To Earl Bathurst.
Toulouse,
12th April, 1814.
I have the pleasure to inform your Lordship that I entered this town this morning, which the enemy evacuated during the night, retiring by the road of Carcassone.
The continued fall of rain and the state of the river prevented me from laying the bridge till the morning of the 8th, when the Spanish corps and the Portuguese artillery, under the immediate orders of Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre, and the headquarters, crossed the Garonne.
We immediately moved forward to the neighbourhood of the town; and the 18th hussars, under the immediate command of Colonel Vivian, had an opportunity of making a most gallant attack upon a superior body of the enemy’s cavalry, which they drove through the village of Croix d’Orade, and took about 100 prisoners, and gave us possession of an important bridge over the river Ers, by which it was necessary to pass, in order to attack the enemy’s position. Colonel Vivian was unfortunately wounded upon this occasion; and I am afraid that I shall lose the benefit of his assistance for some time.
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. They had likewise formed a tête de pont at each bridge of the canal, which was besides defended by the fire in some places of musketry, and in all of artillery from the ancient wall of the town. Beyond the canal to the eastward, and between that and the river Ers, is a height which extends as far as Montaudran, and over which pass all the approaches to the canal and town to the eastward, which it defends; and the enemy, in addition to the têtes de pont on the bridges of the canal, had fortified this height with 5 redoubts, connected by lines of entrenchments, and had, with extraordinary diligence, made every preparation for defence. They had likewise broken all the bridges over the Ers within our reach, by which the right of their position could be approached. The roads, however, from the Arriège to Toulouse being impracticable for cavalry or artillery, and nearly so for infantry, as reported in my dispatch to your Lordship of the 1st instant, I had no alternative, excepting to attack the enemy in this formidable position.
It was necessary to move the pontoon bridge higher up the Garonne, in order to shorten the communication with Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill’s corps, as soon as the Spanish corps had passed; and this operation was not effected till so late an hour on the 9th as to induce me to defer the attack till the following morning.
The plan, according to which I determined to attack the enemy, was for Marshal Sir W. Beresford, who was on the right of the Ers with the 4th and 6th divisions, to cross that river at the bridge of Croix d’Orade, to gain possession of Montblanc, and to march up the left of the Ers to turn the enemy’s right, while Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre, with the Spanish corps under his command, supported by the British cavalry, should attack the front. Lieut.-General Sir S. Cotton was to follow the Marshal’s movement with Major-General Lord E. Somerset’s brigade of hussars; and Colonel Vivian’s brigade, under the command of Colonel Arentschildt, was to observe the movements of the enemy’s cavalry on both banks of the Ers beyond our left. The 3rd and Light divisions, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir T. Picton and Major-General C. Baron Alten, and the brigade of German cavalry, were to observe the enemy on the lower part of the canal, and to draw their attention to that quarter by threatening the têtes de pont, while Lieut.-General Sir R. Hill was to do the same on the suburb on the left of the Garonne.
Marshal Sir W. Beresford crossed the Ers, and formed his corps in 3 columns of lines in the village of Croix d’Orade, the 4th division leading, with which he immediately carried Montblanc. 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. During these operations, Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre moved along the left of the Ers to the front of Croix d’Orade, where he formed his corps in 2 lines with a reserve on a height in front of the left of the enemy’s position, on which height the Portuguese artillery was placed; and Major-General Ponsonby’s brigade of cavalry in reserve in the rear.
As soon as formed, and that it was seen that Marshal Sir W. Beresford was ready, Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre moved forward to the attack. The troops marched in good order, under a very heavy fire of musketry and artillery, and showed great spirit, the General and all his Staff being at their head; and the 2 lines were soon lodged under some banks immediately under the enemy’s entrenchments; the reserve and Portuguese artillery, and British cavalry, continuing on the height on which the troops had first formed. The enemy, however, repulsed the movement of the right of General Freyre’s line round their left flank; and having followed up their success, and turned our right by both sides of the high road leading from Toulouse to Croix d’Orade, they soon compelled the whole corps to retire. It gave me great satisfaction to see that, although they suffered considerably in retiring, the troops rallied again as soon as the Light division, which was immediately on their right, moved up; and I cannot sufficiently applaud the exertions of Lieut.-General Don M. Freyre, the officers of the Staff of the 4th Spanish army, and of the officers of the General Staff, to rally and form them again.