180 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814 



ship's book, or paper of any 

 description (charts excepted), on 

 board tlie Essex, or any document 

 relative to the number servinoj in 

 her previous to the action. Cap- 

 tain Porter informs me, that he 

 had upwards of 260 victualled ; 

 our prisoners, including 42 wound- 

 ed, amount to ICl : 23 were 

 found dead on her decks, 3 

 wounded were taken away by 

 Captain Downes of the Essex, 

 jun. a few minutes before the 

 colours were struck, and I believe 

 20 or 30 reached the shore ; the 

 remainder were killed or drowned. 

 [Here follows a list of 4 killed 

 and 7 wounded on board the 

 Phoebe, including First Lieutenant 

 William Ingram among the for- 

 mer. On board the Cherub were 

 1 killed and 3 wounded, including 

 Captain Tucker, severely. — Total, 

 5 killed and 10 wounded.] 



WAR DEPARTMENT. 



Downing street, /lp)il26. 



Major Lord W. Kussel arrived 

 last night at this office, bringing 

 a dispatch from the Marquess of 

 Wellington, to Earl Bathurst, of 

 which the following is a copy : 



Toulouse, April 12. 



My Lord, — 1 have the pleasure 

 to inform your Lordship, that I en- 

 tered this town this mornine, 



1*11 1 • 



which the enemy evacuated durmt' 



1 • I • • 



the night, retirmg by the road ©f 

 Carcassone. 



The continued fall of rain, and 

 the state of the roads, prevented 

 me from laying the bridge till the 

 morning of the 8th, when the Spa- 

 nish corps, and the Portuguese ar- 

 tillery, under the immediate orders 



of Lieutenant General Don Manuel 

 Freyre, and the head quarter 

 crossed the Garonne. 



We immediately moved forward 

 to the neighbourhood of the town; 

 and the 18th hussars, under the 

 immediatecommand of Col. Vivian, 

 had an opportunity of making a 

 most gallant atack upon a superior 

 body of the enemy's cavalry, which 

 they drove through the village of 

 Croix d'Orade, and took about 100 

 prisoners, and gave us possession 

 of an important bridge over the 

 river Ers, by which it was neces- 

 sary to pass, in order to attack the 

 enemy's position. Colonel Vivian 

 was unfortunately wounded upon 

 this occasion, and I am afraid I 

 shall lose the benefit of his assist- 

 ance for some time. 



The town of Toulouse is sur- 

 rounded on three sides by the canal 

 of Languedoc and the Garonne. — 

 On the left of that river, the suburb 

 which the enemy had fortified 

 with strong field works in front of 

 the ancient wall, formed a good 

 tele de pont. 



They had likewise formed a tete 

 de pont at each bridge of the canal, 

 which was besides defended by the 

 fire in some places of musketry, 

 and in all of artillery from the an- 

 cient wall of the town. Beyond 

 the canal to the eastward, and be- 

 tween that and the river Ers, is a 

 height which extends as far as 

 Montaudrau, and over which pass 

 all the roads to the canal and town 

 from the eastward, which it de- 

 fends ; and the enemy, in addition 

 to the tile de pont on the bridges of 

 the canal, had fortified the height 

 with five redoubts, connected by 

 lines of entrenchments, and liad, 

 with extraordinary diligence, made 

 every preparation for defence. — 



