For some time after his duel with Captain Muller, it is probable
that the little cornet was, after Marlborough himself, the most
popular man in the British army in Flanders. He, however, bore his
honours quietly, shrinking from notice, and seldom going down into
the town. Any mention of the duel was painful to him; for although
he considered that he was perfectly justified in taking up the
quarrel forced upon his regiment, yet he sincerely regretted that
he should have been obliged to kill a man, however dangerous and
obnoxious, in cold blood.
Two days after the duel he received a letter from his grandfather.
It was only the second he had received. In the previous letter
Colonel Holliday alluded to something which he had said in a prior
communication, and Rupert had written back to say that no such
letter had come to hand. The answer ran as follows:
"My dear Grandson--Your letter has duly come to hand. I regret to
find that my first to you miscarried, and by comparing dates I
think that it must have been lost in the wreck of the brig Flora,
which was lost in a tempest on her way to Holland a few days after
I wrote. This being so, you are ignorant of the changes which have
taken place here, and which affect yourself in no slight degree.
"The match between your lady mother and Sir William Brownlow is broken
off. This took place just after you sailed for the wars. It was brought
about by our friend, Monsieur Dessin. This gentleman--who is, although
I know not his name, a French nobleman of title and distinction--received,
about the time you left, the news that he might shortly expect to hear
that the decree which had sent him into exile was reversed. Some little
time later a compatriot of his came down to stay with him. Monsieur
Dessin, who I know cherished ill feeling against Sir William for the
insult which his son had passed upon his daughter, and for various
belittling words respecting that young lady which Sir William had
in his anger permitted himself to use in public, took occasion when
he was riding through the streets of Derby, accompanied by his
friends, Lord Pomeroy and Sir John Hawkes, gentlemen of fashion and
repute, to accost him. Sir William swore at him as a French dancing
master; whereupon Monsieur Dessin at once challenged him to a duel.
Sir William refused with many scornful words to meet a man of such
kind, whereupon Monsieur Dessin, drawing Lord Pomeroy to him, in
confidence disclosed his name and quality, to which his
compatriot--also a French nobleman--testified, and of which he
offered to produce documents and proofs. They did then adjourn to a
tavern, where they called for a private room, to talk the matter
over out of earshot of the crowd; and after examining the proofs,
Lord Pomeroy and Sir John Hawkes declared that Sir William Brownlow
could not refuse the satisfaction which Monsieur Dessin demanded.
"It has always been suspected that Sir William was a man of small
courage, though of overbearing manner, and he was mightily put to
when he heard that he must fight with a man whom he justly regarded
as being far more than his match. So craven did he become, indeed,
that the gentlemen with him did not scruple to express their
disgust loudly. Monsieur Dessin said that, unless Sir William did
afford him satisfaction, he would trounce him publicly as a coward,
but that he had one other alternative to offer. All were mightily
surprised when he stated that this alternative was that he should
write a letter to Mistress Holliday renouncing all claim to her
hand. This Sir William for a time refused to do, blustering much;
but finally, having no stomach for a fight, and fearing the
indignity of a public whipping, he did consent so to do; and
Monsieur Dessin having called for paper and pens, the letter was
then written, and the four gentlemen signed as witnesses. The party
then separated, Lord Pomeroy and Sir John Hawkes riding off without
exchanging another word with Sir William Brownlow.
"Your lady mother was in a great taking when she received the
letter, and learned the manner in which it had come to be written.
Monsieur Dessin left the town, with his daughter, two days later.
He came over to take farewell of me, and expressed himself with
great feeling and heartiness as to the kindness which he was good
enough to say that I had shown him. I assured him, as you may
believe, that the action he had forced Mistress Holliday's suitor
to take left me infinitely his debtor.
"He promised to write to me from France, whither he was about to
return. He said that he regretted much that a vow he had sworn to
keep his name unknown in England, save and except his honour should
compel him to disclose it, prevented him from telling it; but that
he would in the future let me know it. After it was known that he
had left, Sir William Brownlow again attempted to make advances to
your lady mother; but she, who lacks not spirit, repulsed him so
scornfully that all fear of any future entanglement in that quarter
is at an end; at the which I have rejoiced mightily, although the
Chace, now that you have gone, is greatly changed to me.
"Farmer Parsons sends his duty to you, and his love to Hugh. I
think that it would not be ill taken if, in a short time, you were
to write to Mistress Holliday. Make no mention of her broken
espousal, which is a subject upon which she cares not to touch. The
Earl of Marlborough has been good enough to write me a letter
speaking in high terms of you. This I handed to her to read, and
although she said no word when she handed it back, I could see that
she was much moved.
"My pen runs not so fast as it did. I will therefore now conclude.
"YOUR LOVING GRANDFATHER."
This letter gave great pleasure to Rupert, not because it restored
to him the succession of the estates of the Chace, for of that he
thought but little, but because his mother was saved from a match
which would, he felt sure, have been an unhappy one for her.
The winter passed off quietly, and with the spring the two armies
again took the field. The campaign of 1803 was, like its
predecessor, marred by the pusillanimity and indecision of the
Dutch deputies, who thwarted all Marlborough's schemes for bringing
the French to a general engagement, and so ruined the English
general's most skillful plans, that the earl, worn out by
disappointment and disgust, wrote to the Queen, praying to be
relieved of his command and allowed to retire into private life,
and finally only remained at his post at his mistress's earnest
entreaty.
The campaign opened with the siege of Bonn, a strongly fortified
town held by the French, and of great importance to them, as being
the point by which they kept open communication between France and
their strong army in Germany. Marlborough himself commanded the
siege operations, having under him forty battalions, sixty
squadrons, and a hundred guns. General Overkirk, who, owing to the
death of the Earl of Athlone, was now second in command, commanded
the covering army, which extended from Liege to Bonn.
The siege commenced on the 3rd of May, and with such vigour was it
carried on that on the 9th the fort on the opposite side of the
Rhine was carried by storm; and as from this point the works
defending the town could all be taken in reverse, the place
surrendered on the 5th; the garrison, 3600 strong, being permitted
by the terms of capitulation to retire to Luxemburg.
Marshal Villeroi, who commanded the French army on the frontier,
finding that he could give no aid to Bonn, advanced against
Maestrich, which he hoped to surprise, before Overkirk could arrive
to its aid. On the way, however, he had to take the town of
Tangres, which was held by two battalions of infantry only. These,
however, defended themselves with astonishing bravery against the
efforts of a whole army, and for twenty-eight hours of continuous
fighting arrested the course of the enemy. At the end of that time
they were forced to surrender, but the time gained by their heroic
defence afforded time for Overkirk to bring up his army, and when
Villeroi arrived near Maestrich, he found the allies already there,
and so strongly posted that although his force was fully twice as
strong as theirs, he did not venture to attack.
Marlborough, upon the fall of Bonn, marched with the greatest
expedition to the assistance of his colleague. His cavalry reached
Maestrich on the 21st, his infantry three days later. On the 26th
of May he broke up the camp and advanced to undertake the grand
operation of the siege of Antwerp. The operation was to be
undertaken by a simultaneous advance of several columns.
Marlborough himself with the main wing was to confront Marshal
Villeroi. General Spaar was to attack that part of the French lines
which lay beyond the Scheldt. Cohorn was to force the passage of
that river in the territory of Hulst, and unite Spaar's attack with
that of Obdam, who with twenty-one battalions and sixteen squadrons
was to advance from Bergen op Zoom.
The commencement of this operation was well conducted. On the night
of the 26th Cohorn passed the Scheldt, and the next morning he and
Spaar made a combined attack on that part of the French lines
against which they had been ordered to act, and carried them after
severe fighting and the loss of 1200 men. Upon the following day
the Earl of Marlborough, riding through the camp, saw Rupert
Holliday, standing at the door of his tent. Beckoning him to him,
he said:
"Would you like a ride round Antwerp, Master Holliday? I have a
letter which I desire carried to General Obdam, whose force is at
Eckeron on the north of the city."
Upon Rupert saying that he should like it greatly, the earl bade
him be at his quarters in an hour's time.
"There is the dispatch," he said, when Rupert called upon him. "You
will give this to the general himself. I consider his position as
dangerous, for Marshal Villeroi may throw troops into the town, and
in that case the Marquis Bedmar may fall in great force upon any of
our columns now lying around him. I have warned Obdam of his
danger, and have begged him to send back his heavy baggage, to take
up a strong position, and if the enemy advance in force to fall
back to Bergen op Zoom. Should the general question you, you can
say that you are aware of the terms of the dispatch, and that I had
begged you to assure the general that my uneasiness on his account
was considerable."
The general then pointed out to Rupert on a map the route that he
should take so as to make a sweep round Antwerp, and warned him to
use every precaution, and to destroy the dispatch if there should
be danger of his being captured.
"Am I to return at once, sir?"
"No," the earl said. "If all goes well we shall in three days
invest the place, advancing on all sides, and you can rejoin your
corps when the armies unite."
Rupert's horse was already saddled on his return, and Hugh was in
readiness to accompany him as his orderly.
It was a thirty miles ride, and it was evening before he reached
Eckeron, having seen no enemy on his line of route.
He was at once conducted to the quarters of the Dutch general, who
received him politely, and read the dispatch which he had brought.
It did not strike Rupert that he was much impressed with its
contents, but he made no remark, and simply requested one of his
staff to see to Rupert's wants, and to have a tent pitched for him.
He spent a pleasant evening with the Dutch general's staff, most of
whom could talk French, while Hugh was hospitably entertained by
the sergeants of the staff.
The next morning the tents were struck, and the heavy baggage was,
in accordance with Lord Marlborough's orders, sent to the fortress
of Bergen op Zoom. But, to Rupert's surprise and uneasiness, no
attempt was made to carry out the second part of the instruction
contained in the dispatch.
The day passed quietly, and at night the party were very merry
round a campfire. At eight o'clock next morning a horseman rode
into camp with the news that the French were attacking the rear,
and that the army was cut off from the Scheldt!
The Earl of Marlborough's prevision had proved correct. The French
marshals had determined to take advantage of their central
position, and to crush one of their enemy's columns. On the evening
of the 29th, Marshal Villeroi detached Marshal Boufflers with
thirty companies of grenadiers and thirty squadrons of horse. These
marching all night reached Antwerp at daybreak without interruption,
and uniting with the force under the Marquis Bedmar, issued out
30,000 strong to attack Obdam. Sending off detached columns, who
moved round, and--unseen by the Dutch, who acted with as great
carelessness as if their foes had been 500 miles away--he took
possession of the roads on the dykes leading not only to Fort Lille
on the Scheldt, but to Bergen op Zoom, and fell suddenly upon the
Dutch army on all sides.
Scarcely had the messenger ridden into Eckeron, when a tremendous
roar of musketry broke out in all quarters, and the desperate
position into which the supineness of their general had suffered
them to fall, was apparent to all.
In a few minutes the confusion was terrible. Rupert and Hugh
hastily saddled their horses, and had just mounted when General
Obdam with twenty troopers rode past at full gallop.
"Where can he be going?" Rupert said. "He is not riding towards
either of the points attacked."
"It seems to me that he is bolting, Master Rupert, just flying by
some road the French have not yet occupied."
"Impossible!" Rupert said.
But it was so, and the next day the runaway general himself brought
the news of his defeat to the League, announcing that he had
escaped with thirty horse, and that the rest of his army was
destroyed. It is needless to say that General Obdam never
afterwards commanded a Dutch army in the field.
The second part of the news which he brought the Hague was not
correct. General Schlangenberg, the second in command, at once
assumed the command. The Dutch rallied speedily from their
surprise, and the advancing columns of the enemy were soon met with
a desperate resistance. In front General Boufflers attacked with
twenty battalions of French troops, headed by the grenadiers he had
brought with him, while a strong Spanish force barred the retreat.
Under such circumstances many troops would at once have laid down
their arms; but such a thought never occurred to the Dutchmen of
Schlangenberg's army.
While a portion of this force opposed Boufflers' troops pressing on
their front, the rest threw themselves against those who barred
their retreat to Fort Lille. Never was there more desperate
fighting. Nowhere could ground have been selected more unsuited for
a battlefield.
It was by the roads alone running upon the dykes above the general
level of the country the troops could advance or retreat, and it
was upon these that the heads of the heavy columns struggled for
victory.
There was little firing. The men in front had no time to reload,
those behind could not fire because their friends were before them.
It was a fierce hand-to-hand struggle, such as might have taken
place on the same ground in the middle ages, before gunpowder was
in use. Bayonets and clubbed muskets, these were the weapons on
both sides, while dismounted troopers--for horses were worse than
useless here, mixed up with the infantry--fought with swords. On
the roads, on the sides of the slopes, waist deep in the water of
the ditches, men fought hand-to-hand. Schlangenberg commanded at
the spot where the Dutchmen obstinately and stubbornly resisted the
fury of the French onslaught, and even the chosen grenadiers of
France failed to break down that desperate defence.
All day the battle raged. Rupert having no fixed duty rode
backwards and forwards along the roads, now watching how went the
defence against the French attack, now how the Dutch in vain tried
to press back the Spaniards and open a way of retreat. Late in the
afternoon he saw a party of the staff officers pressing towards the
rear on foot.
"We are going to try to get to the head of the column," one said to
Rupert. "We must force back the Spaniards, or we are all lost."
"I will join you," Rupert said, leaping from his horse.
"Hugh, give me my pistols and take your own; leave the horses, and
come with me."
It took upwards of an hour to make their way along the dyke,
sometimes pushing forward between the soldiers, sometimes wading in
the ditch, but at last they reached the spot where, over ground
high heaped with dead, the battle raged as fiercely as ever. With a
shout of encouragement to the men the party of officers threw
themselves in front and joined in the fray. Desperate as the
fighting had been before, it increased in intensity now. The Dutch,
cheered by the leading of their officers, pressed forward with
renewed energy. The Spaniards fought desperately, nor indeed could
they have retreated, from the crowd of their comrades behind. The
struggle was desperate; bayonet clashed against bayonet, heavy
muskets descended with a showering thud on head and shoulders,
swords flashed, men locked together struggled for life. Those who
fell were trampled to death, and often those in front were so
jammed by the pressure, that their arms were useless, and they
could do nought but grasp at each other's throats, until a blow or
a bayonet thrust from behind robbed one or other of his adversary.
Slowly, very slowly, the Dutch were forcing their way forward, but
it was by the destruction of the head of their enemy's column, and
not by any movement of retreat on their part.
After a few minutes of desperate struggles, in which twice Hugh
saved his life by shooting a man on the point of running him
through with a bayonet, Rupert found himself on the edge of the
road. He drew out of the fight for an instant, and then making his
way back until he came to a Dutch colonel, he pointed out to him
that the sole hope was for a strong body of men to descend into the
ditch, to push forward there, and to open fire on the flank of the
enemy's column, so as to shake its solidity.
The officer saw the advice was good; and a column, four abreast,
entered the ditches on each side, and pressed forward. The water
was some inches above their waists, but they shifted their pouches
to be above its level, and soon passing the spot where the struggle
raged as fiercely as ever on the dyke above, they opened fire on
the flanks of the Spaniards. These in turn fired down, and the
carnage on both sides was great. Fresh Dutchmen, however, pressed
forward to take the place of those that fell; and the solidity of
the Spaniards' column being shaken, the head of the Dutch body
began to press them back.
The impetus once given was never checked. Slowly, very slowly the
Dutch pushed forward, until at last the Spaniards were driven off
the road, and the line of retreat was open to the Dutch army. Then
the rear guard began to fall back before the French; and fighting
every step of the way, the last of the Dutch army reached Fort
Lille long after night had fallen.
Their loss in this desperate hand-to-hand fighting had been 4000
killed and wounded, besides 600 prisoners and six guns. The French
and Spaniards lost 3000 killed and wounded.
It was well for Rupert that Hugh kept so close to him, for nearly
the last shot fired by the enemy struck him, and he fell beneath
the water, when his career would have been ended had not Hugh
seized him and lifted him ashore. So much had the gallantry of the
little cornet attracted the attention and admiration of the Dutch,
that plenty of volunteers were glad to assist Hugh to carry him to
Fort Lille. There during the night a surgeon examined his wound,
and pronounced that the ball had broken two ribs, and had then
glanced out behind, and that if all went well, in a month he would
be about again.
The numbers of wounded were far beyond the resources of Fort Lille
to accommodate, and all were upon the following day put into boats,
and distributed through the various Dutch riverine towns, in order
that they might be well tended and cared for. This was a far better
plan than their accumulation in large military hospitals, where,
even with the greatest care, the air is always impure, and the
deaths far more numerous than when the men are scattered, and can
have good nursing and fresh air.
Rupert, with several other officers, was sent to Dort, at that time
one of the great commercial cities of Holland. Rupert, although
tightly bandaged, and forbidden to make any movement, was able to
take an interest in all that was going on.
"There is quite a crowd on the quay, Hugh."
"Yes, sir; I expect most of these Dutch officers have friends and
acquaintances here. Besides, as yet the people here cannot tell who
have fallen, and must be anxious indeed for news."
The crowd increased greatly by the time the boat touched the quay;
and as the officers stepped or were carried ashore, each was
surrounded by a group of anxious inquirers.
Hugh, standing by his master's stretcher, felt quite alone in the
crowd--as, seeing his British uniform, and the shake of his head at
the first question asked, none tried to question him--and looked
round vaguely at the crowd, until some soldiers should come to lift
the stretcher.
Suddenly he gave a cry of surprise, and to Rupert's astonishment
left his side, and sprang through the crowd. With some difficulty
he made his way to a young lady, who was standing with an elderly
gentleman on some steps a short distance back from the crowd. She
looked surprised at the approach of this British soldier, whose
eyes were eagerly fixed on her; but not till Hugh stepped in front
of her and spoke did she remember him.
"Mistress Von Duyk," he said, "my master is here wounded; and as he
has not a friend in the place, and I saw you, I made bold to speak
to you."
"Oh! I am sorry," the girl said, holding out her hand to Hugh.
"Papa, this is one of the gentlemen who rescued me, as I told you,
when Sir Richard Fulke tried to carry me off."
The gentleman, who had looked on in profound astonishment, seized
Hugh's hand.
"I am indeed glad to have an opportunity of thanking you.
"Hasten home, Maria, and prepare a room. I will go and have this
good friend brought to our house."