Termination of the conference of Chatillon.—Wellington determines to reduce Bayonne.—Soult marches on Toulouse, and Wellington pursues him.—Description of Toulouse.—Passage of the Garonne effected.—Battle of Toulouse.—Subsequent events and movements.
The celebrated conference at Chatillon terminated on the 19th of March, and the allied Sovereigns determined to march direct upon the capital, of which they obtained possession on the 31st. The intelligence of this momentous event had not reached the south of France—and Lord Wellington made immense preparations to enable him to invest and reduce Bayonne. Fascines and gabions were obtained in abundance—a large supply of siege artillery, with shot and shells, was landed at Passages from England—scaling-ladders were constructed in the woods—the site of the batteries marked out—and all was ready for an investment.
One division being considered sufficient for the protection of Bordeaux, that city was intrusted to the care of Lord Dalhousie, while Marshal Beresford was recalled, and joined the army with the remainder of his corps.
Soult had manœuvred to draw the allies from Bordeaux; and his corps d’armée occupied positions on the right bank of the Adour, with advanced pickets in the town of Tarbes.
On the 20th of March, Hill’s division was directed to attack the left wing of the enemy, after driving their outposts from Tarbes—while Clinton, with the sixth division, and Ponsonby and Lord Edward Somerset’s cavalry brigades, should cross the river between Vic Bigorre and Rabastens, and, by turning the right of the French, gain Soult’s rear. To guard against this menaced attack, the French marshal retired under cover of the night, and fell back upon Toulouse, destroying the bridges as he passed them.
The unavoidable difficulty in crossing flooded rivers, and moving pontoons over roads nearly impassable from heavy rains, delayed the allied march. Soult, therefore, reached Toulouse in four days, while Wellington, by great exertion, was only enabled to arrive before it in seven.
Toulouse stands on the right bank of the Garonne, which separates it from a large suburb called Saint Cyprien. The eastern and northern sides of the city are inclosed by the canal of Languedoc, which joins the Garonne a mile below the town. On the east of the city is the suburb of Saint Etienne; on the south that of Saint Michael, and on that side the great road from Carcassone and Montpellier enters the town. The population was estimated at fifty thousand souls—and it was generally understood that the inhabitants of Toulouse were secretly attached to the Bourbons.
The city is walled and connected by ancient towers—but these antiquated defences would avail little against the means employed in modern warfare. Soult, therefore, intrenched the fauxbourg of Saint Cyprien—constructed têtes du pont at all the bridges of the canal—threw up redoubts and breastworks, and destroyed the bridges across the Ers. The southern side he considered so secure as to require no additional defences, trusting for its protection to the width and rapidity of the Garonne.
The first attempt of the allied leader to throw a pontoon bridge across the river, was rendered impracticable by the sudden rising of its waters. Higher up, however, the passage was effected, but the roads were quite impassable—and Lord Wellington determined to lay the pontoons below the city, which was accordingly done—and Beresford with the fourth and sixth divisions, was safely placed upon the right bank.
This temporary success might have been followed by disastrous consequences. The Garonne suddenly increased—a flood came pouring down—the swollen river momentarily rose higher—and to save the pontoons from being swept away, the bridge was removed, and the divisions left unsupported, with an overpowering force in front, and an angry river in their rear. Soult neglected this admirable opportunity of attacking them; and on the second day the flood had sufficiently abated to allow the pontoons to be laid down again, when Frere’s Spanish corps passed over, and reinforced the isolated divisions. The bridge was now removed above the city, to facilitate Hill’s communications, who, with the second division, was posted in front of the fauxbourg of Saint Cyprien. The passage of the third and light divisions was effected safely—and Picton and Baron Alten took up ground with their respective corps in front of the canal, and invested the northern face of Toulouse.