sufficiently explained, suddenly disappointed the hopes of his friends, and quieted the fears of his enemies. He sent part of his army into Germany, under the Dauphin; and leaving to Luxembourg the conduct of the military operations in Flanders, returned to Versailles with his court1 This unexpected measure has been ascribed to the strong position of the allies at Parks, near Louvain, where king William had judiciously encamped his army, in order to cover Brussels, and by which he is supposed to have disconcerted the designs of the French monarch. But Wil liam, who had only fifty thousand men, would not have dared, as the duke of Berwick very justly observes, to wait the approach of so superior a force as that under Lewis; or if he had, he must have been overwhelmed; and Brussels, Liege, and even Maestricht, must have fallen18. This, adds the duke, makes the king's departure, and the division of his army, the more unaccountable. A slight indisposition, and the anxiety of Madame de Maintenon (his favourite mistress, who accompanied him) for the health and safety of her royal lover, probably saved Flanders; though Lewis himself, in a letter to the mareschal de Noailles, ascribes his sudden change of measures to a desire of peace, and a conviction that it could only be procured by vigorous exertions in Germany19. The duke of Luxembourg, with the main body of the French army, after having attempted in vain, by a variety of movements, by taking Huy and threatening Liege, to bring the allies to an engagement, resolved to attack them in their camp, when they were weakened by detachments. He accordingly quitted his post at Hellicheim, suddenly crossed the Jaar, and advanced toward them by forced marches. His van was in sight before they were advised of his approach; but as it was then almost evening, William might have 17. Burnet, book v. Duke of Berwick, vol. i. 18. Duke of Berwick's Mem. vol. i. 19. Mem. de Noailles, tom. i. retired retired in the night with safety, had he not depended upon the strength of his position and the bravery of his troops. The river Geete bounded his right, and ran winding along his rear. On the left, and in the front of the left, was the brook of Landen. A thick hedge covered part of the front of his right wing. The village of Neerwinden, with entrenchments before it, was situated between the left end of the hedge and his center, the right joining the Geete. The village of Romsdorff stood farther advanced, opposed to the front of the left wing, and the entrenchments before it, stretched to the brook of Landen. A line of entrenchments extended themselves behind the two villages, and behind these the army of the allies was formed. Their whole front was covered with one hundred pieces of cannon: which by being advantageously placed on an eminence, commanded all the approaches to their line20. The duke of Luxembourg, on the evening of his arrival, dislodged a detachment of the allies, posted in the village of Landen, which stood advanced before the brook of that name. Between this village and that of Romsdorff he placed forty battalions in the night; he formed his center of eight lines of horse and foot intermixed; and his horse, on the left wing, were ordered to extend themselves to the Geete, opposing the line to the thick hedge which covered the enemy's right. About five in the morning this arrangement was completed: a cannonading took place on both sides, and the duke of Berwick, with two other lieutenant-generals, Rubantel and Montchevreuil, were ordered to begin the attack; Rubantel, on the entrenchments to the right of Neerwinden, with two brigades: Montchevreuil, on the left, with the same number; and the duke of Berwick on the village, with two other brigades. The village projected out beyond the plain; so that the duke of Berwick, who was in the center, attacked first. He forced the allies to abandon their 20. Mem. de Fouquiers. Berwick's Mem. ubi sup. post; post; he drove them from hedge to hedge, as far as the plain, at the entrance of which he formed again in order of battle. But the troops destined to attack on his right and left, instead of following their instructions, thought they would be less exposed to the enemy's fire by throwing themselves into the village; in consequence of which attempt, they got at once into his rear; and the allies, perceiving this blunder, reentered Neerwinden by the right and left, now entirely unguarded. A terrible conflict ensued. The four brigades under Rubantel and Montchevreuil were thrown into confusion, and driven out of the village; and the duke of Berwick, attacked on all sides, and unsupported, was taken prisoner21. Luxembourg, however, was not intimidated by this disaster. He made a second attempt upon Neerwinden, and succeeded. His troops were again expelled and a third time took possession of the village. The battle now raged with fury on both sides. William twice led the English infantry up to his entrenchments, which the enemy endeavoured to force; but nothing could resist the impetuosity of the French. Their center being reinforced by the right wing, opened a way for their cavalry into the very lines of their allies. They flanked the English, they broke the German and Spanish horse; and William, when bravely advancing to the charge, with part of his left wing, had the mortification to see his right driven headlong into the Geete. All was now tumult and confusion. Terror and flight every where prevailed; and beside those who sunk in the general slaughter, many were drowned in the river. Twelve thousand of the allies lay dead on the field; two thousand were made prisoners; and sixty pieces of cannon, and eight mortars, with about fourscore standards, and colours fell into the hands of the French22. Yet Luxembourg, after all, gained little but glory 21. Id. Ibid. of Berwick. Hainault. Voltaire. 22. Burnet. Ralph. P. Daniel. Duke by by the victory at Neerwinden. Eight thousand of his best troops were slain in battle, and his army was so much weakened by the number of the wounded, that he could take no advantage of the consternation of the enemy. During six weeks he continued in a state of inaction, and Charleroy was the only conquest he afterward made, before the close of the campaign23. On the side of Germany, the French stained the glory of their arms by acts of cruelty and barbarity. Chamilly having taken Heidelberg by storm, put the soldiers and citizens promiscuously to the sword; and when the massacre ended, rapine began. The houses were burnt, the churches pillaged, the inhabitants stript naked, and the persons of the women exposed to violation, without respect to age or condition24. This shocking tragedy excepted, nothing memorable happened in that quarter. The Germans, sensible of their inferiority, studiously avoided a battle; and the Dauphin, after crossing the Neckar, and dispersing a vain manifesto, containing humiliating terms of peace, returned without laurels to Versailles25. The war in Hungary produced no signal event. In Catalonia, the mareschal de Noailles took Roses in sight of the Spanish army, and would have acquired more important conquests, had he not been obliged to send a detachment into Italy 26. The military operations, on the side of Piedmont, after having languished throughout the summer, were terminated by a decisive action, toward the end of the campaign. The duke of Savoy, at the head of the confederates, had invested Pignerol. Meanwhile the mareschal de Catinat, being reinforced with ten thousand men, descended from the mountains, and seemed to threaten Turin. Alarmed for the safety of his capital, the duke raised the siege of Pignerol, and advanced to the small river Cisola, where it passes by 23. Ibid. 25. Ibid. 24. Barre. Heiss. Voltaire. Marsaglia. Marsaglia. Resolving to engage Catinat, he sent away his heavy baggage. The two armies were soon in sight of each other, and the French general did not decline the combat. The Imperial and Piedmontese cavalry, commanded by the duke in person, composed the right wing of the confederates; their infantry, consisting of the troops of Savoy, and those in the pay of Great-Britain, were stationed in the center, under the famous prince Eugene; and the Spaniards, led by their native officers, formed the left wing. The French acted in an unusual manner. They received, as they advanced, the fire of the Spaniards; then fired, charged them with fixed bayonets, and afterward sword in hand. The whole left wing of the allied army was instantly broken, and thrown into confusion on the center, which sustained the battle with great obstinacy. The center, however, was at length obliged to give way, and a complete victory remained to the French. Beside their cannon and light baggage, with a great number of colours and standards, the allies lost eight thousand men in the action27. Among many persons of distinction who fell or were taken, the young duke of Schomberg was mortally wounded and made prisoner, Nor were the French less successful in maritime affairs. Though the shock which their navy had sustained off La Hogue, the foregoing summer, rendered them unable to face the combined fleet of England and Holland, they made up in diligence what they wanted in force. The English nation had, with reason, complained of the little attention paid to commerce ever since the beginning of the war. Though powerful fleets were sent to sea, and some advantages gained on that element, trade had suffered much from the frigates and privateers of the enemy. The merchants, therefore, resolved to keep the richest ships in their several harbours, till a sufficient convoy could be obtained: and so great was the negligence of government, that many of them had been 27. Mem. de Fouquires. Europ. Hist. tom. ii. a l'An. 1693. for |