Lord Wellington arrests his movements and returns in person to St. Jean de Luz to throw his bridge over the Adour—Is prevented by bad weather and returns to the Gave of Mauleon—Passage of the Adour by sir John Hope—Difficulty of the operation—The flotilla passes the bar and enters the river—The French sally from Bayonne but are repulsed and the stupendous bridge is cast—Citadel invested after a severe action—Lord Wellington passes the Gave of Oleron and invests Navarrens—Soult concentrates his army at Orthes—Beresford passes the Gave de Pau near Pereyhorade—Battle of Orthes—Soult changes his line of operations—Combat of Aire—Observations 536 CHAP. III. Soult’s perilous situation—He falls back to Tarbes—Napoleon sends him a plan of operations—His reply and views stated—Lord Wellington’s embarrassments—Soult’s proclamation—Observations upon it—Lord Wellington calls up Freyre’s Gallicians and detaches Beresford against Bordeaux—The mayor of that city revolts from Napoleon—Beresford enters Bordeaux and is followed by the duke of Angoulême—Fears of a reaction—The mayor issues a false proclamation—Lord Wellington expresses his indignation—Rebukes the duke of Angoulême—Recalls Beresford but leaves lord Dalhousie with the seventh division and some cavalry—Decaen commences the organization of the army of the Gironde—Admiral Penrose enters the Garonne—Remarkable exploit of the commissary Ogilvie—Lord Dalhousie passes the Garonne and the Dordogne and defeats L’Huillier at Etauliers—Admiral Penrose destroys the French flotilla—The French set fire to their ships of war—The British seamen and marines land and destroy all the French batteries from Blaye to the mouth of the Garonne 580 CHAP. IV. Wellington’s and Soult’s situations and forces described—Folly of the English ministers—Freyre’s Gallicians and Ponsonby’s heavy cavalry join lord Wellington—He orders Giron’s Andalusians and Del Parque’s army to enter France—Soult suddenly takes the offensive—Combats of cavalry—Partizan expedition of Captain Dania—Wellington menaces the peasantry with fire and sword if they take up arms—Soult retires—Lord Wellington advances—Combat of Vic Bigorre—Death and character of colonel Henry Sturgeon—Daring exploit of captain William Light[1]—Combat of Tarbes—Soult retreats by forced marches to Toulouse—Wellington follows more slowly—Cavalry combat at St. Gaudens—The allies arrive in front of Toulouse—Reflections 603 CHAP. V.