BATTLE OF TOULOUSE. 10th. April, 1814.

This, the last general action of the Peninsula war, was fought on Easter Sunday, the 10th. of April, 1814. The town of Toulouse is surrounded on three sides by the Canal of Languedoc and the Garonne; on the left of that river, the suburb, which the enemy had fortified with strong field-works in front of the ancient wall, formed a good tête-de-pont. The city itself was only accessible from the south, and its strong though old-fashioned walls had been rendered more defensible by redoubts, and by an exterior line of entrenchments on a strong and rugged range of heights, about two miles in length beyond the canal. On the 28th. of March the enemy’s troops were driven within the suburbs of St. Cyprien, and several attempts were made to attack them by crossing the Garonne above Toulouse. Operations were, however, impeded by the floods and rapidity of the river, until the 3rd. of April, when the third, fourth, and sixth divisions, with three brigades of cavalry, under Marshal Beresford, passed over by a pontoon bridge fifteen miles below Toulouse; but the crossing of the remainder of the army was again impeded by the rising of the river, which caused the removal of the bridges, until the 8th., when the Marquis of Wellington crossed, and advanced within five miles of Toulouse; Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, with two divisions, remaining on the left bank.

177The Marquis of Wellington then fixed his plan of attack on the French position, according to which, on the left of the Garonne, Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill was to menace the suburb of St. Cyprien, while on the right of the river the third and light divisions were to menace the northern front, driving the enemy’s outposts within the canal, from its junction with the Garonne to the commencement of the range of heights at the hill of Pugade. A Spanish division was to carry that hill, and the fourth and sixth divisions, under Marshal Beresford, to carry the heights beyond it. On the 10th. of April, at about six o’clock in the morning, the battle commenced, and the different columns advanced according to orders. The third division on the right, next the Garonne, drove in the outposts of the enemy for about three miles, as far as the bridge of Jumeaux on the canal; this bridge was defended by a strong palisade tête-de-pont, too high to be forced without ladders, and approachable only on open flat. Six companies of the 74th., (three under Brevet-Major Miller, and three under Captain McQueen,) were ordered to attack this work, which they did in the most gallant style; but it was commanded from the opposite side of the canal, and was impregnable without artillery; the attacking party was therefore compelled to retire, after sustaining severe loss. The French then occupied the work in great force, and the continued efforts of the whole brigade could not dispossess them. The attack upon this work was unfortunately ordered by Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, after the duty assigned to his division of driving in the outposts and menacing the enemy had been performed, although the impossibility of carrying the work without artillery had been represented.

Marshal Sir William Beresford crossed the Ers, formed his corps in three columns of lines in the village of Croix d’Orade, the fourth division leading, with which he immediately carried Mont Blanc. He then moved up the Ers in the same order, over most difficult ground, in a direction parallel to the enemy’s fortified position, and as soon as he reached the point at which he turned it, he formed his lines, and moved to the attack. The gallant efforts of Lieutenant-General Don 178Manuel Freyre upon the Pugade Hill did not meet with success, but they were highly applauded by the Marquis of Wellington. Meanwhile Marshal Sir William Beresford, with the fourth division under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Lowry Cole, and the sixth division under Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Clinton, attacked and carried the heights on the enemy’s right, and the redoubt which covered and protected that flank; and he lodged those troops on the same heights with the enemy, who were, however, still in possession of four redoubts, and of the entrenchments and fortified houses. The badness of the roads had induced the Marshal to leave his artillery in the village of Mont Blanc; some time elapsed before it could be brought up, and before Lieutenant-General Don Manuel Freyre’s corps could be re-formed and led again to the attack. As soon as this was effected the Marshal continued his movement along the ridge, and carried, with Major-General Pack’s brigade of the sixth division, the two principal redoubts and fortified houses in the French centre. The enemy made a desperate effort from the canal to regain these redoubts, but they were repulsed with considerable loss; and the sixth division continuing its movement along the ridge of the height, and the Spanish troops pursuing a corresponding movement upon the front, the French were driven from the two redoubts and entrenchments on the left, and the whole range of heights were gained by the British.

In his despatch, the Marquis of Wellington added,—“We did not gain this advantage, however, without severe loss, particularly in the brave sixth division. Lieutenant-Colonel Coghlan, of the 61st., an officer of great merit and promise, was unfortunately killed in the attack of the heights; Major-General Pack was wounded, but was enabled to remain in the field; and Colonel Douglas, of the 8th. Portuguese regiment, lost his leg, and I am afraid I shall be deprived for a considerable time of his assistance.”

“The 36th., 42nd., 79th., and 61st. regiments lost considerable numbers, and were highly distinguished throughout the day.

“The fourth division, although exposed on their march 179along the enemy’s front in a galling fire, were not so much engaged as the sixth division, and did not suffer so much; but they conducted themselves with their usual gallantry.”

After these operations the French withdrew behind the canal, and thus ended this hard-fought but unnecessary battle.^[63]

The 5th. Dragoon Guards, 3rd. and 4th. Light Dragoons, 2nd., 5th., 7th., 11th., 20th., 23rd., 27th., 36th., 40th., 42nd., 43rd., 45th., 48th., 52nd., 53rd., 60th., 61st., 74th., 79th., 83rd., 87th., 88th., 91st., 94th., and Rifle Brigade were engaged at Toulouse.

During the night of the 11th. of April, the French troops evacuated Toulouse, and a white flag was hoisted. On the following day the Marquis of Wellington entered the city, amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants. In the course of the afternoon of the 12th. of April, intelligence was received of the abdication of Napoleon, and had not the express been delayed on the journey by the French police, the sacrifice of many valuable lives would have been prevented. A disbelief in the truth of this intelligence occasioned much unnecessary bloodshed at Bayonne, the garrison of which made a desperate sortie on the night of the 14th. of April, and Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope, (afterwards Earl of Hopetoun,) was taken prisoner. Major-General Andrew Hay was killed, and Major-General Stopford was wounded.

A treaty of peace was signed between Great Britain and France; May 30th., 1814, Louis the Eighteenth was restored to the throne of France; and Napoleon Bonaparte was permitted to reside at Elba, with the title of Emperor, the sovereignty of that island having been conceded to him by the allied powers.^[64]

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