Battle of Toulouse ( 1814 ) The Battle of Toulouse was one of the final battles of the Napoleonic Wars , four days after Napoleon ' s surrender of the French Empire to the nations of the Sixth Coalition . Having pushed the demoralised and disintegrating French Imperial armies out of Spain in a difficult campaign the previous autumn , the Allied British - Portuguese and Spanish army under the Marquess of Wellington pursued the war into southern France in the spring of 1814 . Toulouse , the regional capital , proved stoutly defended by Marshal Soult . One British and two Spanish divisions were badly mauled in bloody fighting on 10 April , with Allied losses exceeding French casualties by 1 , 400 . As Wellington pulled back to reorganize his shattered units , Soult held the city for an additional day before orchestrating an escape from the town with his entire army . Wellington ' s entry on the morning of 12 April was acclaimed by a great number of French Royalists , validating Soult ' s earlier fears of potential fifth column elements within the city . That afternoon , the official word of Napoleon ' s abdication and the end of the war reached Wellington . Soult agreed to an armistice on 17 April . Prelude . Following their successful invasion of France earlier in the year , an allied army of the Sixth Coalition , composed of British , Portuguese and Spanish troops under the supreme command of the Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley , Marquess of Wellington , laid siege to the city of Toulouse , one of the few remaining urban centres in France still loyal to Napoleon . The city of Toulouse was garrisoned by around 42 , 000 French troops , under the command of Marshal Soult , Duke of Dalmatia . Imperial forces across southern France were greatly demoralised by fighting the Anglo - Allied forces in their own country , and were further shaken by news of repeated Coalition victories in northern and eastern France . Allied campaigning had gradually pushed French forces out of Spain during 1813 , after endless guerrilla wars which had resulted in more than 300 , 000 French casualties between 1808 and late 1813 . The French suffered greater losses in manpower in southern France , as Napoleon diverted many southern forces to bolster his troops facing the Coalition armies invading northern and eastern France after an allied victory at Leipzig in October , 1813 . With the surrender , French resistance in the south collapsed and the defeated Napoleon , who had already surrendered , was exiled to the island of Elba . The city was briefly placed under Coalition control during the summer of 1814 , with the withdrawal of allied troops in September 1814 . Preliminary operations . Orthez . After Soult ' s defeat by Wellington at the Battle of Orthez in late February 1814 , the French Marshal retreated north behind the Adour River to Saint - Sever . Soult was on the horns of a dilemma . He could defend Bordeaux to the northwest or Toulouse to the east , but he could not protect both . The French army would have difficulty obtaining food near Bordeaux and it would place the Garonne River in their rear . Therefore , Soult elected to base himself on Toulouse . Bordeaux . With Soult moving east , Wellington sent Beresford and two divisions to seize Bordeaux , the third - largest city of France . To make up for this subtraction of strength , the British general called up 8000 Spanish infantry and the British heavy cavalry as reinforcements . Fearful that the Spanish would plunder the French countryside and incite a guerrilla war , Wellington put his allies on the British payroll and supply system . Meanwhile , the British - Portuguese - Spanish army pushed the French out of Aire - sur - l ' Adour on 2 March in a skirmish . Soult pulled back to Plaisance and Maubourget , facing west . A ten day lull followed , during which time Wellington ' s reinforcements began to arrive . Allied Offensive . On 12 March , Beresford captured Bordeaux without resistance . Leaving the 7th Division as a garrison , he rushed back to join Wellington with the 4th Division . Meanwhile , on @ 17 – 18 March , in a raid with 100 French cavalrymen , Captain Dauma circled the Allied army ' s south flank and attacked Saint - Sever where he captured 100 men . At the same time , Wellington launched his offensive , hoping to ensnare Soult ' s army . By rapidly marching east to Saint - Gaudens and northeast to Toulouse , the French avoided the British flanking columns . Reaching Toulouse , Soult placed his soldiers behind the city ' s walls and fortifications . Battle . Forces . The Toulouse 1814 Order of Battle lists the Allied and French units and organisations that were present at the battle . Geography . Toulouse lies on the Garonne , which runs into the city from the southwest , then turns and exits to the northwest . Just east of the Garonne , the smaller Hers River runs past the city from the southeast to the northeast , forming a narrow corridor . To attack the city from the north , Wellington ' s main force would have to cross to the east bank of the Garonne , then drive southeast down the corridor between the two rivers . Initial moves . On 4 April , Wellington ' s engineers threw a pontoon bridge across the flooding Garonne north of the French city . After 19 , 000 Anglo - Allies crossed , the bridge gave way , trapping the men for three days . But Soult failed to take advantage of his opportunity to defeat Wellington ' s army in detail . On 8 April , in a fine charge , the British 18th Hussars seized the bridge at Croix d ' Orade on the Hers . Meanwhile , on 7 April at midnight , the official couriers left Paris with news that Napoleon had abdicated and that the war was over . French defences . West of the Garonne lies the fortified suburb of St - Cyprien . To the north , Soult ' s outer defence line rested on the Languedoc Canal . Three bridges crossed the canal , at Pont Jumeaux to the northwest , Pont des Minimes to the north and Pont de Matablau to the northeast . Each crossing was commanded by a powerful redoubt . The Heights of Calvinet ( Mont Rave ) rose east of the city and west of the Hers River . The Heights were crowned with several redoubts . Soult held St - Cyprien with one division and the canal line with another division . Jean - Pierre Travot ' s conscripts lined the city walls . Jean Darmagnac ' s division stood between the Heights and the canal . The divisions of Jean Isidore Harispe and Eugene - Casimir Villatte defended the Heights with Eloi Taupin ' s division in reserve . Pierre Soult ' s cavalry screened to the east and south . Note that the battlefield is now within the modern city of Toulouse . British plan . Wellington began his attack on Easter Sunday , 10 April . Hoping to divert some of Soult ' s forces , the British general sent Hill with the 12 , 600 men of the 2nd Division and Portuguese Division to attack St - Cyprien . The rest of the Anglo - Allied army ( 36 , 000 ) operated east of the Garonne and north of the city . The 3rd Division faced the northwest canal line with the Light Division to the east . Wellington planned to make his major effort against the Heights of Calvinet . Beresford would take the 4th and 6th Division s and the Hussar brigades down the west bank of the Hers . Once he reached a point east of the city , Beresford would veer west and attack the Heights with the Hussars protecting his south flank . At the same time , Manuel Freire would assault the northern end of the Heights with his two Spanish divisions . Two heavy dragoon brigades waited in reserve . Initial attacks . To the west , Hill drove in the French outposts but the fighting was not serious . His forces suffered about 80 casualties . Exceeding his orders , Thomas Picton mounted a full scale attack on the Pont Jumeaux with his 3rd Division and was repulsed with 400 casualties . Meanwhile , Beresford ' s men encountered muddy fields and fell behind schedule . Unable to move his artillery , he ordered the cannons to take a position near the northern end of the Heights and open fire . Freire , thinking this was the signal for the combined attack , sent his men to assault the Heights . The Spanish infantry forged uphill and gained a momentary foothold in a road cut , but they were counterattacked by a cloud of French skirmishers and soon sent fleeing . Covered by the Light Division , the Spanish foot soldiers rallied , then attacked and were defeated a second time . Taking the heights . At last , Beresford ' s two Anglo - Portuguese divisions reached their jumping off positions , with the 6th Division leading . A French division counterattacked , but was easily driven uphill , and the Allied divisions began to advance up the slope . They fought their way to the top of the Heights despite bitter resistance , then paused to drag up some cannon . Swinging to the north , they began rolling up the French defences . Beresford ' s men captured two redoubts , lost them to a counterattack and finally seized them again after bringing the 4th Division forward . The heights being lost , Soult withdrew his soldiers behind the city ' s fortifications . Soult held Toulouse during the day of 11 April but decided to pull out of the city upon detecting allied cavalry moving up the Toulouse - Carcassonne road . At 9 pm that evening , the French withdrew out of Toulouse by the Carcassonne road . Armistice . On the morning of 12 April a delegation of city officials handed over the city to the Allied army . That afternoon , Wellington got news via Bordeaux from Frederick Ponsonby of Napoleon ' s abdication . A few hours later , this was confirmed when the official couriers arrived from Paris . On 17 April , Soult finally agreed to an armistice . In the meantime , there was one more pointless bloodletting at the Battle of Bayonne , caused by the French commander Thouvenot ' s refusal to accept that the war was lost with the abdication of Napoleon . Casualties . The Allied army suffered 4558 casualties , including 1900 from Freire ' s divisions and 1500 from the 6th Division . Brigade commanders Denis Pack , James Douglas , and Thomas Brisbane were wounded . French casualties numbered 231 officers and 3005 men , including Taupin killed . Commentary . Both British and French historians claimed victory for their respective nations . The French claimed victory because Wellington failed to accomplish his aims of entrapping the French army , whilst Soult never intended to hold this position but to merely dispute it , intending to unite with Marshal Suchet before attacking Wellington ' s army : the taking of Toulouse amounted to very little , whilst the French lost one of their positions but their army was not defeated , causing Wellington to waste supplies and suffer heavy casualties . The British claimed victory because Toulouse ended up in their hands and the French were forced to give up ground . However , the battle had only just began when it was abruptly cut short by the news of Napoleon ' s abdication . Soult recognised that because the war had ended there was no point in fighting . He and Wellington agreed on a ceasefire and the allies occupied Toulouse .