CHAPTER XVIII.

_Siege of Madras..... Colonel Forde defeats the Marquis de

Conflans near Gola-pool..... Captain Knox takes Rajamundry

and Narsipore..... Colonel Forde takes Masulipatam.....

Surat taken by the English..... Unsuccessful Attack upon

Wandewash..... Admiral Pococke defeats Monsieur d’Apehé.....

Hostilities of the Dutch on the River of Bengal..... Colonel

Coote takes Wandewash..... Defeats General Lally..... and

conquers the Province of Arcot..... State of the

Belligerent Powers in Europe..... Frankfort seized by the

French..... Progress of the Hereditary Prince of

Brunswick..... Prince Ferdinand attacks the French at

Bergen..... The British Ministry appoint an Inspector

General of the Forage..... Prince Ferdinand retreats before

the French Army..... Animosity between the General of the

Allied Army and the Commander of the British Forces..... The

French encamp at Min-den..... and are defeated by the

Allies..... Duke de Brissac routed by the Hereditary Prince

of Brunswick..... General Imhoff takes Munster from the

French..... who retreat before Prince Ferdinand..... The

Hereditary Prince beats up the Duke of Wirtemberg’s Quarters

at Fulda..... A Body of Prussians make an incursion into

Poland..... Prince Henry penetrates into Bohemia..... He

enters Franconia, and obliges the Imperial Army to

retire..... King of Prussia vindicates his Conduct with

respect to his Prisoners..... The Prussian General Wedel

defeated by the Russians at Zullichau..... The King of

Prussia takes the Command of General Wedel’s Corps.....

Battle of Cunersdorf..... Advantages gained by the Prussians

in Saxony..... Prince Henry surprises General Vehla.....

General Finck, with his whole Corps of Prussians, surrounded

and taken by the Austrian General..... Disaster of the

Prussian General Diercke..... Conclusion of the

Campaign..... Arret of the Evangelical Body at Ratisbon.....

The French Ministry stop Payment..... The States-General

send over Deputies to England..... Memorial presented to the

States by Major-General Yorke..... A counter Memorial

presented by the French Minister..... Death of the King of

Spain..... He is succeeded by his brother Don Carlos, who

makes a remarkable Settlement..... Detection and

Punishment of the Conspirators at Lisbon..... Session opened

in England..... Substance of the Addresses..... Supplies

granted..... Ways and Means, Annuities, &c....... Bills for

granting several Duties on Malt, &c...... Petitions for and

against the Prohibition of the Malt Distillery.....

Opposition to the Bill for preventing the excessive

Use of Spirituous Liquors..... Bill for continuing the

Importation of Irish Beef..... Attempt to establish a

Militia in Scotland..... Further Regulations relative to the

Militia of England..... Bill for removing the Powder

Magazine from Greenwich..... Act for improving the Streets

of London..... Bill relative to the Sale of Fish in London

and Westminster..... New Act for ascertaining the

Qualifications of Members of Parliament..... Act for

consolidating the Annuities granted in 1759..... Bill for

securing the Payment of Prize and Bounty Money appropriated

for the Use of Greenwich Hospital..... Act in Favour of

George Keith, late Earl Marshal of Scotland..... Session

closed_

SIEGE OF MADRAS.

While the arms of Great Britain triumphed in Europe and America, her

interest was not suffered to languish in other parts of the world.

This was the season of ambition and activity, in which every separate

armament, every distinct corps, and individual officer, seemed to exert

themselves with the most eager appetite of glory. The East Indies, which

in the course of the preceding year had been the theatre of operations

carried on with various success, exhibited nothing now but a succession

of trophies to the English commanders. The Indian transactions of the

last year were interrupted at that period when the French general,

Lally, was employed in making preparations for the siege of Madras. In

the month of October he had marched into Arcot without opposition; and

in the beginning of December, he advanced towards Madras. On the twelfth

he marched over Choultry plain, in three divisions, cannonaded by the

English artillery with considerable effect, and took post at Egmore

and St. Thome. Colonel Laurence, who commanded the garrison of Madras,

retired to the island, in order to prevent the enemy from taking

possession of the island bridge; and at the same time ordered the posts

to be occupied in the Blacktown, or suburbs of Madras. In the morning of

the fourteenth, the enemy marched with their whole force to attack this

place; the English detachments retreated into the garrison; and within

the hour a grand sally was made, under the command of colonel Draper, a

gallant officer, who signalized himself remarkably on this occasion.

He attacked the regiment of Lorrain with great impetuosity; and in all

probability would have beat them off, had they not been sustained by

the arrival of a fresh brigade. After a very warm dispute, in which many

officers and a great number of men were killed on each side, colonel

Draper was obliged to retreat, not altogether satisfied with the conduct

of his grenadiers. As the garrison of Madras was not very numerous,

nothing further was attempted on their side without the works. In the

meantime, the enemy used all their diligence in erecting batteries

against the fort and town; which being opened on the sixth day of

January, they maintained a continual discharge of shot and shells for

twenty days, advancing their trenches all the time under cover of this

fire, until they reached the breast of the glacis. There they erected a

battery of four pieces of cannon, and opened it on the last day of the

month; but for five days successively they were obliged to close their

embrasures by the superior fire of the fort, and at length to abandon

it entirely: nevertheless, they still maintained a severe fire from the

first grand battery, which was placed at the distance of four hundred

and fifty yards from the defences. This artillery was so well served,

as to disable twenty-six pieces of cannon, three mortars, and effect

an inconsiderable breach. Perhaps they might have had more success, had

they battered in breach from the beginning; but M. Lally, in order

to intimidate the inhabitants, had cruelly bombarded the town, and

demolished the houses: he was, however, happily disappointed in his

expectation by the wise and resolute precautions of governor Pigot; by

the vigilance, conduct, and bravery of the colonels Laurence and Draper,

seconded by the valour and activity of major Brereton, and the spirit

of the inferior officers. The artillery of the garrison was so well

managed, that from the fifth day of February, the fire of the enemy

gradually decreased from twenty-three to six pieces of cannon:

nevertheless, they advanced their sap along the sea-side, so as to

embrace entirely the north-east angle of the covered way, from whence

their musketry drove the besieged. They likewise endeavoured to open a

passage into the ditch by a mine; but sprung it so injudiciously, that

they could make no advantage of it, as it lay exposed to the fire of

several cannon. While these preparations were carried on before the

town, major Caillaud and captain Preston, with a body of sepoys, some of

the country horse, and a few Europeans drawn from the English garrisons

of Trichinopoly and Chingalaput, hovered at the distance of a few miles,

blocking up the roads in such a manner that the enemy were obliged, four

several times, to send large detachments against them, in order to open

the communication: thus the progress of the siege was in a great

measure retarded. On the sixteenth day of February, in the evening,

the Queenborough ship of war, commanded by captain Kempenfeldt, and

the company’s ship the Revenge, arrived in the road of Madras, with a

reinforcement of six hundred men belonging to colonel Draper’s regiment,

and part of them was immediately disembarked. From the beginning of

the siege the enemy had discovered a backwardness in the service, very

unsuitable to their national character. They were ill supplied by their

commissaries and contractors: they were discouraged by the obstinate

defence of the garrison, and all their hope of success vanished at the

arrival of this reinforcement. After a brisk fire, they raised the siege

that very night, abandoning forty pieces of cannon; and having destroyed

the powder-mills at Egmore, retreated to the territory of Arcot. [515]

_[See note 4 A, at the end of this Vol.]_

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

SUCCESS OF COLONEL FORDE.

M. Lally having weakened his forces that were at Masalipatam, under the

conduct of the marquis de Conflans, in order to strengthen the army with

which he undertook the siege of Madras, the rajah of Vizanapore drove

the French garrison from Vizagapatam, and hoisted English colours in

the place. The marquis having put his troops in motion to revenge this

insult, the rajah solicited succour from colonel Clive at Calcutta; and,

with the consent of the council, a body of troops was sent under the

command of colonel Forde to his assistance. They consisted of five

hundred Europeans, including a company of artillery, and sixteen hundred

sepoys; with about fifteen pieces of cannon, one howitzer, and three

mortars. The forces of Conflans were much more considerable. On the

twentieth day of October colonel Forde arrived at Vizagapatam, and made

an agreement with the rajah, who promised to pay the expense of the

expedition, as soon as he should be put in possession of Rajamundry, a

large town and fort possessed by the French. It was stipulated that he

should have all the inland country belonging to the Indian powers in the

French interest, and at present in arms; and that the English

company should retain all the conquered sea-coast from Vizagapatam to

Masulipatam. On the first of November colonel Forde proceeded on his

march; and on the third joined the rajah’s army, consisting of between

three and four thousand men. On the third of December, they came in

sight of the enemy, near the village of Golapool; but the French

declining battle, the colonel determined to draw them from their

advantageous situation, or march round and get between them and

Rajamundry. On the seventh, before day-break, he began his march,

leaving the rajah’s forces on their ground; but the enemy beginning to

cannonade the Indian forces, he, at the request of the rajah, returned

and took them under his protection. Then they marched together to the

village of Colapool, and halted on a small plain about three miles from

their encampment. About nine he formed the line of battle. About ten the

enemy were drawn up, and began the cannonade. The firing on both sides

having continued about forty minutes, the enemy’s line advanced to the

charge with great resolution; and were so warmly received, that, after

several spirited efforts, at eleven they gave way, and retreated in

disorder towards Rajamundry. During this conflict the rajah’s forces

stood as idle spectators, nor could their horse be prevailed upon to

pursue the fugitives. The victory cost the English forty-four Europeans

killed and wounded, including two captains and three lieutenants. The

French lost above three times the number, together with their whole

camp-baggage, thirty-two pieces of cannon, and all their ammunition. A

great number of black forces fell on both sides. The marquis de Conflans

did not remain at Rajamundry, but proceeded to Masulipatam; while

captain Knox, with a detachment from the English army, took possession

of the fort of Rajamundry, which is the barrier and key to the country

of Vizagapatam. This was delivered to the rajah on his paying the

expense of the expedition; and captain Knox being detached with a

battalion of sepoys, took possession of the French factory at Narsipore.

This was also the fate of a small fort at Coucate, which surrendered

to captain Maclean, after having made an obstinate defence. In the

meantime, however, the French army of observation made shift to retake

Rajamundry, where they found a considerable quantity of money, baggage

and effects, belonging to English officers.

Colonel Forde advancing to the neighbourhood of Masulipatam, the marquis

de Conflans with his forces retired within the place, which on the

seventh day of March was invested. By the seventh day of April the

ammunition of the besiegers being almost expended, colonel Forde

determined to give the assault, as two breaches were already made, and

made his disposition accordingly. The attack was begun in the night,

and the assailants arrived at the ditch before they were discovered. But

here they underwent a terrible discharge of grape-shot and musquetry;

notwithstanding which they entered the breaches and drove the enemy from

bastion to bastion. At length, the marquis de Conflans sent an officer

to demand quarter for the garrison, which was granted as soon as he

ordered his men to cease firing. Thus, with about three hundred and

forty European soldiers, a handful of seamen, and seven hundred sepoys,

colonel Forde took by assault the strong town of Masulipatam, garrisoned

by five hundred and twenty-one Europeans, two thousand and thirty-nine

Caffres, Topasses, and sepoys; and here he found above one hundred

and fifty pieces of cannon, with a great quantity of ammunition.

Salabatzing, the suba of De-can, perceiving the success of the English

here as well as at Madras, being sick of his French alliance, and in

dread of his brother Nizam Allée, who had set up a separate interest,

and taken the field against him, made advances to the company, with

which he forthwith concluded a treaty to the following effect:--“The

whole of the circar of Masulipatam shall be given to the English

company. Salabatzing will not suffer the French to have a settlement

in this country, nor keep them in his service, nor give them any

assistance. The English, on their part, will not assist nor give

protection to the suba’s enemies.”--In a few days after Masulipatam

was reduced, two ships arrived in the road with a reinforcement of four

hundred men to the marquis de Conflans; but, understanding the fate of

the place, made the best of their way to Ganjam.

SURAT TAKEN BY THE ENGLISH.

The merchants residing at Surat, finding themselves exposed to

numberless dangers, and every species of oppression, by the sidee who

commanded the castle on one hand, by the governor of the city on the

other, and by the Mahrattas, who had a claim to a certain share of the

revenue, made application to the English presidency at Bombay, desiring

they would equip an expedition for taking possession of the castle and

tanka, and settle the government of the city upon Pharass Cawn, who

had been naib or deputy-governor under Meah Atchund, and regulated the

police to the satisfaction of the inhabitants. The presidency embraced

the proposal: admiral Pococke spared two of his ships for this service.

Eight hundred and fifty men, artillery and infantry, with fifteen

hundred sepoys, under the command of captain Richard Maitland, of the

royal regiment of artillery, were embarked on board the company’s

armed vessels commanded by captain Watson, who sailed on the ninth

of February. On the fifteenth they were landed at a place called

Dentiloury, about nine miles from Surat; and here they were encamped for

refreshment: in two days he advanced against the French garden, in which

a considerable number of the sidee’s men were posted, and drove them

from thence after a very obstinate dispute. Then he erected a battery,

from which he battered the wall in breach: but this method appearing

tedious, he called a council of war, composed of the land and

sea-officers, and laid before them the plan of a general attack, which

was accordingly executed next morning. The company’s grab, and the

bomb-ketches, being warped up the river in the night, were ranged in

a line of battle opposite to the Bundar, which was the strongest

fortification that the enemy possessed; and under the fire of these the

troops being landed, took the Bundar by assault. The outward town being

thus gained, he forthwith began to bombard the inner town and castle

with such fury, that next morning they both surrendered, on condition

of being allowed to inarch out with their effects; and captain Maitland

took possession without further dispute. Meah Atchund was continued

governor of Surat, and Pharass Cawn was appointed naib. The artillery

and ammunition found in the castle were secured for the company, until

the mogul’s pleasure was known; and in a little time a phirmaund, or

grant, arrived from Delhi, appointing the English company admiral to the

mogul; so that the ships and stores belonged to them of course, as part

of the tanka; and they were now declared legal possessors of the

castle. This conquest, which cost about two hundred men, including

a few officers, was achieved with such expedition, that captain Watson

returned to Bombay by the ninth day of April.

The main body of the English forces, which had been centered at Madras,

for the preservation of that important settlement, took the field after

the siege was raised, and possessed themselves of Conjeveram, a place

of great consequence; which, with the fort of Schengelpel, commanded

all the adjacent country, and secured the British possessions to the

northward. M. Lally, sensible of the importance of the post, took the

same route in order to dislodge them; but finding all his attempts

ineffectual, he retired towards Wandewash, where his troops were put

into quarters of cantonment. No other operations ensued till the month

of September; when major Brere-ton, who commanded the English forces,

being joined by major Gordon with three hundred men of colonel Coote’s

battalion, resolved to attack the enemy in his turn. On the fourteenth

day of the month he began his march from Conjeveram for Wandewash,

at the head of four hundred Europeans, seven thousand sepoys, seventy

European and three hundred black horse, with fourteen pieces of

artillery. In his march he invested and took the fort of Trivitar; from

whence he proceeded to the village of Wandewash, where the French, to

the number of one thousand, were strongly encamped under the guns of a

fort, commanded by a rajah, mounting twenty cannon, under the direction

of a French gunner. On the thirteenth day of September, at two in the

morning, the English attacked the village in three different places, and

drove them from it after a very obstinate dispute; but this advantage

they were not able to maintain. The black pioneers ran away during the

attack, so that proper traverses could not be made in the streets; and

at day-break the fort poured in upon them a prodigious discharge of

grape-shot with considerable effect. The enemy had retired to a dry

ditch, which served as an intrenchment, from whence they made furious

sallies; and a body of three hundred European horse were already in

motion, to fall upon and complete their confusion. In this emergency,

they retired in disorder; and might have been entirely ruined, had not

the body of reserve effectually covered their retreat: yet this could

not be effected without the loss of several officers, and above three

hundred men killed and wounded. After this mortifying check, they

encamped a few days in sight of the fort, and, the rainy season setting

in, returned to Conjeveram. The fort of Wandewash was afterwards

garrisoned by French and sepoys; and the other forces of the enemy were

assembled by brigadier-general de Bussy, at Arcot.

ADMIRAL POCOCKE DEFEATS MONSIEUR D’APCHE.

During these transactions by land, the superiority at sea was still

disputed between the English and French admirals. On the first day of

September, vice-admiral Pococke sailed from Madras to the southward, in

quest of the enemy, and next day descried the French fleet, consisting

of fifteen sail, standing to the northward. He forthwith threw out the

signal for a general chase, and stood towards them with all the sail he

could carry; but the wind abating, he could not approach near enough to

engage. During the three succeeding days, he used his utmost endeavours

to bring them to a battle, which they still declined, and at last

they disappeared. He then directed his course to Pondicherry, on the

supposition that they were bound to that harbour; and on the eighth day

of the month perceived them standing to the southward: but he could not

bring them to an engagement till the tenth, when M. d’Apché, about two

in the afternoon, made the signal for battle, and the cannonading began

without further delay. The British squadron did not exceed nine ships

of the line; the enemy’s fleet consisted of eleven; but they had still a

greater advantage in number of men and artillery. Both squadrons fought

with great impetuosity till about ten minutes after four, when the

enemy’s rear began to give way: this example was soon followed by

their centre; and finally the van, with the whole squadron, bore to the

south-south-east, with all the canvass they could spread. The British

squadron was so much damaged in their masts and rigging, that they could

not pursue; so that M. d’Apché retreated at his leisure unmolested. On

the fifteenth, admiral Pococke returned to Madras, where his squadron

being repaired by the twenty-sixth, he sailed again to Pondicherry, and

in the road saw the enemy lying at anchor in line of battle. The wind

being off shore, he made the line of battle a-head, and for some time

continued in this situation. At length the French admiral weighed

anchor, and came forth; but instead of bearing down upon the English

squadron, which had fallen to leeward, he kept close to the wind, and

stretched away to the southward. Admiral Pococke finding him averse

to another engagement, and his own squadron being in no condition to

pursue, he, with the advice of his captains, desisted, and measured back

his course to Madras. On the side of the English, above three hundred

men were killed in the engagement, including captain Miche, who

commanded the Newcastle, captain Gore of the marines, two lieutenants,

a master gunner, and boatswain: the captains Somerset and Brereton, with

about two hundred and fifty men, were wounded; and many of the ships

considerably damaged. The loss of the enemy must have been much more

considerable, because the English in battle always fire at the body of

the ship; because the French squadron was crowded with men; because they

gave way, and declined a second engagement; and, finally, because they

now made the best of their way to the island of Mauritius, in order to

be refitted, having on board general Lally and some other officers. Thus

they left the English masters of the Indian coast; superiority still

more confirmed by the arrival of rear-admiral Cornish, with four ships

of the line, who had set sail from England in the beginning of the year,

and joined admiral Pococke at Madras on the eighteenth day of October.

HOSTILITIES OF THE DUTCH.

The French were not the only enemies with whom the English had to cope

in the East Indies. The great extension of their trade in the kingdom

of Bengal, had excited the envy and avarice of the Dutch factory,

who possessed a strong fort at Chinchura, on the river of Bengal;

and resolved, if possible, to engross the whole saltpetre branch of

commerce. They had, without doubt, tampered with the new suba, who

lay under such obligations to the English, and probably secured his

connivance. Their scheme was approved by the governor of Batavia, who

charged himself with the execution of it; and, for that purpose, chose

the opportunity when the British squadron had retired to the coast of

Malabar. On pretence of reinforcing the Dutch garrisons in Bengal,

he equipped an armament of seven ships, having on board five hundred

European troops, and six hundred Malayese, under the command of colonel

Russel. This armament having touched at Negapatam, proceeded up the

bay, and arrived in the river of Bengal about the beginning of October.

Colonel Clive, who then resided at Calcutta, had received information

of their design, which he was resolved, at all events, to defeat. He

complained to the suba; who, upon such application, could not decently

refuse an order to the director and council of Hughley, implying that

this armament should not proceed up the river. The colonel, at the same

time, sent a letter to the Dutch commodore, intimating that, as he had

received intimation of their design, he could not allow them to land

forces, and march to Chinchura. In answer to this declaration, the Dutch

commodore, whose whole fleet had not yet arrived, assured the English

commander that he had no intention to send any forces to Chinchura; and

begged liberty to land some of his troops for refreshment--a favour that

was granted, on condition that they should not advance. Notwithstanding

the suba’s order, and his own engagement to this effect, the rest of

the ships were no sooner arrived, than he proceeded up the river to the

neighbourhood of Tannah-fort, where his forces being disembarked, began

their march to Chinchura. In the meantime, by way of retaliating the

affront he pretended to have sustained in being denied a passage to

their own factory, he took several small vessels on the river belonging

to the English company; and the Calcutta Indiaman, commanded by captain

Wilson, homeward-bound, sailing down the river, the Dutchman gave him

to understand, that if he presumed to pass he would sink him without

further ceremony. The English captain seeing them run out their guns

as if really resolved to put their threats in execution, returned to

Calcutta, where two other India ships lay at anchor, and reported his

adventure to colonel Clive, who forthwith ordered the three ships to

prepare for battle, and attack the Dutch armament. The ships being

properly manned, and their sides lined with saltpetre, they fell down

the river, and found the Dutch squadron drawn up in a line of battle, in

order to give them a warm reception, for which indeed they seemed well

prepared; for three of them were mounted with thirty-six guns each,

three of them with twenty-six, and the seventh carried sixteen. The

duke of Dorset, commanded by captain Forrester, being the first that

approached them, dropped anchor close to their line, and began the

engagement with a broadside, which was immediately returned. A dead calm

unfortunately intervening, this single ship was for a considerable time

exposed to the whole fire of the enemy; but a small breeze springing up,

the Calcutta and the Hard wick advanced to her assistance, and a severe

fire was maintained on both sides, till two of the Dutch ships, slipping

their cables, bore away, and a third was driven ashore. Their commodore,

thus weakened, after a few broadsides struck his flag to captain

Wilson, and the other three followed his example. The victory being

thus obtained, without the loss of one man on the side of the English,

captain Wilson took possession of the prizes, the decks of which

were strewed with carnage, and sent the prisoners to colonel Clive at

Calcutta. The detachment of troops which they had landed, to the number

of eleven hundred men, was not more fortunate in their progress. Colonel

Clive no sooner received intelligence that they were in full march to

Chinchura, than he detached colonel Forde with five hundred men from

Calcutta, in order to oppose and put a stop to their march at the French

gardens. He accordingly advanced to the northward, and entered the town

of Chandernagore, where he sustained the fire of a Dutch party sent out

from Chinchura to join and conduct the expected reinforcement. These

being routed and dispersed, after a short action, colonel Forde in the

morning proceeded to a plain in the neighbourhood of Chinchura, where he

found the enemy prepared to give him battle on the twenty-fifth day of

November. They even advanced to the charge with great resolution and

activity; but found the fire of the English artillery and battalion so

intolerably hot, that they soon gave way, and were totally defeated.

A considerable number were killed, and the greater part of those who

survived the action were taken prisoners. During this contest, the

nabob, at the head of a considerable army, observed a suspicious

neutrality; and in all likelihood would have declared for the Dutch had

they proved victorious, as he had reason to believe they would, from

their great superiority in number. But fortune no sooner determined

in favour of the English, than he made a tender of his service to the

victor, and even offered to reduce Chinchura with his own army. In the

meantime, proposals of accommodation being sent to him by the directors

and council of the Dutch factory at Chinchura, a negotiation ensued, and

a treaty was concluded to the satisfaction of all parties. Above three

hundred of the prisoners entered into the service of Great Britain; the

rest embarked on board their ships, which were restored as soon as the

peace was ratified, and set out on their return for Batavia. After all,

perhaps, the Dutch company meant nothing more than to put their factory

of Chinchura on a more respectable footing; and, by acquiring greater

weight and consequence among the people of the country than they

formerly possessed, the more easily extend their commerce in that part

of the world. At any rate, it will admit of a dispute among those who

profess the law of nature and nations, whether the Dutch company could

be justly debarred the privilege of sending a reinforcement to their

own garrisons. Be that as it will, the ships were not restored until the

factory at Chinchura had given security to indemnify the English for the

damage they had sustained on this occasion.

COLONEL COOTE TAKES WANDEWASH.

The success of the English army was still more conspicuous on the

coast of Coromandel. The governor and council of Madras having received

information that the French general, Lally, had sent a detachment of

his army to the southward, taking Syringham, and threatened Trichinopoly

with a siege, it was determined that colonel Coote, who had lately

arrived from England, should take the field, and endeavour to make a

diversion to the southward. He accordingly began his march at the head

of seventeen hundred Europeans, including cavalry, and three thousand

blacks, with fourteen pieces of cannon and one howitzer. On the

twenty-seventh day of November, he invested the fort of Wandewash:

having made a practicable breach, the garrison, consisting of near nine

hundred men, surrendered prisoners of war; and he found in the place

forty-nine pieces of cannon, with a great quantity of ammunition. Then

he undertook the siege of Carangoly, a fortress commanded by colonel

O’Kennely, at the head of one hundred Europeans, and five hundred

sepoys. In a few days he dismounted the greater part of their guns; and

they submitted, on condition that the Europeans should be allowed to

march out with the honours of war, but the sepoys were disarmed and

dismissed.

General Lally, alarmed at the progress of this brave, vigilant, and

enterprising officer, assembled all his forces at Arcot, to the number

of two thousand two hundred Europeans, including horse; three hundred

Caffres, and ten thousand black troops, or sepoys; with five-and-twenty

pieces of cannon. Of these he assumed the command in person; and on

the tenth day of January began his march in order to recover Wandewash.

Colonel Coote, having received intelligence on the twelfth that he had

taken possession of Conjeveram, endeavoured by a forced march to

save the place, which they accordingly abandoned at his approach, and

pursuing their march to Wandewash, invested the fort without delay. The

English commander passed the river Palla, in order to follow the same

route; and, on the twenty-first day of the month, understanding that a

breach was already made, resolved to give them battle without further

delay. The cavalry being formed, and supported by five companies of

sepoys, he advanced against the enemy’s horse, which being at the same

time galled by two pieces of cannon, retired with precipitation.

Then colonel Coote, having taken possession of a tank which they had

occupied, returned to the line, which was by this time formed in order

of battle. Seeing the men in high spirits, and eager to engage, he

ordered the whole army to advance; and by nine in the morning they were

within two miles of the enemy’s camp, where they halted about half an

hour. During this interval, the colonel reconnoitred the situation

of the French forces, who were very advantageously posted; and made a

movement to the right, which obliged them to alter their disposition.

They now advanced, in their turn, within three quarters of a mile of the

English line, and the cannonading began with great fury on both sides.

About noon their European cavalry coming up with a resolute air to

charge the left of the English, colonel Coote brought up some companies

of sepoys, and two pieces of cannon, to sustain the horse, which were

ordered to oppose them; and these advancing on their flank, disturbed

them so much that they broke, and were driven by the English cavalry

above a mile from the left, upon the rear of their own army. Meanwhile,

both lines continued advancing to each other; and about one o’clock

the firing with small-arms began with great vivacity. One of the French

tumbrils being blown up by an accidental shot, the English commander

took immediate advantage of their confusion. He ordered major Brere-ton

to wheel Draper’s regiment to the left, and fall upon the enemy’s flank.

This service was performed with such resolution and success, that

the left wing of the French was completely routed and fell upon their

centre, now closely engaged with the left of the English. About two

in the afternoon their whole line gave way, and fled towards their own

camp; which, perceiving themselves closely pursued, they precipitately

abandoned, together with twenty-two pieces of cannon. In this engagement

they lost about eight hundred men killed and wounded, besides about

fifty prisoners, including brigadier-general de Bussy, the chevalier

Godeville, quarter-master-general, lieutenant-colonel Murphy, three

captains, five lieutenants, and some other officers. On the side of the

English two hundred and sixty-two were killed or wounded, and among the

former the gallant and accomplished major Brereton, whose death was a

real loss to his country.

COLONEL COOTE CONQUERS ARCOT.

General Lally having retreated with his broken troops to Pondicherry,

the baron de Vasserot was detached towards the same place, with a

thousand horse and three hundred sepoys, to ravage and lay waste the

French territory. In the meantime, the indefatigable colonel Coote

undertook the siege of Chilliput, which in two days was surrendered by

the chevalier de Tilly; himself and his garrison remaining prisoners of

war. Such also was the fate of fort Timmery; which being reduced, the

colonel prosecuted his march to Arcot, the capital of the province,

against the fort of which he opened his batteries on the fifth day of

February. When he had carried on his approaches within sixty yards of

the crest of the glacis, the garrison, consisting of two hundred and

fifty Europeans, and near three hundred sepoys, surrendered as prisoners

of war; and here the English commander found two-and-twenty pieces of

cannon, four mortars, and a great quantity of all kinds of military

stores. Thus the campaign was gloriously finished with the conquest of

Arcot; after the French army had been routed and ruined by the diligence

of colonel Coote, whose courage, conduct, and activity, cannot be

sufficiently admired. The reader will perceive, that, rather than

interrupt the thread of such an interesting narration, we have ventured

to encroach upon the annals of the year one thousand seven hundred and

sixty.

STATE OF THE BELLIGERENT POWERS IN EUROPE.

Having thus followed the British banners through the glorious tracks

they pursued in different parts of Asia and America, we must now convert

our attention to the continent of Europe, where the English arms, in

the course of this year, triumphed with equal lustre and advantage.

But first it may be necessary to sketch out the situation in which the

belligerent powers were found at the close of winter. The vicissitudes

of fortune with which the preceding campaign had been chequered, were

sufficient to convince every potentate concerned in the war, that

neither side possessed such a superiority in strength or conduct as was

requisite to impose terms upon the other. Battles had been fought with

various success; and surprising efforts of military skill had been

exhibited, without producing one event which tended to promote a general

peace, or even engender the least desire of, accommodation. On the

contrary, the first and most violent transports of animosity had by this

time subsided into a confirmed habit of deliberate hatred; and every

contending power seemed more than ever determined to protract the

dispute; while the neutral states kept aloof, without expressing

the least desire of interposing their mediation. Some of them were

restrained by considerations of conveniency; and others waited in

suspense for the death of the Spanish monarch, as an event which, they

imagined, would be attended with very important consequences in the

southern parts of Europe. With respect to the maintenance of the war,

whatever difficulties might have arisen in settling funds to support the

expense, and finding men to recruit the different armies, certain it

is all these difficulties were surmounted before the opening of the

campaign. The court of Vienna, though hampered by the narrowness of its

finances, still found resources in the fertility of its provinces,

in the number and attachment of its subjects, who more than any other

people in Europe acquiesce in the dispositions of their sovereign; and,

when pay cannot be afforded, willingly contribute free quarters for the

subsistence of the army. The czarina, though she complained that the

stipulated subsidies were ill paid, nevertheless persisted in pursuing

those favourite aims which had for some time influenced her conduct;

namely, her personal animosity to the king of Prussia, and her desire of

obtaining a permanent interest in the German empire. Sweden still made a

show of hostility against the Prussian monarch, but continued to slumber

over the engagements she had contracted. France, exhausted in her

finances, and abridged of her marine commerce, maintained a resolute

countenance; supplied fresh armies for her operations in Westphalia;

projected new schemes of conquest; and cajoled her allies with fair

promises, when she had nothing more solid to bestow. The king of

Prussia’s dominions were generally drained, or in the hands of the

enemy; but to balance these disadvantages he kept possession of Saxony;

and enjoyed his annual subsidy from Great Britain, which effectually

enabled him to maintain his armies on a respectable footing, and open

the campaign with equal eagerness and confidence.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

FRANCKFORT SEIZED BY THE FRENCH.

The Hanoverian army, commanded by prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, was

strengthened by fresh reinforcements from England, augmented with German

recruits, regularly paid, and well supplied with every comfort and

convenience which foresight could suggest, or money procure; yet, in

spite of all the precautions that could be taken, they were cut off from

some resources which the French, in the beginning of the year, opened

to themselves by a flagrant stroke of perfidy, which even the extreme

necessities of a campaign can hardly excuse. On the second day of

January, the French regiment of Nassau presented itself before the gates

of Franckfort-on-the-Maine, a neutral imperial city; and, demanding

a passage, it was introduced, and conducted by a detachment of the

garrison through the city as far as the gate of Saxenhausen, where it

unexpectedly halted, and immediately disarmed the guards. Before the

inhabitants could recover from the consternation into which they were

thrown by this outrageous insult, five other French regiments entered

the place; and here their general, the prince de Soubise, established

his head-quarters. How deeply soever this violation of the laws of the

empire might be resented by all honest Germans, who retained affection

for the constitution of their country, it was a step from which the

French army derived a very manifest and important advantage; for it

secured to them the course of the Maine and the Upper Rhine; by which

they received, without difficulty or danger, every species of supply

from Mentz, Spire, Worms, and even the country of Alsace, while it

maintained their communication with the chain formed by the Austrian

forces and the army of the empire.

PROGRESS OF THE HEREDITARY PRINCE OF BRUNSWICK.

The scheme of operation for the ensuing campaign was already formed

between the king of Prussia and prince Ferdinand of Brunswick; and

before the armies took the field, several skirmishes were fought

and quarters surprised. In the latter end of February, the prince of

Ysembourg detached major-general Urst with four battalions and a body of

horse; who, assembling in Rhotenbourg, surprised the enemy’s quarters in

the night between the first and second day of March, and drove them

from Hirchfield, Vacha, and all the Hessian bailiwicks of which they had

taken possession; but the Austrians soon returning in greater numbers,

and being supported by a detachment of French troops from Franckfort,

the allies fell back in their turn. In a few days, however, they

themselves retreated again with great precipitation, though they did not

all escape. The hereditary prince of Brunswick, with a body of Prussian

hussars, fell upon them suddenly at Molrichstadt, where he routed and

dispersed a regiment of Hohenzollern cuirassiers, and a battalion of the

troops of Wurtzburg. He next day, which was the first of April,

advanced with a body of horse and foot to Meinungen, where he found a

considerable magazine, took two battalions prisoners, and surprised a

third posted at Wafungen, after having defeated some Austrian troops

that were on the march to its relief. While the hereditary prince

was thus employed, the duke of Holstein, with another body of the

confederates, dislodged the French from the post of Freyingstenau.

PRINCE FERDINAND ATTACKS THE FRENCH.

But the great object was to drive the enemy from Franckfort, before

they should receive the expected reinforcements. Prince Ferdinand of

Brunswick being determined upon this enterprise, assembled all his

forces near Fulda, to the amount of forty thousand choice troops, and

began his march on the tenth day of April. On the thirteenth he came in

sight of the enemy, whom he found strongly encamped about the village

of Bergen, between Franckfort and Hanau. Their general, the duke de

Broglio, counted one of the best officers in France with respect to

conduct and intrepidity, having received intelligence of the prince’s

design, occupied this post on the twelfth; the right of his army being

at Bergen, and his centre and flanks secured in such a manner, that the

allies could not make their attack any other way but by the village.

Notwithstanding the advantage of their situation, prince Ferdinand

resolved to give them battle, and made his dispositions accordingly.

About ten in the morning, the grenadiers of the advanced guard began

the attack on the village of Bergen with great vivacity, and sustained

a most terrible fire from eight German battalions, supported by several

brigades of French infantry. The grenadiers of the allied army, though

reinforced by several battalions under the command of the prince of

Ysembourg, far from dislodging the enemy from the village, were, after a

very obstinate dispute, obliged to retreat in some disorder, but rallied

again behind a body of Hessian cavalry. The allies being repulsed in

three different attacks, their general made a new disposition, and

brought up his artillery, with which the village, and different parts

of the French line, were severely cannonaded. They were not slow in

retorting an equal fire, which continued till night, when the allies

retreated to Windekin, with the loss of five pieces of cannon, and about

two thousand men, including the prince of Ysembourg, who fell in the

action. The French, by the nature of their situation, could not suffer

much; but they were so effectually amused by the artful disposition of

prince Ferdinand, that instead of taking measures to harass him in his

retreat, they carefully maintained their situation, apprehensive of

another general attack. Indeed, they had great reason to be satisfied

with the issue of this battle, without risking in any measure the

advantage which they had gained. It was their business to remain quiet

until their reinforcements should arrive, and this plan they invariably

pursued. On the other hand, the allies, in consequence of their

miscarriage, were reduced to the necessity of acting upon the defensive,

and encountering a great number of difficulties and inconveniences

during great part of the campaign, until the misconduct of the enemy

turned the scale in their favour. In the meantime, the prince thought

proper to begin his retreat in the night towards Fulda, in which his

rear suffered considerably from a body of the enemy’s light troops under

the command of M. de Blaisel, who surprised two squadrons of dragoons

and a battalion of grenadiers. The first were taken or dispersed, the

last escaped with the loss of their baggage. The allied army returned

to their cantonments about Munster, and the prince began to make

preparations for taking the field in earnest.

While the French enjoyed plenty in the neighbourhood of Dusseldorp and

Creveldt, by means of the Rhine, the allies laboured under a dearth and

scarcity of every species of provisions, because the country which they

occupied was already exhausted, and all the supplies were brought from

an immense distance. The single article of forage occasioned such an

enormous expense, as alarmed the administration of Great Britain, who,

in order to prevent mismanagement and fraud for the future, nominated a

member of parliament inspector-general of the forage, and sent him over

to Germany in the beginning of the year, with the rank and appointments

of a general officer, that the importance of his character, and the

nature of his office, might be a check upon those who were suspected of

iniquitous appropriations. This gentleman is said to have met with such

a cold reception, and so many mortifications in the execution of his

office, that he was in a very little time sick of his employment. An

inquiry into the causes of his reception, and of the practices which

rendered it necessary to appoint such a superintendent, may be the

province of some future historian, when truth may be investigated

freely, without any apprehension of pains and penalties.

RETREAT OF PRINCE FERDINAND.

While great part of the allied army remained in cantonments about

Munster, the French armies on the Upper and Lower Rhine, being put in

motion, joined on the third day of June near Marburgh, under the command

of the mareschal de Contades, who advanced to the northward, and fixed

his head-quarters at Corbach, from whence he detached a body of light

troops to take possession of Cassel, which, at his approach, was

abandoned by general Imhoff. The French army being encamped at

Stadtberg, the duke de Broglio, who commanded the right wing, advanced

from Cassel into the territories of Hanover, where he occupied

Gottin-gen without opposition; while the allied army assembled in the

neighbourhood of Lipstadt, and encamped about Soest and Werle. Prince

Ferdinand, finding himself inferior to the united forces of the enemy,

was obliged to retire as they advanced, after having left strong

garrisons in Lipstadt, Retberg, Munster, and Minden. These precautions,

however, seemed to produce little effect in his favour. Retberg was

surprised by the duke de Broglio, who likewise took Minden by assault,

and made general Zastrow, with his garrison of fifteen hundred men,

prisoners of war, a misfortune considerably aggravated by the loss of

an immense magazine of hay and corn, which fell into the hands of

the enemy. They likewise made themselves masters of Munster, invested

Lipstadt, and all their operations were hitherto crowned with success.

The regency of Hanover, alarmed at their progress, resolved to provide

for the worst, by sending their chancery and most valuable effects to

Stade, from whence, in case of necessity, they might be conveyed by sea

to England.

In the meantime they exerted all their industry in pressing men for

recruiting and reinforcing the army under prince Ferdinand, who still

continued to retire; and on the eleventh day of July removed his

headquarters from Osnabruck to Bompte, near the Weser. Here having

received advice that Minden was taken by the French, he sent forward a

detachment to secure the post of Soltznau on that river, where on the

fifteenth he encamped.

ANIMOSITY BETWEEN PRINCE FERDINAND AND THE BRITISH COMMANDER.

The general of the allied army had for some time exhibited marks of

animosity towards lord George Sackville, the second in command, whose

extensive understanding, penetrating eye, and inquisitive spirit, could

neither be deceived, dazzled, nor soothed into tame acquiescence. He

had opposed, with all his influence, a design of retiring towards the

frontiers of Brunswick in order to cover that country. He supported his

opposition by alleging, that it was the enemy’s favourite object to cut

off their communication with the Weser and the Elbe, in which, should

they succeed, it would be found impossible to transport the British

troops to their own country, which was at that time threatened with an

invasion. He, therefore, insisted on the army’s retreating, so as to

keep the communication open with Stade, where, in case of emergency,

the English troops might be embarked. By adhering tenaciously to this

opinion, and exhibiting other instances of a prying disposition, he had

rendered himself so disagreeable to the commander-in-chief, that, in all

appearance, nothing was so eagerly desired as an opportunity of removing

him from the station he filled.

THE FRENCH ENCAMP AT MINDEN.

Meanwhile the French general advancing to Minden, encamped in a strong

situation; having that town on his right, a steep hill on his left, a

morass in front, and a rivulet in rear. The duke de Broglio commanded

a separate body between Hansbergen and Minden, on the other side of

the Weser; and a third, under the duke de Brissac, consisting of eight

thousand men, occupied a strong post by the village of Coveldt, to

facilitate the route of the convoy’s from Paderborn. Prince Ferdinand

having moved his camp from Soltznau to Petershagen, detached the

hereditary prince on the twenty-eighth day of July to Lubeck, from

whence he drove the enemy, and proceeding to Rimsel, was joined by

major-general Dreves, who had retaken Osnabruck, and cleared all

that neighbourhood of the enemy’s parties: then he advanced towards

Hervorden, and fixed his quarters at Kirchlinneger, to hamper the

enemy’s convoys from Paderborn. During these transactions, prince

Ferdinand marched with the allied army in three columns from Petershagen

to Hille, where it encamped, having a morass on the right, the village

of Fredewalde on the left, and in front those of Northemmern and

Holtzenhausen. Fifteen battalions and nineteen squadrons, with a brigade

of heavy artillery, were left under the command of general Wangenheim,

on the left, behind the village of Dodenhausen, which was fortified with

some redoubts, defended by two battalions. Colonel Luckner, with the

Hanoverian hussars and a brigade of hunters, sustained by two battalions

of grenadiers, was posted between Buckebourg and the Weser, to observe

the body of troops commanded by the duke de Broglio on the other side of

the river.

On the last day of July, the mareschal de Contades, resolving to attack

the allied army, ordered the corps of Broglio to repass the river; and,

advancing in eight columns, about midnight, passed the rivulet of

Barta, that runs along the morass and falls into the Weser at Minden. At

day-break he formed his army in order of battle: part of it fronting the

corps of general Wangenheim at Dodenhausen, and part of it facing Hille;

the two wings consisting of infantry, and the cavalry being stationed

in the centre. At three in the morning the enemy began to cannonade the

prince’s quarters at Hille, from a battery of six cannon, which they

had raised in the preceding evening on the dike of Rickhorst. This

was probably the first intimation he received of their intention. He

forthwith caused two pieces of artillery to be conveyed to Hille; and

ordered the officer of the piquet-guard posted there to defend himself

to the last extremity; at the same time he sent orders to general

Giesen, who occupied Lubeck, to attack the enemy’s post at Eickhorst;

and this service was successfully performed. The prince of Anhalt,

lieutenant-general for the day, took possession with the rest of the

piquets of the village of Halen, where prince Ferdinand resolved to

support his right. It was already in the hands of the enemy, but they

soon abandoned it with precipitation. The allied army being put in

motion, advanced in eight columns, and occupied the ground between

Halen and Hemmern, while general Wangenheim’s corps filled up the

space between this last village and Dodenhausen. The enemy made their

principal effort on the left, intending to force the infantry of

Wangenheim’s corps, and penetrate between it and the body of the allied

army. For this purpose the duke de Broglio attacked them with great

fury; but was severely checked by a battery of thirty cannon, prepared

for his reception by the count de Buckebourg, grand master of the

artillery, and served with admirable effect, under his own eye and

direction. About five in the morning both armies cannonaded each other:

at six the fire of musketry began with great vivacity; and the action

became very hot towards the right, where six regiments of English

infantry, and two battalions of Hanoverian guards, not only bore the

whole brunt of the French carabineers and gendarmerie, but absolutely

broke every body of horse and foot that advanced to attack them on the

left and in the centre. The Hessian cavalry, with some regiments

of Holstein, Prussian, and Hanoverian dragoons, posted on the left,

performed good service. The cavalry on the right had no opportunity of

engaging. They were destined to support the infantry of the third line:

they consisted of the British and Hanoverian horse, commanded by lord

George Sackville, whose second was the marquis of Granby. They were

posted at a considerable distance from the first line of infantry, and

divided from it by a scanty wood that bordered on a heath. Orders were

sent, during the action, to bring them up; but whether these orders were

contradictory, unintelligible, or imperfectly excited, they did not

arrive in time to have any share in the action [521] _[See note 4 B, at

the end of this Vol.]_; nor, indeed, were they originally intended for

that purpose; nor was there the least occasion for their service; nor

could they have come up in time and condition to perform effectual

service, had the orders been explicit and consistent, and the commander

acted with all possible expedition. Be that as it will, the enemy were

repulsed in all their attacks with considerable loss; at length they

gave way in every part, and, about noon, abandoning the field of battle,

were pursued to the ramparts of Minden. In this action they lost a

great number of men, with forty-three large cannon, and many colours and

standards; whereas the loss of the allies was very inconsiderable, as

it chiefly fell upon a few regiments of British infantry, commanded by

the major-generals Waldegrave and Kingsley. To the extraordinary prowess

of these gallant brigades, and the fire of the British artillery, which

was admirably served by the captains Philips, Macbean, Drummond, and

Foy, the victory was in a great measure ascribed. The same night the

enemy passed the Weser and burnt the bridges over that river. Next day

the garrison of Minden surrendered at discretion; and here the victors

found a great number of French officers wounded.

DUKE DE BRISSAC ROUTED.

At last the mareschal de Contades seemed inclined to retreat through the

defiles of Wittekendstein to Paderborn; but he was fain to change his

resolution, in consequence of his having received advice, that on the

very day of his own defeat the duke de Brissac was vanquished by the

hereditary prince in the neighbourhood of Coveldt, so that the passage

of the mountains was rendered impracticable. The duke de Brissac had

been advantageously encamped, with his left to the village of Coveldt,

having the Werra in his front, and his right extending to the salt-pits.

In this advantageous situation he was attacked by the hereditary prince

and general de Kilmanseg, with such vivacity and address that his troops

were totally routed, with the loss of six cannon, and a considerable

number of men killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. After the battle of

Minden, colonel Freytag, at the head of the light troops, took, in the

neighbourhood of Detmold, all the equipage of the mareschal de Contades,

the prince of Condé, and the duke de Brissac, with part of their

military chest and chancery, containing papers of the utmost

consequence. [522] _[See note 4 C, at the end of this Vol.]_

GENERAL IMHOFF TAKES MUNSTER.

Prince Ferdinand having garrisoned Minden, marched to Hervorden; and the

hereditary prince passed the Weser at Hamelen, in order to pursue the

enemy, who retreated to Cassel, and from thence by the way of Marburg

as far as Giessen. In a word, they were continually harassed by

that enterprising prince, who seized every opportunity of making an

impression upon their army, took the greatest part of their baggage, and

compelled them to abandon every place they possessed in Westphalia. The

number of his prisoners amounted to fifteen hundred men, besides the

garrison left at Cassel, which surrendered at discretion. He likewise

surprised a whole battalion, and defeated a considerable detachment

under the command of M. d’Armentieres. In the meantime, the allied

army advanced in regular marches; and prince Ferdinand, having taken

possession of Cassel, detached general Imhoff with a body of troops to

reduce the city of Munster, which he accordingly began to bombard and

cannonade; but d’Armentieres being joined by a fresh body of troops

from the Lower Rhine, advanced to its relief, and compelled Imhoff to

raise the siege. It was not long, however, before this general was also

reinforced; then he measured back his march to Munster, and the French

commander withdrew in his turn. The place was immediately shut up by

a close blockade, which, however, did not prevent the introduction

of supplies. The city of Munster being an object of importance, was

disputed with great obstinacy. Armentieres received reinforcements, and

the body commanded by Imhoff was occasionally augmented; But the siege

was not formally undertaken till November, when some heavy artillery

being brought from England, the place was regularly invested, and the

operations carried on with such vigour, that in a few days the city

surrendered on capitulation.

Prince Ferdinand having possessed himself of the town and castle of

Marburg, proceeded with the army to Neidar-Weimar, and there encamped;

while Contades remained at Giessen, on the south side of the river

Lahn, where he was joined by a colleague in the person of the mareschal

d’Etrées. By this time he was become very unpopular among the troops, on

account of the defeat at Minden, which he is said to have charged on the

misconduct of Broglio, who recriminated on him in his turn, and seemed

to gain credit at the court of Versailles. While the two armies

lay encamped in the neighbourhood of each other, nothing passed but

skirmishes among the light troops, and little excursive expeditions.

The French army was employed in removing their magazines, and

fortifying Giessen, as if their intention was to retreat to

Franckfort-on-the-Maine, after having consumed all the forage, and made

a military desert between the Lahn and that river. In the beginning

of November, the duke de Broglio returned from Paris, and assumed the

command of the army, from whence Contades and d’Etrêes immediately

retired, with several other general officers that were senior to the new

commander.

The duke of Wirtemberg having taken possession of Fulda, the hereditary

prince of Brunswick resolved to beat up his quarters. For this purpose

he selected a body of troops, and began his march from Marburg early in

the morning on the twenty-eighth day of November. Next night they lay

at Augerbauch, where they defeated the volunteers of Nassau; and at one

o’clock in the morning of the thirtieth they marched directly to Fulda:

where the duke of Wirtemberg, far from expecting such a visit,

had invited all the fashionable people in Fulda to a sumptuous

entertainment. The hereditary prince having reconnoitred the avenues

in person, took such measures, that the troops of Wirtemberg, who were

scattered in small bodies, would have been cut off if they had not

hastily retired into the town, where however they found no shelter. The

prince forced open the gates, and they retreated to the other side of

the town, where four battalions of them were defeated and taken; while

the duke himself, with the rest of his forces, filed off on the other

side of the Fulda. Two pieces of cannon, two pair of colours, and all

their baggage, fell into the hands of the victors; and the hereditary

prince advanced as far as Rupertenrade, a place situated on the right

flank of the French army. Perhaps this motion hastened the resolution

of the duke de Broglio to abandon Giessen, and fall back to Friedberg,

where he established his head-quarters. The allied army immediately took

possession of his camp at Kleinlinnes and Heuchelam, and seemed to make

preparations for the siege of Giessen.

A BODY OF PRUSSIANS MAKE AN INCURSION INTO POLAND.

While both armies remained in this position, the duke de Broglio

received the staff as mareschal of France, and made an attempt to beat

up the quarters of the allies. Having called in all his detachments, he

marched up to them on the twenty-fifth day of December; but found them

so well disposed to give him a warm reception, that he thought proper to

lay aside his design, and nothing but a mutual cannonade ensued; then

he returned to his former quarters. From. Kleinlinnes the allied army

removed to Corsdoff, where they were cantoned till the beginning of

January, when they fell back as far as Marburg, where prince Ferdinand

established his head-quarters. The enemy had by this time retrieved

their superiority, in consequence of the hereditary prince being

detached with fifteen thousand men to join the king of Prussia at

Fribourge, in Saxony. Thus, by the victory at Minden, the dominions of

Hanover and Brunswick were preserved, and the enemy obliged to evacuate

that part of Westphalia. Perhaps they might have been driven to the

other side of the Ehine, had not the general of the allies been obliged

to weaken his army for the support of the Prussian monarch, who had met

with divers disasters in the course of this campaign. It was not to any

relaxation or abatement of his usual vigilance and activity, that this

warlike prince owed the several checks he received. Even in the middle

of winter, his troops under general Manteuffel acted with great spirit

against the Swedes in Pomerania. They made themselves masters of

Damgarten, and several other places which the Swedes had garrisoned; and

the frost setting in, those who were quartered in the isle of Useclom

passed over the ice to Wolgast, which they reduced without much

difficulty. They undertook the sieges of Demmen and Anclam at the same

time; and the garrisons of both surrendered themselves prisoners of war,

to the number of two thousand seven hundred men, including officers.

In Demmen they found four-and-twenty pieces of cannon, with a large

quantity of ammunition. In Anclam there was a considerable magazine,

with six-and-thirty cannon, mortars, and howitzers. A large detachment

under general Knobloch surprised Erfurth, and raised considerable

contributions at Gotha, Isenach, and Fulda; from whence also they

conveyed all the forage and provisions to Saxe-Naumberg. In the latter

end of February, the Prussian major-general Wobersnow marched with a

strong body of troops from Glogau in Silesia, to Poland; and, advancing

by way of Lissa, attacked the castle of the prince Sulkowski, a Polish

grandee, who had been very active against the interest of the

Prussian monarch. After some resistance he was obliged to surrender at

discretion, and was sent prisoner with his whole garrison to Silesia.

From hence Wobersnow proceeded to Posna, where he made himself master of

a considerable magazine, guarded by two thousand cossacks, who retired

at his approach; and having destroyed several others, returned to

Silesia. In April, the fort of Penamunde, in Pomerania, was surrendered

to Manteuffel; and about the same time a detachment of Prussian

troops bombarded Schwerin, the capital of Mecklenburgh. Meanwhile

reinforcements were sent to the Russian army in Poland, which in

April began to assemble upon the Vistula. The court of Petersburgh had

likewise begun to equip a large fleet, by means of which the army might

be supplied with military stores and provisions; but this armament

was retarded by an accidental fire at Revel, which destroyed all the

magazines and materials for ship-building to an immense value.

PRINCE HENRY PENETRATES into BOHEMIA.

About the latter end of March, the king of Prussia assembled his army at

Rhonstock, near Strigau; and advancing to the neighbourhood of Landshut,

encamped at Bolchenhayne. On the other hand, the Austrian army, under

the command of mareschal Daun, was assembled at Munchengratz, in

Bohemia; and the campaign was opened by an exploit of general Beck, who

surprised and made prisoners a battalion of Prussian grenadiers,

posted under colonel Duringsheven, at Griefenberg, on the frontiers of

Silesia. This advantage, however, was more than counterbalanced by the

activity and success of prince Henry, brother to the Prussian king, who

commanded the army which wintered in Saxony. About the middle of

April, he marched in two columns towards Bohemia, forced the pass of

Peterswalde, destroyed the Austrian magazine at Assig, burned their

boats upon the Elbe, seized the forage and provisions which the enemy

had left at Lowositz and Leutmeritz, and demolished a new bridge which

they had built for their convenience. At the same time general Hulsen

attacked the pass of Passberg, guarded by general Reynard, who was

taken, with two thousand men, including fifty officers: then he advanced

to Sate, in hopes of securing the Austrian magazines; but these the

enemy consumed, that they might not fall into his hands, and retired

towards Prague with the utmost precipitation.

Prince Henry having happily achieved these adventures, and filled

all Bohemia with alarm and consternation, returned to Saxony, and

distributed his troops in quarters of refreshment in the neighbourhood

of Dresden. In a few days, however, they were again put in motion, and

marched to Obelgeburgen; from whence he continued his route through

Voightland, in order to attack the army of the empire in Franconia. He

accordingly entered this country by the way of Hoff, on the seventh

of May, and next day sent a detachment to attack general Macguire, who

commanded a body of imperialists at Asch, and sustained the charge with

great gallantry: but finding himself in danger of being overpowered by

numbers, he retired in the night towards Egra. The army of the empire,

commanded by the prince de Deux-Ponts, being unable to cope with the

Prussian general in the field, retired from Cullembach to Bamberg, and

from thence to Nuremberg, where, in all probability, they would not have

been suffered to remain unmolested, had not prince Homy been recalled to

Saxony. He had already taken Cronach and the castle of Rottenberg, and

even advanced as far as Bamberg, when he received advice that a body of

Austrians, under general Gemmingen, had penetrated into Saxony. This

diversion effectually saved the army of the empire, as prince Henry

immediately returned to the electorate, after having laid the bishopric

of Bamberg and the marquisate of Cullembach under contribution,

destroyed all the magazines provided for the imperial army, and sent

fifteen hundred prisoners to Leipsic. A party of imperialists, under

count Palfy, endeavoured to harass him in his retreat; but they were

defeated near Hoff, with considerable slaughter: nevertheless, the

imperial army, though now reduced to ten thousand men, returned to

Bamberg; and as the Prussians approached the frontiers of Saxony, the

Austrian general, Gemmingen, retired into Bohemia. During all these

transactions, the mareschal count Daun remained with the grand Austrian

army at Schurtz, in the circle of Koningsgratz; while the Prussians

commanded by the king in person, continued quietly encamped between

Landshut and Schweidnitz. General Fouquet commanded a large body

of troops in the southern part of Silesia; but these being mostly

withdrawn, in order to oppose the Russians, the Austrian general de

Fille, who hovered on the frontiers of Moravia with a considerable

detachment, took advantage of this circumstance; and advancing

into Silesia, encamped within sight of Neiss. As mutual calumny and

recriminations of all kinds were not spared on either side, during the

progress of this war, the enemies of the Prussian monarch did not fail

to charge him with cruelties committed at Schwerin, the capital of

Mecklenburgh, which his troops had bombarded, plundered of its archives,

cannon, and all its youth fit to carry arms, who were pressed into his

service: he besides taxed the duchy at seven thousand men and a million

of crowns, by way of contribution. He was also accused of barbarity, in

issuing an order for removing all the prisoners from Berlin to Spandau;

but this step he justified in a letter to his ministers at foreign

courts, declaring that he had provided for all the officers that were

his prisoners the best accommodation, and permitted them to reside

in his capital; that some of them had grossly abused the liberty they

enjoyed, by maintaining illicit correspondence, and other practices

equally offensive, which had obliged him to remove them to the town of

Spandau: he desired, however, that the town might not be confounded with

the fortress of that name, from which it was entirely separated, and in

which they would enjoy the same ease they had found at Berlin, though

under more vigilant inspection. His conduct on this occasion, he said,

was sufficiently authorized, not only by the law of nations, but also

by the example of his enemies; inasmuch as the empress-queen had never

suffered any of his officers who had fallen into her hands to reside at

Vienna; and the court of Russia had sent some of them as far as

Casan. He concluded with saying, that, as his enemies had let slip

no opportunities of blackening his most innocent proceedings, he had

thought proper to acquaint his ministers with his reasons for making

this alteration with regard to his prisoners, whether French, Austrians,

or Russians.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

GENERAL WEDEL DEFEATED BY THE RUSSIANS.

In the beginning of June, the king of Prussia, understanding that the

Russian army had begun their march from the Vistula, ordered the

several bodies of his troops, under Hulsen and Wobersnow, reinforced by

detachments from his other armies, to join the forces under count Dohna,

as general in chief, and march into Poland. Accordingly, they advanced

to Meritz, where the count having published a declaration [523] _[See

note 4 D, at the end of this Vol.]_, he continued his march towards

Posna, where he found the Russian army, under count Soltikoff, strongly

encamped, having in their rear that city and the river Warta, and in

their front a formidable intrenchment mounted with a great number of

cannon.

Count Dohna, judging it impracticable to attack them in this situation

with any prospect of success, endeavoured to intercept their convoys to

the eastward; but for want of provisions, was in a little time obliged

to return towards the Oder: then the Russians advanced to Zullichaw, in

Silesia. The king of Prussia thinking count Dohna had been rather too

cautious, considering the emergency of his affairs, gave him leave to

retire for the benefit of his health, and conferred his command upon

general Wedel, who resolved to give the Russians battle without delay.

Thus determined, he marched against them in two columns, and on the

twenty-third day of July attacked them at Kay, near Zullichaw, where,

after a very obstinate engagement, he was repulsed with great loss,

Wobersnow being killed and Manteuffel wounded in the action; and in a

few days the Russians made themselves masters of Franckfort upon the

Oder.

By this time the armies of count Daun and the king of Prussia had made

several motions. The Austrians having quitted their camp at Schurtz,

advanced towards Zittau in Lusatia, where having halted a few days, they

resumed their march, and encamped at Gorlithayn, between Sudenberg and

Mark-Dissau. His Prussian majesty, in order to observe their motions,

marched by the way of Hertzberg to Lahn, and his vanguard skirmished

with that of the Austrians, commanded by Laudohn, who entered Silesia

by the way of Griffenberg. The Austrian general was obliged to retreat

with loss; while the king penetrated into Silesia, that he might be

at hand to act against the Russians, whose progress was now become the

chief object of his apprehension. He no sooner received intimation

that Wedel had been worsted, than he marched with a select body of ten

thousand men from his camp in Silesia, in order to take upon him

the command of Wedel’s army, leaving the rest of his forces strongly

encamped, under the direction of his brother prince Henry, who had

joined him before this event. Count Daun being apprized of the king’s

intention, and knowing the Russians were very defective in cavalry,

immediately detached a body of twelve thousand horse to join them, under

the command of Laudohn, and these, penetrating in two columns through

Silesia and Lusatia, with some loss, arrived in the Russian camp at a

very critical juncture. Meanwhile the king of Prussia joined general

Wedel on the fourth day of August, at Muhlrose, where he assumed the

command of the army; but finding it greatly inferior to the enemy, he

recalled general Finck, whom he had detached some time before, with a

body of nine thousand men, to oppose the progress of the imperialists in

Saxony; for when prince Henry joined his brother in Silesia, the army of

the empire had entered that electorate. Thus reinforced, the number of

the king’s army at Muhlrose did not exceed fifty thousand, whereas the

Russians were more numerous by thirty thousand. They had chosen a strong

camp at the village of Cunersdorf, almost opposite to Franckfort upon

the Oder, and increased the natural strength of their situation, by

intrenchments mounted with a numerous artillery. In other circumstances

it might have been deemed a rash and ridiculous enterprise, to attack

such an army under such complicated disadvantages; but here was no room

for hesitation. The king’s affairs seemed to require a desperate effort,

and perhaps he was partly impelled by self-confidence and animosity.

BATTLE OF CUNERSDORF.

Having determined to hazard an attack, he made his disposition, and on

the twelfth day of August, at two in the morning, his troops were in

motion. The army feeing formed in a wood, advanced towards the enemy,

and about eleven the action was begun with a severe cannonade. This

having produced the desired effect, he charged the left wing of the

Russian army with his best troops formed in columns. After a very

obstinate dispute, the enemy’s intrenchments were forced with great

slaughter, and seventy pieces of cannon fell into the hands of the

Prussians. A narrow defile was afterwards passed, and several redoubts

that covered the village of Cunersdorf were taken by assault, one after

another: one-half of the task was not yet performed; the Russians made a

firm stand at the village, but they were overborne by the impetuosity of

the Prussians, who drove them from post to post up to the last redoubts

they had to defend. As the Russians kept their ground until they were

hewn down in their ranks, this success was not acquired without infinite

labour, and a considerable expense of blood. After a furious contest of

six hours, fortune seemed to declare so much in favour of the

Prussians, that the king despatched the following billet to the queen

at Berlin:--“Madam, we have driven the Russians from their

intrenchments. In two hours expect to hear of a glorious victory.” This

intimation was premature, and subjected the writer to the ridicule of

his enemies. The Russians were staggered, not routed. General Soltikoff

rallied his troops, and reinforced his left wing under cover of

a redoubt, which was erected on an eminence called the Jews’

Burying-ground, and here they stood in order of battle, with the most

resolute countenance, favoured by the situation, which was naturally

difficult of access, and now rendered almost impregnable by the

fortification, and a numerous artillery, still greatly superior to that

of the Prussians. Had the king contented himself with the advantage

already gained, all the world would have acknowledged he had fought

against terrible odds with astonishing prowess, and that he judiciously

desisted when he could no longer persevere, without incurring the

imputation of being actuated by frenzy or despair. His troops had

not only suffered severely from the enemy’s fire, which was close,

deliberate, and well directed; but they were fatigued by the hard

service, and fainting with the heat of the day, which was excessive.

His general officers are said to have reminded him of all these

circumstances, and to have dissuaded him from hazarding an attempt

attended with such danger and difficulty, as even an army of fresh

troops could hardly hope to surmount. He rejected this salutary

advice, and ordered his infantry to begin a new attack, which being

an enterprise beyond their strength, they were repulsed with great

slaughter. Being afterwards rallied, they returned to the charge; they

miscarried again, and their loss was redoubled. Being thus rendered

unfit for further service, the cavalry succeeded to the attack, and

repeated their unsuccessful efforts, until they were almost broke, and

entirely exhausted. At this critical juncture, the whole body of the

Austrian and Russian cavalry, which had hitherto remained inactive, and

were therefore fresh and in spirits, fell in among the Prussian horse

with great fury, broke their line at the first charge, and forcing them

back upon the infantry, threw them into such disorder as could not be

repaired. The Prussian army being thus involved in confusion, was seized

with a panic, and in a few minutes totally defeated and dispersed,

notwithstanding the personal efforts of the king, who hazarded his life

in the hottest parts of the battle, led on his troops three times to

the charge, had two horses killed under him, and his clothes in several

parts penetrated with musket-balls. His army being routed, and the

greater part of his generals either killed or disabled by wounds,

nothing but the approach of night could have saved him from total ruin.

When he abandoned the field of battle, he despatched another billet to

the queen, couched in these terms: “Remove from Berlin with the royal

family. Let the archives be carried to Potsdam. The town may make

conditions with the enemy.” The horror and confusion which this

intimation produced at Berlin may be easily conceived: horror the

more aggravated, as it seized them in the midst of their rejoicings

occasioned by the first despatch; and this was still more dreadfully

augmented, by a subsequent indistinct relation, importing that the army

was totally routed, the king missing, and the enemy in full march to

Berlin. The battle of Cunersdorf was by far the most bloody action which

happened since the commencement of hostilities. The carnage was truly

horrible: above twenty thousand Prussians lay dead on the field; and

among these general Putkammer. The generals Seydlitz, Itzenplitz,

Hulsen, Finck, and Wedel, the prince of Wirtemberg, and five

major-generals, were wounded. The loss of the enemy amounted to ten

thousand. It must be owned, that if the king was prodigal of his own

person, he was likewise very free with the lives of his subjects. At no

time, since the days of ignorance and barbarity, were the lives of men

squandered away with such profusion as in the course of this German war.

They were not only unnecessarily sacrificed in various exploits of no

consequence, but lavishly exposed to all the rigour and distemper of

winter campaigns, which were introduced on the continent, in despite

of nature, and in contempt of humanity. Such are the improvements of

warriors without feeling! such the refinements of German discipline! On

the day that succeeded the defeat at Cunersdorf, the king of Prussia,

having lost the best part of his army, together with his whole train

of artillery, repassed the Oder, and encamped at Retwin, from whence he

advanced to Fustenwalde, and saw with astonishment the forbearance of

the enemy. Instead of taking possession of Berlin, and overwhelming the

wreck of the king’s troops, destitute of cannon, and cut off from

all communication with prince Henry, they took no step to improve the

victory they had gained. Laudohn retired with his horse immediately

after the battle; and count Soltikoff marched with part of the Russians

into Lusatia, where he joined Daun, and held consultations with that

general. Perhaps the safety of the Prussian monarch was owing to the

jealousy subsisting among his enemies. In all probability, the court of

Vienna would have been chagrined to see the Russians in possession of

Brandenburgh, and therefore thwarted their designs upon that electorate.

The king of Prussia had now reason to be convinced, that his situation

could not justify such a desperate attack as that in which he had

miscarried at Cunersdorf; for if the Russians did not attempt the

reduction of his capital, now that he was totally defeated, and the

flower of his army cut off, they certainly would not have aspired at

that conquest while he lay encamped in the neighbourhood with fifty

thousand veterans, inured to war, accustomed to conquer, confident of

success, and well supplied with provisions, ammunition, and artillery.

As the victors allowed him time to breathe, he improved this interval

with equal spirit and sagacity. He re-assembled and refreshed his broken

troops: he furnished his camp with cannon from the arsenal at Berlin,

which likewise supplied him with a considerable number of recruits; he

recalled general Kleist, with five thousand men, from Pome-rania, and in

a little time retrieved his former importance.

ADVANTAGES GAINED BY THE PRUSSIANS IN SAXONY.

The army of the empire having entered Saxony, where it reduced Leipsic,

Torgau, and even took possession of Dresden itself, the king detached

six thousand men under general Wunch, to check the progress of the

imperialists in that electorate; and perceiving the Russians intended to

besiege Great Glogau, he, with the rest of the army, took post between

them and that city, so as to frustrate their design. While the four

great armies, commanded by the king of Prussia, general Soltikoff,

prince Henry, and count Daun, lay encamped in Lusatia, and on the

borders of Silesia, watching the motions of each other, the war was

carried on by detachments with great vivacity. General Wunch having

retaken Leipsic, and joined Finck at Rulinbourg, the united body began

their march towards Dresden; and a detachment from the army of the

empire, which had encamped near Dobelia, retired at their approach.

As they advanced to Nossin, general Haddick abandoned the advantageous

posts he occupied near Roth-Seemberg; and, being joined by the whole

army of the empire, resolved to attack the Prussian generals, who now

encamped at Corbitz near Meissen. Accordingly, on the twenty-first day

of September, he advanced against them, and endeavoured to dislodge them

by a furious cannonade, which was mutually maintained from morning to

night, when he found himself obliged to retire with considerable loss;

leaving the field of battle, with about five hundred prisoners, in the

hands of the Prussians.

GENERAL FINCK SURROUNDED AND TAKEN.

This advantage was succeeded by another exploit of prince Henry, who, on

the twenty-third day of the month, quitted his camp at Hornsdorf, near

Gorlitz; and, after an incredible march of eleven German miles, by the

way of Rothenberg, arrived about five in the afternoon at Hoyerswerda,

where he surprised a body of four thousand men, commanded by general

Vehla, killed six hundred, and made twice that number prisoners;

including the commander himself. After this achievement he joined the

corps of Finck and Wunch; while mareschal Daun likewise abandoned

his camp in Lusatia, and made a forced march to Dresden, in order to

frustrate the prince’s supposed design on that capital. The Russians,

disappointed in their scheme upon Glogau, had repassed the Oder at

Neusalze, and were en? camped at Fraustadt; general Laudohn, with a body

of Austrians, lay at Sclichtingsheim; and the king of Prussia at Koben;

all three on or near the banks of that river. Prince Henry, perceiving

his army almost surrounded by Austrian detachments, ordered general

Finck to drive them from Vogelsang, which they abandoned accordingly;

and sent Wunch, with six battalions and some cavalry, across the Elbe,

to join the corps of general Rebentish at Wittenberg, whither he retired

from Duben at the approach of the Austrians. On the twenty-ninth day of

October, the duke d’Aremberg, with sixteen thousand Austrians, decamped

from Dammitch, in order to occupy the heights near Pretsch, and was

encountered by general Wunch; who, being posted on two rising grounds,

cannonaded the Austrians on their march with considerable effect; and

the prince took twelve hundred prisoners, including lieutenant-general

Gemmington, and twenty inferior officers, with some cannon, great part

of their tents, and a large quantity of baggage. The duke was obliged

to change his route, while Wunch marched from Duben to Rulenburgh; and

general Wassersleben occupied Strehla, where next day the whole army

encamped. In this situation the prince remained till the sixteenth day

of November; when, being in danger of having his communication with

Torgau cut off by the enemy, he removed to a strong camp, where his left

flank was covered with that city and the river Elbe; his right being

secured by a wood, and great part of his front by an impassable morass.

Here he was reinforced with about twenty thousand men from Silesia, and

joined by the king himself, who forthwith detached general Finck, with

nineteen battalions and thirty-five squadrons, to take possession of the

defiles of Maxen and Ottendorf, with a view to hinder the retreat of the

Austrians to Bohemia. This motion obliged Daun to retire to Plauen;

and the king advanced to Wilsdurf, imagining that he had effectually

succeeded in his design. Letters were sent to Berlin and Magdebourg,

importing, that count Daun would be forced to hazard a battle, as he had

now no resource but in victory. Finck had no sooner taken post on the

hill near the village of Maxen, than the Austrian general sent officers

to reconnoitre his situation, and immediately resolved to attack him

with the corps de reserve, under the baron de Sincere, which was

encamped in the neighbourhood of Dippodeswalda. It was forthwith divided

into four columns, which filed off through the neighbouring woods; and

the Prussians never dreamed of their approach until they saw themselves

entirely surrounded. In this emergency they defended themselves with

their cannon and musketry until they were overpowered by numbers, and

their battery was taken; then they retired to another rising ground,

where they rallied, but were driven from eminence to eminence, until, by

favour of the night, they made their last retreat to Falkenhayn. In

the meantime, count Daun had made such dispositions, that at day-break

general Finck found himself entirely enclosed, without the least

possibility of escaping, and sent a trumpet to count Daun to demand a

capitulation. This was granted in one single article, importing, that

he and eight other Prussian generals, with the whole body of troops they

commanded, should be received as prisoners of war. He was obliged

to submit; and his whole corps, amounting to nineteen battalions and

thirty-five squadrons, with sixty-four pieces of cannon, fifty pair of

colours, and twenty-five standards, fell into the hands of the Austrian

generals. This misfortune was the more mortifying to the king of

Prussia, as it implied a censure on his conduct, for having detached

such a numerous body of troops to a situation where they could not

be sustained by the rest of the army. On the other hand, the court

of Vienna exulted in this victory, as an infallible proof of Daun’s

superior talents; and, in point of glory and advantage, much more

than an equivalent for the loss of the Saxon army, which, though

less numerous, capitulated in the year one thousand seven hundred and

fifty-six, after having held out six weeks against the whole power of

the Prussian monarch. General Hulsen had been detached, with about

nine battalions and thirty squadrons, to the assistance of Finck; but

he arrived at Klingenberg too late to be of any service; and, being

recalled, was next day sent to occupy the important post of Fribourg.

DISASTER OF THE PRUSSIAN GENERAL DIERCKE.

The defeat of general Finck was not the only disaster which befel the

Prussians at the close of this campaign. General Diercke, who was posted

with seven battalions of infantry and a thousand horse, on the right

bank of the Elbe, opposite to Meissen, finding it impracticable to lay a

bridge of pontoons across the river, on account of the floating ice,

was obliged to transport his troops in boats; and when all were passed

except himself, with the rear-guard, consisting of three battalions, he

was, on the third day of December, in the morning, attacked by a strong

body of Austrians, and taken, with all his men, after an obstinate

dispute. The king of Prussia, weakened by these two successive defeats

that happened in the rear of an unfortunate campaign, would hardly have

been able to maintain his ground at Fribourg, had he not been at this

juncture reinforced by the body of troops under the command of the

hereditary prince of Brunswick. As for Daun, the advantages he had

gained did not elevate his mind above the usual maxims of his cautious

discretion. Instead of attacking the king of Prussia, respectable and

formidable even in adversity, he quietly occupied the strong camp at

Pirna, where he might be at hand to succour Dresden in case it should be

attacked, and maintain his communication with Bohemia.

CONCLUSION OF THE CAMPAIGN.

By this time the Russians had retired to winter-quarters in Poland; and

the Swedes, after a fruitless excursion in the absence of Manteuffel,

retreated to Stralsund and the isle of Rugen. This campaign, therefore,

did not prove more decisive than the last. Abundance of lives were

lost, and great part of Germany was exposed to rapine, murder, famine,

desolation, and every species of misery that war could engender. In vain

the confederating powers of Austria, Russia, and Sweden, united

their efforts to crush the Prussian monarch. Though his army had been

defeated, and he himself totally overthrown with great slaughter in the

heart of his own dominions; though he appeared in a desperate situation,

environed by hostile armies, and two considerable detached bodies of his

troops were taken or destroyed; yet he kept all his adversaries at bay

till the approach of winter, which proved his best auxiliary, and even

maintained his footing in the electorate of Saxony, which seemed to

be the prize contested between him and the Austrian general. Yet, long

before the approach of winter, one would imagine he must have been

crushed between the shock of so many adverse hosts, had they been intent

upon closing him in, and heartily concurred for his destruction; but,

instead of urging the war with accumulated force, they acted in separate

bodies, and with jealous eye seemed to regard the progress of each

other. It was not, therefore, to any compunction, or kind forbearance,

in the court of Vienna, that the inactivity of Daun was owing. The

resentment of the house of Austria seemed, on the contrary, to glow with

redoubled indignation; and the majority of the Germanic body seemed to

enter with warmth into her quarrel. [526] _[See note 4 E, at the end of

this Vol.]_

ARRET OF THE EVANGELICAL BODY AT RATISBON.

When the protestant states in arms against the court of Vienna were put

under the ban of the empire, the evangelical body, though without the

concurrence of the Swedish and Danish ministers, issued an arrêt at

Ratisbon, in the month of November of the last year, and to this annexed

the twentieth article of the capitulation signed by the emperor at his

election, in order to demonstrate that the protestant states claimed

nothing but what was agreeable to the constitution. They declared, that

their association was no more than a mutual engagement, by which they

obliged themselves to adhere to the laws without suffering, under any

pretext, that the power of putting under the ban of the empire should

reside wholly in the emperor. They affirmed that this power was

renounced, in express terms, by the capitulation: they therefore refused

to admit, as legal, any sentence of the ban deficient in the requisite

conditions: and inferred that, according to law, neither the elector of

Brandenburgh, nor the elector of Hanover, nor the duke of Wolfenbuttel,

nor the landgrave of Hesse, nor the count of Lippe-Buckebourg, ought to

be proscribed. The imperial protestant cities having acceded to this

arrêt or declaration, the emperor, in a rescript, required them to

retract their accession to the resolution of the evangelic body; which,

it must be owned, was altogether inconsistent with their former

accession to the resolutions of the diet against the king of Prussia.

This rescript having produced no effect, the arrêt was answered in

February by an imperial decree of commission carried to the dictature,

importing, that the imperial court could no longer hesitate about the

execution of the ban, without infringing that very article of the

capitulation which they had specified: that the invalidity of the arrêt

was manifest, inasmuch as the electors of Brandenburgh and Brunswick,

the dukes of Saxe-Gotha and Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, and the landgrave of

Hesse-Cassel, were the very persons who disturbed the empire, this,

therefore, being an affair in which they themselves were parties, they

could not possibly be qualified to concur in a resolution of this

nature; besides, the number of the other states which had acceded was

very inconsiderable: for these reasons, the emperor could not but

consider the resolution in question as an act whereby the general peace

of the empire was disturbed, both by the parties that had incurred the

ban, and by the states which had joined them, in order to support and

favour their frivolous pretensions. His imperial majesty expressed his

hope and confidence, that the other electors, princes, and states of the

empire, would vote the said resolution to be null and of no force; and

never suffer so small a number of states, who were adherents of, and

abettors to, the disturbers of the empire, to prejudice the rights and

prerogatives of the whole Germanic body; to abuse the name of the

associated states of the Augsburgh confession, in order forcibly to

impose a _factum_ entirely repugnant to the constitution of the empire;

to deprive their co-estates of the right of voting freely, and thereby

endeavouring totally to subvert the system of the Germanic body. These

remarks will speak for themselves to the reflection of the unprejudiced

reader.

FRENCH MINISTRY STOP PAYMENT.

The implacability of the court of Vienna was equalled by nothing but the

perseverance of the French ministry. Though their numerous army had

not gained one inch of ground in Westphalia, the campaign on that side

having ended exactly where it had begun; though the chief source of

their commerce in the West Indies had fallen into the hands of Great

Britain, and they had already laid their account with the loss of

Quebec; though their coffers hung with emptiness, and their confederates

were clamorous for subsidies,--they still resolved to maintain the war

in Germany. This was doubtless the most politic resolution to which

they could adhere; because their enemies, instead of exerting all

their efforts where there was almost a certainty of success, kindly

condescended to seek them where alone their whole strength could

be advantageously employed, without any great augmentation of their

ordinary expense. Some of the springs of their national wealth were

indeed exhausted, or diverted into other channels; but the subjects

declared for a continuation of the war, and the necessities of the state

were supplied by the loyalty and attachment of the people. They not only

acquiesced in the bankruptcy of public credit, when the court stopped

payment of the interest on twelve different branches of the national

debt, but they likewise sent in large quantities of plate to be melted

down, and coined into specie, for the maintenance of the war. All the

bills drawn on the government by the colonies were protested to an

immense amount, and a stop was put to all the annuities granted at

Marseilles on sums borrowed for the use of the marine. Besides the

considerable savings occasioned by these acts of state-bankruptcy, they

had resources of credit among the merchants of Holland, who beheld the

success of Great Britain with an eye of jealousy; and were, moreover,

inflamed against her with the most rancorous resentment, on account

of the captures which had been made of their West India ships by the

English cruisers.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

THE STATES-GENERAL SEND OVER DEPUTIES TO ENGLAND.