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ANNALS OF WAR. 1700-1815 |
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ANNALS OF WAR_ 1700-1815 A.D.
1720.
1. THE WAR CONTINUES IN SICILY.—2. THE FIGHTING AT
PALERMO STOPPED BY THE NEWS OF PEACE.—3. THE SPANISH KING AT WAR WITH THE
MOORS IN AFRICA.—4. WAR IN SCANDINAVIA.
1. The War continues in Sicily.
The Count de Mercy and Sir George Byng were duly
informed of the King of Spain’s accession to the quadruple alliance, and sent
a trumpet to the Marquis de Lede, who still remained in a
hostile attitude at Alcamo. Lede consented to treat for a cessation
of hostilities by sea and land, until they should receive further
orders from their respective courts. De Mercy and Byng demanded, as
a preliminary, that the city and castles of Palermo should be surrendered,
whilst Lede urged that each party should remain on the ground they now
occupied, without either of them giving up anything, till further orders from
their courts. The British admiral and the Austrian general suspected some
chicanery in this proposal, remembering that but a few weeks before the
Spaniards had offered to leave the whole island, on condition of being
sent back to Spain— besides which, the two forces were not at the moment
equally situated to abide the issue. The men-of-war and transports were lying
at Trapani, an unsafe roadstead, where they suffered considerable damage,
and the Imperialists were limited to one corner of the island; on the
other hand, the Spaniards had possession of considerable com depots, and might
have taken liberty to plunder and rifle a country they were soon to quit,
if, indeed, they had any sincere intention of evacuating the island, of
which their scrupling to surrender Palermo made it a question. The three
chiefs accordingly agreed to have a conference, and on the 2nd of April they
met at a spot agreed on, between the two armies. De Mercy and
Byng offered transports, provisions, and a convoy, but Lede
maintained his point, declaring again, that without further orders from
Madrid he would give up nothing, and so the conference broke off.
2. The Fighting at Palermo stopped by the News of
Peace.
Immediately after the conference, Byng returned to his
fleet at Trapani, and De Mercy marched, on the 8th of April, towards
Alcamo, with the resolution of attacking the Spaniards; but Lede had
retreated the night before, leaving his sick behind him, and scarcely
resting till he reached the heights of Monreale,
near Palermo. De Mercy instantly determined to invest that city. On the
18th of April both fleet and army were in motion for this object, and he
got as far as Sala di Partenico, near the foot
of the Monreale heights, where he found that
Lede had fortified the passes that led through the bills into the narrow
but beautiful plain of Palermo. De Mercy therefore divided the
Imperialists into two bodies, sending one round to the sea-side, with
orders to force the pass of Ferro di Cavallo, and enter that way into the
plain; while he himself, with the rest of his army, ascended the difficult
mountains about Carini, in order to get down that way into the same plain,
judging that if Lede moved from Monreale to defend the pass, he might get between him and Palermo, or, at
least, have the advantage of falling upon his rear. With infinite toil
and difficulty De Mercy gained the crest of the mountain at
Carini, where he saw the much-coveted plain and city lying, as it were,
at his feet; but he also discovered the whole Spanish army, which
had wheeled round from Monreale, and encamped on
the edge of the plain, occupying all the passes, and erecting breastworks
and batteries to stop his progress. De Mercy instantly recalled the
principal part of the division which he had sent to the sea-shore, leaving
only a detachment to convey the artillery and baggage through Ferro
di Cavallo, which pass the Spaniards had found it necessary to
abandon. On the 21st the Imperialists began to descend from Carini, a
most difficult and fatiguing march, by rugged paths and dry
watercourses, but they got down before night, and drove in all the Spanish
outposts. In the mean while Byng had come to anchor off Mondello, at the head
of the Bay of Palermo, and had taken possession of the town and
landing-place there. He had also landed some of his men, who established a
communication between the shipping and De Mercy’s camp. Lede now withdrew
under the walls of the city, ranging his troops across the plain, with
their left on Monte Caputo, and their right on the sea near the Molehead. The
Spaniards were thus covered by the fire of the works, and had strong
intrenchments in their front lined with forty pieces of artillery. De Mercy
encamped in the same plain, in their front, and within a mile and a half
distance from them, with his right leaning on the mountain from which
he had descended, and his left extending to Monte Pellegrino, near
the sea-side. De Mercy then prepared to bring on a general engagement, in
front of Palermo, as soon as possible. He detached Baron Nyperg, on the
26th, to dislodge the enemy from some posts they had fortified near the
Molehead, on the sea-side, while Baron de Witgenau with
six companies made an attempt on Monte Pellegrino. Byng co-operated most,
vigorously by detaching three ships to cannonade the posts on the side of
the sea, where the Spaniards were soon driven from their guns. Several
sanguinary attacks were subsequently made upon the Spanish lines, and on
the 2nd of May, while the enemy’s guards were taking their siesta, the
Germans surprised a redoubt, entered it without firing a shot, and pushed
the Spaniards out at the point of the bayonet. This redoubt, though so badly guarded,
commanded the whole of the Spanish lime; and Lede being at table when he
received the news of its capture, rose and ordered the army to be
immediately drawn out, that he might retake it at any cost. De Mercy, on
the other hand, was resolved to defend it, and both armies were in motion,
and just on the point of engaging, when, fortunately for humanity, a
little felucca shot into the bay and landed a courier from Spain, with
positive orders to Lede to agree about the evacuation of Sicily and the
transportation of the army back to Spain. The Marquis immediately drew off
his army, and sent Bags of truce to the Austrian general and the British
admiral. The next morning Byng repaired to the imperialist camp, where
a convention was drawn up and signed for the immediate departure
of the Spaniards. The Germans were put in possession of Palermo,
and the Spanish army marched to Ternini, whence
the first embarkation of 12,000 foot and 600 horse sailed on the 20th of
June,
The admiral continued in the Mediterranean until he
had seen the Islands of Sicily and Sardinia cleared of the Spaniards. Four
battalions of Piedmontese troops were transported from Palermo
to Sardinia, and took possession of Cagliari in the name of their
master, the Duke of Savoy, who was forthwith declared King of Sardinia.
3. The Spanish King at War with
the Moors in Africa.
Delivered by this arrangement from his more immediate
embarrassments in Europe, Philip, King of Spain, to flatter his people,
directed his attention to Barbary. Ceuta, one of the keys of
the Mediterranean, had withstood desultory but continued attacks
from the Moors, during a blockade of twenty-six years. These
infidels, having recently obtained the assistance of European engineers,
had made their approaches with such skill and regularity, that in a
few weeks they produced more effect than all the preceding attacks.
To save so valuable a possession, and extend the Spanish empire in Africa,
Philip augmented the forces now returned to him from Sicily, and having
caught some portion of the fire and energy which Spain had derived from
the vigorous hand of Alberoni, gave
such activity to his preparations, as to revive the alarms of the
European powers, lest he meditated some design against their peace.
Towards the end of autumn the powerful armament, consisting of
16,000 veteran troops, under the command of the Marquis de Lede,
sailed from Cadiz. They landed on the Morocco coast on the 15th
of November, marched against the infidels, forced their
intrenched camp, took thirty-three pieces of artillery, and drove them
towards Tetuan and Algiers. He repulsed them again, in two
separate attacks, on the 9th and 21st of December, and advanced
against Tetuan with the intention of extending the Spanish dominion
along the coast. Philip gratefully presented the three standards
taken from the infidels to our Lady Atocha, and one other was sent, with
dutiful homage, from the most Catholic King to the Pope. The Marquis de
Lede closed his operations with repairing the works, and reinforcing the
garrison of Ceuta, when Philip, satisfied with their successes, recalled
his victorious troops back to Spain. In retaliation for this attack, the
Moors prepared to pour their predatory hordes on the coast of Andalusia,
but the armament being dispersed by a storm, Spain was happily delivered
from the scourge of a new Moorish invasion.
4. War in Scandinavia.
The Swedes, at the instance of their Queen, had
elected the Prince of Hesse, her consort, to be their Sovereign. This was to
the exclusion of the young Duke of Holstein, her nephew. The
Czar determined to espouse the hereditary right, and prepared for war with
more than his usual vigour. Sir John Norris was in consequence again despatched
to the Baltic. Having hoisted his flag on board the “ Sandwich,” 90, and
having under him twenty ships of the line and four frigates, besides
bomb-ketches and fire-ships, he sailed from Spithead on the 16th April.
Having arrived in the Baltic in the beginning of May, he was there joined
by a squadron of Swedish ships, tinder the command of Admiral Wachmeister. The operations of the combined fleet were
not, however, more fertile than those of the preceding year in any
belligerent enterprise; but Sir John followed up the representations he
had made to the court of Denmark the previous year, and now effected a
treaty of peace between the Danish and Swedish crowns, after which he
returned home in the month of November.
1721.
1. PEACE SIGNED WITH SPAIN.—2. PEACE BETWEEN THE
SCANDINAVIAN POWERS.—3. PROMOTION AND MILITARY CHARACTER OF BYNG,
LORD TORRINGTON.—4. DEATH AND MILITARY CHARACTER OF JOHN, DUKE OF
MARLBOROUGH.— 5. MILITARY CHARACTER OF THE FRENCH MARSHALS DE BOUFLERS AND DE
VILLEROY.—6. DEATH AND MILITARY CHARACTER OF GENERAL LORD STANHOPE.
1. Peace signed with Spain.
The treaty of peace between Great Britain and Spain
was not signed till the 13th of June this year, at Madrid. The
principal source of this delay arose from an interminable discussion
relative to the restoration of Gibraltar. Philip, jealous of his nation’s
honour, could not listen with patience to the establishment of a foreign dominion
within his own shores, and he avowed his anxiety to eradicate what he
called “the thorn in his foot.” The British Government had acquiesced in
his desire so far as to propose the restitution of this conquest to Parliament.
The ferment which such a proposal produced may be well imagined—that it
should be ceded at the close of an eminently successful war, roused the
national indignation. George I, nevertheless, went so far as to write to
King Philip, to express “his own readiness to satisfy him with regard
to his demand, relative to the restitution of Gibraltar, promising
to make use of the first opportunity to regulate the matter with
the consent of Parliament.” Philip mistaking, or affecting to
mistake, this offer as unconditional, accepted it, and demurred to any
peace without it; but at length he acceded to the treaty.
2. Peace between
the Scandinavian Powers.
The Czar still refusing to consent to the peace of
northern Europe, it was once more judged necessary to equip a fleet, under the
command of Sir John Norris, for the Baltic. Its force was nearly the same
as it had been in the preceding year, consisting of twenty-one ships of
the line with seven smaller vessels. Sir John sailed from the Nore on the
13th of April, and was again joined by the Swedish squadron. Peter, now
finding it vain to persist any longer in his insane ambition, which the
confederate crowns of Great Britain, Sweden, and Denmark were determined
to restrain, at last consented to listen to reason and enter into negotiations;
in consequence of which a peace was signed between Sweden and Russia at
Nystad on the 31st of August. Thus the friendly union of France and
England gave a peace to Europe which lasted twelve years.
3. Promotion and Military Character
of Byng, Lord Torrington,
On the 9th of September, 1721, Byng was advanced to
the peerage as Viscount Torrington, but died before another war required bis
services.
This officer went to sea as a volunteer in 1678, being
then fifteen years old, having procured for this purpose a King’s letter
through the recommendation of James, Duke of York,—a mode of
entering the service long since disused, entitling the person who
possessed it to a rank equal to that of a midshipman at the present day.
This class of young officers were then called King’s letter-boys. In
1681 he quitted the service for a time, and at the instance of
General Kirk, at that time governor of Tangier, served as a cadet in
the grenadiers belonging to that garrison, and soon afterwards
became ensign, and subsequently lieutenant of infantry. It was when he
was serving in this capacity, in 1683, that Admiral Lord Dartmouth arrived
at Tangier with a fleet, and a patent of governor and commander-in-chief
of the forces there, with orders to destroy the defences of the place and
bring away the garrison; young Byng had thus an early opportunity of
witnessing an exceedingly delicate and difficult duty performed with
admirable success. The difficulty was to execute, with security to the
troops, the destruction of all those military defences, which enabled a
handful of men to resist the reiterated attacks of such hosts of enemies
as the Moors; and after they had demolished their protection, to provide
for the security and retreat of the force employed, before an exasperated
and merciless enemy. This Lord Dartmouth effected with great success, and
probably discovered in the business the merits of the young lieutenant of
infantry, since he thenceforward took him under his protection, appointing
him naval lieutenant to the “Oxford,” though he also retained his military
commission for many years afterwards. Through Lord Dartmouth's influence,
and after much evidence of gallantry and good conduct, Byng was given the
command of a ship, and served in the battle off Beachy Head as one of the
seconds of Sir George Rooke. He was present at the battle of La Hogue, in
the blue squadron under Sir John Ashby. He served as
rear-admiral under Sir Cloudesly Shovel in the Mediterranean in 1702; and
had a principal hand in the attack and capture of Gibraltar in
1764, and in the battle of Malaga, which followed it; for which services he
was knighted. In the following year he received the command of the Channel
fleet, in which he gained great applause, since he not only kept it clear
from the enemy’s cruisers, but completely shut up the French squadron in Brest
harbour. The next year he received the command in the Mediterranean, and
had a conspicuous share in the principal operations of that year,
particularly in the preservation of Barcelona and the reduction of Alicant and Carthagena. In 1707-8 he was appointed admiral
of the blue, and sent to command the fleet destined to oppose the French
armament at Dunkirk, under Count de Forbin, which was preparing to
invade Scotland. He had on this occasion the good fortune to get a view
of the enemy's force, by a fearless reconnaissance of the French fleet
in their very harbour, which was of great consequence to his
further proceedings. He commanded indeed a fleet of forty ships of the
line, but though he did everything a most hearty zeal could suggest to meet and
destroy the enemy's fleet, they got to sea and returned back to port again
without an action. The House of Commons animadverted on this result, but
the blame was removed from Byng’s shoulders and laid upon the Admiralty.
In the following year he again had the command on the coast of Scotland,
and acted with so much diligence and activity in cutting off all
communications between the coast and the Pretender, that he gained great credit,
and the King created him a baronet. In the year following he was sent to
the Baltic with a strong squadron, to restrain some machinations
of that restless spirit, Charles XII. In 1718 he was sent to the
Mediterranean command, in consequence of the vast naval preparations of
the court of Spain. When the ministers consulted King George on the
instructions the Admiral was to receive for this service, his Majesty
said, “He could send him none, for he knew quite well how to act without any,”
and indeed he acted in all the different and difficult negotiations with
the Emperor and the King of Sardinia, with a judgment, activity, and address,
that made him the soul of the whole war. He contrived to act with the
greatest harmony with all the Imperial viceroys and generals, as well as
with the Italian ministers, showing all that discretion, the want of
which has proved the ruin of many important expeditions. He was incapable
of performing any duty in a cold and negligent manner, and devoted his
whole time and application to any duty, not allowing fatigue or
indisposition of body to drive him from it. Accordingly, he was never
unfortunate in any undertaking, nor did he miscarry in any service
entrusted to his direction; for what is usually called ill luck on these
occasions is more frequently the effect of negligence, defective zeal, or
imprudence. He left nothing to fortune that could be accomplished by
foresight and application. His firmness and plain dealing contributed much
to the despatch and success of his transactions. From the confidence reposed in
him alike by Germans, Savoyards, and Spaniards, he was the common umpire to
settle their disputes in all difficult cases, and he ever strove to reconcile
the violence of war with strict rules of honour and justice, so that he
left behind him everywhere the character of a great commander, an able
politician, and an honest man. Lord Torrington’s patent of peerage, which
is dated September the 9th, 1721, contains such an eloquent exposition of
the reasons of State that should govern such promotions, that it deserves
the notice of naval and military readers. As the grandeur and stability of
the British empire depend chiefly upon knowledge and experience in
maritime affairs, we esteem those worthy of the highest honour, who,
acting under our influence, exert themselves m maintaining our dominion over
the sea. It is for -his reason that we have determined to advance to the
dignity of the peerage,” &c. &c. “In the late vigorous wars, which
raged so many years in Europe, wars fruitful of naval combats
and expeditions, there was scarce any action of consequence where he did
not bear a principal part; nor were any dangers or difficulties so great,
but he surmounted them by his exquisite conduct, and a good fortune that
never failed him. Lately, when new contentions were springing up in Italy, and
the discord of Princes was on the point of embroiling Europe again in war,
he did, with singular felicity and conduct, interpose with our squadrons,
crushing at a blow the laboured efforts of Spain to set up a power at sea:
and he advanced the reputation of our arms in the Mediterranean to such a
pitch, that our flag gave law to the contending parties, and enabled us to
resettle the tranquillity that had been disturbed. It is just, therefore, that
we should distinguish with higher title a subject who has so eminently
served us and his country, both as a monument of his own merit, and
to influence others into a love and pursuit of virtue. Know ye therefore,”
&c. &e. In 1725, on the revival of the Order of the Bath, he was
installed one of the original knight companions, and continued to the end
of his life, in 1732, to possess in the highest degree the favour and
personal attachment of his Sovereign.
4. Death and Military Character of John,
Duke of Marlborough.
On the 16th of June this year died the great
Marlborough, having lived for the last six years of his life in a state little
removed from dotage. His funeral was splendid and almost regal. It was
followed by the King and the Prince of Wales, and a vast procession of the
nobility and military, when the remains the great hero were carried to
Westminster Abbey, and there deposited at the east end of the tomb of King
Henry VII.
John Churchill was the eldest son of Sir Winston
Churchill, and was born at Ash, in Devonshire, on the 24th of June, 1650.
After having been for a short time at St. Paul’s school, he was made
page to James, Duke of York, and became an ensign in the Guards
at sixteen years of age. He first saw service at Tangiers. In 1672 he
attended the Duke of Monmouth, who commanded a body of auxiliaries in the
French service, when he distinguished himself at the siege of Nimeguen, so as to have been especially noticed by
the great Turenne. In 1673 he was at the siege of Maestricht, where
he gained great applause from Louis XIV. He was all along much favoured
by James, who created him Baron Ch’urchill, and made him
brigadier-general; and his first service in that capacity was to quell the
rebellion of his old friend the Duke of Monmouth, in which he was
successful. His next service was against his royal patron, which mainly
contributed to drive him from his throne. His subsequent brilliant career, we
have already briefly described.
It is more common to see the Duke Marlborough compared
with the warriors of our time, as a great military commander, than
tested by the standard of his own. And yet whilst “comparisons are
always odious,” they are at the same time unjust, because no two meta
have precisely the same qualities or the same opportunities for exhibiting them:
and, therefore, their characters must ever stand upon
different foundations, and be built up with a totally different
superstructure. Some qualities are probably held in common by all great
military commanders. One of these is the habit of well judging of ground,
or what is called coup d'oeil; this
was a remarkable characteristic of the Duke of Marlborough, and is a faculty
almost essential to a great general. He nowhere evinced it so remarkably as at
the battle of Ramillies, where, at a glance, he discovered that Marshal
Villeroy had so placed his left wing that he could not act offensively
against him: Marlborough was thus enabled to employ all his forces
against the French right and to crush it hopelessly. A leading feature
of his character was his unrivalled self-possession. No other man
could have tolerated the necessity of carrying on war with Dutch field
deputies at his side, who could never assist, but were always at hand to
mar and cross his plans. This virtue was so conspicuous in him, that it is
cited by Adam Smith as almost peculiar to the Duke of Marlborough, and
such as scarcely any other general can boast of. It was wonderfully
conspicuous at the battle of Malplaquet,
where the carnage was so sad on either wing, that the strongest
representations were made to him for assistance, yet he kept his best
troops unemployed, till his opponent had done that which he was sure
he would be compelled to do—namely, draw his reinforcements away from
the centre and weaken it. The moment Villars did this the Duke lanced
forward his infantry upon their intrenchments, and having taken possession
of them, he poured such a torrent of cavalry through them into the very
centre of the enemy's line as swept him from the held defeated and
divided. He possessed great endurance of fatigue and hardship, a quality
indispensable to military success. He bad also the art to attach bis
troops to him by a certain familiarity, which induced them to call him “ Corporal
John”, and by the great attention he always paid to their well-being, and
his remarkable humanity towards the sick and wounded—but most particularly
by that which recommends all leaders in war, bis constant and
never-failing success and victory. He had an address and irresistible
manner of pleasing, which is remarked by all his contemporaries, and Lord
Chesterfield ascribes the better half of the Duke of Marlborough's
greatness to the possession of these graces. It was by his engaging manner
that be was enabled during all the war to connect the various and jarring
powers of the great alliance. The Duke’s knowledge of character was also
one of his distinguishing features. It is almost impossible for any reader
of the history of his wars, not to feel astonished that Prince Eugene
should be so constantly associated with him in the command of armies, and
that it was only when so united this Prince was uniformly successful. The fact
was that Marlborough made it his task, and took extreme care, to ascribe
the greater part of the credit of his operations to the advice of Prince
Eugene, whose vanity was so much flattered by this seeming deference, that the
Duke was able on all occasions to govern him. In bis interview with the Swedish
Monarch he understood at once that the allies need have no misgiving in
the progress of the war from that
King, since Charles neither had, nor could have any I engagements with France,
being wholly engaged and occupied with a feeling of resentment against the King of Poland. His
judgment of the French Marshal Villeroy, when the Duke made his
celebrated march into Germany, is another instance of it. “ It will be a
long time,” he said, “before he
will find out what I am about, and when he does find it out he won't know
what to do.” All great commanders appear to have one or two simple rules
which guide their ordinary conduct. Marlborough had a manifest one—to be
always the attacking party. There is no one instance in his whole career
where he suffered himself to be forced to act upon the defensive in any
great action. Another of his rules appears to have been, never to have his
enemy at a distance from him; he, therefore, made it a point to advance
as near to his opponents as possible, that he might ascertain all
they were doing. He also knew that a divided command in an
enemy always offered him an advantage, especially when occupied in
large and complicated operations. These rules or principles be exemplified
throughout his campaigns. The last mentioned was the most remarkably manifest
at Blenheim, where the armies of Marsin and Tallard were only just united,
and were taking up their encampment when he attacked them; and at Oudenarde, where the Duke of Burgundy and Vendome were
passing a deep and considerable river, and he made a forced march in order
to avail himself of this certain weakness.
There have been many great generals since
Marlborough’s time in the eighteenth century, and some (may
be) greater still in the nineteenth, but I am induced,
nevertheless, to subscribe to the character given of Marlborough by his
great contemporary and political opponent Lord Bolingbroke, “That
Marlborough was the greatest general that our country or any other has
ever produced.” Marlborough’s thorough knowledge of his art is exemplified
in the whole of his military career. He showed himself a
first workman at it, and (so to speak) finished off his work
with a neatness and precision never seen in any other general’s
campaigns —he bungled nothing, he never attempted what he could
not perform, and he always performed all that he attempted. The
two most fitting examples of this quality are his first and last
campaigns in the Netherlands. In 1702 he found the enemy insulting the
allied army at the gates of Nimeguen, and drove
them back to seek shelter behind their own lines; and in 1711 though his
force was weakened at a moment when he might otherwise have invaded
France, jet, when the vainglorious Villars loudly proclaimed that he had
brought the Duke to bis ne plus ultra, Marlborough,
by a few skilful and not very complicated movements, drew his
enemy out of his strong ground, and not only occupied it, but laid siege to
and captured the town of Bouchain, from which these famous lines were
named, in the face of the French army and in their despite. It would be
difficult to find any commander in any age or country to whom he can
be thought inferior; he rather seems to have united the merits of
them all. “He had the praise of Hannibal to command an army
many nations. He had the praise of Casar to lose no battle, nor fail in
any siege. He was no desperate knight-errant like Charles XII or
Peterborough. The great praise of Marlborough is, that his glory was reached
step by step, by no sudden indulgence of fortune, by no single effort of
military skill and valour. The careers of other generals have been ever
marked by varieties of chance, by change of light and shade, by success
and defeat. But this great man was always right. Enterprise succeeded
after enterprise, campaign after campaign, still the result Was always the
same—progressive fame, increasing victories, endless triumphs”
6. Military Character or
the French Marshals de Bouflers and de Villeroy
Marshal Bouflers was born in 1644, and learned his
earliest lessons in war under the celebrated Turenne. He was
already Marshal of France in 1694. The great glory of his military
career was his defence of Lille in 1708. When Prince Eugene and the Prince
of Orange visited him in his quarters after his celebrated defence, the
former said to him, “M. le Marshal, I am proud of taking the
place, but I should have been prouder to have defended it like you.” The
opposing generals supped together on this occasion upon “un roti de chair
du cheval, comme un souper de citadelle affamée (a roast of horse meat, like a hungry citadel
supper)”. When France was menaced by such dangers as made Louis XIV
tremble on his throne, Marshal Bouflers, though at the age of sixty-eight,
was induced to think of being useful again, end he desired permission to
go as an assistant to Marshal Villars, an officer junior to himself. By
him the chief command was immediately offered with proper courtesy to the
elder commander. “No,” said Bouflers, “I come merely to help you with my
advice and experience.” He however carried the French army out of the
bloody field of Malplaquet with great judgment
and success, but when afterwards he saw Villars (who had been wounded in that
battle, but had nevertheless lost it) received with honours not at all
shared by himself, he was tempted to demand of the King, as a present recompense,
the sword of Constable of France! This outrageous pretension lost him the
favour of Louis in his last years. He was a man of admirable military
qualities, especially of great activity and vigilance; he evidenced these
to such a degree at the siege of Lille, that he is said not to have gone
to bed above three times, “depuis l’ouverture de la tranche jusqu'
à la chamade (from the opening of the slice up to the pounding)” Of
wonderful coolness, nothing hurried him, not even the most anxious
matters. He foresaw every thing, and forgot
nothing. His strong sense of justice and delicacy, in giving and receiving
counsel, was very much distinguished. He was so careful of his troops that
he took the greatest care daring the siege, which lasted sixty days, to
make the food and ammunition of the garrison last the full time, by his
own personal exertions to economize them, whilst he attended himself
to see the food of the soldiers, and to watch the sick and wounded
in hospital. It was said of him, “ Il se fatiguait pour touts”—his great object being to take
care that nothing was wasted or insufficient, and to show an example that might
animate others. He died at Fontainebleau in 1711. “In him,” said Madame de
Maintenon, “the heart died last.”
Marshal Duke de Villeroy.
The Marshal Duke de Villeroy was one of the grandest
of men, with a figure for a king of the stage, and with a most
agreeable countenance, magnificent in everything, and of excellent
manners, but boastful and vainglorious to excess. He was of rude
health, strong, and muscular, and “il faisait de
son corps tout ce qu'il voulait (he did whatever he wanted with his body)”.
He could be on horseback for fifteen or sixteen hours at a time without
fatigue. The son of the King’s governor, he was the companion and familiar
of Louis from his youth, and very much beloved by him. As a military leader he
was the very worst of his age; presumptuous, incapable of advice, and even
of seeing his way “par de-là l’écorce (beyond the bark)” The King, who was very much set against Catinat,
(a modest man, without friends in the Camarilla,) sent Villeroy into Italy
to supersede him, and to repair the consequences of his own ill advice at
Carpi, in 1701. He was at this time with the army on the Moselle, whence
the King recalled him, and, without a word to any one, desired him to come
to Marly to receive his orders. When he presented himself a the King’s
levée all the courtiers flocked to compliment him, except M. de Duras, the
chief of the King’s family, who neither liked the Marshal nor esteemed
him. “Monsieur le Marshal,” said Duras, “tout le monde vous fait de compliment
d'aller en Italie, mais j'attends à votre retour à vous faire les miens. (Everyone is complimenting you on going to Italy,
but I'm waiting for your return to give you my own.)” He was, it will be remembered, taken
prisoner soon after, at Cremona. His after-conduct at Ramillies lost
him altogether the estimation of the King and his army, and he never served
in the field again; but Louis called him to his ministry, in which he
proved himself exceedingly capable, and he was made governor of the young King,
Louis XV. He died at Paris in 1730, at the age of eighty-seven.
6. Death and Military Character
of General Lord Stanhope.
James, grandson of the first Earl of Chesterfield,
entered the army in 1694, served in Flanders under King William, and
was wounded at the siege of Namur. Appointed general in 1768, he captured
Fort Mahon and reduced the Island of Majorca. In 1710 he gained the
battles of Almenara and Saragossa; but was surprised and forced to lay down his
arms, with the army under his command, at Brihuega, in 1710; after which
he was not again employed in a military capacity, but rose to the highest
distinction as a statesman, and came to his death whilst speaking in the
House of Lords, in 1721. Although he had the misfortune to be twice
a prisoner of war in five or six years, yet he was unquestionably
a most active, intelligent, and enterprising officer, and his career
offers a beneficial example to military men; for whilst in a service in
which the great genius and fire of Lord Peterborough had, after
signal success, involved the court and camp of King Charles in
irrecoverable discord, General Stanhope brought a cooler judgment into
the command of his contingent, and by ability, integrity, and
disinterestedness, obtained so full an extent of influence, as to draw
from his Majesty, in a report to the Queen of England, “how many proofs
he had given on all occasions of great zeal, attention, and most prudent
conduct.” Officers are not always sensible how much more is requisite
besides even genius and bravery in war, to make a useful commander.
1725 - 1726 - 1727 - 1728 - 1729 .
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