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ANNALS OF WAR. 1700-1815 |
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ANNALS OF WAR_ 1700-1815 A.D.
1711.
1. DEATH OF THE EMPEROR JOSEPH.—2. WAR IN
THE NETHERLANDS.— 3. MARLBOROUGH FORCES THE LINES OF I AGAINST VILLARS. 4.
ROUCHAIN INVESTED AND TAKEN.—5. THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH RECALLED.—6. WAR IN
SPAIN.—7. WAR IN ITALY.—8. WAR BETWEEN THE CZAR AND THE PORTE.—9. BRITISH
EXPEDITION TO NORTH AMERICA.—10. NAVAL WAR.
1. Death of the Emperor Joseph.
The new ministry which Queen Anne had called to her
councils, after the dismissal of the Earl of Godolphin, was bitterly opposed
to Marlborough, but did not yet venture to supersede the Duke in
his command of the allied armies, which they knew would give
umbrage to the Empire, the Dutch, and the other confederates; but
the generalissimo soon found that his authority in the command was
no longer what it had been. In order to repair the disasters of the
last Spanish campaign, many of his best regiments were withdrawn
from the army in the Netherlands; and an event of still greater
importance diminished the military resources at his command.
Marlborough set out from England in the month of February, and arrived
in March at the Hague. He there conferred with the States about the
operations of the campaign, which he had already concerted with Prince Eugene.
About the middle of April his army was assembled between Lille and Douay,
when, as the General was hastening to take the command, and had already
reached Tournay, he received intelligence, from his illustrious colleague,
of the sudden death of the Emperor Joseph, at Vienna, of malignant
small-pox. Such an event was calculated to cloud all the prospects, and
change in an instant the fate of the war, as well as the destiny of
Europe. It secured to the Archduke Charles the vast inheritance of the
house of Austria, and opened the prospect to him of the imperial dignity,
instead of the doubtful and visionary expectancy of the throne of Spain.
Prince Eugene was immediately called upon by the Empress, to act
as regent in her son’s absence, and to take the command of the
imperial forces as Marshal of the Empire. Both his inclination and duty,
therefore, detained him in Germany, in order to exert his influence
with the Prince Electors to obtain the empire for Charles, and protect
the diet from being overawed by the armies of France in the
freedom of their election. The anxiety and suspense created at the
different capitals of Europe by this unexpected death, delayed the opening
of the campaign, so that the contending armies scarcely came in presence
of each other till the beginning of June.
2. War in the Netherlands.
Marshal Villars had employed the latter part of the
preceding campaign in forming a series of lines of considerable strength,
with a view to prevent au irruption of the allied forces beyond the
interior line of fortresses which covered the frontier of France on the
side of French Flanders and Artois; and early in the spring be
quitted Paris to take bis command, and had the satisfaction to find his formidable
works completed.
This grand system of defence extended from Hesdin, on the marshy little river Canche, to Valenciennes
on the Scheldt. Where this rivulet terminated, a series of connected
redans stretched across the plain, until they reached another little
rivulet, which they followed to its junction with the Scarpe, and thence
to the village of Biache upon that river, passing through the fortified
town of Arras. Along the whole line of this natural defence were redoubts, têtes-de-pont, inundations,
and every sort of artificial obstacle. From the Scarpe, at Biache, to near
L'Écluse on the Sanzet, a canal of communication was opened; and the line
was defended by épaulements raised on the marshes and inundations of that
river, till it came to Pallue and Aubanchoeuil-au-bac on the same stream;
whence a redoubt and fortified water-mill crossed fire with the works
about Arleux and the earthwork at Oisy, in which
was a small garrison which defended the inundations at Aubigny on the
other side of the Sanzet. Opposite to Aubanchoeuil-au-bac was a redoubt,
and further on, the fortified town of Bouchain at the junction of the
Scheldt and Sanzet. Têtes-de-pont covered
the course of the former stream to Valenciennes, and from thence ran a
series of intrenchments to the Sanibre by Quesnoy
and Landrecy, and by Maubeuge and Charleroi, to its junction with the Meuse at Namur.
After passing nearly three weeks in a war of convoys
with the enemy, Marlborough had the satisfaction of receiving, on the 23rd
of May, at his head-quarters in the Abbey of Auchin,
his friend and colleague Prince Eugene, who got away from his duties in
the Empire and assisted at the festival, in which the British
commander and his companions in arms commemorated the anniversary of
the battle of Ramillies. On the 28th the two generals reviewed
the whole allied army, consisting of 141 battalions and 300 squadrons, with
111 pieces of artillery. Marlborough was anxious to detain his illustrious
friend with the imperial troops in the Netherlands, for the purpose of
prosecuting offensive operations upon the field; but Eugene had received
positive orders from Vienna to bring back the principal part his forces,
in order to repel the expected endeavours of the enemy to thwart the
imperial election. Accordingly twelve battalions and fifty squadrons were to be
carried off from the allied army. To cover this movement, the whole
army broke up at two in the morning of the 14th of June; and while
the reinforcements to Germany moved off to the rear, the forces remaining
with the British general marched by their right in six columns, and the
two commanders parted from each other for the last time on the
battle-field. They took leave with the deepest regret, and with no good
forebodings for the future. Marlborough established his camp on the plains
of Lens, with his right on the Souchet, near Lievin, and his left toward
Equerchin, leaving the Prince of Hesse with thirty squadrons on the
heights of Sailly, on the other side of the Scarpe, in front of Vitry. His
force, after all deductions, consisted of 129 battalions and 206
squadrons. On the same day that the allies took up their new position,
Villars made a corresponding movement opposite, but still within his lines
; having his two flanks at Montenancourt and Biache, and his headquarters
at Arras. His force also had been exposed to many deductions, but was
still 131 battalions and 186 squadrons. The two armies were nearly equal
in infantry and artillery, but the allies were superior in cavalry; and
the French Marshal wanted draught horses for his artillery. He showed some
anxiety to accept the battle which Marlborough here offered him; but the
positive orders of his Sovereign were to avoid an engagement. The
scarcity of subsistence was Villars’ principal weakness, and the Duke
and Prince had hoped that, had they remained some little time
together, scarcity of forage would either have obliged the enemy to
decamp from the lines, or have forced them to a battle; but the
Marshal maintained his ground.
3. Marlborough forces the Lines of Bouchain against
Villars.
The Duke upon this, and after a view of the enemy’s
lines, finding it would be too hazardous to endeavour to force them, resolved
upon a stratagem; and in the execution of this design, he developed
that sublimity of military talent, which has justly stamped this
campaign as not the least scientific and glorious in his whole career.
He observed that the triangular position of ground within the
French lines, at the confluence of the Sanzet and Scheldt, offered a
position so strong, that a small force having once attained it, could not
be driven from it but by a vastly superior enemy. He also saw that
so long as the enemy held the redoubt of Aubigny, and the works
about Arleux and Pallue, it was impossible to accomplish the possession
of this position. He therefore determined, as a preliminary
operation, to attack these posts. Aubigny was carried without much
difficulty. This did not seem to create any alarm, as the attention of the
French was principally fixed upon the works between Arleux and Pallue,
which commanded the current of the waters, and enabled them to
impede the arrival of supplies to the enemy. The Duke now resolved
to play on the impatient and lively imagination of the French
Marshal; —first, by taking this post, to show that he could capture it
when he pleased; and, secondly, by enlarging it and fortifying it, to
delude him into the belief that he considered it of importance in a
defensive point of view. These measures he expected would impel Villars
to retake it, as soon as the allied army withdrew; and then finding
the works extensive, and the allies menacing in an opposite
direction, that he would be induced to recal his
troops to meet the attempt, and to demolish a post which his antagonist
seemed to value. In the first days of July a detachment of 7oo men, with
cannon, marched privately from Douay; and the Duke turned out suddenly at
night all the pickets of Hesse’s detachment in front of Sailly; to move
down on L'Écluse to make the assault. The attack was conducted with so
much spirit that the redoubt and water-mill at Arleux were forced, and 120
prisoners taken, before Villars, who hastened to its relief, could arrive. No
time was lost in strengthening the redoubt by a double ditch and
palisades, and by mounting eight pieces of cannon and mortars. Villars was
much annoyed at this capture, and seeing Rantzau’s covering party retire
back to Douay, determined to retake it by surprise. Accordingly, on the night
of the 9th, the attempt was made in considerable force, by a combined attack
on the side of the French cam, and by and another on the
side towards Bouchain directed by Villars in person, upon the watermill.
The surprise was complete; and some sleeping troopers with their horses,
were either killed or taken, with some booty; but the allied garrison
still retained possession of the redoubt of Arleux. Suddenly, on the 20th,
the Duke broke up his camp, and calling in his detachment, left Arleux to
its fate, and marched off in the direction of Bethune, where he
took up a position. This induced Villars to make a parallel movement to
his left, still keeping within his lines, which were in this place
connected intrenchments extending to the head of the river Canche. But
before he took his departure, he detached a corps of sixteen battalions,
and as many squadrons, to carry Arleux, which Marshal de Montesquieu, who
commanded, successfully effected on the 28th, after a short cannonade.
After leaving a garrison in it of 800 men, the Marshal was ordered to
march to the Sambre to join General d’Estaing. Marlborough loudly
expressed his mortification at this loss to his arms, and his
apprehensions that D’Estaing, with this reinforcement, would make an
irruption into Brabant; but he nevertheless made no change in his
dispositions on account of this movement, but advanced in person to
reconnoitre the position that Villars had taken up. He declared to those
who had access to his person that he would attack the enemy at all
hazards, and revenge the insult that his army had recently sustained.
Villars had been greatly elated with the trifling advantage he had
gained; and continued to increase the defences on the plain in front of
his post. It was at this time that he wrote to the King of France
the celebrated letter, for which he was afterwards so much
ridiculed; boasting that at length he had brought Marlborough to his ne plus ultra.
The heavy baggage of the allies was sent off in the
direction of Douay; and six days’ bread was clandestinely baked and
forwarded from Lille to Bethune, in front of which the allied army was
now encamped. On the 1st of August the Duke marched his army in
eight columns to the front; and detachments were with some parade
ordered forward to clear the roads in the direction of the hostile left.
Several corps quitted and rejoined the camp; and Villars was much puzzled
at all these marches and counter marches, of which he could not understand
the object; but it had been industriously divulged that the British
general was calling in his force to attack Avesnes-le-Comte. The
French Marshal, no longer doubting that he was to be attacked, called in
all his detachments; and the Duke had the satisfaction to learn that he
had ordered those at Arleux to come in also and demolish the fortifications
there. The allied army was moved forward into position at Villers-Brulin,
within two leagues of the lines; and on the 4th of August, at daylight, Marlborough,
attended by most of his generals, ostentatiously went out to
reconnoitre, escorted by the grenadiers of his army, under Brigadier
Durell, and eighty squadrons of cavalry; the whole camp remaining
under arms in front of the position. The deep-laid plan was now
ripe for execution. Villars was already in the toils; he had
exactly one all that his great rival had expected him to do: and all
the preparations were now made fur seizing the prize that was so longed
for. Brigadier Sutton, with the pontoons, was sent off secretly to make
bridges over the Scarpe, near Vitry, and over the canal of Arleux, near Gouezin. At about nine o'clock at night on the 4th of
August, when it was dark enough to strike their tents without being seen
by the enemy, the troops were ordered to march by the left, in four
columns, without beat of drum; and with such expedition did they march
through the woods, that before live in the morning of the 6th Marlborough
had passed the Scarpe at Vitry. Cadogan had previously quitted the camp
before the Duke, attended by only forty hussars; and an express from him
reached the Duke at Vitry, that Hompesch and he had crossed the Sanzet at
Aubanchoeuil, and without opposition, and were in actual possession of the
enemy’s lines, with twenty-two battalions and 2000 horse. This force
had been discreetly collected for the very purpose, from
detachments and garrisons in the rear. The Duke instantly pushed on at a
trot, on the receipt of this despatch, with fifty squadrons to join
Cadogan; and he crossed the Sanzet before eight o'clock. As the cavalry
came up, he placed them in position on the other side of the river, whilst
he immediately ordered other bridges to be laid across the river
at Pallue, by means of which the right wing of his cavalry and
infantry might have a shorter route to the new position. The outposts
were sent on to patrol the road over the stream and morass, at Marquion, and to watch the defile of Saulchy.
It was eleven at night before Villars received the
first intelligence of the breaking up of the British camp; but he was
completely confused by the reports he received of Marlborough’s
complicated movements, so that he at first regarded this rapid march as
some manoeuvre, preparatory to a vigorous attack on his lines.
He however kept his troops in readiness for marching, and at two
in the morning, more specific intelligence arriving, the French Marshal
put himself at the head of the household troops, who were with him on the
right, and pushing on with them at full speed, ordered the infantry to
follow. Villars himself advanced with such celerity, that he outstripped
his cavalry, till scarcely more than 100 of the best mounted men remained
with him. Impatient to know the real state of affairs, he crossed the
morass at Marquion, and pushed through the
defile of Saulchy, without the necessary precautions,
when he was suddenly surrounded by the allied outposts, which the
Duke’s providence had placed in that quarter. The Marshal
surprised, escaped with two attendants only, by an unheeded opening,
which their knowledge of the ground rendered available to them; but
the rest of his escort surrendered without firing a shot. It was now
tea in the morning, and the heads of the allied cavalry of the right
wing were approaching the Sanzet, and crossing it at Pallue. They
were soon followed by the infantry of the same wing, which entered
the new ground by four in the afternoon; and before dark, the whole position
was occupied upon the triangular plot of ground before spoken of, that had
been so coveted by Marlborough, within the lines of the enemy, and where
he considered he could defend himself against any advantage. The French
army, marching in five columns, now approached; and before the morning of
the 6th, encamped within the same triangular plot of ground, with their
right on Cambray, facing the Duke, who had the Sanzet and Bouchain behind
him. Marshal Villars was hardly restrained by M. de Geoffreville from immediately attacking, but on reflection desisted.
By this masterly movement Marlborough had now
accomplished his great design—he had entered within the French lines, which
they had so vainly boasted to be impenetrable; and the design was
so well laid, and so happily executed, that in the opinion of good
judges it passed for a masterpiece of military skill; the honour of it
falling entirely on the Duke, since no other person had any share in
it but execution. Villars was deeply mortified. He had been overreached in
military skill, and now could neither prevent the siege of Cambray, of
Bouchain, or Valenciennes. If he took post behind the Scheldt, to cover
these towns, he uncovered Arras, a place of still greater importance. In
his vexation, be tried to lure Marlborough to a battle; but the old fox
was not to be caught. He had gained his object without a battle; and he
was now enabled to carry into effect the remainder of bis plan without
obstruction. In a forced march of sixteen hours, over an extent of
thirty-six miles, numbers of his troops had sunk from fatigue. He
therefore quietly awaited in position the arrival of his fatigue troops and rearguard.
The Dutch deputies, who were always bis bane, and who bad always
deprecated a battle when it might have been useful, were now urgent for an
attack. Apprised that Villars had altered the disposition of his army,
and sensible that the siege of Bouchain would be more easily
effected than that of Arras, the Duke advanced his army about noon, on
the 7th, almost within cannon-shot of Cambray, to prevent the
French from crossing to the other side of the Scheldt, In the mean while
he himself prepared to cross that river. Eight pontoons, taken
from the enemy by surprise, were expeditiously thrown across the
river below Etrun, and the same afternoon his
left wing began to cross them. The rest of the allied army frustrated all
attempts of the enemy to obstruct the movements. The darkness of the night
aided the movement; and by the morning of the 8th all the allied forces
had crossed to the right bank of the Scheldt. A body of grenadiers were alone
left in the camp of Cesar to cover the removal of the bridges, and by six
in the evening of the 9th these also were withdrawn.
4. Bouchain invested and taken.
On the 10th day of August the town was invested, and
the siege entrusted to General Fagel with thirty battalions and twelve
squadrons. The Duke well knew the difficulties of the task, and how
much his reputation depended on its success; and therefore he
exerted himself to the utmost extent of his vigilance and capacity. He had
to form trenches, erect batteries, throw bridges over a marshy river, make
a causeway through a deep morass, and provide for the security of convoys
in the face of Marshal Villars, who took every precaution that his skill
and experience could suggest to baffle the endeavours of the English
general. The French Marshal had reinforced the garrison to the number of 6000
chosen men, and had placed at their head officers of known
courage and ability. He had, besides his own numerous army, the garrisons of
Qondd and Valenciennes with which to distract the besiegers; and he made
every effort to raise the siege. Behind a dam was a cattle track called Sentier
aux Vaches, and the French endeavoured to throw men into the town by this
path; but measures were so well taken that the French were soon cut off
from these ingenious enterprises. In the face of the enemy, and within
pistol-shot of similar works, connected intrenchments were carried round
the besiegers’ camp on both sides the river. Such were the perseverance,
activity, and skill of the great general, and such the intrepidity of the
confederate troops, who had never exhibited such amazing proofs of
valour on any previous occasion, that in twenty days after the trenches
were opened, on the 14th of September, the garrison, 3000 strong,
were obliged to surrender themselves prisoners of war. After the
capture of Bouchain Marlborough was anxious to besiege Quesnoy, as
being of great importance to the subsistence of the army, but the
Dutch Government strenuously opposed the project.
5. The Duke of Marlborough recalled.
The conquest of Bouchain was the last service which
the Duke of Marlborough ever performed in the field. He left the army on
the 27th of October, never again to return to it, and on the 17th of
November landed in England. On the 18th, early in the morning, he repaired
to Hampton Court, to pay his respects to the Queen, and was frowned upon
by that Sovereign, who mainly owed the character of greatness attributed
to her, and the glory of her reign, to his unexceeded exploits. The hero, who had never fought a battle that he did not gain,
nor sat down before a place he did not take, presented himself to his
peers to receive indignities and personal scurrilities that are scarcely
credible; although the peerage was at that moment more exalted in its
reputation in his person than in any one member of the House of Lords. By
the House of Commons he was accused of peculation, and ordered to be
prosecuted. By the people he was received in silence. Yet posterity does
not vindicate these persecutions. If he were guilty of the offences charged
against him they were never proceeded with, even so far as to afford him
the opportunity of repelling them. But it is advantageous to the public,
that the military chronicler should record this treatment of one of
the greatest men, in order that future commanders should be urged to the
exercise of their duties, without regard to the popular judgment of their day,
but they must always rest under the perfect assurance that they will be
justified by the gratitude and applause of that only just tribunal, which
gives its verdict hundreds of years after they have mouldered in their
graves.
6. War in Spain.
The affairs in the Peninsula were deemed of such
importance this year, that the British Parliament voted a million and a half
for the war. The Queen had conferred the command of her forces in Spain
upon the Duke of Argyle, who was recalled from service in Flanders
for the purpose. He landed at Barcelona on the 29th of May, and
found the troops in sad want of subsistence. Count Stahremberg still
commanded the Imperialists for Charles, and Vendôme commanded the French
army, which was in the most wretched condition. The Duke of
Argyle was obliged to delay his march for the promised remittances and
supplies, but as none came, he borrowed what he could and took the field.
Stahremberg advanced against the enemy at the pass of Prato del Rey,
attacked him, and repulsed him with considerable advantage. After this
action Argyle fell sick and was obliged to return to Barcelona. The Duke
de Vendôme sat down before the Castle of Cardona, which was vigorously
defended, till the end of the year, when a detachment, under Colonel
Edward Stanhope, was sent to relieve the town, which succeeded in this
object, but with the loss of their commander. Towards the end of
December Stahremberg sent a force to raise this siege, which defeated the
besiegers, killed 2000, and took all their artillery, ammunition,
and baggage. Stahremberg was unable to follow up the blow, for
Argyle’s remonstrances had been so ineffectual for the army that
nothing more was done, and he returned to England. Philip re-entered
Saragossa, and the Duke de Noailles took Gerona after a long
siege. Charles quitted Spain for the Empire in September.
7. War in Italy.
In Italy the Duke of Savoy commanded this year against
the Duke de Berwick, and the Imperialists again forced their way across
the Alps in July, but they suddenly halted in their career, and after a
short campaign, in which scarcely a shot was fired, they repassed
the mountains in September.
8. War between the Czar and the Porte.
After the battle of Pultowa the Sultan interested
himself for Charles, who was still at Bender, and the Cossacks of the
Czar’s army obtruded themselves even to his retreat, but the King was
protected by the Tartars of the Ukraine. The Muscovite ambassador at
Constantinople was seized and confined, but the war that broke out in
consequence was not of long duration. Peter sent Marshal Sheremetoff with
ten regiments into Moldavia, whilst he himself returned to Moscow, where
he proclaimed Catharine his Empress. She accompanied her husband to the
army, and on the 4th of July arrived at Jassy, where Sheremetoff was
threatened to be overwhelmed by the Turkish armies. Peter had with him
about 37,000 men very badly off for supplies. The Grand Vizier
advanced with 250,000 against him, and the Czar’s condition was as bad as
that of Charles at Pultowa. On the night of the 20th he commenced a
retreat, but the Turks at daybreak fell upon his rearguard commanded by
Preobazinski, who defended himself well, making the tents and baggage into
intrenchments. Before the day closed, however, the whole Turkish army was
upon them, and for three hours the Russians defended themselves without
losing ground. They were now close to the river Pruth, but were dying for
want of water, and they could not reach the banks. The loss of the Russians
in this combat of the Pruth has been calculated at 16,000 men—it was
certainly a very bloody affair. At this moment the genius of Catharine
saved Peter. The Empress counselled negotiation, and whilst Sheremetoff
wrote in the name of the Czar to ask for a suspension of arms, she
accompanied the letter by everything of value she possessed, that
could appease or bribe Mohammed Baltadji, the Grand Vizier,
although the Vizier, it is thought, was of a character that belied the
suspicion of being influenced by a bribe. Certain, however, it is that
this assistance saved Peter at a time when he was cut off from all
supplies, and altogether in the power of his adversary. Charles XII, who
had offended the Turk, came to him when the treaty was concluded to enforce
some terms on his own behalf. Baltadji told
him he had not taken the Czar prisoner, because there would have
been no one left to govern his empire, adding, “It will not do for all
Kings to be absent from their homes.”
9. British Expedition
to North America.
The English ministry had conceived great expectations
from an expedition against Quebec this year. A body of 6000 men were
sent over under Brigadier Hill, (brother to the Queen’s new
favourite, Mrs. Masham,) and they sailed from Plymouth in the beginning
of May, under the convoy of Sir Hovenden Walker. The force
destined for the expedition consisted of twelve ships of the line, from
fifty to eighty guns each, besides smaller vessels, and they sailed from
St. Helen’s on the 29th of April. They landed at Boston on the 24th
of June, where having been joined by about two regiments provincials and
4000 American planters and Indians, they marched by land by way of Albany,
whilst the fleet sailed up the St. Lawrence. On the 23rd of August the
fleet was exposed to a violent storm under one of those fogs so common in
that climate, by which 800 or 900 men perished; and the admiral
immediately sailed back. It was now determined in a council of war, that as
the fleet and army were only victualled for ten weeks, and could not
depend for a supply of provisions from New England, they should return
home. Its miserable remains arrived at St. Helen’s on the 9th of October.
The ill success of this expedition was a great mortification to the
new ministry, who had greatly mismanaged it. Sir Hovenden Walker was,
however, moist abominably treated. No blame had been cast upon him, and he had
been appointed in the spring ensuing to a high command in the West Indies; but
on the accession of George I he was arraigned for his conduct in this
expedition, and untried and uncondemned he endured
all the disgrace and punishment attached to misconduct; leaving this
constant lesson to future commanders, that neither gallantry nor
irreproachable conduct can effectually shield a devoted victim from the
rage of political oppression. This is the constant consequence of public
employment.
10. Naval War.
The French fitted out no fleet this year, but desirous
of avenging the cruel fate of their countrymen who had been murdered at Rio
de Janeiro the previous year, a squadron of fourteen or fifteen
men-of-war was secretly sent under M. Duguay-Trouin in the summer, having an ulterior object that did not transpire. On the
11th of September they arrived opposite the entrance of Rio de Janeiro,
and knowing that all success depended upon a surprise, they dashed
on past the forts that guarded the entrance, and cast anchor
immediately opposite the town at Ilha das Cabras, or Goats’ Island. On the
14th they disembarked a force of 2200 soldiers with 700 or 800
sailors, and took possession of a height overlooking the town, which they
immediately summoned. On the 19th they opened their batteries, against it,
and on the 21st the Portuguese abandoned the town and retired into the
country. The French remained till the 13th of November ; when, having put
the colony to a contribution of some millions in cruzados, sugar, and
other rich plunder, and having destroyed three or four ships of war and
thirty-five merchantmen, Duguay-Trouin returned
in safety to Brest on the 12th February, and was highly honoured by the
King for this service.
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