of Lower Rhine in the alliance, and had chiefly First king gained Frederic elector of Brandenburg, in Prussia. whose favour he had erected the duchy of Prussia into a kingdom. The Imperial army was commanded by the prince of Baden, who had made himself famous by his exploits against the Turks; and having taken Landau, gave room to be apprehensive for Alsace, where Catinat then was, who did not think he could venture to attack him. The marquis de Villars, a lieutenant-general, more bold, and an excellent officer, but a bad courtier, was resolved, by the performance of great actions, to extort a reward, and obtained permission to engage the Imperialists, whom he defeated and pursued at Fridlingen, and was honoured with the staff of a marechal. 1703. Battles and Spires. Having joined the elector of Bavaria the next year, he, in some degree, obliged the elector to of Hochstet attack an army of twenty thousand men, who were on their march to reinforce the prince of Baden at Hochstet, near Donawert. The Imperialists were defeated; the elector took possession of Augsburg, and Vienna was in danger. The marechal de Tallard likewise gained a victory at Spires over the prince of Hesse, who afterwards ascended the throne of Sweden. He wrote to Louis XIV., Your army has taken more colours and standards than it has lost private soldiers. He took Landau from the enemy; but the successes of France were drawing to a period. of The duke of Savoy, dissatisfied, and guided Defection by self-interest, suddenly changed sides, as he the duke of had done the former war. He gave up the cause of his two sons-in-law, and sold himself to the Savoy. Of the king of emperor, who promised him Montferrat, Alexandria, Valencia, and some other places. While he was making this bargain, France was informed of his infidelity; and the duke of Vendome had time to disarm five thousand of his men, who were still joined to the French army. Sufficient attention had not been paid to the duke; besides, he would have done any thing for his own aggrandizement. Peter II., king of Portugal, brother of AlPortugal. phonso VI., whom he had long dethroned in the same manner, betrayed the king of Spain to obtain a dismemberment of that kingdom, which had been promised to him before he entered his dominions. The emperor and his eldest son, Joseph, king of the Romans, yielded their claims to the Spanish monarchy in favour of the archduke Charles. Charles went to England and Holland, where the armaments were preparing. Villars recalled. Rebellion in the Another source of misfortunes was the recalling of the marechal de Villars. His carriage was so imperious; his blunt temper, which made him an enemy to fawning, was so disgusting to the elector of Bavaria, that that prince imprudently required another general, though he could not hope for one so good. Villars, who was calculated for important expeditions, was sent to fight against the fanatics of the Cevennes, a set of poor mountaineers, who had occasioned some disturbance. One consequence of the revocation of the Cevennes. Edict of Nantes was the reviving of fanaticism with its former rage; and the zeal of these wretched people was rekindled by the return of some of their fugitive clergy, which produ ced a rebellion. Some prophets and prophetesses, for so they were called, started up among them, whose extravagances set all in a flame. To free themselves from tyranny, or to gain the palm of martyrdom, was what the rebels, known by the name of Camisards, proposed. The war-cry was, No taxes, and liberty of conscience. The more they suffered, the greater was their inveteracy. The assistance they expected from the allies, especially from Savoy, kept up their insolence, The frightful mountains, from whence they rushed like wild beasts, afforded them an asylum where they could scarcely be forced, while the troops were engaged by foreign enemies. They had been fruitlessly pursued by the marechal de Montrevel; but the marechal de Villars thought it was better to treat with one of their chiefs, a young baker, to whom a brevet of colonel was given, and who afterwards entered into the service of England. However, the rebels did not submit; but when Villars resumed the command of the army, they were reduced and almost exterminated by the marechal de Berwick. How often should Louis XIV. have reflected, that by inspiring such hatred in a part of his subjects whom he persecuted, he had done great injury to himself without serving the cause of religion! Dangers the emperor CHAPTER V. MISFORTUNES OF FRANCE AND SPAIN FROM 1704 THE different theatres of the war, even Italy, where Vendôme continued successful, very soon changed their appearance, and the most splendid prosperity was succeeded by the greatest misfortunes. Of all the lessons which history furnishes to ambitious princes, there is not one so proper as this to dispel the intoxication of success. It was imagined that the emperor was on the of eve of being dethroned. Passaw had already Leopold. fallen into the hands of the elector of Bavaria; Marlborough the victorious French and Bavarians might have Eugene easily laid siege to Vienna; and Leopold was at Germany. the same time at war with the Hungarians, who and complained of new oppressions, and, having rebelled, put themselves under the command of prince Ragotzi. But Villars was unsuccessful in Germany; Marlborough had already taken possession of Bon, Hui, and Limbourg, and was advancing speedily to the assistance of the emperor. Villeroi being set at liberty, commanded the army in Flanders, and followed Marlborough, but very soon lost sight of him. The English general forced the intrenchments near Donawert, took that city, and passed the Danube, where he was joined by prince Eugene, their two armies forming a body of fiftytwo thousand men against sixty thousand. 1704. Battle of On the same plain where Villars defeated the Imperialists in 1703, was fought the famous Hochstet, or battle of Hochstet, or Blenheim, which was fol- Blenheim. lowed by most fatal disasters. The marechals Tallard and Marsin, with the elector of Bavaria, commanded. Twelve capital faults, of which they were accused, may be seen in the Memoirs of that rigid censor of generals, M. de Feuquieres. Undoubtedly they committed some very great ones, since Villars, who was then at the extremity of the Cevennes, on hearing their dispositions, foretold the event. The superiority of the generals of the enemy was a sufficiently bad omen. defeat. Marlborough penetrated the wing of the army Dreadful commanded by Tallard, who, being nearsighted, threw himself into the middle of one of the enemy's squadrons, where he was taken prisoner. Eugene, after being three times repulsed, routed all who opposed him; when the elector and Marsin retreated, without thinking of twelve thousand men of the best troops of France, who were shut up in the village of Blenheim; and this small army, from its situation, was obliged to surrender without coming to an engagement. The Danube and the field of battle were covered with dead; and after the action, the French army could scarcely collect |