“You may be sure of that, boys, after such a bold action as he had done. The siege of Antwerp is one of the most celebrated of modern times. The fortress was unusually strong, well garrisoned with Dutch soldiers, and provided with plenty of ammunition; and old General Chassé was a resolute and experienced officer. On the other hand, Marshal Gerard, the French general, was a celebrated commander, and had an overwhelming force at his disposal.”
“How many men had he? and how many had General Chassé?”
“The garrison amounted to between four and five thousand men, and the fortress had a hundred and thirty pieces of cannon. Marshal Gerard had under his command fifty-one battalions, fifty-six squadrons, and sixty-six field-pieces, besides an immense battering train, with sappers, miners, and engineers. Altogether the French force amounted to more than sixty-six thousand men, fourteen thousand horses, and two hundred and twenty-three guns.”
“What an army! Why, there was no hope for poor Chassé!”
“There was a mortar, called the ‘Monster Mortar,’ used by Marshal Gerard; and well might it be so called, for the wood-work of it alone weighed sixteen thousand pounds, and the metal fourteen thousand seven hundred. The shell it threw was two feet across it, and when charged, weighed a thousand and fifteen pounds.”
“That was a monster mortar indeed!”
“It was, boys. I think there were, in all, eight shells thrown from the Monster Mortar into the citadel at Antwerp; one, not reckoned, burst in the air, and of course did not reach its destination. Every time one of these enormous shells, weighing nearly half a ton, which looked like a small balloon when in the air—for the burning fusee was visible by daylight—every time one of these burst in the citadel, a crowd of thoughtless Belgians raised a shout. The volume of dust and smoke was like the effect of a magazine blowing up. One of these eight shells fell within twenty yards of the principal powder-magazine, which contained about two or three hundred thousand pounds weight of powder. Had this been struck and blown up, there is but little doubt that half the city of Antwerp, with its celebrated cathedral, would have been destroyed. Before the attack Chassé was summoned to surrender, but he replied, ‘Never! He would first be blown up in the citadel.’”
“Why, he could never hope to beat sixty thousand Frenchmen?”
“From the time that Chassé opened his fire there was no quiet night nor day. The French returned the fire with near a hundred pieces of artillery, and soldiers and miners, engineers and artillery-men, were fully employed.”
“No doubt they had enough to do. It must have been a terrible sight.”