Battle of Bayonne In the Battle of Bayonne on 14 April 1814 , General of Division Thouvenot ' s French garrison attacked the Allied besieging force under Lieutenant General John Hope . The battle and the resulting losses served little purpose , as the French commander had found out unofficially on 12 April that Emperor Napoleon had abdicated . Background . After the Battle of the Nive , Arthur Wellesley , Duke of Wellington mounted a surprise amphibious operation which crossed the Adour River estuary and isolated the French city of Bayonne . Wellington pressed east after Marshal Nicolas Soult ' s French army , leaving the fortress to be invested on 27 February by Hope ' s corps . 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 10 April . 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 . Battle . Hope conducted the siege in a way that was " leisurely to the point of apathy . " On 10 April , the same day that Wellington battled Soult at 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 12 April . Even though this meant that the war was virtually over , the French governor decided to attack " in a fit of spite and frustration . " At 3 : 00 am on the morning of 14 April 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 . " The brunt of the battle was borne by the Anglo - German units , including the 1 / 1st , 3 / 1st , 1st Battalion Coldstream and 1 / 3rd Foot Guards ; the 3 / 1st , 1 / 9th , 1 / 38th , 2 / 47th and 5 / 60th Foot ; the 1st and 2nd King ' s German Legion ( KGL ) Light battalions , and 1st , 2nd , and 5th KGL Line battalions . Aftermath . The 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 27 April when written orders from Marshal Soult finally compelled Thouvenot to hand the fortress of Bayonne over to the British . Total losses in the siege , including the battle on 14 April , were 1 , 600 French killed and wounded , plus 400 captured . The Allies lost a total of 1 , 700 killed and wounded , and 300 captured .