While the US was fighting the War of 1812 against Britain and British Canada (and doing rather poorly I might add), Britain was heavily engaged against Napoleon’s armies in Spain. I highly recommend this blog!
In 1812 Wellington defeated the French at Salamanca, took Madrid, and then advanced to Burgos. He failed to capture Burgos, and was forced to retreat past Salamanca. Crucially, however, his army retained control of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo in the north and Badajoz in the south.
These two fortresses, known as the keys to Spain, controlled the two invasion routes from Portugal to Spain. In 1812 Wellington had needed to capture them in order to advance further into Spain. In 1813 his task was easier because he already held them.
Additionally, the French forces facing him were weaker because they had been stripped of troops to rebuild the French army in central Europe after the failure of Napoleon’s 1812 Russian Campaign. Wellington had received reinforcements, and had spent the winter and spring training his troops and improving his army’s supply and medical arrangements.
Napoleon thought…
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History and Hobbies 
Thanks for the reblog and the kind words. I should have included a map in the original post, as a map makes it much easier to follow the course of a battle. I have now added a separate post including one:
http://warandsecurity.com/2013/07/01/the-battle-of-vitoria-map/
You are most welcome.
You have found some very interesting sites to re-blog, thanks.