“About the middle of the war which commenced in 1672, a party of French officers, dressed as fiends, with large tails, and pitchforks, presented themselves at midnight on the glacis of Valenciennes, then garrisoned by a Spanish corps. The terrified guards abandoned the covert way, and sought shelter in the town. Closely the French pursued, and secured one of the gates before the portcullis could be lowered. The garrison fled at their approach, and permitted them, without resistance, to occupy two of the bastions. Joined by a regiment of dragoons, Vauban, who commanded the party, took possession of what was then deemed the strongest fortress in Flanders.
“At the siege of Saragossa, in 1709, the Conde del Pueblo, who commanded for King Charles, succeeded in persuading the garrison and the citizens that the investing army consisted only of phantoms, raised by enchantment. For several days the people continued under this delusion; nor were they undeceived till a party of them, making a sortie, contrary to the orders of the court, had their heads cut off by the French light horse.
“It is not generally known that the capture of Missolonghi by the Egyptians, was owing to the superstition of the Greeks. One of their augurs, looking through the blade-bone of a newly-killed sheep, prognosticated that all attempts to relieve it would be baffled. The Spezziote fleet immediately sailed away, leaving the brave Suliots to their fate.”
CHAPTER XX.
Admiral Nelson.—The loss of his eye and his arm.—Struggle between Nelson’s barge and the armed launch.—Sykes the coxswain.—Nelson’s thanksgiving for his recovery.—His coolness in danger.—Battle of Copenhagen.—Hewson the seaman.—Battle of the Nile.—Nelson’s prayer before the battle of Trafalgar.—His signals on board the Victory.—His wound.—His death.
“Tell us what you can of Admiral Nelson, uncle.”
“Admiral Nelson, boys, was old England’s right hand. A very thunderbolt in war, and devoted, as much as a seaman could be, to his country’s cause. Life is but a short cruise—the best bower anchor may be tripped, the main-sheet rent, and the main-mast go by the board with the best of us, without leaving us time to write up our log. As every man has his faults, I suppose he had his; however, it is not my business to speak of them, but only to tell you how fearlessly and successfully he stood forward in defence of his country, and in defiance of his enemies.”
“He was sadly wounded, was he not, for his picture is always drawn with one arm?”
“He lost the sight of one eye at the siege of Calvi, by a shot driving the sand and gravel into it, and he lost his arm by a shot in an expedition against Teneriffe; but the most dangerous of his daring exploits were, boarding the battery at San Bartolomeo, boarding the San Joseph, the boat action in the bay of Cadiz, and the famous battles of the Nile and Trafalgar. Of these, perhaps, the boat action during the blockade of Cadiz was the most severe. While making an attempt against the Spanish gun-boats, he was attacked by D. Miguel Tregayen in an armed launch, carrying twenty-six men; fearful odds against his ten bargemen, captain, and coxswain. Eighteen Spaniards were killed, the rest wounded, and the launch captured.”