Battle of Orthez The Battle of Orthez ( February 27 , 1814 ) saw the Anglo - Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley , Marquess of Wellington defeat a French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France near the end of the Peninsular War . Preliminaries . After failing to defeat Wellington in the Battle of the Nive , Soult tried to confine the Anglo - Allied army in the extreme southwest corner of France . On the north side of the allied - occupied area , the French marshal kept a strong garrison in the fortress of Bayonne and held the line of the Adour River to Port - de - Lanne with three divisions . On the east side , Soult strung out four divisions behind the Joyeuse River , with his cavalry forming a cordon as far south as the fortress of Saint - Jean - Pied - de - Port in the Pyrenees . From December 1813 through January 1814 , heavy rains brought operations to a standstill . Finally , on February 14 , Wellington launched his offensive . On the right flank , Lieutenant General Rowland Hill quickly breached the line of the Joyeuse . The following day , Hill ' s forces crossed the Bidouze River after winning the Battle of Garris . By now , Wellington ' s left flank corps , under William Beresford was in motion . Sending the division of Louis Abbé to help defend Bayonne , Soult assembled his remaining six divisions and his reserve behind the Gave d ' Oloron River . The weather broke again on February 18 , causing another pause in operations . On February 24 , John Hope ' s corps crossed the Adour to isolate the city of Bayonne on the Bay of Biscay . That day , Wellington quickly manoeuvred the French army out of its position on the Gave d ' Oloron . Soult pulled back to Orthez on the Gave de Pau River . Dispositions . At Orthez , the Gave de Pau runs from southeast to the northwest . About two miles north of the Gave de Pau , there is a ridge running roughly parallel to the stream . Soult held Orthez with the 5 , 100 men of Jean Harispe ' s 8th Division . The 2 , 700 cavalry under his brother , Pierre Soult watched the river line upstream ( east ) from the town . Holding the ridge , from west to east were Eloi Taupin ' s 4th ( 5 , 500 ) , Claude Rouget ' s 5th ( 3 , 700 ) , Jean Darmagnac ' s 2nd ( 5 , 000 ) , Maximilien Foy ' s 1st ( 3 , 800 ) and Eugene - Casimir Villatte ' s 6th ( 4 , 600 ) Divisions . The 1st Division was north of Orthez . Paris ' s brigade from the 8th Division was attached to Taupin ' s command . Jean - Pierre Travot ' s conscripts ( 7 , 300 ) waited in reserve . Honoré Reille commanded the units under Taupin , Paris and Rouget on the right flank . Jean Baptiste Drouet d ' Erlon led D ' Armagnac and Foy in the centre . Bertrand Clausel supervised Harispe and Villatte on the left flank . Soult had 36 , 000 men and 48 artillery pieces . William Beresford ' s Corps had already crossed to the north side of the Gave de Pau . Wellington planned to send Lowry Cole ' s 4th ( 6 , 000 ) and George Townshend Walker ' s 7th ( 5 , 600 ) Divisions to attack the western end of the ridge , under the direction of Beresford . Thomas Picton would lead his own 3rd ( 6 , 600 ) and Henry Clinton ' s 6th ( 5 , 600 ) Divisions in pinning the French centre . Charles Alten ' s Light Division ( 3 , 500 ) stayed in reserve . Wellington ordered Rowland Hill to lead William Stewart ' s 2nd ( 7 , 800 ) and Francisco Le Cor ' s Portuguese ( 4 , 500 ) Divisions across the Gave de Pau above Orthez and turn the French left . Wellington also had three cavalry brigades under the overall direction of Stapleton Cotton . There were 1 , 600 mounted men under Lord Edward Somerset ( 7th , 10th and 15th Hussars ) , 1 , 000 horsemen led by Hussey Vivian ( 18th and 1st KGL Hussars ) and 800 troopers under Henry Fane ( 13th and 14th Light Dragoons ) . All told , Wellington commanded 44 , 000 men , including 17 , 600 Portuguese , and 54 cannons . Battle . To open the battle , Beresford ' s divisions attacked Taupin ' s and Paris ' s men near the church and village of St - Boes . They captured the church but were unable to force their way into St - Boes . The French right - wing commander , Reille launched a counterattack that drove the British out of the church as well . Watching this reverse from his command post near an ancient Roman camp , Wellington changed his plans . His holding attack with the 3rd and 6th Division would be converted into a head on assault . Meanwhile , he committed the Light Division between Beresford ' s effort against the French right and Picton ' s attack against the French center . Led by the 1 / 52nd Foot , the Light Division advanced up the narrow spur from the Roman camp . This move drove a wedge between Reille ' s right wing and D ' Erlon ' s two center divisions . Hill ' s men crossed the river and started to envelop the French left . Picton ' s force fought his way onto the ridge in the centre . At his command post , Wellington was unhorsed and badly bruised when a canister shot hit his sword hilt . Soult , seeing his defences compromised , ordered a retreat . This was conducted in good order at first , though menaced by the British cavalry . With the terrain too rough for most mounted operations , only the 7th Hussars made an effective charge , capturing 200 Frenchmen . That evening , the French escaped across the Luy de Béarn River at Sault - de - Navailles in some disorder , blowing up the bridge behind them . Results . Soult lost 6 cannons and 3 , 985 men including 542 killed , 2 , 077 wounded and 1 , 366 prisoners . Foy was wounded . The Anglo - Portuguese lost 367 killed , 1 , 727 wounded and 80 captured for a total of 2 , 174 . Walker was wounded and sent back to England . Soult continued his retreat . The next battle would be fought at Toulouse .