Battle of Bayonne

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Bayonne


caption=
partof=Peninsular War
date=April 14, 1814
place=Bayonne, France
result=Anglo-Allied victory
combatant1=flagicon|France French Empire
combatant2=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom,
flagicon|Portugal|1707 Portugal,
flagicon|Spain|1785 Spain
commander1=Maj-Gen Thouvenot
commander2=Lieut-Gen John Hope
strength1=14,000
strength2=19,550
casualties1=905 casualties
casualties2=838 casualties

In the Battle of Bayonne on April 14, 1814, General of Division Thouvenot's French garrison attacked the Anglo-Allied besieging force under Lieutenant General John Hope. The battle and the resulting losses were completely pointless since the French commander found out unofficially on April 12 that Emperor Napoleon had abdicated.

Background

After the Battle of the Nive, Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington mounted a surprise amphibious operation which crossed the Adour River estuary and isolated the French-held city of Bayonne. Wellington pressed east after Marshal Nicolas Soult's French army, leaving the fortress to be invested on February 27 by Hope's corps. [Glover, p 320]

Hope's 19,550-man force included Kenneth Howard's 1st (6,800) and Andrew Hay's 5th (2,750) British Divisions, Lord Aylmer's Independent British Brigade (1,900), Thomas Bradford (1,600) and Archibald Campbell's (2,500) Portuguese Brigades, and Carlos de España's Spanish Division (4,000). Hope's corps was joined by 10,000 Spanish troops in the divisions of Marcilla, Espeleta and Pablo Morillo, but these soldiers were sent away to join Wellington's army in time to fight at the Battle of Toulouse on April 10. [Smith, p 525]

Before retreating, Soult reinforced the garrison with the division of Abbé, raising its strength to 14,000 men. The regular infantry included the 5th and 27th Light, and the 64th, 66th, 82nd, 94th, 95th, 119th and 130th Line Regiments. [Smith, p 525]

Battle

Hope conducted the siege in a way that was "leisurely to the point of apathy." [Glover, p 335] On April 10, the same day that Wellington defeated Soult in the Battle of Toulouse, Hope still had not begun regular siege approaches to the city. For his part, Thouvenot remained passive during the first six weeks his garrison remained besieged.

Thouvenot received unofficial news of Napoleon's abdication on April 12. Even though this meant that the war was virtually over, French governor decided to attack "in a fit of spite and frustration." [Smith, p 524] At 3:00 am on the morning of April 14 he attacked the British siege lines with 6,000 men. The fight that followed was vicious but the French sortie was defeated with heavy losses on both sides. "Sir John Hope was wounded and captured after galloping into a melee." [Smith, p 524] The brunt of the battle was borne by the Anglo-German units, including the 1/1st, 3/1st, 1/2nd and 1/3rd Foot Guards, the 3/1st, 1/9th, 1/35th, 2/47th and 5/60th Foot, the 1st and 2nd King's German Legion (KGL) Light, and 1st, 2nd, and 5th KGL Line battalions. [Smith, p 525]

Result

The Anglo-Allies lost 838 men, including Major General Andrew Hay killed and Hope captured. French casualties totaled 905 men, including 111 killed, 778 wounded and 16 missing. Despite the news of Napoleon's abdication, the defence continued obstinately until April 27 when written orders from Marshal Soult finally compelled Thouvenot to hand the fortress of Bayonne over to the British. [Gates, p 467]

Total losses in the siege, including the battle on April 14, were 1,600 French killed and wounded, plus 400 captured. The Anglo-Allies lost a total of 1,700 killed and wounded, and 300 captured.

References

* Gates, David. "The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War." Da Capo Press 2001. ISBN 0-306-81083-2
* Glover, Michael. "The Peninsular War 1807-1814." London: Penguin, 2001. ISBN 0-141-39041-7
* Smith, Digby. "The Napoleonic Wars Data Book." London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9

Footnotes