The Battle of Nivelle took place in front of the river Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War (1808–1814). After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops were in hot pursuit of Marshal Soult who had 60,000 men to place in a 20-mile perimeter. After the Light Division, the main British army was ordered to attack and the 3rd Division split Soult's army in two. By two o'clock, Soult was in retreat and the British in a strong offensive position. Soult had lost another battle on French soil and had lost 4,500 men to Wellington's 5,500.
Gravure of the battle
John Colborne
Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as President of the Council of Ministers of France.
Portrait by George Healy, 1840
Soult as a sergeant of the 23rd Line Infantry Regiment in 1792, by Vincent Nicolas Raverat (1834)
Portrait of Soult
Soult as Marshal of the Empire. Copy of an 1805 portrait by Jean Broc