On November 11th the British continued to pursue the enemy towards Bayonne, but the weather being extremely wet the troops were ordered into cantonments. The British were in motion again, however, in the beginning of Dec., early on the morning of the 9th of which the 6th division crossed the Nive on pontoon bridges, and attacked and drove in the enemy’s outposts. As the 6th division had to retire out of the range of the fire of the 2nd division, it became during the remainder of the day merely an army of observation. The only casualties of the 91st at the battle of the Nive were 5 men wounded.
Marshal Soult, finding himself thus shut up in Bayonne, and thinking that most of the British troops had crossed the Nive, made, on the 10th, a desperate sally on the left of the British army, which for a moment gave way, but soon succeeded in regaining its position, and in driving the enemy within the walls of Bayonne. During the action the 6th division recrossed the Nive, and occupied quarters at Ustaritz.
At Bayonne, on Dec. 13th, Sir Rowland Hill declined the proffered assistance of the 6th division, which therefore lay on its arms in view of the dreadful conflict, that was terminated only by darkness. The enemy were completely driven within the walls of Bayonne.
During December and January the British army was cantoned in the environs of Bayonne, but was again in motion on Feb. 5th, 1814, when, with the exception of the 5th division and a few Spaniards left to besiege Bayonne, it proceeded into France. On Feb. 26th the 6th division arrived on the left bank of the Adour, opposite Orthes; and on the morning of the 27th the 3d, 4th, 6th, and 7th divisions crossed on pontoons and drew up on the plain on the right bank of the river. The French thought themselves secure in their fortified heights in front of the British position. About 9 o’clock in the morning the divisions moved down the main road towards Orthes; each division, as it came abreast of the enemy’s position, broke off the road and attacked and carried the position in its front. About noon the enemy fled, pursued by the British, who were stopped only by the darkness of night. In the battle of Orthes the 91st had Captain William Gunn and Lts. Alexander Campbell, John Marshall, and John Taylor, and 12 rank and file wounded. At the Aire, on March 2nd, the 91st had 1 man killed, and Captain William Douglas, Ensign Colin Macdougal, 1 sergeant, and 14 men wounded.
The 91st continued with its division to advance towards Toulouse, where the great Peninsular struggle was to culminate. On March 26th, the 6th division arrived at the village of Constantine, opposite to and commanding a full view of Toulouse, and on the 8th it moved to the right, and occupied the village of Tournefouille. Early on the morning of April 4th the division moved a few miles down the Garonne, and a little after daybreak crossed.[540] On the morning of April 10th the army left its tents at an early hour, and at daybreak came in sight of the fortified heights in front of Toulouse. The 6th division was ordered to storm these heights, supported by the Spaniards on the right and the 4th division on the left. About ten o’clock the Highland brigade attacked and carried all the fortified redoubts and entrenchments along the heights, close to the walls of Toulouse. Night alone put an end to the contest. We are sorry that we have been unable to obtain any details of the conduct of the 91st; but it may be gathered from what has been said in connection with the 42nd and 79th, as well as from the long list of casualties in the regiment, that it had a full share of the work which did so much honour to the Highland brigade.
At Toulouse the 91st had 1 sergeant and 17 men killed, and 7 officers—viz., Col. Sir William Douglas,[541] who commanded the brigade after Sir Dennis Pack was wounded, Major A. Meade, Captains James Walsh and A. J. Callender, Lts. J. M. Macdougal, James Hood, and Colin Campbell—1 sergeant, and 93 rank and file wounded; a good many of the latter afterwards dying of their wounds.
As is well known, on the day after the battle of Toulouse news of the abdication of Napoleon, and the restoration of the Bourbons, was received, and hostilities were therefore suspended. On April 20th the 6th division marched for Auch, and on the 24th of June the first detachment of the regiment sailed for home, the second following on July 1st, both arriving at Cork towards the end of the latter month.
Lt.-Colonel Macneil was presented with a gold medal, and promoted to the rank of lt.-colonel in the army, for his services in the Peninsula, and especially for his gallant conduct in command of the light companies of the light brigade of the 6th division at Sorauren. Captain Walsh was also promoted to the rank of brevet lt.-colonel.
On March 17th the 91st, accompanied by the 42nd, 71st, and 79th regiments, sailed for Carlingford Bay, in the north of Ireland, and from thence to the Downs, where it was transhipped into small crafts and sailed for Ostend, where it arrived on the night of the 17th of April.