Captain Michael Hewan of the 2nd Battalion was severely wounded. 14 Riflemen of that Battalion were killed; and 3 Sergeants and 23 Riflemen wounded.[138]
The Regiment bivouacked on the ground they had occupied, being saluted from time to time by shot or shell from the place.
On the 11th the Regiment remained perfectly quiet, and on the 12th entered Toulouse, Marshal Soult having in the previous night retreated from the place in the direction of Carcassonne. On the same day Colonel Cooke and Colonel St. Simon, as English and French commissioners, arrived with intelligence of the abdication of Napoleon. This was at once communicated to Marshal Soult; but as he refused to acknowledge the authority of those making the communication, the Regiment with other troops was started in pursuit, and marched on the 16th towards Villefranche. On the second day’s march, as they were halted on the roadside, loud huzzas were heard in front, and a carriage approached containing Count Gazan, the bearer of intelligence that Soult recognised the abdication of the Emperor, and acceded to a suspension of arms. The Regiment, therefore, at once returned to Toulouse and occupied their former quarters.
Towards the end of April the Regiment moved out of Toulouse, and descending the Garonne were quartered in Castel Sarazin and the neighbouring villages, the 1st Battalion occupying Castel Sarazin, and the 3rd Grisolles. The 2nd appear to have been at Castelnau d’Estrettefons.
Here they remained until the 1st June, when they forded the Garonne and halted at Grenade. On the next day they reached Cadours near Cologne, at which the 2nd Battalion halted. On the 5th they marched to Leitoure; and passing next day through Condom and Nerac halted at Castel Jaloux. On the 11th they reached Bazas and on the 12th arrived at Langon. The next day they proceeded to Barsac. On the 14th they halted at Castres, and the next day entered Bourdeaux. They were not however quartered there, but merely passed through it, and marched on to Blanquefort. On the road the Riflemen were reviewed by Lord Wellington, and the men and officers as they passed saluted with loud cheers the chief who had for six years led them to victory.
They remained at Blanquefort till the 13th July, when the 1st and 2nd Battalions embarked at Paulliac on board H.M. ship ‘Ville de Paris’ and disembarked at Portsmouth on the 22nd.
The 3rd Battalion embarked on the 8th July on board H.M. ship ‘Dublin,’ and sailing on the 9th arrived at Plymouth on the 18th, and disembarking there occupied the barracks.
I have been unwilling to interrupt the narrative of events in which the Regiment was engaged in the North of Spain and the South of France; but I have now to turn to operations in Holland in which detachments of the three Battalions were engaged.
An expedition to that country having been decided on, under the command of General Sir Thomas Graham[139] (afterwards Lord Lynedoch), some companies of the Regiment, from the depôts of each Battalion at Shorncliffe, were selected to form part of it.
Of the 1st Battalion, Captain Glasse’s company; of the 2nd, Captain M’Cullock’s; and of the 3rd, two companies, Captains Fullerton’s and William Eeles’, formed the detachment to accompany this expedition.[140]