taken, after which Marlborough ◆Sept. 12/23.◆ fell back across the
Scheldt to secure the whole line of the Dender by the capture of
Ath. ◆Sept. 21./Oct. 2.◆ Ten days sufficed for the work, after which
Ath also fell into the hands of the Allies. The apathy of the French
throughout these operations sufficiently show their discouragement.
Owing to the supineness of Prince Lewis of Baden, Villars had been
able to bring up thirty-five thousand men to the assistance of
Marshal Vendôme, who had now superseded Villeroy; but even with this
reinforcement the two commanders only looked on helplessly while
Marlborough reduced fortress after fortress before their eyes. They
were, indeed, more anxious to strengthen the defences of Mons and
Charleroi, lest the Duke should break into France by that line, than
to approach him in the field. Nor were they not wholly unreasonable in
their anxiety, for Marlborough’s next move was upon the Sambre; but
incessant rain and tempestuous weather forbade any further operations,
so that Ath proved to be the last conquest of the year. Thus ended the
campaign of Ramillies, one of the most brilliant in the annals of war,
wherein Marlborough in a single month carried his arms triumphant from
the Meuse to the sea.
VOL. I BOOK VI. CHAPTER VII
◆1707.◆
Almanza was a bad opening for the new year, but worse was to follow.
Throughout the winter Marlborough had, as usual, been employed in
diplomatic negotiations, which nothing but his skill and fascination
could have carried to a successful issue. But on one most important
point the Duke was foiled by the treachery of the Emperor, who, to
further his own selfish designs on Naples, secretly concluded a treaty
with France for the neutrality of Italy, and thus enabled the whole of
the French garrisons in Italy to be withdrawn unmolested. The forces
thus liberated were at once brought up to the scene of action on the
Rhine and in Flanders, and the French were enabled to lead a superior
force in the field against Marlborough. Again, the Duke had hoped
to save Spain by an invasion of France from the side of Savoy, but
this project had been deferred until too late, owing to the Emperor’s
cupidity for the possession of Naples. Finally, though Prince Lewis of
Baden had died during the winter, he had been replaced on the Rhine by
a still more incompetent prince, the Margrave of Baireuth, who, far
from making any diversion in the Duke’s favour, never ceased pestering
him to come to his assistance. So flagrant was this deplorable person’s
incapacity that he too was superseded before the close of the campaign,
though too late for any effective purpose. His successor, however,
deserves particular notice, being none other than the Elector of
Hanover, afterwards our own King George the First, no genius in the
field, but, as shall be seen in due time, an extremely sensible and
clear-headed soldier.
The result of these complications was that Marlborough spent the
greater part of the summer encamped, in the face of a superior
French force, at Meldert, on a branch of the Great Geete, to cover
his conquests in Flanders and Brabant. At last the Emperor, having
accomplished his desires in Naples, made a diversion towards Provence,
which drew away a part of the French force to that quarter and
enabled the Duke to move. But then bad weather intervened to prevent
any successful operations. Twice Marlborough was within an ace of
surprising Vendôme, who had superseded Villeroy in Flanders, and twice
the marshal decamped in haste and confusion only just in time to save
his army. Even so the Duke would have struck one heavy blow but for the
intervention of the Dutch deputies. But fortune favoured the French;
the rain came down in torrents, and the country was poached into such a
quagmire by the cavalry that many of the infantry were fairly swallowed
up and lost.[40] Thus tamely ended the campaign which should have
continued the work of Ramillies.[41]
Returning home in November Marlborough found difficulties almost as
great as he had left behind him in Flanders. There were quarrels in
the Cabinet, already foreboding the time when the Queen and the people
should turn against him. The Court of France was reverting to its old
methods and endeavouring to divide England by providing the Pretender
with a force for invasion. Again the hardships of the campaign in
Flanders and the defeat of Almanza had not only created discontent, but
had enormously increased the demand for recruits. The evil work of the
Dutch deputies and the incorrigible selfishness and jealousy of the
Empire had already prolonged the war beyond the limit assigned by the
short patience of the English people.
Happily Parliament was for the present still loyal to the war, and
voted not only the usual supplies but money for an additional ten
thousand men. Five new battalions[42] were raised, and three more of
the old establishment were detailed for service in Flanders.[43] But
far more satisfactory was the fact that in 1708 all regiments took the
field with new colours, bearing the cross of St. Andrew blended with
that of St. George, pursuant to the first article of the Treaty of
Union, passed in the previous year, between England and Scotland.
◆1708.◆
The early spring of 1708 was wasted by the French in a futile endeavour
to set the Pretender afoot in Scotland with a French force at his
back; nor was it until the 9th of April that Marlborough sailed for
the Hague, where Eugene was already awaiting him. ◆Mar. 29./April 9.◆
There the two agreed that the Duke should as usual command in Flanders,
while Eugene should take charge of an army on the Moselle, nominally
for operations on that river, but in reality to unite with Marlborough
by a rapid march and give battle to the French before they could call
in their remoter detachments. There was a considerable difficulty with
the Elector of Hanover, who was to command on the Rhine, owing to
his jealousy of Eugene; but this trouble was satisfactorily settled,
as were all troubles of the time, by the intervention of Marlborough.
Thereupon the Electoral Prince, true to the quarrelsome traditions of
his family, at once insisted on taking service with Eugene, simply
for the sake of annoying his father; thus adding one more to the many
causes of friction which, but for Marlborough, would soon have brought
the Grand Alliance to a standstill. This Electoral Prince will become
better known to us as King George the Second.
The French on their part had made extraordinary exertions in the
hope of a successful campaign. Since Ramillies they had drawn troops
from all quarters to Flanders; and from thenceforth the tendency in
every succeeding year grew stronger for all operations to centre in
that familiar battle-ground. On the Rhine the Elector of Bavaria
held command, with Berwick, much exalted since Almanza, to help him.
The French main army in Flanders numbered little less than a hundred
thousand men, and was under the orders of Vendôme, with the Duke of
Burgundy in supreme command. The presence of the heir to the throne, of
his brother the Duke of Berry, and of the Chevalier de St. George, as
the Pretender called himself, all portended an unusual effort.
◆May.◆
Marching up at the end of May from their rendezvous on the south of
the Haine, the French army moved north to the forest of Soignies.
Marlborough thereupon at once concentrated at Hal and summoned Eugene
to him with all haste. His own army numbered but eighty thousand
men, and, though as usual he showed a bold front, he knew that such
disparity of numbers was serious. The French then manœuvred towards
Waterloo as if to threaten Louvain, a movement which the Duke met by
a forced march to Park on the Dyle. ◆May 24./June 4. to June 24./July
5.◆ Here he remained perforce inactive for a whole month, waiting for
Eugene, who was delayed by some petty formalities which were judged by
the Imperial Court to be far more important than military operations.
◆June 23./July 4.◆ Suddenly, on the night of the 4th of July, the
French broke up their camp, marched westward to cross the Senne at Hal
and detached small corps against Bruges and Ghent. Unable to meet the
Allies with the sword, the French had substituted gold for steel and
had for some time been tampering with the new authorities in these
towns. The gold had done its work. Within twenty-four hours Ghent and
Bruges had opened their gates, and the keys to the navigation of the
Scheldt and Lys were lost.
◆June 24./July 5.◆
Marlborough, who was quite ready for a march, was up and after the
French army immediately. At two o’clock in the morning his army was in
motion, streaming off to pass the Senne at Anderlecht. The march was
long and severe, the roads being in so bad a state that the right wing
did not reach its halting-ground until six o’clock in the evening, nor
the left wing till two o’clock on the following morning; but this great
effort brought the Allies almost within reach of the French army.
◆June 25./July 6.◆ In the night, intelligence was brought to
Marlborough that the enemy was turning back to fight him. He was in the
saddle at once, to form his line of battle; but the news was false.
The French in reality were making off as fast as they could; and,
before the truth could reach Marlborough, they were across the Dender.
Marlborough’s cavalry was instantly on their track, but could do no
more than capture a few hundred prisoners, together with most of the
French baggage. That same day came definite information of the loss
of Ghent and Bruges, and of the investment of the citadel of Ghent.
Brussels took the alarm at once. The French, as they feared, had for
once got the better of the Duke. The French army was encamped at Alost,
where, like a king between two pieces at draughts, it threatened both
the citadel of Ghent and Brussels; and all was panic in the capital.
The Duke was fain to move on to Assche, midway between Alost and
Brussels, to restore the confidence of the fearful city.
Here Eugene joined him. Finding it hopeless to arrive in time with
his army, the Prince had pushed on alone; nor could he have arrived
more opportunely, for Marlborough was so much weakened by an attack of
fever that he was hardly fit for duty. It was indeed a trying moment.
The next design of the French was evidently aimed at Oudenarde for
the recovery of the line of the Scheldt. They were already across
the Dender and ahead of Marlborough on the road to it, and moreover
had broken down the bridges behind them; yet the Duke dared not move
lest he should expose Brussels. He sent orders to the Governor of
Ath to collect as many troops as possible, and to throw himself into
Oudenarde, which that officer punctually did; and then there was
nothing to be done but to wait. Two days sufficed to place the citadel
of Ghent in the hands of the French, and to set their army free for
further operations. ◆June 28./July 9.◆ Accordingly on the 9th of July
Vendôme sent forward detachments to invest Oudenarde, and moved with
the main army up the Dender to Lessines, from which point he intended
to cover the siege. Great was his astonishment on approaching the town
on the following day to find that Marlborough had arrived there before
him, and was not only within reach of Oudenarde, but interposed between
him and his own frontier.
For at two o’clock on the morning of the 9th of July the Allied army
had marched off in beautiful order in five columns, and by noon had
covered fifteen miles to Herfelingen on the road to the Dender. Four
hours later Cadogan was sent forward with eight battalions and as many
squadrons to occupy Lessines and throw bridges over the Dender; and,
when tattoo beat that night, the army silently entered on a march of
thirteen further miles to the same point. ◆June 29./July 10.◆ Before
dawn came the welcome intelligence that Cadogan had reached his
destination at midnight, laid his bridges, and made his dispositions to
cover the passage of the troops. The army tramped on, always in perfect
order, crossed the river and was taking up its camping-ground, when the
heads of the enemy’s columns appeared on the distant heights and were
seen first to halt and then to retire. Marlborough on the curve of the
arc had outmarched Vendôme on the chord.
The French, finding the whole of their plans disconcerted, now
wheeled about north-westward towards Gavre on the Scheldt, to shelter
themselves behind the river and bar the advance of the Allies on
Bruges. But the Duke had no intention to let them off so easily.
Burgundy and Vendôme were not on good terms; their differences had
already caused considerable confusion in the army; and Marlborough was
fully aware of the fact. ◆June 30./July 11.◆ At dawn on the morning of
the 11th the unwearied Cadogan started off with some eleven thousand
men[44] and twenty-four guns, to prepare the roads, construct bridges,
and make dispositions to cover the passage of the Scheldt below
Oudenarde. By half-past ten he had reached the river, just above the
village of Eyne, and on ascending the low heights above the stream
and looking westward he saw before him a kind of shallow basin or
amphitheatre, seamed by little ditches and rivulets, and broken by
hedges and enclosures. To the south the rising ground on which he
stood swept round almost to the glacis of Oudenarde, thence curved
westward from the village of Bevere into another broad hill, called the
Boser Couter, to the village of Oycke and beyond, turned from thence
northward across the valley of the river Norken to Huysse, from which
point trending still to northward it died away in the marshes of the
Scheldt. Near Oycke two small streams rise which, after pursuing for
some way a parallel course, unite to run down into the Scheldt at Eyne;
beyond them the Norken flows beneath the heights of Huysse in a line
parallel to the Scheldt.
[Illustration:
OUDENARDE
June 30th/July 11th 1708
_Stanford’s Geogl. Estabt., London._
]
Presently parties of French horse appeared on the ground to the north.
Vendôme’s advanced-guard, under the Marquis of Biron, had crossed the
Scheldt leisurely at Gavre, six miles farther down the river, and was
now moving across his front with foragers out, in happy unconsciousness
of the presence of an enemy. A dash of Cadogan’s squadrons upon the
foragers quickly brought Biron to Eyne and beyond it, where he caught
sight of Cadogan’s detachment of scarlet and blue battalions guarding
the bridge, and presently of a body of cavalry in the act of crossing;
for Marlborough, uneasy while his advanced-guard was still in the air,
had caught up a column of Prussian horse and galloped forward with it
in all haste. Biron at once reported what he had seen to Vendôme, who,
perceiving that the mass of the Allied army was still on the wrong
side of the Scheldt, gave orders to take up a position parallel to the
river; the line to rest its left on the village of Heurne and extend
by Eyne and Beveren to Mooregem on the right. In pursuance of his
design he directed seven battalions to occupy Heurne forthwith; but
at this point the Duke of Burgundy interposed. The heights of Huysse
in rear of the Norken from Asper to Wannegem formed in his judgment a
preferable position; and there, two miles from the Scheldt, he should
form his line of battle, facing south-east. So the army was guided to
the left bank of the Norken, while the seven battalions, obeying what
they conceived to be their orders, marched down to the village not of
Heurne but of Eyne, and backed by a few squadrons, took up the position
assigned to them by Vendôme.
Meanwhile, responding to urgent messages from Marlborough, the main
body of the Allies was hurrying forward, and by two o’clock the head
of the infantry had reached the Scheldt. Part of the cavalry passed
through Oudenarde to take advantage of the town bridge; the foot began
to cross by the pontoons, and Cadogan, who had marked the march of the
French into Eyne, at once summoned the whole of his advanced-guard
across to the left bank. Sabine’s brigade, supported by the other two,
crossed the rivulet against Eyne, while the Hanoverian cavalry moved up
to the rear of the village and cut off all hope of retreat. Presently
Sabine’s British were hotly engaged; but the French made only a poor
resistance. It is the weakness of the French soldier that he apprehends
too quickly when his officers have not given him a fair chance. Three
battalions out of the seven were captured entire, the remaining four
were killed or taken piecemeal in their flight. The cavalry, flushed
by their success, then advanced under Prince George against the few
French squadrons in rear of the village, charged them, routed them, and
drove them across the Norken. The Prince had his horse shot under him
in this encounter, for his family has never wanted for courage, and he
remembered the day of Oudenarde to the end of his life.
The Duke of Burgundy now determined upon a general action, and made
every preparation for defence of the position behind the Norken.
But when four o’clock came and the Allied army was not yet in order
of battle, he changed his plan, pushed a body of cavalry from his
right across the stream, and set the whole of his centre and right
in motion to advance likewise. Marlborough, perceiving the movement,
judged that the attack would be directed against his left, in the
hope that Cadogan’s battalions about Eyne would be left isolated and
open to be crushed by an advance of the French left. Two of Cadogan’s
regiments, Prussians, which had been pushed forward half a mile beyond
Eyne to Groenewald, were at once reinforced by twelve more of the
advanced-guard; the British cavalry was formed up on the heights at
Bevere, and the Prussian horse further to the Allied right near Heurne.
No more could be done until the rest of the army should gradually cross
the river which divided it from the battlefield.
At length about five o’clock thirty French battalions debouched upon
Groenewald, which was as yet held only by Cadogan’s two advanced
regiments, and began the attack. The Prussians stuck to their post
gallantly and held their own among the hedges, until presently
Cadogan’s reinforcement, and later on twenty more battalions under the
Duke of Argyll,[45] came up to their assistance. Forming in succession
on the left of the Prussians as they reached the fighting line, these
regiments extended the field of action as far south as Schaerken; and
the combat was carried on with great spirit. The ground was so strongly
enclosed that the fight resolved itself into duels of battalions, the
cream of the infantry on both sides being engaged. At one moment the
French outflanked the left of the Allies and drove them back, but
fresh battalions of Marlborough’s army kept constantly streaming into
action, which recovered the lost ground and prolonged the line of fire
always further to the south.
Marlborough and Eugene, who had hitherto remained together, now parted,
and the Duke handing over eighteen battalions to the Prince entrusted
him with the command of the right. This accession of strength enabled
Eugene to relieve Cadogan’s corps, which had yielded ground somewhat
before Groenewald, and even to pierce through the first line of the
enemy’s infantry. General Natzmar thereupon seized the moment to throw
the Prussian cavalry against the second line. His squadrons were
received with a biting fire from the hedges as they advanced; and the
French Household Cavalry, watching the favourable moment for a charge,
drove back the Prussians with very heavy loss.
Meanwhile Marlborough with the Hanoverian and Dutch infantry was
pressing forward slowly on his left, the French fighting with great
stubbornness and gallantry, and contesting every inch of ground from
hedge to hedge. At last the enemy, being forced back to Diepenbeck,
a few hundred yards in rear of Schaerken, stood fast, and refused,
despite all the Duke’s efforts, to give way another foot. But
Marlborough had still twenty battalions of Dutch and Danes with almost
the entire cavalry of the left at his disposal, and he had noticed
that the French right flank rested on the air. He now directed Marshal
Overkirk to lead these troops under cover of the Boser Couter round the
French right and to fall with them upon the enemy’s rear. The gallant
old Dutchman, though infirm and sick unto death, joyfully obeyed. Two
brigades were thrown at once on the flank of the troops that were so
stoutly opposing Marlborough; while the cavalry advanced quickly on
the reverse slope of the Boser Couter,[46] and then wheeling to the
right, fell on the rear of the unsuspecting French. A part of the
Household Cavalry and some squadrons of dragoons tried bravely to stand
their ground, but they were borne back and swept away. Overkirk’s
troops pressed rapidly on; and the French right was fairly surrounded
on all sides.
Now at last an effort was made to bring forward the French left, which,
through Burgundy’s perversity or for some inscrutable reason, had
been left motionless on the other side of the Norken; but it was too
late. The infantry, though led by Vendôme himself, failed to make the
slightest impression, and the cavalry dared not advance. The ground
before them was intricate and swampy, and the whole of the British
cavalry, withdrawn from their first position by Eugene, stood waiting
to plunge down upon them directly they should move. The daylight faded
and the night came on, but the musketry flashed out incessantly in an
ever-narrowing girdle of fire, as the Allies wound themselves closer
and closer round the enveloped French right. At length at nine o’clock
Marlborough and Eugene, fearful lest their own troops should engage
each other in the darkness, with some difficulty enforced the order to
halt and cease firing. Vast numbers of the French seized the moment to
escape, but presently all the drums of the Allies began with one accord
to beat the French retreat, while the Huguenot officers shouted “À moi,
Picardie! À moi, Roussillon!” to gather the relics of the scattered
regiments of the enemy around them. In this way some thousands of
prisoners were gleaned, though the harvest which would have been reaped
in another hour of daylight was lost. In the French army all was
confusion. Vendôme tried in vain to keep the troops together till the
morning, but Burgundy gave the word for retreat; and the whole mass
ran off in disorder towards Ghent.