away to defend eastern France, Suchet had only 17,000 men left in his field army. He evacuated most of Catalonia except for Barcelona and Figueras. By forging Suchet's signature, a rogue staff officer named Juan Van Halen was able to secure the surrender of 1,900 troops and the fortresses of Lleida, Mequinenza, and Monzón. Only General of Brigade Louis Benoît Robert at Tortosa was not fooled by the trick. Eventually, Suchet was compelled to fall back to the Pyrenees. By April 1814, his army counted only 16,110 troops. Of these, Lamarque's division had 8,491 men in 11 battalions, Mesclop's brigade numbered 3,990 soldiers in seven battalions, the cavalry included 1,449 troopers in seven squadrons, and the artillery had 2,180 artillerists and others to man 24 guns. By the end, the fortified places had all fallen to the Anglo-Spanish except at Barcelona where Habert maintained a fanatical resistance. Weeks after Napoleon abdicated, Habert was finally persuaded to surrender and the last vestige of French occupation finally flickered out. See also Cross of Ordal from Google Earth Notes References Further reading External links Conflicts in 1813 Battles of the Napoleonic Wars Battles of the Peninsular War Battles in Catalonia Battles involving the United Kingdom Battles involving Spain Battles involving France 1813 in Spain September 1813 events