Thus disappointed, the French generals altered their resolution, abandoned Oudenarde, and began to pass the Schelde at Gavre. The two generals of the confederates were bent upon bringing them to an engagement. Cadogan was sent with sixteen battalions and eight squadrons to repair the roads, and throw bridges over the Schelde below Oudenarde. The army was in motion about eight o’clock, and marched with such expedition, that by two in the afternoon the horses had reached the bridges over which Cadogan and his detachment were passing. The enemy had posted seven battalions in the village of Heynem, situated on the banks of the Schelde, and the French household troops were drawn up in order of battle on the adjacent plain, opposite to a body of troops under major-general Bantzaw, who were posted behind a rivulet that ran into the river. The duke de Vendôme intended to attack the confederates when one half of their army should have passed the Schelde; but he was thwarted by the duke of Burgundy, who seemed to be perplexed and irresolute. This prince had ordered the troops to halt in their march to Gavre, as if he had not yet formed any resolution; and now he recalled the squadrons from the plain, determined to avoid a battle. Vendôme remonstrated against this conduct, and the dispute continued till three in the afternoon, when the greater part of the allied army had passed the Schelde without opposition. Then the duke of Burgundy declared for an engagement, and Vendôme submitted to his opinion with great reluctance, as the opportunity was now lost, and the army unformed. Major-general Grimaldi was ordered to attack Rantzaw with the horse of the king’s household, who, finding the rivulet marshy, refused to charge, and retired to the right. Meanwhile Cadogan attacked the village of Heynem, which he took, with three of the seven battalions by which it was guarded. Bantzaw, passing the rivulet, advanced into the plain and drove before him several squadrons of the enemy. In this attack the electoral prince of Hanover, his late majesty George IL, charged at the head of Bulau’s dragoons with great intrepidity. His horse was shot under him, and colonel Laschky killed by his side. Divers French regiments were entirely broken, and a good number of officers and standards fell into the hands of the Hanoverians. The confederates continued still passing the river, but few or none of the infantry were come up till five in the afternoon, when the duke of Argyle arrived with twenty battalions, which immediately sustained a vigorous assault from the enemy. By this time the French were drawn up in order of battle; and the allies being formed as they passed the river, both armies were engaged through the whole extent of their lines about seven in the evening. Europe had not for many years produced two such noble armies: above one hundred general officers appeared in the field, and two hundred and fifty colonels fought at the head of their respective regiments. The number of the French exceeded that of the allies by twelve thousand; but their generals were divided, their forces ill-disposed; and the men dispirited by the uninterrupted success of their adversaries. They seemed from the beginning averse to an engagement, and acted in hurry and trepidation. Nevertheless, the action was maintained until general d’Auverquerque and count Tilly, who commanded on the left of the allies, obliged the right of the enemy to give ground; and the prince of Orange, with count Oxienstern, attacked them in flank with the Dutch infantry. Then they began to give way, and retired in great confusion. The duke de Vendôme, alighting from his horse, rallied the broken battalions, called the officers by name, conjured them to maintain the honour of their country, and animated the men with his voice and example. But notwithstanding all his endeavours, they were forced back among the enclosures in great confusion. Some regiments were cut in pieces; others desired to capitulate; and if the darkness had not interposed, their whole army would have been ruined. The night coming on, so that it became impossible to distinguish friends from enemies, the two generals ordered the troops to cease firing, and the enemy took this opportunity of escaping by the road which leads from Oudenarde to Ghent. The duke de Vendôme seeing the French forces flying in the utmost terror and precipitation, formed a rear-guard of about five-and-twenty squadrons, and as many battalions, with which he secured the retreat. To this precaution the safety of their army was entirely owing; for at day-break the duke of Marlborough sent a large detachment of horse and foot, under the lieutenant-generals Bulau and Lumley, to pursue the fugitives; but the hedges and ditches that skirted the road were lined with the French grenadiers in such a manner, that the cavalry could not form, and they were obliged to desist. The French reached Ghent about eight in the morning, and marching through the city, encamped at Lovendegen on the canal. There they thought proper to cast up intrenchments, upon which they planted their artillery, which they had left at Gavre with their heavy baggage. About three thousand were slain on the field of battle; two thousand deserted; and about seven thousand were taken, including a great number of officers, together with ten pieces of cannon, above an hundred standards and colours, and four thousand horses. The loss of the allies did not amount to two thousand men; nor was one officer of distinction killed on their side during the whole engagement.*
* Among the officers who were engaged in this battle, old general d’Auverquerque and the duke of Argyle distinguished themselves by the most extraordinary valour and activity.
After the confederates had rested two days on the field of battle, a detachment was ordered to level the French lines between Ypres and the Lys; another was sent to raise contributions as far as Arras; they ravaged the country, and struck terror even into the city of Paris. While the allies plundered the province of Picardy, a detachment from the French army, under the chevalier de Rozen, made an irruption into Dutch-Flanders, broke through the lines of Bervilet, which had been left unguarded, and made a descent upon the island of Cadsandt, which they laid under contribution.
THE ALLIES INVEST LISLE.
The generals of the allies now undertook an enterprise, which, in the opinion of the French generals, savoured of rashness and inconsiderate self-sufficiency. This was the siege of Lisle, the strongest town in Flanders, provided with all necessaries, stores of ammunition, and a garrison reinforced with one and twenty battalions of the best troops in France, commanded by mareschal de Boufflers in person. But these were not the principal difficulties which the allies encountered. The enemy had cut off the communication between them and their magazines at Antwerp and Sas-Fan-Ghent; so that they were obliged to bring their convoys from Ostend along a narrow causeway, exposed to the attack of an army more numerous than that with which they sat down before Lisle. On the thirteenth of August it was invested on one side by prince Eugene, and on the other by the prince of Orange-Nassau, stadtholder of Friesland; while the duke of Marlborough encamped at Hel-chin, to cover the siege. The trenches were opened on the twenty-second day of August, and carried on with that vigour and alacrity which is always inspired by victory and success. The dukes of Burgundy and Vendôme being now joined by the duke of Berwick, resolved, if possible, to relieve the place; and made several marches and counter-marches for this purpose. Marlborough being apprized of their intention, inarched out of his lines to give them battle, being reinforced by a considerable body of troops from the siege, including Augustus king of Poland, and the landgrave of Hesse, as volunteers; but the enemy declined an engagement, and the allies returned to their camp, which they fortified with an intrenchment. On the seventh day of September, the besiegers took by assault the counterscarp of Lisle, after an obstinate action, in which they lost a thousand men. The French generals continued to hover about the camp of the confederates, which they actually cannonaded; and the duke of Marlborough again formed his army in order of battle; but their design was only to harass the allies with continual alarms, and interrupt the operations of the siege. They endeavoured to surprise the town of Aeth, by means of a secret correspondence with the inhabitants; but the conspiracy was discovered before it took effect. Then they cut off all communication between the besiegers and the Schelde, the banks of which they fortified with strong intrenchments, and a prodigious number of cannon; so that now all the stores and necessaries were sent to the camp of the confederates from Ostend. On the twenty-first day of September, prince Eugene, who was in the trenches, seeing the troops driven by the enemy from a lodgement they had made on the counterscarp of the tenaille, rallied and led them back to the charge; but being wounded over the left eye with a musket-shot, he was obliged to retire, and for some days the duke of Marlborough sustained the whole command, both in the siege and of the covering army. On the twenty-third the tenaille was stormed, and a lodgement made along the covered way. Mareschal Boufflers having found means to inform the duke de Vendôme that his ammunition was almost expended, this general detached the chevalier de Luxembourg, with a body of horse and dragoons, to supply the place with gunpowder, every man carrying a bag of forty pounds upon the crupper. They were discovered in passing through the camp of the allies, and pursued to the barrier of the town, into which about three hundred were admitted; but a great number were killed by the confederates, or miserably destroyed by the explosion of the powder which they carried.
The next attempt of the French generals was to intercept a convoy from Ostend. The count de la Motte marched from Ghent, with about two and twenty thousand men, to attack this convoy, which was guarded by six thousand of the allies, commanded by major-general Webb. This officer made such an admirable disposition by the wood of Wynendale, and received the enemy with such a close fire, that, after a very warm action that lasted two hours, they retired in the utmost confusion, notwithstanding their great superiority in number, leaving six thousand men killed upon the field of battle; the loss of the allies not exceeding nine hundred and twelve officers and soldiers. This was the most honourable exploit performed during the whole war, and of such consequence to the confederates, that if the convoy had been taken, the siege must have been raised. The duke de Vendôme ordered the dikes between Bruges and Newport to be cut, so as to lay the whole country under water, in hopes of destroying the communication between Ostend and the camp of the confederates; and, after a regular siege, he took colonel Caulfield, and a body of British troops posted in the village of Leffinghen, by whose means the convoys had been forwarded to the duke of Marlborough. On the twenty-second of October, mareschal Boufflers desired to capitulate for the town of Lisle: next day the articles were signed: on the twenty-fifth the allies took possession of the place, and the mareschal retired into the citadel with the remains of his garrison, which, from twelve thousand, was reduced to less than the half of that number. A negotiation was begun for the surrender of the citadel; but Boufflers made such extravagant demands as were rejected with disdain. Hostilities were renewed on the twenty-ninth day of the month; and the earl of Stair was detached to provide corn for the army in the districts of Fumes and Dixmuyde. During these transactions, veldt-mareschal D’Auverquerque died at Roselser, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, after having, in above thirty campaigns, exhibited innumerable proofs of uncommon courage, ability, and moderation. The duke de Vendôme did not despair of obliging the confederates to abandon their enterprise: the French ministers at Rome and Venice publicly declared the allied army was cooped up in such a manner, that it must either raise the siege or be famished. The elector of Bavaria, with a detachment of ten thousand men, marched to Brussels, and attacked the counterscarp with incredible fury; but was repulsed by the garrison, under the command of general Paschal, and retired with precipitation, when he understood that the duke of Marlborough was in motion to relieve the place. This nobleman and prince Eugene no sooner understood the danger to which Brussels was exposed, than they marched with the covering army to the Schelde, which they passed in pontoons without opposition, notwithstanding the formidable works which the French had raised. They now abandoned them with precipitation, to the surprise of the confederates, who had laid their account with the loss of a thousand men in the attack. Having passed the river between Eskenaffe and Hauterive, as well as at other places, they marched to Oudenarde, where they received intelligence that the elector had retreated. Then prince Eugene returned to Lisle, and the duke of Marlborough proceeded to Brussels, where he was received with joy and acclamation. He afterwards took post at Oudenarde, so as to maintain a communication with prince Eugene.
LISLE SURRENDERED, GHENT TAKEN, AND BRUGES ABANDONED.
The besiegers having made lodgements and raised batteries on the second counterscarp of the citadel, sent a message to Boufflers, intimating, that if he would surrender before the opening of the batteries, he should have an honourable capitulation; otherwise he and his garrison must be made prisoners of war. He chose to avoid the last part of the alternative: hostages were exchanged on the eighth day of December, and the articles signed on the tenth; when the mareschal and his garrison marched out with the honours of war, and were conducted to Douay. In this great enterprise, spirit and perseverance made amends for want of foresight and skill, which was flagrant on the side of the confederates; yet their success was owing in a great measure to the improvidence and misconduct of the besieged. The French generals never dreamed that the allies would attempt any thing of consequence after the reduction of Lisle, considering the advanced season of the year, and therefore they returned to Paris, after having distributed their army into winter quarters. But their indefatigable antagonists were determined to strike another stroke of importance before their forces should separate. On the twentieth day of December they invested the city of Ghent on all sides; and on the thirtieth, when the batteries were ready to open, the count de la Motte, who commanded the garrison, desired to capitulate. On the third day of January, 1708, he marched out with thirty battalions and sixteen squadrons, which were conducted to Tournay; while the duke of Argyle, with six British battalions, took possession of the town and citadel. Then the enemy abandoned Bruges, Plassendahl, and Leffengen; and the generals of the allies, having settled the plan of winter quarters, repaired to Holland, leaving their forces under the command of count Tilly. The French king was confounded and dismayed at these conquests in the Netherlands. Nor was he easy on the side of Dauphiné: in spite of all the vigilance and activity of Villars, the duke of Savoy made himself master of the important fortresses of Exilles, La Perouse, the valley of St. Martin, and Fenestrells; so that by the end of the campaign he had secured a barrier to his own frontiers, and opened a way into the French provinces, after having made a diversion in favour of king Charles, by obliging the enemy to send a strong detachment from Rousillon to the assistance of Villars.