APPENDIX TO CHRONICLE. 



181 



They had likewise broken all the 

 bridges over the Ers within our 

 reach, by which the right of their 

 position could be approached. — 

 The roads, however, from the 

 Ariege to Toulouse being imprac- 

 ticable for cavalry or artillery, and 

 nearly so for infantry, as reported 

 to your Lordship in my dispatch of 

 the 1st inst. I had no alternative, 

 excepting to attack the enemy in 

 this formidable position. 



It was necessHry to move the 

 pontoon bridge higher up the Ga- 

 ronne, in order to shorten the com- 

 munication with Lieut. General 

 Sir Rowland Kill's corps, as soon 

 as the Spanish corps had passed ; 

 and this operation was not effected 

 till so late an hour on the 9th, as 

 to induce me to defer the attack 

 till the following morning. 



The plan accordmg to which I 

 determined to attack the enemy, 

 was for Marshal Sir W. Beresford, 

 who was on the right of the Ers 

 with the 4th and 6th divisions, to 

 cross that river at the bridge of 

 Croix d'Orade, to gain possession 

 of Mont Blanc, and to march up 

 the left of the Ers to turn the ene- 

 my's right, while Lieutenant Gen. 

 I)on Manuel Freyre, with the 

 Spanish corps under his command, 

 supported by the British cavalry, 

 should attack the front. Lieut. 

 General Sir S. Cotton was to fol- 

 low the Marshal's movement, with 

 Major General Lord E. Somerset's 

 brigade of hussars; and Colonel 

 Vivian's brigade, under the com- 

 mand of Colonel Arentschild, was 

 to observe the movement of the 

 enemy's cavalry on both banks of 

 the Ers beyond our left. 



The 3rd and light divisions, un- 

 d*.r the command of Lieutenant 

 General Sir T. Picton and Major 



General Charles Baron Alten, and 

 the brigade of German cavalry, 

 were to observe the enemy on the 

 lower part of the canal, and to 

 draw their attention to that quarter 

 by threatening the tctc tie pont, 

 while Lieut. General Sir R. Hill 

 was to do the same on the suburb 

 on the left of the Garonne. 



Marshal Sir W. Beresford cross- 

 ed the Ers, and formed his corps in 

 three columns of lines in the vil- 

 lage of Croix d'Orade, the 4th di- 

 vision leading:, with which he 

 immediately carried Mont Blanc. — • 

 He then moved up the Ers in the 

 same order, over more difficult 

 ground, in a direction parallel to 

 the enemy's fortified position ; and 

 as soon as he reached the point at 

 which he turned it, he formed his 

 lines and moved to the attack. — 

 During these operations Lieutenant 

 General Don Manuel Freyre moved 

 along the left of the Ers to the 

 front of Croix d'Orade, where he 

 formed his corps in two lines with 

 a reserve on a height in front of the 

 left of the enemy's position, on 

 which height the Portuguese artil- 

 lery was placed ; and Major Gen. 

 Ponsonby's brigade of cavalry in 

 reserve in the rear. 



As soon as formed, and that it 

 was seen that Marshal Sir William 

 Beresford was ready. Lieutenant 

 General Don Manuel Freyre moved 

 forward to the attack. The troops 

 marched in good order under a 

 heavy fire of musketry and artille- 

 ry, and showed great spirit, the Ge- 

 neral and all his staff being at their 

 head ; and the two lines were soon 

 lodged under some banks imme- 

 diately under the enemy's en- 

 trenchments ; the reserve and 

 Portuguese artillery, and British 

 cavalry, continuing on the heights 



