Bayonne sortie
Battle Name : Bayonne sortie
Date(s) : 14 April 1814
Part of : The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , The Peninsular Campaign ,
Outcome : A victory for Allied Forces over French Forces
Type of battle : Land
Summary
The Allies had been besieging Bayonne since the 23rd February. .General Hope's Corps [ two British Divisions and two independent brigades] was detached from the main army to besiege the town. Soult had left General Thouvenot in command of 14,000 troops to hold the city. On the 13th April word reach the area that Napoleon had lost and abdicated. The relaxed atmosphere of the allied camp was shattered when on the 14th April Thouvenot, with 6,000 men, launched an attack on the allied lines. Outposts and front lines quickly fell but determined resistance and then a counter-attack drove the French back into the city. Thouvenot's motives can only be guessed at but over 1,700 lives had been lost to no purpose. The seige continued and Thouvenot finally surrendered the city on the 26th April, twenty days after Napoleon's abdication.
This ended the Peninsular Campaign.
Location
A port on the Biscayan coast of southwest France. (France)
Casualty figures
French Forces
- Number engaged :
- 6,000
- Casualties :
- 905 (15.08%)
Allied Forces
- Number engaged :
- 8,000
- Casualties :
- 838 (10.48%)