READING HALL

THE DOORS OF WISDOM

ANNALS OF WAR

THE WARS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

1701.

I. WAR BETWEEN THE GRAND ALLIANCE AND FRANCE. — 2. WAR IN ITALY BETWEEN THE IMPERIALISTS AND THE FRENCH.—3. WAR IN SCANDINAVIA. 4. NAVAL WAR. 5. DEATH OF JAMES II., KING OF ENGLAND, AND HIS MILITARY CHARACTER.

1.War between the Grand Alliance and Louis XIV

The Second Grand Alliance was entered into on the 7th of September between the emperor, the King of Great Britain, and the States General of Holland, to restrain the ambition of the French king, maintain the balance of power in Europe, and obtain satisfaction for the house of Austria in relation to the Spanish succession. The emperor agreed to maintain 90,000 men in the field against France, whilst King William was to furnish 40.000 British and 50,000 Dutch, and the British Parliament voted 40,000 seamen for the service of the year.

2.War in Italy between the Imperialists and the French.

On the 28th of July, Marshal Catinat, with a French corps d’armée, took possession of all the Alpine passes, and descended into Lombardy. He immediately advanced to guard the passes by which the Imperialist troops could enter from the side of the Tyrol. Prince Eugene of Savoy was placed in command of the emperor’s army, and eluded the vigilance of the French marshal by leading his army across the frightful and hitherto impassable rocks of the Val Fredda, and passing across the Sette Communi, he reached Vicenza. The French marshal did not think proper to hazard an engagement to prevent this movement, as the positive orders of his Court were to act solely on the defensive. Eugene however determined to bring his old opponent Catinat to action, and with this view he detached the Prince de Commerci with a considerable corps of cavalry to penetrate between Carpi and the river, whilst the Prince Eugene attacked the French position at Carpi, in which there were 5000 troops. The weather however impeded the march of Commerci so much, that the prince took Carpi before he came up, and passing the Adige, obtained possession of all the country between that river and the Adda, with the exception of Mantua. Whether the French Court was dissatisfied with Catinat for these successes of the Imperialists, or that the Marshal Duke de Villeroy was in higher favour with Louis XIV, the latter arrived in the French camp on the 22nd of August, as the virtual commander-in-chief of the army, with orders to march directly to the enemy, and give them battle. Prince Eugene had established a very strong camp at Chiari, and Villeroy, thinking to do a pleasure to the troops, and to signalize his new command, ordered this camp to be attacked on the 11th of September; but he met with such a repulse, that he was obliged to retire with the loss of 5000 men. Marshal Catinat, who was regarded as the best general the French had at this time, had the forbearance to act with Villeroy on this occasion, and was wounded by a ball in the hand and a severe contusion in the chest; but he was disgusted at the failure, and returned to France. Marshal Villeroy, who was a very inferior general, could not impede Eugene from keeping the field during the whole winter, who exhibited repeated proofs of his invincible courage and extensive capacity for war.

The prince, however, had the utmost difficulty to supply his troops, for he had no place of defence to depend upon either for supplies or support. His camp was at this time all the ground he possessed in Italy, so that a successful blow now given him would have ruined his whole army. Accordingly, he determined on a bold proceeding. The French army having gone into quarters, he took by assault Canneto in the Mantuanese, and afterwards Mascaria, Rodolesco, and the bridge of Gazolo, and in a short time established his troops in good winter-quarters in the territories of Guastalla, Parma, and Modena, in open defiance of their rulers.

3.War in Scandinavia.

Augustus, King of Poland, was sensible that the King of Sweden, having successfully opposed the czar and the King of Denmark, would not be long before he attacked him. Accordingly he entered into fresh engagements with the czar in a conference he had with him during the winter at Birzen in Courland. He engaged to raise 50,000 German troops, whom Peter undertook to subsidize, and at the same time to send him 50,000 of his own troops to learn better discipline. These two monarchs are said to have carried on this conference in a place where there was no want of wine or good cheer. It was the cold month of March, and it was reported they kept themselves warm within and without; and that this continual heat produced a world of endearments and promises to stick to one another till Sweden was on her knees. General Patkul was the soul of the negotiation, but the czar, and the king, and the minister made merry. Charles was up and stirring, and minding his business. He determined to anticipate the effects of this new treaty, and having passed the whiter at Narva, he repaired, as soon as it began to break, to Riga. The Saxon army was posted along the river Dwina, which is here very broad; and it was resolved to dispute the passage with Charles. They were commanded by Marshal Von Steinau, with the Duke of Courland under him. The King of Sweden had prepared some rafts of a new construction, with which he prepared to cross the Dwina. Having experienced at Narva the advantage of a snow-storm, he had a mind to try the artifice of setting fire to wet straw to conceal his movements from the enemy, and succeeded to a very great extent; so that when the smoke cleared off, the Saxons, to their astonishment, saw the king on the same side of the river as themselves, and marching straight upon them. Steinau roused himself in a moment; and as soon as he saw the enemy forming on the river banks, fell upon him with the greater portion of his cavalry, which broke them, and drove them almost into the river. Charles dashed into the stream, and there rallied them, as though he had been at a review. Then marching in dose order, he repulsed the Saxons and advanced into the plain. Steinau withdrew his troops to a position which was flanked on one side with a wood and on the other by a marsh; his whole force consisted of 12,000, with no other artillery than a single iron gun. The king had 15,000 men, and did not hesitate for a moment to attack. The shock was a rude one. The Duke of Courland withstood it, and penetrated three times even to the king’s body-guard; he had two horses killed under him, and at length was struck to the ground by the butt-end of a musket. His cuirassiers with difficulty saved him from the melée, and from being crushed under the horses’ feet; but the Saxon army no longer disputed the ground, and retired in dis­order. The King of Sweden marched to Mittau, the capital city of Courland, all which submitted to his arms; and he entered with particular satisfaction the town of Birzen, where the czar and the King of Poland had conspired his ruin a few months previously.

4.Naval War.

During the summer the French coasts were overawed by the combined fleets of England and Holland, under the command of Sir George Rooke, who sailed down the Channel in the latter end of August, and detached Vice-Admiral Benbow, with a strong squadron, to the West Indies. The French king, in order to derive all the advantages in his power from his union with Spain, established a company to open a trade with Mexico and Peru, and concluded a new asiento treaty for supplying the Spanish plantations with negroes. At the same time he sent a strong squadron to the port of Cadiz.

5. Death of James II, King of England, and his military Character.

On the 16th of September the ex-King James the Second expired at St. Germains in France. There never lived a man whose character was so widely different in youth and age. In the latter he is, as monarch, unhappily “damned to fame.” In the former, he deserves, as officer, the praise and gratitude of his country. He served, in 1653, in the French army, under the celebrated Turenne, where, as Clarendon reports of him, “he in a short time got the reputation of a prince of very signal courage, and to be universally beloved of the whole army.” He afterwards entered the Spanish army in Flanders, and obtained some military experience. In 1658 he was offered by the King of Spain to be made admiral of his galleys. He was made Lord High Admiral of England at the Restoration, and took the command of the English fleet. Maritime and commercial affairs now engaged his attention, and he became eminent for both courage and capacity. He applied himself to naval affairs with great success, considering the fleet as the glory and protection of England. In 1665 he commanded as admiral in an engagement with the Dutch Admiral Opdam, and obtained a signal victory, sinking or taking nineteen sail. Again, in 1672, when in command at Solebay, he was attacked by Admiral De Ruyter; and although he was deserted by the French fleet during the engagement, yet was not defeated. He afterwards administered the affairs of the Admiralty with very great success,—frugal of the public money, exemplary in business, and cherishing and extending the maritime power of the British empire. He was always most zealous for the glory of his country, and was capable of supporting its interests with a great sense of her dignity. In his deportment he was affable though stately, a generous and steady friend, and had a manner of bestowing favours with peculiar grace. To these virtues he added a steadiness of counsels, a perseverance in his plans, and courage in his enterprises, with a strict adherence to facts and truth in all he wrote and said. It was remarked of the two royal brothers by the witty Duke of Buckingham, “That Charles might do well if he would, and that James would do well if he could,”—an observation which speaks well for his heart: and if the qualities of his heart were to be judged by his conduct in the different relations of domestic life, he may be pronounced to be a man of a very amiable natural disposition in private life, and as “an officer and a gentleman,” in which character he is alone amenable to consideration in this history.

1702.

1. DEATH OF WILLIAM III, KING OF ENGLAND, AND HIS MILITARY CHARACTER.—2. WAR IN ITALY. 3. BATTLE OF LEZZARA.—4. THE EARL OF MARLBOROUGH NAMED GENERALISSIMO OF THE ALLIES.— 5. THE SIEGE OF KAISERSWERTH.—6. THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY AND MARSHAL BOUFLERS ASSUME THE COMMAND OF THE FRENCH ARMY. — 7. MARLBOROUH TAKES THE FIELD.—8. SIEGE OF VENLOO. 9. SIEGE OF LIEGE.—10. BATTLE OF FRIEDLINGEN.—11. MARLBOROUGH NARROWLY ESCAPES BEING MADE PRISONER.—12. BRITISH NAVAL EXPEDITION TO CADIZ AND VIGO.—13. NAVAL WAR IN THE WEST INDIES.—14. BATTLE OF CLISSAU. —15. WAR IN RUSSIA.