The result of these complications was that Marlborough spent the greater part of the summer encamped, in the face of a superior French force, at Meldert, on a branch of the Great Geete, to cover his conquests in Flanders and Brabant. At last the Emperor, having accomplished14 his desires in Naples, made a diversion towards Provence which drew away a part of the French force to that quarter and enabled the Duke to move. But then bad weather intervened to prevent any successful operations. Twice Marlborough was within an ace10 of surprising Vend15?me, who had superseded Villeroy in Flanders, and twice the marshal decamped in haste and confusion only just in time to save his army. Even so the Duke would have struck one heavy blow but for the intervention16 of the Dutch deputies. But fortune favoured the French; the rain came down in torrents17, and the country was poached into such a quagmire18 by the cavalry19 that many of the infantry20 were fairly swallowed up and lost.[345] Thus tamely ended the campaign which should have continued the work of Ramillies.[346]
[492]
Returning home in November Marlborough found difficulties almost as great as he had left behind him in Flanders. There were quarrels in the Cabinet, already foreboding the time when the Queen and the people should turn against him. The Court of France was reverting21 to its old methods and endeavouring to divide England by providing the Pretender with a force for invasion. Again the hardships of the campaign in Flanders and the defeat of Almanza had not only created discontent, but had enormously increased the demand for recruits. The evil work of the Dutch deputies and the incorrigible23 selfishness and jealousy24 of the Empire had already prolonged the war beyond the limit assigned by the short patience of the English people.
Happily Parliament was for the present still loyal to the war, and voted not only the usual supplies but money for an additional ten thousand men. Five new battalions25[347] were raised, and three more of the old establishment were detailed27 for service in Flanders.[348] But far more satisfactory was the fact that in 1708 all regiments28 took the field with new colours, bearing the cross of St. Andrew blended with that of St. George, pursuant to the first article of the Treaty of union, passed in the previous year between England and Scotland.
1708.
March 29
April 9.
The early spring of 1708 was wasted by the French in a futile29 endeavour to set the Pretender afoot in Scotland with a French force at his back; nor was it until the 9th of April that Marlborough sailed for the Hague, where Eugene was already awaiting him. There the two agreed that the Duke should as usual command in Flanders, while Eugene should take charge of an army on the Moselle, nominally30 for operations on that river, but in reality to unite with [493] Marlborough by a rapid march and give battle to the French before they could call in their remoter detachments. There was a considerable difficulty with the Elector of Hanover, who was to command on the Rhine, owing to his jealousy of Eugene, but this trouble was satisfactorily settled, as were all troubles of the time, by the intervention of Marlborough. Thereupon the Electoral Prince, true to the quarrelsome traditions of his family, at once insisted on taking service with Eugene, simply for the sake of annoying his father; thus adding one more to the many causes of friction31 which, but for Marlborough, would soon have brought the Grand Alliance to a standstill. This Electoral Prince will become better known to us as King George the Second.
The French on their part had made extraordinary exertions32 in the hope of a successful campaign. Since Ramillies they had drawn6 troops from all quarters to Flanders; and from thenceforth the tendency in every succeeding year grew stronger for all operations to centre in that familiar battle-ground. On the Rhine the Elector of Bavaria held command, with Berwick, much exalted33 since Almanza, to help him. The French main army in Flanders numbered little less than a hundred thousand men, and was under the orders of Vend?me, with the Duke of Burgundy in supreme34 command. The presence of the heir to the throne, of his brother the Duke of Berry, and of the Chevalier de St. George, as the Pretender called himself, all portended35 an unusual effort.
May.
May 24
June 4
to
June 24
July 5.
June 23
July 4.
Marching up at the end of May from their rendezvous36 on the south of the Haine, the French army moved north to the forest of Soignies. Marlborough thereupon at once concentrated at Hal and summoned Eugene to him with all haste. His own army numbered but eighty thousand men, and though as usual he showed a bold front he knew that such disparity of numbers was serious. The French then man?uvred towards Waterloo as if to threaten Louvain, a movement[494] which the Duke met by a forced march to Park on the Dyle. Here he remained perforce inactive for a whole month, waiting for Eugene, who was delayed by some petty formalities which were judged by the Imperial Court to be far more important than military operations. Suddenly, on the night of the 4th of July, the French broke up their camp, marched westward37 to cross the Senne at Hal and detached small corps38 against Bruges and Ghent. Unable to meet the Allies with the sword, the French had substituted gold for steel and had for some time been tampering39 with the new authorities in these towns. The gold had done its work. Within twenty-four hours Ghent and Bruges had opened their gates, and the keys to the navigation of the Scheldt and Lys were lost.
June 24
July 5.
June 25
July 6.
Marlborough, who was quite ready for a march, was up and after the French army immediately. At two o'clock in the morning his army was in motion, streaming off to pass the Senne at Anderlecht. The march was long and severe, the roads being in so bad a state that the right wing did not reach its halting-ground until six o'clock in the evening, nor the left wing till two o'clock on the following morning; but this great effort brought the Allies almost within reach of the French army. In the night intelligence was brought to Marlborough that the enemy was turning back to fight him. He was in the saddle at once, to form his line of battle; but the news was false. The French in reality were making off as fast as they could; and before the truth could reach Marlborough they were across the Dender. Marlborough's cavalry was instantly on their track, but could do no more than capture a few hundred prisoners together with most of the French baggage. That same day came definite information of the loss of Ghent and Bruges, and of the investment of the citadel40 of Ghent. Brussels took the alarm at once. The French, as they feared, had for once got the better of the Duke. The French army was encamped at Alost, where, like a king between two pieces at draughts41, it[495] threatened both the citadel of Ghent and Brussels; and all was panic in the capital. The Duke was fain to move on to Assche, midway between Alost and Brussels, to restore the confidence of the fearful city.
June 28
July 9.
Here Eugene joined him. Finding it hopeless to arrive in time with his army, he had pushed on alone; nor could he have arrived more opportunely42, for the Duke was so much weakened by an attack of fever that he was hardly fit for duty. It was indeed a trying moment. The next design of the French was evidently aimed at Oudenarde for the recovery of the line of the Scheldt. They were already across the Dender and ahead of Marlborough on the road to it, and moreover had broken down the bridges behind them; yet Marlborough dared not move lest he should expose Brussels. He sent orders to the Governor of Ath to collect as many troops as he could and throw himself into Oudenarde, which that officer punctually did; and then there was nothing to be done but to wait. Two days sufficed to place the citadel of Ghent in the hands of the French, and to set their army free for further operations. Accordingly on the 9th of July Vend?me sent forward detachments to invest Oudenarde, and moved with the main army up the Dender to Lessines, from which point he intended to cover the siege. Great was his astonishment43 on approaching the town on the following day to find that Marlborough had arrived there before him, and was not only within reach of Oudenarde but interposed between him and his own frontier.
June 29
July 10.
For at two o'clock on the morning of the 9th of July the Allied44 army had marched off in beautiful order in five columns, and by noon had covered fifteen miles to Herfelingen on the road to the Dender. Four hours later Cadogan was sent forward with eight battalions and as many squadrons to occupy Lessines and throw bridges over the Dender; and when tattoo45 beat that night the army silently entered on a march of thirteen further miles to the same point. Before dawn came the welcome intelligence that Cadogan had reached[496] his destination at midnight, laid his bridges, and made his disposition46 to cover the passage of the troops. The army tramped on, always in perfect order, crossed the river and was taking up its camping-ground, when the heads of the enemy's columns appeared on the distant heights and were seen first to halt and then to retire. Marlborough on the curve of the arc had outmarched Vend?me on the chord.
June 30
July 11.
The French, finding the whole of their plans disconcerted, now wheeled about north-westward towards Gavre on the Scheldt, to shelter themselves behind the river and bar the advance of the allies on Bruges. But the Duke had no intention to let them off so easily. Burgundy and Vend?me were not on good terms; their differences had already caused considerable confusion in the army; and Marlborough was fully47 aware of the fact. At dawn on the morning of the 11th the unwearied Cadogan started off with some eleven thousand men[349] and twenty-four guns to prepare the roads, construct bridges, and make dispositions48 to cover the passage of the Scheldt below Oudenarde. By half-past ten he had reached the river, just above the village of Eyne, and on ascending49 the low heights above the stream and looking westward he saw before him a kind of shallow basin or amphitheatre, seamed by little ditches and rivulets50, and broken by hedges and enclosures. To the south the rising ground on which he stood swept round almost to the glacis of Oudenarde, thence curved westward from the village of Bevere into another broad hill called the Boser Couter to the village of Oycke and beyond, thence round northward52 across the valley of the river Norken to Huysse, whence trending still to northward it died away in the marshes53 of the Scheldt. Near Oycke two small streams rise which, after pursuing for some way a parallel course,[497] unite to run down into the Scheldt at Eyne; beyond them the Norken runs beneath the heights of Huysse in a line parallel to the Scheldt.
Presently parties of French horse appeared on the ground to the north. Vend?me's advanced-guard, under the Marquis of Biron, had crossed the Scheldt leisurely54 at Gavre, six miles farther down the river, and was now moving across his front with foragers out, in happy unconsciousness of the presence of an enemy. A dash of Cadogan's squadrons upon the foragers quickly brought Biron to Eyne and beyond it, where he caught sight of Cadogan's detachment of scarlet55 and blue battalions guarding the bridge, and presently of a body of cavalry in the act of crossing; for Marlborough, uneasy while his advanced-guard was still in the air, had caught up a column of Prussian horse and galloped56 forward with it in all haste. Biron at once reported what he had seen to Vend?me, who, perceiving that the mass of the Allied army was still on the wrong side of the Scheldt, gave orders to take up a position parallel to the river; the line to rest its left on the village of Heurne and extend by Eyne and Beveren to Mooregem on the right. In pursuance of his design he directed seven battalions to occupy Heurne forthwith; but at this point the Duke of Burgundy interposed. The heights of Huysse in rear of the Norken from Asper to Wannegem formed in his judgment57 a preferable position; and there, two miles from the Scheldt, he should form his line of battle, facing south-east. So the army was guided to the left bank of the Norken, while the seven battalions, obeying what they conceived to be their orders, marched down to the village not of Heurne but of Eyne, and backed by a few squadrons, took up the position assigned to them by Vend?me.
Meanwhile, responding to urgent messages from Marlborough, the main body of the Allies was hurrying forward, and by two o'clock the head of the infantry had reached the Scheldt. Part of the cavalry passed through Oudenarde to take advantage of the town[498] bridge; the foot began to cross by the pontoons, and Cadogan, whose eye had marked the march of the French into Eyne, at once summoned the whole of his advanced-guard across to the left bank. Sabine's brigade supported by the other two crossed the rivulet51 against Eyne, while the Hanoverian cavalry moved up to the rear of the village and cut off all hope of retreat. Presently Sabine's British were hotly engaged; but the French made but a poor resistance. It is the weakness of the French soldier that he apprehends58 too quickly when his officers have not given him a fair chance. Three battalions out of the seven were captured entire, the remaining four were killed or taken piecemeal59 in their flight. The cavalry, flushed by their success, then advanced under Prince George against the few French squadrons in rear of the village, charged them, routed them, and drove them across the Norken. The Prince had his horse shot under him in this encounter, for his family has never wanted for courage, and he remembered the day of Oudenarde to the end of his life.
The Duke of Burgundy now made up his mind to a general action, and made every preparation for defence of the position behind the Norken. But when four o'clock came and the Allied army was not yet in order of battle, he changed his plan, pushed a body of cavalry from his right across the stream, and set the whole of his centre and right in motion to advance likewise. Marlborough, perceiving the movement, judged that the attack would be directed against his left, in the hope that Cadogan's battalions about Eyne would be left isolated60 and open to be crushed by an advance of the French left. Two of Cadogan's regiments, Prussians, which had been pushed forward half a mile beyond Eyne to Groenewald were at once reinforced by twelve more of the advanced guard; the British cavalry was formed up on the heights at Bevere, and the Prussian horse further to the Allied right near Heurne. No more could be done until the rest of the army should gradually cross the river which divided it from the battlefield.
[499]
At length about five o'clock thirty French battalions debouched upon Groenewald, which was as yet held only by Cadogan's two advanced regiments, and began the attack. The Prussians stuck to their post gallantly62 and held their own among the hedges, until presently Cadogan's reinforcement, and later on twenty more battalions under the Duke of Argyll,[350] came up to their assistance. Forming in succession on the left of the Prussians as they reached the fighting line, these regiments extended the field of action as far south as Schaerken; and the combat was carried on with great spirit. The ground was so strongly enclosed that the fight resolved itself into duels63 of battalions, the cream of the infantry on both sides being engaged. At one moment the French outflanked the left of the Allies and drove them back, but fresh battalions of Marlborough's army kept constantly streaming into action, which recovered the lost ground and prolonged the line of fire always further to the south.
Marlborough and Eugene, who had hitherto remained together, now parted, and the Duke handing over eighteen battalions to the Prince entrusted64 him with the command of the right. This accession of strength enabled Eugene to relieve Cadogan's corps, which had been forced to give way before Groenewald, and even to pierce through the first line of the enemy's infantry. General Natzmar thereupon seized the moment to throw the Prussian cavalry against the second line. His squadrons were received with a biting fire from the hedges as they advanced; and the French Household Cavalry watching the favourable65 moment for a charge drove back the Prussians with very heavy loss.
Meanwhile Marlborough with the Hanoverian and Dutch infantry was pressing forward slowly on his left, the French fighting with great stubbornness and gallantry, and contesting every inch of ground from hedge to hedge. At last the enemy being forced back to Diepenbeck, a few hundred yards in rear of Schaerken, stood[500] fast, and refused despite all the Duke's efforts to give way for another foot. But Marlborough had still twenty battalions of Dutch and Danes with almost the entire cavalry of the left at his disposal, and he had noticed that the French right flank rested on the air. He now directed Marshal Overkirk to lead these troops under cover of the Boser Couter round the French right and to fall with them upon their rear. The gallant61 old Dutchman, though infirm and sick unto death, joyfully66 obeyed. Two brigades were thrown at once on the flank of the troops that were so stoutly67 opposing Marlborough; while the cavalry advanced quickly on the reverse slope of the Boser Couter,[351] and then wheeling to the right fell on the rear of the unsuspecting French. A part of the Household Cavalry and some squadrons of dragoons tried bravely to stand their ground, but they were borne back and swept away. Overkirk's troops pressed rapidly on; and the French right was fairly surrounded on all sides.
To face page 500
OUDENARDE
June 30th July 11th 1708.
Now at last an effort was made to bring forward the French left, which through Burgundy's perversity68 or for some inscrutable reason, had been left motionless on the other side of the Norken; but it was too late. The infantry, though led by Vend?me himself, failed to make the slightest impression, and the cavalry dared not advance. The ground before them was intricate and swampy69, and the whole of the British cavalry, withdrawn from their first position by Eugene, stood waiting to plunge70 down upon them directly they should move. The daylight faded and the night came on, but the musketry flashed out incessantly71 in an ever narrowing girdle of fire, as the Allies wound themselves closer and closer round the enveloped72 French right. At length at nine o'clock Marlborough and Eugene, fearful lest their own troops should engage each other in the darkness, with some difficulty enforced the order to halt and cease firing. Vast numbers of the French seized the[501] moment to escape, but presently all the drums of the Allies began with one accord to beat the French retreat, while the Huguenot officers shouted "A moi, Picardie! A moi, Roussillon!" to gather the relics73 of the scattered74 regiments of the enemy around them. In this way some thousands of prisoners were gleaned75, but the harvest which would have been reaped in another hour of daylight was lost. In the French army all was confusion. Vend?me tried in vain to keep the troops together till the morning, but Burgundy gave the word for retreat; and the whole ran off in disorder76 towards Ghent.
July 1 12 .
July 2-3 13-14 .
So ended the battle of Oudenarde, presenting on one side a feature rare in these days, namely, a general engagement without an order of battle.[352] It was undoubtedly77 the most hazardous78 action that Marlborough ever fought. His troops were much harassed79 by forced marches. They had started at two o'clock on Monday morning and had covered fifty miles, including the passage of two rivers, when they came into action at two o'clock on Wednesday afternoon. It would be reckoned no small feat22 in these days to move eighty thousand men over fifty miles in sixty hours, but in those days of bad roads and heavy packs the effort must have been enormous. Finally, the army had to pass the Scheldt in the face of the enemy, and ran no small risk of being destroyed in detail. Yet the hazard was probably less than it now seems to us, and generals in our own day have not hesitated to risk similar peril80 with success. The French commanders were at variance81; the less competent of them, being heir-apparent, was likely to be toadied82 by officers and supported by them against their better judgment; and finally the whole French army was very much afraid of Marlborough. Notwithstanding their slight success in Ghent and Bruges, their elation83 had evaporated speedily when they found Marlborough before them at Lessines.[502] All this Marlborough knew well, and knew also that if an impromptu84 action, if one may use the term, must be fought, there was not a man on the other side who had an eye for a battlefield comparable to Eugene's and his own. The event justified85 his calculations; for the victory was one of men who knew their own minds over men who did not. Another hour of daylight, so Marlborough declared, would have enabled him to finish the war. The total loss of the Allies in the battle was about three thousand killed and wounded, the British infantry though early engaged suffering but little, while the cavalry, being employed to watch the inactive French left, hardly suffered at all.[353] The French lost six thousand killed and wounded and nine thousand prisoners only, but they were thoroughly86 shaken and demoralised for the remainder of the campaign. The wearied army of the Allies lay on its arms in the battlefield, while Marlborough and Eugene waited impatiently for the dawn. As soon as it was light forty squadrons, for the most part British, were sent forward in pursuit, while Eugene returned to his own army to hasten its march and to collect material for a siege. The main army halted to rest for two days where it lay, during which time the intelligence came that Berwick had been summoned with his army from the Moselle, and was marching with all haste to occupy certain lines constructed by the French to cover their frontier from Ypres to the Lys. At midnight fifty squadrons and thirty battalions under Count Lottum, a distinguished87 Prussian officer, started for these lines; the whole army followed at daybreak, and while on the march the Duke received the satisfactory news that Lottum had captured the lines without difficulty. Next day the whole of Marlborough's army was encamped along the Lys between Menin and Commines, within the actual territory of France.
July.
Detached columns were at once sent out to forage[503] and levy88 contributions. The suburbs of Arras were burnt, and no effort was spared to bring home to the French that war was hammering at their own gates. But the Allies were still doubtful as to the operations that they should next undertake. So long as the French held Bruges and Ghent they held also the navigation of the Scheldt and Lys, so that it was of vital importance to tempt89 Vend?me, if possible, to evacuate90 them. The British Government was preparing a force[354] under General Erie for a descent upon Normandy by sea, and Marlborough was for co-operating with this expedition, masking the fortress91 of Lille, and penetrating92 straight into France—a plan which the reader should, if possible, bear in mind. But the proposal was too adventurous93 to meet with the approval of the Dutch, and was judged impracticable even by Eugene unless Lille were first captured as a place of arms. Ultimately it was decided94, notwithstanding the closing of the Scheldt and Lys, to undertake the siege of Lille; and all the energies of the Allies were turned to the collection of sixteen thousand horses to haul the siege-train overland from Brussels.
During the enforced inaction of the army for the next few weeks, the monotony was broken only by the arrival of a distinguished visitor, Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, together with one of his three hundred and sixty-four bastards95, a little boy of twelve named Maurice, who had run away from school to join the army. We shall meet with this boy again as a man of fifty, under the name of Marshal Saxe, at a village some twenty miles distant called Fontenoy.
Aug. 1 12 .
At length the preparations for the siege were complete, and the huge convoy96 set out from Brussels for its long march. Now, if ever, was the time for the French to strike a blow. Vend?me in the north at[504] Ghent and Berwick in the south at Douay had, between them, one hundred and ten thousand men: the distance to be traversed by the convoy was seventy-five miles, and the way was barred by the Dender and the Scheldt. Such, however, was the skill with which the march was conducted that the French never succeeded even in threatening the vast, unwieldy columns, which duly reached their destination without the loss even of a single waggon97. Of all the achievements of Marlborough and Eugene, this seems to have been judged by contemporary military men to be the greatest.[355]
Lille, the capital of French Flanders, was one of the early conquests of Lewis the Fourteenth, and, if the expression may be allowed, the darling town of the Court of Versailles. Situated98 in a swampy plain and watered by two rivers, the Deule and Marque, its natural position presented difficulties of no ordinary kind to a besieging99 force, and, in addition, it had been fortified100 by Vauban with his utmost skill. The garrison4, which had been strengthened by Berwick, amounted to fifteen thousand men, under the command of brave old Marshal Boufflers, who had solicited101 the honour of defending the fortress. To the north, as we have seen, lay Vend?me, and to the south Berwick, with a joint102 force now amounting to about ninety-four thousand men.[356] It was for Marlborough and Eugene with an inferior strength of eighty-four thousand men[357] to hold them at bay and to take one of the strongest fortresses103 in the world before their eyes.
Aug. 2 13 .
A detailed account even of so famous a siege would be wearisome, the more so since the proportion of British troops detailed for regular work in the trenches104 was but five battalions,[358] but there are a few salient features which cannot be omitted. The point selected [505] for attack was the north side, the first advance to which was opened by a single English soldier, Sergeant105 Littler of the First Guards,[359] who swam across the Marquette to a French post which commanded the passage of the stream and let down the drawbridge. Two days later the town was fully invested, and Marlborough took post with the covering army at Helchin on the Scheldt.
The investment had not been accomplished for more than a fortnight when the Duke was informed that Berwick and Vend?me were advancing towards the Dender to unite their forces at Lessines. After man?uvring at first to hinder the junction106 Marlborough finally decided to let it come to pass, being satisfied that, if the French designed to relieve Lille, they could not break through in the face of his army on the east side, but must go round and approach it from the south. In this case, as both armies would move in concentric circles around Lille as a centre, Marlborough being nearer to that centre could be certain of reaching any given point on the way to it before the French. Moreover, the removal of the enemy from the east to the south would free the convoys107 from Brussels from all annoyance108 on their march to the siege.
Aug. 22
Sept. 2.
As he had expected, the French moved south to Tournay, and then wheeling northward entered the plain of Lille, where they found Marlborough and Eugene drawn up ready to receive them.[360] Vend?me and Berwick had positive orders to risk a battle; and [506] there had been much big talk of annihilating109 the Allies. Yet face to face with their redoubtable110 enemies they hesitated. Finally, after a week's delay, which enabled Marlborough greatly to strengthen his position by entrenchment111, they advanced as if to attack in earnest, but withdrew ignominiously112 after a useless cannonade without accepting battle. Had not Marlborough and Eugene been restrained by the Dutch deputies, the marshals would have had a battle forced on them whether they liked it or not, but, as things were, they were permitted to retire. To such depth of humiliation113 had Marlborough reduced the proud and gallant French army.
Aug. 27-28
Sept. 7-8.
Sept. 9-10 20-21 .
The retreat left Eugene free to press the siege with vigour114; but a great assault, which cost him three thousand men,[361] failed to give him the advantage for which he had hoped, and a week later Marlborough was called in from the covering army to give assistance. For the next assault, on the counterscarp, the Duke lent the Prince five thousand English, and it is said that English and French never fought more worthily115 of their reputation than on that day; but the assault was thrice repelled116, and it was only through the exertions of Eugene himself that a portion of the works was at last captured after a desperate effort and at frightful117 cost of life. Altogether the siege was not going well. The engineers had made blunders; a vast number of men had been thrown away to no purpose; and ammunition118 and stores were beginning to run short. Lastly, Boufflers maintained always a very grand and extremely able defence.
Sept. 16 27 .
Vend?me and Berwick could now think of no better expedient119 than to throw themselves into strong positions along the Scarpe and Scheldt, from Douay to Ghent, in order to cut off all convoys from Brussels. But Marlborough was prepared for this, and had not[507] captured Ostend after Ramillies for nothing. England held command of the sea; and Erle's expedition, which had effected little or nothing on the coast of Normandy, was at hand to help in the transport of supplies from the new base. Erle, who had considerable talent for organisation120, soon set Ostend in order, seized two passages over the Newport Canal at Leffinghe and Oudenburg and prepared to send off his first convoy. As its arrival was of vital importance to the maintenance of the siege, the French were as anxious to intercept121 as the English to forward it. Vend?me accordingly sent off Count de la Mothe with twenty-two thousand men to attack it on its way, while Marlborough despatched twelve battalions and fifteen hundred horse to Ostend itself, twelve battalions more under General Webb to Thourout, and eighteen squadrons under Cadogan to Roulers, at two different points on the road, to help it to its destination.
Sept. 17 28 .
The convoy started at night, and in the morning Cadogan sent forward Count Lottum with a hundred and fifty horse to meet it. At noon Lottum returned to Thourout with the intelligence that he had struck against the advanced-guard of a French force at Ichtegem, two miles beyond Wynendale and some four miles from Thourout on the road to Ostend. Webb at once collected every battalion26 within his reach, twenty-two in all, and marched with all speed for Ichtegem, with Lottum's squadron in advance. The horse, however, on emerging from the defile122 of Wynendale, found the enemy advancing towards them into the plains that lay beyond it. Lottum retired123 slowly, skirmishing, while Webb pushed on and posted his men in two lines at the entrance to the defile. The strait was bounded on either hand by a wood, and in each of these woods Webb stationed a battalion of Germans to take the French in flank. The dispositions were hardly complete when the enemy came up and opened fire from nineteen pieces of artillery124. Lottum and his handful of horse then retired, while just in the nick of[508] time three more battalions reach Webb from the rear and formed his third line.
The French cannonade was prolonged for nearly two hours, but with little effect, for Webb had ordered his men to lie down. At length at five o'clock the French advanced in four lines of infantry backed by as many of horse and dragoons. They came on with great steadiness and entered the space between the two woods, their flank almost brushing the covert125 as they passed, serenely126 unconscious of the peril that awaited them. Then from right and left a staggering volley crashed into them from the battalions concealed127 in the woods. Both flanks shrank back from the fire, and huddled128 themselves in confusion upon their centre. De la Mothe sent forward some dragoons in support; and the foot, recovering themselves, pressed on against the lines before them. So vigorous was their attack that they broke through two battalions of the first line, but the gap being instantly filled from the second, they were forced back. Again they struggled forward, trusting by the sheer weight of eight lines against two to sweep their enemy away. But the eternal fire on front and flank became unendurable, and notwithstanding the blows and entreaties129 of their officers the whole eight lines broke up in confusion, while Webb's battalions, coolly advancing by platoons "as if they were at exercise," poured volley after volley into them as they retired. Cadogan, who had hastened up with a few squadrons to the sound of the firing, was anxious to charge the broken troops, but his force was considered too weak; and thus after two hours of hot conflict ended the combat of Wynendale. The French engaged therein numbered almost double of the Allies, and lost close on three thousand men, while the Allies lost rather less than a thousand of all ranks. The signal incapacity displayed by the French commander did not lessen130 the credit of Webb, and Wynendale was reckoned one of the most brilliant little affairs of the whole war.[362]
[509]
Oct. 11 22 .
The safe arrival of the convoy before Lille raised the hopes of the besiegers; and Vend?me, now fully alive to the importance of cutting off communication with Ostend, marched towards that side with a considerable force, and opening the dykes131 laid the whole country under water. Marlborough went quickly after him, but the marshal would not await his coming; and the Duke by means of high-wheeled vehicles and punts contrived132 to overcome the difficulties caused by the inundation133. At last, after a siege of sixty days the town capitulated; and the garrison retired into the citadel, where Eugene proceeded to beleaguer134 it anew.
Nov. 13 24 .
Nov. 15 26 .
Nov. 17 28 .
While the new siege was going forward the Elector of Bavaria arrived on the scene from the Rhine, from whence the apathy135 of the Elector of Hanover had most unpardonably allowed him to withdraw, and laid siege to Brussels with fifteen thousand men. This was an entirely136 new complication; and since the French held the line of the Scheldt in force, it was difficult to see how Marlborough could parry the blow. Fortunately the garrison defended itself with great spirit, the English regiments[363] setting a fine example, and the Duke, in no wise dismayed, laid his plans with his usual secrecy137 and decision. Spreading reports, which he strengthened by feint movements, that he was about to place his troops in cantonments, he marched suddenly and silently eastward138 on the night of the 26th of November, crossed the Scheldt at two different points before the enemy[510] knew that he was near them, took a thousand prisoners, and then remitting139 the bulk of his force to the siege of Lille, pushed on with a detachment of cavalry and two battalions of English Guards to Alost. On his arrival he learned that the Elector had raised the siege of Brussels and marched off with precipitation. The bare name of Marlborough had been sufficient to scare him away.
Nov. 28
Dec. 9.
Meanwhile Eugene's preparations before the citadel of Lille were in rapid progress, and Marlborough was already maturing plans for a further design before the close of the campaign. It had been the earnest desire of both commanders to reduce Boufflers to unconditional140 surrender; but time was an object, so on the 9th of December the gallant old marshal and his heroic garrison marched out with the honours of war. So ended the memorable141 siege of Lille. It had cost the garrison eight thousand men, or more than half of its numbers, and the Allies no fewer than fourteen thousand men. The honours of the siege rested decidedly with Boufflers, and were paid to him by none more ungrudgingly than Marlborough and Eugene. Yet as an operation of war, conducted under extraordinary difficulties in respect of transport, under the eyes of a superior force and subject to diversions, such as that of the Elector of Bavaria, it remains142 one of the highest examples of consummate143 military skill.
The fall of Lille was a heavy blow for France, but it was not the last of the campaign. Within eight days Marlborough and Eugene had invested Ghent, which after a brief resistance surrendered with the honours of war. The capitulation of Bruges quickly followed, and the navigation of the Scheldt and Lys having been regained144, the two commanders at last sent their troops into winter quarters.
Sept. 13 24 .
But even this did not close the sum of English successes for 1708, for from the Mediterranean145 had come news of another conquest, due to the far-seeing eye and far-reaching hand of Marlborough. Early in[511] the year Galway had withdrawn from Catalonia to Lisbon, and the command in Catalonia had been given at Marlborough's instance to Field-Marshal von Staremberg, an Imperial officer of much experience and deservedly high reputation. Staremberg, however, could do little with but ten thousand men against the Bourbon's army of twice his strength, so by Marlborough's advice the troops were used to second the operations of the Mediterranean squadron. Sardinia, the first point aimed at, was captured almost without resistance, and the fleet then sailed for Minorca. Here somewhat more opposition146 was encountered; but after less than a fortnight's work, creditably managed by Major-General Stanhope, the Island was taken at a trifling147 cost of life.[364] Thus the English gained their first port in the Mediterranean; and the news of the capture of Minorca reached London on the same day as that of the fall of Lille.
Note.—I have been unable to discover any Order of Battle for the campaign of 1708. The regiments that bear the name of Oudenarde on their appointments are the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th Dragoon Guards, the 2nd Dragoons, 5th Lancers, Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, 1st, 3rd, 8th, 10th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 37th Foot.
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1
negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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2
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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garrisons
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| 守备部队，卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
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garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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5
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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ace
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| n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的 | |
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incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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pestering
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| 使烦恼，纠缠( pester的现在分词 ) | |
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13
superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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vend
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| v.公开表明观点，出售，贩卖 | |
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intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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quagmire
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| n.沼地 | |
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19
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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reverting
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| 恢复( revert的现在分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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incorrigible
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| adj.难以纠正的，屡教不改的 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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regiments
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| （军队的）团( regiment的名词复数 )； 大量的人或物 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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33
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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portended
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| v.预示( portend的过去式和过去分词 )；预兆；给…以警告；预告 | |
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rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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38
corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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39
tampering
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| v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄 | |
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40
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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41
draughts
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| n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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42
opportunely
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| adv.恰好地，适时地 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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tattoo
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| n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于 | |
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46
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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dispositions
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| 安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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50
rivulets
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| n.小河，小溪( rivulet的名词复数 ) | |
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51
rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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52
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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53
marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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54
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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55
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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56
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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57
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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58
apprehends
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的第三人称单数 )； 理解 | |
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59
piecemeal
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| adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块 | |
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60
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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62
gallantly
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| adv. 漂亮地，勇敢地，献殷勤地 | |
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63
duels
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| n.两男子的决斗( duel的名词复数 )；竞争，斗争 | |
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64
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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66
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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68
perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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69
swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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70
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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71
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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72
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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74
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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75
gleaned
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| v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
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76
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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77
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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78
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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80
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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81
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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82
toadied
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| v.拍马，谄媚( toady的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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83
elation
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| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
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84
impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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85
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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86
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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87
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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88
levy
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| n.征收税或其他款项，征收额 | |
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89
tempt
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| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
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90
evacuate
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| v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便 | |
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91
fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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92
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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93
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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95
bastards
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| 私生子( bastard的名词复数 )； 坏蛋； 讨厌的事物； 麻烦事 （认为别人走运或不幸时说）家伙 | |
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96
convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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97
waggon
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| n.运货马车，运货车；敞篷车箱 | |
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98
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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besieging
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的现在分词 ) | |
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100
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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101
solicited
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| v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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102
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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103
fortresses
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| 堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
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104
trenches
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| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
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105
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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106
junction
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| n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站 | |
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107
convoys
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| n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队 | |
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108
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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109
annihilating
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的现在分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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110
redoubtable
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| adj.可敬的；可怕的 | |
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111
entrenchment
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| n.壕沟，防御设施 | |
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112
ignominiously
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| adv.耻辱地，屈辱地，丢脸地 | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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worthily
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| 重要地，可敬地，正当地 | |
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repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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defile
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| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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dykes
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| abbr.diagonal wire cutters 斜线切割机n.堤( dyke的名词复数 )；坝；堰；沟 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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inundation
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| n.the act or fact of overflowing | |
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beleaguer
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| v.使困扰，使烦恼，围攻 | |
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apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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remitting
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| v.免除（债务），宽恕( remit的现在分词 )；使某事缓和；寄回，传送 | |
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unconditional
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| adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的 | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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