The Cortes had regulated Ferdinand’s route; and as it was understood that he would proceed by the line prescribed for him, which was straight by way of Valencia, the Governors of Barcelona, Tortosa, and Murviedro, received instructions to commit no hostilities when he should pass. But Ferdinand was in no haste to proceed; he needed time for consideration, and for such rest as the critical position in which he now found himself would allow: he halted, therefore, a few days at Gerona. On the 30th, he passed through the blockading army in front of Barcelona, the enemy firing a salute, the allies receiving him with all honours, and the people with every possible manifestation of joy. It was believed that he was proceeding to Valencia; but, altering his intention on the way, he made for Zaragoza, meaning to remain there till he should have determined how to act.

This restoration Buonaparte regarded at this time with indifference; but there was nothing which he dreaded so much as the progress of that feeling which had manifested itself at Bourdeaux; for peace, upon some terms, he thought himself always sure of obtaining, as long as the allies forbore to take up the cause of the Bourbons. Soult saw how likely it was that this feeling should spread from the Gironde to the Loire, and had resolved upon carrying the war back toward the Pyrenees, more with the view of occupying the English force at a distance from those parts in which he knew that the existing tyranny was borne with most impatience, than for the sake of the succours which he could draw from Catalonia. Not being acquainted with the success of Marshal Beresford’s movement upon Bourdeaux, he expected thus to frustrate it, and that Lord Wellington would find it necessary to recall all the detachments which he had sent in that direction. He had, indeed, written to the Minister at War, saying he did not think the British General would dare to weaken himself by sending a force against that city. With this intention, he resumed the offensive; and, having sent most of his encumbrances to Toulouse, moved ♦Suchet, t. 2. Pièces Justif, pp. 530–2.♦ by Lembege to Conchez and Viella, on the right flank of the allies, drove in Sir Rowland’s piquets, and made a demonstration as if intending to ♦March 13.♦ attack him with his whole force. Sir Rowland, upon this, took a position behind the Gros Lees, extending ♦He retreats upon Tarbes.♦ from Aire to Garlin, on the road to Pau. Lord Wellington quickly moved two divisions to his support, and prepared to concentrate the army in the neighbourhood of Aire. Marshal Soult did not then feel himself strong enough to venture upon an attack, and not finding his situation secure, retired in the night toward Lembege, keeping his advanced posts toward Conchez; and on the 15th, he halted his main body in position near Burosse, covered by a strong rear-guard at Mascarras; but, on the approach of a single brigade, they retired upon Vic Bigorre, not offering to maintain their ground, though in a country peculiarly defensible. The various detachments which Lord Wellington had sent out, and the reserves of cavalry and artillery from Spain, did not join him till the 17th. On the morrow the army marched; the right by Conchez, ♦Colonel Jones’s Account, 2. 262.♦ the centre by Castelnau, the left by Plaisance; and Sir Rowland drove in the enemy’s outposts upon Lembege. The French retired in the night, but held a strong rear-guard in front of Vic Bigorre, posted in the vineyards that encircle that town, and extend for several miles around it. There they made a stand, with a show of resolution which was not supported; for Sir Thomas Picton, with the 3rd division and Major-General Bock’s Portugueze brigade, attacked them there, dislodged, and drove them through the vineyards and through the town. The allied army then assembled at Vic Bigorre and Rabastens, and the enemy retired during the night upon Tarbes.

Buonaparte had rested in this city on his way to Bayonne in 1808, when the treachery which he had plotted for the usurpation of Spain was about to be consummated: a monument had been erected here in commemoration of this imperial visit; and now that journey had in consequence brought thither a victorious enemy’s army. So different, too, were the feelings of the inhabitants toward him from what they had been, that when Soult sent General Maransin thither before him to raise a levy en masse throughout the department, they refused to take arms. Here, on the morning of the 20th, the French were found, having the advanced posts of their left in the town, their right upon the heights near the windmill of Oleac, and their centre and left retired, the latter upon the heights near Angor. The allies marched in two columns from Vic Bigorre and Rabastens; and Lord Wellington directed Sir Henry Clinton, with the 6th division, to turn and attack their right, through the village of Dour, while Sir Rowland attacked the town by the high road. Sir Henry’s movement was completely successful: Baron Alten, also, with the light division, drove the enemy from the heights above Orleix: and when Sir Rowland had moved through the town and disposed his columns for the attack, they retired in all directions. The troops ascended the position which had been thus relinquished, thinking to pursue their advantage; but having gained the summit, they unexpectedly discovered a large portion of Soult’s army, formed on a parallel height of great strength, and the body which had retreated before them, about 15,000 in number, ascending to join their comrades. This new position could not be attacked without incurring severe loss; and to preserve the advantages which had been obtained, it was necessary that the corps from Rabastens should move further forward. But before this arrangement could be completed, the evening closed, and Marshal Soult, once more taking advantage of night to cover his movements, retired toward Toulouse. There are two roads from Tarbes to that city, by S. Gaudens, and by Auch; Soult retreated by the first, but having collected his troops at St. Gaudens, crossed the country from thence to Auch. He had previously sent off all his remaining encumbrances; and marching with all possible celerity, that he might profit at Toulouse by the time which he gained upon his pursuers, and destroying the bridges as he went, he entered that city on the 24th, having suffered no other loss during the pursuit than that of some prisoners, taken by General Fane in an attack upon his rear-guard at St. Gaudens on the 22nd.

Once more Lord Wellington’s operations were impeded by heavy and continued rains; he had to carry with him a pontoon train, as well as most of his supplies; and it was not till three days after the French army had entered Toulouse, that the allies halted on the left of the Garonne, opposite that city. ♦March 27.♦ On the following day, Lord Wellington ordered a bridge to be laid at Portet, a village immediately below the junction of the Ariege, and above the city. The current was so rapid, that the sheer line could not without much difficulty be stretched across; and when this was effected the distance was found to be twenty-six yards more than the pontoons would cover. It was desirable to obtain a passage above the city; for in that case Soult must either abandon Toulouse, or lose the hope of being joined by Suchet, now, though late in his movements, on the march to join him; ... a tardiness not imputable to that skilful commander, but to the unwillingness with which Buonaparte consented to give up any object of his ambition. Three days after the failure of the first attempt, a place was found near Roques, where the river was not too wide, and the spot in other respects favourable; here, ♦March 31.♦ therefore, the pontoons were laid down, and Sir Rowland’s corps crossed, and seized the bridge over the Ariege at Cintegabelle; but after an anxious trial of some hours, it was ascertained that from thence to Toulouse there was no way passable for an army; and that till finer weather should have hardened the roads, it would be impracticable to direct an attack from the upper side of the town. The corps therefore repassed the Garonne; and it then became Lord Wellington’s object to bridge the river below the city, and attack Soult in front before he should be reinforced. A favourable bend in the stream was discovered about two miles above Grenade, at a point where the Garonne skirts the ♦April 4th.♦ main road: here some flanking batteries were established before daybreak on the 4th; but owing to some accidental delay, it was five o’clock before the first pontoon was brought to the water’s edge. A few of the enemy’s cavalry were patrolling on the right bank, and their whole army was within a short march: the patroles retired, and it was expected every moment ♦Suchet, Pièces Justif. p. 536.♦ that some attempt would be made to oppose the passage. Marshal Soult, indeed, had assured Suchet that whenever the passage should be effected, he would march and give the allies battle, whatever might be the disproportion of his force; but of this he thought more wisely when the time came, and his whole attention was now engaged in strengthening a position so advantageous in itself, that with the labour and skill now employed in fortifying it, he thought he might there safely defy even such an enemy as Lord Wellington. The river at this point was 127 yards wide, and exceedingly rapid; the bridge however was finished in four hours; and just before it was completed the day became beautifully fine. The right bank is some fifty feet high, the other considerably lower; and on that side there was a plain of open wood, after a rise of about twelve feet. A few men had previously been sent over in small boats, and posted in this wood. The cavalry passed in single files, the infantry by threes, the bands playing “British Grenadiers,” and the “Downfall of Paris,” ... not knowing that at that time Paris had indeed fallen, and the allied sovereigns were in possession of it. Unopposed as the passage was, it had the appearance rather of some festival display, than of an actual military operation; the people from the neighbouring villages had by this time collected to behold it, ... with so little fear or dislike were the allies regarded by the inhabitants; and when the horse artillery crossed, the peasants volunteered their aid, and pulled the guns up the bank with all possible alacrity.

The more concerned spectators were not without fear for the bridge; it had been made fast by four stays to trees on either side, but the strength of the current was such that it was soon forced into the shape of a bow. Marshal Beresford passed with three divisions of infantry and some cavalry; but when Freyre’s Spaniards and the light division should have followed, the river had increased so much in height and strength, that it was necessary to take up the platform. During the night, it rose two feet; the rain had also recommenced; and on the morrow the centre pontoon was removed, as a measure of precaution, and at length the whole were taken up. The army was thus divided, the main body being still on the left bank, and Soult, if he had thought proper, might have attacked either flank; but he had suffered severely for such an attempt in the battles before Bayonne, when he was more confident and in greater strength.

The extent of Toulouse is disproportionately large with respect to its population, being in length from north to south about two miles, and a mile and quarter in breadth from east to west; while the inhabitants were computed at not more than 60,000. It has little commerce, though most favourably situated for inland communication: but it flourished as a provincial capital: formerly it was second only to Paris in size. The houses, and even the cathedral, are built of brick, which is very unusual in France: the latter edifice, therefore, though remarkable for its magnitude, is neither beautiful nor grand; for a structure composed of such mean materials can produce no impression of grandeur, unless it be like the pyramids in size. That cathedral boasted of possessing the bodies of no fewer than seven Apostles, one of them being a duplicate of Santiago. The Dorade church derived its name from a gilt image of Notre Dame, the reputed work of St. Luke, who is better known in Roman Catholic countries as an artist in this line, or as a painter, than by his Gospel. The Dominicans exhibited a less doubtful relic in their church, the body of St. Thomas Aquinas, authenticated by himself in ghostly person, and brought to that city, after numerous adventures, with 10,000 lighted tapers, and 150,000 people in procession. Devout or curious persons were formerly indulged by a sight of the head, which had been fitted to a half-body of silver; upon opening a plate at the top, the real skull was to be seen, and, under circumstances of special favour, kissed by adoring lips. Few places in France afford more subject for reflective thought. It was the capital of a great Gothic kingdom, till the last of its kings was overthrown by Clovis. The pulpit is still preserved there from which St. Bernard preached the crusade. Poetry flourished there in those ages when it stood most in need of patronage and culture; and the city, under its own Counts, was then the seat of religious liberty as well as of literature. Its Floral Games may still remind us of the Gay Science of the Troubadours; but the freedom of opinion and the truths of religion for which Toulouse made so heroic and so virtuous a stand were succeeded there, as in the Catholic Netherlands, by that victorious bigotry of the deepest die which eats into the soul; and, down to the revolution, a festival was yearly observed there in commemoration of the destruction of the Albigenses. That name must ever bring with it painful reflections to an Englishman’s mind, when he remembers the history of a papal crusade under an English leader: and, looking to much later times, never were blind superstition and legal iniquity seen in such accursed combination as here, in the case of Calas; never, in human history, was a judicial murder accomplished with circumstances of such peculiar barbarity and injustice, ... circumstances so monstrous, that they could not be believed, if it were possible to deny or doubt them.

Marshal Soult had retreated upon Toulouse less for the sake of the abundant supplies which it afforded him, than because of the singular advantages that its situation offered as a defensible position. The canal of Brienne (so called after the Cardinal Archbishop of that name), and which is broad enough for several barges to lie on it abreast, connects the Garonne with the great canal of Languedoc about two miles from the town, the navigation of the river being impeded in that part of its course by a weir for the use of the corn-mills. The whole western side is protected by the river; on the east and north the canal covers it; and on the south, the only part which was not covered by the river, could be approached only by roads impassable for artillery, and was therefore so secure, that Soult, who omitted no means of defence, deemed it wholly unnecessary to erect any works on that side. There were formerly three bridges over the Garonne: the single one which is left connects the city with the Fauxbourg St. Cyprien; and the enemy had fortified that suburb with strong field-works in front of the old walls. The walls were high, thick enough for defence in old times, and flanked by towers. The communication across the canal was covered by têtes-de-pont, defended by various buildings which had now been fortified for that purpose, and by artillery from the walls. East of the city is a range of bold heights extending along the space between the canal and the river Ers; over these heights all the roads from the eastward pass, and here Marshal Soult had taken his position, having fortified the summit with five redoubts, with various lines of intrenchment to support them, and to connect the flanks of the ground with the defences of the town. The left and centre being the points which he considered most assailable, were thus strengthened; toward the right, where the line approached the Ers, the river itself was sufficient defence. He flattered himself that his determination to defend Toulouse had astounded Lord Wellington, because four days elapsed after the passage of the river, and the allies had undertaken nothing. But the bad weather, he said, might have occasioned this delay; and expecting an attack, not without an ominous feeling of its result, he wrote to Marshal Suchet, saying that, in case of being compelled to retire, he should draw nearer to him, and that it would be for the advantage of both, if Suchet would make a diversion by the shortest line upon the Upper Garonne.

Formidable as this position was, it was necessary to attack the enemy there; Lord Wellington had no alternative, the roads from Ariege being impracticable for artillery, and even for horse. On the 8th the stream had subsided enough for the pontoons to be again laid down; the head-quarters then, and General Freyre with the Spanish corps and the Portugueze artillery, crossed the Garonne, and immediately moved forward to the neighbourhood of the town. Colonel Vivian, with the 18th hussars, had here an opportunity of attacking some cavalry, which, though superior in number, they drove through the village of Croix d’Aurade, taking about 100 prisoners, and pursuing them so closely, that they had not time to destroy the bridge over the Ers, the only one which had been left standing, and by which it was necessary to pass in order to attack the position; Colonel Vivian was severely wounded in this charge. That attack was designed for the following day; but Sir Rowland’s corps was on the left of the Garonne, in front of the suburb St. Cyprien; the pontoon bridge was too far off for that ready communication which might be required during the action; orders were therefore given for moving it a league higher up, near Ausonne. Some unexpected difficulties occurred in laying it; it was not completed till after mid-day, and the attack was, therefore, deferred till the following morning, being Easter Sunday: long will that Easter be remembered at Toulouse.

Lord Wellington’s arrangements were that Marshal Beresford, who was on the right of the Ers with the 4th and 6th divisions, should cross that river at the bridge of Croix d’Aurade, gain possession of the village of Montblanc, and march up the left of the Ers to turn the enemy’s right, while the Spaniards supported by the British cavalry should attack their front. Sir Stapleton was to follow the Marshal’s movements with Lord Edward Somerset’s brigade of hussars; and Vivian’s brigade, now under Colonel Arentschild, was to observe the enemy’s cavalry on both banks of the Ers, beyond the left of the allies. On the lower part of the canal, Picton and Baron Alten, with the 3rd and light divisions, and the brigade of German cavalry, were to threaten the tête-de-pont, and so draw the enemy’s attention to that quarter; and Sir Rowland was to do the same on the side of St. Cyprien.

The business of this dreadful day commenced about seven o’clock, when Sir Thomas Picton drove in the French piquets in front of Pont Jumeau, at the point where the Canal de Brienne joins that of Languedoc; the action became warm here, and the enemy retiring, set fire to a fine large chateau, in the cypress avenues of which they had sought in vain to cover themselves. To the left of this division the light division extended nearly to the road to Alby, by which road Freyre’s army advanced, in two columns, and formed in front of Croix d’Aurade, near a hill on which Lieutenant-Colonel Arentschild’s Portugueze guns, protected by General Ponsonby’s brigade of cavalry, were advantageously placed to cover their movements. Marshal Beresford, with the 4th and 6th divisions, under Sir Lowry Cole and Sir Henry Clinton, advanced also by the Alby road, turned off to their left at Croix d’Aurade, toward the village of Montblanc, carried the village, and proceeded up the left bank of the Ers, in three open columns, along the foot of the heights, over difficult ground, which was much intersected with deep ditches and hollow roads. Upon their march they were exposed to a heavy cannonade from all the guns of the enemy’s works; and those guns throughout the day were served with great spirit and correctness, Toulouse having been an artillery school since the Revolution. Beresford’s artillery was left at Montblanc because of the badness of the roads; it was posted there on some low ground, in front of the village, and kept up a fire upon the works on the heights of Pujade. The Spaniards advanced in good order to assault these works, which formed the left of the enemy’s position, and which Clausel and Villatte occupied with their divisions, having a brigade of cavalry in their front. They advanced across the valley with great bravery under a most severe fire: a brigade of their own troops, and one of British heavy dragoons, had been formed in reserve in the rear, and Gardiner’s troop of artillery was brought up to their left to answer the enemy’s. At first they drove before them a brigade of French, but as they approached the intrenchment, a heavy fire of grape was poured upon them with full effect, and to escape it they pushed forward with inconsiderate speed, ... the nimblest outrunning their comrades, in such disorder that before the first line arrived at a hollow road some fifty yards in front of the intrenchment, it was completely broken. The reserve, as if deterred rather than instructed by this error, fell into the opposite fault, and came on so slowly as not to be near enough for supporting them, when the French advanced against them vigorously, and drove them down the hill, and in spite of the utmost exertions of Freyre and the superior officers, were on the point of seizing the bridge over the Ers, in which, if they had succeeded, Beresford’s troops would have been isolated. But the 1st Portugueze Caçadores, forming part of Baron Alten’s light division, moved opportunely to their left, and advancing through the flying Spaniards, rallied them, and caused the enemy to halt in their pursuit: a squadron of British dragoons, who were still more in their rear, turned others, by striking them with the flat side of their swords; and Lord Wellington himself, the moment he saw them give way, galloped to the spot, and by his personal exertions rallied about a company of them, near the cypress trees on the Alby road. They suffered greatly in their flight, and the consequences might have been worse if the enemy had followed up the advantage with spirit. The great exertions of General Freyre, and of the staff officers, Mendizabal and Barcena among others, formed them again sooner than might have been expected after such a failure, and they were again placed in position, from which they afterwards moved to their left in support of the 6th division; but they were not again brought into serious action.

This was not the only time at which the circumstances of the day turned in favour of the enemy. Picton saw that a great advantage might be gained at this moment by pushing across the canal, while the enemy were engaged so far in front; and thinking to profit by the opportunity, having driven them within their tête-de-pont at Pont Jumeau, he attempted, contrary to his instructions, to carry it. It was not till the assailants were on the counterscarp that they discovered the formidable nature of the works, which had been regularly formed, and with the greatest possible care; an assault, indeed, was impracticable; they were exposed to a heavy fire of musketry in front, and to a numerous artillery in their flank, and nothing but a speedy retreat could have saved them from destruction. Lieutenant-Colonel Forbes was killed here, and Major-General Brisbane wounded.

Meantime Beresford was more successful. The 4th and 6th divisions moved on till they came opposite to the points of attack assigned them; there they halted, and formed in three lines. Sir Lowry advanced against the extreme right of the enemy’s line, where General Leseur guarded the heights of Montaudran with one brigade, having General Berton’s cavalry in his front, on the road to Bordes: and Sir Henry moved up, in front, to attack the redoubts on Mount Calvinet, which were occupied by Harispe’s division, now considerably reinforced with the troops whom the repulse of the Spaniards had rendered disposable for this service. The face of the heights was irregular and steep, yet the 6th division steadily ascended under a severe fire of artillery, to which at every step they were exposed. A body of cavalry made many serious attacks on their right flank when they had gained the summit: the 79th formed into a square, received the charge, and totally routed them; and the troops drove back everything that opposed them, carried with the bayonet the principal redoubt on the right, and established themselves on the crest of the position. Sir Lowry on his part, though menaced by Berton’s cavalry on his left, and opposed by infantry in front, made his way successfully up, and having driven the enemy from the heights beyond the right of the intrenchment, took up ground on the left of Sir Henry Clinton, just before noon.

Two divisions of the allies were thus formed on the heights; but their artillery which had been left at Montblanc was not yet brought up, and the enemy meantime moved in force toward the points which were now threatened. The whole face of the hill is intersected with deep hollow roads; and the soil is a stiff heavy clay, in which at this time horses could with difficulty move out of a ♦Précis Historique, P. 2. p. 61.♦ walk: the French, therefore, had laid planks from one of their works to another, on which their artillery could rapidly be moved wherever it was most needed. During the interval which elapsed before Beresford’s guns arrived, they had time to effect this removal from their left, on the heights of Pujade, to those of Calvinet; and General Taupin’s division was moved to the same point from the Fauxbourg S. Cyprien, (where Reille commanded with Maransin under him) when it was perceived that no serious attack was intended ♦Ib. p. 47.♦ against that suburb. The roofs and steeples of Toulouse were at this time covered with spectators, who, whatever their hopes and fears might be for the issue of the battle, execrated Marshal Soult for bringing the war thus to their own doors, and exposing a populous city to its horrors. About one, Beresford was joined by his artillery; and the 4th and 6th divisions advanced steadily in line against the redoubts on the heights of Calvinet. Soult thought he could overpower Sir Henry’s division by a vigorous attack both in front and flank, before Sir Lowry’s could come up to its support; with this view the French pushed forward beyond their works to meet the assailants, Clausel and Taupin against the front of the 6th division, Leseur’s brigade and Berton’s cavalry against its flank. They could receive no support from the fire of their intrenchments in this advance; it became, therefore, a trial of courage; and the brave movement was as bravely met: Sir Henry Clinton, instead of waiting to receive the attack, pushed forward and met it with the bayonet; and his charge was a most determined and successful one. General Taupin was killed. The French were not only broken but routed; and General Pack’s brigade carried the two principal redoubts and fortified houses in the enemy’s centre. They made a desperate effort from the canal to recover these redoubts; and a Scotch battalion, which was placed in the interior of one, was nearly exhausted in defending it, when a brigade came in good time to their assistance, charged the French, and drove them down the hill. The enemy then formed their two routed divisions and General Rouget’s brigade in a line from the heights of Pujade to Pont des Demoiselles, a bridge over the canal on the Montaudran road; from thence they made a second attempt in great force to recover that redoubt, which they looked upon as the key of the position; and the English, seeing them approach, planted their colours on the parapet in defiance. The French soldiers never throughout the whole war displayed more courage, nor more of that intelligence, which is their peculiar praise, than on this day; and in no part of the action did they behave better than in this attack, where they knew that they had support at hand, and, if need were, a sure retreat. To that need they were driven by men who exceeded them in cool and patient courage, a courage depending less upon excitement than upon constitution; and after many and strenuous efforts they were finally repulsed with great loss.

The victorious division continued its movement along the ridge; and the Spaniards, brought into a serviceable position, though not into action, made a corresponding movement upon the front. The enemy did not wait to be assaulted in their remaining works: they withdrew from them gradually, and removed their artillery by the hollow road across the bridge over the canal. By four o’clock the action was at an end; and the allies, having accomplished the object of the day, were with their artillery formed on the hills, looking down on the city; the French occupying in strength an intermediate rising ground. Sir Rowland on his side had done all that was assigned him; he had driven the enemy from their exterior works in the suburb, and made them retire within the ancient wall. This had had the intended effect of distracting them, and keeping one of their divisions employed.

The loss in this severe action was very great; that of the British being in killed and wounded 2124, of the Portugueze 607, of the Spaniards 1983, in all above 47009. The brunt of the action fell on the 6th division, which had 13 officers killed and 88 wounded. General Pack was wounded, but remained in the field. Lieutenant-Colonel Coghlan was killed; Mendizabal and Espalata wounded. The loss of the enemy was not known; but from the circumstances of their position they are believed to have suffered less than the allies: their dead lay in full view of the city, and they asked leave on the following day to bury them. General Lamorandiere was killed. Generals Harispe, Baurot, and S. Hilaire were wounded and made prisoners. Only one gun was taken in the position; the rest of the enemy withdrew in time. Soult’s force had consisted of not less than 36,000 men, that of Lord Wellington’s was numerically little greater.

At night every post of the French was withdrawn within their intrenched line behind the canal. The only remaining bridge over the Ers was in possession of the allies, and the road from that over the Garonne was guarded by Sir Rowland: Toulouse was thus closed on three sides, and preparations were made for completing the investment. There was a want of ammunition, so much had been expended in the action; the reserve therefore was ordered up from Aire and Orthes; and shot were collected from the field of battle, the men searching for them at a fixed price. The inhabitants had now the miseries of a blockade before them, or the fear of having their lines forced, and the city at the mercy of an enemy’s army. Above all, they dreaded the rockets, which it was falsely reported would be discharged against the town; but so far was Lord Wellington from entertaining any such purpose, that though some heavy guns were fired from the ramparts, not a shot was directed against the city in return. It was said that Marshal Soult hesitated what part to take; whether to hold Toulouse, in the likelihood of obtaining some great advantage by bringing his forces out in a mass against any part of a line widely extended, and occupied by a force little more numerous than his own; or, retiring toward Carcassonne, to effect a junction with Suchet. General d’Armagnac is said to have advised this course, in consideration of the inhabitants, and they blessed him for it; for Soult, whom they hated, and whom they openly accused of extortion and rapacity, followed the advice: a considerable body of his troops left the city on the night after the battle, leaving their wounded, 1600 in number, much of their artillery, and stores of all descriptions in large quantities.

The allies entered Toulouse not as conquerors, but as friends and deliverers, amid cries of “Vivent les Anglois!” “Vive le Roi!” “Vivent nos liberateurs!” It was known officially at this time that the allied armies were in possession of Paris; and, though it was uncertain what measures might be taken with respect to the government of France, the wishes of the people were loudly declared, and the white flag hoisted. That same evening Colonel Cooke arrived from Paris to inform Lord Wellington that the allied Sovereigns had declared they would enter into no fresh negotiations with Buonaparte, because of his bad faith; that the Senate had passed resolutions declaring he had forfeited all right to the crown, and absolving the soldiers and the nation from their oaths of allegiance; finally, that he had submitted to their decree, and was permitted to retire to Elba, with the independent sovereignty of that island. Colonel St. Simon accompanied the British officer, charged with the same communication from the Provisional Government to Marshals Soult and Suchet. It was in the theatre that this news was published, for the theatre was not closed that night: the dead were lying all around the walls; the hospitals and many of the houses were filled with wounded, all of whom were not yet brought in: the inhabitants themselves had been, by the mercy of Providence, spared from the horrors of an assault, of a blockade which would speedily have caused famine, and from the evils of fire and sword which they had apprehended; and it was the theatre at Toulouse that was opened, not the churches!... But the play was altered, and Richard Cœur de Lion was represented, for the sake of its applicable passages and songs. Nothing could exceed the cheering at these passages, except the bursts of applause with which Lord Wellington was received and greeted whenever he moved: only those who know the French character, said one who was present, could imagine the excessive joy of the people; they shouted and wept, and shouted again. In the midst of this exultation, an unusual tumult announced something new; and a person in black, attended by many candles, and having a paper in his hand, appeared in one of the side boxes, struggling for room, and endeavouring to obtain a hearing. Many minutes elapsed before even the eagerness of their own expectation could still that vociferous audience sufficiently for the magistrate to make himself heard; ♦Louis XVIII. proclaimed.♦ nor was anything then audible except that he announced the abdication of Buonaparte, and the proclamation of Louis XVIII.

Here it might have been hoped that the bloody account ♦Sally of the French from Bayonne.♦ of this long war had closed; even this last bloodshed might have been spared if, through some great treachery or inexcusable neglect, there had not been either delay in sending off tidings of the cessation of hostilities, or in impeding them upon the road; for the courier, who was dispatched on the first of the month, ought to have arrived a week before the battle; indeed suspicions were expressed in the Moniteur that orders and dispatches had been intercepted, with the view of giving Marshal Soult an opportunity of retrieving the reputation of the French armies by fighting in a position which he thought inexpugnable. Colonels Cooke and S. Simon had passed through Bourdeaux, and advice was dispatched from thence to Sir John Hope before Bayonne, while they proceeded to Toulouse. As this advice was not official, Sir John did not think proper to notify it officially to General Thouvenot, till he should receive orders from Lord Wellington; but he caused it to be communicated to the French officers at their advanced piquets, in the hope and expectation that it might prevent any hostilities in the mean time. The intimation seems to have produced a very different effect. On the night of the 13th, two deserters came from the town, and gave information that the garrison were to make a sortie in great strength early on the morrow. The first division, upon this, was ordered to ♦April 14.♦ arms at three in the morning; and in a few minutes afterward a feint attack was made upon the outposts in front of Anglet. But it soon appeared that the chief effort would be on the right of the Adour. Parties from the citadel crept up the hill on which the piquets were stationed, took them almost by surprise, and instantly two columns rushed forward with loud cheers, and by their numbers broke through the line of piquets between St. Etienne and St. Bernard; another strong column advancing at the same time against the former village. The line of outposts through this village, and along the heights towards Boucaut, was marked by a road worn in some places to a deep hollow way, and in others bounded by high garden-walls, so that it was not easy to get out of it, except where gaps at long intervals had been broken down for the passage of the troops. The piquets, therefore, were cut off from their supports; and, fighting with desperate animosity on both sides, heaps of slain were found here, both French and English, mostly killed with the bayonet. Sir John Hope, hastening with his staff, in the early part of the attack, to St. Etienne, entered this road, as the shortest way, not aware that great part of it was in the enemy’s possession, and that the piquets of the right flank had fallen back when the line of outposts had been pierced. As soon as he discovered this, he endeavoured to retire; but having been in front himself, with his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Moore, and Captain Herries of the Quarter-Master-General’s department, they were consequently the last in retiring; and before they could get out of this hollow way, the French came up within a few yards, and began firing. Sir John’s horse was struck with three balls, and falling dead, brought his rider to the ground. Captain Herries and Lieutenant ♦Sir J. Hope taken prisoner.♦ Moore dismounted to assist him, for his foot was under the dead horse; but the first of these officers was instantly brought down himself severely wounded, and the latter had his right arm shattered; the General was also wounded in the arm; and the French coming immediately up, made them all three prisoners. As they were carrying them to Bayonne, Sir John received a second and severe wound in the foot, from a ball which was supposed to come from his own piquets. Major-General Hay was in command of the outposts for the night; and having just given directions that the church of St. Etienne should be defended till the last, he was killed shortly after the attack commenced. The enemy, having here a great superiority of numbers, got into the village towards the left, and obtained possession of the whole, except one house, which Captain Foster of the 38th occupied with a piquet, and bravely maintained, though the greater part of his men were killed or wounded, till a brigade of the German Legion retook the village.

It had been supposed that the French would make it their main object to destroy the bridge, which would have been the only reasonable or justifiable object of such a sortie in that state of the siege, when neither stores nor artillery were on the ground, nor the works commenced. To guard against this, Lord Saltoun had intrenched the convent of St. Bernard, and with great ability converted it into a respectable little fortress; and Colonel Maitland now formed the first brigade of Guards on the heights above it, to charge the enemy in flank, should he advance toward the bridge. But, though their gun-boats came down the river, and opened a heavy flanking cannonade, no attempt was made on the bridge by water; and it was soon perceived that they had as little intention of attacking it by land, their efforts being wholly directed against the centre of the countervallation opposite to the citadel. Major-General Howard now directed Maitland to support the right flank, and Major-General Stopford, with the 2nd brigade of guards, to co-operate in recovering the ground between that flank and St. Etienne; that officer was soon after wounded, and the command of the brigade fell to General Guise.

The night was very dark; but the French from time to time sent up blue lights from the citadel, obtaining light enough thereby to direct their guns, of which nearly 70 were constantly firing to support their attack. Some of their shells and fire-balls fell upon the depôt of fascines, and several houses also were set on fire by the same means. These partial illuminations made the darkness deeper in those places to which the light did not extend; and the guards when they approached the French line could distinguish it only by the fire of musketry from behind the hedges and walls. They were directed to lie down and wait till orders could be communicated to the Coldstream guards, under Lieutenant-Colonel Woodford, who were to charge simultaneously for recovering the old position in the hollow road. Meanwhile they kept close to the ground, for the eminence on which they were was so exposed to the citadel, that had they stood up for a few minutes they must have been nearly destroyed: but when the signal was given they rose and rushed forward; the Coldstream charged on the opposite flank at the same moment, and the contest on this part of the line was decided by this well-combined attack: the French ran with all speed lest their retreat should be intercepted; and they suffered from a most destructive fire which both battalions poured upon them as they retired over the glacis of the citadel. When also they were driven out of St. Etienne by the German Legion, a field-piece was brought to bear on their columns, and thirteen rounds of grape and canister were fired at them with dreadful effect as they retreated down the great road into St. Esprit. The moon rose toward the close of the action; and, as day broke, French and English were seen lying on all sides, killed or wounded, and so intermixed, that there seemed to have been no distinct line belonging to either party. The loss was severe on both sides: on the part of the allies 143 were killed, 452 wounded, and 231 made prisoners; the loss of the French amounted to 913, of whom only twenty were prisoners.

During the short truce which took place on the outposts when the engagement was over, the British officers expressed their regret that so many brave men should thus uselessly have been sacrificed; and they were justly disgusted at the heartless levity with which the French officers affected to treat the affair, saying it had been nothing more than a petite promenade militaire! Under all circumstances it seemed indeed to have been planned less in a military spirit than with a feeling of bitter enmity; made as it was when the French had reason to know that the war was at an end, ... and when, if it had been otherwise, no object but that of the immediate slaughter could be effected, there being no works to be destroyed, no cannon to be spiked; and when whatever ♦Batty’s Campaign, 158, 165.♦ loss might have been inflicted could not have been so great as to prevent or delay the operations of the siege. Major-General Colville, on whom the command devolved, landed his guns, and made preparations upon a scale which, if hostilities had been renewed, would, in all human probability, in the course of a very few weeks have added Bayonne to the British conquests. But no new conquest, no farther victories were needed for the honour of the British name. The reputation of the English soldiers had not been higher in the days of the Black Prince, nor that of a British commander in the days of Marlborough.

Colonels Cooke and S. Simon made no tarriance in Toulouse, but hastened on to inform Marshal Soult of Buonaparte’s deposition, and the consequent termination of the war. The Marshal discovered no willingness to acquiesce in the new order of things; the information, he said, came to him without any character of authenticity, nevertheless, inasmuch as Lord Wellington seemed persuaded of its truth, he proposed an armistice, that he might have time to receive from the Emperor’s government official advices, which might direct him how to act. When Colonel Cooke returned to Toulouse with this reply, Lord Wellington dispatched a second letter to Marshal Soult, saying, it appeared to him that Colonel Simon had been sent to the French Marshal by the Provisional Government of France, just as Colonel Cooke had been to him by the British minister who was with the King of Prussia, both bearers of official intelligence; nor could the truth of that intelligence be doubted, nor did it require proof. Without requiring his Excellency to come to a decision, whatever that might be, he himself, he added, must not depart from the line of conduct which the allied sovereigns had pursued in their negotiations at Paris; but were he to consent to an armistice before his Excellency should have followed the example of his companions in arms, and declared his adhesion to the Provisional Government, he should be sacrificing the interest not only of the allies, but of France itself, whom it concerned so much to be saved from a civil war. Meantime Colonel S. Simon proceeded to Marshal Suchet, whom he found at Narbonne with about 12,000 men, all whom he could bring out of Spain. His last act in Catalonia had been to demolish the fortifications of Rosas; Denia and Morella had capitulated; he left garrisons blockaded in Figueras, Hostalric, Barcelona, Tortosa, Murviedro, and Peñiscola, in which latter place the governor with his staff, and many others, perished by the explosion of a magazine. Marshal Suchet was far from approving the latter movements of Marshal Soult, and from his own dispatches had been led to believe that he could surely have maintained himself at Toulouse. Upon Colonel S. Simon’s arrival, he assembled his superior officers, laid the information before them, and with their unanimous consent sent in the adhesion of the army of Aragon and Catalonia. Soult had now no choice; the allies were moving against ♦April 19.♦ him ready to have acted if he had hesitated longer; yielding an unwilling consent, he then acknowledged the Provisional Government, and a convention for the suspension of hostilities was arranged.

Thus was the war concluded, happily for all parties, even for the French, whom nothing but such a series of defeats could have delivered from the tyranny which their former victories had brought upon themselves. It was by the national spirit which had first shown itself in the Peninsula, by the persevering efforts of Great Britain in the peninsular war, the courage of her troops, and the skill of her great commander, that Buonaparte’s fortune had been checked at its height, and successfully resisted, till other governments were encouraged, and other nations roused by the example; and that power, the most formidable which had ever been known in the civilized world, was then beaten down. The independence of Spain and Portugal had been triumphantly vindicated and secured; and if the civil liberties of both countries were not restored, and firmly established upon a sure foundation, the cause is to be found, not in any foreign influence exercised ill, nor in the perverse disposition, nor malignant designs of any individual or set of men, but in old evils which time had rendered inveterate, for which there is no sudden cure, and which when it is attempted to remove them by the knife and the cautery, must ever be rendered worse.