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Mota Castle
San Sebastian, in Spain
San Sebastian, with La Mota Castle on the hilltop of Mount Urgull, by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, Band 1, 1572. Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
Site history
In use	Late 11th century – 19th century
Events	Siege of San Sebastián

La Mota Castle (Castillo de la Mota) is an old fortress in San Sebastian, Spain. The castle's primary defences were its thick walls, its strategic placement on the hilltop of Mount Urgull (Monte Orgullo), and its integration with the city's overall fortifications.

History

Peninsular War

Siege of San Sebastian (7 July – 8 September 1813)

Fortifications at San Sebastian

The defences at San Sebastian in 1813 were a combination of natural and man-made features, with the city's fortifications and La Mota castle on Monte Orgullo being distinct but interconnected defences. Thus, the city's location on a narrow peninsula provided some natural protection, with the estuary of the River Urumea to the east and to the west, "a tiny bay about sixteen hundred yards across at its broadest," further limiting access. Its man-made fortifications included a high wall, eight feet thick, with the bastion of St. Elmo at the north-eastern angle, and the two small towers of Los Hornos and Las Miguetas towards the southern end with a bastion in the centre, "covered by a hornwork, with the usual counterscarp, covered way and glacis; but these works were dominated throughout by the neighbouring heights which were in range of cannon". The hornwork further strengthened the defences on the landward side. The bastions, projecting outward, allowed for flanking fire.

Monte Orgullo itself was protected from assault from the north by deep water and cliffs. Although the castle also had seaward-facing batteries, the landward battery of La Mota, together with two batteries to the right and left of it, "were able from their great elevation to sweep the isthmus from end to end", thereby providing artillery support to the city's defences, while the city walls helped protect the lower slopes of Monte Orgullo. On 8 September, sixty-one British guns and mortars began their bombardment of the castle defences and after two hours, in which all the defences had been levelled to the ground, the French governor, General Rey, surrendered his garrison of some 1,300 troops, plus 450 wounded and the almost 350 Portuguese and British prisoners captured on previous assaults.

References

1. ^ Fortescue, J. W. (1920). A History of the British Army, Vols. IX and X. 1813-1814, p. 225. MacMillan and Co. Ltd.
2. Oman, Charles (1922). A History of the Peninsular War, Vol. 6, September 1, 1812-August 5, 1813, pp. 562-3, Footnote 780. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
3. Oman, Charles (1930). A History of the Peninsular War, Volume VII: August 1813 to April 14, 1814. Google Books. Retrieved 24 December 2024.

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