On the following day the Thirteenth Dragoons pursued the enemy in the direction of Mont de Marsan; and on the 2nd of March, they were engaged in a slight affair at Ayre.
The British divisions continued to move forward, and the French were everywhere driven before the allied army.
The Thirteenth shared with their old comrades of the "ragged brigade[8]," the gallant Fourteenth, in the advance-duties of the army, which brought them repeatedly into collision with the enemy.
On the 22nd of March, as three troops of the Thirteenth Light Dragoons, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Patrick Doherty, with Major Boyse, Captain Macalister, Lieutenants Doherty, Drought, and Lawrence, and Brigade-Major Dunbar, approached St. Gaudens, four squadrons of French cavalry were discovered drawn up in front of the town. Undismayed by the superior numbers of the enemy, the Thirteenth advanced to the charge, and such was the ardour and determined bravery with which they rushed upon their numerous opponents, that the French horsemen were overthrown at the first shock, and they galloped in disorder through the streets; but they rallied at the other side of the town, and prepared to resist the few British troopers whose audacity they were desirous to punish. The Thirteenth being supported by the Third Dragoon Guards, dashed through the town, and rushing sword in hand upon the French squadrons, broke them in an instant, and pursued them for two miles, cutting many down, and taking above a hundred prisoners, and sixty horses. The ground was covered with cavalry equipments, arms, and dead and wounded men and horses. The conduct of the Thirteenth was highly commended in Major-General Fane's report of this action; the officers and soldiers were also thanked in orders by Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, and the signal gallantry evinced by Captain James Macalister, who commanded the advance on this occasion, was rewarded with the rank of major in the army. The Thirteenth nobly upheld, on this occasion, their well-earned fame as bold horsemen and dexterous swordsmen; and, by their promptitude in rushing to the attack, showed that they possessed the true spirit of good cavalry, adding another to the many proofs they had already given of the insufficiency of the mere preponderance of superior numbers to resist the shock of a determined charge[9].
The Thirteenth Light Dragoons continued to form part of the force in advance in the immediate presence of the enemy; every encounter gave additional proof of the ascendancy which the British troops had acquired over their opponents, and as the war drew towards a close, this became more apparent.
On the 10th of April the enemy's fortified position at Toulouse was attacked. The Thirteenth were at their post, but no opportunity to charge the enemy occurred.
When the French withdrew from Toulouse, the regiment advanced through the town in pursuit, and occupied a chain of posts in front of the allied army.
The war was soon afterwards terminated by the treaty of Paris, and the Bourbon family was restored to the throne of France.
Thus the conquering arms of Britain had rescued kingdoms from the tyrannical power of the usurper; and the Thirteenth Dragoons, who had largely shared in the attendant toils and dangers, saw the cause in which they had been engaged, triumphant over all opposition.