_Debate in Parliament against the Hanoverian Troops.....
Supplies granted..... Projected Invasion of Great
Britain..... A French Squadron sails up the English
Channel..... The Kingdom is put in a Posture of Defence.....
The Design of the French defeated..... War between France
and England..... Dill against those who should correspond
with the Sons of the Pretender..... Naval Engagement off
Toulon..... Advances towards Peace made by the Emperor.....
Treaty of Franckfort..... Progress of the French King in the
Netherlands..... Prince Charles of Lorraine passes the
Rhine..... The King of Prussia makes an Irruption into
Bohemia..... Campaign in Bavaria and Flanders..... The King
of Naples joins Count Gages in Italy-Battle of Coni.....
Return of Commodore Anson..... Sir John Balchen perishes at
Sea...... Revolution in the British Ministry..... Session of
Parliament..... Death of the Emperor Charles VII......
Accommodation between the Queen of Hungary and the young
Elector of Bavaria..... The King of Prussia gains two
successive Battles at Friedberg and Sohr over the Austrian
and Saxon Forces..... Treaty of Dresden..... The Grand Duke
of Tuscany elected Emperor of Germany..... The Allies are
defeated at Fontenoy..... The King of Sardinia is almost
stripped of his Dominions..... The English Forces take Cape
Breton..... The Importance of this Conquest..... Project of
an Insurrection in Great Britain..... The eldest Son of the
Chevalier de St. George lands in Scotland..... Takes
Possession of Edinburgh..... Defeats Sir John Cope at
Preston-Pans..... Efforts of the Friends of Government in
Scotland..... Precautions taken in England..... The Prince
Pretender reduces Carlisle, and penetrates as far as
Derby..... Consternation of the Londoners..... The Rebels
retreat into Scotland..... They invest the Castle of
Stirling..... The King’s Troops under Hawley are worsted at
Falkirk..... The Duke of Cumberland assumes the Command of
the Forces in Scotland..... The Rebels undertake the Siege
of Fort-William_
The discontents of England were artfully inflamed by anti-ministerial
writers, who not only exaggerated the burdens of the people, and drew
frightful pictures of the distress and misery which, they said,
impended over the nation, but also employed the arts of calumny and
misrepresentation, to excite a jealousy and national quarrel between
the English and Hanoverians. They affirmed that in the last campaign the
British general had been neglected and despised; while the councils
of foreign officers, greatly inferior to him in capacity, quality, and
reputation, had been followed, to the prejudice of the common cause;
that the British troops sustained daily insults from their own
mercenaries, who were indulged with particular marks of royal favour;
that the sovereign himself appeared at Dettingen in a Hanoverian
scarf; and that his electoral troops were of very little service in that
engagement. Though the most material of these assertions were certainly
false, they made a strong impression on the minds of the people, already
irritated by the enormous expense of a continental war maintained for
the interest of Germany. When the parliament met in the beginning
of December, a motion was made in the house of peers by the earl of
Sandwich, for an address, beseeching his majesty to discontinue the
Hanoverian troops in British pay, in order to remove the popular
discontent, and stop the murmurs of the English troops abroad. He was
supported by the duke of Bedford, the earl of Chesterfield, and all the
leaders in the opposition, who did not fail to enumerate and insist upon
all the circumstances we have mentioned. They moreover observed, that
better troops might be hired at a smaller expense; that it would be a
vain and endless task to exhaust the national treasure in enriching a
hungry and barren electorate; that the popular dissatisfaction against
these mercenaries was so general, and raised to such violence, as
nothing but their dismission could appease; that if such hirelings
should be thus continued from year to year, they might at last become
a burden entailed upon the nation, and be made subservient, under some
ambitious prince, to purposes destructive of British liberty. These were
the suggestions of spleen and animosity: for, granting the necessity of
a land war, the Hanoverians were the most natural allies and auxiliaries
which Great Britain could engage and employ. How insolent soever some
few individual generals of that electorate might have been in their
private deportment, certain it is their troops behaved with great
sobriety, discipline, and decorum; and in the day of battle did their
duty with as much courage and alacrity as any body of men ever displayed
on the like occasion. The motion was rejected by the majority; but, when
the term for keeping them in the British pay was nearly expired, and the
estimates for their being continued the ensuing year were laid before
the house, the earl of Sandwich renewed his motion. The lord-chancellor,
as speaker of the house, interposing, declared that by their rules a
question once rejected could not be revived during the same session.
A debate ensued, and the second motion was over-ruled. The Hanoverian
troops were voted in the house of commons; nevertheless, the same
nobleman moved in the tipper house, that the continuing sixteen thousand
Hanoverians in British pay was prejudicial to his majesty’s true
interest, useless to the common cause, and dangerous to the welfare and
tranquillity of the nation. He was seconded by the duke of Marlborough,
who had resigned his commission in disgust; and the proposal gave
birth to another warm dispute: but victory declared, as usual, for the
ministry.
In the house of commons they sustained divers attacks. A motion was
made for laying a duty of eight shillings in the pound on all places
and pensions. Mr. Grenville moved for an address, to beseech his majesty
that he would not engage the British nation any further in the war on
the continent, without the concurrence of the states-general on certain
stipulated proportions of force and expense, as in the late war. These
proposals begat vigorous debates, in which the country party were always
foiled by dint of superior number. Such was the credit and influence
of the ministry in parliament, that although the national debt was
increased by above six millions since the commencement of the war,
the commons indulged them with an enormous sum for the expense of the
ensuing year. The grants specified in the votes amounted to six millions
and a half; to this sum were added three millions and a half paid to the
sinking fund in perpetual taxes; so that this year’s expense rose to ten
millions. The funds established for the annual charge were the land and
malt taxes; one million paid by the East India company for the renewal
of their charter, twelve hundred thousand pounds by annuities, one
million from the sinking fund, six-and-thirty thousand pounds from the
coinage, and six hundred thousand pounds by a lottery--an expedient
which for some time had been annually repeated; and which, in a great
measure, contributed to debauch the morals of the public, by introducing
a spirit of gaming, destructive of all industry and virtue.
PROJECTED INVASION OF GREAT BRITAIN.
The dissensions of the British parliament were suddenly suspended by an
event that seemed to unite both parties in the prosecution of the same
measures. This was the intelligence of an intended invasion. By
the parliamentary disputes, the loud clamours, and the general
dissatisfaction of the people in Great Britain, the French ministry
were persuaded that the nation was ripe for a revolt. This belief was
corroborated by the assertions of their emissaries in different parts
of Great Britain and Ireland. These were papists and Jacobites of strong
prejudices and warm imaginations, who saw things through the medium
of passion and party, and spoke rather from extravagant zeal than from
sober conviction. They gave the court of Versailles to understand, that
if the chevalier de St. George, or his eldest son Charles Edward, should
appear at the head of a French army in Great Britain, a revolution
would instantly follow in his favour. This intimation was agreeable to
cardinal de Tencin, who, since the death of Fleury, had borne a share in
the administration of France. He was of a violent enterprising temper.
He had been recommended to the purple by the chevalier de St. George,
and was seemingly attached to the Stuart family. His ambition was
flattered with the prospect of giving a king to Great Britain; of
performing such eminent service to his benefactor, and of restoring to
the throne of their ancestors a family connected by the ties of blood
with all the greatest princes of Europe. The ministry of France foresaw,
that even if this aim should miscarry, a descent upon Great Britain
would make a considerable diversion from the continent in favour of
France, and embroil and embarrass his Britannic majesty, who was the
chief support of the house of Austria, and all its allies. Actuated by
these motives, he concerted measures with the chevalier de St. George at
Rome, who being too much advanced in years to engage personally in such
an expedition, agreed to delegate his pretensions and authority to his
son Charles, a youth of promising talents, sage, secret, brave, and
enterprising, amiable in his person, grave, and even reserved in his
deportment. He approved himself in the sequel composed and moderate in
success, wonderfully firm in adversity; and though tenderly nursed in
all the delights of an effeminate country, and gentle climate, patient
almost beyond belief of cold, hunger, and fatigue. Such was the
adventurer now destined to fill the hope which the French ministry had
conceived, from the projected invasion of Great Britain.
A FRENCH SQUADRON SAILS UP THE ENGLISH CHANNEL.
Count Saxe was appointed by the French king commander of the troops
designed for this expedition, which amounted to fifteen thousand men.
They began their march to Picardy, and a great number of vessels was
assembled for their embarkation at Dunkirk, Calais, and Boulogne. It was
determined that they should be landed in Kent, under convoy of a strong
squadron equipped at Brest, and commanded by monsieur de Roquefeuille,
an officer of experience and capacity. The chevalier de St. George is
said to have required the personal service of the duke of Ormond, who
excused himself on account of his advanced age; be that as it will,
prince Charles departed from Rome about the end of December, in the
disguise of a Spanish courier, attended by one servant only, and
furnished with passports by cardinal Aquaviva. He travelled through
Tuscany to Genoa, from whence he proceeded to Savona, where he embarked
for Antibes, and prosecuting his journey to Paris, was indulged with a
private audience of the French king; then he set out incognito for the
coast of Picardy. The British ministry being apprized of his arrival in
France, at once comprehended the destination of the armaments prepared
at Brest and Boulogne. Mr. Thompson, the English resident at Paris,
received orders to make a remonstrance to the French ministry, on the
violation of those treaties by which the pretender to the crown of Great
Britain was excluded from the territories of France. But he was given to
understand, that his most christian, majesty would not explain
himself on that subject, until the king of England should have given
satisfaction on the repeated complaints which had been made to him,
touching the infractions of those very treaties which had been so often
violated by his orders. In the month of January, M. de Roquefeuille
sailed from Brest, directing his course up the English channel, with
twenty ships of war. They were immediately discovered by an English
cruiser, which ran into Plymouth; and the intelligence was conveyed by
land to the board of admiralty. Sir John Norris was forthwith ordered to
take the command of the squadron at Spithead, with which he sailed
round to the Downs, where he was joined by some ships of the line
from Chatham, and then he found himself at the head of a squadron
considerably stronger than that of the enemy.
The KINGDOM PUT IN A STATE OF DEFENCE.
Several regiments marched to the southern coast of England; all
governors and commanders were ordered to repair immediately to their
respective posts; the forts at the mouths of the Thames and Medway were
put in a posture of defence; and directions were issued to assemble
the Kentish militia, to defend the coast in case of an invasion. On the
fifteenth day of February, the king sent a message to both houses of
parliament, intimating the arrival of the pretender’s son in France,
the preparations at Dunkirk, and the appearance of a French fleet in the
English channel. They joined in an address, declaring their indignation
and abhorrence of the design formed in favour of a popish pretender;
and assuring his majesty, that they would, with the warmest zeal and
unanimity, take such measures as would enable him to frustrate and
defeat so desperate and insolent an attempt. Addresses of the same kind
were presented by the city of London, both universities, the principal
towns of Great Britain, the clergy, the dissenting ministers, the
quakers, and almost all the corporations and communities of the kingdom.
A requisition was made of the six thousand auxiliaries, which the
states-general were by treaty obliged to furnish on such occasions;
and these were granted with great alacrity and expedition. The earl
of Stair, forgetting his wrongs, took this opportunity of offering his
services to government, and was re-invested with the chief command
of the forces in Great Britain. His example was followed by several
noblemen of the first rank. The duke of Montague was permitted to raise
a regiment of horse; and orders were sent to bring over six thousand of
the British troops from Flanders, in case the invasion should actually
take place. His majesty was, in another address from parliament,
exhorted to augment his forces by sea and land; the _habeas corpus_ act
was suspended for six months, and several persons of distinction were
apprehended on suspicion of treasonable practices; a proclamation was
issued for putting the laws in execution against papists and nonjurors,
who were commanded to retire ten miles from London; and every precaution
was taken which seemed necessary for the preservation of the public
tranquillity.
THE DESIGN OF THE FRENCH DEFEATED.
Meanwhile the French court proceeded with their preparations at Boulogne
and Dunkirk, under the eye of the young pretender; and seven thousand
men were actually embarked. M. de Roquefeuille sailed up the channel
as far as Dungeness, a promontory on the coast of Kent, after having
detached M. de Barreil, with five ships to hasten the embarkation at
Dunkirk. While the French admiral anchored off Dungeness, he perceived,
on the twenty-fourth day of February, the British fleet, under sir John
Norris, doubling the South-Foreland from the Downs; and though the
wind was against him, taking the opportunity of the tide to come up and
engage the French squadron. Roquefeuille, who little expected such
a visit, could not be altogether composed, considering the great
superiority of his enemies; but the tide failing, the English admiral
was obliged to anchor two leagues short of the enemy. In this interval,
M. de Roquefeuille called a council of war, in which it was determined
to avoid an engagement, weigh anchor at sun-set, and make the best of
their way to the place from whence they had sot sail. This resolution
was favoured by a very hard gale of wind, which began to blow from
the north-east, and carried them down the channel with incredible
expedition. But the same storm which, in all probability, saved their
fleet from destruction, utterly disconcerted the design of invading
England. A great number of their transports was driven ashore and
destroyed, and the rest were so damaged that they could not be speedily
repaired. The English were now masters at sea, and their coast was
so well guarded, that the enterprise could not be prosecuted with any
probability of success. The French generals nominated to serve in this
expedition returned to Paris, and the young pretender resolved to wait
a more favourable opportunity. In the meantime he remained in Paris, or
that neighbourhood, incognito, and almost totally neglected by the court
of France. Finding himself in this disagreeable situation, and being
visited by John Murray of Broughton, who magnified the power of his
friends in Great Britain, he resolved to make some bold effort, even
without the assistance of Louis, in whose sincerity he had no faith, and
forthwith took proper measures to obtain exact information touching the
number, inclinations, and influence of his father’s adherents in England
and Scotland. The French king no longer preserved any measures with the
court of London; the British resident at Paris was given to understand,
that a declaration of war must ensue; and this was actually published
on the twentieth day of March. The king of Great Britain was taxed with
having dissuaded the court of Vienna from entertaining any thoughts of
an accommodation; with having infringed the convention of Hanover; with
having exercised piracy upon the subjects of France, and with having
blocked up the harbour of Toulon. On the thirty-first day of March, a
like denunciation of war against France was published at London amidst
the acclamations of the people.
{1744}
BILL AGAINST THOSE WHO SHOULD CORRESPOND WITH THE PRETENDER’S SONS.
The commons of England, in order to evince their loyalty, brought in a
bill, denouncing the penalties of high treason against those who should
maintain correspondence with the sons of the pretender. In the upper
house, lord Hardwicke, the chancellor, moved, that a clause should
be inserted, extending the crime of treason to the posterity of the
offenders, during the lives of the pretender’s sons. The motion, which
was supported by the whole strength of the ministry, produced a warm
debate, in which the duke of Bedford, the earl of Chesterfield, the
lords Talbot and Horvey, argued against it in the most pathetic manner,
as an illiberal expedient, contrary to the dictates of humanity, the law
of nature, the rules of common justice, and the precepts of religion; an
expedient that would involve the innocent with the guilty, and tend
to the augmentation of ministerial power, for which purpose it was
undoubtedly calculated. Notwithstanding these suggestions, the clause
was carried in the affirmative, and the bill sent back to the commons,
where the amendment was vigorously opposed by lord Strange, lord
Guernsey, Mr. W. Pitt, and other members, by whom the original bill had
been countenanced; * the majority, however, declared for the amendment,
and the bill obtained the royal assent. The session of parliament was
closed in May, when the king told them that the French had made vast
preparations on the side of the Netherlands; and that the states-general
had agreed to furnish the succours stipulated by treaties.
* The opposition had sustained a heavy blow in the death of
the duke of Argyle, a nobleman of shining qualifications for
the senate and the field, whose character would have been
still more illustrious, had not some parts of his conduct
subjected him to the suspicion of selfishness and
inconstancy. He was succeeded in that title by his brother,
Archibald earl of Hay.
NAVAL ENGAGEMENT OFF TOULON.
By this time an action had happened in the Mediterranean, between the
British fleet commanded by admiral Matthews, and the combined squadrons
of France and Spain, which had been for some time blocked up in the
harbour of Toulon. On the ninth day of February they were perceived
standing out of the road, to the number of four-and-thirty sail;
the English admiral immediately weighed from Hieres bay; and on the
eleventh, part of the fleets engaged. Matthews attacked the Spanish
admiral, Don Navarro, whose ship, the Real, was a first rate, mounted
with above an hundred guns. Rear-admiral Rowley singled out M. de Court,
who commanded the French squadron; and a very few captains followed the
example of their commanders; but vice-admiral Lestock, with his whole
division, remained at a great distance astern; and several captains, who
were immediately under the eye of Matthews, behaved in such a manner
as reflected disgrace upon their country. The whole transaction was
conducted without order or deliberation. The French and Spaniards
would have willingly avoided an engagement, as the British squadron was
superior to them in strength and number. M. de Court, therefore, made
the best of his way towards the Straits’ mouth, probably with intention
to join the Brest squadron; but he had orders to protect the Spanish
fleet; and as they sailed heavily, he was obliged to wait for them, at
the hazard of maintaining a battle with the English. Thus circumstanced,
he made sail and lay-to by turns; so that the British admiral could not
engage them in proper order; and as they outsailed his ships, he began
to fear they would escape him altogether should he wait for vice-admiral
Lestock, who was so far astern. Under this apprehension he made the
signal for engaging, while that for the line of battle was still
displayed; and this inconsistency naturally introduced confusion. The
fight was maintained with great vivacity by the few who engaged. The
Real being quite disabled, and lying like a wreck upon the water, Mr.
Matthews sent a fire-ship to destroy her; but the expedient did not take
effect. The ship ordered to cover this machine did not obey the signal;
so that the captain of the fire-ship was exposed to the whole fire
of the enemy. Nevertheless he continued to advance until he found the
vessel sinking; and being within a few yards of the Real, he set fire to
the fusees. The ship was immediately in flames, in the midst of which
he and his lieutenant, with twelve men, perished. This was likewise the
fate of the Spanish launch, which had been manned with fifty sailors to
prevent the fire-ship from running on board the Real. One ship of the
line belonging to the Spanish squadron, struck to captain Hawke, who
sent a lieutenant to take possession of her; she was afterwards retaken
by the French squadron; but was found so disabled that they left her
deserted, and she was next day burned by order of admiral Matthews.
At night the action ceased; and the admiral found his own ship so much
damaged, that he moved his flag into another. Captain Cornwall fell in
the engagement, after having exhibited a remarkable proof of courage and
intrepidity; but the loss of men was very inconsiderable. Next day the
enemy appeared to leeward, and the admiral gave chase till night, when
he brought to, that he might be joined by the ships astern. They were
perceived again on the thirteenth at a considerable distance, and
pursued till the evening. In the morning of the fourteenth, twenty sail
of them were seen distinctly, and Lestock with his division had gained
ground of them considerably by noon; but admiral Matthews displayed the
signal for leaving off chase, and bore away for Port Mahon, to repair
the damage he had sustained. Meanwhile the combined squadrons continued
their course towards the coast of Spain. M. de Court, with his division,
anchored in the road of Alicant; and Don Navarro sailed into the harbour
of Carthagena. Admiral Matthews, on his arrival at Minorca, accused
Lestock of having misbehaved on the day of action; suspended him from
his office, and sent him prisoner to England, where, in his turn, he
accused his accuser. Long before the engagement, these two officers had
expressed the most virulent resentment against each other. Matthews was
brave, open, and undisguised; but proud, imperious, and precipitate.
Lestock had signalized his courage on many occasions, and perfectly
understood the whole discipline of the navy; but he was cool, cunning,
and vindictive. He had been treated superciliously by Matthews, and in
revenge took advantage of his errors and precipitation. To gratify this
passion, he betrayed the interest and glory of his country; for it is
not to be doubted, but that he might have come up in time to engage;
and, in that case, the fleets of France and Spain would, in all
likelihood, have been destroyed; but he intrenched himself within the
punctilios of discipline, and saw with pleasure his antagonist expose
himself to the hazard of death, ruin, and disgrace. Matthews himself,
in the sequel, sacrificed his duty to his resentment, in restraining
Lestock from pursuing and attacking the combined squadrons on the third
day after the engagement, when they appeared disabled and in manifest
disorder, and would have fallen an easy prey had they been vigorously
attacked. One can hardly, without indignation, reflect upon these
instances in which a community has so severely suffered from the
personal animosity of individuals. The miscarriage off Toulon became
the subject of a parliamentary inquiry in England. The commons, in an
address to the throne, desired that a court-martial might be appointed
to try the delinquents. By this time Lestock had accused Matthews, and
all the captains of his division who misbehaved on the day of battle.
The court-martial was constituted, and proceeded to trial. Several
commanders of ships were cashiered; vice-admiral Lestock was honourably
acquitted, and admiral Matthews rendered incapable of serving for the
future in his majesty’s navy. All the world knew that Lestock kept
aloof, and that Matthews rushed into the hottest part of the engagement.
Yet the former triumphed on his trial, and the latter narrowly escaped
the sentence of death for cowardice and misconduct. Such decisions are
not to be accounted for, except from prejudice and faction. The war in
Germany, which had been almost extinguished in the last campaign, began
to revive, and raged with redoubled violence. The emperor had solicited
the mediation of his Britannic majesty, for compromising the differences
between him and the court of Vienna. Prince William of Hesse-Cassel had
conferred with the king of England on this subject; and a negotiation
was begun at Hanau. The emperor offered to dismiss the French
auxiliaries, provided the Austrians would evacuate his hereditary
dominions. Nay, prince William and lord Carteret, as plenipotentiaries,
actually agreed to preliminaries, by which his Imperial majesty engaged
to renounce the alliance of France, and throw himself into the arms of
the maritime powers; to resign all pretensions to the succession of the
house of Austria; and to revive the vote of Bohemia in the electoral
college, on condition of his being re-established in the possession
of his dominions, recognised as emperor by the queen of Hungary, and
accommodated with a monthly subsidy for his maintenance, as his own
territories were exhausted and impoverished by the war. By a separate
article, the king of Great Britain promised to furnish him with three
hundred thousand crowns, and to interpose his good offices with the
queen of Hungary, that his electoral dominions should be favourably
treated. These preliminaries, though settled, were not signed. The court
of Vienna was unwilling to part with their conquests in Bavaria and
the Upper Palatinate. The queen trusted too much to the valour of
her troops, and the wealth of her allies, to listen to such terms of
accommodation; and whatever arguments were used with the king of Great
Britain, certain it is the negotiation was dropped, on pretence that
the articles were disapproved by the ministry of England. The emperor,
environed with distress, renewed his application to the king of Great
Britain; and even declared that he would refer his cause to the
determination of the maritime powers; but all his advances were
discountenanced; and the treaty of Worms dispelled all hope of
accommodation. In this manner did the British ministry reject the
fairest opportunity that could possibly occur of terminating the war
in Germany with honour and advantage, and of freeing their country from
that insufferable burden of expense under which she groaned.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
TREATY OF FRANCKFORT.
The inflexibility of the house of Austria, and its chief ally, proved
serviceable to the emperor. The forlorn situation of this unfortunate
prince excited the compassion of divers princes; they resented the
insolence with which the head of the empire had been treated by the
court of Vienna; and they were alarmed at the increasing power of a
family noted for pride, tyranny, and ambition. These considerations gave
rise to the treaty of Franckfort, concluded in May between the emperor,
the king of Prussia, the king of Sweden as landgrave of Hesse-Cassel,
and the elector palatine. They engaged to preserve the constitution of
the empire, according to the treaty of Westphalia, and to support
the emperor in his rank and dignity. They agreed to employ their
good offices with the queen of Hungary, that she might be induced to
acknowledge the emperor, to restore his hereditary dominions, and
give up the archives of the empire that were in her possession. They
guaranteed to each other their respective territories; the disputes
about the succession of the late emperor they referred to the decision
of the states of the empire; they promised to assist one another in case
of being attacked; and they invited the king of Poland, the elector of
Cologn, and the bishop of Liege, to accede to this treaty. Such was the
confederacy that broke all the measures which had been concerted between
the king of Great Britain and her Hungarian majesty, for the operations
of the campaign. In the meantime, the French king declared war against
this princess, on pretence that she was obstinately deaf to all terms of
accommodation, and determined to carry the war into the territories
of France. In her counter-declaration, she taxed Louis with having
infringed the most solemn engagement, with respect to the pragmatic
sanction; with having spirited up different pretenders to lay claim to
the succession of the late emperor; with having endeavoured to instigate
the common enemy of Christendom against her; and with having acted the
incendiary in the north of Europe, that the czarina might be prevented
from assisting the house of Austria, while his numerous armies
overspread the empire and desolated her hereditary countries. These
recriminations were literally true. The houses of Bourbon and Austria
have, for many centuries, been the common disturbers and plagues of
Europe.
PROGRESS OF THE FRENCH KING IN THE NETHERLANDS
The king of France, though in himself pacific and unenterprising,
was stimulated by his ministry to taste the glory of conquest in the
Netherlands, where he had assembled an army of one hundred and twenty
thousand men, provided with a very formidable train of artillery. The
chief command was vested in the mareschal count de Saxe, who possessed
great military talents, and proved to be one of the most fortunate
generals of the age in which he lived. The allied forces, consisting
of English, Hanoverians, Dutch, and Austrians, to the number of seventy
thousand effective men, were in the month of May assembled in the
neighbourhood of Brussels, from whence they marched towards Oudenarde,
and posted themselves behind the Schelde, being unable to retard the
progress of the enemy. The French monarch, attended by his favourite
ladies, with all the pomp of eastern luxury, arrived at Lisle on the
twelfth day of the same month; and in the adjacent plain reviewed
his army. The states-general, alarmed at his preparations, had, in
a conference with his ambassador at the Hague, expressed their
apprehensions, and entreated his most christian majesty would desist
from his design of attacking their barrier. Their remonstrances having
proved ineffectual, they now sent a minister to wait upon that monarch,
to enforce their former representations, and repeat their entreaties;
but no regard was paid to his request. The French king told him, he was
determined to prosecute the war with vigour, as his moderation hitherto
had served to no other purpose but that of rendering his enemies more
intractable. Accordingly, his troops invested Menin, which was in seven
days surrendered upon capitulation. Ypres, Fort Knocke, and Furnes,
underwent the same fate; and on the twenty-ninth day of June the king of
France entered Dunkirk in triumph.
PRINCE CHARLES OF LORRAINE PASSES THE RHINE.
He had taken such precautions for the defence of Alsace, which
was guarded by considerable armies under the command of Coigny and
Seckendorf, that he thought he had nothing to fear from the Austrians in
that quarter; besides, he had received secret assurances that the king
of Prussia would declare for the emperor; so that he resolved to pursue
his conquests in the Netherlands. But all his measures were defeated by
the activity of prince Charles of Lorraine, and his officers, who found
means to pass the Rhine, and oblige the French and Bavarian generals to
retire to Lampertheim, that they might cover Strasburgh. The Austrians
made themselves masters of Haguenau and Saverne; they secured the
passes of Lorraine; and laid all the country of Lower Alsace under
contribution. The king of France was no sooner apprized of the prince’s
having passed the Rhine and penetrated into this province, than he sent
off a detachment of thirty thousand men from his army in Flanders, to
reinforce that under the mareschal de Coigny; and he himself began his
journey from the Rhine, that he might in person check the progress of
the enemy; but this design was anticipated by a severe distemper that
overtook him at Mentz in Lorraine. The physicians despaired of his life.
The queen, with her children, and all the princes of the blood, hastened
from Versailles to pay the last duties to their dying sovereign, who, as
a true penitent, dismissed his concubines, and began to prepare himself
for death; yet the strength of his constitution triumphed over the
fever, and his recovery was celebrated all over his dominions with
uncommon marks of joy and affection.
In the meantime the schemes of the Austrian general were frustrated by
the king of Prussia, who, in the month of August, entered the electorate
of Saxony at the head of a numerous army. There he declared, in a public
manifesto, that his aims were only to re-establish the peace of
the empire, and to support the dignity of its head. He assured the
inhabitants that they might depend upon his protection, in case they
should remain quiet; but threatened them with fire and sword should they
presume to oppose his arms. In a rescript, addressed to his ministers
at foreign courts, he accused the queen of Hungary of obstinacy,
in refusing to acknowledge the emperor, and restore his hereditary
dominions; he said, he had engaged in the league of Franckfort, to
hinder the head of the empire from being oppressed; that he had no
intention to violate the peace of Breslau, or enter as a principal into
this war; he affirmed, that his design was to act as auxiliary to the
emperor, and establish the quiet of Germany. He penetrated into Bohemia,
and undertook the siege of Prague, the governor of which surrendered
himself and his garrison prisoners of war on the sixteenth day of
September. He afterwards reduced Tabor, Bodweis, and Teyn, and in a word
subdued the greatest part of the kingdom; the Austrian forces in that
country being in no condition to stop his progress. Nevertheless, he was
soon obliged to relinquish his conquests. Prince Charles of Lorraine was
recalled from Alsace, and repassed the Rhine in the face of the French
army, commanded by the mareschals de Coigny, Noailles, and Belleisle.
Then he marched to the Danube, laid the Upper Palatine under
contribution, and entering Bohemia, joined the troops under Bathiani at
Merotiz. The king of Poland elector of Saxony, at this juncture
declared in favour of her Hungarian majesty. A convention for the mutual
guarantee of their dominions, had been signed between those two powers
in December; and now prince Charles of Lorraine was reinforced by twenty
thousand Saxon troops, under the conduct of the duke of Saxe-Wessenfels.
The combined army was superior to that of his Prussian majesty,
whom they resolved to engage. But he retired before them, and having
evacuated all the places he had garrisoned in Bohemia, retreated
with precipitation into Silesia. There his troops were put into
winter-quarters; and he himself returned to Berlin, extremely mortified
at the issue of the campaign.
CAMPAIGN IN BAVARIA AND FLANDERS.
During these transactions, count Seckendorf marched into Bavaria at the
head of a strong army, drove the Austrians out of that electorate,
and the emperor regained possession of Munich, his capital, on the
twenty-second day of October. In August the French army passed the Rhine
at Fort-Louis, and invested the strong and important city of Fribourg,
defended by general Demnitz, at the head of nine thousand veterans. The
king of France arrived in the camp on the eleventh day of October; and
the siege was carried on with uncommon vigour. The Austrian governor
made incredible efforts in the defence of the place, which he maintained
until it was reduced to a heap of ruins, and one-half of the garrison
destroyed. At length, however, they were obliged to surrender themselves
prisoners of war, after the trenches had been open five-and-forty days,
during which they had killed above fifteen thousand of the besiegers.
With this conquest the French king closed the campaign, and his army
was cantoned along the Rhine, under the inspection of the count de
Maillebois. By the detachments drawn from the French army in Flanders,
count Saxe had found himself considerably weaker than the confederates;
he threw up strong intrenchments behind the Lys, where he remained
on the defensive, until he was reinforced by count d’Clermont, who
commanded a separate body on the side of Newport. The allies, to the
number of seventy thousand, passed the Schelde, and advanced towards
Helchin; but the enemy being so advantageously posted, that they could
not attack him with any prospect of advantage, they filed on in sight
of Tournay; and on the eighth day of August encamped in the plains of
Lisle, in hope of drawing count Saxe from the situation in which he was
so strongly fortified. Here they foraged for several days, and laid the
open country under contribution; however, they made no attempt on the
place itself, which in all probability would have fallen into their
hands had they invested it at their first approach; for then there was
no other garrison but two or three battalions of militia; but count Saxe
soon threw in a considerable reinforcement. The allies were unprovided
with a train of battering cannon; and their commanders would not
deviate from the usual form of war. Besides, they were divided in their
opinions, and despised one another. General Wade, who commanded the
English and Hanoverians, was a vain weak man, without confidence,
weight, or authority; and the Austrian general, the duke d’Aremberg, was
a proud rapacious glutton, devoid of talents and sentiment. After having
remained for some time in sight of Lisle, and made a general forage
without molestation, they retired to their former camp on the Schelde,
from whence they soon marched into winter-quarters. Count Saxe at length
quitted his lines; and by way of retaliation, sent out detachments to
ravage the Low-countries, to the very gates of Ghent and Bruges.
The conduct of the allied generals was severely censured in England,
ridiculed in France, not only in private conversation, but also on their
public theatres, where it became the subject of farces and pantomimes.
The campaign in Italy produced divers vicissitudes of fortune. The king
of Naples having assembled an army, joined count Gages, and published a
manifesto in vindication of his conduct, which was a direct violation
of the neutrality he had promised to observe. He maintained, that his
moderation had been undervalued by the courts of London and Vienna; that
his frontiers were threatened with the calamities of war; and that
the queen of Hungary made no secret of her intention to invade his
dominions. This charge was not without foundation. The emissaries of
the house of Austria endeavoured to excite a rebellion in Naples, which
prince Lobkowitz had orders to favour by an invasion. This general was
encamped at Monte Rotundo, in the neighbourhood of Rome, when, in the
month of June, the confederates advanced to Velletri. While the two
armies remained in sight of each other, prince Lobkowitz detached a
strong body of forces, under count Soro and general Gorani, who made an
irruption into the province of Abruzzo, and took the city of Aquilla,
where they distributed a manifesto, in which the queen of Hungary
exhorted the Neapolitans to shake off the Spanish yoke, and submit
again to the house of Austria. This step, however, produced little or no
effect; and the Austrian detachment retired at the approach of the duke
of Vieuville, with a superior number of forces. In August, count Brown,
at the head of an Austrian detachment, surprised Velletri in the night;
and the king of the Two Sicilies, with the duke of Modena, were in
the utmost danger of being taken. They escaped by a postern with great
difficulty, and repaired to the quarters of count Gages, who performed
the part of a great general on this occasion. He rallied the fugitives,
dispelled the panic and confusion which had begun to prevail in
his camp, and made a disposition for cutting off the retreat of the
Austrians. Count Brown, finding himself in danger of being surrounded,
thought proper to secure his retreat, which he effected with great art
and gallantry, carrying off a prodigious booty. Three thousand Spaniards
are said to have fallen in this action; and eight hundred men were
taken, with some standards and colours. Count Mariani, a Neapolitan
general, was among the prisoners. The Austrians lost about six hundred
men; and general Novati fell into the hands of the enemy; but the
exploit produced no consequence of importance. The heats of Autumn
proved so fatal to the Austrians, who were not accustomed to the
climate, that prince Lobkowitz saw his army mouldering away, without any
possibility of its being recruited; besides, the country was so
drained that he could no longer procure subsistence. Impelled by these
considerations, he meditated a retreat. On the eleventh day of November,
he decamped from Faiola, marched under the walls of Rome, passed the
Tiber at Ponte Mole, formerly known by the name of Pons Milvius, which
he had just time to break down behind him, when the vanguard of the
Spaniards and Neapolitans appeared. Part of his rear-guard, however,
was taken, with count Soro who commanded it, at Nocero; and his army
suffered greatly by desertion. Nevertheless, he continued his retreat
with equal skill and expedition, passed the mountains of Gubio, and
by the way of Viterbo reached the Bolognese. The pope was altogether
passive. In the beginning of the campaign he had caressed Lobkowitz; and
now he received the king of the Two Sicilies with marks of the warmest
affection. That prince having visited the chief curiosities of Rome,
returned to Naples, leaving part of his troops under the command of
count Gages.
BATTLE OF CONI.
Fortune likewise favoured his brother Don Philip in Savoy and Piedmont.
He was, early in the season, joined at Antibes by the French army under
the conduct of the prince of Conti. In the latter end of March, the
combined forces passed the Var, reduced the castle of Aspremont, and
entered the city of Nice without opposition. In April, they attacked the
king of Sardinia, who, with twenty thousand men, was strongly intrenched
among the mountains of Villa-Franca. The action was obstinate and
bloody; but their numbers and perseverance prevailed. He was obliged to
abandon his posts, and embark on board of the British squadron, which
transported him and his troops to Vado. The intention of Don Philip was
to penetrate through the territories of Genoa into the Milanese; but
admiral Matthews, who hovered with a strong squadron on that coast, sent
a message to the republic, declaring, that should the combined army be
suffered to pass through her dominions, the king of Great Britain
would consider such a step as a breach of their neutrality. The senate,
intimidated by this intimation, entreated the princes to desist from
their design, and they resolved to choose another route. They defiled
towards Piedmont, and assaulted the strong post of Chateau-Dauphiné,
defended by the king of Sardinia in person. After a desperate attack, in
which they lost four thousand men, the place was taken; the garrison of
Demont surrendered at discretion, and the whole country of Piedmont was
laid under contribution. His Sardinian majesty was not in a condition to
hazard a battle; and, therefore, posted himself at Saluzzes, in order
to cover his capital. The combined army advanced to the strong
and important town of Coni, which was invested in the beginning of
September, Baron Leutrum, the governor, made an obstinate defence, and
the situation of the place was such as rendered the siege difficult,
tedious, and bloody. The king of Sardinia being reinforced by ten
thousand Austrians, under general Pallavicini, advanced to its relief,
and a battle ensued. The action was maintained with great vigour on both
sides till night, when his majesty finding it impracticable to force the
enemy’s intrenchments, retired in good order to his camp at Murasso, He
afterwards found means to throw a reinforcement and supply of provisions
into Coni; and the heavy rains that fell at this period, not only
retarded but even dispirited the besiegers. Nevertheless, the princes
persisted in their design, notwithstanding a dearth of provisions,
and the approach of winter, till the latter end of November, when the
chevalier de Soto entered the place with six hundred fresh men.
This incident was no sooner known than the princes abandoned their
enterprise; and leaving their sick and wounded to the mercy of
the Piedmontese, marched back to Demont. Having dismantled the
fortifications of this place, they retreated with great precipitation to
Dauphiné, and were dreadfully harassed by the Vaudois and light troops
in the service of his Sardinian majesty, who now again saw himself in
possession of Piedmont. The French troops were quartered in Dauphiné;
but Don Philip still maintained his footing in Savoy, the inhabitants of
which he fleeced without mercy.
RETURN OF COMMODORE ANSON.
After the action at Toulon, nothing of consequence was achieved by the
British squadron in the Mediterranean; and indeed the naval power of
Great Britain was, during the summer, quite inactive. In the month of
June, commodore Anson returned from his voyage of three years and
nine months, in which he had surrounded the terraqueous globe. We
have formerly observed, that he sailed with a small squadron to the
South-Sea, in order to annoy the Spanish settlements of Chili and Peru.
Two of his large ships having been separated from him in a storm before
he weathered Cape Horn, had put in at Rio de Janeiro, on the coast of
Brazil, from whence they returned to Europe. A frigate commanded by
captain Cheap, was shipwrecked on a desolate island in the South-Sea.
Mr. Anson having undergone a dreadful tempest, which dispersed his
fleet, arrived at the island of Juan Fernandez, where he was joined
by the Gloucester, a ship of the line, a sloop, and a pink loaded with
provisions. These were the remains of his squadron. He made prize of
several vessels; took and burned the little town of Payta; set sail from
the coast of Mexico for the Philippine Isles; and in this passage the
Gloucester was abandoned and sunk: the other vessels had been destroyed
for want of men to navigate them, so that nothing now remained but the
commodore’s own ship, the Centurion, and that but very indifferently
manned; for the crews had been horribly thinned by sickness. Incredible
were the hardships and misery they sustained from the shattered
condition of the ships, and the scorbutic disorder, when they reached
the plentiful island of Tinian, where they were supplied with the
necessary refreshments. Thence they prosecuted their voyage to the river
of Canton in China, where the commodore ordered the ship to be sheathed,
and found means to procure a reinforcement of sailors. The chief object
of his attention was the rich annual ship that sails between Acapulco,
in Mexico, and Manilla, one of the Philippine islands. In hopes of
intercepting her, he set sail from Canton, and steered his course back
to the straits of Manilla, where she actually fell into his hands, after
a short but vigorous engagement. The prize was called Neustra Signora de
Cabodonga, mounted with forty guns, manned with six hundred sailors,
and loaded with treasure and effects to the value of three hundred and
thirteen thousand pounds sterling; with this windfall he returned
to Canton; from whence he proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope, and
prosecuted his voyage to England, where he arrived in safety. Though
this fortunate commander enriched himself by an occurrence that may be
termed almost accidental, the British nation was not indemnified for
the expense of the expedition; and the original design was entirely
defeated. Had the Manilla ship escaped the vigilance of the English
commodore, he might have been, on his return to England, laid aside as
a superannuated captain, and died in obscurity, but his great wealth
invested him with considerable influence, and added lustre to his
talents.
He soon became the oracle which was consulted in all naval
deliberations; and the king raised him to the dignity of a peerage.
In July, sir John Balchen, an admiral of approved valour and great
experience, sailed from Spithead with a strong squadron, in quest of an
opportunity to attack the French fleet at Brest, under the command of
M. de Rochambault. In the bay of Biscay he was overtaken by a violent
storm, that dispersed the ships, and drove them up the English channel.
Admiral Stewart, with the greater part of them, arrived at Plymouth;
but sir John Balchen’s own ship, the Victory, which was counted the
most beautiful first-rate in the world, foundered at sea; and this
brave commander perished, with all his officers, volunteers, and crew,
amounting to eleven hundred choice seamen. On the fourth day of October,
after the siege of Fribourg, the mareschal duke de Belleisle, and his
brother, happened in their way to Berlin to halt at a village in the
forest of Hartz, dependent on the electorate of Hanover. There they were
apprehended by the bailiff of the place, and conducted as prisoners to
Osterode; from whence they were removed to Stade on the Elbe, where they
embarked for England. They resided at Windsor till the following
year, when they were allowed the benefit of the cartel which had been
established between Great Britain and France at Franckfort, and released
accordingly, after they had been treated by the British nobility with
that respect and hospitality which was due to their rank and merit.*
* Mr. Pope, the celebrated poet, died in the month of June.
In October, the old duchess of Marlborough resigned her
breath, in the eighty-fifth year of her age, immensely rich,
and very little regretted, either by her own family or the
world in general.
REVOLUTION IN THE BRITISH MINISTRY.
The dissensions in the British cabinet were now ripened into another
revolution in the ministry. Lord Carteret, who was by this time earl
Granville, in consequence of his mother’s death, had engrossed the royal
favour so much, that the duke of Newcastle and his brother are said to
have taken umbrage at his influence and greatness. He had incurred
the resentment of those who were distinguished by the appellation of
patriots, and entirely forfeited his popularity. The two brothers were
very powerful by their parliamentary interest; they knew their own
strength, and engaged in a political alliance with the leading men
in the opposition, against the prime minister and his measures. This
coalition was dignified with the epithet of “The Broad Bottom,” as if it
had been established on a true constitutional foundation, comprehending
individuals of every class, without distinction of party. The
appellation, however, which they assumed was afterwards converted into
a term of derision. The earl of Granville perceiving the gathering storm
and foreseeing the impossibility of withstanding such an opposition
in parliament, wisely avoided the impending danger and disgrace, by
a voluntary resignation of his employments. The earl of Harrington
succeeded him as secretary of state. The duke of Bedford was appointed
first lord of the admiralty, and the earl of Chesterfield declared
lord-lieutenant of Ireland. The lords Gower and Cobham were
re-established in the offices they had resigned; Mr. Lyttelton was
admitted as a commissioner of the treasury; even sir John Hinde Cotton
accepted of a place at court; and sir John Phillips sat at the board of
trade and plantations, though he soon renounced this employment. This
was rather a change of men than of measures, and turned out to the ease
and advantage of the sovereign; for his views were no longer thwarted
by an obstinate opposition in parliament. The session was opened on
the twenty-eighth day of November, in the usual manner. The commons
unanimously granted about six millions and an half for the service
of the ensuing year, to be raised by the land, the malt, and the salt
taxes, the sinking fund, and an additional duty on wines. In January,
the earl of Chesterfield set out for the Hague, with the character of
ambassador-extraordinary, to persuade, if possible, the states-general
to engage heartily in the war. About the same time a treaty of quadruple
alliance was signed at Warsaw, by the queen of Hungary, the king of
Poland, and the maritime powers. This was a mutual guarantee of the
dominions belonging to the contracting parties; but his Polish majesty
was paid for his concurrence, with an annual subsidy of one hundred and
fifty thousand pounds, two-thirds of which were defrayed by England, and
the remainder was disbursed by the United Provinces.*
* Robert earl of Orford, late prime minister, died in March,
after having for a very short time enjoyed a pension of four
thousand pounds granted by the crown, in consideration of
his past services. Though he had for such a length of time
directed the application of the public treasure, his
circumstances were not affluent: he was liberal in his
disposition, and had such a number of rapacious dependents
to gratify, that little was left for his own private
occasions.
{1745}
The business of the British parliament being discussed, the session was
closed in the beginning of May; and, immediately after the prorogation,
the king set out for Hanover. The death of the emperor Charles VII.
hich happened in the month of January, had entirely changed the face of
affairs in the empire, and all the princes of Germany were in commotion.
The grand-duke of Tuscany, consort to her Hungarian majesty, was
immediately declared a candidate for the Imperial crown; while his
pretensions were warmly opposed by the French king and his allies. The
court of Vienna, taking advantage of the late emperor’s death, sent
an army to invade Bavaria in the month of March, under the conduct
of general Bathiani, who routed the French and Palatine troops at
Psiffenhoven, took possession of Rain, surrounded and disarmed six
thousand Hessians in the neighbouhood of Ingoldstadt, and drove the
Bavarian forces out of the electorate. The young elector was obliged to
abandon his capital, and retire to Augsburgh, where he found himself in
danger of losing all his dominions. In this emergency, he yielded to the
earnest solicitations of the empress his mother, enforced by the
advice of his uncle the elector of Cologn, and of his general count
Secken-dorf, who exhorted him to be reconciled to the court of Vienna.
A negotiation was immediately begun at Fuessen; where, in April, the
treaty was concluded. The queen consented to recognise the Imperial
dignity, as having been vested in the person of his father; to
acknowledge his mother as empress dowager; to restore his dominions,
with all the fortresses, artillery, stores, and ammunition which she had
taken: on the other hand, he renounced all claim to the succession
of her father, and became guarantee of the pragmatic sanction; he
acknowledged the validity of the electoral vote of Bohemia in the
person of the queen; engaged to give his voice for the grand duke at
the ensuing election of a king of the Romans. Until that should be
determined, both parties agreed that Ingoldstadt should be garrisoned by
neutral troops; and that Braumau and Schardingen, with all the country
lying between the Inn and the Saltza, should remain in the queen’s
possession, though without prejudice to the civil government or the
elector’s revenue. In the meantime he dismissed the auxiliaries that
were in his pay, and they were permitted to retire without molestation.
The court of Vienna had now secured the votes of all the electors,
except those of Brandenburgh and the Palatinate. Nevertheless, France
assembled a powerful army in the neighbourhood of Franckfort, in order
to influence the election. But the Austrian army, commanded by the
grand-duke in person, marched thither from the Danube; and the prince of
Conti was obliged to repass the Rhine at Nordlingen. Then the grand-duke
repaired to Franckfort, where on the second day of September he was,
by a majority of voices, declared king of the Romans and emperor of
Germany. Meanwhile the king of Prussia had made great progress in the
conquest of Silesia. The campaign began in January, when the Hungarian
insurgents were obliged to retire into Moravia. In the following
month the Prussian general Lehrwald defeated a body of twelve thousand
Austrians, commanded by general Helsrich; the town of Eatisbon was taken
by assault; and the king entered Silesia, in May, at the head of seventy
thousand men. Prince Charles of Lorraine, being joined by the duke of
Saxe-Wessenfels and twenty thousand Saxons, penetrated into Silesia by
the defiles of Landshut; and were attacked by his Prussian majesty in
the plains of Striegau, near Friedberg. The battle was maintained
from morning till noon, when the Saxons giving way, prince Charles was
obliged to retire with the loss of twelve thousand men, and a great
number of colours, standards, and artillery. This victory, obtained on
the fourth day of June, complete as it was, did not prove decisive;
for, though the victor transferred the seat of the war into Bohemia,
and maintained his army by raising contributions in that country,
the Austrians resolved to hazard another engagement. Their aim was to
surprise him in his camp at Sohr, which they attacked on the thirtieth
of September, at day-break; but they met with such a warm reception,
that notwithstanding their repeated efforts during the space of four
hours, they were repulsed with considerable damage, and retreated
to Jaromire, leaving five thousand killed upon the spot, besides two
thousand that were taken, with many standards, and twenty pieces of
cannon. The loss of this battle was in a great measure owing to the
avarice of the irregulars, who having penetrated into the Prussian camp,
began to pillage with great eagerness, giving the king an opportunity to
rally his disordered troops, and restore the battle; nevertheless, they
retired with the plunder of his baggage, including his military chest,
the officers of his chancery, his own secretary, and all the papers of
his cabinet.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
TREATY OF DRESDEN.--THE GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY ELECTED EMPEROR.
After this action, his Prussian majesty returned to Berlin and breathed
nothing but peace and moderation. In August he had signed a convention
with the king of Great Britain, who became guarantee of his possessions
in Silesia, as yielded by the treaty of Breslau; and he promised to vote
for the grand duke of Tuscany at the election of an emperor. This
was intended as the basis of a more general accommodation. But he now
pretended to have received undoubted intelligence that the king of
Poland and the queen of Hungary had agreed to invade Brandenburgh with
three different armies; and that, for this purpose, his Polish majesty
had demanded of the czarina the succours stipulated by treaty between
the two crowns. Alarmed, or seemingly alarmed, at this information, he
solicited the maritime powers to fulfil their engagements, and interpose
their good offices with the court of Petersburgh. Yet, far from waiting
for the result of these remonstrances, he made a sudden irruption into
Lusatia, took possession of Gorlitz, and obliged prince Charles of
Lorraine to retire before him into Bohemia. Then he entered Leipsic, and
laid Saxony under contribution. The king of Poland, unable to resist
the torrent, quitted his capital and took refuge in Prague. His troops,
reinforced by a body of Austrians, were defeated at Pirna on the
fifteenth day of December; and his Prussian majesty became master of
Dresden without further opposition. The king of Poland, thus deprived
of his hereditary dominions, was fain to acquiesce in such terms as
the conqueror thought proper to impose; and the treaty of Dresden
was concluded under the mediation of his Britannic majesty. By this
convention the king of Prussia retained all the contributions he had
levied in Saxony; and was entitled to a million of German crowns, to
be paid by his Polish majesty at the next fair of Leipsic. He and the
elector palatine consented to acknowledge the grand duke as emperor
of Germany; and this last confirmed to his Prussian majesty certain
privileges _de non evocando_, which had been granted by the late
emperor, with regard to some territories possessed by the king of
Prussia, though not belonging to the electorate of Brandenburgh.
Immediately after the ratification of this treaty, the Prussian troops
evacuated Saxony, and the peace of Germany was restored.
THE ALLIES ARE DEFEATED.
Though the French king could not prevent the elevation of the grand duke
to the Imperial throne, he resolved to humble the house of Austria,
by making a conquest of the Netherlands. A prodigious army was there
assembled, under the auspices of mareschal count de Saxe; and his most
christian majesty, with the dauphin, arriving in the camp, they invested
the strong town of Tournay on the thirtieth day of April. The Dutch
garrison consisted of eight thousand men, commanded by the old baron
Dorth, who made a vigorous defence. The duke of Cumberland assumed the
chief command of the allied army, assembled at Soignes; he was assisted
with the advice of the count Konigsegg, an Austrian general, and
the prince of Waldeck, commander of the Dutch forces. Their army was
greatly inferior in number to that of the enemy; nevertheless, they
resolved to march to the relief of Tournay. They accordingly advanced
to Leuse; and on the twenty-eight day of April took post at Maulbre,
in sight of the French army, which was encamped on an eminence from the
village of Antonie, to a large wood beyond Vezon, having Fontenoy in
their front. Next day was employed by the allies in driving the enemy
from some outposts, and clearing the defiles through which they were
obliged to advance to the attack; while the French completed their
batteries, and made the most formidable preparations for their
reception. On the thirtieth day of April, the duke of Cumberland,
having made the proper dispositions, began his march to the enemy at two
o’clock in the morning; a brisk cannonade ensued; and about nine both
armies were engaged. The British infantry drove the French beyond
their lines; but the left wing failing in the attack on the village
of Fontenoy, and the cavalry forbearing to advance on the flanks, they
measured back their ground with some disorder, from the prodigious fire
of the French batteries. They rallied, however, and returning to the
charge with redoubled ardour, repulsed the enemy to their camp with
great slaughter; but, being wholly unsupported by the other wing, and
exposed both in front and flank to a dreadful fire, which did great
execution, the duke was obliged to make the necessary dispositions for
a retreat about three o’clock in the afternoon, and this was effected
in tolerable order. The battle was fought with great obstinacy, and
the carnage on both sides was very considerable. The allies lost about
twelve thousand men, including a good number of officers; among these
were lieutenant-general Campbell, and major-general Ponsonby. The
victory cost the French almost an equal number of lives; and no honour
was lost by the vanquished. Had the allies given battle on the preceding
day, before the enemy had taken their measures and received all their
reinforcements, they might have succeeded in their endeavour to relieve
Tournay. Although the attack was generally judged rash and precipitate,
the British and Hanoverian troops fought with such intrepidity and
perseverance, that if they had been properly sustained by the Dutch
forces, and their flanks covered by the cavalry, the French in all
likelihood would have been obliged to abandon their enterprise. The duke
of Cumberland left his sick and wounded to the humanity of the victors;
and retiring to Aeth, encamped in an advantageous situation at Lessines.
The garrison of Tournay, though now deprived of all hope of succour,
maintained the place to the twenty-first day of June, when the governor
obtained an honourable capitulation. After the conquest of this
frontier, which was dismantled, the duke of Cumberland, apprehending the
enemy had a design upon Ghent, sent a detachment of four thousand men to
reinforce the garrison of that city; but they fell into an ambuscade
at Pas-du-mêle, and were killed or taken, except a few dragoons that
escaped to Ostend; on that very night, which was the twelfth of June,
Ghent was surprised by a detachment of the French army. Then they
invested Ostend, which, though defended by an English garrison, and open
to the sea, was, after a short siege, surrendered by capitulation on the
fourteenth day of August Dendermonde, Oudenarde, Newport, and Aeth,
underwent the same fate; while the allied army lay entranced beyond the
canal of Antwerp. The French king having subdued the greatest part
of the Austrian Netherlands, returned to Paris, which he entered in
triumph.
THE KING OF SARDINIA IS ALMOST STRIPPED OF HIS DOMINIONS.
The campaign in Italy was unpropitious to the queen of Hungary and the
king of Sardinia. Count Gages passed the Appenines, and entered the
state of Lucca; from thence he proceeded by the eastern coast of
Genoa to Lestride-Levante. The junction of the two armies was thus
accomplished, and reinforced with ten thousand Genoese; meanwhile prince
Lobkowitz decamped from Modena and took post at Parma; but he was soon
succeeded by count Schuylemberg, and sent to command the Austrians in
Bohemia. The Spaniards entered the Milanese without further opposition.
Count Gages, with thirty thousand men, took possession of Serravalle;
and advancing towards Placentia, obliged the Austrians to retire
under the cannon of Tortona; but when don Philip, at the head of forty
thousand troops, made himself master of Acqui, the king of Sardinia and
the Austrian general, unable to stem the torrent, retreated behind the
Tanaro. The strong citadel of Tortona was taken by the Spaniards, who
likewise reduced Parma and Placentia; and forcing the passage of the
Tanaro, compelled his Sardinian majesty to take shelter on the other
side of the Po. Then Pavia was won by scalade; and the city of Milan
submitted to the infant, though the Austrian garrison still maintained
the citadel; all Piedmont, on both sides of the Po, as far as Turin, was
reduced, and even that capital threatened with a siege; so that by the
month of October the territories belonging to the house of Austria, in
Italy, were wholly subdued; and the king of Sardinia stripped of all his
dominions; yet he continued firm and true to his engagements, and deaf
to all proposals of a separate accommodation.
THE ENGLISH TAKE CAPE BRETON
The naval transactions of Great Britain were in the course of this
year remarkably spirited. In the Mediterranean, admiral Rowley had
succeeded Matthews in the command; Savona, Genoa, Final, St. Remo, with
Bastia, the capital of Corsica, were bombarded; several Spanish ships
were taken; but he could not prevent the safe arrival of their rich
Havannah squadron at Corunna. Commodore Barnet, in the East Indies, made
prize of several French ships richly laden; and commodore Townshend, in
the latitude of Martinico, took about thirty merchant ships belonging
to the enemy, under convoy of four ships of war, two of which were
destroyed. The English privateers likewise met with uncommon success.
But the most important achievement was the conquest of Louisbourg on
the isle of Cape Breton, in North America; a place of great consequence,
which the French had fortified at a prodigious expense. The scheme
of reducing this fortress was planned in Boston, recommended by their
general assembly, and approved by his majesty, who sent instructions
to commodore Warren, stationed off the Leeward Islands, to sail for the
northern parts of America, and co-operate with the forces of New England
in this expedition. A body of six thousand men was formed under the
conduct of Mr. Pepperel, a trader of Piscataquay, whose influence
was extensive in that country; though he was a man of little or no
education, and utterly unacquainted with military operations. In April
Mr. Warren arrived at Canso with ten ships of war; and the troops of New
England being embarked m transports, sailed immediately for the isle of
Cape Breton, where they landed without opposition. The enemy abandoned
their grand battery, which was detached from the town; and the immediate
seizure of it contributed in a good measure to the success of the
enterprise. While the American troops, reinforced by eight hundred
marines, carried on their approaches by land, the squadron blocked up
the place by sea in such a manner that no succours could be introduced.
A French ship of the line, with some smaller vessels destined for
the relief of the garrison, were intercepted and taken by the British
cruisers; and, indeed, the reduction of Louisbourg was chiefly owing to
the vigilance and activity of Mr. Warren, one of the bravest and best
officers in the service of England. The operations of the siege were
wholly conducted by the engineers and officers who commanded the British
marines; and the Americans, being ignorant of war, were contented to act
under their directions. The town being considerably damaged by the bombs
and bullets of the besiegers, and the garrison despairing of relief, the
governor capitulated on the seventeenth day of June, when the city
of Louisbourg, and the isle of Cape Breton, were surrendered to his
Britannic majesty. The garrison and inhabitants engaged that they would
not bear arms for twelve months against Great Britain or her allies; and
being-embarked in fourteen cartel ships, were transported to Rochefort.
In a few days after the surrender of Louisbourg, two French East India
ships, and another from Peru, laden with treasure, sailed into the
harbour on the supposition that it still belonged to France, and were
taken by the English squadron.
The news of this conquest being transmitted to England, Mr. Pepperel
was preferred to the dignity of a baronet of Great Britain, and
congratulatory addresses were presented to the king on the success of
his majesty’s arms. The possession of Cape Breton was, doubtless, a
valuable acquisition to Great Britain. It not only distressed the French
in their fishery and navigation, but removed all fears of encroachment
and rivalship from the English fishers on the banks of Newfoundland. It
freed New England from the terrors of a dangerous neighbour; overawed
the Indians of that country; and secured the possession of Acadia to the
crown of Great Britain. The plan of this conquest was originally laid by
Mr. Auchmuty, judge-advocate of the court of admiralty in New England.
He demonstrated, that the reduction of Cape Breton would put the English
in sole possession of the fishery of North America, which would annually
return to Groat Britain two millions sterling, for the manufactures
yearly shipped to the plantations; employ many thousand families that
were otherwise unserviceable to the public; increase the shipping and
mariners; extend navigation; cut off all communication between France
and Canada by the river St. Lawrence; so that Quebec would fall of.
course into the hands of the English, who might expel the French
entirely from America, open a correspondence with the remote Indians,
and render themselves masters of the profitable fur-trade, which was now
engrossed by the enemy. The natives of New England acquired great
glory from the success of this enterprise. Britain, which had in some
instances behaved like a step-mother to her own colonies, was now
convinced of their importance; and treated those as brethren whom she
had too long considered as aliens and rivals. Circumstanced as the
nation is, the legislature cannot too tenderly cherish the interests
of the British plantations in America. They are inhabited by a brave,
hardy, industrious people, animated with an active spirit of commerce;
inspired with a noble zeal for liberty and independence. The trade of
Great Britain, clogged with heavy taxes and impositions, has for some
time languished in many valuable branches. The French have undersold
our cloths, and spoiled our markets in the Levant. Spain is no longer
supplied as usual with the commodities of England; the exports to
Germany must be considerably diminished by the misunderstanding between
Great Britain and the house of Austria; consequently, her greatest
resource must be in her communication with her own colonies, which
consume her manufactures, and make immense returns in sugar, rum,
tobacco, fish, timber, naval stores, iron, furs, drugs, rice, and
indigo. The southern plantations likewise produce silk; and with due
encouragement, might furnish every thing that could be expected from
the most fertile soil and the happiest climate. The continent of North
America, if properly cultivated, will prove an inexhaustible fund of
wealth and strength to Great Britain; and perhaps it may become the
last asylum of British liberty. When the nation is enslaved by domestic
despotism or foreign dominion; when her substance is wasted, her spirit
broke, and the laws and constitution of England are no more; then those
colonies, sent off by our fathers, may receive and entertain their sons
as hapless exiles and ruined refugees.
PROJECT OF AN INSURRECTION IN GREAT BRITAIN.
While the continent of Europe and the isles of America were thus exposed
to the ravages of war, and subjected to such vicissitudes of fortune,
Great Britain underwent a dangerous convulsion in her own bowels. The
son of the chevalier de St. George, fired with ambition, and animated
with the hope of ascending the throne of his ancestors, resolved to make
an effort for that purpose, which, though it might not be crowned with
success, should at least astonish all Christendom. The Jacobites in
England and Scotland had promised, that if he would land in Britain
at the head of a regular army, they would supply him with provisions,
carriages, and horses, and a great number of them declared they would
take up arms and join his standard; but they disapproved of his coming
over without forces, as a dangerous enterprise, that would in all
probability end in the ruin of himself and all his adherents. This
advice, including an exact detail of his father’s interest, with the
dispositions of his particular friends in every town and county, was
transmitted to London in January, in order to be forwarded to prince
Charles; but the person with whom it was intrusted could find no safe
method of conveyance; so that he sent it back to Scotland, from whence
it was despatched to France; but before it reached Paris, Charles had
left that kingdom. Had the paper come to his hands in due time, perhaps
he would not have embarked in the undertaking, though he was stimulated
to the attempt by many concurring motives. Certain it is, he was cajoled
by the sanguine misrepresentations of a few adventurers, who hoped to
profit by the expedition. They assured him that the whole nation was
disaffected to the reigning family; that the people could no longer bear
the immense load of taxes, which was daily increasing; and that the
most considerable persons of the kingdom would gladly seize the first
opportunity of crowding to his standard. On the other hand, he knew
the British government had taken some effectual steps to alienate the
friends of his house from the principles they had hitherto professed.
Some of them had accepted posts and pensions; others were preferred in
the army; and the parliament were so attached to the reigning family,
that he had nothing to hope from their deliberations. He expected no
material succour from the court of France; he foresaw that delay would
diminish the number of his adherents in Great Britain; and, therefore,
resolved to seize the present occasion, which in many respects was
propitious to his design. Without doubt, had he been properly supported,
he could not have found a more favourable opportunity of exciting an
intestine commotion in Great Britain; for Scotland was quite unfurnished
with troops; king George was in Germany; the duke of Cumberland, at the
head of the British army, was employed in Flanders, and great part of
the highlanders were keen for insurrection. Their natural principles
were on this occasion stimulated by the suggestions of revenge. At the
beginning of the war a regiment of those people had been formed, and
transported with the rest of the British troops to Flanders. Before they
were embarked, a number of them deserted with their arms, on pretence
that they had been decoyed into the service by promises and assurances
that they should never be sent abroad; and this was really the case.
They were overtaken by a body of horse, persuaded to submit, brought
back to London pinioned like malefactors, and tried for desertion. They
were shot to death _in terrorem_; and the rest were sent in exile to
the plantations. Those who suffered were persons of some consequence in
their own country; and their fate was deeply resented by the clans to
which they belonged. It was considered as a national outrage; and the
highlanders, who are naturally vindictive, waited impatiently for an
opportunity of vengeance.
THE ELDEST SON OF THE CHEVALIER DE ST. GEORGE LANDS IN SCOTLAND.
The young pretender being furnished with a sum of money, and a supply of
arms, on his private credit, with-out the knowledge of the French court,
wrote letters to his friends in Scotland, explaining his design and
situation, intimating the place where he intended to land, communicating
a private signal, and assuring them he should be with them by the middle
of June. These precautions being taken, he embarked on board of a small
frigate at Port St. Nazaire, accompanied by the marquis of Tullibardine,
sir Thomas Sheridan, sir John Macdonald, with a few other Irish and
Scottish adventurers; and setting sail on the fourteenth of July, was
joined off Belleisle by the Elizabeth, a French ship of war, mounted
with sixty-six guns, as his convoy. *
* The Elizabeth, a king’s ship, was procured as a convoy, by
the interest of Mr. Walsh, an Irish merchant at Nantes; and
on board of her fifty French young gentlemen embarked as
volunteers.
Their design was to sail round Ireland, and land in the western part of
Scotland; but falling in with the Lion, an English ship of the line, a
very obstinate and bloody action ensued. The Elizabeth was so disabled
that she could not prosecute the voyage, and with difficulty reached the
harbour of Brest; but the Lion was shattered to such a degree, that she
floated like a wreck upon the water. The disaster of the Elizabeth was
a great misfortune to the adventurer, as by her being disabled he lost
a great quantity of arms, and about one hundred able officers, who were
embarked on board of her for the benefit of his expedition. Had this
ship arrived in Scotland, she could easily have reduced Fort William,
situated in the midst of the clans attached to the Stuart family. Such a
conquest, by giving lustre to the prince’s arms, would have allured
many to his standard, who were indifferent in point of principle;
and encouraged a great number of highlanders to join him, who were
restricted by the apprehension, that their wives and families would be
subject to insults from the English garrison of this fortress. Prince
Charles, in the frigate, continued his course to the western isles of
Scotland. After a voyage of eighteen days he landed on a little island
between Barra and South-Inst, two of the Hebrides; then he re-embarked,
and in a few days arrived at Borodale in Amsacy, on the confines of
Lochnannach, where he was in a little time joined by a considerable
number of hardy mountaineers, under their respective chiefs and leaders.
On the nineteenth day of August, the marquis of Tullibardine erected
the pretender’s standard at Glensinnan. Some of those, however, on whom
Charles principally depended, now stood aloof, either fluctuating in
their principles, astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, or
startled at the remonstrances of their friends, who did not fail to
represent, in aggravated colours, all the danger of embarking in such a
desperate enterprise. Had the government acted with proper vigour when
they received intelligence of his arrival, the adventurer must have been
crushed in embryo, before any considerable number of his adherents
could have been brought together; but the lords of the regency seemed
to slight the information, and even to suspect the integrity of those by
whom it was conveyed. They were soon convinced of their mistake. Prince
Charles having assembled about twelve hundred men, encamped in the
neighbourhood of Fort William; and immediately hostilities were
commenced. A handful of Keppoch’s clan, commanded by major Donald
Macdonald, even before they joined the pretender, attacked two companies
of new raised soldiers, who, with their officer, were disarmed after an
obstinate dispute; another captain of the king’s forces, falling into
their hands, was courteously dismissed with one of the pretender’s
manifestoes, and a passport for his personal safety. The administration
was now effectually alarmed. The lords of the regency issued a
proclamation offering a reward of thirty thousand pounds to any person
who should apprehend the prince-adventurer. The same price was set upon
the head of the elector of Hanover, in a proclamation published by the
pretender. A courier was despatched to Holland to hasten the return of
his majesty, who arrived in England about the latter end of August. A
requisition was made of the six thousand Dutch auxiliaries; and several
British regiments were recalled from the Netherlands. A loyal address
was presented to the king by the city of London; and the merchants of
this metropolis resolved to raise two regiments at their own expense.
Orders were issued to keep the trained bands in readiness; to array the
militia of Westminster; and instructions to the same effect were sent
to all the lords-lieutenants of the counties throughout the kingdom.
The principal noblemen of the nation made a tender of their services to
their sovereign; and some of them received commissions to levy regiments
towards the suppression of the rebellion. Bodies of volunteers were
incorporated in London and many other places; associations were
formed, large contributions raised in different towns, counties, and
communities; and a great number of eminent merchants in London agreed to
support the public credit, by receiving, as usual, bank-notes in payment
for the purposes of traffic. The protestant clergy of all denominations
exerted themselves with extraordinary ardour, in preaching against the
religion of Rome and the pretender; and the friends of the government
were encouraged, animated, and confirmed in their principles, by several
spiritual productions published for the occasion.
In a word, the bulk of the nation seemed unanimously bent upon opposing
the enterprise of the pretender, who, nevertheless, had already made
surprising progress. His arrival in Scotland was no sooner confirmed,
than sir John Cope, who commanded the troops in that kingdom, assembled
what force he could bring together, and advanced against the rebels.
Understanding, however, that they had taken possession of a strong pass,
he changed his route, and proceeded northwards as far as Inverness,
leaving the capital and the southern parts of North Britain wholly
exposed to the incursions of the enemy. The highlanders forthwith
marched to Perth, where the chevalier de St. George was proclaimed king
of Great Britain, and the public money seized for his use; the same
steps were taken at Dundee and other places. Prince Charles was joined
by the nobleman who assumed the title of the duke of Perth, the viscount
Strathallan, lord Nairn, lord George Murray, and many persons of
distinction, with their followers. The marquis of Tullibardine, who had
accompanied him from France, took possession of Athol, as heir of
blood to the titles and estates which his younger brother enjoyed in
consequence of his attainder; and met with some success in arming the
tenants for the support of that cause which he avowed. The rebel army
being considerably augmented, though very ill-provided with arms,
crossed the Forth in the neighbourhood of Stirling, and advanced towards
Edinburgh, where they were joined by lord Eleho, son of the earl of
Wemyss, and other persons of some distinction. On the sixteenth day of
September Charles summoned the town to surrender. The inhabitants were
divided by faction, and distracted by fear; the place was not in a
posture of defence, and the magistrates would not expose the people to
the uncertain issue of an assault. Several deputations were sent from
the town to the pretender, in order to negotiate terms of capitulation.
In the meantime, one of the gates being opened for the admission of
a coach, Cameron of Lochiel, one of the most powerful of the highland
chiefs, rushed into the place with a party of his men, and secured it
without opposition. Next morning the whole rebel army entered, and their
prince took possession of the royal palace of Holyrood-house in the
suburbs. Then he caused his father to be proclaimed at the market-cross;
there also the manifesto was read, in which the chevalier de St. George
declared his son Charles regent of his dominions, promised to dissolve
the union, and redress the grievances of Scotland. His being in
possession of the capital encouraged his followers, and added reputation
to his arms; but the treasure belonging to the two banks of that kingdom
had been previously conveyed into the castle, a strong fortress, with
a good garrison, under the command of general Guest, an old officer of
experience and capacity.
During these transactions, sir John Cope marched back from Inverness to
Aberdeen, where he embarked with his troops, and on the seventeenth day
of September landed at Dunbar, about twenty miles to the eastward of
Edinburgh. Here he was joined by two regiments of dragoons which had
retired with precipitation from the capital at the approach of the
highland army. With this reinforcement, his troops amounted to near
three thousand men; and he began his march to Edinburgh, in order to
give battle to the enemy. On the twentieth day of the month, he encamped
in the neighbourhood of Prestonpans, having the village of Tranent in
his front, and the sea in his rear. Early next morning he was attacked
by the young pretender, at the head of about two thousand four hundred
highlanders, half-armed, who-charged them sword in hand with such
impetuosity, that in less than ten minutes after the battle began, the
king’s troops were broken and totally routed. The dragoons fled in the
utmost confusion at the first onset; the general officers having made
some unsuccessful efforts to rally them, thought proper to consult their
own safety by an expeditious retreat towards Coldstream on the
Tweed. All the infantry were either killed or taken; and the colours,
artillery, tents, baggage, and military chest, fell into the hands of
the victor, who returned in triumph to Edinburgh. Never was victory more
complete, or obtained at a smaller expense; for not above fifty of the
rebels lost their lives in the engagement. Five hundred of the king’s
troops were killed on the field of battle; and among these colonel
Gardiner, a gallant officer, who disdained to save his life at the
expense of his honour. When abandoned by his own regiment of dragoons,
he alighted from his horse, joined the infantry, and fought on foot,
until he fell covered with wounds, in sight of his own threshold.
Prince Charles bore his good fortune with moderation; he prohibited all
rejoicings for the victory he had obtained; the wounded soldiers were
treated with humanity; and the officers were sent into Fife and Angus,
where they were left at liberty on their parole, which the greater part
of them shamefully broke in the sequel. From this victory the pretender
reaped manifold and important advantages. His followers were armed, his
party encouraged, and his enemies intimidated. He was supplied with
a train of field artillery, and a considerable sum of money, and saw
himself possessed of all Scotland, except the fortresses, the reduction
of which he could not pretend to undertake without proper implements and
engineers. After the battle he was joined by a small detachment from the
highlands; and some chiefs, who had hitherto been on the reserve,
began to exert their influence in his favour. But he was not yet in a
condition to take advantage of that consternation which his late success
had diffused through the kingdom of England.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
EFFORTS OF THE FRIENDS OF GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND.
Charles continued to reside in the palace of Holyrood-house; * and took
measures for cutting off the communication between the castle and the
city.
* While he resided at Edinburgh, some of the presbyterian
clergy continued to preach in the churches of that city, and
publicly prayed for king George, without suffering the least
punishment or molestation. One minister in particular, of
the name of Mac Vicar, being solicited by some highlanders
to pray for their prince, promised to comply with their
request, and performed his promise in words to this effect--
“And as for the young prince, who is come hither in quest of
an earthly crown, grant, O Lord, that he may speedily
receive a crown of glory.”
General Guest declared that he would demolish the city, unless the
blockade should be raised, so that provisions might be carried into the
castle. After having waited the return of an express which he had found
means to despatch to court, he began to put his threats in execution by
firing upon the town. Some houses were beaten down, and several persons
killed even at the market-cross. The citizens, alarmed at this disaster,
sent a deputation to the prince, entreating him to raise the blockade;
and he complyed with their request. He levied a regiment in Edinburgh
and the neighbourhood. He imposed taxes; seized the merchandize that
was deposited in the king’s warehouses at Leith and other places; and
compelled the city of Glasgow to accommodate him with a large sum, to
be repaid when the peace of the kingdom should be re-established. The
number of his followers daily increased, and he received considerable
supplies of money, artillery, and ammunition, by single ships that
arrived from France, where his interest seemed to rise in proportion
to the success of his arms. The greater and richer part of Scotland was
averse to his family and pretensions; but the people were unarmed and
undisciplined, consequently passive under his dominion. By this time,
however, the prince-pretender was joined by the earl of Kilmarnock, the
lords Eleho, Balmerino, Ogilvie, Pitsligo; and the eldest son of lord
Lovat had begun to assemble his father’s clan, in order to reinforce the
victor, whose army lay encamped at Duddingston, in the neighbourhood
of Edinburgh. Kilmarnock and Balmarinowere men of broken and desperate
fortune; Elcho and Ogilvie were sons to the earls of Wemyss and Airly;
so that their influence was far from being extensive. Pitsligo was
a nobleman of very amiable character, as well as of great personal
interest; and great dependence was placed upon the power and attachment
of lord Lovat, who had entered into private engagements with the
chevalier de St. George, though he still wore the mask of loyalty to the
government, and disavowed the conduct of his son when he declared for
the pretender. This old nobleman is the same Simon Fraser whom we have
had occasion to mention as a partisan and emissary of the court of St.
Germain’s, in the year one thousand seven hundred and three. He had
renounced his connexions with that family; and, in the rebellion
immediately after the accession of king George I., approved himself a
warm friend to the protestant succession. Since that period he had been
induced, by disgust and ambition, to change his principles again, and
was in secret an enthusiast in jacobitism. He had greatly augmented his
estate, and obtained a considerable interest in the highlands, where,
however, he was rather dreaded than beloved. He was bold, enterprising,
vain, arbitrary, rapacious, cruel, and deceitful; but his character
was chiefly marked by a species of low cunning and dissimulation, which,
however, overshot his purpose, and contributed to his own ruin.*
*He solicited, and is said to have obtained of the chevalier
de St. George the patent of a duke, and a commission for
being lord-lieutenant of all the highlands.
While Charles resided at Edinburgh, the marquis de Guil-les arrived at
Montrose, as envoy from the French king, with several officers, some
cannon, and a considerable quantity of small arms for the use of that
adventurer.
PRECAUTIONS TAKEN IN ENGLAND.
While the young pretender endeavoured to improve the advantages he had
gamed, the ministry of Great Britain took every possible measure to
retard his progress. Several powerful chiefs in the highlands were
attached to the government, and exerted themselves in its defence. The
duke of Argyle began to arm his vassals; but not before he had obtained
the sanction of the legislature. Twelve hundred men were raised by the
earl of Sutherland; the lord Rae brought a considerable number to the
field; the Grants and Monroes appeared under their respective leaders
for the service of his majesty; sir Alexander Macdonald declared for
king George, and the laird of Macleod sent two thousand hardy islanders
from Skye to strengthen the same interest. These gentlemen, though
supposed to be otherwise affected, were governed and directed by
the advice of Duncan Forbes, president of the college of justice
at Edinburgh, a man of extensive knowledge, agreeable manners, and
unblemished integrity. He procured commissions for raising twenty
independent companies, and some of these he bestowed upon individuals
who were either attached by principle, or engaged by promise, to the
pretender. He acted with indefatigable zeal for the interest of the
reigning family; and he greatly injured an opulent fortune in their
service. He confirmed several chiefs who began to waiver in their
principles; some he actually converted by the energy of his arguments,
and brought over to the assistance of the government, which they had
determined to oppose; others he persuaded to remain quiet, without
taking any share in the present troubles. Certain it is, this gentleman,
by his industry and address, prevented the insurrection of ten thousand
highlanders, who would otherwise have joined the pretender; and,
therefore, he may be said to have been one great cause of that
adventurer’s miscarriage. The earl of Loudon repaired to Inverness,
where he completed his regiment of highlanders; directed the conduct
of the clans who had taken arms in behalf of his majesty; and, by his
vigilance, overawed the disaffected chieftains of that country, who had
not yet openly engaged in the rebellion. Immediately after the defeat
of Cope, six thousand Dutch troops* arrived in England, and three
battalions of guards, with seven regiments of infantry, were recalled
from Flanders, for the defence of the kingdom.
* They were composed of the forces who had been in garrison
at Tournay and Dendermonde when those places were taken, and
engaged by capitulation, that they should not perform any
military function before the first day of January, in the
year 1747; so they could not have acted in England without
the infringement of a solemn treaty.
They forthwith began their march to the north, under the command of
general Wade, who received orders to assemble an army, which proceeded
to Newcastle. The parliament meeting on the sixteenth day of October,
his majesty gave them to understand, that an unnatural rebellion had
broke out in Scotland, towards the suppression of which he craved their
advice and assistance. He found both houses cordial in their addresses,
and zealous in their attachment to his person and government. The
commons forthwith suspended the _habeas-corpus_ act; and several persons
were apprehended on suspicion of treasonable practices. Immediately
after the session was opened, the duke of Cumberland arrived from the
Netherlands, and was followed by another detachment of dragoons and
infantry. The train-bands of London were reviewed by his majesty; the
county regiments were completed; the volunteers, in different parts of
the kingdom, employed themselves industriously in the exercise of arms;
and the whole English nation seemed to rise up as one man against this
formidable invader. The government being apprehensive of a descent from
France, appointed admiral Vernon to command a squadron in the Downs, to
observe the motions of the enemy by sea, especially in the harbours of
Dunkirk and Boulogne; and his cruisers took several ships laden with
soldiers, officers, and ammunition, destined for the service of the
pretender in Scotland.
This enterprising youth, having collected about five thousand men,
resolved to make an irruption into England, which he accordingly entered
by the west border on the sixth day of November. Carlisle was invested,
and in less than three days surrendered; the keys were delivered to him
at Brampton, by the mayor and aldermen on their knees. Here he found a
considerable quantity of arms; his father was proclaimed king of Great
Britain, and himself regent, by the magistrates in their formalities.
General Wade being apprized of his progress, decamped from Newcastle,
and advanced across the country as far as Hexham, though the fields were
covered with snow, and the roads almost impassable. There he received
intelligence that Carlisle was reduced, and forthwith returned to his
former station, In the meantime, orders were issued for assembling
another army in Staffordshire, under the command of sir John Ligonier.
Prince Charles, notwithstanding this formidable opposition, determined
to proceed. He had received assurances from France, that a considerable
body of troops would be landed on the southern coast of Britain, to make
a diversion in his favour; and he never doubted but that he should be
joined by all the English malcontents, as soon as he could penetrate
into the heart of the kingdom. Leaving a small garrison in the castle of
Carlisle, he advanced to Penrith, marching on foot in the highland garb,
at the head of his forces; and continued his route through Lancaster and
Preston to Manchester, where on the twenty-ninth day of the month, he
established his head quarters. There he was joined by about two hundred
Englishmen, who were formed into a regiment under the command of colonel
Townley. The inhabitants seemed to receive him with marks of affection;
and his arrival was celebrated by illuminations and other public
rejoicings. His supposed intention was to prosecute his march by the
way of Chester into Wales, where he hoped to find a great number of
adherents; but all the bridges over the river Mersey being broken down,
he chose the route to Stockport, and forded the river at the head of
his division, though the water rose to his middle. He passed through
Macclesfield and Congleton; and on the fourth day of December entered
the town of Derby, in which his army was quartered and his father
proclaimed with great formality. He had now advanced within one hundred
miles of the capital, which was filled with terror and confusion. Wade
lingered in Yorkshire; the duke of Cumberland had assumed the command
of the other army assembled in the neighbourhood of Lichfield. He had
marched from Stafford to Stone; so that the rebels, in turning off
from Ashbourne to Derby, had gained a march between him and London.
Had Charles proceeded in his career with that expedition which he had
hitherto used, he might have made himself master of the metropolis,
where he would have been certainly joined by a considerable number of
his well wishers, who waited impatiently for his approach; yet this
exploit could not have been achieved without hazarding an engagement,
and running the risk of being enclosed within three armies, each greatly
superior to his own in number and artillery. Orders were given for
forming a camp on Finchley-common, where the king resolved to take the
field in person, accompanied by the earl of Stair, field-marshal and
commander-in-chief of the forces in South-Britain. Some Romish priests
were apprehended; the militia of London and Middlesex were kept in
readiness to march; double watches were posted at the city-gates, and
signals of alarm appointed. The volunteers of the city were incorporated
into a regiment; the practitioners of the law, headed by the judges,
weavers of Spitalfields, and other communities, engaged in associations;
and even the managers of the theatres offered to raise a body of their
dependents for the service of the government. Notwithstanding these
precautions and appearances of unanimity, the trading part of the city,
and those concerned in the money corporations, were overwhelmed with
fear and dejection. They reposed very little confidence in the courage
or discipline of their militia and volunteers; they had received
intelligence that the French were employed in making preparations
at Dunkirk and Calais for a descent upon England; they dreaded an
insurrection of the Roman-catholics, and other friends of the house of
Stuart; and they reflected that the highlanders, of whom by this time
they had conceived a most terrible idea, were within four days’ march of
the capital. Alarmed by these considerations, they prognosticated their
own ruin in the approaching revolution; and their countenances exhibited
the plainest marks of horror and despair. On the other hand, the
Jacobites were elevated to an insolence of hope, which they were at
no pains to conceal; while many people, who had no private property to
lose, and thought no change would be for the worse, waited the issue of
this crisis with the most calm indifference.
THE REBELS RETREAT INTO SCOTLAND.
This state of suspense was of short duration. The young pretender found
himself miserably disappointed in his expectations. He had now advanced
into the middle of the kingdom, and except a few that joined him at
Manchester, not a soul appeared in his behalf; one would have imagined
that all the Jacobites of England had been annihilated. The Welch took
no step to excite an insurrection in his favour; the French made no
attempt towards an invasion; his court was divided into factions; the
highland chiefs began to murmur, and their clans to be unruly; he saw
himself with a handful of men hemmed in between two considerable armies,
in the middle of winter, and in a country disaffected to his cause. He
knew he could not proceed to the metropolis without hazarding a battle,
and that a defeat would be attended with the inevitable destruction of
himself and all his adherents; and he had received information that
his friends and officers had assembled a body of forces in the North,
superior in number to those by whom he was attended. He called a council
at Derby; and proposed to advance towards London: the proposal was
supported by lord Nairn with great vehemence; but, after violent
disputes, the majority determined that they should retreat to Scotland
with all possible expedition. Accordingly, they abandoned Derby on the
sixth day of December, early in the morning, and measured back the
route by which they had advanced. On the ninth their vanguard arrived
at Manchester; on the twelfth they entered Preston, and continued their
march northwards. The duke of Cumberland, who was encamped at Meriden,
when first apprized of their retreat, detached the horse and dragoons in
pursuit of them; while general Wade began his march from Ferry-bridge
in Lancashire, with a view of intercepting them in their route; but
at Wakefield he understood that they had already reached Wigan; he
therefore repaired to his old post at Newcastle, after having detached
general Oglethorpe, with his horse and dragoons, to join those who had
been sent off from the duke’s army. They pursued with such alacrity,
that they overtook the rear of the rebels, with which they skirmished in
Lancashire. The militia of Cumberland and Westmoreland were raised and
armed by the duke’s order, to harass them in their march. The bridges
were broken down, the roads damaged, and the beacons lighted to alarm
the country. Nevertheless, they retreated regularly with their small
train of artillery. They were overtaken at the village of Clifton,
in the neighbourhood of Penrith, by two regiments of dragoons. These
alighted, and lined the hedges, in order to harass part of the enemy’s
rear-guard, commanded by lord John Murray; who, at the head of the
Macphersons, attacked the dragoons sword in hand, and repulsed them with
some loss. On the nineteenth day of the month, the highland army reached
Carlisle, where the majority of the English in the service of the
pretender were left, at their own desire. Charles, having reinforced the
garrison of the place, crossed the rivers Eden and Solway into Scotland,
having thus accomplished one of the most surprising retreats that ever
was performed. But the most remarkable circumstance of this expedition,
was the moderation and regularity with which those ferocious people
conducted themselves in a country abounding with plunder. No violence
was offered; no outrage committed; and they were effectually restrained
from the exercise of rapine. Notwithstanding the excessive cold, the
hunger, and fatigue to which they must have been exposed, they left
behind no sick, and lost a very few stragglers; but retired with
deliberation, and carried off their cannon in the face of their enemy.
The duke of Cumberland invested Carlisle with his whole army on
the twenty-first day of December, and on the thirtieth the garrison
surrendered on a sort of capitulation made with the duke of Richmond.
The prisoners, amounting to about four hundred, were imprisoned in
different gaols in England, and the duke returned to London.
The pretender proceeded by the way of Dumfries to Glasgow, from which
last city he exacted severe contributions, on account of its attachment
to the government, for whose service it had raised a regiment of nine
hundred men under the command of the earl of Home. Having continued
several days at Glasgow, he advanced towards Stirling, and was joined
by some forces which had been assembled in his absence by lords Lewis
Gordon and John Drummond, brothers to the dukes of Gordon and Perth.
This last nobleman had arrived from France in November, with a small
reinforcement of French and Irish, and a commission as general of
these auxiliaries, he fixed his head quarters at Perth, where he was
reinforced by the earl of Cromartie and other clans, to the number of
two thousand, and he was accommodated with a small train of artillery.
They had found means to surprise a sloop of war at Montrose, with
the guns of which they fortified that harbour. They had received a
considerable sum of money from Spain. They took possession of Dundee,
Dumblane, Downcastle, and laid Fife under contribution. The earl of
Loudon remained at Inverness, with about two thousand highlanders in
the service of his majesty. He convoyed provisions to Fort-Augustus and
Fort-William; he secured the person of lord Lovat, who still temporized,
and at length this cunning veteran accomplished his escape. The laird
of Macleod, and Mr. Monro of Culcairn, being detached from Inverness
towards Aberdeenshire, were surprised and routed by lord Lewis Gordon
at Inverary; and that interest seemed to preponderate in the north of
Scotland. Prince Charles being joined by lord John Drummond, invested
the castle of Stirling, in which general Blakeney commanded; but his
people were so little used to enterprises of this kind, that they made
very little progress in their operations.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
THE KING’S TROOPS UNDER HAWLEY ARE WORSTED AT FALKIEK.
By this time, a considerable body of forces was assembled at Edinburgh,
under the conduct of general Hawley, who determined to relieve
Stirling-castle, and advanced to Linlithgow on the thirteenth day of
January; next day his whole army rendezvoused at Falkirk, while the
rebels were cantoned about Bannockburn. On the seventeenth day of the
month, they began then-march in two columns to attack the king’s forces,
and had forded the water of Carron, within three miles of Hawley’s
camp, before he discovered their intention. Such was his obstinacy,
self-conceit, or contempt of the enemy, that he slighted the repeated
intelligence he had received of their motions and design, firmly
believing they durst not hazard an engagement. At length perceiving
that they had occupied the rising ground to the southward of Falkirk, he
ordered his cavalry to advance and drive them from the eminence;
while his infantry formed, and were drawn up in order of battle.
The highlanders kept up their fire, and took aim so well, that
the assailants were broke by the first volley; they retreated with
precipitation, and fell in amongst the infantry, which were likewise
discomposed by the wind and rain beating with great violence in their
faces, wetting their powder, and disturbing their eyesight. Some of the
dragoons rallied, and advanced again to the charge, with part of the
infantry which had not been engaged; then the pretender marched up at
the head of his corps de reserve, consisting of the regiment of lord
John Drummond, and the Irish piquets. These reinforcing the Camerons and
the Stuarts in the front line, immediately obliged the dragoons to give
way a second time, and they again disordered the foot in their retreat.
They set fire to their camp, and abandoned Falkirk with their baggage
and train, which last had never reached the field of battle. The rebels
followed their first blow, and great part of the royal army, after
one irregular discharge, turned their backs and fled in the utmost
consternation. In all probability few or none of them would have
escaped, had not general Huske, and brigadier Cholmondeley, rallied part
of some regiments, and made a gallant stand, which favoured the retreat
of the rest to Falkirk, from whence they retired in confusion to
Edinburgh, leaving the field of battle, with part of their tents and
artillery, to the rebels; but their loss of men did not exceed three
hundred, including sir Robert Monro, colonel Whitney, and some other
officers of distinction. It was at this period, that the officers who
had been taken at the battle of Prestonpans, and conveyed to Angus and
Fife, finding themselves unguarded, broke their parole, and returned
to Edinburgh, on pretence of their having been forcibly released by the
inhabitants of those parts.*
* Sir Peter Halket, captain Lucy Scott, lieutenants
Farquharson and Cumming, with a few other gentlemen, adhered
punctually to their parole, and their conduct was approved
by his majesty.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND COMMANDS THE ROYAL TROOPS.
General Hawley, who had boasted that, with two regiments of dragoons,
he would drive the rebel army from one end of the kingdom to the other,
incurred abundance of censure for the disposition he made, as well
as for his conduct before and after the action; but he found means to
vindicate himself to the satisfaction of his sovereign. Nevertheless, it
was judged necessary that the army in Scotland should be commanded by a
general in whom the soldiers might have some confidence; and the duke of
Cumberland was chosen for this purpose. Over and above his being beloved
by the army, it was suggested, that the appearance of a prince of the
blood in Scotland might have a favourable effect upon the minds of the
people in that kingdom; he therefore began to prepare for his northern
expedition. Meanwhile, the French minister at the Hague having
represented to the states-general, that the auxiliaries which they
had sent into Great Britain were part of the garrisons of Tournay
and Dendermonde, and restricted by the capitulation from bearing arms
against France for a certain term, the states thought proper to recall
them, rather than come to an open rupture with his most christian
majesty. In the room of those troops six thousand Hessians were
transported from Flanders to Leith, where they arrived in the beginning
of February, under the command of their prince, Frederick of Hesse,
son-in-law to his Britannic majesty. By this time the duke of Cumberland
had put himself at the head of the troops in Edinburgh, consisting of
fourteen battalions of infantry, two regiments of dragoons, and twelve
hundred highlanders from Argyle-shire, under the command of colonel
Campbell.
{1746}
On the last day of January, his royal highness began his march to
Linlithgow; and the enemy, who had renewed the siege of Stirling-castle,
not only abandoned that enterprise, but crossed the river Forth with
precipitation. Their prince found great difficulty in maintaining his
forces, that part of the country being quite exhausted. He hoped to be
reinforced in the Highlands, and to receive supplies of all kinds from
France and Spain; he therefore retired by Badenoch towards Inverness,
which the earl of Loudon abandoned at his approach. The fort was
surrendered to him almost without opposition, and here he fixed his
head-quarters. His next exploit was the siege of Fort-Augustus, which
he in a little time reduced. The duke of Cumberland having secured
the important posts of Stirling and Perth with the Hessian battalions,
advanced with the army to Aberdeen, where he was joined by the duke of
Gordon, the earls of Aberdeen and Findlater, the laird of Grant, and
other persons of distinction.
THE REBELS UNDERTAKE THE SIEGE OF FORT-WILLIAM.
While he remained in this place, refreshing his troops, and preparing
magazines, a party of the rebels surprised a detachment of Kingston’s
horse, and about seventy Argyleshire highlanders, at Keith, who were
either killed or taken. Several advanced parties of that militia met
with the same fate in different places. Lord George Murray invested the
castle of Blair, which was defended by sir Andrew Agnew, until a body
of Hessians marched to its relief, and obliged the rebels to retire. The
prince-pretender ordered all his forces to assemble, in order to begin
their march for Aberdeen to attack the duke of Cumberland; but, in
consequence of a remonstrance from the clans, who declined leaving
their families at the mercy of the king’s garrison in Fort-William,
he resolved previously to reduce that fortress, the siege of which was
undertaken by brigadier Stapleton, an engineer in the French service;
but the place was so vigorously maintained by captain Scot, that in the
beginning of April they thought proper to relinquish the enterprise. The
earl of Loudon had retired into Sutherland, and taken post at Dornoch,
where his quarters were beat up by a strong detachment of the rebels,
commanded by the duke of Perth; a major and sixty men taken prisoners;
and the earl was obliged to take shelter in the Isle of Skye. These
little checks were counterbalanced by some advantages which his
majesty’s arms obtained. The sloop of war which the rebels had surprised
at Montrose was retaken in Sutherland, with a considerable sum of money,
and a great quantity of arms on board, which she had brought from France
for the use of the pretender. In the same county, the earl of Cromartie
fell into an ambuscade, and was taken by the militia of Sutherland, who
likewise defeated a body of the rebels at Goldspie. This action happened
on the very day which has been rendered famous by the victory obtained
at Culloden.