THE ENEMIES SHIPPING DESTROYED.

Lord Colville had sailed from Halifax, with the fleet under his command,

on the twenty-second day of April; but was retarded in his passage by

thick fogs, contrary winds, and great shoals of ice floating down the

river. Commodore Swanton, who had sailed from England with a small

reinforcement, arrived about the beginning of May at the Isle of Bee, in

the river St. Laurence, where, with two ships, he purposed to wait for

the rest of his squadron, which had separated from him in the passage:

but one of these, the Lowestoffe, commanded by captain Deane, had

entered the harbour of Quebec on the ninth day of May, and communicated

to the governor the joyful news that the squadron was arrived in the

river. Commodore Swanton no sooner received intimation that Quebec was

besieged, than he sailed up the river with all possible expedition, and

on the fifteenth in the evening anchored above Point Levi. The brigadier

expressing an earnest desire that the French squadron above the town

might be removed, the commodore ordered captain Schomberg of the Diana,

and captain Deane of the Lowestoffe, to slip their cables early next

morning, and attack the enemy’s fleet, consisting of two frigates, two

armed ships, and a great number of smaller vessels. They were no sooner

in motion than the French ships fled in the utmost disorder. One of

their frigates was driven on the rocks above Cape Diamond; the other ran

ashore, and was burned at Point-au-Tremble, about ten leagues above the

town; and all the other vessels were taken or destroyed.

The enemy were so confounded and dispirited by this disaster, and the

certain information that a strong English fleet was already in the

river St. Laurence, that in the following night they raised the siege

of Quebec, and retreated with great precipitation, leaving their

provisions, implements, and artillery to governor Murray, who had

intended to make a vigorous sally in the morning, and attempt to

penetrate into the camp of the besiegers, which, from the information of

prisoners and deserters, he conceived to be a very practicable scheme.

For this purpose he had selected a body of troops, who were already

under arms, when a lieutenant, whom he had sent out with a detachment

to amuse the enemy, came and assured him that their trenches were

abandoned. He instantly marched out of Quebec at the head of his forces,

in hopes of overtaking and making an impression on their rear, that he

might have ample revenge for his late discomfiture; but they had passed

the river Cape Rouge before he could come up with their army: however,

he took some prisoners, and a great quantity of baggage, including their

tents, stores, magazines of provision and ammunition, with thirty-four

pieces of battering cannon, ten field-pieces, six mortars, four petards,

a great number of scaling ladders, intrenching tools, and every other

implement for a siege. They retired to Jaques-Quartiere, where their

ammunition began to fail, and they were abandoned by great part of the

Canadians; so that they resigned all hope of succeeding against Quebec,

and began to take measures for the preservation of Montreal, against

which the force under general Amherst was directed. There M. Vaudreuil

had fixed his head-quarters, and there he proposed to make his last

stand against the efforts of the British general. He not only levied

forces, collected magazines, and erected new fortifications in the

island of Montreal, but he had even recourse to feigned intelligence,

and other arts of delusion, to support the spirits of the Canadians and

their Indian allies, which had begun to flag in consequence of their

being obliged to abandon the siege of Quebec. It must be owned, he acted

with all the spirit and foresight of an experienced general, determined

to exert himself for the preservation of the colony, even though very

little prospect of success remained. His hopes, slender as they were,

depended upon the natural strength of the country, rendered almost

inaccessible by woods, mountains, and morasses, which might have

retarded the progress of the English, and protracted the war until a

general pacification could be effected. In the meantime, major-general

Amherst was diligently employed in taking measures for the execution of

the plan he had projected, in order to complete the conquest of Canada.

He conveyed instructions to general Murray, directing him to advance by

water towards Montreal, with all the troops that could be spared from

the garrison of Quebec. He detached colonel Haviland, with a body of

troops from Crown-Point, to take possession of the Isle-aux-Noix, in the

lake Champlain, and from thence penetrate the shortest way to the bank

of the river St. Laurence; while he himself, with the main body of the

army, amounting to about ten thousand men, including Indians, should

proceed from the frontiers of New York, by the rivers of the Mohawks and

Oneidas, to the lake Ontario, and sail down the river St. Laurence

to the island of Montreal. Thus, on the supposition that all these

particulars could be executed, the enemy must have been hemmed in and

entirely surrounded. In pursuance of this plan, general Amherst had

provided two armed sloops to cruise in the lake Ontario, under the

command of captain Loring; as well as a great number of bateaux, or

smaller vessels, for the transportation of the troops, artillery,

ammunition, implements, and baggage. Several regiments were ordered to

proceed from Albany to Oswego: and the general taking his departure from

Schenectady, with the rest of the forces, in the latter end of June,

arrived at the same place on the ninth day of July.

GENERAL AMHERST REDUCES THE FRENCH FORT AT THE ISLE ROYALE.

Being informed that two French vessels had appeared off Oswego, he

despatched some bateaux to Niagara, with intelligence to captain Loring,

who immediately set sail in quest of them; but they escaped his pursuit,

though they had twice appeared in the neighbourhood of Oswego since

the arrival of the general, who endeavoured to amuse them, by detaching

bateaux to different parts of the lake. The army being assembled, and

joined by a considerable body of Indians, under the command of sir

William Johnston, the general detached colonel Haviland, with the light

infantry, the grenadiers, and one battalion of highlanders, to take post

at the bottom of the lake, and assist the armed vessels in finding a

passage to La Galette. On the tenth day of August the army embarked on

board the bateaux and whale-boats, and proceeded on the lake towards the

mouth of the river St. Laurence. Understanding that one of the enemy’s

vessels had run aground and was disabled, and that the other lay off

La Galette, he resolved to make the best of his way down the river to

Swegatchie, and attack the French fort at Isle Royale, one of the most

important posts on the river St. Laurence, the source of which it in a

great measure commands. On the seventeenth, the row-galleys fell in with

the French sloop commanded by M. de la Broquerie, who surrendered

after a warm engagement. Mr. Amherst having detached some engineers to

reconnoitre the coasts and islands in the neighbourhood of Isle Royale,

he made a disposition for the attack of that fortress, which was

accordingly invested, after he had taken possession of the islands. Some

of these the enemy had abandoned with such precipitation, as to leave

behind a few scalps they had taken on the Mohawk river, a number of

tools and utensils, two swivels, some barrels of pitch, and a large

quantity of iron. The Indians were so incensed at sight of the scalps,

that they burned a chapel and all the houses of the enemy. Batteries

being raised on the nearest islands, the fort was cannonaded not only

by them, but likewise by the armed sloops, and a disposition was made

for giving the assault, when M. Pouchart, the governor, thought proper

to beat a parley, and surrender on capitulation. The general, having

taken possession of the fort, found it so well situated for commanding

the lake Ontario and the Mohawk river, that he resolved to maintain it

with a garrison, and employed some days in repairing the fortifications.

From this place his navigation down the river St. Laurence was rendered

extremely difficult and dangerous, by a great number of violent riffs

or rapids, and falls; among which he lost above fourscore men, forty-six

bateaux, seventeen whale-boats, one row-galley, with some artillery,

stores, and ammunition. On the sixth day of September the troops were

landed on the island of Montreal, without any opposition, except from

some flying parties, which exchanged a few shot, and then fled with

precipitation. That same day he repaired a bridge which they had broken

down in their retreat; and, after a march of two leagues, formed his

army on a plain before Montreal, where they lay all night on their

arms. Montreal is, in point of importance, the second place in Canada,

situated in an island of the river St. Laurence, at an equal distance

from Quebec and the lake Ontario. Its central situation rendered it

the staple of the Indian trade; yet the fortifications of it were

inconsiderable, not at all adequate to the value of the place. General

Amherst ordered some pieces of artillery to be brought up immediately

from the landing-place at La Chine, where he had left some regiments for

the security of the boats, and determined to commence the siege in form;

but in the morning of the seventh he received a letter from the marquis

de Vaudreuil by two officers, demanding a capitulation; which, after

some letters had passed between the two generals, was granted upon as

favourable terms as the French had reason to expect, considering that

general Murray, with the troops from Quebec, had by this time landed on

the island; and colonel Haviland, with the body under his command,

had just arrived on the south side of the river, opposite to Montreal;

circumstances equally favourable and surprising, if we reflect upon the

different routes they pursued, through an enemy’s country, where they

had no intelligence of the motions of each other. Had any accident

retarded the progress of general Amherst, the reduction of Montreal

would have been attempted by general Murray, who embarked with his

troops at Quebec on board of a great number of small vessels, under the

command of captain Deane in the Diana. This gentleman, with uncommon

abilities, surmounted the difficulties of an unknown, dangerous, and

intricate navigation; and conducted the voyage with such success, that

not a single vessel was lost in the expedition. M. de Levis, at the head

of his forces, watched the motions of general Murray, who, in advancing

up the river, published manifestoes among the Canadians, which produced

all the effect he could desire. Almost all the parishes on the south

shore, as far as the river Sorrel, submitted, and took the oath of

neutrality; and lord Rolle disarmed all the inhabitants of the north

shore, as far as Trois Rivieres, which, though the capital of a

district, being no more than an open village, was taken without

resistance. In a word, general Amherst took possession of Montreal, and

thus completed the conquest of all Canada; a conquest the most important

of any that ever the British arms achieved, whether we consider the

safety of the English colonies in North America, now secured from

invasion and encroachment; the extent and fertility of the country

subdued; or the whole Indian commerce thus transferred to the traders

of Great Britain. The terms of the capitulation may perhaps be thought

rather too favourable, as the enemy were actually enclosed and destitute

of all hope of relief: but little points like these ought always to be

sacrificed to the consideration of great objects; and the finishing the

conquest of a great country without bloodshed, redounds as much to the

honour as it argues the humanity of general Amherst, whose conduct had

been irreproachable during the whole course of the American operations.

At the same time, it must be allowed he was extremely fortunate in

having subordinate commanders, who perfectly corresponded with his

ideas; and a body of troops whom no labours could discourage, whom no

dangers could dismay. Sir William Johnston, with a power of authority

and insinuation peculiar to himself, not only maintained a surprising

ascendancy over the most ferocious of all the Indian tribes, but kept

them within the bounds of such salutary restraint, that not one single

act of inhumanity was perpetrated by them during the whole course of

this expedition. The zeal and conduct of brigadier-general Gage,

the undaunted spirit and enterprising genius of general Murray, the

diligence and activity of colonel Haviland, happily co-operated in

promoting this great event.

FRENCH SHIPS DESTROYED, &c.

The French ministry had attempted to succour Montreal by equipping a

considerable number of store ships, and sending them out in the spring

under convoy of a frigate; but as their officers understood that the

British squadron had sailed up the river St. Laurence before their

arrival, they took shelter in the bay of Chaleurs, on the coast of

Acadia, where they did not long remain unmolested. Captain Byron, who

commanded the ships of war that were left at Louisbourg, having received

intelligence of them from brigadier-general Whitmore, sailed thither with

his squadron, and found them at anchor. The whole fleet consisted of one

frigate, two large store-ships, and nineteen sail of smaller vessels;

the greater part of which had been taken from the merchants of Great

Britain; all these were destroyed, together with two batteries which

had been raised for their protection. The French town, consisting of two

hundred houses, was demolished, and the settlement totally ruined. All

the French subjects inhabiting the territories from the bay of Funda to

the banks of the river St. Laurence, and all the Indians through

that tract of country, were now subdued, and subjected to the English

government. In the month of December of the preceding year, the French

colonists at Miramachi, Rickebuctou, and other places lying along the

gulf of St. Laurence, made their submission by deputies to colonel Frye,

who commanded in Fort Cumberland at Chignecto. They afterwards renewed

this submission in the most formal manner, by subscribing articles,

by which they obliged themselves, and the people they represented, to

repair in the spring to Bay Verte, with all their effects and shipping,

to be disposed of according to the direction of colonel Laurence,

governor of Halifax, in Nova-Scotia. They were accompanied by two Indian

chiefs of the nation of the Mickmacks, a powerful and numerous people,

now become entirely dependent upon his Britannic majesty. In a word, by

the conquest of Canada, the Indian fur trade, in its full extent, fell

into the hands of the English. The French interest among the

savage tribes, inhabiting an immense tract of country, was totally

extinguished; and their American possessions shrunk within the limits of

Louisiana, an infant colony on the south of the Mississippi, which the

British arms may at any time easily subdue.

DEMOLITION OF LOUISBOURG.

The conquest of Canada being achieved, nothing now remained to be

done in North America, except the demolition of the fortifications of

Louisbourg on the island of Cape Breton; for which purpose some able

engineers had been sent from England with the ships commanded by captain

Byron. By means of mines artfully disposed and well constructed,

the fortifications were reduced to a heap of rubbish, the glacis was

levelled, and the ditches were filled. All the artillery, ammunition,

and implements of war, were conveyed to Halifax; but the barracks were

repaired, so as to accommodate three hundred men occasionally; the

hospital, with the private houses, were left standing. The French still

possessed, upon the continent of America, the fertile country lying on

each side of the great river Mississippi, which disembogues itself into

the gulf of Florida; but the colony was so thinly peopled, and so

ill provided, that, far from being formidable, it scarcely could have

subsisted, unless the British traders had been base and treacherous

enough to supply it from time to time with provisions and necessaries.

The same infamous commerce was carried on with divers French plantations

in the West Indies; insomuch that the governors of provinces, and

commanders of the squadrons stationed in those seas, made formal

complaints of it to the ministry. The temptation of extraordinary profit

excited the merchants not only to assist the enemies of their country,

but also run all risks in eluding the vigilance of the legislature.

The inhabitants of Martinique found a plentiful market of provision

furnished by the British subjects at the Dutch islands of Eustatia and

Curaeoa: and those that were settled on the island of Hispaniola were

supplied in the same manner at the Spanish settlement of Monte-Christo.

INSURRECTION IN JAMAICA.

While the British commanders exerted themselves by sea and land with

the most laudable spirit of vigilance and courage against the foreign

adversaries of their country, the colonists of Jamaica ran the most

imminent hazard of being extirpated by a domestic enemy. The negro

slaves of that island, grown insolent in the contemplation of their

own formidable numbers, or by observing the supine indolence of their

masters, or stimulated by that appetite for liberty so natural to the

mind of man, began, in the course of this year, to entertain thoughts of

shaking off the yoke by means of a general insurrection. Assemblies were

held and plans resolved for this purpose. At length they concerted a

scheme for rising in arms all at once in different parts of the island,

in order to massacre all the white men, and take possession of the

government. They agreed that this design should be put in execution

immediately after the departure of the fleet for Europe; but their

plan was defeated by their ignorance and impatience. Those of the

conspirators that belonged to captain Forest’s estate, being impelled by

the fumes of intoxication, fell suddenly upon the overseer, while he

sat at supper with some friends, and butchered the whole company. Being

immediately joined by some of their confederates, they attacked the

neighbouring plantations, where they repeated the same barbarities; and,

seizing all the arms and ammunition that fell in their way, began

to grow formidable to the colony. The governor no sooner received

intimation of this disturbance, than he, by proclamation, subjected the

colonists to martial law. All other business was interrupted, and

every man took to his arms. The regular troops, joined by the troop of

militia, and a considerable number of volunteers, marched from Spanish

Town to Saint Mary’s, where the insurrection began, and skirmished with

the insurgents; but as they declined standing any regular engagement,

and trusted chiefly to bush-fighting, the governor employed against them

the free blacks, commonly known by the name of the wild negroes,

now peaceably settled under the protection of the government. These

auxiliaries, in consideration of a price set upon the heads of the

rebels, attacked them in their own way, slew them by surprise, until

their strength was broken, and numbers made away with themselves in

despair; so that the insurrection was supposed to be quelled about the

beginning of May, but in June it broke out again with redoubled fury,

and the rebels were reinforced to a very considerable number. The

regular troops and the militia, joined by a body of sailors, formed

a camp under the command of colonel Spragge, who sent out detachments

against the negroes, a great number of whom were killed, and some taken;

but the rest, instead of submitting, took shelter in the woods and

mountains. The prisoners, being tried and found guilty of rebellion,

were put to death by a variety of tortures. Some were hanged, some

beheaded, some burned, and some fixed alive upon gibbets. One of these

last lived eight days and eighteen hours, suspended under a vertical

sun, without being refreshed by one drop of water, or receiving any

manner of sustenance. In order to prevent such insurrections for the

future, the justices assembled at the sessions of the peace established

regulations, importing, that no negro-slave should be allowed to quit

his plantation without a white conductor, or a ticket of leave; that

every negro playing at any sort of game should be scourged through the

public streets; that every publican suffering such gaming in his house

should forfeit forty shillings; that every proprietor suffering his

negroes to beat a drum, blow a horn, or make any other noise in his

plantation, should be fined ten pounds; and every overseer allowing

these irregularities should pay half that sum, to be demanded, or

distrained for, by any civil or military officer; that every free negro,

or mulatto, should wear a blue cross on his right shoulder, on pain of

imprisonment; that no mulatto, Indian, or negro, should hawk or sell any

thing, except fresh fish or milk, on pain of being scourged; that rum

and punch houses should be shut up during divine service on Sundays,

under the penalty of twenty shillings; and that those who had petit

licenses should shut up their houses on other nights at nine o’clock.

ACTION AT SEA OFF HISPANIOLA.

Notwithstanding these examples and regulations, a body of rebellious

negroes still subsisted in places that were deemed inaccessible to

regular forces; and from these they made nocturnal irruptions into

the nearest plantations, where they acted with all the wantonness

of barbarity: so that the people of Jamaica were obliged to conduct

themselves with the utmost vigilance and circumspection; while

rear-admiral Holmes, who commanded at sea, took every precaution to

secure the island from insult or invasion. He not only took measures

for the defence of Jamaica, but also contrived and executed schemes for

annoying the enemy. Having in the month of October received intelligence

that five French frigates were equipped at Cape François, on the island

of Hispaniola, in order to convoy a fleet of merchant-ships to Europe,

he stationed the ships under his command in such a manner as was most

likely to intercept this fleet; and his disposition was attended with

success. The enemy sailed from the Cape to the number of eight sail,

on the sixteenth; and next day they were chased by the king’s ships the

Hampshire, Lively, and Boreas; which however made small progress, as

there was little wind, and that variable. In the evening the breeze

freshened; and about midnight the Boreas came up with the Sirenne,

commanded by commodore M’Cartie. They engaged with great vivacity for

about twenty-five minutes, when the Sirenne shot a-head, and made the

best of her way. The Boreas was so damaged in her rigging, that she

could not close with the enemy again till next day, at two in the

afternoon, when the action was renewed off the east end of Cuba, and

maintained till forty minutes past four, when Mr. M’Cartie struck. In

the meantime, the Hampshire and Lively gave chase to the other four

French frigates, which steered to the southward with all the sail they

could carry, in order to reach the west end of Tortuga, and shelter

themselves in Port-au-Prince. On the eighteenth, the Lively, by the help

of her oars, came up with the Valeur, at half an hour past seven in the

morning; and after a hot action, which continued an hour and a half,

compelled the enemy to submit. The Hampshire stood after the three

others, and about four in the afternoon ran up between the duke de

Choiseul and the prince Edward. These she engaged at the same time;

but the first, having the advantage of the wind, made her retreat into

Port-au-Paix, the other ran ashore about two leagues to leeward, and

struck her colours; but at the approach of the Hampshire the enemy set

her on fire, and she blew up. This was also the fate of the Fleur de

Lys, which had run into Freshwater Bay, a little farther to leeward of

Port-au-Prince. Thus, by the prudent disposition of admiral Holmes, and

the gallantry of his three captains Norbury, Uvedale, and Maitland, two

large frigates of the enemy were taken, and three destroyed. The spirit

of the officers was happily supported by an uncommon exertion of courage

in the men, who cheerfully engaged in the most dangerous enterprises.

Immediately after the capture of the French frigates, eight of the

enemy’s privateers were destroyed or brought into Jamaica. Two of these,

namely, the Vainqueur of ten guns, sixteen swivels, and ninety men, and

the Mackau of six swivels, and fifteen men, had run into shoal water

in Cumberland harbour on the island of Cuba. The boats of the Trent and

Boreas, manned under the direction of the lieutenants Miller and Stuart,

being rowed up to the Vainqueur, boarded and took possession under a

close fire, after having surmounted many other difficulties. The Mackau

was taken without any resistance; then the boats proceeded against the

Guespe, of eight guns, and eighty-five men, which laid at anchor farther

up in the Lagoon, but before they came up the enemy had set her on fire,

and she was destroyed.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

GALLANT BEHAVIOUR OF CAPTAINS O’BRIEN AND TAYLOR.

The same activity and resolution distinguished the captains and officers

belonging to the squadron commanded by sir James Douglas off the Leeward

islands. In the month of September, the captains O’Brien and Taylor, of

the ships Temple and Griffin, being on a joint cruise off the islands

Granadas, received intelligence that the Virgin, formerly a British

sloop of war, which had been taken by the enemy, then lay at anchor,

together with three privateers, under protection of three forts on the

island, sailed thither in order to attack them, and their enterprise

was crowned with success. After a warm engagement which lasted several

hours, the enemy’s batteries were silenced, and indeed demolished, and

the English captains took possession of the four prizes. They afterwards

entered another harbour of that island, having first demolished another

fort; and there they lay four days unmolested, at the expiration of

which they carried off three other prizes. In their return to Antigua,

they fell in with thirteen ships bound to Martinique with provisions,

and took them all without resistance. About the same time eight or nine

privateers were taken by the ships which commodore sir James Douglas

employed in cruising round the island of Guadaloupe, so that the British

commerce in those seas flourished under his care and protection.

TRANSACTIONS IN THE EAST-INDIES.

In the East-Indies the British arms still continued to prosper. After

the reduction of Arcot, the garrisons of Permacoil and Allumparva

surrendered themselves prisoners of war in the beginning of May. The

Falmouth obliged the Haarlem, a French ship from Meguy, to run ashore

to the northward of Pondicherry. The important settlement of Carical was

reduced by the sea and land forces commanded by rear-admiral Cornish and

major Monson, and the French garrison made prisoners of war; and colonel

Coote formed the blockade of Pondicherry by laud, while the harbour was

beset by the English squadron.

ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE BAY OF QUIBERON.

No action of importance was in the course of this year achieved by the

naval force of Great Britain in the seas of Europe. A powerful squadron

still remained in the hay of Quiberon, in order to amuse and employ

a body of French forces on that part of the coast, and interrupt the

navigation of the enemy; though the principal aim of this armament seems

to have been to watch and detain the few French ships which had run

into the river Vil-laine, after the defeat of Confians; an object,

the importance of which will doubtless astonish posterity. The fleet

employed in this service was alternately commanded by admiral Boscawen

and sir Edward Hawke, officers of distinguished abilities, whose talents

might have been surely rendered subservient to much greater national

advantages. All that Mr. Boscawen could do in this circumscribed scene

of action was, to take possession of a small island near the river

Vannes, which he caused to be cultivated, and planted with vegetables,

for the use of the men infected with scorbutic disorders arising from

salt provision, sea air, and want of proper exercise. In the month of

September, sir Edward Hawke, who had by this time relieved Mr. Boscawen,

detached the gallant lord Howe, in the Magnanime, with the ships Prince

Frederick and Bedford, to reduce the little island of Dumet, about three

miles in length, and two in breadth, abounding with fresh water. It was

defended by a small fort, mounted with nine cannon, and manned with one

company of the regiment of Bourbon, who surrendered in a very short

time after the ships had begun the attack. By this small conquest

a considerable expense was saved to the nation in the article of

transports employed to carry water for the use of the squadron.

Admiral Rodney still maintained his former station off the coast of

Havre de Grace, to observe what should pass at the mouth of the Seine.

In the month of July, while he hovered in this neighbourhood, five large

flat bottomed boats, laden with cannon and shot, feet sail from Harfleur

in the middle of the day, with their colours flying, as if they had set

the English squadron at defiance; for the walls of Havre de Grace, and

even the adjacent hills, were covered with spectators, assembled to

behold the issue of this adventure. Having reached the river of Caen,

they stood backwards and forwards upon the shoals, intending to amuse

admiral Rodney till night, and then proceed under cover of the darkness.

He perceived their drift, and gave directions to his small vessels to be

ready, that, as soon as day-light failed, they should make all the sail

they could for the mouth of the river Orne, in order to cut off the

enemy’s retreat, while he himself stood with the larger ships to the

steep coast of Port Bassin. The scheme succeeded to his wish. The enemy,

seeing their retreat cut off, ran ashore at Port Bassin, where the

admiral destroyed them, together with the small fort which had been

erected for the defence of this harbour. Each of those vessels was one

hundred feet in length, and capable of containing four hundred men for

a short passage. What their destination was we cannot pretend to

determine; but the French had provided a great number of these

transports, for ten escaped into the river Orne leading to Caen; and

in consequence of this disaster one hundred were unloaded, and sent up

again to Rouen. This was not all the damage that the enemy sustained on

this part of the coast. In the month of November, captain Curry, of

the Acteon, chased a large privateer, and drove her ashore between Cape

Barfleur and La Hogue, where she perished. The cutters belonging to

admiral Rodney’s squadron scoured the coast towards Dieppe, where a

considerable fishery was carried on, and where they took or destroyed

near forty vessels of considerable burden. Though the English navy

suffered nothing from the French during this period, it sustained some

damage from the weather. The Conqueror, a new ship of the line, was lost

in the channel, on the island of St. Nicholas, but the crew and cannon

were saved. The Lyme, of twenty guns, foundered in the Categat, in

Norway, and fifty of the men perished; and, in the West Indies, a tender

belonging to the Dublin, commanded by commodore sir James Douglas, was

lost in a single wind, with a hundred chosen mariners.

Of the domestic transactions relating to the war, the most considerable

was the equipment of a powerful armament destined for some secret

expedition. A numerous body of forces was assembled, and a great number

of transports collected at Portsmouth. Generals were nominated to the

command of this enterprise. The troops were actually embarked with

a great train of artillery; and the eyes of the whole nation were

attentively fixed upon this armament, which could not have been

prepared without incurring a prodigious expense. Notwithstanding these

preparations, the whole summer was spent in idleness and inaction; and

in the latter end of the season the undertaking was laid aside. The

people did not fail to clamour against the inactivity of the summer, and

complained that, notwithstanding the immense subsidies granted for the

prosecution of the war, no stroke of importance was struck in Europe for

the advantage of Great Britain; but that her treasure was lavished upon

fruitless parade, or a German alliance still more pernicious. It must be

owned indeed, that no new attempt was made to annoy the enemy on British

principles; for the surrender of Montreal was the natural consequence

of the steps which had been taken, and of the measures concerted in the

course of the preceding year. It will be allowed, we apprehend, that the

expense incurred by the armament at Portsmouth, and the body of troops

there detained, would have been sufficient, if properly applied, to

reduce the island of Mauritius in the Indian ocean, Martinique in the

West Indies, or Minorca in the Mediterranean; and all these three were

objects of importance. In all probability, the design of the armament

was either to intimidate the French into proposals of peace; to make a

diversion from the Rhine, by alarming the coast of Bretagne; or to

throw over a body of troops into Flanders, to effect a junction with the

hereditary prince of Brunswick, who, at the head of twenty thousand men,

had made an irruption as far as the Lower Rhine, and even crossed that

river; but he miscarried in the execution of his design.

ASTRONOMERS SENT TO THE EAST INDIES.

In the midst of these alarms some regard was paid to the improvements

of natural knowledge. The Royal Society having made application to the

king, representing that there would be a transit of Venus over the disc

of the sun, on the sixth day of June; and that there was reason to

hope the parallax of that planet might be more accurately determined

by making proper observations of this phenomenon at the island of St.

Helena, near the coast of Africa, and at Bencoolen in the East Indies,

his majesty granted a sum of money to defray the expense of sending

able astronomers to those two places, and ordered a ship of war to be

equipped for their conveyance. Accordingly, Mr. Nevil Maskelyne and Mr.

Robert Waddington were appointed to make the observations at St. Helena;

and Mr. Charles Mason and Mr. Jeremiah Dixon undertook the voyage to

Bencoolen, on the island of Sumatra.*

* In the beginning of April, the king granted to his

grandson prince Edward Augustus, and to the heirs male of

his royal highness, the dignities of duke of the kingdom of

Great Britain, and of earl of the kingdom of Ireland, by the

names, styles, and titles, of duke of York and Albany, and

earl of Ulster.

EARTHQUAKES IN SYRIA.

Except the countries that were actually the scenes of war, no political

revolution or disturbance disquieted the general tranquillity. Syria,

indeed, felt all the horrors and wreck of a dreadful earthquake,

protracted in repeated shocks, which began on the thirteenth day of

October, in the neighbourhood of Tripoli. A great number of houses were

overthrown at Seyde, and many people buried under the ruins. It was

felt through a space of ten thousand square leagues, comprehending

the mountains of Libanus and Antilibanus, with an infinite number of

villages, that were reduced to heaps of rubbish. At Acra, or Ptolemais,

the sea overflowed its banks, and poured into the streets, though eight

feet above the level of the water. The city of Saphet was entirely

destroyed, and the greatest part of its inhabitants perished. At

Damascus, all the minarets were overthrown, and six thousand people lost

their lives. The shocks diminished gradually till the twenty-fifth day

of November, when they were renewed with redoubled havoc; the earth

trembled with the most dreadful convulsions, and the greater part of

Tripoli was destroyed. Balbeck was entirely ruined, and this was the

fate of many other towns and castles; so that the people who escaped

the ruins were obliged to sojourn in the open fields, and all Syria was

threatened with the vengeance of heaven. Such a dangerous ferment arose

at Constantinople, that a revolution was apprehended. Mustapha, the

present emperor, had no sons; but his brother Bajazet, whose life he had

spared, contrary to the maxims of Turkish policy, produced a son by

one of the women with whom he was indulged in his confinement; a

circumstance which aroused the jealousy of the emperor to such a degree,

that he resolved to despatch his brother. The great officers of the

Porte opposed this design, which was so disagreeable to the people,

that an insurrection ensued. Several Turks and Armenians, taking it for

granted that a revolution was at hand, bought up great quantities of

grain; and a dreadful dearth was the consequence of this monopoly.

The sultan assembled the troops, quieted the insurgents, ordered the

engrossers of corn to be executed, and in a little time the repose of

the city was reestablished.

Notwithstanding the prospect of a rupture in Italy, no new incident

interrupted the tranquillity which the southern parts of Europe enjoyed.

The king of Spain, howsoever solicited by the other branch of the house

of Bourbon to engage in the war as its ally, refused to interpose in

any other way than as a mediator between the courts of London and

Versailles. He sent the condé de Fuentes, a nobleman of high rank and

character, in quality of ambassador-extraordinary to the king of Great

Britain, in order to offer his good offices for effecting a peace; and

the condé, after having conferred with the English minister, made an

excursion to Paris: but his proposal with respect to a cessation of

hostilities, if in reality such a proposal was ever made, did not meet

with a cordial reception. Other differences subsisting between

the crowns of Great Britain and Spain, he found no difficulty in

compromising. His catholic majesty persisted in the execution of a plan

truly worthy of a patriot king. In the first place, he spared no pains

and application to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the state

of his kingdom. He remitted to his people all they owed the crown,

amounting to threescore millions of reals: he demanded an exact account

of his father’s debts, that they might be discharged with the utmost

punctuality: an order was sent to the treasury, that ten millions of

reals should be annually appropriated for this purpose, until the whole

should be liquidated; and to the first year’s payment be added fifty

millions, to be divided equally among the legal claimants. He took

measures for the vigorous execution of the laws against offenders;

encouraged industry; protected commerce; and felt the exquisite pleasure

in being beloved as the father of his people. To give importance to his

crown, and extend his influence among the powers of Europe, he equipped

a powerful squadron of ships at Carthagena; and is said to have declared

his intention to employ them against Algiers, should the dey refuse to

release the slaves of the Spanish nation.

AFFAIRS OF PORTUGAL.

Portugal still seemed agitated from the shock of the late conspiracy

which was quelled in that kingdom. The pope’s nuncio was not only forbid

the court, but even sent under a strong guard to the frontiers; an

indignity which induced the pontiff to order the Portuguese minister at

Rome to evacuate the ecclesiastical dominions. In the meantime, another

embarkation of Jesuits was sent from Lisbon to Civita Vecchia; yet

the expulsion of these fathers did not restore the internal peace of

Portugal, or put an end to the practice of plotting; for, even since

their departure, some persons of rank have either been committed to

close prison, or exiled from the kingdom. The Jesuits were not more

fortunate in America; for in the month of October, in the foregoing

year, an obstinate battle was fought between the united forces of Spain

and Portugal and the Indians of Paraguay, who were under the dominion of

the Jesuits: victory at length declared in favour of the two crowns; so

that the vanquished were obliged to capitulate, and lay down their arms.

As the court of Portugal had made remonstrances to the British ministry

against the proceedings of the English squadron under admiral Boscawen,

which had attacked and destroyed some French ships under the Portuguese

fort in the bay of Lagos, his Britannic majesty thought proper to send

the earl of Kinnoul as ambassador-extraordinary to Lisbon, where that

nobleman made such excuses for the insult of the English admiral, as

entirely removed all the misunderstanding between the two crowns;

and could not fail of being agreeable to the Portuguese monarch, thus

respected, soothed, and deprecated by a mighty nation, in the very

zenith of power and prosperity. On the sixth of June, being the birthday

of the king of Portugal, the marriage of his brother don Pedro with the

princess of Brazil was celebrated in the chapel of the palace where

the king resides, to the universal joy of the people. The nuptials were

announced to the public by the discharge of cannon, and celebrated with

illuminations and all kinds of rejoicing.

An accident which happened in the Mediterranean had like to have drawn

the indignation of the Ottoman Porte on the knights of the order of

Malta. A large Turkish ship of the line, mounted with sixty-eight brass

cannon, having on board a complement of seven hundred men, besides

seventy christian slaves, under the immediate command of the Turkish

admiral, had, in company with two frigates, five galleys, and other

smaller vessels, sailed in June from the Dardanelles; cruised along the

coast of Smyrna, Scio, and Trio; and at length anchored in the channel

of Stangie, where the admiral, with four hundred persons, went on shore,

on the nineteenth day of September: the christian slaves, seizing this

opportunity, armed themselves with knives, and fell upon the three

hundred that remained with such fury and effect, that a great number

of the Turks were instantly slain; many leaped overboard into the sea,

where they perished; and the rest sued for mercy. The christians, having

thus secured possession of the ship, hoisted sail, and bore away for

Malta: which, though chased by the two frigates and a Ragusan ship, they

reached by crowding all their canvas, and brought their prize safe into

the harbour of Valette, amidst the acclamations of the people. The order

of Malta, as a recompence for this signal act of bravery and resolution,

assigned to the captors the whole property of the ship and slaves,

together with all the effects on board, including a sum of money which

the Turkish commander had collected by contribution, amounting to a

million and a half of florins. The grand seignior was so enraged at this

event, that he disgraced his admiral, and threatened to take vengeance

on the order of Malta, for having detained the ship, and countenanced

the capture.

PATRIOTIC SCHEMES OF THE KING OF DENMARK.

With respect to the disputes which had so long embroiled the northern

parts of Europe, the neutral powers seemed as averse as ever to a

participation. The king of Denmark continued to perfect those plans

which he had wisely formed for increasing the wealth, and promoting

the happiness of his subjects; nor did he neglect any opportunity of

improving natural knowledge for the benefit of mankind in general. He

employed men of ability, at his own expense, to travel into foreign

countries, and to collect the most curious productions, for the

advancement of natural history: he encouraged the liberal and mechanic

arts at home, by munificent rewards and peculiar protection: he invited

above a thousand foreigners from Germany to become his subjects, and

settle in certain districts in Jutland, which had lain waste above three

centuries; and they forthwith began to build villages, and cultivate the

lands, in the dioceses of Wibourg, Arhous, and Ripen. Their travelling

expenses from Altona to their new settlement were defrayed by the king,

who moreover maintained them until the produce of the lands could afford

a comfortable subsistence. He likewise bestowed upon each colonist a

house, a barn, and a stable, with a certain number of horses and cattle.

Finally, this generous patriot having visited these new subjects, who

received him with unspeakable emotions of joy and affection, he

ordered a considerable sum of money to be distributed among them as an

additional mark of his favour. Such conduct in a prince cannot fail to

secure the warmest returns of loyalty and attachment in his people;

and the execution of such laudable schemes will endear his name to the

contemplation of posterity.

MEMORIAL PRESENTED TO THE STATES-GENERAL.

The Dutch, as usual, persevered in prosecuting every branch of commerce,

without being diverted to less profitable schemes of state-policy by

the insinuations of France, or the remonstrances of Great Britain. The

violation of the peace by their subjects in Bengal was no sooner known

at the court of London, than orders were sent to general Yorke,

the English ambassador at the Hague, to demand an explanation. He

accordingly presented a memorial to the states-general, signifying that

their high mightinesses must doubtless be greatly astonished to hear, by

the public papers, of the irregularities committed by their subjects in

the East Indies; but that they would be much more amazed on perusing the

piece annexed to his memorial, containing a minute account, specified

with the strictest regard to truth, of the irregular conduct observed

by the Dutch towards the British subjects in the river Bengal, at a time

when the factors and traders of Holland enjoyed all the sweets of peace

and all the advantages of unmolested commerce: at a time when his

Britannic majesty, from his great regard to their high mightinesses,

carefully avoided giving the least umbrage to the subjects of the United

Provinces. He observed that the king his sovereign was deeply affected

by these outrageous doings and mischievous designs of the Dutch in the

East Indies, whose aim was to destroy the British settlements in that

country; an aim that would have been accomplished, had not the king’s

victorious arms brought them to reason, and obliged them to sue for an

accommodation. He told them his majesty would willingly believe their

high mightinesses had given no order for proceeding to such extremities,

and that the directors of their India company had no share in the

transaction: nevertheless, he (the ambassador) was ordered to demand

signal satisfaction, in the name of the king his master; that all who

should be found to have shared in the offence, so manifestly tending to

the destruction of the English settlements in that country, should be

exemplarily punished; and that their high mightinesses should confirm

the stipulations agreed upon immediately after the action by the

directors of the respective companies, in consideration of which

agreement the Dutch ships were restored, after their commanders

acknowledged their fault, in owning themselves the aggressors. To this

remonstrance the states-general replied, that nothing of what was laid

to the charge of their subjects had yet reached their knowledge: but

they requested his Britannic majesty to suspend his judgment until he

should be made perfectly acquainted with the grounds of those disputes;

and they promised he should have reason to be satisfied with the

exemplary punishment that would be inflicted upon all who should be

found concerned in violating the peace between the two nations. *

* In the month of March, the states of Holland and West

Friesland having, after warm debates, agreed to the proposed

match between the princess Caroline, sister to the prince of

Orange, and the prince of Nassau Weilbourg, the nuptials

were solemnized at the Hague with great magnificence.

STATE OF THE POWERS AT WAR.

The war in Germany still raged with unrelenting fury, and the mutual

rancour of the contending parties seemed to derive fresh force from

their mutual disappointments; at least the house of Austria seemed

still implacable, and obstinately bent upon terminating the war with the

destruction of the Prussian monarch. Her allies, however, seemed less

actuated by the spirit of revenge. The French king had sustained so much

damage and disgrace in the course of the war, that his resources failed,

and his finances fell into disorder; he could no longer afford the

subsidies he had promised to different powers; while his subjects

clamoured aloud at the burden of impositions, the ruin of trade, and the

repeated dishonour entailed upon the arms of France. The czarina’s zeal

for the alliance was evidently cooled by the irregular and defective

payments of the subsidies she had stipulated. Perhaps she was

disappointed in her hope of conquest, and chagrined to see her armies

retire from Germany at the approach of every winter; and the British

ministry did not fail to exert all their influence to detach her from

the confederacy in which she had embarked. Sweden still languished in an

effectual parade of hostilities against the house of Bran-denburgh; but

the French interest began to lose ground in the diet of that kingdom.

The king of Prussia, howsoever exhausted in the article of men, betrayed

no symptom of apprehension, and made no advance towards a pacification

with his adversaries. He had employed the winter in recruiting his

armies by every expedient his fertile genius could devise; in levying

contributions to reinforce the vast subsidy he received from England, in

filling magazines, and making every preparation for a vigorous campaign.

In Westphalia, the same foresight and activity were exerted by prince

Ferdinand of Brunswick, who in the beginning of summer found himself

at the head of a very numerous army, paid by Great Britain, and

strengthened by two-and-twenty thousand national troops.

DEATH OF THE LANDGRAVE OF HESSE-CASSEL.

No alteration in the terms of this alliance was produced by the death

of William, landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, who breathed his last, in an

advanced age, on the twenty-eighth day of January, at Rintelen upon the

Weser. He was succeeded in the landgraviate by his son Frederick, whose

consort, the princess Mary, daughter to the king of Great Britain,

now, in quality of governess of her children, assumed the regency and

administration of the county of Hanau-Muntzenberg, by virtue of the

settlement made in the lifetime of her father-in-law, and confirmed by

her husband. She had for some years been separated from him, and resided

with his father, at whose decease she retired with her children to

the city of Zell. The present landgrave, who lived at Magdebourg as

vice-governor under the kin g of Prussia, no sooner learned the news of

his father’s death, than he sent an intimation of it to that prince and

the king of Great Britain; declaring, at the same time, that he would

scrupulously adhere to the engagements of his predecessor.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

OFFERS MADE BY THE NEUTRAL POWERS, &c.

The advances towards a peace, which had been made in the preceding year

by the kings of England and Prussia, in their declaration published at

the Hague by prince Louis of Brunswick, seemed to infuse in the neutral

powers a good opinion of their moderation. We have already seen that the

king of Spain offered his best offices in quality of mediator. When a

congress was proposed, the states-general made an offer of Breda, as

a place proper for the negotiation. The king of Great Britain, by the

mouth of his ambassador, thanked their high mightinesses for the sincere

desire they expressed to put an end to the ravages of war, which had

extended desolation over the face of Europe: he readily closed with

their gracious offer; and in consequence of his high regard and

invariable friendship for their high mightinesses, wished earnestly

that it might be acceptable to the other powers at war. The French king

expressed his sentiments nearly to the same purpose. His ambassador

declared, that his most christian majesty was highly sensible of the

offer they had made of Breda for holding the congress; that, in order

to give a fresh proof of his sincere desire to increase the good harmony

that subsisted between him and the states-general, he accepted their

offer with pleasure; butas he could take no step without the concurrence

of his high allies, he was obliged to wait for their answer, which could

not fail to be favourable, if nothing remained to be settled but the

place for holding the congress. King Stanislaus having written a letter

to his Britannic majesty, offering the city of Nancy for the same

purpose, he received a civil answer, expressing the king of England’s

sense of his obliging offer, which however he declined, as a place not

conveniently situated for all the powers interested in the great works

of pacification. Civilities of the same nature likewise passed between

the sovereign of Nancy and the king of Prussia. As the proposals for an

accommodation made by the king of England and his allies might have left

an unfavourable impression of their adversaries had they been altogether

declined, the court of Vienna was prevailed upon to concur with

her allies in a declaration professing their desire of peace; which

declaration was delivered, on the third day of April, by the Austrian

minister residing at the Hague, to his serene highness prince Louis

of Brunswick; and a paper of the same nature was also delivered to him

separately by the French and Russian ministers. [558] _[See note 4 N, at

the end of this Vol.]_ These professions, however, did not interrupt the

operations of the campaign.

SKIRMISHES IN WESTPHALIA.

Though the French army under the mareschal duke de Broglio remained in

cantonment in the neighbourhood of Friedberg, and prince Ferdinand had

retired from Corsdorff to Marburg, where in the beginning of January he

established his head-quarters, nevertheless the winter was by no means

inactive. As far back as the twenty-fifth day of December, the duke de

Broglio, having called in his detachments, attempted to surprise the

allied army by a forced march to Kleinlinnes; but finding them prepared

to give him a warm reception, nothing but a cannonade ensued, and he

retreated to his former quarters. On the twenty-ninth, colonel Luckner,

at the head of the Hanoverian hunters, fell in with a detachment of the

enemy, consisting of four hundred men, under the command of count Muret.

These he attacked with such vigour, that the count was made prisoner,

and all his party either killed or taken, except two-and-twenty, who

escaped. On the third day of January, the marquis de Vogue attacked the

town of Herborn, which he carried, and took a small detachment of the

allies who were posted there. At the same time the marquis Dauvet made

himself master of Dillembourg, the garrison of the allied troops being

obliged to retire into the castle, where they were closely besieged.

Prince Ferdinand no sooner understood their situation, than he began his

march with a strong detachment for their relief, on the seventh day of

the month, when he attacked and totally defeated the besiegers, took

seven hundred prisoners, including forty officers, with seven pair of

colours, and two pieces of cannon. On that very day, the Highlanders,

under major Keith, supported by the hussars of Luckner, who commanded

the whole detachment, attacked the village of Ryebach, where

Beaufremont’s regiment of dragoons was posted on the side of

Dillembourg, and routed them with great slaughter. The greater part of

the regiment was killed, and many prisoners were taken, together with

two hundred horses, and all their baggage. The Highlanders distinguished

themselves on this occasion by their intrepidity, which was the more

remarkable, as they were no other than raw recruits, just arrived from

their own country, and altogether unacquainted with discipline. On the

eighth day of January, M. de St. Germain advanced on the left of the

allies with the grenadiers of the French army, supported by eight

battalions, and a body of dragoons; but he was encountered by the duke

of Holstein, at the head of a strong detachment, in the neighbourhood

of Ersdorff, who, by dint of a furious cannonade, obliged him to retreat

with precipitation. After this attempt the French parties disappeared,

and their army retired into winter-quarters, in and about Franckfort

on the Maine; while prince Ferdinand quartered the allies at Cassel,

Paderborn, Munster, and Osnabruck; this last place being allotted to the

British troops, as being the nearest to Embden, where the reinforcements

from Britain were to be landed. In the beginning of February, the

hereditary prince of Brunswick, with the detachment of the allied

army under his command, began his march from Chemnitz in Saxony for

Westphalia, where he safely arrived, after having assisted at a long

conference in Hamelen, with his father the reigning duke, his uncle

prince Ferdinand, and some principal members of the regency of Hanover.

The French general continued to send out detachments to beat up the

quarters of the allies, and lay their towns under contribution. In the

beginning of March, the marquis de Blaisel marched at the head of two

thousand four hundred men from Giessen, where he commanded, to Marburg,

forced the gates of the town, and compelled the garrison of the allies

to take shelter in the castle. As he could not pretend to undertake the

siege of the fortress, by the fire of which he was exceedingly galled,

he demanded of the town a contribution of one hundred thousand florins,

and carried some of the magistrates along with him as hostages for

the payment of this imposition. He afterwards appeared at Hombourg,

Alsfeldt, and Hartzberg, the frontier posts of the allies; but did not

think proper to attack either, because he perceived that measures were

taken for his reception. The French, with all their boasted politeness

and humanity, are sometimes found as brutal and rapacious as the most

barbarous enemy. On pretence of taking umbrage at the town of Hanau

Muntzenberg, for having without their permission acknowledged the

regency of the landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel, they, in the month of

February, ordered the magistrates of that place to pay, within the

term of twenty-four hours, the sum of seven hundred and fifty thousand

livres, on pain of being subjected to plunder. This order was signified

by the prince de Robecq; to whom the magistrates represented the

impossibility of raising such a sum, as the country was totally

exhausted, and their credit absolutely destroyed, in consequence of

their inability to pay the interest of the capitals negotiated in the

course of the preceding year. He still insisted upon their finding the

money before night; they offered to pay eighty thousand florins, which

they raised with the utmost difficulty, and begged the payment of the

rest might be postponed for a few weeks: but their request was rejected

with disdain. The garrison was reinforced by two battalions, and four

squadrons dispersed in the principal squares and markets of the city,

and the gates were shut. They even planted cannon in the streets, and

tarred matches were fixed to many houses, in order to intimidate the

inhabitants. These expedients proving ineffectual, detachments

of grenadiers entered the houses of the principal magistrates and

merchants, from whence they removed all their best effects to the

town-hall, where they were kept in deposit, until they were redeemed

with all the money that could possibly be raised. This exaction, so

little to the honour of a civilized nation, the French minister declared

to the diet at Ratisbon was agreeable to the instructions of his most

christian majesty.

By way of retaliation for the cruelty practised at Hanau, a detachment

of the allied army under general Luckner was sent to raise contributions

in Fulda, and actually carried off hostages from that city; but retired

before a strong body of the enemy, who took possession of the place.

From hence the French marched, in their turn, to plunder the towns of

Hirchfeldt and Vacha. Accordingly, they appeared at Vacha, situated on

the frontiers of Hesse, and formed the head of the chain of cantonments

which the allies had on the Werra. This place was attacked with such

vigour, that colonel Frey-tag, who commanded the post, was obliged to

abandon the town: but he maintained himself on a rising ground in

the neighbourhood, where he amused the enemy until two battalions of

grenadiers came to his assistance. Thus reinforced, he pursued the

French for three leagues, and drove them with considerable loss from

Giessa, where they had resolved to fix their quarters. These skirmishes

happened in the beginning of May, when the grand armies were just in

motion to begin the campaign.

SITUATION OF THE FRENCH ARMIES.

By this time the forces under the mareschal duke de Broglio were

augmented to one hundred thousand; while the count de St. Germain

commanded a separate army on the Rhine, consisting of thirty thousand

men, assembled from the quarters of Dusseldorp, Cologn, Cleves, and

Wesel. The second corps was intended to divide the allied army, which,

by such a division, would be considerably weakened; and the French court

threatened to form a third army under the prince de Soubise; but this

did not appear. The duke de Broglio was in such high favour with the

French ministry at this juncture, that he was promoted over the heads of

many old generals, who now demanded and obtained their dismission; and

every step was taken to render the campaign glorious to this admired

commander: but notwithstanding all their care, and his own exertion, he

found it impossible to take the field early in the season, from want

of forage for his cavalry. While his quarters were established at

Franckfort, his troops were plentifully supplied with all sorts of

provisions from the Upper Rhine; but this convenience depended upon his

being master of the course of the river; but he could not move from this

position without forfeiting the advantage, and providing magazines for

the use of his forces; so that he was obliged to lie inactive until

he could have the benefit of green forage in his march. The same

inconveniences operated more powerfully on the side of prince Ferdinand,

who, being in an exhausted country, was obliged to fall back as far as

Paderborn, and draw his supplies from Hamburg and Bremen on the Elbe

and the Weser. By this time, however, he had received a reinforcement

of British troops from Embden, under the direction of major-general

Griffin; and before the end of the campaign, the forces of that nation

in Germany were augmented to five-and-twenty thousand; a greater number

than had served at one time upon the continent for two centuries. The

allied army marched from their cantonments on the fifth day of May, and

proceeded by the way of Paderborn to Fritzlar, where, on the twentieth,

they encamped: but part of the troops left in the bishopric of Munster,

under general Sporcken, were ordered to form a camp at Dulmen, to make

head against the French corps commanded by the count de St. Germain.

EXPLOIT OF COLONEL LUCKNER.

General Imhoff was sent with a detachment to Kirchaven on the Orme:

and general Gilsoe, with another corps, advanced to the neighbourhood

of Hirchfeldt on the Fulda. The former of these having ordered colonel

Luckner to scour the country with a body of hussars, that officer, on

the twenty-fourth of May, fell in with a French patrole, which gave the

alarm at Butzbach; when the garrison of that place, amounting to five

hundred piquets, under general Waldemar, fled with great precipitation.

Being, however, pursued, and overtaken near a wood, they were routed

and dispersed. Colonel Luckner, entering Butzbach, found a considerable

quantity of forage, flour, wine, and equipage, belonging to the

fugitives. What he could not carry off he distributed among the poor

inhabitants, and returned to general Imhoff’s camp at Ameneberg, with

about an hundred prisoners. This excursion alarmed the enemy to such a

degree, that their whole army was put in motion; and the duke de Broglio

in person advanced with a large body of troops as far as Friedberg:

but undemanding the allies had not quitted their camp at Fritzlar, he

returned to Franckfort, after having cantoned that part of his army in

the Wetteraw. This alarm was not so mortifying as the secession of the

Wirtemberg troops, amounting to ten thousand men, commanded by their

duke in person, who left the French army in disgust, and returned to his

own country. The imperial army, under the prince de Deuxponts, quartered

at Bamberg, began their march to Naumberg on the twentieth of May: but

one of their detachments of cavalry having received a check from a body

of Prussians near Lutzen, they fell back; and on the fourth day of June

encamped at Litchenfels upon the Maine. The small detachments of the

grand armies, as well as those belonging to the bodies commanded by

general Sporcken and the count de St. Germain, in the neighbourhood of

Dusseldorp, skirmished with various success. The hereditary prince of

Brunswick being detached from the allied army, with some battalions

of grenadiers, and two regiments of English dragoons, advanced to

the country of Fulda, where he was joined by the troops under general

Gilsoe, and achieved some inconsiderable exploits, particularly at

Hosenfeldt and Zielbach, where he surprised and took divers parties of

the enemy.

By the twenty-fourth of June, prince Ferdinand, quitting his situation

at Fritzlar, marched to Frillendorf, and encamped on the hills between

Ziegenheim and Freysa; general Imhoff commanding at a small distance

on the right, and the hereditary prince, now returned from Fulda, being

posted on the left of the army. In the meantime, the duke de Broglio,

assembling his forces between Merlau and Laubach, advanced to Neustadt,

where he encamped on the twenty-eighth day of the month, and at the

same time occupied a strong post at Wassenburgh. His intention was to

penetrate through the country of Hesse into Hanover, and make himself

entirely master of that electorate. With this view he resolved to effect

a junction with the count de St. Germain, whom he directed to advance

towards Brilau and Corbach; while he himself, decamping from Neustadt

on the eighth day of July, advanced by the way of Frankenburg. Prince

Ferdinand, having received intelligence that the count de St. Germain

was in motion, began his march from Ziegenheim, and on the ninth day of

July reached the heights of Bruneau, in the neighbourhood of Wildungen.

THE HEREDITARY PRINCE OF BRUNSWICK DEFEATED.

The hereditary prince, at the head of the advanced corps, reinforced

with some battalions and squadrons under major-general Griffin, was sent

forward to Sauxenhausen, whither the army followed the next morning.

The hereditary prince continuing to advance, found the enemy already

formed at Corbach; but judging their whole force did not exceed ten

thousand infantry and seventeen squadrons, and being impelled by the

impetuosity of his own courage, he resolved to give them battle. He

accordingly attacked them about two in the afternoon, and the action

became very warm and obstinate; but the enemy being continually

reinforced with fresh battalions, and having the advantage of a numerous

artillery, all the prince’s efforts were ineffectual. Prince Ferdinand,

being at too great a distance to sustain him, sent him an order to

rejoin the army which was by this time formed at Sauxenhausen. He

forthwith made dispositions for a retreat, which however was attended

with great confusion. The enemy observing the disorder of the allied

troops, plied their artillery with redoubled diligence, while a powerful

body of their cavalry charged with great vivacity. In all likelihood

the whole infantry of the allies would have been cut off, had not the

hereditary prince made a diversion in their favour, by charging in

person at the head of the British dragoons, who acted with their usual

gallantry and effect. This respite enabled the infantry to accomplish

their retreat to Sauxenhausen; but they lost above five hundred men

and fifteen pieces of cannon. General count Kielmansegge, major-general

Griffin, and major Hill, of Bland’s dragoons, distinguished themselves

by their conduct and intrepidity on this occasion. The hereditary prince

exposed his life in the hottest part of the action, and received a

slight wound in the shoulder, which gave him far less disturbance than

he felt from the chagrin and mortification produced by his defeat.

Many days, however, did not pass before he found an opportunity of

retaliating this disgrace. Prince Ferdinand, receiving advice that a

body of the enemy, commanded by major-general Glaubitz, had advanced on

the left of the allies to Ziegenheim, detached the hereditary prince to

oppose them, at the head of six battalions of Hanoverians and Hessians,

with Elliot’s regiment of English light-horse, Luckner’s hussars, and

two brigades of chasseurs; on the sixteenth day of the month, he engaged

the enemy near the village of Exdorf, and a very warm action ensued,

in which Elliot’s regiment signalized themselves remarkably by repeated

charges.*

* Though this was the first time that Elliot’s regiment

appeared in the field, it performed wonders. They charged

five different times, and broke through the enemy at every

charge; but these exploits they did not achieve without

sustaining a heavy loss in officers, men, and horses.

At length victory declared for the allies. Five battalions of the enemy,

including the commander-in-chief and the prince of Anhalt Cothen,

were taken, with six pieces of cannon, all their arms, baggage, and

artillery. During these transactions, the mareschal duke de Broglio

remained encamped on the heights of Corbach. He had, in advancing

from Franckfort, left detachments to reduce the castles of Marburg and

Dillembourg, which were occupied by the allies, and they fell into his

hands, the garrison of both being obliged to surrender prisoners of war.

These were but inconsiderable conquests; nor did the progress of the

French general equal the idea which had been formed of his talents and

activity. The count de St. Germain, who was his senior officer, and

believed by many to be at least his equal in capacity, having now joined

his corps to the grand army, and conceiving disgust at his being obliged

to serve under the duke de Broglio, relinquished his command, in which

he was succeeded by the chevalier de Muy. At the same time, the

marquis de Voyer and the count de Luc, two generals of experience and

reputation, quitted the army, and returned to France, actuated by the

same motives.

VICTORY OBTAINED BY THE ALLIES.

The allied army having moved their camp from Saxenhansen to the village

of Kalle near Cassel, remained in that situation till the thirtieth day

of July, when the troops were again put in motion. The chevalier de Muy,

having passed the Dymel at Stradtbergen, with the reserve of the French

army, amounting to thirty-five thousand men, extended this body down the

banks of the river, in order to cut off the communication of the allies

with Westphalia; while the duke de Broglio marched up with his main wing

to their camp at Kalle, and prince Xavier of Saxony, who commanded their

reserve on the left, advanced towards Cassel; prince Ferdinand, leaving

general Kielmansegge with a body of troops for the defence of the city,

decamped in the night of the thirtieth, and passed the Dymel without

loss between Gibenau and Dringleberg. The hereditary prince, who had

the preceding day passed the same river, in order to reinforce general

Sporcken, who was posted near Corbeke, now reconnoitred the position of

the enemy, and found them possessed of a very advantageous camp between

Warbourg and Ochsendorff. Prince Ferdinand having resolved to attack

them, ordered the hereditary prince and general Sporcken to turn their

left, while he himself advanced against their front, with the main body

of the army.. The enemy was accordingly attacked almost at the same

instant, both in flank and in rear, with equal impetuosity and success.

As the infantry of the allied army could not march fast enough to charge

at the same time, the marquis of Granby was ordered to advance with the

cavalry of the right; and the brigade of English artillery, commanded

by captain Phillips, made such expedition, that they were up in time

to second the attack in a most surprising manner. The French cavalry,

though very numerous, retired at the approach of the marquis, except

three squadrons, who stood the charge and were immediately broken.

Then the English horse fell upon the enemy’s infantry, which suffered

greatly, while the town of Warbourg was assaulted by the Britannic

legion. The French, finding themselves hard pressed on both flanks,

as well in front as in rear, retired precipitately, with considerable

damage, occasioned chiefly by the British cannon and dragoons, and many

were drowned in attempting to ford the Dymel. The battalion of Maxwell,

and a brigade under colonel Beckwith, composed of grenadiers and

highlanders, distinguished themselves remarkably on this occasion. The

enemy left about fifteen hundred men killed or wounded on the field of

battle; with some colours, and ten pieces of cannon; and about the same

number were made prisoners. Monsieur de Muy lay all night under arms,

on the heights of Volk-Missen, from whence he next day retired towards

Wolfshagen. On the evening of the battle, the marquis of Granby received

orders to pass the river in pursuit of them, with twelve British

battalions and ten squadrons, and encamped at Wilda, about four miles

from Warbourg, the heights of which were possessed by the enemy’s grand

army. [561] _[See note 4 O, at the end of this Vol.]_ By this success,

prince Ferdinand was enabled to maintain his communication with

Westphalia, and keep the enemy at a distance from the heart of Hanover;

but to these objects he sacrificed the country of Cassel: for prince

Xavier of Saxony, at the head of a detached body, much more numerous

than that which was left under general Kielmansegge, advanced towards

Cassel, and made himself master of that city; then he reduced Munden,

Gottengen, and Eimbeck in the electorate of Hanover. All that prince

Ferdinand could do, considering how much he was out-numbered by the

French, was to secure posts and passes, with a view to retard their

progress, and employ detachments to harass and surprise their advanced

parties. In a few days after the action at Warbourg, general Luckner

repulsed a French detachment which had advanced as far as Eimbeck, and

surprised another at Nordheim. At the same period, colonel Donap, with

a body of the allied army, attacked a French corps of two thousand men,

posted in the wood of Sababourg, to preserve the communication between

their grand army and their troops on the other side of the Weser; and,

notwithstanding the strength of their situation, drove them from

their posts, with the loss of five hundred men, either killed or made

prisoners; but this advantage was overbalanced by the reduction of

Ziegenheim, garrisoned by seven hundred men of the allied army, who,

after a vigorous resistance, were obliged to surrender themselves

prisoners of war.

On the fifth day of August, prince Ferdinand, being encamped at Buhne,

received intelligence that a considerable body of the enemy, amounting

to upwards of twenty thousand men, were in motion to make a general

forage in the neighbourhood of Geismar. He passed the Dymel early in the

morning, with a body of troops and some artillery, and posted them in

such an advantageous manner, as to render the enemy’s attempt totally

ineffectual, although the foragers were covered with great part of

their army. On the same morning, the hereditary prince set out on

an expedition to beat up the quarters of a French detachment. Being

informed that the volunteers of Clermont and Dauphiné, to the number of

one thousand, horse and foot, were cantoned at Zierenberg, at a small

distance from the French camp at Dierenberg, and passed their time in

the most careless security, he advanced towards them from his camp at

Warbourg, within a league of their cantonment, without seeing any of

their posts, or meeting with any of their patrols, a circumstance that

encouraged him to beat up their quarters by surprise; for this service

he pitched upon five battalions, with a detachment of Highlanders, and

eight regiments of dragoons. Leaving their tents standing, they began

their march at eight in the evening, and passed the Dymel near Warbourg.

About a league on the other side of the Dymel, at the village of Witzen,

they were joined by the light troops under major Bulow; and now the

disposition was made both for entering the town, and securing a

retreat in case of being repulsed. When they were within two miles of

Zierenberg, and in sight of the fires of the enemy’s grand guard, the

grenadiers of Maxwell, the regiment of Kinsley, and the Highlanders,

advanced by three separate roads, and marched in profound silence: at

length the noise of their feet alarmed the French, who began to fire,

when the grenadiers proceeded at a round pace with unloaded firelocks,

pushed the piquets, slew the guard at the gate, and rushing into the

town, drove everything before them with incredible impetuosity. The

attack was so sudden, and the surprise so great, that the French had not

time to assemble in any considerable number; but they began to fire

from the windows; and in so doing, exasperated the allied troops,

who, bursting into the houses, slaughtered them without mercy. Having

remained in the place from two to three in the morning, they retreated

with about four hundred prisoners, including forty officers, and brought

off two pieces of artillery. This nocturnal adventure, in which the

British troops displayed equal courage and activity, was achieved with

very little loss; but after all, it deserves no other appellation

than that of a partisan exploit; for it was attended with no sort of

advantage to the allied army.

Considering the superiority of the French army, we cannot account for

the little progress made by the duke de Broglio, who, according to our

conception, might either have given battle to the allies with the utmost

probability of success, or penetrated into the heart of Hanover, the

conquest of which seemed to be the principal object of the French

ministry. Instead of striking an important stroke, he retired from

Immenhausen towards Cassel, where he fortified his camp as if he had

thought himself in danger of being attacked; and the war was carried on

by small detachments. Major Bulow, being sent with a strong party from

the camp of the allied army at Buline, surprised the town of Marburg,

destroyed the French ovens, and brought off a considerable quantity of

stores and baggage, with some prisoners. He met with the same success

at Butzback, where he surprised and took two companies belonging to the

regiment of Baugrave, and retired with this body to Franckenberg, where

he joined colonel Forsen. On the twelfth day of September they made a

movement towards Franckenau; and M. de Stainville, who was posted with a

body of French troops at Merdenhagen, advanced to check their progress.

He came up with their rear in the neighbourhood of Munden, and attacked

them in passing the river Orck with such vigour, that Forsen, with some

of his cavalry, was taken, and Bulow obliged to abandon some pieces of

cannon. The action was just determined, when this last was reinforced by

the hereditary prince of Brunswick, who had made a forced march of five

German miles, which had fatigued the troops to such a degree, that

he deferred his attack till next morning; but, in the meantime, M.

de Stainville retired towards Franckenberg. The Hanoverian general

Wangenheim, at the head of four battalions and six squadrons, had driven

the enemy from the defiles of Soheite, and encamped at Lawenthagen; but,

being attacked by a superior number, he was obliged in his turn to give

way, and his retreat was not effected without the loss of two hundred

men, and some pieces of artillery. When the enemy retired, general

Wangenheim repassed the Weser, and occupied his former situation at

Ussar. Meanwhile, general Luckner gained an advantage over a detachment

of French cavalry near Norten. Prince Ferdinand, when mareschal Broglio

quitted his camp at Immenhausen, made a motion of his troops, and

established his head-quarters at Geismer-wells, the residence of the

landgrave of Hesse-Cassel; from thence, however, he transferred them,

about the latter end of September, to Ovilgune, on the Westphalian side

of the Dymel.

THE HEREDITARY PRINCE MARCHES TO THE LOWER RHINE.

Such was the position of the two opposite grand armies, when the

world was surprised by an expedition to the Lower Rhine, made by the

hereditary prince of Brunswick. Whether this excursion was intended

to hinder the French from reinforcing their army in Westphalia--or to

co-operate in the Low Countries with the armament now ready equipped

in the ports of England; or to gratify the ambition of a young prince,

overboiling with courage and glowing with the desire of conquest--we

cannot explain to the satisfaction of the reader; certain it is, that

the Austrian Netherlands were at this juncture entirely destitute of

troops, except the French garrisons of Ostend and Nieuport, which were

weak and inconsiderable. Had ten thousand English troops been landed on

the coast of Blankenburg, they might have taken possession of Bruges,

Ghent, Brussels, and Antwerp, without resistance, and joined the

hereditary prince in the heart of the country; in that case he would

have found himself at the head of thirty thousand men, and might have

made such a diversion in favour of Hanover, as to transfer the seat of

war from Westphalia into Flanders. The empress-queen might, indeed, have

complained of this invasion, as the formality of declaring war against

her had not been observed by Great Britain; but considering that she was

the declared enemy of Hanover, and had violated the barrier-treaty, in

establishing which the kingdom of Great Britain had lavished away so

much blood and treasure, a step of this kind, we apprehend, might have

been taken, without any imputation of perfidy or injustice. Whatever the

motives of the prince’s expedition might have been, he certainly quitted

the grand army of the allies in the month of September; and traversing

Westphalia, with twenty battalions, and as many squadrons, appeared

on the Lower Ehine, marching by Schermbeck and Dusseldorp. On the

twenty-ninth day of the month he sent a large detachment over the river

at Rocroot, which surprised part of the French partisan Fischer’s corps

at Ehynberg, and scoured the country. Next day, other parties, crossing

at Eees and Emmerick, took possession of some redoubts which the French

had raised along the bank of the river; and here they found a number of

boats sufficient to transport the rest of the forces. Then the prince

advanced to Cleves; and at his approach the French garrison, consisting

of five hundred men, under the command of M. de Barrai, retired into the

castle, which, however, they did not long defend; for on the third day

of October they capitulated, and surrendered themselves prisoners

of war, after having in vain endeavoured to obtain more favourable

conditions.

A more important object was Wesel, which the prince invested, and began

to besiege in form. The approaches were made on the right of the Ehine,

while the prince in person remained on the left to cover the siege; and

kept his communication open with the other side, by a bridge above,

and another below the place. He had hoped to carry it by a vigorous

exertion, without the formality of a regular siege; but he met with a

warmer reception than he expected; and his operations were retarded by

heavy rains, which, by swelling the river, endangered his bridges, and

laid his trenches under water. The difficulties and delays occasioned by

this circumstance entirely frustrated his design. The French, being

made acquainted with his motions, were not slow in taking measures

to anticipate his success. M. de Castries was detached after him with

thirty battalions, and thirty-eight squadrons; and, by forced marches,

arrived on the fourteenth day of October at Ehynberg, where the prince’s

light troops were posted. These he attacked immediately, and compelled

to abandon the post, notwithstanding all the efforts of the prince, who

commanded in person, and appeared in the warmest parts of this short

but sanguinary affair. The enemy leaving five battalions, with some

squadrons, at Ehynberg, marched by the left, and encamped behind the

convent of Campen. The prince, having received intimation that M. de

Castries was not yet joined by some reinforcements that were on the

march, determined to be beforehand with them, and attempt that very

night to surprise him in his camp. For this purpose he began his march

at ten in the evening, after having left four battalions, and five

squadrons, under general Beck, with instructions to observe Rhynberg,

and attack that post, in case the attempt on Campen should succeed.

Before the allied forces could reach the enemy’s camp, they were under

the necessity of overpowering Fischer’s corps of irregulars, which

occupied the convent of Campen, at the distance of half a league in

their front. This service occasioned some firing, the noise of which

alarmed the French army. Their commander formed them with great

expedition, and posted them in the wood, where they were immediately

attacked, and at first obliged to give ground; but they soon retrieved

all they had lost, and sustained without flinching an unceasing fire of

musketry, from five in the morning till nine at night, when they reaped

the fruits of their perseverance. The hereditary prince, whose horse was

killed under him, seeing no prospect of success in prolonging an action

which had already cost him a considerable number of men, thought proper

to give orders for a retreat, which was not effected without confusion,

and left the field of battle to the enemy. His loss on this occasion

did not fall short of sixteen hundred choice men, killed, wounded, and

taken; and his loss fell chiefly on the troops of Great Britain, who

were always found in the foremost ranks of danger. All the officers,

both of infantry and dragoons, distinguished themselves remarkably, and

many were dangerously wounded. Among these, the nation regretted the

loss of lord Downe, whose wounds proved mortal: he was a young nobleman

of spirit, who had lately embraced a military life, though he was not

regularly trained in the service.

Next day, which was the sixteenth of October, the enemy attacked an

advanced body of the allies, which was posted in a wood before Elverick,

and extended along the Rhine. The firing of cannon and musketry was

maintained till night. Meanwhile, a column of the French infantry,

commanded by M. de Cabot, marched through Walach, and took post among

the thickets, at the distance of a quarter of a league, in the front

of the prince’s army. By this time the Ehine was so much swelled by the

rains and the banks of it were overflown in such a manner, that it was

necessary to repair, and move lower down, the bridge which had been

thrown over that river. This work was accordingly performed in the

presence of the enemy; and the prince passing without molestation,

proceeded to Bruymen, where he fixed his head-quarters. His passing the

Ehine so easily, under the eye of a victorious army so much superior to

him in number, may be counted among the fortunate incidents of his life.

Such was the issue of an expedition which exposed the projector of it

to the imputation of temerity. Whatever his aim might have been, besides

the reduction of Wesel, with the strength of which he did not seem to

have been very well acquainted, he certainly miscarried in his design;

and his miscarriage was attended with a very considerable loss of

troops, occasioned not only by the action, but also by the diseases

engendered from the wet weather, the fatigue of long marches, and the

want of proper conveniences; not to mention the enormous expense in

contingencies incurred by this fruitless undertaking.

In the month of November, while he lay encamped in the neighbourhood of

Schermbeck, a body of the enemy attempted to beat up his quarters;

having received intimation of their design, he immediately called in

his advanced posts, and made a disposition for giving them a proper

reception. He abandoned the tents that were in the front of his camp,

and posted his infantry in ambuscade behind those that were in the

rear; at the same time he ordered some regiments of horse and hussars

to fetch a compass, and fall upon the back of the enemy. This stratagem

succeeded to his wish. The French detachment, believing the allies had

actually abandoned their camp, began to pillage the tents in the utmost

disorder: then the infantry sallied from the place where they were

concealed, and fell upon them with great impetuosity: the artillery

opened, and the cavalry charged them in flank. In a word, of twelve

hundred who marched from Wesel on this expedition, scarcely two hundred

escaped.

{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}

ADVANTAGES GAINED by M. DE STAINVILLE.

The duke de Broglio endeavoured, by sundry means, to take advantage of

the allied army on the other side of the Weser, thus weakened by the

absence of the troops under the hereditary prince; but he found prince

Ferdinand too vigilant to be surprised, and too strongly situated to be

attacked with any prospect of success. He therefore contented himself

with ravaging the country by detachments: he sent M. de Stainville, with

a considerable body of forces, to penetrate into the heart of Hanover;

and on the fifteenth day of September, that officer, falling in with a

detachment of the allies, commanded by major Bulow, attacked them near

the abbey of Schaken. After a warm and obstinate engagement, they

were defeated, and driven to Bulemont, with the loss of their cannon,

baggage, and a good number of men, who fell into the hands of the

victors. After this exploit, M. de Stainville advanced to Halberstadt,

and demanded of that capital a contribution of one million five

hundred thousand livres; but the citizens had been so drained by former

exactions, that they could not raise above thirty thousand: for the

remainder the French partisan took hostages, with whom he returned to

the grand army encamped at Cassel, from whence they in a little time

fell back as far as Gottengen.

THE ALLIES AND FRENCH GO INTO WINTER QUARTERS.

As the enemy retreated, prince Ferdinand advanced as far as Hurste,

where he established his head-quarters about the latter end of November.

While he remained in this position, divers skirmishes happened in the

neighbourhood of Gottengen. Major-general Briedenbach, at the head of

two regiments of Hanoverian and Brunswick guards, with a detachment of

cavalry, attacked, on the twenty-ninth day of November, the French

post at Heydemunden, upon the river Worrau. This he carried, and took

possession of the town, which the enemy hastily abandoned. Part of their

detachment crossed the river in boats; the rest threw themselves into an

intrenchment that covered the passage, which the allies endeavoured to

force in several unsuccessful attempts, galled as they were by the fire

of the enemy’s redoubts on the other side of the river. At length M.

Briedenbach was obliged to desist, and fall back into the town; from

whence he retired at midnight, after having sustained considerable

damage. Prince Ferdinand had it very much at heart to drive the French

from Gottengen, and accordingly invested that city; but the French

garrison, which was numerous and well provided, made such a vigorous

defence, as baffled all the endeavours of the allies, who were moreover

impeded by the rainy weather, which, added to other considerations,

prevented them from undertaking the siege in form. Nevertheless, they

kept the place blocked up from the twenty-second day of November to the

twelfth of the following month, when the garrison, in a desperate sally,

took one of their principal posts, and compelled them to raise the

blockade. About the middle of December, prince Ferdinand retired into

winter-quarters; he himself residing at Uslar, and the English troops

being cantoned in the bishopric of Paderborn. Thus the enemy were left

in possession of Hesse, and the whole country to the eastward of the

Weser, to the frontiers of the electorate of Hanover. If the allied

army had not been weakened for the sake of a rash, ill-concerted, and

unsuccessful expedition to the Lower Rhine, in all probability the

French would have been obliged to abandon the footing they had gained

in the course of this campaign; and, in particular, to retreat from

Gottengen, which they now maintained and fortified with great diligence

and circumspection.