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Battle of Orthez order of battle

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Painting shows cavalrymen with sabers attacking infantrymen armed with muskets.
The Final Charge of the British Cavalry at the Battle of Orthez by Denis Dighton

The Battle of Orthez (27 February 1814) saw the Anglo-Portuguese Army commanded by Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington attack an Imperial French army under Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult. Soult's army was posted on a ridge to the north of the town of Orthez in southern France and in the town itself. For over two hours the outnumbered French repulsed repeated Allied assaults on their right flank, forcing Wellington to order a general assault. After a struggle, the Allies overcame the French defenses and Soult was compelled to order a retreat. At first, the French divisions withdrew in good order, but as they approached the bridge over the Luy de Béarn at Sault-de-Navailles, many soldiers began to panic. The next day Soult decided that his army was too demoralized to resist more attacks and continued his retreat. Allied casualties were about 2,200 while the French lost about 4,000 killed, wounded and captured. The battle was fought near the end of the Peninsular War.[1]

Orders of Battle

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Allied Army

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Marquess Wellington's Army at Orthez[2]
Corps Division Strength Brigade Strength Units Losses
Field Marshal
William Beresford
4th Division
Lieutenant General
Lowry Cole
5,952 Major General
William Anson
1,814 3rd Battalion/27th Infantry Regiment 6
1st Battalion/40th Infantry Regiment 5
1st Battalion/48th Line Infantry Regiment 14
Major General
Robert Ross (WIA)
1,735 1st Battalion/7th Infantry Regiment 68
1st Battalion/20th Infantry Regiment 123
1st Battalion/23rd Infantry Regiment 88
Brigadier General
José Vasconcellos
2,385 11th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 148
23rd Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 122
7th Caçadores Battalion 25
7th Division
Major General
George Townshend Walker
5,643 Lieutenant Colonel
John Gardiner
1,865 1st Battalion/6th Infantry Regiment 145
2nd Battalion/24th Infantry Regiment 35
2nd Battalion/56th Line Infantry Regiment 31
Brunswick Oels Infantry Regiment 48
Major General
William Inglis
1,420 51st Infantry Regiment absent[3]
68th Infantry Regiment 31
1st Battalion/82nd Infantry Regiment 38
Chasseurs Britanniques Regiment 40
Colonel
John Milley Doyle
2,358 7th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 0
19th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 0
2nd Caçadores Battalion 3
Lieutenant General
Thomas Picton
3rd Division
Lieutenant General
Thomas Picton
6,626 Major General
Thomas Brisbane
2,491 1st Battalion/45th Infantry Regiment 132
5th Battalion/60th Infantry Regiment 42
74th Infantry Regiment 34
1st Battalion/88th Infantry Regiment 269
Major General
John Keane
2,006 1st Battalion/5th Infantry Regiment 40
2nd Battalion/83rd Infantry Regiment 58
2nd Battalion/87th Infantry Regiment 109
94th Infantry Regiment 15
Colonel
Manley Power
2,129 9th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 49
21st Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 37
11th Caçadores Battalion 23
6th Division
Lieutenant General
Henry Clinton
5,571 Major General
Denis Pack
1,415 1st Battalion/42nd Infantry Regiment 60
1st Battalion/79th Infantry Regiment absent[3]
1st Battalion/91st Infantry Regiment 12
Major General
John Lambert
2,300 1st Battalion/11th Infantry Regiment 0
1st Battalion/32nd Infantry Regiment 0
1st Battalion/36th Infantry Regiment 0
1st Battalion/61st Infantry Regiment 7
Colonel
James Douglas
1,856 8th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 9
12th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 5
9th Caçadores Battalion 10
Lieutenant General
Rowland Hill
2nd Division
Lieutenant General
William Stewart
7,780 Major General
Edward Barnes
2,013 1st Battalion/50th Infantry Regiment 14
1st Battalion/71st Infantry Regiment 12
1st Battalion/92nd Infantry Regiment 3
Major General
John Byng
1,805 1st Battalion/3rd Infantry Regiment 2
1st Battalion/57th Infantry Regiment 0
2nd Battalion/31st Infantry Regiment 2
1st Battalion/66th Infantry Regiment 0
Colonel
Robert O'Callaghan
1,664 1st Battalion/28th Infantry Regiment 0
2nd Battalion/34th Infantry Regiment 0
1st Battalion/39th Infantry Regiment 0
Colonel
Henry Hardinge
1,856 6th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 0
18th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 0
6th Caçadores Battalion 0
Portuguese Division
Major General
Carlos Frederico Lecor
4,465 Brigadier General
Hippolita Da Costa
2,109 2nd Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 3
14th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 0
Brigadier General
John Buchan
2,356 4th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 1
10th Port. Infantry Regiment, two battalions 1
10th Caçadores Battalion 10
Reserve Light Division
Major General
Charles Alten[note 1]
3,480 Major General
James Kempt
British
total
1,777
1st Battalion/43rd Infantry Regiment absent[3]
1st Battalion/95th Infantry Regiment absent[3]
3rd Battalion/95th Infantry Regiment 0
3rd Caçadores Battalion 26
Major General
John Ormsby Vandeleur
Port.
total
1,703
1st Battalion/52nd Infantry Regiment 89
2nd Battalion/95th Infantry Regiment 0
17th Port. Infantry Regiment 0
1st Caçadores Battalion 47
Cavalry Cavalry Division
Lieutenant General
Stapleton Cotton
3,373 Major General
Edward Somerset
1,619 7th Hussar Regiment 16
10th Hussar Regiment 1
15th Hussar Regiment 9
Major General
Hussey Vivian
989 18th Hussar Regiment 0
1st Hussar Regiment, King's German Legion 0
Major General
Henry Fane
765 13th Light Dragoon Regiment 9
14th Light Dragoon Regiment 2
Artillery Not given 1,162
54 guns
Not given 1,162
54 guns
6 British Batteries 28
1 King's German Legion Battery 0
1 Portuguese Battery 0
Engineers, etc. Not given 350 Not given 350 Staff 6
Engineers 2
Wagon drivers 0
Total strength and casualties Allied strength: 44,402 By nationality: 26,798 British 1,645
17,604 Portuguese 529

French Army

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Marshal Jean de Dieu Soult's Army at Orthez[4]
Corps Division Strength Losses Brigade Units
General of Division
Honoré Charles Reille
5th Division
General of Brigade
Claude Pierre Rouget
vice General of Division
Jean-Pierre Maransin
3,717 521 General of Brigade
Étienne de Barbot
4th Light Infantry Regiment, one battalion
40th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
50th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
General of Brigade
Claude Pierre Rouget
27th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
34th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
59th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
4th Division
General of Division
Eloi Charlemagne Taupin
5,455 591 General of Brigade
Jean-Pierre-Antoine Rey
12th Light Infantry Regiment, two battalions
32nd Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
43rd Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
General of Brigade
Joseph Gasquet
47th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
55th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
58th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
Detached from Harispe Not given 448 General of Brigade
Marie Auguste Paris[note 2]
10th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
81st Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
115th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
General of Division
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, comte d'Erlon
1st Division
General of Division
Maximilien Sébastien Foy (WIA)
3,839 349 General of Brigade
Joseph François Fririon
6th Light Infantry Regiment, one battalion
69th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
76th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
General of Brigade
Pierre André Hercule Berlier
36th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
39th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
65th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
2nd Division
General of Division
Jean Barthélemy Darmagnac
5,022 566 General of Brigade
Louis Jean-Baptiste Leseur
31st Light Infantry Regiment, two battalions
51st Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
75th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
General of Brigade
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Menne
118th Line Infantry Regiment, three battalions
120th Line Infantry Regiment, three battalions
General of Division
Bertrand Clausel
6th Division
General of Division
Eugène-Casimir Villatte
4,609 339 General of Brigade
Louis Paul Baille de Saint Pol
21st Light Infantry Regiment, one battalion
86th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
96th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
100th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
General of Brigade
Étienne-François Lamorendière
28th Light Infantry Regiment, one battalion
103rd Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
119th Line Infantry Regiment, two battalions
8th Division
General of Division
Jean Isidore Harispe
5,084 834 General of Brigade
Guilhem Dauture
9th Light Infantry Regiment, two battalions
25th Light Infantry Regt., two battalions (at Lescar)[5]
34th Light Infantry Regiment, two battalions
General of Brigade
Jean-Baptiste Charles Baurot
45th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
115th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
116th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion
Cavalry General of Division
Pierre Benoît Soult[note 3]
2,000[6] 266 General of Brigade
Jean-Baptiste Breton
2nd Hussar Regiment (near Pau)[5]
13th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment
21st Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment
General of Brigade
Jacques-Laurent Vial
5th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment
10th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment
15th Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment
22nd Chasseurs-à-Cheval Regiment (at Pau)[5]
Artillery Not given 48 guns[7] 59 Not given Not given
Reserve General of Division
Jean-Pierre Travot
7,267
3,750[6]
Not given General of Brigade
Bernard Pourailly
"New conscript levies"
General of Brigade
Armand Wouillemont de Vivier
"New conscript levies"
Total strength and casualties 34,993 3,985 6 guns were lost. Losses include 8 staff officers and 4 sappers.

Notes

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Footnotes
  1. ^ Light Division organization is taken from Glover (2001) p. 383. Strength and losses are from Smith.
  2. ^ Smith gave separate casualties for Paris' brigade, but did not list its strength or composition in Smith (1998) pp. 500–501. Paris' units come from Smith (1998) p. 483. They are removed from Baurot's brigade of Harispe, which was credited with seven battalions on p. 500.
  3. ^ French cavalry order of battle is listed under the Battle of Toulouse in Smith (1998) p. 518. For Orthez, Smith listed only seven squadrons from the 15th, 21st and 22nd Chasseurs.
Citations
  1. ^ Glover 2001, pp. 320–323.
  2. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 501–504.
  3. ^ a b c d Oman 1997, p. 357.
  4. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 500–501.
  5. ^ a b c Oman 1997, p. 354.
  6. ^ a b Oman 1997, p. 355.
  7. ^ Gates 2002, p. 455.

References

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  • Broughton, Tony (2010). "Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815". The Napoleon Series. Retrieved 30 December 2016. This is an excellent source for the full names of French generals.
  • Gates, David (2002). The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War. London: Pimlico. ISBN 0-7126-9730-6.
  • Glover, Michael (2001). The Peninsular War 1807–1814. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-141-39041-7. This source provided the full names of Allied generals.
  • Oman, Charles (1997) [1930]. A History of the Peninsular War Volume VII. Vol. 7. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole. ISBN 1-85367-227-0.
  • Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.

Further reading

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