ARLINGTON STREET, _May_ 11, 1745.
I stayed till to-day, to be able to give you some account of the battle
of Tournay: the outlines you will have heard already. We don't allow it
to be a victory on the French side: but that is, just as a woman is not
called _Mrs._ till she is married, though she may have had half-a-dozen
natural children. In short, we remained upon the field of battle three
hours; I fear, too many of us remain there still! without palliating, it
is certainly a heavy stroke. We never lost near so many officers. I pity
the Duke [of Cumberland], for it is almost the first battle of
consequence that we ever lost. By the letters arrived to-day, we find
that Tournay still holds out. There are certainly killed Sir James
Campbell, General Ponsonby, Colonel Carpenter, Colonel Douglas, young
Ross, Colonel Montagu, Gee, Berkeley, and Kellet. Mr. Vanburgh is since
dead. Most of the young men of quality in the Guards are wounded. I have
had the vast fortune to have nobody hurt, for whom I was in the least
interested. Mr. Conway, in particular, has highly distinguished himself;
he and Lord Petersham, who is slightly wounded, are most commended;
though none behaved ill but the Dutch horse. There has been but very
little consternation here: the King minded it so little, that being set
out for Hanover, and blown back into Harwich roads since the news came,
he could not be persuaded to return, but sailed yesterday with the fair
wind. I believe you will have the _Gazette_ sent to-night; but lest it
should not be printed time enough, here is a list of the numbers, as it
came over this morning:
British foot 1237 killed.
Ditto horse 90 ditto.
Ditto foot 1968 wounded.
Ditto horse 232 ditto.
Ditto foot 457 missing.
Ditto horse 18 ditto.
Hanoverian foot 432 killed.
Ditto horse 78 ditto.
Ditto foot 950 wounded.
Ditto horse 192 ditto.
Ditto horse and foot 53 missing.
Dutch 625 killed and wounded.
Ditto 1019 missing.
So the whole _hors de combat_ is above seven thousand three hundred. The
French own the loss of three thousand; I don't believe many more, for it
was a most rash and desperate perseverance on our side. The Duke behaved
very bravely and humanely; but this will not have advanced the peace.
However coolly the Duke may have behaved, and coldly his father, at
least his brother [the Prince of Wales] has outdone both. He not only
went to the play the night the news came, but in two days made a ballad.
It is in imitation of the Regent's style, and has miscarried in nothing
but the language, the thoughts, and the poetry. Did not I tell you in my
last that he was going to act Paris in Congreve's "Masque"? The song is
addressed to the goddesses.