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ANNALS OF WAR. 1700-1815 |
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ANNALS OF WAR_ 1700-1815 A.D.
1713.
1. THE PEACE OF UTRECHT AND OF ALT-RANSTÄDT.—2. WAR
BETWEEN THE TURKS AND VENETIANS.-- 3. WAR IN SPAIN-
1. The Peace of Utrecht and
of Alt-Ranstädt.
The pacification was at length brought to a close, and
on the 14th day of April peace was signed between France, Great Britain,
Savoy, Spain, Prussia, Portugal, and the States General. The 1st day
of June was fixed as the period of time for the Emperor to join
the treaty. The Emperor, however, rejected the overtures made to
him by this proposal of France, and resolved to maintain the war at
his own expense, with the assistance of the Empire. His forces on
the Rhine, commanded by Prince Eugene, were so much outnumbered by
the French, under Villars, that they could not prevent the enemy from
relieving the two important fortresses of Landau and Fribourg. Still the
Emperor depended on the conduct and fortune of Prince Eugene for some lucky
event in the war. But finding himself now disappointed in all these
expectations, and absolutely unable to support alone the expense of another
campaign, he hearkened to overtures of peace, made by the Elector of Cologne
and the Palatine, and on the 26th of November conferences were opened, at
the castle of Alt-Ranstädt, between Prince Eugene and Marshal Villars,
which ended in a treaty; and orders were sent to the governors and
commanders on both sides to desist from all further hostilities.
2. War between the Turks and Venetians.
Just as all Europe had laid down its arms,
Constantinople was observed to be preparing for some war. Extraordinary
activity was visible in her arsenals and ship-yards, and presently the
Venetian ambassador was seized, and a fleet of forty vessels quitted the
Dardanelles. Venice had hugged itself in an inglorious neutrality
during the whole War of the Succession, submitting tamely to such
insults as no independent nation would suffer, and which being noted by
the ministers of the Porte, they thought the moment favourable for
a rupture with her. The Venetians were ill-prepared for any resistance,
having but two Swiss regiments and a few galleys to guard Venice, and some
very ill-disciplined troops to defend their possessions on terra firma. She now appealed to the great powers for
help, but they had no sympathy for her, who had had no sympathy
for them; and they would only so far aid her as to obtain the release
of her ambassador.
3. War in Spain.
Berwick pushed across the Ter, on the 2nd of January,
in the face of Count Stahremberg, who retired, leaving some guns and ammunition
behind him; and the Duke, having provisioned Gerona, quitted Spain on the
3rd of February.
Notwithstanding the settlement of the Spanish
succession by the peace of Utrecht and Alt-Ranstädt, the Catalans refused to
acknowledge Philip as King of Spain, and resented the departure of
the British and German troops. Every attempt was made, as well by the
Emperor Charles as by Stanhope and Stahremberg, to induce them to submit
to the Bourbon King; but in vain. The Catalans, though thus left to
themselves defenceless, but not dismayed, made long preparations for an
obstinate defence. They collected together 6000 men in Barcelona, and with
this force prepared to resist the Puke de Popoli, who encompassed it with
his army, and commenced its blockade.
1714.
1. DEATH OF QUEEN ANNE,— 2. CHARLES XII RETURNS TO
EUROPE. THE DEFEAT OF THE SWEDISH FLEET BY APRAXIN.—
3. SIEGE, BOMBARDMENT, AND CAPTURE OF BARCELONA.— 4. WAR BETWEEN THE
TURKS AND VENETIANS.
1. Death of Queen Anne.
Anne, Queen of Great Britain, died on the 1st of
August; the last of the regal race of Stuart. Whatever can be said in
justification of the Monarch, from the extreme violence and deceitfulness
of party intrigue in her time, or of the woman from the imperious
temper and impertinence of her once favourite, the Duchess of
Marlborough, yet no military man can forgive this Queen for the disgrace
of her great general, who was steadily furthering the interests of his
country, when she permitted him to be deprived of his command and
loaded with unmerited obloquy. Neither can ‘‘blushing glory” ever pardon
the unworthy withdrawal of her army from the field of its great renown—an
army whose undying fame was such, that after 150 years it has not set
either in the estimation of the British or of rival nations. Napoleon, indeed,
so highly appreciated the campaigns of Marlborough, that, in defiance of
national prejudice, and in tHe zenith of his own
military greatness, he commanded a history of them to be written in
French, for the benefit of his own Soldiers.
2. Charles XII returns
to Europe. The Defeat of the Swedish Fleet by Apraxin.
In the month of November Charles XII suddenly returned
to his dominions, and arrived at Stralsund on the 22nd, at one o'clock
in the morning.
A few months before the return of Charles, the Russian
fleet, under the command of Admiral Apraxin, (having
under him the Czar himself, serving as vice-admiral,) numbering thirty ships of
the line, met and defeated the Swedish fleet under Admiral Erenschild, not one-third of their number, near the Islands
of Aland. The battle lasted three hours, and was very obstinate. Erenschild’s ship struck to the Czar himself; and
Peter returned to St. Petersburg with four ships of the line, three
frigates, and six galleys, which he had taken in the fight.
3. Siege, Bombardment, and Capture
of Barcelona.
Marshal Berwick was again sent across the Pyrenees, with 20,000 men, to assist King Philip in obtaining possession of Barcelona, which, notwithstanding the peace, still held out against him. A British squadron was also sent to cut off all supplies to the besieged from the seaward. The Catalan garrison had been actively employed during the winter in training levies and repairing fortifications, and had elected Don Antonio Villaroel their governor. On the other side, the Duke de Popoli commanded for the King, and was ambitious of the honour and glory of reducing the town before the French troops could arrive. He accordingly opened a destructive fire on the town on the 7th of May, and continued it until the 10th of June, when it was computed that 10,000 bombs had been thrown into the city, and that more than one-third of it was in ruins. Nothing, however, could daunt the defenders. They sallied, they drove the assailants from their works, and would have completely routed them, but for the arrival of the French army on the 7th of July, when De Popoli gave up the command to the Duke de Berwick. Trennches were now commenced against the city, in regular form, on the I2th, and by the 25th batteries were opened from eighty-seven pieces of artillery and thirty-three mortars; and on the 30th a lodgement was effected on the covered way, by the explosion of some mines. The besieged still attempted to make sallies from different quarters. Some hope was given them from the expected aid of 12,000 miquelets, who had been collected for their relief, in the adjoining mountains, under, the Marquis del Poal; but he was met, and completely routed, by a French detachment, and he and his men were dispersed in all directions. On the 12th of August breaches were declared in the two bastions of Santa Clara and Puerta Nueva, and these being deemed practicably a bloody assault was made upon them the next day; but after three hours’ hard fighting, the French were repulsed. Berwick now effected no less than seven breaches, and with a view of sparing the effusion of blood, offered a capitulation; but the Catalans refused to treat, except on the basis of having their ancient fueros secured to them. This obstinacy astonished Berwick, since the place was now wholly at his mercy, with no possibility of succour, and it was known that their provisions were totally exhausted. An attempt was made to send all the women out of the city, who were dying of hunger, but the Marshal refused to let them approach his lines, and ordered them to be fired upon when they persevered. At length, on the 11th of September, at daybreak, the final assault was made. It was commenced by fifty companies of grenadiers, supported by almost as many more. They were received with grapeshot, that swept away whole ranks at once. Every street was intrenched and defended, and from window and loophole an incessant fire was poured upon the assailants. By dint of numbers, and equal bravery, all obstacles were gradually overcome. Every barricade was forced, and the columns pushed forward on every side. At length the besieged were driven into the Plaza Mayor. Here their commander, Villaroel, as well as other leaders, fell desperately wounded. But the French troops began to disperse for pillage ; and as soon as this was observed by the Catalans, they seized the favourable opportunity, and drove the enemy, in disorder, back to the breaches. Additional guns were now opened upon the city, and after twelve hours of incessant fighting the Catalans gave way. A dreadful night ensued: a cry was raised of “Kill and burn,” which gave fierceness to the conflict, and when day broke the resistance still continued. Berwick having exhausted every expedient to induce them to a surrender, resolved to destroy the city and the men together: and, accordingly, fire was applied to several quarters, when the Catalans hoisted a white flag, and the contest terminated with a verbal capitulation. Thus ended a siege, more long and more bloody than any of which this century could furnish an example; and it was the last scene of the sad intestine struggle for the monarchy of Spain. King Philip was not thought to have, in the sequel, acted generously to this brave but misguided people; and it is more honourable to the character of his rival, that to the last he manifested the warmest sympathy “for the misfortunes of my poor Catalans, whose attachment to me, and whose fidelity and firmness, were beyond all example.” The Island of Majorca still held out, but surrendered in June, 1715, to D'Ashfeldt, with a French force, for the King of Spain.
4. War between the Turks and Venetians.
An army of 100,000 Turks, and 100 ships, under the
command of the Grand Vizier himself, suddenly threatened the shores of
the Morea; and the Venetian Proveditore,
Delfine, had scarcely a man to defend himself. A descent was made near the
Isthmus, and Corinth immediately invested and besieged: it was taken on
the 20th of June, and the Isthmus forced. On the 27th Egeria
and Argus capitulated; and on the 4th of July Napoli di Romania
was escaladed, the Turks being too impatient to pursue the slow
method of a siege. The Proveditores of these
towns were loaded with chains and sent to Constantinople. In the meantime
the Venetians had exerted themselves, and a few galleys and ships were got
together, which, however, could only witness these successes of the
Turks without preventing them.
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