Fenoulhiet, five miles from Toulouse. The columns marched up both sides of the Ers, an unfordable river: by a brilliant charge of Major Hughes with the 18th Hussars, the bridge of Croix d'Orade -the only one which had not been mined—was secured, and communication between the two columns was established. On the 9th, the bridge was removed from Grenade to Seilh, farther up the Garonne; the light division crossed by it at two o'clock in the morning of the roth; and Wellington was now prepared to deliver battle. Battle of Soult's position was well adapted for defence, and the delay had been taken advantage of by him to the utmost. The allies were reduced to an equality in numbers with him, as one-third had to be left to blockade St. Cyprien, and in number of guns they were now far inferior. As the strong canal works were covered by the fire from the ramparts, the attack was necessarily confined to the Mont Rave ridge. On the St. Sypière, the southern summit of the Mont Rave range, there was a strong redoubt, and another on its slope, near the Caraman road; on the main part of the ridge, called the Calvinet plateau, there were two redoubts, the Colombette and Calvinet on the south, and on the north a great redoubt, outside of which was a kind of hornwork; and a huge barricade had been erected along the Alby road. Reille, with the divisions of Taupin and Maransin, held St. Cyprien; Daricau held the canal from Garonne by the Jumeaux bridge-head, past the Minimes convent to the Mutabiau bridge-head on the Alby road; a brigade of Villatte's division, under St. Pol, held the detached hill of Pugade to the north of the Mont Rave ridge; Harispe held the whole ridge of Mont Rave, the remainder of Villatte's division being his reserve; and Travot's reserve held the ramparts of Toulouse. Wellington, having surveyed the ground, made his dispositions for an attack on the Mont Rave ridge. Picton, with the 3rd division, was to menace the Jumeaux bridge-head and the Minimes convent, Bock's cavalry and Alten with the light division was to keep up the connection between him and Freyre. The Spaniards of Freyre and Major Arentschild's Portuguese artillery were to attack the hill of Pugade, and subsequently to assail the Calvinet plateau; Beresford, who was still on the right of the Ers, was to cross by the Croix d'Orade bridge with the 4th (Cole's) and 6th (Clinton's) divisions and three batteries, and, under cover of Freyre's attack on the Pugade, to march through the deep marshy ground, traversed by many water-courses, between the Ers and the Mont Rave heights, and attack the St. Sypière summit. Ponsonby's dragoons were to connect Freyre with Beresford; Lord Edward Somerset's cavalry were to move up the left, Vivian's cavalry up the right, bank of the Ers, to prevent Berton's cavalry (who were at the bridges of Bordes and Montaudrau) from attacking Beresford during his march. To distract the enemy Hill was to threaten St. Cyprien, and to press it closely or not according to the progress of the battle on the north of the city. Wellington had actually present before Toulouse 52,000 men (British, Portuguese, Spaniards, and Germans) and 64 guns; but of this force Hill had 13,000 men and 18 guns beyond the Garonne. Soult had nearly 40,000 men with more than 80 guns, some of them of the largest calibre. The light division having crossed the Garonne at two o'clock in the morning of the 10th April, the whole army was in motion at six o'clock. The Pugade was won with little opposition, St. Pol retiring to the Calvinet, and Beresford, leaving his guns in the village of Montblanc, from the heavy ground, entered the marshy tract. The French horsemen were driven by Vivian from the bridge of Bordes, but they succeeded in destroying it, and the bridge of Montaudrau, though strongly barricaded, was gained by Somerset. Freyre attacked the Mont Rave hornwork too soon. He was not aware that a somewhat deep ravine separated the enemy's position from him, and his men were disordered before they came within range of the musketry. However, they pushed on boldly till they met with a fire under which few troops would have remained unshaken. The Spaniards had acquired wonderful steadiness under Wellington's system of training, but under this fire they staggered and were easily driven back in confusion, and the fugitives, cramped in the hollow road or ravine, were mowed down by the musketry on the heights and the guns in the Matabiau battery. The Spaniards rallied and again advanced, but a second time the withering fire scattered them; they fled, hotly pursued till the incessant fire of the Portuguese guns, now placed on the Pugade, and of the reserve artillery, and the charges of Ponsonby's cavalry sent back the enemy into their entrenchments, after 1,500 Spaniards had been disabled or killed. In the meantime Picton, instead of merely threatening the north front of the town, had attacked it, and was repulsed with the loss of over 400. Along the whole line both sides kept up a cannonade, but the musketry ceased except on the left of the Garonne, where Hill had succeeded in carrying the outer line of the entrenchments of St. Cyprien, but the strong inner line baffled him. Soult was therefore able to draw Taupin with nearly 15,000 men from St. Cyprien to reinforce his line on the east, whereas Wellington could bring up no reserve for the light division, and Ponsonby's heavy cavalry were required to cover the flying Spaniards and protect the guns. Taupin was placed on the St. Sypière summit, with orders to fall on Beresford's columns, which were now winding up out of the marsh; but he delayed, and gave Beresford time to wheel into line at the base of the range. When at length Taupin did charge down the slope, his ranks were torn by the rockets; the French soldiers were dismayed by the unaccustomed noise of this missile, and, when attacked by the 6th and part of the 4th divisions, they fled up the hill. A cavalry charge was repulsed, the British swept up the heights, Taupin was killed, the summit of St. Sypière was won, the two redoubts (the St. Sypière and that on the Caraman road) were abandoned, and the French were pursued even down the other side as they fled to Saccarin and Cambon, where they were rallied by Soult, who brought up the reserves. The British being firmly established on the St. Sypière summit, Lambert's brigade menaced the French line (under Clausel) from Saccarin to the Colombette and Calvinet redoubts, and the brigades of Pack and Douglas menaced the redoubts themselves. At half |