1708.

after a short interval of absence, having now re- BOOK VI. joined the army with a great reinforcement from Germany, the allied generals advanced with swift marches to the relief of that place; on which the enemy raised the siege with precipitation, and retreated towards the Scheldt which the main body of the French army passed at Gavre. The intention of M. Vendome was to attack the allies when the troops were divided by the river; and he had made his dispositions accordingly. But the pride and ignorance of the duke of Burgundy frustrated this plan, and the French army was thrown into confusion by a variety of inconsistent movements, when the army of the allies, having crossed the Scheldt (July 11), without opposition, appeared in sight, and it was too late to think of a retreat. The attack soon became general throughout the whole extent of those vast armies. The Imperial and English generals charging at the head of their respective troops with a conduct and valour worthy of their high renown, the French were borne down on all sides, unable to sustain the shock. The electoral prince of Hanover had a distinguished share in the glory of the day-leading on the Hanoverian cavalry sword in hand to the attack of the household troops of France with brilliant success; whilst the Pretender, who accompanied the duke of Burgundy, and saw the engagement from the steeple of an

1708.

BOOK VI, adjacent village, was amongst the first to quit the field. The brave veldt-maréchal Auverquerque, though in a languishing condition, and worn with the fatigues of thirty campaigns, exerted his expiring vigor on this occasion, displaying all the ardor, if not all the activity, of youth. The orders of the duke of Burgundy during the engagement mainfested the grossest deficiency in military science; but M. de Vendome acted the part of a great and consummate commander, rallying in person the broken battalions, calling the officers by name, and conjuring them to maintain the honor of their country. The French army was in the end entirely defeated. Night however saved them from total ruin: and the duc de Vendome, seeing all hope of retrieval extinguished, formed his best troops into a rear-guard, with which he secured a tolerable retreat. But the loss suffered by the French did not amount, on the lowest computation, to less than 14 or 15,000 men; and above 100 standards and colours were taken. The marquis de Feuquieres acknowledges, "that the confusion which pervaded the French army was such, that the troops were

* Such at least is the account of the English and Dutch contemporary historians. But it must be acknowledged that the French writers speak differently; and M. Berwick in particular expressly declares," that the king showed in this battle much courage and keenness."

neither sensible where they fled nor by whom BOOK VI. they were conducted;"—and the extraordinary 1708. ability and presence of mind of the duc de Vendome alone sustained the sinking fortunes of France.

of Lisle.

In consequence of this important victory, the Conquest generals of the allies determined to undertake the siege of Lisle, the capital of French Flandersa town on the fortifications of which Vauban had exhausted his utmost skill, and which was defended by a garrison so numerous, commanded by an officer of such experience and valour, the maréchal de Boufflers, that the success of the enterprise was adjudged extremely doubtful. All the great military talents of the duc de Vendome were exerted to obstruct the progress of the siege, and to avert if possible the impending catastrophe. He was particularly indefatigable in concerting measures for cutting off the convoys, of which the camp before Lisle stood in need: and by throwing up entrenchments seventy miles in length, strongly fortified with cannon, he actually secured the passes of the Scheldt, and cut off all communication with the Dutch territory by that river: upon which all things necessary for the army and siege were in future sent by the incommodious route of Ostend. A grand convoy being expected from that place, entrusted to the care of general Webb, with a guard of about 6000

BOOK VI. men, the duc de Vendome detached the comte de 1708., la Mothe with a body of chosen troops, amount

Wynen

dale.

ing to forty battalions and sixty squadrons, for the purpose of intercepting it. As soon as the advanced guard of the English arrived at the Battle of pass of Wynendale, they perceived the enemy drawn up in the distant plain. No sooner had the English cleared the defile, than general Webb posted his small force in the opening contiguous to the wood of Wynendale, planting several regiments in ambuscade under cover of the wood on the right, and a low coppice opposite to the wood on the left. The French advancing with the utmost confidence to the attack, received an unexpected fire on both flanks, which threw their whole line into confusion. Still, however, pressing forward, and ashamed to retreat, they again received the same salute, and the disorder increased till the wings were forced upon the centre; and a general panic taking place, in spite of all the efforts of their officers, they sought for safety in a precipitate flight, leaving more men dead and wounded upon the field than were equal in number to the whole of the army opposed to them. It was allowed by all, that if this great convoy of 800 waggons had been intercepted, the siege must have been raised; so that the superior fortune rather than skill of the duke of Marlborough was apparent in surmounting this

and the other obstacles which the ability and vi- BOOK VI.. gilance of the duc de Vendome, still more than 1708. the unrivalled art of the engineer, continually created. This important town, after a resolute and noble defence, and at length its proud and peerless citadel, surrendered to the allied army Dec. 10, to the inexpressible chagrin of the French court, who saw the frontier of France by this conquest exposed to the most dangerous future attacks.

During the siege of Lisle, a bold attempt was made by the elector of Bavaria, who had with much assiduity and secresy assembled a body of troops for this purpose, upon the city of Brussels, which he hoped to carry by surprise before it could be relieved. But he was himself surprised by the sudden appearance of the duke of Marlborough, who, by a prompt and dexterous manœuvre, passing the Scheldt in the night, and dispersing the several corps distributed to guard its banks, which were almost every where strongly fortified, continued with all speed his march to Brussels, and the elector was obliged to raise the siege so precipitately, that he left behind him his artillery, his ammunition, and provisions.

No sooner had the citadel of Lisle capitulated, than a resolution was taken, late as the season then was, though still unusually open and fine, to recover the important city of Ghent, lost at