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ANNALS OF WAR. 1700-1815 |
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ANNALS OF WAR_ 1700-1815 A.D.
1735.
1. Misunderstanding between Spain
and Portugal. A British Fleet sent to Lisbon.
Whilst avoiding a war for the Emperor, England had now
some wish to go into one for her ally, the King of Portugal. An
insignificant quarrel had occurred at Madrid, owing to the Portuguese
ambassador having allowed his servants to rescue a criminal from the
officers of justice; and, in consequence, the Spanish King ordered all
the servants concerned in the rescue to be carried to prison under
circumstances of rigour and disgrace. The Portuguese King
ordered reprisals to be made upon the servants of the Spanish ambassador
in Lisbon. The two ministers accordingly withdrew abruptly to
their respective courts. The King of Spain now assembled a body of
troops on the frontiers of Portugal, and the Portuguese King had
recourse to the assistance of the King of Great Britain. Sir John Norris
was ordered immediately to sail from Spithead, with a squadron of twenty-eight
ships of war, to protect the Portuguese against the Spaniards, taking
care, however, to represent to the Portuguese the expediency and advantage
of moderation. So strong an English fleet riding in the Tagus produced an
immediate effect at Madrid, where also the British resident, Mr. Keene,
intimated to his Catholic Majesty, that England meant to, and assuredly
would, protect her faithful ally. The quarrel was, therefore, soon made
up, without the logic of cannon-ball. King Philip, however, whilst
negotiating in Europe, caused an attack to be made upon the Portuguese
settlements of Sacramento, in America, and drove them across the frontier of
the Rio de la Plata, which the King of Portugal did not again recover.
2. War in Poland.
The affairs of Poland became more and more
unfavourable to the interests of Stanislaus, for although a great number of the
Polish nobility engaged in a confederacy to support his claim, and
made repeated efforts in his behalf, the Palatine of Kiow submitted to Augustus; and even his brother, the Primate, after having
sustained a long imprisonment and many extraordinary hardships, was
obliged to acknowledge that Prince his Sovereign.
3. War in Italy.
In Italy the arms of the confederates still continued
to prosper. Marshal de Broglie commanded the French armies in the
Milanese, fortified the passes, and rendered the country inaccessible to
the Imperialist troops, though much want of discipline and sickness
prevailed in his army; while Count Konigsegg, who commanded the
Austrians, was forced to abandon all the Imperial territories in Italy,
except Mantua, which neither France nor Sardinia desired to see pass
into the hands of Spain. The Emperor tried every means to rouse
the British and Dutch to his assistance: at one time even threatening
to retire from the Netherlands and cede that country to the
French. He also implored succours from the Czarina, who at length sent
a force of 30,000 men to his assistance.
4. Peace between France
and Germany, in which all Europe concurs
Prince Eugene took the field, for the last time, in
April, and established himself again at Bruchsal,
where he was opposed to the French army under M. de Coigny;
but he was hastily recalled to Vienna, the Emperor having adopted the
hasty resolution of an accommodation with France.
The surrender of the garrison at Dantzig, and the
success of Augustus in Poland, disposed the court of Versailles to a
pacification, which was signed at Vienna on the 3rd of October. Nevertheless,
the negotiations between Paris and Vienna were, after all, concluded
without the concurrence or knowledge of Spain and Sardinia, and these powers
refused to ratify the suspension of arms that had been proposed. Spain,
irritated at not obtaining Parma and Tuscany, nor acquiring possession of
Mantua, held out; but the French and Sardinian troops having quitted the
camp of the Duke de Montemar, and Königsegg having recrossed the Po, the
Spanish general, alarmed for the safety of Naples and Sicily, agreed to
the suspension of arms and to the secret treaty of peace between
the courts. This was signed in the mouth of October, and
ultimately obtained the concurrence of the other powers.
By the articles of peace it was stipulated that France
should restore all the conquests she had made in Germany; that the
reversion of the dukedom of Tuscany should be vested in the Duke of
Lorraine, whose son was about to marry the Emperor’s daughter, the heiress
of the Emperor’s states under the Pragmatic Sanction; and that Lorraine
should be allotted to King Stanislaus, with the royal title, and, after
his death, be united to the crown France; also that Don Carlos should be
acknowledged King of Naples and Sicily, the Emperor retaining the
Milanese, the Mantuan, and Parma. The treaty further stipulated that the
contracting powers should guarantee the Pragmatic Sanction, upon which the
tranquillity of Europe, and the safety and greatness of the Emperor’s
daughter, depended.
5. Death and Military Character or
the Earl of Peterborough.
Charles Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough, died this
year. He has not been named in these Annals for nearly a quarter a
century, when he quitted Spain and the cause of King Charles in
disgust; nevertheless, he was a conspicuous person in his day. He was
born in 1658. He appears to have had a predilection in favour of
the naval service, having, in early youth, accompanied Sir John Narborough
and Vice-Admiral Herbert to the Mediterranean, when they were engaged in
continual contests with the piratical states of Barbary. On the 4th of
June, 1680, he embarked, as a volunteer, with the Earl of Plymouth, for
Africa, and distinguished himself very much at Tangier, at that time
besieged by the Moors. In 1687 he entered the service of the Prince of
Orange, and was appointed commander of a Dutch ship of war, mounting
forty-eight guns, and called the “North Holland,” and was sent as commodore
of a squadron of Dutch ships to the West Indies. On his return
to Europe he was admitted to the most secret councils of the
Prince, being one of the few peers who came over with his highness
to England; and, upon the descent, commanded a regiment, which he raised in the west in a few days. In 1692 he served a
campaign in Flanders, under King William. He was not again called
into service till 1765, when he was appointed, with Sir Cloudesly
Shovel, first admiral, and then commander-in-chief of the splendid expedition sent to Spain, for
the purpose of placing Charles of Austria on the throne of that kingdom.
Taking the Archduke on board at Lisbon, he proceeded to Barcelona, which he
secured with a handful of men, and his own personal prowess. Thus early
did he exhibit that romantic and paladin character that
distinguished him, when having forced the town to a capitulation, he
entered it himself, alone, to quell the plundering and insubordination of
his own. troops, who had been admitted to certain posts, pending
negotiation; and this done, he quitted and left it in the hands of his enemy to
finish the terms of surrender. In the intemperance of his character, he had no
sooner placed King Charles in possession of his capital, than he
quarrelled with him, and quitted him, because Stahremberg and the German
counsellors of the Archduke refused to make him their leader.
Some parts of his character resemble strongly that of
Charles XII, and both are equally examples of those most valuable of a
military qualifications, energy and activity. Like Charles, he took
walled towns with dragoons, and conquered kingdoms as fast as he
could march through them. The rapidity of his movements was a byword in
his generation. Swift said of him—
“ In
journeys he outrides the post
also
.
“Flies like a squib from place to place,
And travels not, but runs a race”·.
He was, however, far before the Swedish Monarch in
this, that he had an object in his restlessness, which was not only the effect
of his temperament, but also the interest he took in the discussions and
in the policy of the war with France. For, to the greatest
personal courage and resolution, he added the arts and address of a
negotiator and a statesman—a lively and penetrating genius, and a great
extent of knowledge upon almost every subject of importance. He was
a man of wit and of ready repartee in conversation. Being once surrounded
and insulted by a mob, who took him for the Duke of Marlborough, (at that
moment out of favour with them,) he extricated himself by asserting that
he could produce two most convincing proofs that he was not the Duke of
Marlborough; the first being that he had got only five guineas in his
pocket; and the second, that they were much at their service. Such a
method of recovering popularity has been rarely found to fail. He was
never employed in any military service, except during his short but
brilliant campaign in Spain, but he was sent as British ambassador on many
occasions. In October, this year, he was cut for the stone, and
determining neither to live nor die like any other mortal, he took coach
immediately after this severe operation, and died a few days after, at
the age of seventy-seven. “He was one of those phenomena
whom nature produces once in the revolution of centuries, to show to
ordinary men what she can do in a mood of prodigality.”
6. Military Character of the Spanish General De Lede.
The only Spanish general of any repute, that had
appeared at this juncture, was the Marquis de Lede, who died about this time.
He was a Fleming by birth, and nothing appears to be known of
him until he commanded the armies of the King of Spain. He was
mean and misshapen in stature, and not affable nor open in his
disposition; but much esteemed for his judgment and prudence, and
great military experience. He was exceedingly cautions and
circumspect—sometimes even to a fault; and was thus thought to have
lost some opportunities of acting upon the Imperialists to an advantage.
Shut up as he was in Sicily, and cut off from
receiving supplies of men, lie showed great skill and wisdom in preserving his
army, and maintained the honour of the arms of Spain with great
reputation. After a difficult contest, he carried back to Spain a gallant
army, in such fitness for service, that he was sent off again, almost
immediately, on an expedition against the Moors in Africa, where he gained
great distinction, but he is not heard of in any employment in the field
later than 1728.
1736
1. Death and Military Character
of Prince Eugene.
This illustrious Prince died at Vienna on the
21st of April, 1738, in his seventy-third year, leaving behind him
the character of being, with the exception of Marlborough, the greatest
soldier of his age. He was one of those gay, frank, and open-hearted
men, who are the especial favourites of soldiers, and indeed of men
and women in general. He was united to Marlborough by the
strictest friendship, nor does it appear that he entertained the slightest
spark of jealousy of the superiority of his friend’s acknowledged
military genius, or of the applauses which, in consequence, fell in so
much greater profusion on the head of his great contemporary. He
had, indeed, his marks of superiority. He was esteemed a greater hero than
Marlborough, and quite his equal in command, though not so consummate a general. The art of war with him was
almost always that of sudden impulse: prodigal of his own blood, he
was not sufficiently parsimonious of that of his soldiers; and he trusted more to the extraordinary gift of the coup d’oeil that he possessed than to calculation
and prudence—nevertheless he took much pains to learn the characters of
the commanders opposed to him, and he showed much tact in availing himself
of their most prominent faults. He was wounded thirteen times, and was,
indeed, always too ready to cut the knot of a difficulty by a battle, and to
act rather too much as a grenadier than as the general of an army.
Prince Eugene was of a highly liberal spirit in treating the libels
which were published against himself with dignified contempt, hat could
not conceal his indignation at the defamation which was so liberally
heaped on his former colleague and illustrious friend. Bishop Burnet
having explained to him a passage in one of the scurrilous pamphlets of
the day, stating that Marlborough “was perhaps once fortunate,” he replied,
“It is the greatest commendation that can be givenm for as he was always successful, if he was only once fortunate, all his
other successes were owing to his conduct.” Yet in despite of his
open-hearted character, he was rather fond of money, and in a
continuous service of fifty years he amassed a fortune of very
considerable extent, which he bequeathed to his niece. The Prince’s figure
was of moderate height, but well made. His face was
disproportionately long, but lightened with bright dark eyes; but his
mouth was habitually held a little open. He had an elegant mind, and was a
collector of objects science and art, and of a fine library. It was said
that Louis XIV had refused permission to Prince Eugene to enter the French
army, in consequence of his mother, Olympia Mancini, having been
implicated in the Brinviliiers empoisonments, but
that some years later he offered to make him a Marshal of France, which he
indignantly refused; and although born at Paris he had through life a
rooted antipathy to the French people. Many sayings also of the Prince are
recorded, which prove him to have been a man of superior intellect. He was
a good administrator of military affairs, as well as an able commander;
and the house of Austria was at a low ebb in that department, when he
raised her fortune and her glory. Indeed, she very much fell back again
in military prosperity when she lost Eugene, on whom the
Emperor lavished a magnificent funeral. The Prince was wont to say of
the three German Emperors whom he had served, that Leopold
was a father to him, Joseph a brother, but Charles a master.
2. Death and Military Character
of Admiral Duguay-Trouin.
The father of this distinguished naval officer was a
seafaring man, resident at St, Malo. When the war broke out in 1689, the
admiral, then a boy of fourteen, accompanied his father in the armed
vessel “ Trinity,” 18, a sort of privateer, and this was the first service
he witnessed, which he himself describes with some feeling for its
discomfort in sea-sickness and maritime danger. A year or two later
Duguay was himself put in command of a small craft of fourteen guns,
which, hovering on the coast of Ireland, made a dash into the port
of Limerick, where he took possession of Lord Clare's house,
and burned some vessels lying on the soft sand near it, in spite
of a detachment of the garrison, which was sent to protect them.
In 1694 he had already obtained such success, that we find him in command
of a royal frigate, the “Diligente,” 40. In this he
fell in with an English squadron, which out-manoeuvred him, and
getting between him and the French coast, obliged him to fight,
and strike his flag to the “Monck,” 60. He was carried into
Plymouth, where, having been recognized as the commander of a privateer,
he was made a close prisoner, by an order from the British
Admiralty. He escaped, however, by a romantic adventure, in which, of
course, love and a woman had a part, and got back to France. Upon
his return, the reputation of his bravery obtained for him, from
Louis XIV., a sword oi honour, which was accompanied by a
complimentary letter from M. de Portchartain,
the secretary of marine, who directed him to join,
forthwith, the royal squadron, under the Marquis de Nesmond.
In 1697 he received from the intendant at Brest the charge of three vessels, of
from forty to twenty guns each, to look . after a fleet of Dutch
merchantmen, under Admiral de Wassenaer, whom he encountered; but finding
the convoy of too heavy metal, he kept in their wake till he met two
French frigates of thirty guns each, with which he fell upon the convoy.
The combat was severe, but ended in the capture of De Wassenaer and his
three ships of war, and twelve merchantmen. On the breaking out of the war
of the succession he did considerable damage to the commerce of
the allies, and resisted a Dutch squadron of superior force. In 1704, on
board the “Jason,” 54, he captured the British ship
“Falmouth,” of the same force, and in the following year the
“Elizabeth,” 72. In 1707 he and M. de Forbin, commanding a squadron of
twelve vessels, encountered five British ships of war, of which they captured
three, and burned one. But his crowning and most distinguished exploit was the
capture of Rio de Janeiro in 1711.
On this, and indeed throughout his service, M. Duguay-Trouin displayed the greatest professional skill, united
with the most consummate judgment and bravery, for which he was highly
honoured by the King, and respected by the whole French nation. He
was still a captain, and was only prevented from being made chef d’escadre by the jealousies of men of birth and
influence, who would have been passed over by his promotion. But one of
the last acts of favour shown him by Louis XIV was in August, 1715, when,
being at Versailles to pay his respects to the King, that Monarch
personally conferred on him “l’honneur de la comette” and a pension of 2000 livres. In 1728 the
Regent Duke of Orleans made him “lieutenant-general des armées navales” and commander of the Order of
St. Louis. He raised his flag in command of a fleet in 1731 and
1733, but without any active service, and his health being much
broken, he relinquished all further command, and died, 1736, in his
sixty-fourth year.
3. War between Russia and Turkey.
During the summer of this year, a rupture happened
between the Turks and the Russians. The Emperor offered his mediation between
the Sultan and the Czarina, in conjunction with the maritime powers, who
were all equally disposed to peace with the Emperor, who, especially for
the sake of the inheritance of his daughter, emphatically desired it. But the
Czarina objected that the Tartars of the Crimea had made incursions upon
her frontiers, and that, on her complaint, she could obtain no
satisfaction; also, that a large body of Tartars had, by order of the
Vizier, and in her despite, marched through the Russian provinces and
committed*great depredations. The Emperor, by a treaty, offensive and
defensive, with Russia, was obliged to engage as a party in this war,
although by this time all the belligerent powers had agreed to the
preliminaries of peace concluded between the Emperor and France. The
Russians, however, were determined on hostilities, believing that they
thus carried out the policy of Peter I, who had himself projected the
invasion of the Crimea, and had already prepared, in his time, magazines of all
sorts, on the Don, for military purposes. Preparations were
therefore made, on both sides, for war. General Leontew had been sent forward into the Crimea the previous year, but it was
autumn before he reached the Steppes, and the season being too late,
he was obliged to return into the Ukraine towards the end of
November, with his army in sad plight, having lost 9000 men. Leontew was tried for this failure by a court-martial,
but justified himself. Negotiations had been opened with Kouli-Khan,
who had engaged to unite his forces against their common enemy, but having
obtained from Russia some artillery and engineers, he marched his forces
against Turkey, from the side of Persia, and gained some advantages
over the Ottoman troops on that side.
4. The Siege of Azov.
Marshal Munnich was now appointed to the command of
the troops. The plan for the campaign was to begin with the siege of
Azov. Münnich commenced operations in the month of March, having assembled
six regiments of infantry and three of cavalry, together with 3000
Cossacks of the Don, at St. Anne, about eight leagues from Azov. On the
27th Munnich passed the Don and began his march with so much precaution
and silence that he arrived near Azov, without having been perceived by
the enemy; and he immediately attacked and carried by storm two castles on
the river-side without the loss of a single man. On the 3rd of April the
Russians carried the fort of Lutick with little
loss. He now gave over to Count Lacy the care of blockading and taking the
town, and left the camp for the grand army that was formed on the Dnieper,
where he arrived on the 18th, and found himself at the head of from 50,000
to 54,000 men.
6. Encounter of Cavalry on the Steppes.
On the 19th of May Munnich sent off five detachments,
each composed of 400 dragoons and 150 Cosacks; and as
the Steppe land was one vast unbroken plain, they had orders to march within
sight of each other, so as to unite whenever the force of the
opposing army should make it necessary. They had marched only about
two leagues when they came up with a body of Nogay Tartars, whom they
attacked and routed. They had gone about two leagues farther when General
Spiegel, who commanded, was obliged to unite his detachments as quickly as
he could, since he suddenly found himself in presence of about 20,000 men
advancing upon him. Spiegel had just time to form square, ordering the
front rank to dismount, when these attacked him with most horrid yells,
and poured forth a flight of arrows. Munnich, apprised of the danger in
which Spiegel Was, put himself at the head of 3000 dragoons and 2000 Cosaks, and marched rapidly to his relief. As soon as
the enemy perceived his approach, they retired with great precipitation,
leaving 200 dead on the field. It was ascertained from the prisoners
taken, that the Khan, with an army of 100,000 men, was encamped at twenty
leagues p 2 from the spot, and that the body that had retreated was
under the command of the Kalga Sultan, or
generalissimo of the Tartars of the Crimea. On the 26th the Russians were
encamped on the side of the river Kalantschi,
when, on a sudden, they were attacked and surrounded by these troops, but
at the first shot fired from some field-pieces they all fled with
precipitation to the lines of Perekop.
6. Lines of Perekop forced.
The Marshal determined to force these famous lines,
and marching all night came upon them suddenly at break of day, to the
astonishment of the Tartars, who had known nothing of his movements, and were
astounded when they saw the Russian force formed up in six columns for the
attack. These lines were extraordinary works, nearly two French leagues in
extent from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. There was but one entrance,
and six towers of stone, mounted with cannon, flanked the approach. The
ditch was twelve toises broad and seven deep,
the height of the parapet seventy feet, and its thickness in proportion.
The troops advanced boldly to the ditch, under the command of Manstein,
but on arriving there, found it more deep and broad than they could have
expected: nevertheless, they threw themselves into it, and assisted one
another to climb the parapet under an exceedingly brisk fire the
enemy. The Tartars now finding the affair serious, did not wait for the Russians
to reach the top, but betook themselves to flight, leaving no impediment
to the free passage of the lines.
On the 5th of June the Marshal advanced into the
Crimea. The Tartars harassed them incessantly in the march, but scampered
away immediately they were attacked. As they advanced they soon
found water to fail. The natives, who fled from the villages, burned all
the forage and spoiled the water of the wells. The absence of all
water (for rain-water is the only resource of this country, and very
scarce) caused the troops to suffer a good deal, and much disease ensued
in consequence. On the 26th Munnich advanced upon Baktchi-Serai, and
on the 27th they repulsed the enemy and entered the town. He had intended
to proceed to Caffa, but his army was so reduced, that he resolved to
return to Perekop, where he destroyed the lines, and on the 28th of August
returned to the Ukraine.
7. Azov surrenders
Count, now Marshal, Lacy commenced the siege of Azov
on the q5th of May. On the 19th Admiral Bredal, who had come down the Don
with fifteen galleys and a great number of other vessels, arrived off
Azov. The Turkish fleet, under the Capudan Pacha, Dgiannon Conja, entered the Sea of Azov to succour the
place, but the mouth of the Don is so barred with sands and shoals, that
neither fleet could get near the other. The works against the place
continued by sap till the 13th of June. During this time the besieged
made Continual sallies, which were repulsed. The Marshal himself, in
one of them, was nearly taken prisoner, and, received a gun-shot wound in
the thigh. On the 18th the usual accompaniment of a Turkish siege took
place. One of the largest powder magazines exploded, by which more than
100 houses were thrown down, and 300 men lost their lives. At midnight, on
the 28th, the assault was given, and although two mines were sprung, the
besiegers effected a lodgment, so that on the
29th of June the Pacha governor requested a capitulation, and Lacy, after
leaving a garrison in the town, marched away to rejoin Munnich in the
Ukraine. It was at this siege that the effects of the discipline which
Munnich had established in the Russian armies were made curiously apparent.
Sickness prevailed in the camp to a very great extent, occasioned by
intemperance and a general disgust for the service. To remedy this evil
the Marshal issued an order forbidding any one to be sick on pain of being
buried alive!
8. War in the Kuban.
The court of St. Petersburg, not content with having
attacked the Porte on the side of the Crimea, and with the capture of Azov,
sent orders to Don-du-Combo, a chief of the Calmucks,
near Astrachan, to invade the Tartars of the Kuban in the beginning of
April. These tribes retired as far as possible into the Steppe to avoid
the attack of the Calmucks, but Don-du-Combo and
his son followed them and attacked their barricaded camp. The Tartars
received him with equal valour, but after two hours’ resistance, their
defences were at length forced on every side, and all the men were
massacred : none were spared but the women and children. The carnage was
very great, and in the sequel the Kuban submitted to Russia.
The manner of marching observed by the Russians in
these campaigns against the Turks was singular. As soon as the general had
noticed that the Turks were not far off, the army formed into one or more
squares with the baggage in the midst. Such an order of march would not be
practicable anywhere but in these large Steppes, where there are few
defiles. In ten leagues of ground you will not find here a hillock to
ascend, or a defile to go down, and there is no road to keep. The baggage
requisite to be carried in these countries is most extensive. Sometimes
fuel and water have to be conveyed from one encampment to another. Marshal
Munnich’s army never took the field without having 90,000 carriages in its
train for an army of 80,000 men : the transport for six months’ provision
of flour alone required half that number.
The Turks and Tartars were not the enemies who in this
campaign so foiled the Russians. Hunger, thirst, fatigue, and an
insupportable heat were more fatal than the arms of the enemy. The Russian
loss in the campaign was nearly 30,000 men. The south coast of
the Crimea is one of the finest districts of Europe, but the
northern part remains uncultivated for want of wood and water. For four
or five leagues together there is not a bush nor a rivulet, and the
soldiers were obliged to carry with them wood for their firing, and
even an immense tram of transports with large casks of water for
their drink.
1737.
1. Russian Siege of Ockzakow.
Marshal Münnich took the field towards the end of
April, and found his army to consist of sixty-three battalions and 145
squadrons, which might be reckoned at 60,000 or 70,000 men. There were
in the artillery train sixty-two guns of siege and eleven
mortars, besides 165 field-pieces and sixteen howitzers. On the 10th
of July they were within three leagues of Ockzakow,
where they came to blows with some Turks of the garrison, who had sallied
out, to the number of 15,000 men. On the 11th he began the siege between
the river Dnieper and the Black Sea, and had the governor known
what he was about at this time, and made a sally, he could have foiled
the Russians, and forced them to retire; but a powder magazine
blew up, which buried 6000 men in the ruins, and threw the whole garrison
into consternation. Munnich chose this moment for an assault, and finding his
troops unwilling to face the flames, he opened a battery upon his own
soldiers—so that the place was at length carried by men who feared the
enemy less than their own terrible general. It surrendered at discretion
on the 13th of July.
2. Marshal Lacy enters the Crimea
by Arabat.
In the meantime Marshal Lacy advanced again into the
Crimea with about 40,000 men. On the 28th of June, supported by a fleet in
the Sea of Azov, he crossed an arm of the sea by a bridge, and marched
along the narrow strip of land that stretches as far as Arabat. The Khan, who never imagined the Russians would
enter the country on that side, had posted himself with ail his
troops behind the lines of Perekop, which he had taken care to have
repaired, and trusted to be enabled to dispute more successfully than had
been done the year before. He now found them of no use, for Lacy was in
full march for Arabat, without the loss of a single
man. The Khan thought to rectify his mistake by posting himself with
all diligence across the narrow spit of land formed by the Sea
of Azov on one side and the Putrid Sea on the other. As soon, however, as
Lacy heard that the Khan had arrived at Arabat, he
caused the Putrid Sea to be sounded, and found a means of crossing
through it, to the astonishment of the Khan, who forthwith retreated to
the mountains. It was not the Khan alone who judged of this enterprise in
marching along the spit of Arabat as a rash one. All
the generals except Spiegel represented to Lacy that he ran the risk
of seeing his whole army perish. The Marshal answered that there
was danger in all military enterprises, but that he did not see more
in this than in others. However, he begged their opinion as to
what they thought best to be done. They unanimously replied, “ To return
with all possible speed.” Upon which Lacy rejoined, that since the
generals had a mind to return, he would have their passports made out accordingly,
and called for his secretary to deliver them without delay. He even
commanded a party of 200 dragoons to be their escort to the Ukraine, there
to wait his return. It was three whole days before the generals could
prevail on the Marshal to relent, and forgive them their presumption in
proposing a retreat to him. On the 25th of July Lacy was within a few
miles of Kara-Su-Bazar, which was immediately abandoned.
3. The Russians again quit the Crimea.
It was, nevertheless, determined in a council of war
that they had nothing further to undertake in the Crimea, and accordingly on
the 27th they commenced their retreat out of it a second time. On
the 2nd they repulsed a considerable body of Turks and Tartars,
who had attacked them, and on the 4th of August they crossed the Tchongar with the whole army. In September Lacy had again
returned to the Ukraine, Marshal Munnich’s head-quarters being at Kiew.
4. The Turks besiege Ockzakow.
One of the most considerable events in the course of
the year, was the endeavour made by the Turks to recover Ockzakow.
Although they had not been able to gain any advantage over the
Russians during the whole campaign, they conceived better hopes when
they found their enemy’s army on the other side of the Dnieper.
They commenced the siege on the 28th of October, but on the 10th of
November they raised it again, having lost 20,000 men from cannon and
sickness. The garrison, under the command of General Stoffeln, lost
about 2000 men, and the General was handsomely rewarded for his defence of
the place. Among those who signalized, themselves by uncommon prowess in
this siege of Ockzakow, was General
Keith, afterwards the Prussian Field-Marshal, who was dangerously
wounded on this occasion.
5. Russian
and Turkish Natal Action in the Sea of Azov.
On the 9th of August, the Russian fleet under Admiral Bredal had an affair with that of the Turks in the Sea Azon. The action came off in this manner: Bredal having got abreast of the point of Kiskow (called also the spit of Berutchi) with his fleet, consisting of 100 sail, all double sloops or other small vessels, (the large ships not having been able to get over the shoals at the mouth of the river Don,) perceived some Turkish vessels which were bearing down on the same point. Upon this he thought fit to get closer again in shore, and come to anchor in a convenient place. Towards two in the afternoon the whole Turkish fleet appeared in the offing. It consisted of two men-of-war, thirteen galleys, and fifty-seven halfgalleys, and one of the ships carried the Capudan Pacha’s flag. Bredal took all the measures necessary for a good defence. He made some of his vessels warp in yet closer to the land, and at the same time armed a battery on shore of fifteen guns, carrying from there to twelve pound balls. At five o'clock the cannonade began with equal briskness on both sides and lasted until eight, when the fire of the Turks slackened, and soon after they retired out of gunshot. The Russian ships suffered very little, almost all the Turkish shot having been fired high. At eight o'clock the next morning the Turks returned to the attack. The ship that carried the Pacha’s flag was the one which, ventured nearest to the Russian fleet, and kept up a hot fire upon it. But this .was returned with good effect from the boats and batteries on shore, so that the Capudan Pacha’s ship and some other of the Turkish vessels were much damaged. The Turkish fleet remained till noon on the 11th in sight of the Russians, and then weighed anchor. The Russians lost not more than thirty men in the engagement, but the enemy must have suffered severely. The Turks did not again return to the fight, but passed the Straits of Yenikale and got into Caffa.
6. The Emperor enters into the War against
the Turks.
The Turks, alarmed at these successes of the Russians,
applied to the Emperor to act as mediator in the quarrel; but
everyone thought that the Ottoman Empire was tottering to its fall, and
people amused themselves with prophecies said to have been
uttered 300 years before, that Russia should one day enter Constantinople, which
it was thought was now about to be fulfilled. This raised the Emperor’s
ambition to share the spoil, and instead of being a mediator, he
embraced the rash resolution of entering as a party into the quarrel. He
accordingly drew his forces towards the frontiers of Turkey, and subsidized
8000 Saxons to be employed in the same quarter. The Duke of Lorraine was
at first destined for the command of these troops, but he declined it, and
preferred to serve as a volunteer under General Seckendorf,
who enjoyed a high reputation at this period for military skill, and had even
been marked out, by the recommendation of Prince Eugene, as the fittest
person to succeed him in the command of the Imperial army.
7. Military Character
of Marshal Stahremberg.
It is supposed that this commander must have been now
a very old man. Guido de Stahremberg was born about 1657, and held
the rank of captain and adjutant to General Rudiger at the siege
of Vienna, in 1683. He had the rank of general, and was in command of
the infantry of the Imperialists, at the battle of Luzzara,
in 1702, under Prince Eugene. This volatile Prince appears to have
here played a practical joke upon the general, which he never
forgave, and which gives an odd idea of the service at this period.
At a grand dinner, given on occasion of the birthday of the Emperor
to all the principal officers of the army, Eugene ordered a petard to
be placed under the chair of Guido Stahremberg. At the moment of drinking
the Emperor's health, amidst the flourish of trumpets and “fanfare” of the
moment, the petard was exploded. Every one, supposing it to be a mine, ran
from the table, 'except the general, who quietly emptied his glass, and
set it down again without remark or emotion, but he deemed it insulting to
test his courage in such a way, and thought it done to make a butt of
him to his comrades.
The following year he was in command of the Austrian
troops in Italy, and having received positive orders to attempt a junction
with the army of the Duke of Savoy, (who had made himself
obnoxious to the French by seceding from their alliance,) he began his
march from the banks of the Secchia in the Modenese, for
Piedmont, through a country in the possession of the enemy. This march
was deemed by military men to have been the best planned, and the
best executed, of any in the whole war; and he effectually joined
the Duke de Canelli with his whole force. Appointed Marshal, he
was selected, instead of Prince Eugene, to command the Imperial forces
in Spain, and he joined King Charles at Barcelona in April, 1708:
he remained in this command till the end of the war of the
succession. He was considered at this time to have shown himself the best
man of his age for defensive war. He is not again heard of in
command, but he was alive in 1734, when Prince Eugene mentions him in
his memoirs as one to whom he desired to do justice for having
always shown the greatest talents and remarkable bravery; but it
would appear that the offence of the petard had not even then been
forgotten, for the two old soldiers were, evidently, not friends, for
he is spoken of as “brouillé avec Prince
Eugene.” The Prince says he supposes they might now love each other if
they met, for that old generals, enemies to one another, are like
women of a certain age, “qui ne s'en veulent pas, parce quelles n’ont plus de sexe. Who don't mind, because they no longer have sex”.
If this good old soldier was still alive at this period, bis advice might
have saved his Imperial master from the disgrace and confusion of
this foolish war. But he was considered passe. The
histories of thi period call him “orgueilleux,” “devot,” and “sans
credit dans le conference,” “ill calculated, from his age, natural timidity,
and indifference, from having any influence with the councillors of
the Emperor.”
8. Marshal Seckendorf in command of the Austrians.
Seckendorf on receiving the appointment repaired to Hungary,
where he found the army and the fortifications in a deplorable state. He
reported the frontier fortresses of Gradiska, Buda,
Sabacz, and even Belgrade, as incapable of the smallest resistance, both
from the dilapidated state of the fortifications, and from a total want of
artillery, ammunition, and other military requisites. He boldly reported
to the Emperor that many of the generals were incapable of fulfilling
the duties of their station, and instead of inspecting the provinces
under their command, were employed in hunting and other diversions.
The Emperor attended to many improvements suggested by
Seckendorf, who greatly ameliorated the state of the army; while the
fortifications were put under the superintendence of General Schmettau.
The plan of the campaign was judiciously formed by Seckendorf. He proposed that the Russians, after taking
Bender, should direct their course along the Danube towards the Pruth, and
that the Imperialists should commence their operations by the siege of
Widdin. A party in the cabinet wished to commence hostilities by the
siege of Nissa, but Seckendorf prevailed. He was
nominated Field Marshal, and received assurances that he should have an army
of 126,000 men provided with every requisite; but by the most
arduous exertions he could only get together, towards the end of July,
some 70,000 men of all arms, the greater part of whom were raw
troops in a state of sickness, misery, and dejection. With this
comparatively small and inefficient force the Field-Marshal had to
encounter a much more formidable and numerous army than he had reason
to expect;—veterans inured to the service in the Persian wars,
and brought .into discipline by the celebrated French Count
Bonneval, who at this time principally directed the operations of the
campaign for the Turk.
In the midst of Seckendor’s preparations to commence the investing of Widdin, he was thunderstruck by
receiving an order under the Emperor’s own hand to march against Nissa. This
injudicious change frustrated the whole plan of operations. The magazines
had been already formed on the banks of the Danube, but now they
were obliged to be removed fifty leagues from the river across a
marshy and mountainous country, without carriages to convey their
provisions, and without any means of supplying their wants. After a march
of twenty-eight days the army arrived before the walls of Nissa,
and fortunately meeting with no resistance, obtained possession of
the place on the 28tli of July. Seckendorf instantly despatched a strong corps to invest Widdin on the south under Khevenhuller, whilst Marshal Wallis occupied the
opposite bank of the river. He remained himself at Nissa to await orders from Vienna,
sending detachments to reduce the petty fortresses and seize the passes of
the surrounding mountains. During this period the disunion among
the generals and the discontent of the army rose to a formidable
pitch. Seckendorf was rough, overbearing, and
parsimonious, and the troops, shut up in an unwholesome position and
deprived of their customary supplies of provisions, attributed their
misery to his incapacity and avarice. The Duke of Lorraine, though only a volunteer, interfered
in all military operations, and supported the opposition against the
Field-Marshal.
While Seckendorf was thus
perplexed with the cabals of his generals and the clamour of the army, unable
to pursue his success for want of provisions, and waiting for further
orders from Vienna, the Prince of Hildburghausen was compelled to raise the siege of Baguluka in
Bosnia, and wa driven back towards the Save. Count Khevenhuller was obliged to retreat from Servia, and Nissa
was retaken by the Ottomans. The Emperor, accordingly, alarmed for his
hereditary dominions, ordered Seckendorf to suspend
operations against Widdin, and march to effect a junction with Hildburghausen.
9. The Imperialists are worsted. Seckendorf disgraced.
In pursuance of these orders, the Field-Marshal wholly
relinquished the plan for the campaign. He made himself master of Usitza after a short though vigorous siege; but was
prevented by the inundations of the Drina from besieging the citadel.
Being thus frustrated in his attempt to penetrate Bosnia, he retreated
rapidly towards the Save, and encamped at Sabacz, on the bank of that
river.
Khevenhuller found Widdin in a better state of defence, and
occupied by a larger force than he expected; he therefore remained inactive
till the retreat of Seckendorf obliged him to abandon
Widdin and endeavour to enter Transylvania. After a severe action near the
confluence of the Timok and Danube, he made good his retreat towards
Orsova, and effected his passage of the Danube near Gladova, where
he was joined by the corps of Marshal Wallis, and took up his
winter-quarters in the Empire.
Thus terminated this unfortunate campaign. The change
of the plan of operations altogether prevented Marshal Munnich
from advancing to the Danube, and ruined its result; nevertheless,
the failure of it was wholly attributed to Marshal Seckendorf,
who was deprived of -his command, and articles of impeachment were
brought against him; but he defended himself with great spirit and
ability, and refuted the charges, though he was not able to reveal the
secret orders he had received, in his justification. Generals
Schmettau and Diemar, in whom he had principally confided, were involved
in his disgrace, and General Doxat, the commandant of Nissa,
was beheaded for surrendering that town to the Turks, though it
was unprovided with the proper means of defence.
1738-1739
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