for Lord Wellington to avail himself of water carriage. Soult had given
orders for the forces under General Thevenot to dispute the passage.

The first operations of our corps were to throw over the 3rd Guards,
under the command of the gallant Colonel Stopford; this was not accomplished
without much difficulty: but it was imperatively necessary, in order
to protect the point where the construction of the bridge of boats would
terminate. They had not been long on the French side of the river before
a considerable body of men were seen issuing from Bayonne. Sir John
Hope ordered our artillery, and rockets, then for the first time employed,
to support our small band. Three or four regiments of French infantry
were approaching rapidly, when a well-directed fire of rockets fell
amongst them. The consternation of the Frenchmen was such, when these
hissing, serpent-like projectiles descended, that a panic ensued, and
they re- treated upon Bayonne. The next day the bridge of boats was
completed, and the whole army crossed. Bayonne was eventually invested
after a contest, in which it was supposed our loss exceeded 500 or 600
men. Here we remained in camp about six weeks, expecting to besiege
the citadel; but this event never came off: we, however, met with a
severe disaster and a reverse. The enemy made an unexpected sortie,
and surrounded General Sir John Hope, when he and the whole of his staff
were taken prisoners. The French killed and wounded about 1,000 men
on this occasion.

The hardly-contested battle of Toulouse was fought about this period,
but the Guards were not present to share the honours of a contest which
closed the eventful war of the Spanish Peninsula.


ARRIVAL OF THE GUARDS AT BORDEAUX