The weather having become more clear, the army advanced in the middle of February, and on the 24th the hussar brigade proceeded to the bank of the Gave d'Oléron, in the expectation of being engaged. Captain Fraser and twelve men of the Seventh passed the river under a heavy fire, and were followed by Captain Verner's squadron, for the purpose of supporting a body of infantry which had crossed the stream and were seriously engaged; but the enemy being in force, and the ground such that cavalry could not act, the squadron was re-called. The enemy abandoning his position, the regiment crossed the river in pursuit, and halted at the village of Boren.
Marshal Soult concentrated his forces behind the Pau at Orthes; the allies advanced to attack him; and the Seventh Hussars, having crossed the river, were engaged in driving the enemy from his position on the 27th of February. About 10 o'clock the regiment was ordered to cover the sixth division and the guns; and when the French gave way, it dashed forward in pursuit, and by a brilliant charge it overthrew a body of opponents, and took sixty prisoners: this occurred about 3 o'clock. Shortly afterwards the regiment was again ordered to charge, and being led forward by Colonel Kerrison with signal gallantry, it was once more successful, and sixteen officers, with about seven hundred men, were made prisoners. The Marquis of Wellington observed in his public despatch: "Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton took advantage of the only opportunity which occurred, to charge with Major-General Lord Edward Somerset's brigade in the neighbourhood of Sault de Navailles, where the enemy had been driven from the high road by Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill. The Seventh Hussars distinguished themselves upon this occasion, and made many prisoners."
The regiment had four men and five horses killed; Major William Thornhill, Captain P. A. Heyliger, Lieutenant Robert Douglas, nine men, and eleven horses wounded.
After the battle of Orthes the Seventh Hussars were employed a short time at Villeneuve de Marsan, in the department of the Landes; also at Roquefort and Captieux, in protecting the rear of the army from the depredations of parties of brigands. From these quarters the regiment advanced, and rejoining the army near Toulouse, supported the infantry in the action at that place on the 10th of April.
When the French withdrew from Toulouse, the regiment moved forward and was employed in the out-post duty.
At length hostilities were terminated by the abdication of Bonaparte and the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty. Thus a war of unprincipled aggression, begun in acts of fraud and perfidy, and carried on with treachery, cruelty, and rapine, ended with the downfall of its author, and the humiliation and dispersion of his boasted invincible legions.
After the termination of hostilities, the regiment reposed a month in village cantonments; and on the 1st of June commenced its march for Boulogne, where it embarked for England, and, after landing, it marched to Romford, and in September to Brighton. Its services were subsequently rewarded with the honour of bearing the word "Peninsula" upon its appointments.
1815
Riots having occurred in London towards the end of February and in the beginning of March, 1815, in consequence of the introduction into Parliament of a bill to regulate the importation of grain, the Seventh Hussars were suddenly ordered to proceed thither from Brighton.