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Battle of Bayonne
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Battle of Bayonne
The Battle of Bayonne (14 April 1814), the last major battle of the Peninsular War, ensued when the French garrison of Bayonne led by General of Division Pierre Thouvenot launched a sortie against a besieging force of British, Portuguese, and Spanish troops commanded by Lieutenant General John Hope. It was fought after unofficial news of the abdication of French emperor Napoleon on 4 April had reached the opposing forces. Thouvenot's reasons for initiating the sortie are not clear; there was apparently nothing for the French to gain by fighting. After initial success for the French, Allied forces drove them back inside Bayonne with heavy losses on both sides.
The Allies had initiated the Siege of Bayonne by mounting a complex land-sea operation that bridged the Adour estuary downstream from Bayonne. Allied positions already faced the south side of Bayonne, so crossing the Adour allowed Hope's troops to also close off the north side of Bayonne, completely investing the city. Once Bayonne was surrounded, the siege was pursued lethargically on both sides until the sortie. The fighting of 14 April involved heavy hand-to-hand combat but did not lift the siege, and on 17 April the French field army under Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult signed an armistice with Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington. Thouvenot continued to resist until Soult directly ordered him to observe the ceasefire.
A week after the Battle of the Nive ended on 14 December 1813, heavy rains began in the region around Bayonne. Although the outposts of each army around Bayonne were in close proximity to one another, neither army attempted any operations. Although urged by his Russian ally to continue the campaign, Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington refused to do so as long as the bad weather persisted. He pointed out that ordering his army to march in heavy rains would be "a useless waste of men". The static situation continued until mid-February 1814. Obeying orders from Emperor Napoleon, Marshal Soult sent two infantry divisions and half his cavalry to the campaign in northeast France. Soult tried to motivate the local French civilians to start guerrilla warfare against the Allied army. This effort failed and Allied troops moved about in relative security within occupied French territory.
Soult anticipated that Wellington might try to besiege Bayonne by crossing the Adour River upstream (east) of the city. To prevent this move, the French marshal posted three divisions on the north bank of the Adour between Bayonne and Port-de-Lanne. With four additional divisions, Soult held the line of the Joyeuse River, which runs south to north. A line of cavalry outposts connected the divisions on the Joyeuse to the French-held fortress of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Soult's headquarters were located at Peyrehorade. In fact, Wellington had no intention of crossing the Adour upstream from Bayonne. Instead, he planned to move two corps to the east in order to draw Soult away from Bayonne. With Soult's main army out of the way, the corps of John Hope would lay siege to Bayonne. Wellington began moving his cavalry regiments from their winter pastures in Spain to the front.
By 14 February 1814, the weather cleared and Wellington's troops began moving east, prompting the French to fall back behind the Bidouze River. The next day, Rowland Hill's corps defeated a French division at the Battle of Garris. On 16 February, Wellington's other corps under William Beresford began moving east. Between his two corps, Wellington's army numbered 42,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry. After sending the division of Louis Jean Nicolas Abbé to reinforce the garrison of Bayonne, raising its strength to 14,000 men, Soult's field army counted 32,000 infantry and 3,800 cavalry. On 19 February, Wellington rode back to Saint-Jean-de-Luz to see how the plans for his next operation were proceeding.
By 18 February, Soult's field army had been pushed back behind the Gave d'Oloron River where both armies would remain immobile on 19–23 February. This was far enough east so that the French army could not easily interfere with Allied operations against Bayonne. Wellington planned for Hope's corps to cross the Adour near its mouth—that is, downstream from Bayonne—and invest the city. Over 50 luggers, (known locally as chasse-marées) had been collected in the harbor at Saint-Jean-de-Luz and loaded with wood planks and rope cables. They were to sail into the mouth of the Adour and be used to form a floating bridge. Meanwhile, a masked battery was prepared in a wood near the river; it would provide covering fire for an assault crossing. However, on 19 February and the following day, the strong wind was foul and the vessels were unable to sail from the port. Wellington returned to the field army on 21 February, leaving Hope to carry out the operation.
Thouvenot's French infantry consisted of the 5th and 27th Light Infantry Regiments, and the 64th, 66th, 82nd, 94th, 95th, 119th and 130th Line Infantry Regiments. Hope's 29,500-man corps included Kenneth Howard's 1st British (6,800) and Charles Colville's 5th British Divisions, Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer's Independent British Brigade (1,900), the Portuguese brigades of Thomas Bradford (1,600) and Archibald Campbell (2,500), Carlos de España's Spanish Division (4,000). and Ormsby Vandeleur's light cavalry brigade. Hope's corps was soon joined by Manuel Freire de Andrade's 10,000 Spanish troops; these soldiers were later sent away to join Wellington's army in time to fight at the Battle of Toulouse on 10 April. The Spanish troops at Bayonne were distributed as follows. From Freire's 4th Army, España's 2nd Division (3,963) was at Bayonne; half of Del Barco's 3rd Division (4,991) was at Bayonne and half was at Toulouse; half of Porlier's 5th Division (3,729) was at Bayonne and half was at Toulouse; artillery and sappers (965) were at Bayonne except for 200 at Toulouse. From Pedro Agustín Girón's Army of the Reserve of Andalusia, Virue's 1st Division (5,008) and Juan Creagh's 2nd Division (4,286) were ordered to march to Bayonne in late February.
On the afternoon of 22 February, the wind moderated and the luggers left the port of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, bound for the mouth of the Adour. At midnight, the 1st Division began marching to the rendezvous point. Dawn on 23 February found the troops of the 1st Division at the selected crossing place on the south bank of the Adour. However, the luggers were nowhere in sight, having been blown out to sea by a contrary wind. Anxious that the French would discover his plans, Hope ordered Aylmer's and Campbell's brigades and España's division to launch probing attacks along Bayonne's southern front. These demonstrations completely fooled Thouvenot, who believed he was about to undergo a major assault. Meanwhile, 18-pounder long guns were mounted in the masked battery and when they opened fire, they drove off the French corvette Sapho and several gunboats. At 11:00 am, Hope boldly began sending his troops across the Adour, using five small boats. Securing a hawser to both banks, the British were able to send soldiers across in 50-man rafts. By 5:00 pm, five companies of British Guards and two companies of riflemen of the 5th/60th Foot were on the north bank with their brigade commander Edward Stopford. The French had 2,700 soldiers in Bayonne's citadel, but incredibly, Thouvenot made no serious attempt to wipe out the 500 British troops on the north bank. Instead, the citadel commander sent about 700 infantry to reconnoiter at dusk; these troops were hit by an accurate salvo of Congreve rockets and retreated.
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Battle of Bayonne
The Battle of Bayonne (14 April 1814), the last major battle of the Peninsular War, ensued when the French garrison of Bayonne led by General of Division Pierre Thouvenot launched a sortie against a besieging force of British, Portuguese, and Spanish troops commanded by Lieutenant General John Hope. It was fought after unofficial news of the abdication of French emperor Napoleon on 4 April had reached the opposing forces. Thouvenot's reasons for initiating the sortie are not clear; there was apparently nothing for the French to gain by fighting. After initial success for the French, Allied forces drove them back inside Bayonne with heavy losses on both sides.
The Allies had initiated the Siege of Bayonne by mounting a complex land-sea operation that bridged the Adour estuary downstream from Bayonne. Allied positions already faced the south side of Bayonne, so crossing the Adour allowed Hope's troops to also close off the north side of Bayonne, completely investing the city. Once Bayonne was surrounded, the siege was pursued lethargically on both sides until the sortie. The fighting of 14 April involved heavy hand-to-hand combat but did not lift the siege, and on 17 April the French field army under Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult signed an armistice with Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington. Thouvenot continued to resist until Soult directly ordered him to observe the ceasefire.
A week after the Battle of the Nive ended on 14 December 1813, heavy rains began in the region around Bayonne. Although the outposts of each army around Bayonne were in close proximity to one another, neither army attempted any operations. Although urged by his Russian ally to continue the campaign, Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Marquess of Wellington refused to do so as long as the bad weather persisted. He pointed out that ordering his army to march in heavy rains would be "a useless waste of men". The static situation continued until mid-February 1814. Obeying orders from Emperor Napoleon, Marshal Soult sent two infantry divisions and half his cavalry to the campaign in northeast France. Soult tried to motivate the local French civilians to start guerrilla warfare against the Allied army. This effort failed and Allied troops moved about in relative security within occupied French territory.
Soult anticipated that Wellington might try to besiege Bayonne by crossing the Adour River upstream (east) of the city. To prevent this move, the French marshal posted three divisions on the north bank of the Adour between Bayonne and Port-de-Lanne. With four additional divisions, Soult held the line of the Joyeuse River, which runs south to north. A line of cavalry outposts connected the divisions on the Joyeuse to the French-held fortress of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Soult's headquarters were located at Peyrehorade. In fact, Wellington had no intention of crossing the Adour upstream from Bayonne. Instead, he planned to move two corps to the east in order to draw Soult away from Bayonne. With Soult's main army out of the way, the corps of John Hope would lay siege to Bayonne. Wellington began moving his cavalry regiments from their winter pastures in Spain to the front.
By 14 February 1814, the weather cleared and Wellington's troops began moving east, prompting the French to fall back behind the Bidouze River. The next day, Rowland Hill's corps defeated a French division at the Battle of Garris. On 16 February, Wellington's other corps under William Beresford began moving east. Between his two corps, Wellington's army numbered 42,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry. After sending the division of Louis Jean Nicolas Abbé to reinforce the garrison of Bayonne, raising its strength to 14,000 men, Soult's field army counted 32,000 infantry and 3,800 cavalry. On 19 February, Wellington rode back to Saint-Jean-de-Luz to see how the plans for his next operation were proceeding.
By 18 February, Soult's field army had been pushed back behind the Gave d'Oloron River where both armies would remain immobile on 19–23 February. This was far enough east so that the French army could not easily interfere with Allied operations against Bayonne. Wellington planned for Hope's corps to cross the Adour near its mouth—that is, downstream from Bayonne—and invest the city. Over 50 luggers, (known locally as chasse-marées) had been collected in the harbor at Saint-Jean-de-Luz and loaded with wood planks and rope cables. They were to sail into the mouth of the Adour and be used to form a floating bridge. Meanwhile, a masked battery was prepared in a wood near the river; it would provide covering fire for an assault crossing. However, on 19 February and the following day, the strong wind was foul and the vessels were unable to sail from the port. Wellington returned to the field army on 21 February, leaving Hope to carry out the operation.
Thouvenot's French infantry consisted of the 5th and 27th Light Infantry Regiments, and the 64th, 66th, 82nd, 94th, 95th, 119th and 130th Line Infantry Regiments. Hope's 29,500-man corps included Kenneth Howard's 1st British (6,800) and Charles Colville's 5th British Divisions, Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer's Independent British Brigade (1,900), the Portuguese brigades of Thomas Bradford (1,600) and Archibald Campbell (2,500), Carlos de España's Spanish Division (4,000). and Ormsby Vandeleur's light cavalry brigade. Hope's corps was soon joined by Manuel Freire de Andrade's 10,000 Spanish troops; these soldiers were later sent away to join Wellington's army in time to fight at the Battle of Toulouse on 10 April. The Spanish troops at Bayonne were distributed as follows. From Freire's 4th Army, España's 2nd Division (3,963) was at Bayonne; half of Del Barco's 3rd Division (4,991) was at Bayonne and half was at Toulouse; half of Porlier's 5th Division (3,729) was at Bayonne and half was at Toulouse; artillery and sappers (965) were at Bayonne except for 200 at Toulouse. From Pedro Agustín Girón's Army of the Reserve of Andalusia, Virue's 1st Division (5,008) and Juan Creagh's 2nd Division (4,286) were ordered to march to Bayonne in late February.
On the afternoon of 22 February, the wind moderated and the luggers left the port of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, bound for the mouth of the Adour. At midnight, the 1st Division began marching to the rendezvous point. Dawn on 23 February found the troops of the 1st Division at the selected crossing place on the south bank of the Adour. However, the luggers were nowhere in sight, having been blown out to sea by a contrary wind. Anxious that the French would discover his plans, Hope ordered Aylmer's and Campbell's brigades and España's division to launch probing attacks along Bayonne's southern front. These demonstrations completely fooled Thouvenot, who believed he was about to undergo a major assault. Meanwhile, 18-pounder long guns were mounted in the masked battery and when they opened fire, they drove off the French corvette Sapho and several gunboats. At 11:00 am, Hope boldly began sending his troops across the Adour, using five small boats. Securing a hawser to both banks, the British were able to send soldiers across in 50-man rafts. By 5:00 pm, five companies of British Guards and two companies of riflemen of the 5th/60th Foot were on the north bank with their brigade commander Edward Stopford. The French had 2,700 soldiers in Bayonne's citadel, but incredibly, Thouvenot made no serious attempt to wipe out the 500 British troops on the north bank. Instead, the citadel commander sent about 700 infantry to reconnoiter at dusk; these troops were hit by an accurate salvo of Congreve rockets and retreated.
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