The cardinal did not address Hector until he had entered his private
room, when he turned and said sharply, “What means this, colonel? When
I saw you and your officers on the road I felt sure that you were not
there for nothing, and still more sure when on alighting I found you so
closely following me.”
“I was convinced, cardinal, that there was a plot against your life, and
I believe that it was only because the Duke of Orleans returned with you
that it was not carried into effect.”
“And possibly because they saw your troop behind the carriage. Now tell
me your reason for supposing that I was in danger.”
Hector related the various steps that he had taken.
“Your spies worked better for you than mine did for me,” the cardinal
said. “That a dozen or so of Beaufort's friends were for some reason
or other spending their time at the Angel Inn and other cabarets I was
aware, but I have had no word of their proceedings today. You have been
better served, doubtless, because your plans were better laid. I hardly
think that they would have attacked me when Orleans was with me, but
there is no saying; for if Beaufort has daring and insolence enough to
attempt to slay the queen's minister within a quarter of a mile of the
Louvre, he would not trouble greatly whether princes of the blood were
in the carriage or not, especially if he had some reason for believing
that Orleans would not regard the deed with very great disapproval.
“However, whatever his intentions might be, it is clear that the
appearance of your party of twelve armed men decided the question. We
may regard it as certain that the news that I had such an escort was
carried to them by the man who galloped on ahead. I thank you, sir, I
thank you very heartily, not only for my sake, but for that of France. I
will ask you to go across to the Louvre; I will take half a dozen armed
servants with me, but there is little fear that the attempt will be
renewed today. They must be too much disconcerted by the failure of
their plot to make fresh arrangements so speedily. I shall go first
to the Louvre and inform her majesty of what has taken place. You will
remain here for half an hour, and will then leave by the gate at the
back of the house and make a circuit, and enter the palace by the river
gate. The musketeers on guard will stop you, but I will give you a
pass.” And he wrote a few lines on paper. “The queen's confidential
servant, Laporte, will be at the door to meet you, and will have
instructions to escort you by corridors where you will be unobserved,
and so to her majesty's private closet. Were you to accompany me,
Beaufort would soon hear of it, and would be shrewd enough to perceive
that your meeting with me was by no means a matter of chance.”
Hector followed out his instructions, and on presenting himself at the
palace was at once taken up to the queen's closet. Laporte went in, and
returning immediately requested him to enter. The queen was walking up
and down the room, her face flushed with indignation.
“Her majesty would fain hear from your own lips, monsieur le baron, the
statement that you have made to me.”
The queen sat down and listened intently while Hector repeated the
story.
“There can be no doubt about it, cardinal; this keeping of a number of
armed men within call for days, the summons to them to gather in the Rue
St. Honore, while he himself with others took up his post at the convent
of the Capuchins hard by, the moment his spies had discovered that you
had left for Maisons, could but have been for one purpose. But they
shall learn that although a woman, Anne of Austria, Queen of France, is
not to be deprived of her minister and faithful friend without striking
back in return. Monsieur de Villar, you have rendered me a great
service. Is there any boon that you would ask of me? it is granted
beforehand.”
“I thank your majesty most humbly,” Hector said. “Already I have
received honours far beyond anything I deserve. I had the honour when
thanking your majesty, to hope some day to be able to give proof that
they were not unworthily bestowed, and still hope to do so.”
“You have already shown yourself worthy,” the queen said, “by the manner
in which you have in so short a time rendered the regiment to which we
appointed you so efficient. However, if there is at present no boon that
we can bestow, then remember that the Queen of France holds herself
your debtor, and that you have my royal word that any boon that you may
hereafter ask for, that is in my power to grant, will be given you.
Take this as a pledge of my promise.” And she took off a gold chain
exquisitely worked, and gave it him. He received it kneeling. “Now, sir,
we will keep you here no longer. I have much to say to his excellency. I
trust that you will present yourself at the levee this evening.”
“One thing more, colonel,” Mazarin added; “I doubt not that some of
Beaufort's people will endeavour to find out how it was that you came to
be behind my carriage. If they do so you might carelessly mention that
you and your officers had ridden out in a party at St. Germain, and that
on your way back you chanced to fall in with my carriage.”
At the barracks Hector called the officers together. “Gentlemen,” he
said, “I have no doubt that your little ride today has somewhat puzzled
you. I am not at liberty to tell you the reason why I requested you
to ride with me; but it is very probable that you may be asked the
question, and I beg you all to remember that we have been on a little
party of pleasure to St. Germain, and having dined there were on our way
back when we overtook the carriage of the cardinal; and seeing that
he had the Duke of Orleans with him, we reined back and followed him,
deeming that it would not appear respectful were we to gallop past the
carriage. Please bear this story in mind. Recall also that we dined at
the Lion d'Or there, that our dinner was a good one and that it was a
sort of celebration on my part of our two companies having the honour to
be chosen for duty in Paris. This is a matter upon which much depends;
it is, in fact, a matter of state; and you may well imagine that I
should not be recalling these events to your mind were it not that a
good deal depends upon it, and that I have received strict orders
that this little comedy shall be carried out. I know that I can rely
implicitly upon your discretion, and I have indeed answered for you all.
The story will be true in every respect. Instead of the excursion having
come off today it shall come off on the first day I can arrange that we
can be all off duty.”
That evening at the palace Hector was, as the cardinal predicted,
accosted by one of Beaufort's officers, to whom he had been previously
introduced. After talking on other subjects for a few minutes, he said:
“I saw you today, monsieur, riding with a party of your officers along
the Rue St. Honore. You did not notice me?”
“I assure you that I did not, sir, or I should not have been so rude
as to pass without saluting you.” Then he added with a laugh, “We were
riding slowly, too, for the cardinal's coach was in front of us, and it
would not have been good manners to have galloped past him, especially
as he had the Duke of Orleans with him.”
“Had you been far?” the other asked carelessly.
“No great distance; a little party of pleasure with my officers to eat
a dinner together, to celebrate the honour we had received in being
brought into Paris. My officers have worked very hard, and the matter
served as a good excuse for giving them a little dinner.”
For the next day or two everything passed off quietly, but four of the
officers reported that when dining at a cabaret two or three of the
duke's officers had come in and entered into conversation with them, and
had brought up the subject of their riding in after the cardinal.
“You almost looked as if you were serving as a bodyguard to him,” one of
them laughed.
“I daresay we did,” was the answer. “It was rather a nuisance; but it
would not have been courteous to have ridden past the carriage.” And he
then repeated the story as had been arranged.
Although the Duke of Beaufort had been told by some of his friends that
there were rumours abroad of a plot against Mazarin's life, and that it
would be best for him to leave Paris for a time, he refused to do so,
saying that even if it was discovered the cardinal would not dare to lay
hands on him. Moreover, the replies which had been obtained from Hector
and his officers convinced him that their riding behind Mazarin's
carriage was an accident.
On the 2nd of September the duke presented himself at the Louvre as
usual. After speaking with him for a few minutes, the queen left the
room with Mazarin, and Guibaut, captain of the Guards, at once came
forward and arrested him. He was kept at the Louvre that night, and next
day was taken to the castle of Vincennes. Two companies of Swiss guards
marched first, followed by a royal carriage containing the duke and
Guibaut. The carriage was surrounded by the royal musketeers. A body
of light cavalry followed, and the two companies of the Poitou regiment
brought up the rear. Thus the people of Paris were shown that the queen
had both the will and the power to punish, and the fickle population,
who would the day before have shouted in honour of Beaufort, were
delighted at seeing that the royal authority was once again paramount in
Paris. The other members of the party of Importants either fled or were
arrested. The Campions, Beaupuis, and others, succeeded in making their
escape from France. The Marquis of Chateauneuf, governor of Touraine,
was ordered back to his province. La Chatres, colonel general, was
dismissed from his post; the Duc de Vendome was forced to leave France;
and the ambitious Bishop of Beauvais and several other prelates were
commanded to return to their dioceses. All the members of the Vendome
family were exiled to the chateau of Annette. Madame de Chevreuse, de
Hautefort, and a large number of other members of the party were ordered
to leave Paris. Thus the party of the Importants ceased to exist.
The people of Paris seemed greatly pleased at what appeared to them the
end of the troubles, and they exclaimed that Richelieu was not dead, but
that he had simply changed his appearance, and had become twenty
years younger. Mazarin chose a number of soldiers belonging to his own
regiment, and several officers who belonged to Richelieu's own guard.
These were at all times to follow him wherever he went. He selected
a number of noblemen, all of distinguished merit and influence, and
created five of them dukes, and thus secured to himself a party that
would to some extent balance the power of his adversaries.
He also made an effort to bring about a union between the Duke of
Orleans and the Condes, but failed, owing to the enormous demands
that each put forward. Conde demanded the government of Languedoc
for himself, of Burgundy for Enghien, and Normandy for the Duc de
Longueville, and the entire domains of his late brother-in-law, Henry of
Montmorency. Orleans on his part demanded the province of Champagne, the
three bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and the town and castle
of Sedan. As these demands, if granted, would have rendered the two
families all powerful, Mazarin gave up the attempt, and decided that
the best plan to prevent troubles was to let these dangerous families
continue to be hostile to each other.
As soon as he had finished his work of crushing the Importants, Mazarin
sent for Hector.
“Now, Monsieur Campbell,” he said, “I have breathing time. The
conspiracy among the nobles is for the time crushed, and now that they
see that the queen is determined to protect me, and that I am not afraid
of using the power committed to me, I hope that it will be some time
before they venture to conspire again. I have further strengthened my
position by granting honours to many distinguished gentlemen who were
well inclined towards me, and on whose support in the future I shall
be able to rely. Now it is time that I should turn to the man who has
probably saved my life, and to whose evidence given before the queen I
in no small degree owe it that she resolved to suppress these insolent
nobles. I have not hurried in this matter, since, by your answer to the
queen, it was evident that you desired no change in your position, and
that the matter could wait.
“Still, monsieur, her offer was to grant honours for services rendered
to the state. The matter of the service that you have rendered to
Cardinal Mazarin is still untouched. It is something so new to me that
anyone in France should be so perfectly contented with his lot as to
refuse such an offer as that made to you by the queen, that I feel
somewhat at a loss what to do. I can understand that, young and ardent,
increased rank would have no charm for you. Were it otherwise I could
bestow the highest rank upon you. I am aware that your habits are
simple, for I have made inquiries, and that money in itself goes for
little in your eyes; still, sir, one who has the honour of being first
minister of France, and who is also a very rich man, cannot remain with
a debt of gratitude wholly uncancelled. I hear from my agent in Poitou
that you have voluntarily remitted the fine that your vassals would pay
on the occasion of a new lord taking possession, on account of the heavy
taxation that presses so sorely upon them.
“I honour you, sir, for such a step, and have even mentioned it to the
queen as a proof of the goodness of your disposition, and I feel sure
that there is nothing that would please you better than that I should
grant the tenants of your estate an immunity from all taxation; but this
I cannot do. All private interests must give way to the necessities
of the state. I deplore the sufferings of the cultivators of France,
sufferings that have of late driven many to take up arms. It is my duty
to repress such risings; but I have ordered the utmost leniency to be
shown to these unfortunate men, that the troops should not be quartered
upon their inhabitants, and that the officers shall see that there is
no destruction of houses and no damage to property; that would increase
still further their difficulty in paying the imposts, which I regret to
say press so sorely and unduly upon them. Tell me frankly what is the
greatest object of your ambition?”
“I thank your excellency most heartily for your kind intentions towards
me, but any ambition that I may have had is already much more than
gratified. I have never for a moment thought of, or even wished that I
might some day become lord of a fair estate and a noble of France. I
had not ventured to hope that I might become colonel of a regiment
for another fifteen years. Both these things have, thanks to the kind
appreciation of her majesty and yourself for a very simple act of duty,
fallen to me. If I might ask a boon, it would be that my regiment may be
sent to join the force of Marshal Turenne. So long as there was danger
here I should not have wished to be removed from a position where I
might be of some assistance, however slight, to the queen and yourself,
but now that all danger is at an end I should be glad to return to
active duty. I have endeavoured humbly to make Marshal Turenne my model.
He has but one thought and one desire--namely, to do his duty and to
make the soldiers under his command contented and happy, but I have no
hope of ever emulating his great merits as a commander.”
“That request is easily granted,” Mazarin said, and drawing a sheet of
paper towards him, he wrote:
The regiment of Poitou will at once proceed to the Rhine, where it will
place itself under the orders of Marshal Turenne.
He added his signature, and handed the paper to Hector.
“That counts for nothing,” he said. “You must remember that life is
short and, especially in the case of a minister of France, uncertain.
In your own case you might be disabled in the field and unable to serve
further. The advent of a party hostile to me in power would doubtless be
signalized by acts of vengeance against those who have been friends, and
estates change hands so frequently in France that la Villar might well
be confiscated. No man is above the chances of fortune. I have agents in
England, and have this morning given an order to my intendant to place
in the hands of Monsieur Wilson, a well known citizen of London, a
goldsmith, the sum of fifty thousand crowns to stand in your name, and
to be payable to your order. Here is his address. It is but a small sum
for the saving of my life, but it will place you above the risk of the
contingencies of fortune in this country. I wish for no thanks,” he
said, with a wave of his hand as Hector was about to speak. “I have
given more for the most trifling favours. I now bid you adieu, and
doubt not that I shall hear that you and your regiment have greatly
distinguished yourselves in the east, where hostilities will in all
probability shortly be commenced. You had better present yourself at the
levee this evening to make your adieus to the queen.”
This Hector did, and early the next morning rode with his two companies
to St. Denis, where the news that the regiment was to march towards the
Rhine was received with great satisfaction. It was now the middle of
October, and when, after ten days' march, the regiment reached Epernay,
they heard that Turenne had withdrawn his troops from the Rhine,
where the Imperialists had already gone into winter quarters, and had
stationed them in the various towns of Lorraine. His headquarters were
at Nancy. Turenne greeted him warmly upon his arrival.
“Matters have been going on slowly since I saw you in Paris. I have been
too weak to fight the Bavarians, who fortunately were too undecided to
attack me. Could they but have made up their minds to throw in their
fortune with Austria, they might have overrun all Lorraine, for aught I
could have done to withstand them. The troopers were without horses, the
infantry almost without clothes, and as the court was unable to send me
any remittances I have been forced to borrow money upon my own estates
for the public service, and have mounted five thousand horse and
enrolled three thousand foot and am still sustaining them. However,
I hear from Mazarin that he will in a week send off a large convoy of
treasure, which will be welcome indeed, for I am nearly at the end of
my resources. Some of my troops are quartered in the town, but the most
part are among the mountains, where they trouble the inhabitants less
and have small temptations towards rioting and excesses. Which would you
rather?”
“I would much rather go into the country, marshal; my regiment is
in good condition now, but to stay in quarters in a town is bad for
discipline.”
“So be it. You might make your headquarters at the village of Saline;
there are no other troops within thirty miles of it. On arriving there
you will make inquiries as to the supplies to be obtained within a
circle of fifteen miles round. Fortunately I have a good supply of
tents, and any men for whom you cannot find quarters in the villages
can be placed under canvas. You can draw as much wine as you require for
three months' rations from the stores here, and two months' rations of
flour. I will direct the intendants to take up carts for the transport
of the supplies you take from here. You will doubtless be able to buy
meat up there, and I hope that you will be able to obtain sufficient
flour and wine to last you till the end of the winter, for transport
will be very difficult when the snow is on the ground. Firewood your
soldiers will, of course, cut for themselves in the forests.”
The winter passed quietly. Hector managed to obtain quarters for all his
troops--a village being allotted to each company. Before they marched
off to their various quarters, Hector urged the officers to impress upon
their men the advantage of behaving well to the villagers.
“Of course the presence of so many men will be of serious inconvenience
to them, but they will doubtless make the best of it if they find that
they are treated civilly and that their lodgers endeavour to give as
little trouble as possible. See that everything down to the smallest
article is paid for, and investigate every complaint, and I will punish
any offenders severely. I have inquired into the average prices that
sheep, fowls, pigs, goats, and other articles fetch, and have made out a
list for each company; the peasants will be gainers by it, for they
will be saved the journey down to the towns. Let this be stuck up in a
conspicuous place in each village.
“The intendant will go round and make contracts for the supply of meat,
and will see whether it will be more advantageous to erect ovens for
the baking of bread in each village or to arrange to buy it ready baked
there, we supplying the flour; for the troops, after being accustomed to
good bread at St. Denis, will not be content with the black bread upon
which these poor people exist. I shall pay a visit to each company
in regular order, see that all is going on well, try men who have
misbehaved themselves, and listen gladly to any suggestions that the
respective captains may make to me.”
The first company was quartered at Saline, and although the cold was
severe and the life rough the troops were well contented, and Hector was
glad to find that his instructions were carried out and that excellent
relations were maintained between the troops and their hosts.
Early in the spring Turenne collected a force of three regiments of
cavalry and two of infantry, and, passing the Rhine at Breisach, fell
suddenly upon a force of Imperialists in the Black Forest, defeated
them, and took three or four hundred prisoners, among whom were many
officers, the rest of them escaping to the army commanded by Count
Merci. In May the Bavarian army, numbering eight thousand foot and seven
thousand horse, marched to besiege Freiburg, five leagues from Breisach,
and Turenne followed with all his force, which now numbered ten thousand
men. He found, however, that the Imperialists had occupied all the
strong positions in the neighbourhood of the town, and not caring to run
the risk either of defeat or great loss, and receiving information that
the town had already opened negotiations for surrender, he fell back
some five miles from the town, sending news to the court that his force
was insufficient to attack the Imperialists. Mazarin thereupon sent
orders to Enghien to set out at once for Germany. As soon as he
reached the Rhine and his army prepared to cross, Enghien, who had been
appointed generalissimo, rode forward with Marshal de Gramont, who was
in command of the army under him, to the camp of Turenne. The meeting
between Enghien and Turenne was most cordial. Enghien had always felt
the warmest admiration for the talents of the older marshal, had been
most intimate with him whenever he was at court, and regarded him as his
master in the art of war. Turenne was free from the vice of jealousy;
and as the armies of France were almost always placed under the supreme
if sometimes nominal command of princes of the blood, it seemed nothing
but natural to him that Enghien should receive supreme authority.
The characters of the two men were in complete contrast with each
other--the one was ardent, passionate, prompt in action and swift in
execution; the other, though equally brave, was prudent and careful,
anxious above all things to accomplish his object with the smallest
possible loss of men, while Enghien risked the lives of his soldiers as
recklessly as his own. They always acted together in the most perfect
harmony, and their friendship remained unimpaired even when in
subsequent days they stood in arms against each other. At the council
Turenne was in favour of making a circuit and taking up their post in
the valley of St. Pierre, by which they would intercept the Bavarians'
communications and force them by famine to issue out from their strong
lines and fight in the open, and urged that to attack a position so
strongly fortified would entail terrible loss, even if successful.
Marshal de Gramont, and d'Erlac, governor of Breisach, were of the same
opinion. The Duc d'Enghien, however, was for attacking the enemy in
their intrenchments; the idea of starving out an enemy was altogether
repugnant to one of his impetuous disposition, and as generalissimo
he overruled the opinions of the others. He himself, led by Turenne,
reconnoitred the position of the enemy, and decided that the one army,
which was called the army of France, consisting of six thousand foot and
four thousand horse, commanded by Marshal de Gramont, should attack
the enemy's position in front and on their right flank, and the other,
called the army of Weimar, of five thousand foot and as many horse,
under Turenne, should move round by a narrow pass and attack the enemy
on the left flank. Merci's army occupied an almost inaccessible hill
whose summit was strongly fortified, and it was against this that de
Gramont's army was to hurl itself. The entrance to the valley by which
Turenne was to fall upon their left flank was closed at its mouth by
very strong intrenchments, and it was behind this that the main body of
horse was posted.
To gain his point of attack Turenne had to make a very wide circuit,
and started at break of day on the 3rd of August. It was arranged that
Enghien, who remained with de Gramont, should not attack until three
hours before sunset, in order to give Turenne time to attack at the same
hour. At the time agreed upon, Enghien sent forward two battalions to
begin the attack. The regiments of Conde and Mazarin were to follow,
while the duke held two others in reserve. In order to get at the enemy
the assailants were forced to climb a very steep ascent, and cross a
vineyard intersected by many walls four feet high facing the terrace
on which the vines grew. These were occupied by the Bavarians, but the
French attacked with such vigour that the enemy were driven back. When,
however, the latter reached the great cheval-de-frise, formed by
felled trees, in front of the intrenchments, they could make no further
progress, so heavy was the fire maintained by the enemy.
Enghien, seeing this, dismounted, placed himself at the head of the
regiment of Conde, and led them forward, while Marshal Gramont and
the officers did the same. Encouraged by this example, the troops were
filled with enthusiasm, and, following their leaders unfalteringly, made
their way through the cheval-de-frise, and, pressing forward without a
pause, obtained possession of the intrenchments, driving the Bavarians
into the woods behind. The battle had lasted three hours, and had cost
the Bavarians three thousand men, while the French suffered at least
equally.
Turenne's force had been as hotly engaged. Merci, the best general in
the Austrian army, had foreseen that an attempt might be made through
the defile, and had posted strong bodies of infantry among the trees on
either side.
As soon as Turenne entered the defile he was encountered by a heavy
fire from his unseen foes, who, falling back through the trees as he
advanced, continued to gain strength. Turenne had to fight every foot of
his way in order to dislodge the enemy, and it was not until Enghien
had brought the battle to a conclusion on his side, that Turenne arrived
and, forcing the intrenchments guarding the mouth of the defile, found
himself in contact with Merci, who was now able to concentrate his whole
force against him. The combat was a furious one. The troops were engaged
at but forty paces apart, and sometimes had hand-to-hand encounters.
Merci brought the whole of his cavalry into play, but Turenne was unable
to use his, as they were behind his infantry and could not make their
way out through the mouth of the defile.
For seven hours the battle raged in the darkness. After losing three
thousand men here, General Merci decided that his army would be totally
destroyed if Enghien should bring his troops down from the hill at
daybreak. Accordingly, leaving a body of musketeers to hide the movement
by their fire, he withdrew the rest of his army and took up another
strong position, partly on a height known as the Black Mountain,
covering the entrance of the valley of St. Pierre and partly in the
valley itself, thus covering his line of retreat. Had the French been
able to attack early the next morning before the Bavarians had time to
intrench themselves they might have won an easy victory; but for the
past twenty-four hours the rain had been falling incessantly, Turenne's
army had been marching on the previous day, and had been fighting for
seven hours, and was incapable of further exertions, while that of
Enghien was in little better plight, having passed the night in the rain
on the ground it had won.
After such hard fighting both commanders agreed that a twenty-four
hours' halt was absolutely necessary. The day could not be termed one of
rest, for there were thousands of wounded to be collected and cared for,
arms to be cleaned, for they had been rendered useless by the rain, and
provisions to be brought up from the rear. Merci made the most of the
time thus given him. The bottom of the mountain towards the plain was
fortified by several rows of felled trees, and a portion of his infantry
was posted between this point and the town of Freiburg, which was but
half a mile away. The intrenchments that had been formed during the
siege of the town were occupied by them; and as their front was covered
by the fire of the guns from the fortress, as well as by that of the
infantry on the hill, he considered the position to be impregnable, and
therefore placed the main body of his army at the edge of the flat top
of the hill, a strong body behind a wood about halfway up the slope, and
his cavalry extended from that point to the walls of the city.
After reconnoitering the position, Enghien determined to make two
attacks, one on the trenches between the foot of the hill and the town,
and the other on the rows of felled trees at the foot of the mountain.
A false attack was to be made between the two points. Turenne's force
advanced nearly to the foot of the hill, the prince's army followed him,
and also took up its position. But just as the attack was about to be
made a great tumult was heard on the hill, and Enghien and Turenne
rode to a neighbouring height in order to ascertain what was going
on, leaving strict orders that no movement was to be made until their
return. Count d'Espenan, who commanded the two advanced regiments of
Enghien's army, however, ordered a detachment to attack a redoubt
which stood within the line of attack, and Merci sent supports to its
defenders.
D'Espenan sent more troops on his side and the engagement became
serious. Suddenly the Imperialist artillery opened fire along the whole
of their line, and Enghien's troops, apparently taking this for the
signal of the beginning of the battle, moved forward for the
assault without order or leader. As they were broken and confused by
endeavouring to pass through the abattis of felled trees, the Bavarians
rushed out and drove them back with great slaughter. Enghien and
Turenne, galloping up in all haste, in vain attempted to rally them.
Officers and men alike were panic stricken. The two generals then rode
to Turenne's army and advanced against the defence of trees. For a long
time the battle raged without any marked success on either side. Several
times the French made their way in to the intrenchments and were as
often repulsed. Merci ordered his cavalry to dismount, and led them
into the fray, but, darkness falling suddenly, the assailants ceased to
attack, and occupied for the night the ground on which the struggle had
taken place. The fight that day had cost them two thousand troops, and
the Bavarians twelve hundred, but as the latter had lost half their
infantry in the first day's fighting the French were still superior
in numbers. During the night Turenne had all the wounded of both
nationalities carried to Breisach. After giving the army four days'
rest, Enghien determined to resort to the tactics that Turenne had
from the first recommended, and, marching along the plain, ascended the
valley of Bloterthal and made for St. Pierre, where he would cut the
Bavarian line of retreat. As soon as Merci saw the movement he gave
orders for his army to fall back with all haste, and although Turenne
pressed hard on his rear he succeeded in drawing his troops off, though,
in order to do so, he was obliged to abandon his baggage and cannon.
Altogether he lost between eight and nine thousand men, with their
artillery and most of their horses. The French loss was equally great,
and though the battle was claimed as a victory by them owing to the
Bavarians having finally fallen back, it was really a drawn one.