdom of Spain, respect for the
region specific laws, allegiance of Gipuzkoa to France, free Catholic practice and a set of rules for the management of war-related circumstances. However, with negotiations leading to the
Peace of Basel being in place, the French army's representatives of the
National Convention, Jacques Pinet and
Jean-Baptiste Cavaignac refused to accept the demands, and the Gipuzkoan representatives were imprisoned or exiled. Given the circumstances, another assembly was held in
Mondragón on 13 September in which the attending regional representatives decided this time to support
Ferdinand VII and mustered an autonomous provincial militia against the French army. However, on an unspecified date soon afterward, the more diplomatic Moncey restored the governing institutions of Gipuzkoa. The news of the declaration issued in Getaria by the Gipuzkoan representatives spread like fire to Madrid and sparked outrage in Spanish ruling circles and press, which lashed out at the Basque province and its inhabitants. Also, after the imprisonment in Bayonne, the Gipuzkoan representatives were persecuted by Spanish authorities and tried on high treason charges and
unpatriotic behaviour. From 15 to 17 October, Moncey, launched a broad front offensive from the Baztan Valley and the
Roncevaux Pass to the south toward
Pamplona. The
Battle of Orbaitzeta saw clashes at Mezkiritz (Mezquiriz),
Orbaitzeta,
Lekunberri and Villanueva (Hiriberri). The 46,000-man French army drove back 13,000 Spanish troops under the command of
Pedro Téllez-Girón, 9th Duke of Osuna, with 4,000 casualties and the loss of 50 cannon. French losses are unknown. The arms foundries at Orbaitzeta and Eugi, as well as the Spanish navy's mast store at Irati, fell to the French. However, the onset of winter weather and the outbreak of disease caused operations to be suspended for the year. A final clash occurred at
Bergara on 7 November in which the French inflicted losses of 150 killed and 200 men and one cannon captured on a 4,000-man division led by
Cayetano Pignatelli, 3rd Marquis of Rubí. The town was sacked, but a detachment of the territorial militia, led by
Gabriel Mendizabal, who was to be promoted to general during the
Peninsular War, managed to recapture it. ==Conclusion==