“Peace is in Maestricht,” said the Marshal de Saxe. It was with
preparations for this siege that the campaign of 1748 commenced. It
was necessary to secure all the passages, to force an army to retreat,
to render it powerless for action, to deceive the enemy, and leave
his own troops in ignorance of his secret. Marshal Saxe succeeded in
all this; he only communicated his views to M. de Cremille; he made
the allies believe that his object was Buda, and he went, at the head
of twenty-five thousand men, to conduct a convoy to Bergen-op-Zoom,
feigning to turn his back towards Maestricht. Three divisions advanced
upon Tirlemont, Tongres, and Luxembourg; and at length all four
took their route towards Maestricht. The enemy quitted their posts
precipitately, abandoned immense magazines, and knew nothing of the
designs of the count de Saxe until it was too late to oppose them.
The city was invested, without a possibility of any succour being
introduced. The siege was pushed on with vigour. The baron d’Aylva, the
governor, and the count de Marshal commanding the Austrian garrison,
displayed in vain all their skill to dispute the ground, and drive back
the besiegers. They were on the point of submitting to the conqueror,
when a courier, despatched by the duke of Cumberland, came to announce
the cessation of hostilities, and to confirm the saying of Marshal Saxe
with which we commenced this article.
There is scarcely a siege on record which does not convey a lesson
to students in the military art, even to experienced generals, and
above all to kings or ministers directing a war--the lesson in this is
secrecy before the attempt: had Maurice de Saxe told all the world what
was the object of his preparations, he might as well have attempted to
besiege the moon as Maestricht.
Maestricht was besieged in vain by the French, under Meranda, in 1793,
but yielded to the troops of that country, commanded by Kleber, in
1794, after eleven days of open trenches.