Morlot led about 4,000 men in six battalions at the Battle of Tudela on 23 November 1808. That morning Marshal Jean Lannes had his troops on the road at dawn. Reaching Tudela at 9 AM the French caught the Spanish army unprepared. Seeing the half-unmanned defenses, Lannes sent his leading division under Morlot directly into the assault. The 6,500 soldiers of the Spanish 5th Division arrived just in time to blunt the attack on the Cerro de Santa Barbara. Before resuming the attack, Lannes waited a few hours for all his troops to reach the battlefield. Then he launched the divisions of Morlot and Maurice Mathieu at the Spanish positions. Morlot's front line brigade suffered heavy losses, but he sent one battalion up a ravine that the defenders neglected to watch. Noting that the battalion had gained a foothold on the crest, he pushed forward reinforcements and soon the Spaniards were fleeing in rout.