THE MARTIAL REVIEW; OR, A GENERAL HISTORY OF THE LATE WARS; TOGETHER WITH THE DEFINITIVE TREATY, AND SOME Reflections on the probable Consequences OF THE PEACE.
Tu regere imperio populos, Britanne, memento,
Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.
VIRGIL.
LONDON:
Printed for J. NEWBERY, in
St. Paul's Church-Yard.
M DCC LXIII.
PREFACE.
T HE following is an attempt, to separate what is substantial and material, from what is circumstantial and useless, in history. That of the late war forms the brightest period of any in the British annals; and the author has endeavoured to do it justice, by the manner in which he has recorded the several transactions, and the impartiality he has observed. As to the first, it is matter of opinion, and he must stand or fall by the judgment of his readers. His own intention acquits him of every charge with regard to the latter. He is sensible, that in many passages, he has the prepossessions of party to encounter, and the same must have been his fate, had he adopted different opinions. He disclaims all systems in politics, and has been guided in his narrative by matters of fact only. In his reflections and conjectures, where his own lights failed him, he had recourse to those who were most capable of giving him proper information; and he has the satisfaction to believe, that when the prejudices of party are buried with their authors, the following pages, whatever defects they may have in point of composition, will be acquitted of every imputation of partiality; as rational entertainment, and undeviating candour, have been his only objects.
This Review was first published in the
Reading Mercury,
and parcelled out every week in that paper, till compleated, when the Gentlemen, who had thus read it, thought so well of the work, that they desired to have it reprinted, in this manner, that they might again purchase it, in a more convenient form. The Author thinks himself obliged to those Gentlemen, for the good opinion they entertain of his abilities and impartiality, and hopes their testimony will in some measure recommend his labours to the notice of the public.
THE MARTIAL REVIEW: OR, A GENERAL History of the LATE WARS.
T HE French, while they pretend to instruct the rest of mankind in the arts, have learnt the noblest of them all from Great Britain, I mean that of civil polity, or the art of encreasing national riches, power, and influence at home and abroad. She saw all her attempts for universal monarchy deseated by the assistance and protection given by England, a commercial nation, to the other states of Europe; and therefore judging that commerce was the source of real power, she applied herself to its cultivation. During the long administration of Cardinal Fleury, the French commerce was incredibly extended; but the pride and ambition of the Princes of the Blood, and their great nobility, (the late Marshal de Belleisle in particular) drove that minister from his pacific plans, and France renewed her expensive operations in a land war on the continent.
It appeared, during the course of that war, that Fleury had not taken measures for protecting the commerce which he had so greatly extended, nor could we have been sensible of the vast trade which France then carried on, but from the prodigious losses it sustained by our marine. This counterbalanced all the successes of their arms on the continent of Europe; and, at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, the whole system of continental power was altered. France gave up, or demolished, that barrier, which for so many years might have been termed the cock-pit of Europe, from the many millions of lives sacrificed to acquire or d fend it, and she agreed to the conferences of Aix-la-Chapelle, merely with the insidious view of gaining leisure for pursuing her commercial schemes, and retrieving that error, which had proved so fatal to her during the war, I mean her inability to defend her trade.
With those two views that treaty was begun and conducted on the part of France. Her great scheme was, that nothing definitive should be concluded. She was aware, that our possession of Nova Scotia had been too loosely stipulated by the treaty of Utrecht, and that it was liable, at least, to some cavils, though nothing can be more certain from the spirit, and even from the words of that treaty, than that it comprehended all the lands claimed by the English, and that when the treaty of Utrecht was executed, the English, in consequence of that claim, took possession of all Nova Scotia, or Acadia, in presence of the French commissaries, as appears by the report on 30th of August, 1714.
It is not our intention to enter here into a minute disquisition of the particulars of that contest, which we
afterwards fully discussed in the state papers. It is sufficient to say, that the English, by the confession of the French themselves, had an infinite superiority in point of argument, notwithstanding the vast disadvantages they were under from their ignorance of the places in question, and the arbitrary maps and charts (without the least foundation of truth to support them) fabricated and produced by their adversaries. The British plenipotentiaries at Aix-la-Chapelle, little dreaming, perhaps, of the consequences, or the importance of the discussion, referred the limits of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, to be settled in conferences between the commissaries of the two nations at Paris. Our proposed brevity will not admit of particularizing the various shifts and shufflings of the French commissaries, who proceeded on the same indecisive plan with that of their plenipotentiaries at Aix-la-Chapelle, that they might amuse Great Britain, while France was encroaching upon her property in North America, and fortifying her encroachments in such a manner, as to bid defiance to all that the negociation could effect. It soon appeared▪ that they pretended to the possession of all the vast country between Canada and Louisiana, and were building a chain of forts, to maintain that possession, and to exclude the British traders from all communication with their back settlements. In short, under pretence of having discovered the mouths of the Mississippi, they claimed all the country towards New Mexico on the east, extending to the Apalachian or Aligany mountains on the west. Those claims were in direct violation of the rights of the crown of Great Britain, whose subjects had been the first discoverers of those countries, and accordingly his Majesty King George the Second had ordered a patent to be made out for a company of merchants and planters, granting them a considerable tract of land near the river Ohio, (by which the company was denominated) but within what had been always considered to be the limits of the British province of Virginia. The interest of this company was incompatible with that of the French government; and it was very plain, that both could not subsist. Either the English must be excluded from all trade with the Indians, and exposed to continual incursions both in war and peace, or the communication between the French Canadians, and the mouth of the Mississippi must be cut off. Such an interruption would render the maintenance of the two provinces, which if joined must be of infinite value, of little or no service to France.
The French, sensible of this, not only drove the subjects of Great Britain from their new settlements, but secured the command of the entrance into the countries on the Ohio and Mississippi, by means of a fort built on the Forks of the river Monongahela, called Fort du Quesne. The British government at this time were by no means disposed for entering into a fresh war; but the perpetual alarms it received from Virginia, and all their northern colonies, who considered themselves as being on the brink of perdition, at last roused the ministry. Mr. Pelham was now dead, and his successors in the government advised his Majesty to vigorous measures. There was still, however, in the cabinet a pacific party strong enough to prevent any precipitate steps being taken. It was therefore resolved that no hostilities should be committed against France, but such as were absolutely necessary for asserting the undoubted rights of the British crown, and for repelling the invasions upon our own colonies. This plan was the more plausible, as it could be carried to what extent we pleased. The French had violently dispossessed Major Washington from a fort, or rather entrenchment, raised on British ground; many British subjects had been killed; many were carried into captivity; and the French had declared they were resolved to maintain their usurpations by the sword. What added to the deplorable condition of the English in those parts, was the collusion between the French and their barbarous Indians. For the former no sooner granted a capitulation, which they never did but for their own conveniency, than it was broken by the latter, whom the French pretended they could not controul.
In consequence of the British ministry's having received undoubted intelligence that the French had sent several ships of war with land forces, arms, and ammunition of all kinds, to support their usurpations in America, orders were sent to all the British colonies there to arm, and make such dispositions as might effectually oppose the enemy, and dispossess them from their encroachments. They were given to understand, at the same time, that they were to be supported by a body of regular troops from England, under Major General Braddock, who was to command in chief in America; and that several expeditions were intended. The first and chief, headed by Braddock, against fort du Quesne; one against the French forts in Nova Scotia, and another against Crown-Point, on the frontiers of New-York; besides another under General Shirley, to the lakes Eric and Ontario. It appears, that the conduct of the British colonies on this occasion was neither suitable to their danger, nor the interest of their mother country. Many of them, from the character they had acquired in the preceding war, took it amiss that they were to be commanded by a General from England; each province had a separate interest to pursue; and, in short, the dispositions they made for receiving and supporting Braddock, upon so long a march, and so dangerous an expedition, were weak and dissipated; though it was plain, that the success of the whole depended upon their unanimity and hearty concurrence.
As to Braddock, he was unexceptionable in point of courage and regular education as a soldier, but a very unfit man to command irregular and provincial troops; and indeed, from the time of his arrival in America to the day of his death, he seems to have resolved to do his duty, but to have despaired of doing it with success; and the event but too fatally verified his forebodings. He complained that nothing was in readiness for his reception or march; he conceived an aversion and contempt for the provincials, and he was upon no very good terms with his own officers; but, what was worst of all, he abandoned the excellent set of instructions which had been given him by his R. H. the D. of C. for his conduct during the expedition. The consequence was, that for want of employing irregulars on the flanks of his army, and to scour the country through which he was to march, he fell into an ambuscade of French and Indians on the 9th of July, 1755, and was totally defeated. The enemy had entrenched themselves so artfully, that his troops had not an opportunity of exerting their valour, and stunned with the frightful yells of the barbarians, they seemed to forget the use of their arms, and stood the unactive marks of their enemies fury; so that all who remained in the field, amongst whom were the General and almost all the officers, were killed, and scarce half the army escaped.
The expedition against Crown-Point was commanded by General Johnson, who, having advanced as far as lake George, was attacked in his entrenchments by Dieskau, the French General, who being likewise a regular bred officer, had so great a contempt for the provincials under Johnson, that he attacked them without cannon; but was defeated, and himself taken prisoner. This success happening so late as the 7th of September, the victory was attended with no great advantages to Great Britain.
As to General Shirley's expedition, it is scarcely possible to describe it, his proceedings were so unintelligible to all but himself. What we know of them is, that having marched over prodigious tracts of land, he came very late in the year to fort Oswego, and left 700 men there to be sacrificed, as they afterwards were, by the enemy, and then returned without doing any thing else.
The expedition against the French forts in Nova Scotia, under Colonel Monckton, was successful, and of infinite service to the mother country.—But we are now to attend the operations of another element.
On the 10th of June 1755, two French men of war were taken by the Admirals Boscawen and Mostyn, who had been sent to America to intercept the French supplies. But notwithstanding all the British successes, the public of England were far from being satisfied with the state of the war, which they were taught to believe would have been much more splendid in their favour. A resolution was therefore taken by our government to consider the war as being actually proclaimed by the hostilities that had been committed by the French in America, and orders were given for the British ships to take all the French vessels and their cargoes, wherever they could be met with by sea; so that before the end of the year, above 300 French vessels, many of them very richly laden, and above 8000 of their most serviceable seamen, were carried into the ports of Great Britain.
This proceeding amazed all Europe, and the tameness of France was not less astonishing. The Duke de Mirepoix, the French Ambassador, had declared to his Majesty and his ministry, that the first gun, fired by British against French ships, would be considered by his master as a declaration of war, and set all Europe in a flame, and upon hostilities being begun in America, he was recalled. No reprisals, however, were made by the French, all they did was to send a letter to Mr. Fox, the Britsh secretary of state, accusing our Admirals and sea Captains of piracy and robbery; and to fill the courts of Europe with complaints of our conduct. In acting, they affected so much moderation, that after taking the Blandford ship of war, they released her upon that principle. The motives of this passive conduct were soon explained.
Since the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle to the year 1756, the French had been incessantly labouring to repair their marine; but though they spent immense sums, and made a vast progress in that design, yet it was still unequal to that of Great Britain. They therefore formed two schemes, the first was the conquest of Minorca, and the latter an attempt upon Hanover. To render both successful, in the spring of 1756, they brought down troops to Picardy, and such of the French coasts as lie nearest to England, wi
a shew of invading Great Britain; and, in the mean time, a squadron of twelve men of war of the line, commanded by the Admiral Galissoniere, with 11 or 12,000 troops on board, commanded by the the Duke de Richelieu, sailed from Toulon, and landed in Minorca, where, on the 25th of April, they opened trenches before fort St. Philip.
His Britannic Majesty was, all this while, concerting measures for keeping the flames of war from breaking out in Germany, and for the preservation of his Hanoverian dominions. No Prince or private man in Europe understood, so well as he did, the views and interests of the Northern Powers. He was sensible that the Empress Queen would take the first opportunity of revoking the cession of Silesia, which she had made to the King of Prussia by the treaties of Dresden and Breslau; and the court of Vienna had already been tampering with him on that account, but perceived him inflexible in his guarantyship of that country to his Prussian Majesty. Her Imperial Majesty refused him the troops stipulated by treaty for the defence of Hanover, which the French made now no secret they intended to invade. The Dutch were required in like terms to furnish the 6000 troops stipulated for the defence of Great Britain, in case of a war with France, but refused for the same reason, viz. because the war between Great Britain and France in Germany, not affecting Europe, was not a case of the treaty. His Britannic Majesty had the magnanimity to overlook this ingratitude of the Dutch, by ordering his minister Colonel York to desist from the demand.
By this time the French armies had assembled on the Upper Rhine, and the Moselle; and the court of Versailles found means to bring the Elector of Cologne over, to suffer magazines to be erected in Westphalia, which could only be with a view of attacking Hanover. But though the dread of such an attack did not in the least shake his Majesty in the system he had adopted, viz. that of hazarding all events rather than Great Britain should suffer; yet he took early and wise precautions for the defence of his Hanoverian dominions; and at the very time when, unknown to him, the courts of Vienna and Petersburgh were forming schemes for dividing the spoils of Prussia, he entered into a subsidiary treaty for taking 55,000 Russians, and 40 or 50 Russian galleys into pay for preserving the quiet of Germany, if invaded by foreign troops. He likewise entered into another subsidiary treaty with the Landgrave of Hesse, for 12,000 of his troops, who were to be employed, if either England or Hanover should be attacked. These treaties, though strongly opposed in the British Parliament, were at last approved of there, and, in fact, brought on a new treaty between Great Britain and Prussia.
His Prussian Majesty had for some time been secretly discontented with the ministers of Versailles; but they continued to all appearance to be so intimately connected, that his Britannic Majesty was not a little apprehensive that France had brought him into her views; to obviate which had been the great end of the two subsidiary treaties we have mentioned. But no sooner was that with Russia made public, than his Prussian Majesty declared in the strongest manner, that he would oppose to the utmost, the introduction of all foreign troops whatsoever into the empire. Thus the views of their Britannic and Prussian Majesties came to be precisely the same, though arising from different objects. The former was apprehensive of the French, the latter of the Russians; and this coincidence of sentiments, with some eclaircisements, as to the views of the court of Vienna, brought on the famous treaty of London with Prussia, which was signed January the 16th, 1756; by which he obtained a subsidy from Great Britain of 750,000
l.
a year, for services that were extremely obvious, and the two Potentates agreed not to make a peace without the consent of each other. The publication of this treaty produced that of Vienna, between the Empress Queen and his most Christian Majesty; to which the Empress of Russia acceded, and laid the foundation of the present bloody war. The British court was not insensible that the French intended to attack Minorca, and had appointed Admiral Byng to sail to the Mediterranean with a squadron equal to that under Galissoniere. The public is well apprized of Byng's misconduct, miscarriage, and fate. He had, at best, a doubtful engagement with Galissoniere, and under pretext of providing for the safety of Gibraltar, he abandoned that of fort St. Philip, which was taken by the French, and Minorca reduced to their obedience.
This advantage gained by the French, with the account of the loss of Oswego, and of the prevalence of the French power in America, raised such a clamour against the British ministry, that the chief of them resigned their places, but their characters were fully vindicated by a parliamentary enquiry set on foot, and carried on by their enemies; the report of which entirely acquitted them of being in the least accessary to any of the late military misfortunes; but as this is a martial and not a cabinet review, we are to confine it to military matters.
The danger of an invasion from France still continuing, a motion was made, and carried through the House of Commons, to address his Majesty to call over a body of Hanoverians and Hessians, for the defence of his regal dominions. This address was complied with, and the foreigners accordingly arrived, to the number of 12 or 13,000, and to the great disgust of the public, who thought Great-Britain was in a condition to defend herself.
His Britannic Majesty was this year offered a neutrality by the courts of Vienna and Versailles, but he magnanimously rejected it, because the conditions annexed to it were dishonourable in themselves, and would have been detrimental to the common cause. This firmness endeared him still more to his Parliament, who being fired with indignation at the menaces of the French, now in full march against Hanover, agreed on the 21st of February, to assist his Majesty in forming, what was called, an army of observation in Germany, to be commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, who accordingly put himself at the head of it on the 16th of April, 1757.
The French on this occasion had formed two armies, the one commanded by Mons. d'Etrees, one of the best general officers in France, consisting of above 86,000 men, destined to act against Hanover, but under the pretext of serving as allies to the Empress-Queen, and guarantees of the treaty of Westphalia. The other, consisting of 25,000 men, was commanded by the Prince de Soubise, and was to join the Army of the Empire, which was to put in execution the Imperial Ban against his Prussian Majesty. Before the latter army passed the Rhine, it seized the Prussian territories of Cleves, Meurs, and Gueldres, while a detachment of the army under d'Etrees made itself master of Embden, and of every thing belonging to his Prussian Majesty in East Friesland. But we are now, in as summary a manner as possible, to attend the important operations of his Prussian Majesty's arms.
We have already taken notice of the dangerous tendency of the treaty of Petersburgh against his Prussian Majesty, and having full proofs of its secret articles, he resolved to lose no time. He had ordered his minister at the court of Vienna to demand clear and categorical answers as to the destination of the vast armaments making in Moravia and Bohemia, but he received no satisfactory answer. At the same time the King of Poland had assembled an army of 16,000 men, with which he took possession of the important and impregnable pass of Pirna. On the 29th of August, 1756, he demanded from the King of Poland, Elector of Saxony, free passage for his troops, and that his Polish Majesty, as a proof of his neutrality, should dismiss his army. This not being complied with, the pass of Pirna was blockaded, there being no way to reduce it but by famine. The blockade was scarce formed, when Brown, the Austrian General, marched to the relief of the Saxons; upon which his Prussian Majesty put himself at the head of his army under Field-Marshal Keith, and fought the battle of Lowositz, in which Brown was defeated, and the Saxons at Pirna forced to surrender upon capitulation; so that his Prussian Majesty's army wintered in Saxony, and he himself, by forcing his way into the archives of Dresden, notwithstanding the opposition made by the Queen of Poland, whose husband had retired to his regal dominions, obtained the original proofs of the confederacy that had been formed against him.
At the opening of the campaign next year, every thing appeared very unfavourable for the King of Prussia. His victory at Lowositz had been attended with no other consequence than the surrender of the pass of Pirna! the Austrian army in Bohemia, commanded by Prince Charles of Lorrain and General Brown, amounted to 80,000 men; the Czarina sent 60,000 men under the command of Marshal Apraxin, assisted by a strong fleet, to invade the Ducal Prussia; and the Swedes, in hopes of recovering what they had lost in Pomerania, joined the same confederacy, being aided by 6000 troops of Mecklenburgh. His Prussian Majesty, however, with a cool rapidity peculiar to himself, divided his army into three bodies, which at the same time penetrated into Bohemia. The first was under Marshal Schwerin, and entered that country from Silesia. The second was under the Prince of Bevern, who marched from Lusatia, and bravely defeated a body of 28,000 Austrians on the 21st of April. The last body was commanded by the King of Prussia himself, who, after a train of operations, the most judicious, perhaps, that can be met with in history, joined his two Generals in Bohemia, and proceeded against the great body of Austrians, who thought themselves impregnably encamped near Prague; but nothing could withstand the ardour of the Prussians; for under all disadvantages they gained a complete victory over an hundred thousand of their enemies, about forty thousand of whom escaped to Prague, which was now invested on all sides by his Prussian Majesty. He had lost in the late battle his brave General Schwerin, as the Austrians had done General Brown, and he trusted chiefly to Field-Marshal Keith for the conduct of the siege.
It was in this situation of affairs, which threatened the house of Austria with ruin, that Count Daun, who 'till then had made no distinguished figure in military history, was appointed to the command of the Austrian troops. This General collected the dispersed parties of the Austrians, and while the King of Prussia was endeavouring to make himself master of Prague by a tremendous bombardment, he took a strong post near that city, and the Prussian army not being numerous enough entirely to invest it, he encouraged the garrison to make a vigorous defence, in hopes of being relieved. By this time his army was 60,000 strong, and the Empress-Queen looking upon Prague as the Bulwark of Vienna, was continually reinforcing it. His Prussian Majesty knew the value of time, and too much despising the enemies he had lately conquered, came to a resolution of forcing Daun in his intrenchments at Colin, though they were by all but himself deemed impregnable. If he was guilty of any mistake that day, it was his undertaking that mighty attempt with no more than 23,000 men. This temerity can only be excused by the necessity he was under of continuing the blockade of Prague; but, on the other hand, we are to consider what prodigious consequences would have attended his attempt, had it been successful, and likewise the necessity of checking Daun's growing power, by which in time he himself might have been besieged by two armies, one without and the other within the city. His conduct and courage on this occasion exceeded all expectation. He carried his two brothers with him to the action, and never was valour more signally, and more unsuccessfully employed. The battle lasted from three in the afternoon till it was dark. His Prussian Majesty charged at the head of his own cavalry, but had neglected to bring along with him a sufficient number of infantry, or a train of artillery equal to his mighty enterprize. In short, he performed every thing but impossibilities. He could not dislodge the Austrians from their triply fortified camp, each entrenchment rising above the other, and defended by an immense artillery, in a ground where cavalry, in which the Prussian strength chiefly consisted, could scarcely act. After six attacks, the King, collecting all his force, made the concluding charge, which, though more furious, was as unavailing as the preceding; and perceiving that he could not gain his point, he ordered the Prince of Bevern to give the signal for a retreat, saying, very cooly,
We shall do better another time.
If we view the merit of a great man in the light of philosophy, his Prussian Majesty gained more honour by this defeat, than he did by all his preceding victories. It made not the smallest alteration in his countenance or his manner; nor did it even interrupt the course of his usual amusements. Far from disguising the indiscretion of his own conduct, he acknowledged it in the face of all Europe, and did such justice to the courage of his enemies, that he seemed to envy Daun the glory of commanding such troops. His army spent the night after the battle near the place where it was fought, and he formed an almost instantaneous resolution of raising the blockade of Prague. Many obvious motives determined him to that step; and amongst others was a scarcity of ammunition, occasioned by the casual blowing up of a large laboratory full of bombs. Though he had been on horseback and in perpetual action all the day of the battle, yet that very night he set out for his camp before Prague, escorted by no more than about a dozen Hussars, with orders for his army to follow him as soon as possible. This they did without being harrassed by the Austrians, though the Prussian loss in the late battle was near 8000 men, and all the Prussian army, by a most admirable disposition, drew off from before Prague, without any loss, and retreated towards Letomeritz.
By this time the army, called that of Execution, was formed in the empire, with a view of executing the sentence of the diet of Ratisbon against the King of Prussia. This army was composed of the troops of the Princes of the Empire, many of whom were Protestants; and scarcely any of them satisfied as to the justice of the cause in which they fought; so that the army in itself, which was commanded by the Prince of Saxe Hildbourghausen was not formidable till it was joined by a large body of Austrians, and by the French army under the Prince de Soubise, and then its numbers were double to those of the Prussians. All Europe now thought that his Prussian Majesty must be inevitably ruined; but he had resources in his own genius that placed him above the power of fortune. After his arrival at Letomeritz he omitted no opportunity of provoking Count Daun to a battle, and even made some desperate efforts for that purpose; but the mechanical manner in which Daun carried on war defeated all his views. Leaving part of his army at Barnstadel, under the Prince of Bevern, he and Marshal Keith proceeded with the rest to Erfurth, where they arrived the 14th of September. Upon this, the army of the empire retreated first to Gotha, and then to Eisenach, where it took so advantageous a post, that he found it impracticable to force them to a battle.
In this situation of things, his Prussian Majesty bethought himself of one of those happy expedients that are so common amongst great Generals, that, if attended with disappointment, bring no disgrace, and if with success, immortal glory. Under pretext of being destitute of provisions, he retired to Naumburg, and sent Marshal Keith with seven battalions to Leipsic. After this, he seemed to throw himself quite off his guard, and sent his troops into such quarters as could best afford them subsistence, but privately made such disposition of them that he could assemble them at a short warning. His enemies were not so far imposed upon as not to imagine that he had something in view. But they mistook the object: they thought he intended to cover Magdeburgh, and that they in the mean time had a fair opportunity of reducing Leipsic, which place they actually summoned Marshal Keith to surrender. Keith probably was in his Master's secret, and made preparations for defending Leipsic to the last extremity. The Imperialists and the French made dispositions for besieging it, which was the precise situation to which his Prussian Majesty wanted to bring them. He was at this time to all appearance upon the brink of destruction; but the reader will best judge of his situation, from a description of his person and condition printed at that time in the public papers as follows,
Many persons who saw the King of Prussia when he passed lately through Leipsic, cannot express how much he is altered. They say he is so much worn away, that they scarce knew him. This, indeed, is not to be wondered at; he hath not a body of iron like Charles XII. and he endures as great fatigues as he did. He is as much on horseback as Charles was, and often lies upon the ground. His inward sufferings cannot be less than his outward: let us cast our eyes on a map of the Prussian dominions, and measure what he hath left of the many fair possessions he had in the month of April 1761, of which a space of seven months have stripped him; whence can he have men? he is shut out from the empire; and from whence can he draw money? the dutchy of Cleves, the principality of Muers, the county of Lingen, the county of Lipstadt, the principality of Minden, East Friesland, Embden, and its infant company, part of the rich bishopric of Magdeburg, some other parts of the Marche, Ducal Pomerania, a great part of Silesia, a great part of the kingdom of Prussia, Berlin itself, and almost all his dominions are taken from him, or laid under contribution, and possessed by his enemies, who collect the public revenues, fatten on the contributions, and with the money which they draw from the electorate of Hanover, and other conquests, defray the expences of the war. This picture certainly differs greatly from that which the King of Prussia might have sketched out the day he took arms to enter Saxony. Add to this the Duke of C—'s convention, which deprived him of all his allies, and left him without any assistance whatever, excepting 4 or 500,000
l.
sterling, which the British parliament may give him. Add likewise some domestick uneasinesses.
Such was the picture exhibited of his Prussian Majesty while his enemies were besieging Leipsic, and when all of a sudden they received intelligence of his marching to its relief, his name was so terrible that the Imperialists retired over the Sala; but they were followed by his Prussian Majesty, who had wisely declined to give them battle till almost the depth of winter, having provided for the security of all his passes and fortresses in Silesia and Saxony. At last on the 5th of November, his Prussian Majesty came up with his enemies near a village called Rosbach, and a battle being now inevitable, he addressed his troops in very near the following terms:
My dear friends, you know the hour is come in which all that is, and all that ought to be dear to us, depends upon the swords which are now drawn for the battle. Time permits me to say but little; nor is there occasion to say much. You know that there is no labour, no hunger, no cold, no watching, no danger, that I have not shared with you hitherto; and you now see me ready to lay down my life with you, and for you. All I ask, is, the same pledge of fidelity and affection that I give. And let me add, not as an incitement to your courage, but as a testimony of my own gratitude, that from this hour, until you go into quarters, your pay shall be double:
Acquit yourselves like men, and put your confidence in God.
The speech made by his Prussian Majesty, as before-mentioned, rendered the meanest soldier in his army an hero. Though they were but 25,000 strong, and their enemies more than double that number, they called out to be led to action, in which they were headed by the King himself. The French cavalry at first behaved well, and their infantry disputed an eminence, which, if they could have maintained, would have given them great advantages; but nothing could withstand the ardour of the Prussians, who gained so compleat a victory, that night alone saved the French and Imperialists from total destruction; three thousand, however, were killed upon the field, 63 pieces of cannon, with a great number of colours, were taken, eight French Generals, 250 Officers, and 6000 common men were made prisoners.
The victory compleat, and seemingly decisive as it was, was far from giving any respite to his Prussian Majesty's military labours. The Austrians were still strong, and perhaps the sentiments of some of his own family did not entirely favour the system of his operations. Thus much at least is certain, that he was dissatisfied with the conduct of his Generals in Silesia, where, on the 11th of December, the Austrians after a vigorous siege reduced Schweidnitz, and obliged the Prussian garrison, to the number of 4000, to surrender prisoners of war. After this, on the 22d of the same month, they attacked the Prince of Bevern's army, which, we have already mentioned, his Prussian Majesty left at Barnstadel. The Prince lay then near Breslau, which was by this time invested by the Austrian General Nadasti. There is somewhat in the Prince of Bevern's conduct at this time, that requires to be touched by an Historian with a tender hand. He gallantly repulsed the Austrians, who attacked him with great fury, and he even defeated them. It is possible he, and the Generals under him, thought that his Prussian Majesty's affairs were irretrievable, and abandoning their strong situation they passed the Oder, where the Prince of Bevern, riding out, on the pretext of reconnoitring, was made prisoner by a body of Croats who had passed that river. After this, Breslau fell into the hands of the Austrians, and it was thought they had nothing now to do but to take possession of all Silesia.
During this desperate plunge of fortune, his Prussian Majesty behaved with the same intrepidity and coolness as he would have done had he been conquered. He was now in Lusatia, and far from being terrified by the progress of his enemies, he made a war of diversion, by detaching Marshal Keith with part of his army into Bohemia, where he advanced almost as far as Prague, every where levying contributions.
He then entered Silesia, after a dreadful march of upwards of 200 miles, on the 2d of December, at the head of not above 15,000 men, and when he was joined by the Prince of Bevern's army, his whole force did not exceed 40,000, and those greatly fatigued and harrassed. The Austrians were at this time in possession of the strong camp that had been so unaccountably abandoned by the Prince of Bevern, and they were commanded by Count Daun, their numbers being above 70,000 men. Upon his Prussian Majesty's arrival in Silesia, he was to his great, but agreeable surprize, joined by the captive garrison of Schweidnitz, who, upon their hearing of his victory at Rosbach, had mastered the escort which was conducting them to their prisons. Upon this, on the 5th of December, he came to a resolution of giving Count Daun battle. The Austrians by this time, trusting to the superiority of their numbers, were so far from declining an engagement, that they quitted their strong camp, and both armies met at the village of Leuthen. The ground which was there occupied by the Austrians was excessively strong, and surrounded or interspersed with eminences, on which were raised batteries of cannon; they likewise had the precaution to fell down large trees to encumber the Prussian cavalry, and General Nadasti commanded a corps de reserve posted so as to take the Prussian army in flank.
The prodigious quickness and sagacity of his Prussian Majesty made him obviate all the difficulties, numerous as they were, which he lay under. He saw that great part of the fortune of the day must depend upon Nadasti's attack, and he provided against it by placing four battalions of infantry behind the cavalry of his right wing: and their fire was so furious that they obliged the Austrians to retreat. Upon this the Prussian cavalry fell upon the enemy sword in hand, and their artillery being well served, the whole Austrian army was broke, but not till after a most obstinate resistance, especially about the village of Leuthen, which they had endeavoured to render impregnable by redoubts and entrenchments. Losing that post, they fled with vast confusion; 6000 were killed on the field of battle, 15,000 were taken prisoners, and his Prussian Majesty continued the pursuit as far as Lissa. The Austrian loss of artillery in this battle, which is called that of Breslau, was about 200 pieces of cannon.
This victory of Breslau, which was obtained exactly a month after that of Rosbach, was, if we except that of Minden, the most amazing of any that has been fought these two centuries. Though it was in a season of the year in which other troops are indulged in winter quarters, his Prussian Majesty on the 7th of December formed the siege of Breslau, which, on the 20th of January succeeding 1758, surrendered to him; the Austrian garrison, consisting of 10,000 fighting men, besides 4000 sick and wounded, becoming prisoners of war. It would have been worse than madness after this, in so rigorous a season, to have thought of besieging Schweidnitz, which was provided with a numerous Austrian garrison. The return of Marshal Keith and his army, loaded with the spoils of Bohemia and Saxony, completed his Prussian Majesty's triumphs this year, and all Silesia, Schweidnitz excepted, now returned to his possession. Nay, before he went into winter quarters, he reduced many places in it, belonging to the Empress Queen.—Having thus brought the Prussian operations of 1757 to a close, I am now to attend those in which Great Britain was more immediately interested.
His late Majesty King George the Second, in point of good faith, was, perhaps, one of the most scrupulous Princes that ever lived. Though he knew the justice on which his Prussian Majesty's invasion of Saxony was founded; yet as it did not immediately concern himself, either as a member of the empire, or as King of Great Britain, he was so far from giving it any countenance, that he ordered his minister at the Saxon court to do every thing that was in his power to soften the rigour of his Polish Majesty's fate. But King George the Second, who of himself always thought and acted as a King and a man, had contemporary Princes to deal with, who listened more to the voice of resentment, than to that of reason; nor perhaps upon certain occasions can be entirely clear even his Prussian Majesty of that charge. Thus much at least is certain, that had his Britannic Majesty's voice been heard, a stop might have been put to the horrors of war, about the beginning of the year 1757; but the sore was more festered than he or the public apprehended. The French, fatally for themselves and all Europe, imagined, that his Britannic Majesty never would be proof against an attack upon his electoral dominions; and that they should be able in Germany to establish their encroachments upon the continent of America. Our taking the French ships without a formal declaration of war, though a step that had no manner of relation to his Majesty's conduct as Elector of Hanover, served them as a pretext for invading that country, and his Prussian Majesty's irruption into Saxony, gave them as guarantees of the treaty of Westphalia, some colour of justice in the eyes of the rest of Europe. They demanded a passage from the Dutch for their warlike stores through Namur and Macstricht, which, notwithstanding our opposition, was granted them, and about the end of March 1757, they rendezvoused at Nuys, opposite to Dusseldorp. Upon their entering Germany they met with little or no opposition, and even the strong town of Wesel belonging to his Prussian Majesty, fell into their hands. They raised at the same time vast contributions, and blockaded the town of Gueldres. Their army, amounting to above 110,000 men, was commanded by the Marshal D'Etrees, who was then reckoned to be the best General France had, and in a very short time, they made themselves masters of the Prussian Guelderland, the dutchy of Cleves, and all his Prussian Majesty's estates upon the Rhine.
Notwithstanding this formidable progress of the French, his Britannic Majesty's delicacy, in point of good faith, would not suffer him to take the least step that could carry the smallest appearance of violating the peace of Germany. All the use he made of his connections in the empire, was to form an army of observation, the command of which was given to his royal highness the Duke of Cumberland, who arrived in Germany early in the spring of 1757, and took post with about 40,000 Hessians and Hanoverians in the Prussian territories of Ravensburg. D'Etrees, who had the flower of the French Generals to command under him, ridiculously demanded a safe passage through the Hanoverian dominions to march against the King of Prussia, though it would have cost him a detour of many hundred miles. This demand being rejected, the French army advanced against that of observation towards Bielefield, the Duke of Cumberland's head quarters.
It is impossible for a writer to make the subsequent operations of his royal highness comprehensible to a candid reader, without touching upon the civil history of the times, which with some reluctance, I am now obliged to do. The eyes of the Germanic body were at this time fixed upon the parliament and ministry of Great Britain; neither of whom were very forward in extending their German connections. Whatever private convictions the ministry might have as to the expediency of defending Hanover, the topic was so unpopular that few of them cared to avow their sentiments. His Britannic Majesty saw this with some concern, nor durst he venture to give either his Hanoverian regency or the Princes of the empire, who were in his interest, any positive assurance of their being supported by Great Britain. Hanover was but a feeble object, when opposed to an army of 110,000 men, and it was natural for his Majesty to listen to the representations of his ministers there, who advised him to a neutrality if it could be obtained. This being premised, the conduct of his royal highness the Duke of Cumberland will appear not only intelligible, but so far as related to himself, magnanimous and defensible upon every principle of justice and prudence.
About the 13th of June, the French army approached to Bielefield, and notwithstanding its vast superiority of numbers, his royal highness did not pass the Weser till the 19th. While the two armies continued on the opposite banks of the Weser, the French took possession of Embden and all the Prussian territories in East Friesland, as they did of the country of Bentheim, which had been purchased by his Britannic Majesty in the year 1752. After garrisoning those acquisitions, the French detachments returned to their main army under d'Etrees, who being an able General knew the inconveniencies the Duke of Cumberland was under to guard all the passages of the Weser, and prepared to pass that river at Hoxter, at a large distance from the Duke's army. The apparent consequence of which was the laying all the southern parts of Hanover under contribution. His royal highness, notwithstanding the prodigious odds of numbers, made most excellent dispositions for opposing his enemies, and at last, after a most judicious choice of ground, he encamped at Hastenbeck near Hamelen. The French attacked the rear of the army of observation, in which they were several times defeated, and the Duke having passed the Weser, the Marquiss d'Etrees, the French General, found himself under great difficulties in forcing him to a battle. After several marches and countermarches, in which the Duke's army was neither numerous enough to attend him, and far less to guard all the extensive banks of the river, the Marquiss d'Armentieres, while his royal highness was intent upon the motions of the Duke de Broglio and Monsieur Chevert, on the 9th of July threw bridges over the river at Hoxter, and passed it with a large detachment of troops and artillery. He was followed by the Duke of Orleans, and then by d'Etrees and all the French army. This, together with the submission of the landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel to M. Contades, enabled the French to extend their contributions; and on the 25th of July, they attacked the Hanoverians at Hastenbeck, where the most complete generalship shewn on the part of his royal highness, which was admired by his enemies themselves, did not give him victory. He was obliged to retire after the loss of about 1500 men, that of the enemy being greater, by the way of Hamelen, Nyenburg, and Hoy, till he came to Ferden. The French followed him, but very slowly, and forced the garrison of Hamelen to capitulate. They had several reasons for this delay. They did not chuse to press too hard upon an army which had been so little diminished by the late battle; they knew that a great part of the Hanoverian regency were inclined to a neutrality, but above all, the arrival of the Duke de Richelieu, who superceded M. d'Etrees in his command, retarded their march. Richelieu, a rapacious expensive Officer, had, by the influence of the French King's mistress, obtained that command to repair his broken fortunes, and he made the most of it by his acts of oppression and plunder.
He sent the Duke de Randan to take possession of the city of Hanover with 2000 men, which he did without resistance, and was appointed to be its governor; but all the treasure, archives, and effects, had been before sent to Stade. Richelieu, at the same time, took possession of all the other considerable places of the electorate, and ordered its several divisions to send deputies to his camp, to settle the mode and proportion of the contributions they were to furnish. After thus collecting his army, he marched towards Ferden, as his royal highness did to a strong camd between Ottersberg and Rothenburg. The French, by their superiority of numbers, were enabled to make dispositions which might have cut off the communication of his royal highness with Stade, the most important fortification in all the electorate, and this obliged him to retire with his army under the cannon of that place.
It was generally thought that his situation, as he could retire no further, must have brought on a battle, which, every thing considered, must have been decisive in his favour. But it was otherwise resolved upon in the Hanoverian councils, which had prevailed upon the King of Denmark to employ the Count de Lynar to mediate a convention between the two armies, which was signed at Closter-Seven, and by which the Hanoverian army was bound up from hostilities, and was sent into different cantonments in their own country. This convention left Richelieu at liberty to tyrannize over all that electorate, which he did in the most inhuman, rapacious, manner; though we must do the Duke de Randan the justice to say, that his conduct in his government was directly the reverse of that of Richelieu: for which he received the thanks of his Britannic Majesty.
The reader, from what is before said, may guess at the secret causes that produced the surprising convention of Closter-Seven. It is certain, that neither his royal highness nor the British ministry were privy to them. The latter, ever since the French had entered Westphalia, had foreseen the expediency of giving them a diversion in their own country, and that same summer, 1757, a powerful armament for a secret expedition was fitted out in England. The design was so well concealed, that the most penetrating politicians were at a loss to account for its object, and the chief command of the expedition was given to Lieutenant General Sir John Mordaunt, under whom served the Major Generals, Conway and Cornwallis, with about 6000 land troops on board. On the 21st of September, this armament appeared off Rochfort, and soon after, the small isle of Aix was reduced by the British shipping. From the fortifications of this island the coasts and situation of the country was attentively observed, and some of the British officers imagined they discovered two encampments. This produced disputes and doubts among the officers, which were heightened by the apparent difficulties of landing, but all agreed in the expediency of taking a small fort, called Fort Fouras, in order to secure their retreat. This attack was neglected; but it was resolved to land the troops in boats on the 28th of September. The weather being somewhat boisterous, (tho' it did not appear to be so for three days before) the troops, after being put into the boats, were ordered to reimbark. Sir Edward Hawke, who commanded the fleet, grew uneasy at its situation at that time of the year, and it was resolved, but without any regular, or general, meeting of the council of war, that the whole expedition should return to England, without making any further attempt. The consternation of the people and parliament, after the loss of their money, and what is still more, of their national reputation, was inexpressible. His Majesty referred the case of the commanding officer to a board of general officers, and in consequence of their report, he was tried at a general court martial, held at Whitehall the 14th of December 1757, and acquitted upon the dubiety of the evidence which was against him.
The public of England had now a disagreeable prospect before its eyes. The army of observation had been rendered inactive; and thus there was no co-operating power to take off the weight of the French arms from his Prussian Majesty, who appeared to be in a most melancholy situation. The Empress of Russia, his irreconcileable enemy, ordered her troops to quicken their motions, and they entered the Ducal Prussia, under Marshal Apraxin and General Fermer, where they were guilty of monstrous inhumanities. An Austrian army penetrated as far as Breslaw into Silesia, and laid siege to Schweidnitz, while another body reduced Zittau. The Swedes, to the number of 22,000, made themselves masters of the towns of Anclam and Demmein, in the Prussian Pomerania, and laid the neighbouring country under contribution, as Richelieu, being now easy on the side of Hanover, did the old Marche of Brandenburg, which, however, did not excuse the inhabitants from being plundered whereever the French came. As the recovering of Silesia was the main object of the Empress Queen, the army of the empire was joined by that of the French, under Prince Soubise, and marched towards Saxony, which left Silesia exposed to all the Austrian force, so that the King of Prussia durst not venture to defend even his capital Berlin, which was entered and laid under contribution by General Haddick. The Russians, tho' intent only upon their own views, still encreased the distress of his Prussian Majesty. His General Lehwald had orders at all hazards to oppose their progress, and with no more than 50,000 men, he attacked above double that number at Norkittin, on the 30th of August 1757. The Russians may be cut to pieces, but it can seldom be said, they are beaten. Though they lost five men for one that fell on the Prussian side, yet Lehwald was obliged to retire, which he did with great reputation to himself, and the arms of his master. Notwithstanding the amazing exertions of valour and conduct daily made by his Prussian Majesty, all Europe, not excepting even his friends in England, thought him now to be at the last gasp. He had lost possession of the dutchies of Gueldres and Cleves, the principalities of Muers and Munden, with the counties of Lingen and Lipstadt; East Friesland, Embden, part of Magdeburg, and the Marche, the Ducal Pomerania, great part of Silesia, and Regal Prussia. Conquests, that while they took from him the means of carrying on the war, gave them to his enemies. His chief means of subsistance rested on his British subsidy; but that, though great, was not only inadequate to his necessities, but precarious in itself. The unaccountable failure of the expedition against Rochfort had soured the nation, and it was uncertain into whose hands the ministry was to fall.
But the juncture in which his Prussian Majesty was thought to be the most distressed, rendered him formidable. He had by an admirable train of operations covered Saxony; but when the army of the empire, and that of Soubise advanced to the frontiers of Misnia, and seemed to point towards the siege of Leipsic, he put his troops in motion, after taking all possible precautions against the Austrians in Lusatia, and for the defence of Schweidnitz. The Imperialists knew what great things his Prussian Majesty was capable of, and they retired at his approach; till having reinforced themselves with a vast superiority of numbers, they again faced his army, and he in his turn retired. It was now the 24th of October, and he had secretly determined on a battle, but found great difficulties in bringing it on with advantage to himself. To effect this, he cantoned his troops in such a manner as to persuade his enemies, from the distance between their corps, that he intended to act only on the defensive, during the remaining part of the winter; but on the 27th of October, to the amazement of his enemies, so quickly had his troops advanced, he was at the head of 25,000 choice men.
Though the convention of Closter Seven was equally binding upon the French as upon the Hanoverians, yet the former behaved with all the insolence of tyrants over slaves. The rapaciousness of the Duke de Richelieu knew no bounds, one cruel exaction followed another, but though all was submitted to, the wretched inhabitants found no relief from plundering and pillaging. Money, and booty was all that Richelieu had in view, nor indeed durst he repress the licentiousness of his soldiers, which not only carried them beyond all the bounds of military discipline, but led them into habits of life, that proved fatal to them, in the diseases they introduced, attended with vast mortality; while their General and other Commanders, mindful only of enriching themselves, neither provided for their recovery, nor furnished them with arms, cloaths, or any means of subsistance, but what they acquired by plunder. Richelieu was sensible of his army's growing weakness, and to guard against the effects of it, he required the Hessians and Hanoverians to deliver up their arms, a condition that had not been stipulated by the convention of Closter Seven. He pushed the breach of those articles still further, by attempting to seize upon places not comprehended in them, and by shutting them up in such narrow districts of cantonment, as rendered it impossible for the inhabitants to subsist. The revenues of the electorate was farmed out to one Faidy, a money-undertaker, under pretence of its being a conquered country, and he set up a booth at Hanover by virtue of his commission, which impowered him to commit what excesses he pleased.
All these, and many other oppressions, convinced the regency of Hanover, how greatly they were mistaken, in imagining, that the convention of Closter Seven would bring any relief to their country. It fortunately happened, that the court of Versailles refused to consider the convention, as being obligatory upon her, unless the auxiliary troops of Hanover were disarmed, and unless his Britannic Majesty would abandon his electorate as a prey to the French. Those demands, therefore, in fact, freed his Britannic Majesty, as much as it did France, from looking upon the convention as being obligatory, and he could no longer resist the voice of his distressed subjects. He appointed Prince Ferdinand, the brother of the reigning Duke of Brunswic, to be his General, and the battle of Rosbach critically happening at the same time, the Hanoverians and Hessians resumed their arms, united under him, and broke from their disgraceful confinements. The French were in no condition to resist the spirit of liberty, enflamed by resentment. They were every where beaten. The Hanoverians took the town of Harburg, and the gallant resistance made by the castle, which at last was reduced likewise, was the only instance, in which the French could be said to act like soldiers or men. Prince Ferdinand then retreated to Ultzen, half way between Zell and Lunenburg, and Broglio having passed the Aller with a large body of cavalry, the Hanoverians expected every moment to be attacked. But the movements of the French proved to be only a feint to cover some waggons of Richelieu's ill gotten plunder, and they fell back upon their head-quarters at Zell. We shall now attend the Russians.
The army under Apraxin had behaved with such unexampled brutality, that in desolating the countries, through which it marched, they left no subsistence for themselves; and the court of Vienna had been so slow in its remittances, that the troops, both officers and soldiers, being greatly in arrear, they took a resolution to evacuate the Prussian territories, which, to the amazement of all Europe, they accordingly did. His Prussian Majesty, who at first scarcely believed the news, upon this, ordered Lehwald to march his army into Pomerania against the Swedes. Lehwald, on entering that country, scarce met with resistance from a people, whose military virtues, but a few years before, had struck terror into all Europe. He not only drove them out of the Prussian Pomerania, but took possession of all the Swedish, excepting Stralsund, under the cannon of which, the Swedish army took shelter. The Duke of Mecklenburgh Schwerin, who, during all the war, had shewn a remarkable attachment to the French, being, by the retreat of the Russians and Swedes, left exposed to his Prussian Majesty's resentment, was obliged to take shelter at Lubec; and it is to be lamented, that his subjects, though Protestants, paid dearly for the misconduct of their Sovereign.
The enemies of the King of Prussia were more strongly united against him by fear and hatred than they would have been either by interest or principle. The bloody events and various fortunes of the last campaign, such as never before happened in so short a time, had not disposed any of the powers at war to make so much as a proposal for peace. That the King of Prussia might give some repose to his troops, the campaign did not open till the beginning of April, 1758. The consequences of the battle of Lissa had been extremely favourable to the King of Prussia, as by the contributions he raised in Saxony and other places, he was enabled to spare his Hereditary countries, and to send a small body of cavalry to the assistance of Prince Ferdinand. The Count de Clermont had now the command of the French army in Westphalia. But the change of the General did them no service. They retreated or rather fled every where before the Hanoverians, who marched in two divisions; one on the right to the country of Bremen, and another under General Zastrow, to the left towards Gifforn. In a few days the French retired from Ottersburg, Bremen, and Ferden, and the castle of Rottenburg did not hold out above six hours. It was expected that Count Chabot, who was posted with a strong detachment at Hoy above Ferden, would have made a vigorous stand; and Prince Ferdinand appointed his nephew, the young Prince of Brunswick, with four battalions of foot and some light-horse, to dislodge him. This Prince, though but twenty years of age, had seen a great deal of action, and his genius was so truly military, that he had performed exploits which would have done honour to the ablest Generals. He had signalized himself at the battle of Hastenbeck, and such was his ardour for glory in a noble cause, that he had, though with the seeming disapprobation of his father, followed his uncle to the field. The enterprize he was charged with was not only full of difficulties, but a train of disappointments threatened to render it unsuccessful. Having a broad river to pass, and but one float to carry his troops over it, and the wind blowing fresh in his teeth, he found it impracticable to pass over but one half of his detachment. It was now the 23d of February, and he boldly, but wisely, determined to surprize the town before it was day-light sufficient for the French to discover the small handful he was attended with. Before he was arrived at the town, the enemy was alarmed by an accidental firing, and prepared to receive him; but the Prince by his courage and excellent dispositions conquered all opposition. He beat the enemy from the possession of a bridge they held, took possession of the town, and forced Chabot, the French commandant, who had thrown himself into the castle, to surrender it with all his stores and magazines. The Prince, who had with him no heavy artillery, suffered the troops under Chabot to depart, but he had in the preceding action killed a great number of the enemy, and made almost 700 prisoners, with no more than 100 of his own men killed and wounded.
The Hanoverian army continuing its march in two divisions, at last cleared all the electorate of the French, Minden excepted, which was garrisoned by 4000 men; but the place being invested, they were obliged on March the 14th to surrender themselves prisoners of war, after a siege of no more than nine days. It does not fall within the narrow compass of our design to particularize the many skirmishes that all this while passed between the French and the Hanoverians. The former scarce made a resistance but when they were prompted by despair, and even then it was ineffectual. All subordination was lost amongst their troops. Destitute of cloathing and covering in a bitter season many perished on the roads, and the sword was scarcely wanted to finish the destruction of the survivors, most of whom were so weak and diseased, that they were knocked on the head by the clubs of the enraged peasants, while the Hanoverian Hussars and Hunters harrassed the few who had strength enough to attempt an escape. Upon the whole, it is reckoned at a moderate computation, that, of 130,000 French, who had entered Westphalia, all of them fine troops, not above 50,000 were alive at the end of the campaign. These being collected together from all quarters, at last reached the Rhine, except a body which maintained itself at Wesel, under count Clermont. We must, however, from the scene of French oppression and barbarity we have exhibited, except the conduct of the Duke de Randan, who preserved his virtue and humanity, even amidst all the horros and provocations of this dismal retreat. Though he had large magazines, far from destroying them, as the custom of common war might have justified him in doing, he consigned them to the Hanoverian magistracy for the benefit of their poor, and that, by his presence, he might prevent all disorders, he was the last Frenchman, who marched out of Hanover.
The same spirit of despondency seemed to infect the French troops in other places. A small English squadron under Commodore Holmes arrived before Embden, which, as we mentioned before, was taken from the King of Prussia by the French, and, by them, garrisoned with 4000 men, and cut off the communication between the place and the mouth of the river. The garrison, either struck with a panic, or apprehending that Holmes expected a speedy supply of ships and troops, evacuated the town, and sent their heavy artillery and baggag up the river. Holmes ordered some armed boats to pursue them, and some of their vessels were taken. In one of them was a youth, the son of a French officer of distinction, whom the Commodore immediately sent to his father, and offered to send him the money too, upon his giving his word and honour that it was his own property. We mention this circumstance, because it is the duty of history to do justice to private, as well as public, virtue.
Though the French in the space of a few months had sustained almost incredible losses in Germany, yet we are not with some writers to represent them as being at this time a ruined people. Their councils, it is true, were not only divided but unsteady and infirm. All reciprocal confidence had been lost between their court and parliaments, and the ablest of their ministers had with indignation retired from public business. Notwithstanding this, France was still internally powerful, and had prodigious resources. The slightest condescensions, on the part of her King, gave spirit to her people, and even the losses he had suffered served to animate them with a passion to repair them. The Duke de Belleisle, so famous for his exploits civil as well as military, was pointed out by the public voice, as the only minister who could prevent farther disgraces, and the French King accordingly put him at the head of the war-department, to the general satisfaction of his subjects.
England presented a very different scene. The administration there was popular. A harmony subsisted between the court and parliament, and between the parliament and people, circumstances which were almost unprecedented in history. The few intestine divisions that still prevailed were swallowed up in a universal admiration of his Prussian Majesty's virtues and victories, after the train of distresses he had undergone. This made it safe for the ministry thoroughly to adopt a new system, in which there otherwise would have been some danger to themselves. The design met with little opposition either without or within doors, because, they who really inclined to oppose it, though a considerable party in parliament, thought it would be to no purpose, and that it would expose them to the odium of the public. His Prussian Majesty had hitherto received only occasional assistances from Great Britain; but on the 11th of April, 1758, a convention was concluded between him and his Britannic Majesty, by which his Prussian Majesty was to receive 670,000l. sterling a year from Great Britain; and the contracting parties mutually engaged, that one should not make peace without the other. Some thought there was danger to Great Britain, in thus becoming as much a principal as Prussia itself, in a continental war, and the British ministers themselves perhaps did not foresee the consequences that have since happened, or that the empress of Russia would prove so intractable as she did. The retreat of her troops was considered as a prelude to an alteration of her conduct; but the public were soon undeceived in that respect. Apraxin was disposted and put under arrest, as was Bestucheff her Imperial Majesty's first minister, for countenancing the retreat, and the command of the army was given to the Generals, Brown and Fermer. In Sweden the flagrant disgrace her arms had sustained, seemed to encrease the animosity of his Prussian Majesty's enemies against him, and without consulting the King, the Senate came to a resolution of prosecuting the war with more vigour than ever.
After the reduction of Schweidnitz, which surrendered April the 16th, 1758, his Prussian Majesty had no enemies within his dominions. His credit was now high, and his armies strong. He had a body of troops commanded by Count Dohna, on the side of Pomerania, which overawed the Swedes and Mecklenburghers. Silesia was covered by another body, posted between Wohlau and Glogau, while an army of 30 battalions and 45 squadrons was formed in Saxony, under the command of Prince Henry, his Prussian Majesty's brother, to face the army of the empire, which was again become formidable; and those armies were all so judiciously posted, that each had a communication with the other. His Prussian Majesty's affairs wearing so promising an aspect, he resolved upon an offensive war, and to make the untouched country of Moravia its theatre. To conceal his design, after the reduction of Schweidnitz, he ordered some troops to take post as if he intended to invade Bohemia, but all of a sudden making a rapid march, he opened trenches before the city of Olmutz, the barrier of Moravia, on the 27th of May. We may perhaps venture to say that the flattering prospect of carrying the war to the gates of Vienna was his Prussian Majesty's main motive in this expedition, which at first threw the Austrian councils into vast perplexity. Marshal Daun was then in Lusatia, but marching through Bohemia, he took the command of the army that was to oppose his Prussian Majesty, and posted himself between Gewitz and Littau, by which situation he had at his back the fruitful country of Bohemia, and could by his parties intercept the Prussian convoys from Silesia. It soon appeared that his Prussian Majesty had not sufficiently considered the difficulties attending his expedition. Olmutz was a city of such extent, that his troops were not numerous enough compleatly to invest it: so that Daun was enabled to supply it with provisions and every thing necessary for making a vigorous defence, and he never shewed himself so compleat a General as he then did. Perceiving that his Prussian Majesty had taken a false step, he availed himself of it to the utmost; and took such measures, that his royal antagonist, notwithstanding all his endeavours and provocations, perceived it was impracticable to force him to a battle. In the mean while, the besieged plied the Prussians with incessant sallies, by which they ruined their works, and nailed up their cannon, not to mention their loss of men. As to his Prussian Majesty, his situation was such, that by the neighbourhood of Daun's army, he found himself unable to employ above 10,000 men upon the siege, and they were in a manner themselves besieged by the enemy. The country about Olmutz afforded them no subsistence, all having been destroyed by the Austrians; and to complete the King's misfortune, Daun lay as near to Silesia as he did, and by means of the country people, he was admirably well served with intelligence. Hearing that a great Prussion convoy was arrived at Troppau, he struck a blow which proved him to be a General of enterprize as well as caution. He ordered two detachments from two very different places, Muglitz and Prerau, to put themselves in motion, and prescribed them such regulations for their march as that they should come up at the same time so as to attack the convoy on both sides. To favour this manoeuvre, Daun made dispositions as if he intended to fight the Prussian army under the King, who had left the command of the siege to Field-Marshal Keith. This sudden change in Daun's operations, gave the King some suspicions, and he sent a body of troops under General Ziethen to support his convoy. Ziethen came too late to prevent its being attacked, but it had repelled the Austrians. The latter, however, were reinforced by Daun with fresh troops, who renewed the engagement next day, defeated Ziethen, seized on the centre of the convoy, while the rear precipitately retired to Troppau, and but few of the Van reached the Prussian camp.
This disappointment of the convoy before mentioned, was fatal to his Prussian Majesty's aspiring views: July was now drawing on, and he had thrown away a most precious part of the summer in unsuccessful operations, without having it in his power, so judicious were the measures of his enemy, to display either courage or generalship. The Russians had again taken the field, and their Cossacks and Calmucks, were as usual, making cruel incursions into Silesia, and Berlin itself was threatened. Such was his Prussian Majesty's situation, when he took the secret, but unwilling, resolution of raising the siege of Olmutz. By this time Daun had made a motion to Posnitz, which must have laid the Prussians under still greater difficulties, and might have not only raised the siege, but have ruined their army. Beset with so many dangers, his Majesty, by an uncommon effort of genius, instead of retiring, resolved to advance into his enemies dominions, a resolution equally wise and bold. Perceiving that Daun by the change of his situation had left Bohemia uncovered, he ordered on the last of July the siege to be carried on with more briskness than ever, but on the night of the same day his whole army took the road of Bohemia, gained 24 hours march of the Austrians, defeated all the parties that attempted to oppose him, seized upon a grand magazine at Leutomissel, and arrived at the important post of Konigsgratz in Bohemia with all his waggons, baggage, artillery and military stores, and after defeating 7000 Austrians who lay entrenched before it, he took possession of the place. All Europe was surprized that he avail'd himself of this important conquest no farther than by laying it and the neighbouring country under contribution. But the danger his hereditary dominions were in from the Russians justified his again evacuating Bohemia and marching towards Silesia, where he understood that his barbarous enemies had entered the New Marche of Brandenburg, and laid siege to the important fortress of Custrin.
Though Great Britain had hitherto sent but a few troops to the assistance of Prince Ferdinand in Germany, yet her ministry had made incessant efforts for distressing the French. The fears of invasion lay so heavy upon the spirits of the people, that her ministry found themselves under a necessity of endeavouring to remove them. The British Councils for some time fluctuated between two measures proposed for that purpose. The one was to send a strong body of troops to act in conjunction with Prince Ferdinand in Germany: The other was to alarm the sea coasts of France by frequent descents upon them. The first proposal was thought too much to break in upon the anticontinental plan our Ministers had adopted, and the latter was espoused upon three principles. The first was, that such descents would oblige the French to divide their forces and to weaken their army in Germany, in order to guard the vast extent of their sea coasts. The second was, that it would employ the natural strength of Great-Britain, her marine, which would give satisfaction to all parties amongst us. And the third, that it would prove that the French were vulnerable in their own dominions, and must therefore lay aside all thoughts of invading ours.
Though we are little disposed to enter into political disquisitions, yet we cannot help saying that the two first principles seem to have been mistaken. A nation like France, that can bring into the field, exclusive of militia, 300,000 men, is not to be diverted from its main object by so inconsiderable a force as we proposed to employ against it. The marine of Great-Britain was indeed exerted, but in a very disadvantageous manner. It served only as a convoy to our land troops, but could be of little or no use to them after they were set on shore; while the difficulties of the coast, and the uncertainties of wind and weather, rendered it extremely hazardous for our ships to continue in any one station so as that they could be ready to re-admit the land troops after they had executed their commission; and▪ in fact, the frequent debarkations and reembarkations which the service proposed required, proved it by experience to be inconvenient almost to impracticability. The third principle was better founded, though not without its exceptions.
The measure of making a descent upon France being resolved upon, the Duke of Marlborough was appointed to command the land troops. He was the grandson of the Great Duke of Marlborough, and from him inherited a strong passion for military glory, especially against the French. In other respects he was in private life a nobleman of the most amiable character, and had discovered upon several occasions that he had studied the art of war, and that his abilities were equal to such a command; so that no officer in the British service was more proper either in point of popularity, or that of sufficiency, to conduct such an expedition. The land forces under him consisted of 16 battalions and 9 troops of light horse.
To give the greater eclat to this expedition, a most formidable naval armament was fitted out. We wish we could say that this equipment had been as judicious as we presume it was well intended. On the 1st of June, Admiral Anson, with the fleet under his command, sailed from St. Helens, as did Commodore Howe with his squadron, and all the transports about two hours after. The Admiral directed his course down the Channel, and the Commodore his for the coast of France: the ships under the Admiral were the Royal George, 100 guns; Duke, 90; Neptune, 90; Ramillies, 90; Barfleur, 90; Union, 80; Newark, 80; Magnanime, 74; Norfolk, 74; Alcide, 74; Chichester, 74; Duc d'Aquitaine, 64; Fougueux, 64; Achilles, 60; Intrepide, 60; Norwich, 50; Dunkirk, 60; Southampton, 36; Acteon, 36; Tartar, 20; Leostoft, 20; and Coventry, 36. There were on board the fleet 16 regiments, nine troops of light horse, and above 2000 marines.
The ships under Commodore Howe were the Essex, 70 guns; Rochester, 50; Deptford, 50; Portland, 50; Pallas, 36; Brilliant, 36; Richmond, 36; Active, 36; Maidstone, 20; Flamborough, 20; Rose, 20; Diligence, 16; Success, 16; Saltash, 16; Swallow, 16; Speedwell, 16; Pluto fireship, 16; Salamandar ditto, 16; Infernal bomb, 16; Granada ditto, 16; Cormorant, 14; 10 Cutters, each 10 guns; 100 transports, 20 tenders, and 2 storeships.
When this fleet sailed, the public imagined that the whole was to burst upon the coast of France, but they were soon undeceived. The powerful squadron under the Lord Anson soon parted from that under Commodore Howe, but left, under the command of the latter, all the transports with the land troops, and his Lordship proceeded for the bay of Biscay, in order, as was said, to alarm the coasts of France, and to observe the French squadron in Brest. Whether either of those two purposes were objects worthy so prodigious an armament, we shall not presume to determine, because we are not fully informed as to the effects it produced, or whether they were answerable to the high station of the Commander, and the prodigious expence of the equipment.
The lesser squadron, under Commodore Howe, proceeded with the transports to the coast of France, and without any material accident, arrived at Cancalle bay, on the coast of Britanny, on the 5th of June, about 7 miles distant from St. Malo; which whether it was the original, or the accidental object of the expedition, we shall not determine; but they resolved to attack it, if practicable. After the troops were landed, the strictest discipline was observed, and though the inhabitants of Cancalle had fled in their first consternation; yet all excesses committed upon their effects by the British soldiery were punished with the utmost rigour. This humane regularity of discipline had excellent consequences. The inhabitants of the country returned to their habitations, and treated our troops not as their invaders but their friends. After fortifying a post near Cancalle, the army under the Duke of Marlborough, set out towards St. Malo, where they soon found, what some may think they ought to have known long before, that the place was unassailable by the force they had with them, being situated at the extremity of a long narrow causeway. His Grace, however, did all that was possible to be done with the force he had. On the 12th of June, he burnt one man of war of 50 guns, one of 36 (and, to use the words of the Gazette, the best authority we can follow)
All the privateers, some of 30, several of 20 and 18 guns, and, in the whole, upwards of 100 ships, notwithstanding they were under the cannon of St. Malo; but finding it impracticable to attack that place, and receiving intelligence of troops being on their march from all sides, his Grace thought it necessary to march back to Cancalle: Commodore Howe had made so good a disposition of the boats and transports, that four brigades, and ten companies of grenadiers were embarked in less than seven hours, the enemy not having attempted to attack them; and on the 12th all the troops were on board, waiting to take advantage of the first wind, to pursue the farther objects of his Majesty's instructions.
It is extremely remarkable that during the execution of an enterprize, which did such infinite damage to the French, the detachment employed in it met with no opposition, not even from a single shot of the enemy, and they returned equally unmolested to Cancalle.
The re-embarkation being made, the Duke of Marlborough and the officers under him proceeded to the coasts of Normandy, where they reconnoitred the town of Granville, which they did not think fit to attempt, because a large body of French troops lay encamped in its neighbourhood. They then moved towards Cherbourg; but the weather proving unfavourable, the fleet running short in provisions, and the crews sickly, all further attempts were judged impracticable, and the fleet arrived, on the 29th of June, at St. Helens; and the Duke of Marlborough was appointed to take the command in chief of the British troops serving in, or destined for Germany.
Had it not been for the prodigious force of the British fleet on its first sailing for this expedition, it is more than probable that the public would have been much better satisfied with the event of it. The damage done to France, however, was very considerable, and the people were pleased with the reflection that we in reality had subjected her to the hostilities with which she had only menaced us. If no excessive joy was expressed, no murmuring was heard in public; and the spirit of the nation was kept up by the declarations of the ministry, that the remaining part of the season would be employed in action. In less than a month after the return of the armament under the Duke of Marlborough, another, but not of equal strength, was fitted out.
General Bligh was appointed to command the new armament, as was before mentioned; he had served with great reputation in the late war, and it was judged necessary to prove the minister to be in earnest, notwithstanding, the smallness of the land force, which was not 6000 men complete, that the second Prince of the blood, Prince Edward, since Duke of York, should serve on board the fleet. Like the great Czar of Muscovy, he resolved to go through all the subordinate duties before he arrived at the higher commands. Commodore Howe had the command of the fleet, and General Bligh of the land forces, the Duke of Marlborough having by this time been nominated to the command of the British troops who were ordered for Germany.
It was the first of August before the fleet sailed from St. Helens, and on the 6th it appeared off Cherburg. This is a sea-port in the very middle of the channel, and therefore commodiously situated for distressing the English navigation by privateering, and even for facilitating an invasion. The place is naturally weak, but the conveniency of its situation for the above purposes had induced the French court to lavish most immense sums in supplying the defects of nature by enlargeing and deepening the harbour, raising fortifications, making Sluices, building a mole, opening flood-gates, and forming a bason, so that the whole was justly deemed a stupendous undertaking, and worthy the genius of Monsieur Belidor, the famous engineer who had projected it. Happily, perhaps for us, either the wisdom or the parsimony of Cardinal Fleury did not keep pace with the vastness of the design, but enough was finished to give every Briton an idea that another Dunkirk, more dangerous than that which had been demolished, would arise in Cherburg, that it would prove to England what Carthage was to Rome, and therefore it was necessary to ruin it.
The British fleet coming to anchor before this important place, it soon appeared that the French had more than suspected its destination. They had strengthened the landing places with forts, and a large body of militia, while three regiments of regulars lined the shore, so that a resolute opposition was expected. Intrepidity is often the cheapest way of making war, and that of the British Commodore upon this occasion saved blood. His dispositions were so just, and yet so bold, that the troops landed almost without loss under the fire of the ships, and the amazement of the French at their courage seemed to take from them the powers of resistance, though favoured by all that art could contribute to render it effectual. They abandoned fort after fort, and one port after another, so that the British troops may be said to have walked rather than to have marched into Cherburg, the day after their landing. The design of the expedition was soon answered; a few hours quickly laid in ruins the labours of half an age, and the product of 40 millions of livres. A most superb train of brass artillery fell into the hands of the conquerors, who behaved with so much humanity and good manners to the desenceless inhabitants, that when the ships in the harbour were burnt, and the work of demolition was over, they appeared to be visitors rather than invaders.
Were not the fact recent and unquestionably attested, it would appear highly improbable, that 6000 British troops should remain unmolested for ten days in France, which proudly, perhaps justly, boasts herself to be the greatest land power in Europe; that they should without opposition take hostages for payment of contributions, and reimbark, as commodiously and safely, as if they had been in their own country. The artillery was sent to England, and September 16th drawn in triumph from Kensington to the tower of London with a pompous attendance of guards, horse and foot, and every circumstance that could serve to awaken in the minds of the people the ideas they had formed of the military glories of their ancestors.
After the reimbarkation was completed, the fleet was driven towards the coasts of England, but soon after made for the bay of St. Lunar, where the land troops made a second descent near the town of St. Malo. The most favourable construction that can be put upon this attempt is, that it was possible the French in St. Malo might have been off their guard, or like those of Cherburg, intimidated from making resistance. This supposition proved groundless, and after the troops were landed, their commanders could not figure in their own minds a practicable object of attack, while the rockiness of the bay rendered it so dangerous for the Commodore to continue there with his shipping, that he was obliged to move three leagues westward to the bay of St. Cas. This separation of the fleet from the army, and the operations of the latter, which were visibly undetermined and useless, gave spirit to the French. The Duke d'Aguillon, governor of Brittany, who in point of reputation was then at the head of the second rate French Generals, and perhaps now deserves to be ranked amongst the first, got together 12 battalions, 6 squadrons of regular troops, and two regiments of militia, which are little inferior to regulars, and advancing within six miles of the English army, was now arrived at the village of Matignon, after repelling all the flying attacks made upon them by the enemy. The inequality of the force, and the disadvantages of situation soon determined the British commanders to make the best of their way to St. Cas, which lay at the distance only of three miles. The march of those three miles however contained in it circumstances and incidents more puzzling and unaccountable than that of Hannibal over the Alps, and we are better acquainted with the particulars of the latter than of the former. It is sufficient to say, that, to the eternal disgrace of the French, every man of the English was not destroyed or taken. The French were so cautious in their approaches, that the English proceeded unmolested in their march, though it was so intersected by incidents and their ignorance of the country, that it was in the power of the Duke d'Aguillon entirely to have cut off their communication with their fleet, an advantage which a British officer would have esteemed to be his highest good fortune had the French been under the like circumstances in England. The Duke, however, more prudently perhaps, permitted all the English but their rear, which was mostly composed of the foot guards and grenadiers, to embark, and then he marched down from the heights that environed the bay to attack the English. The resistance of the latter did honour to their country, but besides the disadvantages of numbers, the French being above twelve to one, they were under the irreparable one of falling short of ammunition. The bravery of their fellow subjects contributed to their misfortune. Commodore Howe seeing their danger, ordered himself to be rowed in his own shallop, attended by the boats of the fleet, as near the shore as possible to assist in bringing off his countrymen. By this time the small handful of British soldiers had been entirely broken by the vast superiority of the French, who refused them quarter while the fire continued from the fleet. That ceasing, about 600 were made prisoners, and it appeared that about 400 had been killed, amongst whom was Sir John Armitage, a young gentleman of large fortune in Yorkshire, and a volunteer in the service. General Drury was likewise amongst the dead, being drowned by endeavouring to escape to a boat. But we are now to attend a more important and a more fortunate expedition in another quarter of the world.
The year 1757 was far from being favourable to the British arms either by land or sea. In America, where the Earl of Loudohn commanded in chief, an expedition had been planned against Crown Point; but it was dropt, and it was resolved to attack Louisbourg. Admiral Holbourn was appointed to command the fleet, which was strong and well provided, and sailed from Corke with 6000 land troops on the 7th of May. We shall omit the ill-natured reflections which were given out, as if an opportunity had been lost, during the voyage, of fighting the French fleet. It is certain that the Admiral landed at Hallifax the beginning of July, where he was met by the Earl, at the head of 6000 men, brought with him from New-York. When this formidable armament was preparing to proceed to the place of its destination, a kind of a panic seized the land forces, upon an intelligence that was pretended to have been received, that 17 French ships of the line, besides frigates, with all kind of ammunition and military stores, were arrived in the harbour of Louisbourg. One English officer, Lord Charles Hay, was for proceeding; but he was put under arrest, not without strong suspicion of his being a madman, and afterwards tried for his life, on an accusation of mutiny. He was almost single in his opinion, and the council of war (tho' it does not appear that any enquiry into the report was made) agreed in opinion for laying aside the expedition by land for that season. As to our fleet, they sailed, as was said, to block up Louisbourg harbour, and to provoke that of France to an engagement. The Admiral was disappointed in both. The French, whose force was greatly inferior to his, were too wise to attack him, and on the 25th of Sept. such a storm arose as drove the Admiral from before the harbour, and obliged him to return to England, in a most shattered condition, after losing one ship, and having eleven dismasted.
Disgrace succeeded disappointment, and our proceedings in America during the remainder of this year formed a series of melancholy miscarriages. The French, who had taken Oswego, were masters of the Lakes, and we abandoned to their mercy both the friendship and the protection of the five Indian Nations. So that at last, falling from one blunder into another, our forts were demolished, our communication with the Indians, our allies, was cut off, our frontiers invaded by the French, and their Savages, who destroyed all our fine settlements on the Mohawks river, and the German flats; and at last the siege of Fort William Henry, built on the Southern edge of Lake George, was formed, a place of the utmost importance for covering that frontier.
The reflections arising from so many ruinous disgraceful events were the more mortifying, when it was considered that America had never seen in one body so great a British force as it did that year; a force which was thought sufficient to have driven the French out of that continent. There was a garrison of 2500 men within Fort William Henry, and General Webb lay near it with 4000 more. Mons. Montcalm, the French General, had not in the whole above 8000 men, including the Canadians and Indians. In war incredulity and credulity have often the same fatal effects. Montcalm's intentions, and preparations, tho' sufficiently public, were disbelieved. No care was taken to bring the militia together, which had it been done, would have rendered the English far superior to their enemies. Montcalm was encouraged to proceed in the siege by the small resistance he met with, and on the 9th of August, which was six days after the siege was formed, the place was surrendered; the garrison engaging not to serve against the French for eighteen months; but obtained the favour of marching out with their arms and baggage. The French Savages, paid so little regard to the terms of the capitulation, that they plundered the English soldiers as they marched out, and scalped the Indians and Blacks, that had been in the garrison, and practised a thousand other inhumanities, from which the French Generals pretended to restrain them, but to no purpose. It was however strongly surmised in England that the Savages were privately instructed to act as they did; because, had the French General encouraged the English to stand to their defence, and made dispositions of his own men for supporting them, as the laws of war required him to do, the Savages durst not have ventured to be so outrageous.
After demolishing the fort, and carrying off all they found in it, the French put an end to the campaign, and the world saw with amazement 2000 regular troops, besides a great number of Provincials, and a vast naval force of 20 ships, provided with every thing that could render war glorious and successful, loiter away a whole year, at the expence of twelve millions to their mother country, in doing worse than nothing, against an enemy, whose only strength lay in the avarice of those, whose unprecedented appointments had rendered it their interest to protract the war.
The indignation conceived by the people of England at this inglorious campaign in America roused the national spirit. The new ministry, and the old, concurred equally in cherishing it; and it was resolved to change hands, and to employ other commanders, both by land and sea, in making a new attempt upon Louisbourg.
On the 19th of February Admiral Boscawen sailed with a powerful fleet of ships of war and transports from England to Halifax; from whence he sailed with 157 ships, great and small, and about 14,000 land troops, under the command of General Amherst, and on the 2d of June appeared before Louisbourg. The French in America on this occasion behaved better than their countrymen in France did in the descent upon Cherbourg. They raised batteries all along the coast where a landing was practicable, and the surf was so great that for six days no boat could approach the shore. At last the surf subsiding, dispositions were made for landing in three divisions; the left, where the hottest service was expected, being under the command of General Wolfe. The frigates of the fleet were posted to the right and left, to rake the enemy on their flanks. General Wolf's division moved in boats towards the land, and nothing but the greatest intrepidity of that brave commander and his soldiers could have rendered the landing effectual. The enemy reserved their sirc till the British troops were near the shore, and then gave it with full effect both from their cannon and musquetry; but neither the slaughter of men, the overseting and wrecking of boats, nor the advantageous position of the enemy, could daunt the assailants. Each encouraged his neighbour. They who could not jump waded ashore, and at last the whole fell upon the enemy and drove them from their posts; upon which the other two divisions made good their landing with far less loss than could have been expected.
The surf on the shore returning, rendered it difficult to land the artillery and the implements necessary for the siege; and the French had in the harbour of Louisbourg five men of war that could bring their artillery to bear upon the approaches of the British troops. Perseverance, intrepedity, and judgment, surmounted all those difficulties. General Wolfe on the 12th of June took from the enemy a post, called the light-battery, by which he could annoy the enemy's ships, and the batteries on the other side of the harbour. And on the 25th he silenced what was called the island battery, which bore the hardest upon him. Notwithstanding this, t e enemy continued to make a brave resistance; but on the 21st of July one of the French ships of war blew up, and the explosion being communicated to other two, all the three were destroyed. This loss seemed to damp the garrison, and the Admiral now thought it practicable to destroy the two remaining ships in the harbour. For that purpose a detachment of about 600 seamen were sent in boats, under the command of Captains Laforey and Balfour, who executed their instructions with amazing intrepidity and success. They towed one of the ships out of the harbour, and burnt the other, which ran aground. Upon this a council of war was held within the place, and it was determined to treat about a capitulation. Drucour, the Governor, at first demanded the terms that had been granted to the garrison of Fort St. Philip in Minorca, but the British Admiral and General in a joint letter informed him, that the English were about to enter the harbour, and batter the town, in which case he must stand to all the bloody consequences, if he and his garrison did not immediately surrender themselves prisoners of war; which they accordingly did.
The taking of Louisbourg, though attended with some loss, was a greater proof of the debility of the French Government than of the cowardice or the mismanagement of their troops. It is true the garrison, which surrendered the 26th of July, amounted to 5637 troops, and they were provided with 221 pieces of cannon, 18 mortars, and a considerable quantity of stores and ammunition; so that it ought to have made a better defence than it did. But on the other hand, the fortifications of the place, considering its vast importance to the French, had not been sufficiently attended to; and in any event had the siege continued, famine must have obliged it to surrender. Add to this, that the French court failed in all its promises to Drucour of sending him a force from Canada sufficient to raise the siege. The surrender of Louisbourg brought on that of the island of St. John, and of all the French stations for carrying on their fishery towards Gaspesie and the bay de Chaleurs.
The British nation had, for years before this important event happened, been so accustomed to miscarriages in America, that they could scarcely credit their good fortune when the news of the surrender of Louisbourg arrived. The acquisition of the place was not of greater service than the spirit it raised in the nation; and both we and our confederates were now convinced, that the high ideas we had entertained of the French power had been the chief means of their success. We had seen them insulted in their mother country, and deprived of the strongest, as well as the most convenient place they held in America; for Louisbourg was the place of rendezvous for all their vessels employed in the cod fishery, and all the troops they sent to Canada. The views of the British government now enlarged, and it was judged expedient, if not necessary, to drive the French from Ticonderoga, deemed their most impregnable pass on the continent of America, and Crown-Point, which Ticonderoga covered. General Abercrombie, who had succeeded Lord Lo dohn as Commander in chief of the British forces in America, undertook this expedition. On the 5th of July, he embarked upon Lake George, with almost 16,000 troops, regulars and provincials, and a numerous well provided artillery; and next day he effected his landing without opposition; the advanced guard of the French retiring before them. No man, who has not been in person in America, can have a just idea of the face of the country, which lies between the place of landing and Tigonderoga, and which had, perhaps, never been trod by humane feet, if we except the savage, thinly scattered, natives. The British troops had no direction for their march but the quarters of the heavens; and even these were intercepted by the trees of the woods through which they were obliged to pass. It was therefore no wonder if the officers and soldiers, many of whom, perhaps, were not expert astronomers, lost their way in this more than bewildering march. The French advanced guard did the same, and a rencounter ensued, in which about 300 French were killed, and 148 taken prisoners. But this rencounter, though the English were victorious, cost them dear, for in it was lost the gallant Lord Howe, whose name interrupts the narrative of history to commemorate his virtues. He was the Scipio of his age and country; formed for all that was amiable in society, and great in war; while he issued the order, he set the example; and by his behaviour towards his superiors, he taught his inferiors their duty towards him. But those are qualifications that enter into the character of every complete officer. Lord Howe, to great merit as an officer, joined great genius as a soldier. He had the spirit to adapt himself to the service he was engaged in, discouraging and difficult as it was, by retrenching in his own person every incumberance that could arise from his rank, either as a nobleman or an officer, even to the cutting off his hair. The common soldier saw him fare like himself, nor did he seem to affect the least preeminence but in his forwardness to encounter danger and endure fatigue; so that he appeared to be rather imitated than obeyed by all under his command.
On the 28th of July the British army, which had marched in four columns, appeared before Ticonderoga, which is situated on an isthmus between Lake George and a gut which communicates with Lake Champlain. The French, who had been apprized of the expedition, had omitted nothing to render the pass impregnable. It was accessible only in the front, where a large morass was to be passed, the vacuities of which were supplied by a fortification eight or ten feet high, well furnished with cannon, and lined by above 5000 men. The ground, as usual, was reconnoitred by General Abercrombie's order, and the engineer reported, that he thought the intrenchments were practicable by small artillery. This fatal report produced an order for an attack, without waiting for the great artillery, which was slow in coming up; least the French should be joined by 3000 troops, who were said to be on their march to Ticonderoga. The attack was made with that vigour and intrepidity which is peculiar to the British troops, and they performed every thing but impossibilities. The pass was not only fortified, as has already been described, but shut up with vast trees felled down with their leaves towards the assailants, so as both to conceal and favour the French. The carnage was horrible, and the General being convinced that the attempt was impracticable, ordered a retreat, after losing about 2000 men killed, wounded, or taking prisoners in the action, which lasted about four hours. That this attack was unfortunate cannot be denied; and it was the more so, because the loss fell upon the bravest of our troops, who had not the satisfaction of dearly selling their lives; so inaccessible were their enemies in their entrenchments. There was plainly a defect of judgement, but the public is not yet agreed where the blame ought to lie. According to the General's account he was misinformed by the engineer. Be that as it will, the retreat seems to be the wisest part of the expedition as well as the speediest; for the evening after the action, the British army regained their camp to the Southward of Lake George.
The unfortunate attack upon Ticonderoga did not prevent our operations in America, during the year 1758, from being in the main successful. To make the best of our miscarriage, Colonel Bradstreet was sent with 3000 provincials against Fort Frontenac, the garrison of which was understood to be weak. The great difficulty of this expedition lay in the length of the way which the army had to surmount before they could come at their object. At last, with astonishing perseverance, it arrived at Oswego, embarked on Lake Ontario, and the 25th of August came before Fort Frontenac, which stands near the communication between that Lake and the river St. Lawrence. It could not be expected, that a place garrisoned as that was, only by 150 men, could make any considerable resistance. The Colonel, two days after he came before it, took it without the loss of a man, and destroyed within it a large magazine of provisions that was to have supplied their Southern forts. Nine armed sloops were likewise taken and burnt, and the fort was destroyed, because as matters were then circumstanced, it would have been sacrificing men to have left a garrison within a place, where a communication with our other settlements was extremely difficult, if not impracticable. The execution of an expedition against Fort du Quesne, a post of vast importance for commanding the Ohio, and for breaking the chief link of that chain of forts which the French had erected for effecting a communication between Canada and Louisiana was committed to General Forbes, an officer of experience, bred up under General Campbel, who lost his life at Fontenoy, and present at most of the considerable actions in Europe during the last war. He marched from Pennsylvania with a considerable army, through countries which no Europeans had ever before passed; and infested on every side by the enemy's Indians. Major Grant with a body of Highlanders and Provincials, as being most proper for that service, had the command of the advanced guard, which consisted of about 800 men; but advancing too near the fort, in hopes possibly of surprizing it, he was defeated by the garrison with some loss. The main body of our army coming up, the garrison which consisted of between 4 and 500 men, after damaging their works fell down the Ohio, and left the General at liberty to enter the place; which he repaired, and it now goes by the name of Pitsburgh, so called from the gentleman who was looked upon to be the soul of all our prosperous undertakings.
The successes of the British arms in America this year, though not striking, were solid, because they directly regarded the primary object of the war on our part, which was the security of our back settlements, and consequently of all our interest in North America, which was not only effectually done, but the enemy by the loss of Louisbourg, the American Dunkirk, was deprived of that reservoir which supplied the channels of war thro' all their other settlements. It is possible, that had they not been so infatuated, as to imagine they could retrieve in Germany all that they had lost in America, the British court in the beginning of the year 1759 might have listened to terms of accommodation. But nothing could convince the French, that by multiplying the dangers of Hanover and the King of Prussia, they could not force our court to a peace on their other terms; and this brings me back to the affairs on the continent of Europe.
On the 1st of June, Prince Ferdinand, who could not prevent the French from passing the Rhine, pursued them across that river, which he passed at Herven and Rees, in sight of all their army, which was so much astonished at the boldness of the passage, that they retired towards Meurs, while it was plain by the motions of the Prince that he designed to pass the Maese, and thereby oblige the Prince de Soubise to abandon an enterprize he was meditating against Hesse Cassel. To prevent his executing this scheme, the French at last made a stand at Crevelt, with their right towards the village of Vischelon, and their left towards Anrath; Crevelt lying in the front of their right. In short, their situation was strong, their dispositions judicious, and it required great exertion of military genius to attack them with any appearance of success. A wood covered their left wing at Anrath, and the Prince after accurately reconnoitring all their visible posts, and informing himself of the nature of the ground, judged an attack on the flank of their right wing was the most practicable, but that it must be favoured by two other attacks, which, though real, were in a great measure to be continued or discontinued according to the success of the main one, and which was to be commanded by himself. He accordingly advanced at the head of the grenadiers against the enemies lest wing, which suffered from the superior fire of the Hanoverian artillery; but the French, favoured by the wood, still maintained their posts, which made it necessary to disoodge them by a closer engagement. This was begun by the gallant Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, at the head of the first line of foot, with which he formed a front against the wood, and the fire of the musquetry here continued incessantly for two hours and an half. The Hanoverian infantry at last penetrated into the wood, where they found two ditches lined with troops, which were successively forced. This intrepidity threw the French into a disorder which was a prelude to the defeat of that wing; but a defeat which in its consequences was no way correspondent to the courage and conduct of the conquerors. The French cavalry were not to be broken by the utmost efforts of the Hanoverian horse, and notwithstanding a most dreadful fire, maintained themselves in good order upon the plain, and covered the remains of their infantry of the left wing as they were driven out of the wood. The two other attacks went no further than cannonading, but though the enemy suffered by it, their wing and center retired in good order to Nuis. We are apt to believe that the loss on both sides was carefully concealed. That of the French in killed, wounded and prisoners, was about 7000, according to the best accounts, and the loss of the Hanoverians exceeded 3000; but it is difficult to ascertain the loss of an army that is victorious and keeps the field of battle. In this engagement was killed the Count de Gisors, the only son of the Marshal Duke de Belleisle, a young nobleman who at the time of his death was not above 25 years of age, but so amiable in his manners, and so accomplished in his person, that in him seem to have expired the lingering remains of French urbanity and virtue. Books, travelling, conversation and study, had given him every kind of knowledge but that of war, which he resolved to acquire by experience; but he fell at the head of his regiment in his first essay.
Though all concurred in doing justice to the military merits of Prince Ferdinand, and the courage of his troops, yet some wished they had been employed on an occasion in which success might have been attended by decision. The French, notwithstanding, their repulse at Crevelt, were in the neighbourhood of their own country, from whence they drew such resources that not only made them stronger than ever in the field, but enabled them to reinforce the Prince de Soubise. Prince Ferdinand, conscious of his inferiority, sought to avail himself of his victory. He passed the Rhine, and on the 28th of June he appeared before the important city of Dusseldorp, situated on that river, belonging to the elector Palatine, and the capital of the Dutchy of Berg. It was garrisoned by 2000 French; but after a brisk bombardment it surrendered to the Prince on the 7th of July, and the garrison was suffered to depart with the honours of war. By the taking of Dusseldorp, Prince Ferdinand was enabled to secure his retreat over the Rhine, which it was too apparent he must soon be forced to make. After leaving three battalions of Hanoverians to garrison Dusseldorp, he spent several days in facing the French army, and watching his advantages. But both parties had their reasons for declining a second engagement. Prince Ferdinand flattered himself that the Hessian General, the Prince of Ysenburg, would cut out work for the Prince de Soubise, till he could carry the war into the enemies country by passing the Maese, the effects of which probably must have been, that the Prince would have fallen back upon the main body of the French army, which was now commanded by the Marshal de Contades. The hopes of his Serene Highness soon vanished; for on the 23d of July, the Duke de Broglio defeated the Hessian army of 7000 men near Sangershausen; by which they came to the command of the river, and masters of all that part of Westphalia.
By this time the English ministry were convinced of the necessity they were under to support the German war with British troops as well as British money. The King of Prussia could spare no troops to Prince Ferdinand; none were to be expected from the few Princes of the empire, who had the courage to appear openly for the Protestant interest; his Danish Majesty's declared intention was to remain neutral; Hanover and Hesse could bring no more to the field than they had done; the Dutch had absolutely refused to join us; and to receive assistance from the Swiss, or any other power, was impracticable; and at the same time it was thought that 12 or 14,000 men, especially British troops, would turn the scale of war in our favour. Our ministers had in their eye another consideration, which was that of diverting the French from interrupting the vast designs they now meditated in America and the East Indies. All those considerations, joined to the dispositions of the public in their favour, encouraged them to agree to send a body of about 10,000 English troops, under the Duke of Marlborough, to Hanover, and they had landed at Embden about the time the unfortunate battle was fought at Sangershausen. The reader, however, must observe, that by this time the new establishment of the militia went on with so much success, that so considerable an evacuation of regular troops was neither felt nor dreaded by the public. But Prince Ferdinand and our friends in Germany were apprehensive that the French, after their late advantage in Hesse, might intercept the army under his Grace before they joined the Allies. Prince Ferdinand would gladly, in so disagreeable a situation, have fought the French, but they had taken their measures so well that he could not bring them to a battle. He would have repassed the Rhine, but the roads he was to march through had been rendered almost impracticable by the rains that had fallen, and the overflowings of the rivers, nor, till these were abated, could he pass the bridge at Rees, which was covered by Baron Imhoff with about 3000 foot and four squadrons of cavalry, in order to secure the junction of the British troops with those of their Allies.
Mons. de Chevert, the most active of all the French officers, had been detached from the French army, which was now under no apprehensions; but the rains and other accidents prevented the execution of Baron Imhoff's designs as was before mentioned: he therefore strengthened himself with draughts from garrisons, which encreased his army to about 12,000 men, with a design to attack Imhoff. But while the French General thought himself secure of his blow, a resolution, not perhaps wholly uninfluenced by despair (for he could obtain no succours from Prince Ferdinand, because the swell of the waters still continued) prompted Imhoff to become the aggressor. He then lay near Meer, to the right of the Rhine, and on the 5th of August his detachment, with their bayonets fixed, attacked all the army under Chevert, while they were in difficult grounds and in a critical situation. An attack so spirited and unexpected, struck the French with a panic, from which all the efforts of their General could not recover them. Their resistance did not continue half an hour; for they took refuge under the cannon of Wesel, leaving many dead upon the field, with a great number of prisoners, and 11 pieces of cannon, in the hands of the Hanoverians. After this victory, which did Imhoff great honour, he secured his magazines at Meer, and after receiving a few reinforcements, which passed the Rhine in boats from Prince Ferdinand's army, he marched to meet the Duke of Marlborough, whom he joined without farther trouble.
Prince Ferdinand was now to repass the Rhine, which he did under great difficulties. The Hereditary Prince forced a strong post possessed by the French at Wachtendonck, being the first who plunged into the river to attack it, and was followed by his grenadiers, who dislodged the enemy with fixed bayonets. This bold action encreased the terror of the French; and tho' the bridge at Rees continued still impassable, he effected his passage on the 9th and 10th of August at Griethuyster, a little below that bridge.
Upon the whole, however, the campaign in those parts this year was rather bloody than advantageous to either party. Prince Ferdinand had not been able to improve his victory at Crevelt, nor the French theirs at Sangershausen, the Prince of Ysenburg, after his defeat, having retreated to a strong encampment. Reputation was all, in reality, that either side had lost or won, and in that respect, the advantage lay clearly on the side of Prince Ferdinand and his troops.
The Russians had now penetrated into the New Marche of Brandenburgh, where they besieged Custrin, and a few days would have led them to the defenceless gates of Berlin. The Swedes had gained ground upon the Prussian Generals, Wedel and Manteufel, in Pomerania, and the army of the Empire with a body of Austrians under General Haddick, were not only possessed of many strong posts on the frontiers of Misnia; but began to pinch the quarters of Prince Henry of Prussia, who lay with about 20,000 men at Diepoldswald. While matters were in this situation, his Prussian Majesty had no choice left, but to clear his own dominions, if possible, of the Russians; while Marshal Daun, neglecting all other objects, was intent upon recovering Saxony from the Prussians. But through his natural caution he several times altered the plan of his operations, sometimes pointing them towards pursuing the King of Prussia into Silesia, sometimes against Berlin; but at last leaving the Generals Harg and de Ville on the southern frontiers of Silesia, to amuse the Prussians he began his march by Zittau, Gorlitz, and Bautzen, towards Dresden. By crossing at Meissen he might have cut off all communication between Dresden and Deipsic, and by attacking Prince Henry, who was now encamped at Seidlitz, he might have put him between two fires, that of his own army, and that of the army of the Empire. But the vigilance of the Prince, who secured a communication with his brother, and took care to keep Dresden at his back, frustrated for that time all the schemes of that cautious General.
Mean while, his Prussian Majesty, notwithstanding all the interruption given him by the Generals Jahnus and Laudohn, marched by Wisoca, Politz and Landshut, and on the 20th of August he reached Franckfort on the Oder, where he joined Count Dohna, who lay there with some troops, but too inconsiderable to act against the Russians, who ever since the 15th had been throwing bombs and red-hot shells into Custrin; by which the place was set on fire, and the inhabitants reduced to the most deplorable state that imagination can form, and to complete their misfortune, their principal magazine had blown up. On the 23d his Prussian Majesty passed the Oder about 20 miles to the north-east of Custrin.
As the greatest Generals have never been known to be without their failings, that of his Prussian Majesty is, perhaps, a too great disregard for his enemies. He considered the Russians as being Barbarians, without reflecting that they were Barbarians who never knew how to yield, and that they were commanded by officers of experience, who knew how to turn that barbarism, which he affected to despise, into steady courage and military discipline, so as to baffle all the efforts of more active valour. On hearing of his having crossed the Oder, they took post between the villages of Zwickau and Zorndorff. His Majesty at first attempted to put in practice one of those military motions in which he had been often successful, by turning the left flank of the enemy and attacking them in the rear; but the Russians foreseeing his design, had thrown themselves into a kind of hollow square, which presented him every way with a front fortified by artillery and chevaux de frize. It was therefore necessary for the King to attack them with his artillery. The cannonading began at nine in the morning by a most dreadful discharge of great and small artillery, in which the Prussians were greatly superior, and which did amazing execution upon their enemies, who stood as if they had been invulnerable, and supplied every vacuity in their ranks with unparallelled readiness and alacrity. This behaviour was new to the Prussians, who, seeing their enemy, in a manner, court death, made a pause, which the first line of the Russians, having exhausted their shot, improved into a panic, by breaking in upon them with their swords and bayonets, and which forced the hitherto impenetrable body of the Prussian infantry to recoil. This change in the fortune of the day, effected by their broken and defeated battalions, was so unexpected by the Russian Generals, that they had made no dispositions for supporting their infantry by their cavalry; but his Prussian Majesty, whose presence of mind never fails him, brought the whole of his cavalry under General Seidlitz to his center, and they made head against the fatigued Russians, while the Prussian infantry recovering from their disorder, and stung with what had happened under the eye of their sovereign, formed behind them, and made so dreadful a charge upon the unsupported Russian battalions, that they recovered the field. When the Russians are beat, instead of flying they grow stupid, unless they are commanded by Generals in whom they have a great confidence; but at this time they were under no command, and unable to advance further, they remained where they were, plundering their own baggage, and drinking brandy wherever they could find it. To encrease the confusion, the wind blew the dus
and smoke directly into their faces, while thei
cool enemies, by their King's directions, improved every advantage. The Russians, now unable to distinguish friends from foes, attacked each other, and being at last wedged very close their first and second lines must have been totally destroyed, had not their Generals with their unbroken cavalry, fallen upon the right wing of the Prussians, now fatigued with conquest and carnage, and favoured the broken Russians so far as to give them an opportunity of forming anew, and marching to an advantageous ground. The loss of the Russians in this battle amounted to above 21,000 men, in killed, wounded and prisoners, amongst whom were 939 officers. Ten thousand were killed upon the spot, and the wounds of above 6000 more proved mortal. That of the Prussians did not exceed 2000 in the whole, and the Russian military chest, and a noble train of artillery, fell into their hands.
The Russian Generals having collected the broken remains of their army, gave orders for a retreat, and they marched to Landsperg on the frontiers of Poland, while their General in chief, Fermor, requested the King of Prussia for leave to bury the dead.
The glorious victory as was before mentioned, gave no relief to the King of Prussia; laurels and thorns grew on every side of him. He made dispositions for improving his victory, but danger called his attention towards Saxony, where Marshal Daun, whom nature did not seem to sit for offensive measures in the field, unless he was either compelled to them by necessity, or invited by a certainty of success, was encamped at Stolpen to the Eastward of the Elbe; a situation in which he found more safety than glory, tho' it covered the operations of the Austrian arms under the Generals Harrach, de Ville, and Laudohn. The resolutions of the Imperial court in all matters of war are taken with the utmost secrecy, and every minister and auli
Counsellor there, is either a General or a judge of Generals; so that it was next to impossible to pronounce whether Daun's not proceeding to offensive operations, in the absence of his Prussian Majesty, against Prince Henry in Saxony, over whom he had so great a superiority, did not proceed from the selfishness of the court of Vienna. They had promised the King of Poland and all their allies, that the recovery of Saxony should be the chief, if not the only object of the campaign; but it is presumable that they would have been much better pleased to have recovered Silesia. While Count Daun over-awed Prince Henry, and his Prussian Majesty was employing his army against the Russians, Laudohn lay upon the borders of Brandenburgh with the apparent intention of drawing the Prussian troops to the Northern, while Harrach, and de Ville acted in the Southern parts of that Province. The strong fortress of Sonnestein in the neighbourhood of Dresden, which had long overawed Daun, surrendered in a very unaccountable manner after a few hours faint resistance, with a garrison of 1400 men, to the Austrian General Maguire, on the 5th of September. After this Daun proposed to execute the plan he had formed in the beginning of the campaign, that of passing the Elbe and putting Prince Henry between his fire and that of the army of the Empire, and thereby cutting of the communication between the Prince and Dresden; but his Prussian Majesty was by this time, September 11, on the borders of Saxony. The terror of his approach obliged Laudohn to forego his advantages in the Lower Lusatia, and to fall back upon Daun, who was so far from executing his grand plan that he retired to Zittau, so as to have Bohemia at his back, while the army of the Empire remained inactive in the strong post of Pirna which they had seized.
All those glorious successes of his Prussian Majesty, who in one campaign had performed actions that in other ages would have acquired Empires, gave him rather respite than security. The Swedes on hearing of his victory at Zorndorff had retired in disorder, but still kept their arms in their hands without evacuating his dominions. The Russians had still a strong footing in the most populous parts of his territories, and he had no superiority in Saxony but that of generalship and reputation. As no remarkable action happened between him and his enemies till the 14th of October, we are in the interval to attend the operations of the French and the allies on the side of Westphalia.
Prince Ferdinand had made an admirable disposition of his army along the Lippe, and the Prince of Ysenburg, with the few forces he had under him, maintained his posts upon the Weser; so that the French had hitherto made very little progress either against Hesse or Hanover. The French therefore came to a resolution of strengthening the Prince de Soubise's army, so as to enable him to dislodge the Prince of Ysenburg from the Weser, and to open a passage into the Landgraviate. Prince Ferdinand, aware of their intention, sent the Prince a detachment under General Oberg; but after it had joined him, all the force of the allies in the Landgraviate did not exceed 15,000 men. They were attacked on the 30th of September at Lanwerenhagen by the Prince of Soubise, at the head of about 30,000, defeated, and forced to take shelter in some strong grounds covered with woods in the neighbourhood, with the loss of about 1500 men. Prince Ferdinand flow to their relief so critically, that the Prince was enabled to join him at Rheda. The defeat however enabled the French to push their parties of light horse to the very gates of Hanover.
The insincerity of the court of Vienna, appeared now more glaringly. Daun instead of pushing the advantage he had obtained at Hohkirch, by attempting the relief of Saxony, thro' his inactivity and the few motions he made, plainly evinced that all he intended was to cover the operations of the Austrian Generals in Silesia, where they had already besieged Neiss a city 20 miles South by West of Breslau, and lying near the confines of the Austrian Silesia. The point was embarrassing to his Prussian Majesty, whether he should hazard a battle, leave Saxony exposed, or march to Silesia. He soon determined his operations. Having received large reinforcements from his brother's army, he left his camp at Dobreschtz the night of the 24th of October, and without opposition from the enemy reached the plain of Gorlitz; where he defeated a party of Austrians who wanted to fortify themselves there. This march eased him of all apprehensions from Daun's army, and, in fact, blasted the laurels he had acquired at Hohkirch. Daun, as if ashamed to be outwitted, sent Laudohn to harrass his Prussian Majesty with 24,000 men, and strong reinforcements to the Generals Harsch and de Ville, who had not only besieged Neiss, but blockaded Cosel. His Prussian Majesty, notwithstanding all those impediments, continued his march; and Daun seeing that he could not prevent the relief of Silesia, on the 6th of November passed the Elbe at Pirna, and advanced towards Dresden, from which the Prussian army, weakened by the detachments the King had drawn from it, had been obliged to retire to the Westward; but before Daun could cut off their communication with that city, as the army of the Empire had cut it off from Leipsic, they threw themselves into Dresden all at once. Notwithstanding, the advanced season, three great sieges were undertaken in Saxony; that of Dresden by Daun; that of Leipsic by the imperial army; and that of Torgau by detachments from both.
By this time his Prussian Majesty's approach towards Neiss, the garrison of which had defended themselves with incomparable bravery ever since the 4th of August, on the 1st of November, both raised that siege and the blockade of Cosel, and obliged the Austrians there to fall back upon Bohemia and the Austrian Silesia. Upon this, his Prussian Majesty again set out for Saxony, where Daun had besieged Dresden with 60,000 men. General Wedel, who had rid himself of the Swedes in Pomerania, defended Torgau, and drove the Austrians from it as far as Eulenburg. Count Schmettau commanded with an army of 12,000 men in Dresden. The Electors of Saxony had long been the patrons of ingenious arts and manufactures. Their subjects had rivalled the ancients in many curious works of the chisel, the furnace, the laboratory, the needle, the loom, and the pencil, and they had greatly exceeded the Easterns, even the Chinese themselves, in their boasted productions of Porcelane. The soil of the country, and the genius of the inhabitants, were wonderfully well adapted to the improvement of every manual art, and a long track of internal tranquility, while the flames of war raged all round, had rendered Saxony the paradise of Germany. Even the expence of its court, the most luxurious of any in Europe, had contributed to enrich the inhabitants, who gave specimens of their wealth in the magnificence of their buildings. The suburbs of Dresden, where the most considerable nobility, merchants and manufacturers reside, formed of themselves a most superb city; but unfortunately the builders of the houses had not reflected, that it was possible some time or other Dresden might be besieged; for the platforms of the suburbs looked down on the battlements of the city.
Schmettau knew what advantage this circumstance presented to Daun, and that the suburbs were untenable. He gave Daun his option, either to see them in flames, or desist from his operations. Daun threatened him with the consequences of so barbarous a proceeding, and so contrary to the rules of war. Schmettau justify'd himself by necessity, which supercedes all other considerations, and by the duty he owed to his master, to whom alone he was accountable. Daun threatened to make him personally answerable to himself; upon which Schmettau replied, that he not only would burn the suburbs, but if the city was attacked, that he would defend it street by street, and at last take refuge in the castle, where the Royal Family resided, and defend that likewise. This answer being made public, brought the magistrates and the chief inhabitants upon their knees before Daun, and the Royal Family implored him with all the moving eloquence of distress to change his resolution, which, if executed, would leave them destitute of a habitation. Schmettau's answer was, that Daun, and not he, could grant their request; and instantly ordered the houses of the suburbs to be filled with combustible materials, and at three in the morning, November 10, they were fired, and the houses in which they had been deposited were reduced to ashes.
Though the fact of this conflagration is literally as we have related it, yet it admits of many alleviations. Schmettau did no more than barely what he was compelled to by necessity. He even communicated to the magistrates and inhabitants the time and manner in which he was to proceed, assisted them in removing their goods, consulted with them upon the most favourable way of executing his disagreeable orders, which was done so gently, that not above two hundred and fifty houses were consumed; all which appeared afterwards from authentic evidences, judicially given by the magistrates of Dresden, and the parties themselves who were the chief sufferers, and which were published by his Prussian Majesty's command, to confute the exaggerated representations of the court of Vienna and its allies on that occasion.
In the mean while Marshal Daun had returned to his almost impregnable camp at Stolpen, while the King of Prussia took post at Bautzen; a situation by which he was enabled to act as he pleased on the side either of Misnia or Lusatia, his right wing extending to Holkirch. By this position of the two armies, it appeared that the Marshal intended to cut off the King's communication with Silesia, and the King to cut off that of the Marshal with Bohemia. The situation of his Majesty, however, was, upon the whole, the most advantageous of the two. It will, perhaps, be ever a secret by what means Marshal Daun came to have intelligence that the Prussians were more carelessly encamped and more remiss in their quarters than usual. He had before concerted measures with the Prince of Deux Ponts, who commanded the army of the Empire, for a general battle, and in the dead of night, on the 14th of October, he ordered his army to decamp in three columns, and to march by different ways with the utmost silence, so as all the three divisions should meet together near the Prussian camp at five in the morning. His orders were obeyed with astonishing secrecy and precision. The divisions in falling in with one another formed a regular line of battle, and almost instantaneously attacked the Prussian camp towards Holkirch, where it was weakest. When one reflects upon the bravery and discipline of Daun's army, and the advantages under which this attack was made, he is apt to be astonished that a single battalion of the Prussians should escape. Not a shot was fired by any of the Prussian out-guards, and their enemies were in the midst of their encampment, while they imagined them to be lying at Stolpen. It is said that Field Marshal Keith had the day before pointed out some weaknesses in their encampment, which might be the reason why he was the first Prussian General officer who got upon horseback and gave the alarm to his quarter. It is thought to be by his vigilance the army was saved; for the small party under him gained time for their fellow soldiers to put themselves under arms. The Marshal, however, was killed upon the spot by two musket balls, and the head of Prince Francis of Brunswick was carried off by a cannon ball as he was mounting his horse. The death of those two great officers, next in command as in merit to the King himself, seemed to portend the entire loss of the army; but his Majesty had by this time assembled some troops, and in person gave play to the Austrians till others were formed. He perhaps never had so difficult a part to act; for he did not now fight for victory, far less for glory, but for safety. He flew from post to post with that inconceivable rapidity and presence of mind that so strongly marks his character. As his right wing was in the greatest danger he reinforced it from some battalions from his left, and endeavoured to recover the important post of Holkirch, from which his troops had been beaten in the beginning of the attack. This reinforcement enabled him after four bloody charges to retake the post, but the Austrians, who were well acquainted with its importance, recovered it with a prodigious slaughter of their enemies, who in the mean time were on the point of overpowering General Retzow, who commanded the right of the Prussians. At last his Majesty, after maintaining the fight for five hours, and losing in killed, wounded, and prisoners above 7000 of his best men, ordered a retreat behind his artillery, which was placed in the middle of the camp, and which with the help of his cavalry put a stop to all pursuit from the Austrians, whose killed and wounded amounted to above 5000. All the further consequences of this bloody action were, that his Prussian Majesty still kept possession of Brautzen, but extended his right wing towards Weissenburg. The bare relation of this affair excites in the mind of the reader more exalted ideas of his Prussian Majesty's abilities in war that can arise from the most splendid of his victories.
The Russians had been so severely handled at Zorndorff, that they remained in their camp near Landsperg without making any motion till the 21st of September, when they began their march towards Pomerania, and there laid siege to the town of Colberg. This place, though inconsiderable in itself, was of infinite importance to the Russians, by its being a sea-port, from whence they might receive provisions and reinforcements, without being exposed to the danger of starving Brandenburgh, or to marches insupportably long and laborious. Hitherto his Britannic Majesty had ordered his Minister at the court of Petersburgh to omit nothing that her Russian Imperial Majesty could reasonably expect or desire, to buy off her inveterate enmity towards Prussia, and he was not without hopes of success. But the siege of Colberg proved to all Europe, not only that she was immovable in her purpose; but that the Empress Queen was determined to sacrifice the safety of Germany, and even of her own dominions to her resentment, since nothing had at all times been deemed more impolitic in the Germanic system, than to suffer the Russians to get footing by sea in the Empire. It was now more than suspected that her Russian Majesty had far greater views than that of assisting her sister Empress, and that she intended
to take and hold.
Colberg, though poorly garrisoned, and still more weakly fortified, held out under Major Heydon, its Governor, for 26 days, against an army of 15,000 besiegers, who were at last shamefully obliged to quit their enterprize; but they revenged their disgrace by perpetrating, wherever they went, the most unheard of inhumanities upon the defenceless inhabitants; for the several stages of their marches were traceable by fire smoke and ruin.
It was in vain for Daun while the flames were raging, as was before mentioned, to renew, as he did, his threats against Schmettau. Perhaps they proceeded not so much from concern for the sufferers, as from his conviction that he would now find it extremely difficult, if not impracticable, to take the city. He accordingly, upon the approach of his Prussian Majesty, decamped from before Dresden on the 17th of Nov. and the King on the 20th after joining his troops under Count Dohna and General Wedel, made a kind of triumphal entry into Dresden. When we reflect upon the vast provocations his Prussian Majesty had received, the dangers and labours he had undergone, the blood and treasure he had expended, and the incessant bodily toils he was every day exposed to, but above all the exhausted state of his finances, we need not be surprized that he now forgot his usual moderation. He declared that he would no longer consider Saxony as a deposite, but as a conquered country, and he inflicted some unbecoming severities to oblige the Magistrates and chief inhabitants to draw upon their foreign correspondents for large sums for his use. The exacting those imposts, however, were not unjustifiable, if he considered Saxony as a conquered country. The question is, whether it strictly was so; he certainly once had received it as a deposite, and it did not appear, that either the King of Poland, or the inhabitants, had done any thing against him to change the tenure of his possession; so as to constitute that kind of opposition which justifies conquest. Those points, however, cannot be here discussed. It would be iniquitous to close our Martial Review for this year without doing justice to the glorious actions performed by separate commanders at sea, the relation of which is, properly speaking, unconnected with the plan of our narrative.
On the 28th of February the squadron under Admiral Osborne, between Cape De Gatt and Carthagena, fell in with M. du Quesne in the Foudroyant of 80, the Orphcus of 64, the Oriflame of 50, and Pleiade of 24 guns, as they were sailing from Toulon, in order to reinforce the French squadron under M. de Clue at Carthagena. They dispersed and took different courses on seeing the English squadron. About seven in the evening, Capt. Storr, in the Revenge of 64, supported by Capt. Hughes in the Berwick of 64, and Capt. Evans in the Preston of 50 guns, took the Orpheus, commanded by M. de Herville with 502 men. Capt. Gardiner in the Monmouth of 64, supported by Capt. Stanhope in the Swiftsure of 70, and Capt. Hervey in the Hampton-court of 64 guns, about one in the morning, took the Foudroyant, on board of which was the Marquis du Quesne, Chief d'Escadre, with 800 men. Capt. Rowley in the Montague of 60, and Capt. Montague in the Monarch of 74, ran the Oriflame ashore under the castle of Aiglos, where she was saved only by the respect which the English had for the neutrality of the Portuguese. One circumstance in the engagement does immortal honour to the brave Capt. Gardiner, who lost his life in it. It had been a vulgar notion that the superior weight of metal which the French ships carry, rendered them an overmatch for the British, even for those of an equal number of guns. It was the apprehension of this that made Admiral Byng decline fighting Galissoniere in the Foudroyant, while Gardiner, who was then his Captain, publickly declared that he should not be afraid to fight the Foudroyout in an English 70 or 64 gun ship, and on this occasion he was as good as his word, tho' it appeared upon an admeasurement, that the Foudroyant, not to mention her vast superiority in weight of metal and number of guns, was as broad as an English first rate, and 12 foot longer. After Captain Gardiner was killed in the beginning of the action, his first Lieutenant, Carket, took the command, and behaved so bravely, that after killing 200 of the Foudroyant's men, with the loss of 150 of his own, he forced the French ship to strike. Before this could be done, Capt. Stanhope in the Swiftsure came up, but though a superior ship to the Monmouth, M. du Quesne would acknowledge no other conqueror but Carket, to whom he politely resigned his sword.
This year likewise brought an account of a gallant action performed towards the latter end of the last by Captain Forrest in the West-Indies, who with his Majesty's ships Edinburgh, Dreadnought, Augusta, and a sloop, had blocked up the harbour of Cape Francois for some weeks; but on the 21st of October they were attacked by all the French fleet there, consisting of seven sail of large ships, a schooner and a pilot boat, well manned with soldiers on board, and their full compliment of guns. The engagement was very hot for two hours and a half, and the French having lost about 300 men, and as many wounded, were beat back to their harbour; but the English had suffered so much in their rigging and hulls, that they were disabled from pursuing them.
On the 29th of May, the Dorset, Captain Dennis, of 64 guns and 520 men, gave chace to the Raisonable, a French 70 gun ship, with 630 men on board, commanded by the Prince de Mombazon, who, after having 61 men killed and 100 wounded, struck to Captain Dennis, whose loss was 15 men killed and 21 wounded. The Raisonable was a new ship, and one of the finest in France. It may be proper here to observe, that the taking of the Foudroyant and Raisonable by ships of inferior strength has ever since silenced the ridiculous boasts of the French, who pretended that they were always an overmatch for us when we were not superior in ships, guns, and weight of metal.
In August this year; the electoral finances of Hanover were so much exhausted by the long continuance of the war, that his Britannic Majesty was obliged to have recourse to a subscription for 200,000l. which was raised by way of loan in London in a few days, or rather hours. We mention this incident the rather because it serves to remove a prepossession as if his late Majesty had been in possession of a vast personal estate, which he certainly was not, as he paid the full legal interest for the above loan. On the 16th of September the public was entertained with a magnificent display of the cannon and mortars taken at Cherbourg, which passed in a grand procession from Hyde-Park, through the city, to the Tower. We are likewise not to forget the trial and condemnation of one Hensey an Irishman, who pretended to be a Doctor of Physic, for treasonably corresponding with the enemies of Great-Britain, whom he endeavoured to apprize, as far as his shallow information could reach, of the destination of our fleets and armies. The government, however, found him so insignificant in his profession of a spy, that he was pardoned.
At the opening of the year 1759, the Kingdom of Prussia was in the hands of the Russians, and the Dutchy of Cleves in those of the Austrians, but held by the French. His Prussian Majesty was in possession of Saxony, and received from Great-Britain a subsidy of 750,000l. Notwithstanding this, his situation was far from being desireable. Though he could raise money, he could not re-animate men, and the fine armies with which he had done such wonders, were now no more; nor was he longer assisted by the counsels of those able Generals, whom fatigue, diseases, and the fate of war, had carried off. It was but a small comfort to him that his enemies, the French particularly, were as much distressed as he was, and the general bankruptcy, which was then said to prevail in France, was found to be little more than a fiction, invented by that court, to prevail with its subjects to replenish the royal coffers. The great, and indeed the only, support of his Prussian Majesty was the wealth, the power, the spirit, and prosperity of Great-Britain, but even that could not penetrate into the internal parts of Germany, where Prince Ferdinand had failed in an attempt to dislodge the Duke de Broglio near Bergen. In the mean while, Prince Henry of Prussia commanded in Saxony, and his army entered Bohemia in two columns with great success. General Hulsen, who commanded one of the columns, defeated a large body of Austrians at Pasberg, and made about 2000 prisoners, with the loss of only 70 men, while the other column penetrated as far as Loboschutz and Leimeritz, and both returned to Saxony with hostages for the contributions they had exacted. After this the Prince entered Franconia by the way of Hoff, and defeated a body of Austrians and Imperialists under General Maguire. The consequence was that the Bishoprics of Bamberg and Wurtzburg were laid under contribution, and the Prussians, in taking possession of Bamberg, were guilty of some unjustifiable irregularities. During Prince Henry's absence in Franconia, a body of Austrians penetrated into Saxony, and the Russians advanced towards Silesia, while the French, who had been greatly elated by defeating Prince Ferdinand at Bergen, made a most alarming process in Hesse, and in the Bishopric of Paderborn.
In the mean while, a squadron of nine ships of the line, with 60 transports, containing six regiments of foot, were sent by the British Ministry to attack Martinico. The land forces were commanded by General Hopson, an officer whose age and infirmities, as well as natural caution, disqualified him for such a service, and the sea force was under the command of Commodore Moore. A landing was effected upon the island, but through some fatality, the cause of which has never yet been cleared up, the attempt proved ineffectual after repeated efforts. The troops, however, had the spirit to desire to be led against the island of Guadaloupe, an object of as much importance as Martinico, though of less renown. It happened that General Hopson, who was a very worthy man and good officer, died on the 27th of February, 1759, and his command devolved upon General Barrington, who, after surmounting difficulties almost incredible, on the first of May subjected the whole island and its dependencies to the British crown. Scarcely was the capitulation which effected this subjection signed, when M. Bompart, General of the French Caribbees, landed at St. Ann's, a port belonging to Guadaloupe, with 600 regular troops, 2000 buccaniers, and a vast quantity of arms and ammunition. But this body hearing of the capitulation being signed, immediately disappeared, though had they landed but a few hours before, the subjection of the island by the British arms must, at least, have been doubtful. On the 25th of May, the island of Marigalante surrendered upon much the same terms as had been granted to that of Guadaloupe.
It is more than probable that the great attentention which the French court gave to the affairs of Germany, contributed not inconsiderably to the British successes in America and the West-Indies. This attention was so great, that after Prince Ferdinand's defeat at Bergen, they took Ritberg and Minden, with several other places of consequence; and at last d'Armentieres, one of their Generals, besieged and made himself master of Wesel, where the garrison of 4000 men were made prisoners of war. The Marshal Contades, a young officer, of some spirit but no great note, then commanded the French in Germany. He was a favourite of the Duke de Belleisle, who directed all his operations, and who in July 1759, thought that the conquest of Hanover by the French, was an event not to be doubted of; and the most sensible people in England were not of a very different opinion. The archives and most of the valuable effects of that Electorate were sent to Stade, to be conveyed with the first opportunity to England, and the disposition of the French army near Minden was such as encouraged them to boast and believe, that the allied army under Prince Ferdinand would lay down its arms without a stroke. They were then encamped at Petershagen about nine miles from the French.
They who are conversant in history know, what a great share fortune has in the most decisive military operations, and how very apt mankind is to attribute fortunate events to sagacious foresight and wise dispositions. Without derogating from those of Prince Ferdinand, we must be of opinion, that his glorious success at the battle of Minden was, in the main, owing to causes he could not reasonably foresee.
On the 28th of July he detached the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick with 6000 men, with orders to take a compass towards the enemy's left flank, and to cut off their communication with Paderborn. Next day, Prince Ferdinand left his camp on the Weser, but left a strong body of his troops under General Waggenheim intrenched on the borders of that river, and supported with artillery. Thus the allied army i
fact was divided into three bodies, and the defea
of any of them probably must decide the fate o
the other two. The French thought nothing was more easy than to defeat the body unde
Wangenheim, by which Prince Ferdinand must be cut off from all communication with the Weser, and be thereby compelled to surrender at discretion. This was deemed to be the more practicable, as Prince Ferdinand, with the division under his command, was then supposed to be at Halen, by which position the French were in hopes of being able to cut off his communication with Wangenheim's corps, which was to be first attacked by the Duke de Broglio. Early on the 1st of August the French left their advantageous post near Minden, and advanced with the utmost assurance of having a cheap conquest of the division under Wangenheim: but Broglio gaining some heights, was amazed at seeing the whole allied army drawn up in good order, so as to form in fact but one body. He advanced so far that he could not retreat without fighting, and the disposition of their army was such as indicated that they did not expect to fight at all, their center being composed of their cavalry. The English infantry had at once the post of danger and glory. They were attacked by the French cavalry, which were deemed to be irresistable, and were supported by their infantry on the flanks; but nothing could withstand the address, courage, and intrepidity of the British infantry, supported by a very few Hanoverians. Their boasted cavalry gave way before the regiments of Walgrave and Kingsley, nor was there a musquet in the British army that was not choaked with the blood of their enemies; so irresistably did they handle their bayonets. As soon as the French began to fly before the British fury, Prince Ferdinand, who certainly had no just reason to expect a victory, ordered the British cavalry to advance and complete the rout. The order was not precise, and, upon the face of the evidence given on the trial of the noble Lord who commanded them, could not be complied with without explanation, and while that was obtaining the French found means to retreat to Minden, but without being so totally defeated, as they must have been had the British cavalry acted. In the mean while, the detachment under the Hereditary Prince of Brunswic, defeated a division of the French army under the Duke de Broglio, and forced it to take refuge in Minden, by which the French lost all their advantageous posts on the Weser, and were obliged to resign all the promising glories of the campaign. Their loss on this occasion amounted to about 7000 men, and that of the allies to about 2000, of whom about 1200 were British.
The eclat attending this battle made an impression on the mind of his Britannic Majesty, which was by no means favourable for the noble Lord who that day commanded the British troops. Prince Ferdinand had in an oblique manner reflected upon his backwardness, and the noble Lord was incautious enough to insist upon a most unconstitutional trial for disobeying the orders of a General, who by the laws of England was not qualified to give him orders, though he had submitted to receive them. The event of the trial was unfavourable for his Lordship; but with what justice let those determine who at this day read it cooly and dispassionately. We may venture to affirm that the victory of Minden was one of those hasty, but happy, productions of a next to enthusiastic valour; and owing to that rapidity of courage peculiar to the English, of which foreigners can have no idea, and which sets at nought all systems of war.
It is with regret we mention, that the consequences of the battle of Minden were not answerable to the amazing valour and conduct which obtained it. War is the trade of soldiers of fortune, and a gainful trade it is. Prince Ferdinand obliged the French to retire towards Cassel, but it was the 11th of September before the inconsiderable castle of Marpourg surrendered to the allies, after having kept them at play so long, that, at the end of the campaign, the French found themselves in a condition to begin another. Munster still continued in their hands, and Imhoff, a Hanoverian General, was detached by Prince Ferdinand to besiege it; but he was obliged to raise the siege by d'Armentieres. We are not authorized to make any reflections on the subsequent operations of this campaign. It is sufficient to say, that the despondency of the French is an evidence that the General of the allied army did not improve it to the full advantage which the British valour had thrown so unexpectedly into his lap. Contades and Broglio recriminated on each other, and d'Etrees, a General of greater experience and capacity than both, was sent to their camp to prevent an open rupture; and to reduce the troops, who held their Generals in the utmost contempt, to their duty; which he effected at the mortifying expence of serving under his giddy-headed inferiors; an example which it is to be wished might be copied by British commanders.
To do the French justice, they are seldom at a loss for resources. They had been unfortunate and disgraced in Germany; but a masterly and powerful invasion of Great Britain, towards the close of the year 1759, was to remedy all miscarriages. Three embarkations for that purpose were mentioned. One under Thurot was destined against Scotland. This Thurot was an intelligent, enterprizing adventurer, humane in his manners, and fortunate in his undertakings. His birth was obscure, but his notions, at a time when a total degeneracy of the French prevailed, rendered, in France, those abilities illustrious, which, in England, could not have intitled him to a lieutenancy on board a ship of war. The second embarkation was to have been performed at Havre, and the other sea-ports of Normandy, and was designed immediately against England. The third was to have been made from Vannes, in the Lower Brittany, under the Duke D'Aiguillon, who, from his unmanly discomfiture of the English at St. Cas, had now acquired some reputation in arms. Those appearances were threatening, and the more so, as Admiral Boscawen, who commanded the English fleet in the Mediterranean, was obliged to sail for Gibraltar to refit, and to leave the French squadron at Toulon at liberty to come out of that harbour. The French made the best of their opportunity, and sailed under the command of M. de la Clue. Boscawen sailed August the 14th, and had with him fourteen ships of the line, besides frigates. Those under de la Clue were only twelve, but their force, upon the whole, far exceeded that of Boscawen's squadron. They had arrived near Gibraltar, when the English Admiral, hearing of their sailing, in two hours put to sea, and overtook some of their ships at Cape Lagos in Portugal, where, after an engagement, in which his coolness and intrepidity were equally remarkable, he gave them a total defeat. The Ocean and Redoutable, two of the best ships in the French navy, were run ashore and burnt. The Centaure and the Modeste, two other of their capital ships, were taken, and the others, with great difficulty, took refuge in the harbour of Cadiz.
This severe blow given to the French marine, did not deter them from their intended invasion of Great Britain. A fleet was equipped at Brest, of which M. de Conflans had the command, and which was to cover their grand expedition against England. This fleet, however, was blocked up by Admiral Hawke, who at the same time detached some ships to keep an eye upon Vannes, while Commodore Boys was stationed before Dunkirk, and Admiral Rodney bombarded Havre. All this happened in the depth of winter, when the French were favoured by a violent storm, which forced Admiral Hawke from his station off Brest to run into Torbay with his whole fleet. The French lost no time, but put to sea on the 14th of November, which happened to be the very day on which Admiral Hawke left Torbay, and directed his course to Quiberon bay, where he expected the French fleet would rendezvous, and where, after meeting with various disappointments through contrary winds, he at last discovered the head-most ships of the enemy bearing to the northward, between the main land of France and the island of Belleisle. This happened on the 20th of November.
It is evident from what followed, that the amazing intrepidity of the British Admiral and officers disabled the French both as to courage and conduct. They had trusted to the danger of the navigation, nor did they imagine that the English would dare to attack them on a coast to which they were strangers, and which, beyond any almost of the known world, was full of shoals, sands, shallows and rocks. Conflans, before he could resolve how to proceed, found himself defeated. In two hours after he was attacked by Hawke, two of his ships of the line were sunk, and a third struck. Hawke's great aim was at the Soleil Royal, the most capital ship in the French navy, and commanded by Conflans in person. He ordered the master of his own ship to pass all the ships of the enemy, and to lay him along side the French Admiral, but before that could be done, a French ship of seventy guns, which nobly interposed, was sunk by one broadside of his reserved fire. In short, had not the French been favoured by night, their whole fleet must have been destroyed or taken.
Seven of their ships, after throwing over-board all their guns, escaped into the river Vilaine, and about as many made for other ports. A dreadful hurricane blew during all the night after this action, and nothing was to be heard but signals of distress on all hands, friends and enemies being blended in one common danger. Common humanity would have prevailed upon the English to have assisted even an enemy amidst such indiscriminate distress; but they perceived all efforts of that kind were impracticable, and could terminate only in their own ruin, without affording the smallest relief to the French; they were therefore obliged to wait for the return of day, and then they found that the French Admiral had run his own, and another capital ship, the Heros, on shore. His own ship was burnt by himself, and the Heros by the English. It was thought, that this action, in which the enemy had four capital ships destroyed, one taken, and the rest of their fleet disabled, shattered, and dispersed, would have been decisive of all future marine operations between the English and their enemies. The public resounded with exultations on that account, and nothing but songs of triumph was to be read in our news papers.
An event which happened about the same time redoubled the exultations, as was before mentioned. The French government authentically acknowledged itself to be bankrupt, and stopt the payment of no less than eleven funds, for which their public faith was engaged. As if that had not been enough, a kind of begging ordnance was published, for all persons to bring in their plate to the mint; his most Christian Majesty began with his own, and affected to retrench his table, furniture, and plate, to those necessaries, which a man of 200l. a year allows to his family in England. His example was followed by numbers of his most zealous subjects; nor were even the church plate and ornaments spared.
It is true the money raised by this expedient fell short of what might have been expected; but it is certain it did infinite service to the French government. It awakened a spirit of what we may call compassionate loyalty, in the breast of its subjects, who now considered nothing but the undeserved distress to which their sovereign was reduced. Cities, Corporations, and Companies, poured in their voluntary contributions for repairing their marine, and their armies in Germany were recruited with greater facility and a less expence than ever; so that their force at the opening of the next campaign was far more formidable than was expected. But this was not all. The English and their allies were imposed upon, and thrown off their guard by this pretended shew of poverty. The operations of the war languished, on a presumption that the French could not continue it, and that they must of course agree to such terms as Great Britain should impose. In all those presumptions we were deceived, for the French at the very time when they declared themselves bankrupt, had eleven millions sterling in ready money in their treasury; but it is now time to visit a quarter of the globe we have not yet touched on.
The race of Tamerlane and the Moguls have continued from the time of that great conqueror, after being expelled out of Tartary and Persia, to govern India. Aurengzebe was the last Monarch who inherited the abilities of his great predecessors; for, after his death, an universal degeneracy took place; and, as is commonly the case with great Monarchies, those provinces which were the most distant from the seat of government affected an independency upon the Emperor, or, as he is called, the Great Mogul. In process of time the Governors of those provinces, who are called Nabobs, were little more than nominally subject to the imperial authority, and they acknowledged that shadow of dependency, only because it gave a sanction to their own power. Amongst the most formidable of those Governors was the Nabob of Bengal, who upon a frivolous pretext raised a great army, and laid siege to the English fort of Calcutta, which the Governor and the principal British inhabitants there abandoned, by saving themselves, and their most valuable effects on board the ships. The place, however, was bravely defended by Mr. Holwell; but on the 26th of June, 1756, it was taken by the Nabob, or, as he is called, the Subah or Viceroy of Bengal. This barbarian, irritated by the opposition he had met with, gave way to the inhumanity of his officers, who shut up 146 British subjects in a narrow prison, where after suffering the most excruciating torments by thirst, and all kinds of agonies, no more than 23 persons came out alive next morning. Of those who were saved, Mr. Holwell was one, and even the breast of the Subah seemed to be affected with their sufferings.
The glory of the British arms in the East-Indies, was, however, soon retrieved. Admiral Watson in the beginning of the year 1756 attacked and destroyed the residence of Angria the pirate, who had long been a declared enemy to the English. The Admiral afterwards sailed with no more than three ships of the line from Madrass, and, after touching at the port of Balasore, he entered the Ganges, where by taking Busbudgia fort he opened a passage to Calcutta, which he reduced in one day, as he did Hugly, another settlement higher up the Ganges. The Nabob drew together an army consisting of 10,000 horse, and 12,000 foot; but on the 5th of February, 1757, they were defeated by a handful of English, and the Nabob was obliged to conclude a peace, by which our East-India company was reinstated in all its priviledges and possessions, obtaining an immunity from taxes, and an indemnification for all they had suffered by the taking of Calcutta. It was very easy to see that this accommodation with the Nabob would last no longer than suited his own conveniency, and that he would break it as soon as he had concerted measures with the French. The two English Admirals therefore, Watson and Pocock, in conjunction with Colonel Clive who commanded the land forces, attacked Chandenagore, the chief settlement of the French in those parts, and lying further up the river than Calcutta itself. Though the English fleet consisted of no more than three ships, and the land forces under Clive amounted only to 700 Europeans and 1600 black soldiers, yet they attacked the place. The French were prepared to receive them, and sunk several large vessels both above and below their forts; for there were four in the whole. The operations of the English, however, both by sea and land, were so vigorous, that the garrison capitulated in less than three hours on the 24th of March. Five hundred Europeans and 700 blacks surrendered themselves prisoners of war; 183 pieces of cannon were taken, and a large sum in ready money, with a vast quantity of goods, became the property of the captors. It was easy to perceive that the Nabob Suraja Doula, the same who the preceding year had occasioned the massacre at Calcutta, was still in the French interest. The ferocity of his manners had disgusted even his own subjects, and as success is the only title that those Nabobs can shew for possession, Jaffier Ali Cawn, then a principal officer in his army, and one who pretended a legal right to the Nabobship, put himself at the head of a confederacy against him, and applied to the English for assistance.
We have neither room nor inclination to enter upon particular discussions of right between the two rival Nabobs, who are before mentioned. It is certain that the English very wisely agreed to assist Jaffier, with whom they entered into a treaty, and Colonel Clive immediately took the field in his favour. The Admiral, to encrease the Colonel's force as much as he could, undertook to garrison Chandenagore, and lent him 50 seamen to serve as gunners, while a twenty gun ship was stationed above Hugly, to preserve the communication between the sea and land forces. By this time the Nabob Suraja had assembled an army of 20,000 men, which were attacked by Colonel Clive on the 22d of June, and entirely defeated. This astonishing event, Colonel Clive having with him fewer men than the enemy had Ensigns in the field, encouraged Jaffier, who had remained inactive in the late battle, openly to declare his pretensions to the Nabobship, and on the 26th of the same month the English and his party marched to Muxadavat, the capital of Bengal, where Colonel Clive placed him in the seat of the Nabobs, and he received homages at Subah of Bengal, Bachar and Orixa. As to Suraja his rival, finding himself deserted by his officers, he fled from the field of battle, but being taken prisoner, he was put to death, probably by the authority of the conqueror.
Thus, a few English gave a master to one of the richest, largest, and most populous kingdoms in the world in about 13 days. The new Nabob thought he could not exceed in his gratitude to his British friends; he concluded a perpetual alliance, offensive and defensive, with them; he enlarged the limits and the privileges of their East-India company, and distributed above 600,000 l. amongst their troops and seamen, paying at the same time two millions sterling, as an indemnification to the East-India company for their losses at Calcutta. Soon after thi
, Admiral Watson died, through the unwholesomeness of the climate. The French, to retrieve so many blows, fitted out a new armament under Mons. d'Ache, who commanded their marine, as did Lally, an officer of rank and experience, the land forces, consisting of 2000 Europeans. It is probable the French thought that this great strength would do more than retrieve their affairs in the East-Indies; but they were mistaken, for though they took the fort and city of St. David, yet Admiral Pocock, who commanded the British squadron there, defeated them in two engagements, and cut off their communication between their marine and land troops. The truth is, the French were not only dispirited by their repeated misfortunes, but destitute of provisions, money, and almost every thing, excepting men, that could give success to their operations. Many of the English sea officers, on the other hand, misbehaved from very opposite motives; they were impatient to enjoy in their own country, the immense riches they had acquired, and this impatience relaxed their attention to discipline, so that the Admiral's efforts were sometimes but ill seconded by his officers, which occasioned some part of the French fleet to escape.
As to the land troops under Lally, their behaviour was despicable beyond description. Having no money to carry on his operations, he at first demanded a sum from an Indian potentate called the King of Tanjour, and his request being rejected, he besieged that Prince's capital, but was driven from it, though it was little better than an open place, through the bravery of some English gunners. Meeting with this disgraceful disappointment, he sought to repair it by seizing a Dutch ship, but with the consent of the crew, where he found as much money as enabled him to undertake the siege of Madrass or fort St. George. The place was defended by Colonel Draper and Major Brereton with so much spirit and courage, that Lally was obliged to abandon the siege, after lying two months before the place. The remonstrances he sent home on this occasion, will paint the horror and uneasiness of his mind at the cowardice, corruption, and degeneracy of those he commanded; while the English not only triumphed over him, but reduced the opulent city of Surat, on the western peninsula of India. On the 16th of April, 1759, our army took the field under Major Brereton, who possessed himself of the important town and fort of Conjiveram, while Major Ford stormed and took the city of Masulipatam. Thus a sea-coast of 800 miles in extent, along a trading and manufacturing country, fell into the hands of the English while the trade of the French was confined to Pondicherry, and a few inconsiderable places in the neighbourhood. The coast thus acquired by the English, adjoined to the province of Bengal, out of which the French were entirely driven by Colonel Clive. Those successes, however, were somewhat ballanced by a repulse which Major Brereton met with, in attempting to dislodge Lally and his confederates from a strong post he held under the cannon of a fort. This check, which happened in September, 1759, cost the English between 3 and 400 killed and wounded. Lally, upon this, was preparing to besiege Trichinapoly, but Colonel Coote, on the 30th of November following, took Wandewash, one of the most important forts on that coast, in three days time, and made the garrison prisoners of war. Ten days after he took Carangoly, which he obliged the garrison to evacuate. This great success determined Lally to risk a decisive engagement, or to retake Wandewash, which he besieged with 2200 Europeans, and between 9 and 10,000 blacks. Colonel Coote, however, came up with his army, consisting of about 17,00 Europeans and 3000 blacks, just at the time when Lally was about to storm the breach he had made in the place. A battle ensued, in which the French suffered an entire defeat, with the loss of 1000 killed. In this battle Brigadier General Bussy, the Chevalier Godeville, Quarter-master General, Lieut. Col. Murphy, and 11 inferior officers, were all wounded and made prisoners, and Lally now losing all hopes of farther success retired to Pondicherry. The loss on the side of the English were 200 killed and wounded, and amongst the former was the brave Major Brereton. This victory gave vast credit to the English troops, because it was obtained over a General of no small reputation for his conduct and courage. The English lost no time in pursuing their victory, for they marched directly against Chitiput, which they took, and then laid siege to Arcot, the capital of that vast province, on the 5th of February, and it surrendered the 10th, by which about 300 Europeans were made prisoners of war.
The sea operations in the East-Indies were prosecuted with equal spirit and success. On the 4th of September, 1759, an engagement happened between M. d'Ache, one of the best sea officers of France, and Admiral Pocock, in which the former, though he had a great superiority both in ships and guns, was, after a bloody dispute of two hours, obliged to retire under the walls of Pondicherry. In this engagement, eight of the English ships sustained the fire of the whole French fleet, consisting of 16 sail. Of the English, 560 were killed and wounded, and above 1000 of the French. Pocock, having refitted his ships, sailed for Pondicherry, and was there joined by Admiral Cornish. On the 5th of April following, the fortress of Caracal, with several places of smaller importance, were surrendered to the English, and thus the main power of the French in the East-Indies was shut up in Pondicherry.—We are now to attend the most momentous scene that ever passed in North America.
The British ministry resolved on the reduction of Quebec, the capital of the French empire there. For this great purpose, the command of the land troops, which did not exceed 7000 men, was given to General Wolfe, and that of the sea forces to Admiral Saunders. Sir William Johnson had taken Niagara, and defeated the French, while General Amherst had been successful upon lake Champlain. About the 26th of July, the British fleet and army, after a prosperous navigation, came before Quebec, and both the General and Admiral made most excellent dispositions for reducing it; but they were baffled by the caution of the French General Moncalm, who depended on the strength of the place, and the insurmountable difficulty of the English troops landing to attack it. So well was nature assisted by art, that even Wolfe himself began to despair of success, after being checked and repulsed. At last, by a train of stratagems, which we have no room to particularize, a landing was effected, but under greater disadvantages than any we read of in history; for the English, after landing, were obliged to drag their artillery with them up a steep and dangerous ascent, but gaining the top of the hill, they formed themselves. Moncalm was now forced to risk a battle, in which the English were completely victorious, but lost their brave General Wolfe, who was killed on the field of battle, and his second in command, General Monckton, being dangerously wounded at the same time, the honour of completing the victory was reserved for General Townshend, who drove the enemy from every post with the loss of no more than 500 men, while that of the French amounted to 1500, amongst whom was their General Moncalm. Five days after, viz. September 18▪ the city of Quebec surrendered to the English troops.
The great object of the French in America▪ in the beginning of the year 1760, was the retaking Quebec. It is certain, that the obstruction
which General Amherst had met with and his no
being able to give any assistance to the English at Quebec, was of infinite prejudice to our affairs there. Besides the other services to which our fleet was appointed, the season of the year rendered it impossible for our ships to continue longer there. General Murray had been appointed Governor of that city, and having received all the stores and provisions that could be spared him, the fleet left him with a garrison composed of about 7000 men, who had no other dependance but upon their own courage. The Canadians knew that their troops after the battle of Quebec had retired to the inland part of the country, where they could not be followed, far less attacked; they saw that not a single ship of war had been left to assist the garrison in case of danger, and they were sensible not only that the English were greatly reduced in their numbers by sickness and other accidents, but that the fortifications of the city itself were untenable. With so many inviting appearances, Mons. de Levi, who commanded the French at Canada, was encouraged to hope that he might be able to recover the city. Had he attempted this by a resolute coup de main, while the river was frozen, it is hard to say what the consequence might have been. But either through his want of resolution, or being over-awed by Vaudreuil, who was the French Lieutenant-General of Canada, he lost his opportunity, and having been contented to spend the dead of the winter in skirmishes, in which he had always the worst, he resolved to wait for the opening of the spring, when he could form a regular siege, before the place could receive any succours from the English fleet. Mean while, it is perhaps difficult to account for the reasons that prevented the garrison from receiving some assistance from General Amherst. Be that as it will, de Levi having assembled an army of 11 or 12,000 men, took the field on the 17th of April, and being well provided with every thing for a siege, he sent his provisions, ammunition, and heavy baggage down the river St. Lawrence▪ under the protection of six frigates from 44 to 26 guns; by which he entirely mastered the river, and after ten days march, his army appeared upon the heights of Abraham, within three miles of Quebec.
The danger being pressing, General Murray had only two things to determine, one was, to stand a siege within the ruined works of Quebec, and the other was to march out and fight the enemy. He chose the latter, with equal spirit and prudence, as well knowing the superiority of troops acting on the offensive, and the great damp that a body of men receives by being shut up within almost defenceless walls, where they can hope for no relief or assistance. But to his great misfortune he was not able to bring to the field above 3000 men, after leaving a garrison that was but just sufficient to over-awe the inhabitants. He resolved, however, to put every thing to the risk, as he could depend on the goodness of the troops he commanded, and accordingly he left the city with 3000 men, and attended by about 20 field pieces. This daring undertaking seems to have struck the enemy with some surprize. Their troops were advantageously posted upon and under some woody eminences; but before they could put themselves in a regular order of battle, their van, which was posted upon the eminences, was attacked with so much fury by the English, that it was driven in the utmost disorder, and with great loss, upon the main body, which was drawn up in the valley below, and which was as yet unbroken. As this main body was composed of the flower of the French troops in Canada, they formed themselves in columns, and received the British troops with so hot a fire, that they were staggered in their pursuit. The French endeavoured to improve the disorder by forming themselves into a kind of semicircle, by which they were in hopes to have enclosed the flanks of the English army, and even to have cut off its retreat to Quebec. Nothing but the utmost intrepidity on the part of the English could have saved them on this occasion against an army that was almost four times superior to them in numbers. Farther resistance would have been the worst of madness, as they had already lost 1000 men out of the 3000. Their retreat, however, was performed with great order and regularity, nor were they pursued, and though they were obliged to leave their cannon, they killed about 2000 of the French.
All the flattering prospects which had been entertained in England concerning the conquest of Canada, seemed now to vanish. General Murray, after the defeat before-mentioned, was thought to be irretrievably undone, especially as there was no British fleet at hand to assist him in time; but he was so far from losing his spirits that they seemed to be redoubled by his difficulties. He supplied by his activity and diligence the weakness of the fortifications and army, while the French, sensible of what importance time was to them, opened trenches before the place the very night of the battle. Here it appeared of how much importance practice is in the art of war, and how little any people can be said to be self instructed as to its operations. The French are thought to have a natural genius for the defence or attack of places; but they were such aukward engineers before Quebec, that it was the 11th of May before they could bring two batteries to bear upon the place, and even then their fire was most miserably served. This gave the English General farther time to prepare for its defence, and 132 pieces of cannon were mounted upon the ramparts; but this numerous artillery was destitute of hands to manage it, and great part of it must have been useless in case of a warm attack, which was every day expected; so that considering the disproportion of numbers, it is thought that nothing but the appearance of a British fleet, of which there was little or no likelihood, could save the place.
At last on the 9th of May, two days before the batteries were opened, a vessel arrived in the bason with an account that Lord Colville, who commanded a small squadron of British ships at Hallifax, had entered the river St. Lawrence, and would in a few days sail to their relief. On the 15th a ship of the line, and another frigate arrived likewise, and the two frigates, as being fittest for that service, were sent against the French squadron that lay above the town, which commission they executed so completely, that in a few hours the French ships were destroyed, taken, or dispersed. Levi imagined from the manoeuvres of the two frigates, that a strong fleet was at hand to support them, and upon that presumption he threw up the game as being lost, by raising the siege with disgrace and precipitancy, and leaving behind him all his artillery. The people of England scarcely had heard of the danger which Quebec was in, when they received an account of its being delivered. The transition from triumph to consternation, and from that to joy were so rapid, that the public had no time for condolence, till they had occasion for congratulation. Upon the whole, the campaign of Quebec is a reproach both to the courage and conduct of the French, and will be a lasting monument of their inferiority in both to Britons. They had every thing requisite that could contribute to a long defence, and a vigorous opposition. Their situation was so advantageous, they had deemed it impregnable, and neglected to fortify the only pass by which the English could possibly fight them with the appearance of equality. Their numbers were superior, they fought
pro aris et focis,
in sight of their wives and families, with a town strongly fortified on their side; they were commanded by a General (Montcalm) whom they had often boasted to be one of the ablest in the world; yet when they came to action, their resistance was so feeble, that their enemies wished they had given them more room for glory, by rendering their victory more difficult. Their behaviour under Levi was still more contemptible. And thus a country, which their own writers had always represented as being equal in extent to that of the old Roman Empire, fell in a few weeks under the power of his Britannic Majesty. But we are now to attend the operations of the war in Europe.
In the beginning of the year 1760, the affairs of Europe presented themselves with a very unaccountable aspect. The allies under Prince Ferdinand, without receiving any remarkable check, repassed the Rhine and the Lippe; he maintaining his ground in the deserts of Westphalia, but abandoning the country of Hesse, and scarcely able to cover Hanover; which the French General Broglio, nothwithstanding the advantages he received at Bergen, could not enter. No decisive event had followed the victory of Minden, one of the most glorious that is to be found in history. The King of Prussia's situation was equally unaccountable, for, without committing any blunder or mistake in his conduct, he now was fallen into distress. Those considerations created many melancholy reflections in England. The nation saw that the immense subsidies which his Prussian Majesty had received had indeed suspended his fate, but had not given him superiority. The flattering ideas which we formed of the weakness of the French, the Austrians and the Russians, from their repeated defeats, had deceived us, and it soon appeared that their resources in men were inexhaustible. The Empress Queen was now obliged to exhert that strength, which she had before spared, through the assistance of England. The territories which were believed to be ruined, while she was receiving the British subsidies, were now found to be rich and flourishing, both in men and money. Though the court of Petersburgh could not some years before march a battalion to the assistance of Great Britain, nor even put their troops in motion, without being previously subsidized, yet, now that the quarrel was their own, they could undertake the most tedious and hazardous marches, and fill the plains of Germany with above 100,000 fighting men, and when these were destroyed, replace them with as many. Some people of distinguished rank at the British court reflected with the most bitter regret upon those matters, and were of opinion that the King of Prussia could support himself without our subsidies, as well as his two antagonists did.
Whatever were the thoughts of the British patriots upon the subject, as was before mentioned, yet they had many reasons for concealing them. His Majesty was now grown so venerable in the eyes of the people, that they would have thought it worse than sacrilege to have interrupted his aged hours by an unseasonable, however rational, opposition, and it was known that the affairs of Germany were always uppermost in his heart. The successes of Prince Ferdinand, which were rather splendid than solid, had impressed the publick with a high opinion of his martial abilities, and they flattered themselves that every campaign would be decisive in his favour, if Great Britain continued to support him. The ministry continued to inforce and improve the same way of reasoning. And thus very few either within or without doors had the courage to declare their real sentiments.
It could not, however, be disguised that the weight of the war in Europe lay upon England, tho' she had immediately very little interest in the event. This consideration, which was too glaring to be concealed, induced the British Ministry to offer to open a negotiation, but however sincere they might be, it is certain that his Prussian Majesty was by no means so when he compiled with it. The two Empresses and France, not to mention Sweden and Poland, tho' they could not flatly reject so plausible a proposition, were very little disposed to accept of it, and threw such a damp upon all the expedients proposed by the neutral powers, particularly King Stanislaus and the Dutch, that the proposal came to nothing.
The winter of the year 1759 Germany suffered greatly from cold and scarcity of provisions, which drove the poorer sort of the inhabitants into the armies of their several masters; so that those of the Empress Queen were now more numerous than ever. Tho' Great Britain was not afflicted with the like calamities, yet her people, in their private capacities, shewed a regard for and sent a relief to their troops in Germany and America, that can be matched in no other country. Some private gentlemen formed themselves into a society for that purpose; and in the beginning of January, besides other generous provisions for the widows and orphans of our soldiers, they sent abroad 6000 flannel waistcoats, 6000 woollen caps, 6000 half gaters, and 5000 pair of woollen gloves; and the donations of the government were equally liberal. Our army in Germany having suffered greatly in the preceding campaign, fix regiments of foot, commanded by Major General Griffin, were sent to reinforce it, and were followed by Elliot's light horse, so that in the beginning of the campaign, the British troops in Germany amounted to 25,000 men; a greater army of Britons than had ever served in one place, and at one time, under King William, the great Duke of Marlborough, or indeed under any English General for two centuries before.
The French were equally alert in their endeavours to make the campaign decisive. Broglio, who had received a Marshal's baton of France, continued to command; he had got the superiority over all his antagonists, and his army was reinforced to the amount of 100,000 men, the finest troops in France, while Count de St. Germain, with whom he was upon but indifferent terms, was at the head of a separate body of 30,000 on the Rhine, that no disagreeable effect might arise from any misunderstanding between the two Generals. Towards the end of January the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel died. His death created many melancholy apprehensions with regard to the future conduct of his son and successor, but they were soon dissipated; for that Prince, notwithstanding the strong prepossessions that lay against him, exceeded even his father, in his zeal for the Protestant cause, by adding considerably to his troops that were in the service of Great-Britain.
The Swedes, who continued to be a party in the war, tho' always unsuccessful, had been extremely troublesome to his Prussian Majesty. They had suffered but little upon the main, and the people being in general bent on recovering the countries that had been dismembred from the crown of Sweden, served with chearfulness, tho' under the disadvantage of being very ill commanded. The King of Poland, Elector of Saxony, would willingly have appeared to decline any share in the war, but he was obliged by the Queen of Hungary, and his own family, as well as by the Empress of Russia, to suffer a body of Saxons to serve in their armies. The Duke of Mecklenburgh Schwerin, tho' a Protestant Prince, entered into all the schemes of France and Austria, for which he was severely chastised by his Prussian Majesty, to whom we are now to return.
He had in the beginning of the war boasted, with great justice, that he had seven Generals under him, who were not to be parallelled in all Europe; but in a few years all of them were cut, off, without a possibility of their being replaced; for tho' one genius may succeed another, yet nothing but practice can supply experience. He however still kept up a creditable appearance, and from time to time published such accounts of his resources and troops, as gave the world very high ideas of his power. His successes were not answerable to those reports. He performed prodigies, but he could not act impossibilities. The Swedes▪ the French, the Russians, and the Austrians were still in the field in the beginning of the year 1760, and tho' singly they were no match for his troops, yet upon the whole he sustained great losses by the continued repetition of their attacks. The Swedes invaded the open county of Pomerania; the Russians had an eye upon Colberg, because it gave them a port in the Baltic, and the possession of it would have saved them the march of many hundred miles. He had all the extensive countries of Saxony and Silesia, which border upon the almost inaccessible mountains of Bohemia to cover, while the eastern part of his dominions was next to defenceless. Silesia is a strong and fertile country, but the manners and maxims of his Prussian Majesty are far from being of a conciliating nature to a people, who for many centuries were taught to look upon the house of Austria as their lawful sovereigns, so that it may be said with great truth, that nothing but force can keep them in awe.
Such was the situation of that Prince in the beginning of the year 1760; and a more uncomfortable one can scarcely be conceived. He had nothing but empty fame, and the applause of news writers, to counterbalance millions of dangers and disappointments he was every hour exposed to, excepting the immense subsidy he had from England. It would not perhaps be too bold to say that this subsidy, every thing considered, brought upon him all the misfortunes he afterwards met with, because he depended too much upon it for the continuance of a war, to which his power was by no means equal. At the time we now treat of he seemed to be somewhat sensible of this, for he formed a plan of operations that were entirely defensive. To give the reader an idea of his situation, is impossible, farther than by acquainting him that his brother Prince Henry, commanded an army about Frankfort on the Oder, in order to protect Silesia, the New Marche of Brandenburgh, and Berlin, which, considering its importance, is one of the most defenceless places in Europe. He himself in the mean time lay in a camp most judiciously chosen between the Elbe and the Mulda, in an almost impregnable situation, with 250 pieces of cannon in his front. The conveniency of this position was the greater, as he was by it enabled both to receive and send succours to his brother.
His Prussian Majesty, however, was deceived in all his designs. The Austrians were superior to him in force, and almost equal in discipline and courage. Laudohn, a General who had hitherto made but an indifferent figure, was by the policy of the court of Vienna set up as the rival of Count Daun, whom the Empress Queen considered as a great General, but too inactive, too cautious, and too unenterprizing. The character of Laudohn was the reverse. His Prussian Majesty had placed one of his Generals, Fouquet, in whom he had great confidence, near Glatz, so as to serve as an intermediate assistance, either to himself or to his brother Prince Henry, according as circumstances should present themselves. Laudohn's manoeuvres imposed upon his Prussian Majesty and all his Generals, and were so mysterious, that Fouquet believing his intention was to besiege Schweidnitz, left Glatz uncovered, upon which Laudohn made himself master of Landshut, and Fouquet in a most unsoldier-like manner abandoned the protection of Schweidnitz, and marched towards Landshut, from whence he drove the Austrians.
This was what Laudohn had foreseen and expected, and in the mean time he secretly made such dispositions, that Fouquet was in effect surrounded without a possibility of being relieved, while he was obliged to detach 2000 out of the 15,000 men he commanded to preserve his communication with Schweidnitz. It happened at this time that the Austrians were animated with a more than ordinary resentment against the Prussians, nor could all the precautions which Fouquet had taken to fortify his camp withstand it. The Austrians knew of the masterly dispositions their General had made, and that they must depend upon their own courage for success. Their behaviour was equal to their high expectations, and it is hard to say whether the attack or the resistance was the most glorious, but the Austrians were superior not only in their numbers but in their condition. The Prussians had lain long on the defensive, and had been but poorly supplied with provisions, and consequently low in spirits. The Austrians, on the other hand, had lived in free quarters, and were in want of nothing that could give them either strength or courage. Notwithstanding all those disadvantages, the Prussians behaved with admirable resolution, and maintained to the last every post they possessed, till they were driven by main force from one entrenchment to another, and at last 4000 of them being killed, the remainder, who amounted to almost 8000, were obliged to surrender prisoners of war, with 58 pieces of artillery, besides colours, though it was said the Austrians lost 12,000 men.
It is remarkable in this war that his Prussian Majesty, who we have some reason to believe supervised the accounts of all his campaigns, found means to exaggerate the losses of his enemies, and in a surprising degree to extenuate his own, so that, candidly speaking, the true state of his affairs were known only by the consequences. But the defeat of Fouquet could neither be concealed nor palliated, and its effects appeared in every department of the war. Laudohn took one part of Glatz by storm and the other by capitulation▪ though it was defended by 2000 men and above 100 brass cannon. This, perhaps, was not the greatest loss. The important situation of the place, and the prodigious magazines it contained were irretrievable, and Silesia was now open to be penetrated by the Austrians.
Thus the city of Glatz was, to the Austrians, the first fruits of this complete victory, which, from the place near which it was fought, is called the battle of Landshut. His Prussian Majesty knew nothing of the prodigious loss he had suffered till he had heard that Laudohn was preparing to besiege Breslau, the capital of Silesia, and by far too capacious either for its fortifications or garrison. All that he could do was to pursue a plan like to that of Laudohn, but still more mysterious, which was suggested by his own genius, ever fertile in expedients. All Europe gave him up as lost, and the discontented in England began, notwithstanding all the public prepossessions in favour of his Prussian Majesty, to complain that we had gone too far in supporting him, as his system either of offence or defence was equally impracticable, and that our perseverence in his cause would hurt us, without being of any benefit to him.
They were soon undeceived. As it was natural to expect that he would endeavour to retrieve his affairs in Silesia, the defence of which was his main point, he made preparations for that purpose. Daun, who commanded not only his own army but in fact that of the Empire, had not the least doubt of his intentions, and leaving General Lacy in Saxony, followed his Prussian Majesty through Lusatia. In this march the great foresight and penetration of his Prussian Majesty eminently appeared. Daun's great object was to outmarch him. He had taken the south road, and the King after passing the Elbe and marching through a woody country was on the northward; so that he had the disadvantage of Daun in what we may call their race to Silesia. Daun knew this, and availed himself of his success by accelerating his motions; so that he gained two full days march of his Prussian Majesty, reached Gorlitz, and proceeded with great rapidity to Lauban. This was what his Prussian Majesty expected and wanted; and he had the admirable address to appropriate to himself the advantage of Daun's two days march; for he instantly fell into the route by which Daun had advanced; and passing the Spree at Bautzen he appeared before the gates of Dresden; so that the war now assumed another aspect.
The King of Prussia though he could not cope with Daun's, the Imperial, and Lucy's army, was superior to the two latter, so that the first was obliged to retreat and the other to change its situation, and the King of Prussia being joined, according to previous, but eventual, orders, by his Generals Hulson and Ziethen, left Prince Henry, who was at Glogau, at liberty to act as occasion should require, while he himself formed the siege of Dresden.
We are here to observe that every plan concerted by the court of Vienna, is, like the laws of the Medes and Persians, unalterable, and the deviating from it, if not attended with success, be the motives ever so rational, has often proved fatal to their Generals. The Empress Queen to please her sister of Russia, and out of mere decency, had instructed Daun in the campaign to make the preservation of Dresden his capital object. He was then in Silesia, where he durst not for the reasons I have given, pursue his advantages; and astonished as he was at his Prussian Majesty's masterly conduct, he found himself, against his better judgment, obliged to return to Saxony that he might preserve Dresden; and his return left Prince Henry at Liberty to move towards Silesia. All the motions of this campaign had hitherto been so skilful, that the reader, who understands the game at chess, can scarcely fail to find out the similarity. The King of Prussia made the most surprizing and the finest moves; but Daun shewed himself to be as sure a player. His return from Silesia was much more quick than was expected from his phlegm and regularity; for on the 19th of July he and his army appeared within a few miles of Dresden.
His Prussian Majesty, however, did not fail to avail himself to the utmost of the start he had gained. He besieged Dresden, which was defended by General Maguire. The operations of the siege, unless we were to recount particulars, can convoy no new instruction to a reader who can form an idea of the most determined attack on the one side, and the most intrepid defence on the other; and the ruin of the finest buildings that any city in the world contained, by the incessant fire from three batteries of cannons and mortars; while each party equally practised every art and manoeuvre usual in such cases. The approach of Count Daun served to redouble the fury of the Prussians, but at the same it confirmed and encreased the resolute intrepidity of the besieged, especially when Daun found means, as he did, to throw into the place 16 battalions during the night of the 21st. After such a reinforcement, and while three armies were in the neighhood (for the army of the Empire and that under Lacy had returned by this time) it would have been worse than madness for his Prussian Majesty to continue the siege, and therefore he raised it, but without molestation from his enemies. Thus ended this mighty trial of skill between great genius and great sagacity, and each supported by a proportionable degree of courage and experience; so that on the whole we may allow the conduct of the Prussians was the most brilliant, and that of the Austrians the most solid; but in the main, if any advantage was gained, it lay on the King's side, though in fact the great game that was played between them remained still precarious.
Laudohn, who was all this while in Silesia, trusted to his being joined by the
ssians, but through their unwieldiness and irregularity they did not arrive soon enough to make the campaign decisive on that side. Being still, however, in hopes of their junction, on the 1st of August he had his cannon and mortars in condition to play from their batteries upon Breslau. Count Tauenzein commanded for his Prussian Majesty in that city, and a kind of military ceremonial at first passed between the two Generals. Laudohn partly in civility, partly in compassion, took pity upon Tauenzien's weakness and that of the place, and employed various arguments, which had more the air of a French than a German General, to persuade him to accept of an honourable capitulation. Tauenzien was too obstinate and too unpolite to believe one word he said, and thus after they had fought through all the weapons of soldier-like courtesy they drew the sword, and nothing was wanting that could do honour to the besieged or the besiegers. For a relation of what passed on this occasion we must refer our readers to what we have just now said concerning the siege of Dresden. Laudohn from hostilities returned to compliments, and was answered only by reproaches for doing the same thing against Breslau that his Prussian Majesty was doing against Dresden, that is ruining the town without damaging the fortifications. Mean while there was no account of the approach of the Russians, but on the 5th of August an account came that Prince Henry was within a few miles of the Austrian camp, which induced Laudohn in a kind of a regular hurry to break up the siege.
A philosophical reader (if any such I have) will here make a pause and reflect on the extreme folly and cruelty of the greatest and most humane Generals. His Prussian Majesty avows himself to be a philosopher, and therefore he may be said to be a professor of humanity. Count Daun is remarkable for coolness, placability, and his not having the least tincture of harshness in his temper, even to his enemies. Yet what devastations, what bloodshed and what inhumanities did not each of them this campaign commit, without either of them bettering his situation! The reader will pardon this reflection, which may not suggest itself during the piece-meal reading of news papers, but appears in full force, when, as in these pages, they are brought into one point of view.
The operations between the French and the allies this campaign were far from answering the great preparations and reinforcements which both sides had made and received. The truth is, at the opening of the campaign the chief business of both armies was to eat rather than to fight, and all the motions of all their parties were towards getting a meal rather than a victory. The winter had been severe, the country consumed, and the spring late; calamities that were in common to both, and each had a kind of fellow feeling for the other. The reader must have a personal view of the country before he can judge of the situations of the allies, especially the English, the great, and indeed the sole dependence of their army. When the rigour of the season abated, the superior providence of the French over our German commander appeared, for, while they lay in their cantonments, they were supplied with provisions from the Rhine, the Mayne, and the Moselle, while the allies were disabled by want and indigence to undertake any enterprize that was worthy the immense expence to Great Britain at which they were serving. All that is worth mentioning was performed by the young hereditary Prince of Brunswick, who laid Fulda under contribution, and expelled the French from it at the head of some British troops. Happily for the allies, a misunderstanding prevailed between the two French Generals, Marshal Broglio and Count de St. Germain. Instead of the one advancing by Munster and the other through the Landgraviate of Hesse, and leaving strong posts to the eastward of the Weser, operations that might have proved fatal to the allies, the whole of their grand army united into one body; a measure so discordant with the original and indeed rational plan of their operations, that St. Germain, who is said to have the truest military genius of any French officer, was disgusted, but, at first, without retiring from his command. Notwithstanding this, the French took Marburg and Dillenburg, the first on the 30th of June, the latter on the 16th of July, and made the garrisons of both prisoners of war. The inactivity of the German General in this perillous situation is a little unaccountable, but the hereditary Prince, at the head of some British regiments, endeavoured to retrieve it. The French had hitherto moved in two bodies, and that under St. Germain was known to have advanced to Corbach, so that the Prince resolved to attack him, and to drive him from that post. But by this time the junction of the French was formed, and the Prince instead of encountring 10,000 foot and 17 squadrons of horse, which were the number St. Germain commanded, fell in with the whole French army, and that too with such resolution, as rendered his retreat, after he had discovered his mistake, almost impracticable. Nothing but the valour of the English could have remedied this mistake. The French were fresh, numerous, and well formed. The Germans, both horse and foot, gave themselves up to a despondency (to call it no worse) which threatened a total rout, while the French were every moment pouring in reinforcements, chiefly of cavalry, to complete their destruction. In this desperate situation the Prince put himself at the head of Bland's and Howard's dragoons, who soon checked the ardour of the French cavalry, covered the retreat of the Germans, and thus saved the army at the expence of 900 men killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, and 15 pieces of cannon, which were left in the field of battle, besides a wound which his Serene Highness himself received.
The allies, during the action as was before mentioned, after retreating towards the Dymel, were encamped at Saxenhausen. Military men were amazed that Broglio did not pursue his advantage, nor can the reasons of his inactivity be, to this day, accounted for. The Hereditary Prince unjustly charged himself with being the author of a defeat, which did him and the English so much honour, and formed a daring resolution to repair it. He knew that Glaubitz, a French General, was at the head of a considerable detachment, which were marched towards Zegenhagen in Hesse, to make himself master of that important post. For this purpose his Serene Highness put himself at the head of six German battalions, two brigades of hunters, a regiment of Hussars, and Elliot's regiment of light horse. The last regiment had been raised only in the preceeding spring and winter, and had been formed chiefly out of English journeymen, who rather chose to serve in the army than submit to, what they called, the unjust demands of their masters. Not a man amongst them had ever been before in the service, but they liked it so well that they were soon disciplined, and made an excellent appearance, so that the Hereditary Prince chose them to form part of his detachment. He was at this time above 60 English miles distant from Glaubitz, which rendered the latter perfectly secure. The Prince, however, led his detachment, unperceived, within sight of his camp, and after reconnoitring it, he formed the plan of the attack, which was of a very extraordinary nature. The situation of the enemy was such as to be inaccessible on their left, but by making a detour of two leagues through woody uneven grounds, and the right was secured by mountains. The Hereditary Prince undertook in person the attack of the left. He left that of the right to his infantry, who were obliged to climb up mountains, to come at their enemy. Both charges were so vigorous and so unexpected, that both succeeded. The enemy in a manner was routed before Glaubitz had time to form them; but they were routed with very little loss, and the advantage of their situation was such that their main body retired from one wood to another, while the Prince was unable to bring up his fatigued and harrassed infantry to the pursuit. It was on this occasion, that Elliot's horse performed services that would have done honour to a regiment of the best veterans in Europe. The Prince in person led them on, and they alone entered the wood, where their address and discipline was equal to their intrepidity. The enemy unable to resist them were charged and penetrated five times; by which a party of 500, being separated from the rest, threw down their arms and surrendered themselves prisoners. A great deal, however, remained still to be done before the victory could be complete. A regiment of the enemy's hussars was entirely cut in pieces; and the main body, which had taken post in the wood, being in like manner surrounded, found themselves likewise obliged to give up their arms, but not till after a great slaughter. The prisoners made on this occasion, besides Glaubitz himself and a Prince of Anhalt, were 177 officers, and 2482 private men, nine pair of colours and six pieces of cannon were taken; so that upon the whole it was with regard to the captures, one of the most extraordinary actions ever known. The Hereditary Prince lost no more than 79 men, but, of those, 71 were Elliot's light horse.
Prince Ferdinand remained all this time in his camp at Saxenhausen, but after this action he moved to Kalle near Cassel. Upon this, the French, who were very numerous, divided themselves into three armies. One of them, which had formed their reserve, consisting of 35000 men, passed the Dymel at Stalbergen under the Chevalier de Muy, who had succeeded St. Germain in his command; another body, which was their main army, advanced under Broglio himself to Kalle; and the third, under Prince Xavier of Saxony, took the route of Cassel. From those motions it was plain the French Generals meditated some important blow, and Prince Ferdinand at all events thought it his best course to pass the Dymel and fight de Muy. On the 31st of July, the allies, having passed the river, and formed upon the heights of Corbach, came in sight of the French, who were posted to great advantage at Warbourg. It would be presumptuous in us to censure the operations of great Generals, but we cannot help being of opinion, that something was wanting to support the attack made on this occasion. The Hereditary Prince turned the left of the enemy in two columns, so as to attack them in flank and rear with his usual briskness; but the French were so well reinforced that he could do nothing effectual. In the mean while, Prince Ferdinand ordered some detachments to attack the French bridges over the Dymel to the right, and he himself advanced to charge the enemy in front. It must be acknowledged, that those dispositions, had they been properly supported, must have been decisive in favour of the allies; but the flower of their army, which consisted of the English, were five miles behind, so that tho' the French, by the efforts of the Hereditary Prince, began to give way on that side, yet their main body was at liberty to retire, without putting it into the power of the infantry of the allies to engage them, nor indeed did their commander in chief seem to have been very forward to risk his German troops. By his own account sent to his late Majesty, it is certain, that his attack upon the enemy's front was very feeble, and as he himself acknowledges, was unsupported by the infantry, so that the heat of the day fell upon the English, whose cavalry came all the five miles upon a full trot under the Marquis of Granby and Generals Mostyn, and while General Waldegrave did all he could to hasten the march of the infantry, Captain Philips brought up the British arrillery on a gallop. But tho' our national troops were thus beyond all precedent expeditions, yet they could not prevent the enemy from making their retreat good over the Dymel. The charge, that was made upon them by the British cavalry, was so gallant, as to evince their ardour for retrieving that glory which they had been deprived of at Minden, tho' their foot, many of whom dropt down in the morasses, through which their long fatiguing march lay, could not second them. The French, in their account, pretend, that the brigade of Bourbon checked the British cavalry, that the allies were greatly superior in number, that the Hereditary Prince in turning their left was favoured by a fog, and that the battle continued without advantage to either side four hours. But it is evident, even from their own narrative, that they employed most of that time in making preparations for a retreat, which with great difficulty they effected over the Dymel, and that, upon the whole, they thought themselves victorious, because they were not completely defeated. In this battle, the great loss fell upon the English, of whom about 600 were killed, wounded, and missing. But the total loss of the allied army was not published, probably because it would have discovered the great disproportion between the sufferings of the English and those of the Germans. The French in their account pretended, that the loss of the allies were superior to theirs. But that could not be the fact. Besides great numbers of French that were drowned in passing the Dymel, 1500 were left dead on the field of battle, and as many were taken, together with ten pieces of cannon.
The battle of Warbourg, the reader will perceive, was more glorious than it was advantageous to the English and their allies. The Chevalier de Muy commanded but one of the three French armies; but the other two, without resistance, became masters of Munden, Cassel, Gottingen, Eimbach, and Ziegenhagen, where they made a great number of prisoners, and got considerable magazines. Thus, though the allies gained a battle, they lost a province, the whole Landgraviate of Hesse being now in the French possession; nor was it clear, that, before the end of the campaign, they might not become masters of Hanover itself; while all that Prince Ferdinand gained was to secure his posts upon the Dymel, and preserve his communication with Westphalia, the loss of which must have been of the worst consequence to him, considering the situation of the two armies. The abilities of the German General on this occasion were highly extolled; but, perhaps, the preservation of Hanover was owing chiefly to its miserable exhausted state, which rendered it incapable of maintaining an army.
His Prussian Majesty, all this while, had the terrible junction of the Russians with the Austrians and Imperialists hanging over his head. One body of the former had already entered the frontiers of Silesia, another had penetrated into Pomerania, where they prepared to lay siege to Colberg, and the whole of them had laid under contribution vast tracts of his Majesty's best provinces. Laudohn still continued the blockade of Neiss and Schweidnitz, his army was powerful, and 22,000 Swedes had begun their operations, while his Majesty's main enemy Daun was lying in wait for an opportunity to finish all his hopes. His Prussian Majesty in this distracted and discouraging situation had recourse to expedients, which necessity alone can suggest, and success justify. Marshal Daun was then at Bautzen, without dreaming that his Prussian Majesty would undertake impossibilities, for so they must be thought by all the known rules of war-making. The King, finding he could effect nothing in Saxony, on the 30th of July decamped and took the rout of Meissen, and without our tracing his various motions, in five days time he marched near 200 miles, at the head of an army encumbered with a numerous artillery and 2000 waggons, and he passed the Elbe, the Spree, the Neiss, the Queiss, and the Boher, with one Austrian army on one side of him under General Reid, near Bautzen, another behind him under General Lascy, and a third in front, under General Beck; and all this without opposition. After this astonishing rapidity, it may, perhaps be unnecessary to add, that during his progress he obtained many, not inconsiderable, advantages over the Austrian Generals.
In an undertaking like this, it is proper not only to recount the facts, but to observe what we may call the military
rationale
of great events. Count Daun, as we have mentioned, was still at Bautzen, with an intention to penetrate into Silesia, and to join Laudohn, in which case, the often attempted junction of the Austrians with the Russians, must have been effected. Laudohn, whose army was every day receiving strong reinforcements, had been, for some time, with difficulty, kept in play by Prince Henry; but the delay of a few days must have rendered the match unequal, as the Russians were every hour advancing. Daun was astonished at the escape, for so we may call it, of the King of Prussia, but prepared to follow him. His Majesty encamped at Lignitz, but found himself in danger, after all, of missing his great aim, which was that of engaging Laudohn before the armies under Daun and Lascy could arrive to his assistance, which they did before his Majesty could find that opportunity. But still Daun and Laudohn occupied different camps, the one on his front, and the other on his rear. They had taken possession of an extent of a very strong country, no less than 30 miles, along the Katsbach, from Parchwitz to Cossendan, and had filled it with lines and redoubts, so that the whole appeared as one continued fortification, nor could his Prussian Majesty, with all his skill, fall upon a way of attacking one army without being exposed to be ruined by the other. He was again in one of those situations that had so often distressed him. It is unknown to the public, whether he owed his deliverance on this occasion to his own wonderful sagacity, which suggested what he himself would do, had he the same advantages, or whether he was not favoured by private intelligence. Both might be true. Daun was tempted by the occasion which presented itself, and resolved to become the aggressor. He concerted a plan with Laudohn and Lascy for attacking his Prussian Majesty, while the Russians, to the number of 24,000 men, having thrown bridges over the Oder, were to pass it that very day under Count Czernichew. His Prussian Majesty saw that his enemies could not surround him, without their making one of those movements he had so long wished for. On the very night, when the Austrians had proposed their great stroke, he privately decamped from Lignitz, and removed to a strong pass by which he knew Laudohn's division must march.
Every thing succeeded to his wish. Daun executed his part of the plan with profound silence in the night time, but found the enemy decamped, and soon had certain indications that they were engaged with Laudohn. It was thought, at his own court especially, that if he had made a vigorous attack on the rear of the Prussian army it might have been totally defeated. But this opinion probably did him injustice, for his Prussian Majesty foreseeing such an attack, had guarded his rear with very strong entrenchments. In the mean while, Laudohn had passed the Katsbach, and proceeded as far as Psaffendorf in his march to Lignitz, where he was in hopes of assisting at the mortal blow his Prussian Majesty was to receive. The break of day-light, and the dissipation of a very thick fog, presented to his eves a most dreadful prospect, which was that of the whole Prussian army drawn up in array of battle, with a strong artillery on its front, and posted to great advantage. This was the morning of the 15th of August, but the astonishment of Laudohn neither daunted his courage, nor disordered his judgment. Finding he could not retreat, he formed his army with admirable presence of mind, and a most terrible battle ensued, in which his Prussian Majesty in person was exposed equally with the meanest soldier; his cloaths being shot through in several places, and a horse killed under him; so that it might be said he then fought not for dominion but safety. Nothing, perhaps, but his own personal intrepidity could have gained him the victory. His veteran Generals were all dead or killed, and his troops were but newly raised; but they were brave and faithful. His example inspirited their efforts, and Laudohn, without losing any of his military reputation, retreated to the Katsbach with the loss (as to the Austrians themselves gave out) of 6000 men killed, wounded and taken prisoners, though the Prussians gave out he lost 10,000. Two Generals and 84 officers were amongst the prisoners, and the trophies which fell to the victors were 82 pieces of cannon, and 123 pair of colours. The loss of the Prussians was said to have been 5000 killed and 1200 wounded.
Though the loss of the battle, as has been before hinted, must have been fatal to his Prussian Majesty, it did not prove so to the Austrians, whose Generals received daily reinforcements, and encouragements from their Sovereign. Daun, though he could not succeed in Silesia, turned his arms towards other objects. He detached Prince Lavenstein and General Beck, with part of his army, to encourage the Russians to advance. But the terror of the battle of Psaffendorf, had made such an impression upon them, that they had repassed the Oder, and were then marching Northwards. This did not hinder Daun from blockading Schweidnitz, and his Prussian Majesty having, by this time, joined his brother at Newmarche, detached General Goltze to observe the motions of the Russians, while he himself defeated the corps of Austrians under General Beck, and obliged Daun to raise the blockade of Schweidnitz, and to retreat precipitately towards the heights of Landshut. In Saxony, General Hulsen, on the 20th of August, had an action with part of the Imperial army, which attacked him with great fury, in order to cut off his communication with Torgau. The engagement was hot, and Hulsen discovered great military abilities, for, besides the killed, he made 41 officers and 1200 men prisoners, with very little loss to himself. But he could not avail himself of this victory; for he was obliged to retreat, least the grand army of the Imperialists should cut off his communication with the Elbe. By this retreat he lost his communication with the King, whose mind and army was distracted amidst a variety of objects. The Russians were now marching through the Lower Silesia. The Austrians found no resistance in Lusatia, and Saxony, notwithstanding all Hulsen could do to defend it, was upon the point of being lost to the King. Such was the state of his Prussian Majesty's affairs towards the close of the campaign. He had defeated his enemies, without finding he had lessen'd their numbers. He had gained victories, but had reaped no advantages, and all the prodigies of valour he had performed, did no more than just save him from perdition. But the situation of his Prussian Majesty's mind is best described in the following letter, which he wrote to the Marquis D'Argens, the author of the Jewish Spy, and one of his literary favourites, which letter bears in its stile and composition undoubted marks of its authenticity, which was verified by other incontestible evidence.
Formerly, my dear Marquis, the affair of the 15th of August would have decided a campaign. At present that action is no more than a scratch; a great battle must determine our fate. We shall have one, according to all appearances, very soon, and then, if the event is favourable to us, we may rejoice. It required many stratagems, and much address, to bring things to this pass. Don't talk to me of danger, the last action cost me only a suit of cloaths and a horse. This is buying victory very cheap.
I have not had the letter you mention: we are in a manner blocked up, in regard to correspondence, by the Russians on one side of the Oder, and by the Austrians on the other; a small skirmish was necessary to clear the way for Coccei; I hope that he will deliver you my
. I never was in the course of my life in a more embarrassing situation than in this campaign. Believe me, nothing less than a miracle is still necessary to extricate me from the difficulties, that I foresee. I shall certainly do my duty when occasion offers; but, my dear Marquis, always remember that I pretend not to command fortune, and that I am obliged in my projects to leave too much to chance, for want of being able to form any more solid. I have the labours of a Hercules to undergo, at a time of life when my strength fails me, my infirmities increase, and, to speak the truth, when hope, the only consolation of the unhappy, begins to desert me. You are not sufficiently acquainted with the circumstances of affairs, to have a clear idea of all the dangers which threaten the state; I know, but conceal them; I keep all my fears to myself, and only communicate to the public my hopes, or the little good news that I can acquaint them with. If the blow that I meditate succeeds, then, my dear Marquis, it will be time enough to express our joy: but till then, let us not flatter ourselves, for fear some expected bad news should deject us too much.
I lead here the life of a military monk. I have much to think of about my affairs, and the rest of my time I devote to literature, which is my consolation, as it was of the consul, the father of his country and of eloquence. I know not if I shall survive the war, but I am determined, in case it should happen, to pass the rest of my days in retirement, in the bosom of philosophy and friendship.
When our correspondence shall be more open, you'll oblige me by writing more frequently. I know not where we shall have our winter-quarters. My houses at Bresiau were destroyed by the bombardment. Our enemies envy us every thing, even day light and the air that we breathe. They must however leave us some place, and if it is safe, it will be a treat to receive you there.
Well, my dear Marquis, what is become of the peace with France? Your nation, you see, is more blind than you imagine it: those fools loss Canada and Pondicherry, to please the Queen and the Czarina. Heaven grant that Prince Ferdinand may well reward them for their zeal. The officers, innocent of their evils, and the soldiers, will be made the victims, and the illustrious Offenders will suffer nothing.
These are the subjects which offer themselves to me: I was in a writing vein, but I see that I must conclude, lest I should tire you, and neglect my own business.—
Adieu, my dearest Marquis.—I embrace you,
&c.
Some of the belligerant powers at last began to reflect, with horror, upon the dreadful butchery their armies were committing in Germany, where they had no original, or immediate, concern. The French had attacked, as we have already observed, his Britannic Majesty's electoral dominions, only in consequence of their American quarrel. Great Britain was only consequentially and out of gratitude engaged to protect them, and yet their two armies had acted with the same sanguinary dispositions, as if they had been principals in fighting
pro aris et focis.
The Russians could at best be considered as auxiliaries to the Empress Queen, yet their devastations in Germany exceeded those of all the other powers; and the Swedes, though impotent, were still numerous enough to make head against the pitiful number which his Prussian Majesty had to oppose them, and to eat up the unhappy country. None of those pacific sentiments, however, were publickly avowed by any party, but they seem to have been manifested by their consequences.
The public of England were every day in expectation, that after the French had made themselves masters of Munden and Gottingen, the
would have penetrated into Hanover, which they might easily have done. But they had many reasons for declining such a step. In the first place, as we have already hinted, the country was so exhausted, that it could not have maintained them. In the next, such an attempt, if successful, was inconsistent with their real plan. The British parliament began already to be uneasy about the waste of their blood and treasure in Germany; and had Hanover been completely conquered, no pretext could have been invented for detaining their army there, which was the great point France had in view. A remarkable languishment, however, followed it, between the two armies who were encamped on each side of the Dymel, after the battle of Warbourg, for a whole month. This inaction was disagreeable to the genius of the Hereditary Prince, who appears to have made war in
earnest,
without any lucrative views of continuing his appointments, or the mean ones of sparing his Germans. It is true, the great opinion he experimentally entertained of the British valour cost our countrymen dear, and was favourable to the Germans, but he always ventured his own person equally with that of the meanest English soldier, and they followed him with pride and alacrity. While the armies lay in this state of inaction, he understood that 2000 French occupied the town of Zierenberg, and he resolved to surprize them. He accordingly posted a body of troops between that place and Dierenberg, to cut off all communication between the two camps of the enemy. He next made the proper dispositions for secureing his retreat, in case of a repulse; and at the head of his remaining foot, most of which were English, on the 5th of September, they set out in three divisions for Warbourg, and by two next morning they were before Zierenberg. But notwithstanding all the precautions that had been taken for the silence of their march, they were discovered by a party of dragoons, who fired upon them and spread an alarm. On this occasion, the intrepidity and good discipline of the English foot did them great honour. Contrary to the usual character of their nation, of being too ready to fire, they made use of their bayonets only. With them they drove the enemy's picquets, who were on their guard, before them; some entered the town at the same time with the fugitives, others were employed in putting the guard to the sword, and others in forcing open the gates, till at last, all entered the place, and, without firing, they proceeded in firm order to the church-yard, which the main body of the enemy possessed. The noise they made was so little, and the night so dark, that the French took them to be their own picquets, and suffered them to draw up near them, but they were attacked and totally dispersed by the English with their bayonets on their musquets. In vain the French attempted to fly from the gate. They were every where opposed, pursued, slain, or taken prisoners. Every quarter of the town was filled with blood, confusion, and tumult, but the English were victorious thro' all. They neither killed nor took prisoners any of the inhabitants who had not weapons in their hands, and far from being intent on plunder, they even refused to accept of the gratuities which the townsmen offered them to spare their persons and properties. The whole action of this noble and well conducted expedition lasted but about an hour, at the end of which, the Prince found himself in complete possession of the place, having taken two pieces of cannon, and made 36 officers and near 500 private men prisoners. He then considered the danger of remaining with so small a force, so near the enemy's main body, and regained his former camp without loss or molestation.
Here we find it again necessary to interrupt the course of this narrative, by observing, that the intrepidity which the English uniformly displayed, and the success which attended all their operations during the course of this war, compared with the little effect produced by such amazing exertions of courage, sufficiently prove, that there was somewhat amiss, and too dilatory in the original plan of every campaign, which no valour or partial success could remedy. The advantage gained at Zierenberg was glorious and cheap, for it cost them no more than 10 men, and yet, if we except the reputation the English gained by it, it was dear when we consider its consequences. The gallant Prince found, as he might easily have foreseen, that he could not keep the place, and by quitting it, he lost all he had obtained, excepting a few prisoners, who were burdensome to maintain. The public, however, had the satisfaction to see Prince Ferdinand put his Germans in motion, in order to attempt to interrupt the communication between the French and the Rhine, and the Mayne especially with Franckfort. As to Hanover, it lay quite neglected by both parties. The French had their reasons, as we have already seen, for not penetrating further into it than Gottingen, and the allies pretended that they could not, without hazarding the intire loss of their army, attempt to dispossess them either of that city or of Cassel. Bulow, a Hanoverian General, was dispatched with a strong detachment to make inroads into Wetteravia, and the southern parts of Hesse, which he did with so good success, that he pushed on towards Marbourg, which town he surprized, and destroyed in it the French ovens with considerable magazines of provisions, besides carrying off their cloathing and military stores. He at last proceeded towards Frankenau. The French all this while beheld his progress with an air of security, as thinking it was always in their power to check him. The matter became now to be serious, as they began to feel some inconveniences in their communication with Franckfort. Stainville, one of their best Generals, on the 13th of September, attacked the rear of Bulow's detachment as it was passing the river Orck, and not only defeated it, but in all probability would have cut off the whole body, had not the active Hereditary Prince, hearing of his danger, made a forced march of five German miles, and arrived to his relief. This obliged Stainville to retire to a strong camp, where he could not be attacked with any probability of success. In the mean while, a feeble effort was made under General Wangenheim, another of the allied Generals, to force the enemy to abandon Gottingen, but on the 19th of September, after he had passed the Weser, he was obliged to repass it with very considerable loss, and not quite to the advantage of his military character. It must be acknowledged, that in all those skirmishes and expeditions, the French shewed a vigilance and an attention to their plan of operations, far superior to those of the allies; who either had concerted none that was regular, or were entirely directed by the motions of their enemy. The latter, on the 20th of September, in consequence of their defensive scheme, retired towards Cassel, where they fortified themselves, while Prince Ferdinand ventured to do nothing, but to advance so near them as to observe their operations.
More active, and indeed unexpected scenes of war presented themselves upon the Rhine, and almost on the frontiers of the dominions of the States Generals, where the Hereditary Prince appeared to the surprize of all Europe, who thought he had been in the further part of Hesse. It would exceed our proposed bounds, should we describe the particulars, by which this emergency, as we may call it, was effected. It is sufficient to say, that he had under him 20 battalions and 10 squadrons, which he divided into two bodies. One of those passed the Rhine at Roeroot, on the other side Dusseldorp. The other division, which marched by the way of Munster, passed a great way below at Rees, which lies almost half way between Cleves and Wesel. Those two detachments, notwithstanding the distance of the places, passed the Rhine about the same time, and their manoeuvres were conducted so, as, in a manner to close upon the French. Every thing succeeded as had been projected. As they advanced to their intended junction, all the French posts along the Rhine, with all other boats, fell into the Prince's hands, by which he was enabled to carry over his artillery and the whole of his troops; so that meeting with no opposition, his detachment again separated, and on the 3d of October, one division took possession of Cleves, and three days after, of its castle with 500 men; while another laid siege to Wesel and attacked it with great fury.
The rapid success of this expedition did not prevent its giving rise to many conjectures, and some censures, with regard to its utility to Great Britain. Most people thought that it had been formed to favour, in conjunction with a strong armament which was fitted out at Portsmouth, a powerful diversion on the side of the Austrian Netherlands, which might have obliged the French to desist from forming an army on the Lower Rhine, by which Broglio must have become master of Hanover. But this supposition was chimerical. Hanover had, at this time, in fact, nothing to fear, for, as we have often hinted, Broglio might have become master of it when he pleased. We are therefore to look elsewhere for the motives of this famous expedition.
It is certain, that is was not difficult to foresee there would be great clashings in the court of Great Britain, concerning the vast expence of blood and treasure in which she was involved by the German war. Of all the losses his Prussian Majesty had met with, that of his countries on the Lower Rhine gave him the greatest concern, on several accounts. He had many reasons to suspect that a strong party in the English Ministry were for a separate peace with France, and that the last convention concluded between him and his Britannic Majesty on the 9th of November 1759, began to be greatly condemned, chiefly on account of its fourth article, by which his Britannic Majesty tied himself up from concluding any kind of peace, without the full consent of his Prussian ally. He was sensible, as afterwards proved to be the case, that if a separate peace between Great Britain and France was set on foot, it would not be in the power of the former, to put him by any treaty, in possession of those countries which were held by the French, only in trust for the Empress Queen. At the same time, we are to observe that the subjects of the States General had not behaved towards Great Britain, with such gratitude and attention as intitled them to extraordinary consideration from our crown. Upon the whole, therefore, it is most rational to think, that the irruption of the Hereditary Prince (as was before mentioned) into the territories of Cleves and Gueldres, was secretly concerted between his Prussian Majesty, and the British court, and happy had it been for this nation, if it had been as successful, as it was bold, spirited and well conducted. As to the preparations made at Portsmouth they were disavowed to be intended against the Austrian Netherlands, and their real destination has never been publickly owned. But it is certain, that had they proceeded to the recovery of Neuport and Ostend, and even to overawe some of our allies, a more popular service, at that time, could not have been undertaken by a British Ministry.
Unforeseen accidents disappointed the full effect of the Prince's irruption. One part of his troops was employed in the siege of Wesel, on the right of the Rhine; while another covered it on the left. The siege was carried on with great resolution, and sanguine expectations were formed of its success, by the strong reinforcements that were expected. The vast rains that fell swelled the rivers, and not only put a stop to their progress, but rendered the Prince's communication with the besiegers over the Rhine, extremely difficult. Those prodigious inundations and falls of rain, gave time for the Marquis de Castries to draw together from Hesse and the Low Countries an army of 30 battalions and 38 squadrons, with which he advanced to Rhinberg, which lay in the very heart of the Prince's late acquisitions, and drove the allies, with some loss on both sides, from their posts there. He then turned to the left towards the convent of Campen, where he formed himself very advantageously. The Prince had now apparently only two objects to pursue, he must either fight this superior army in a pitched battle, or abandon the siege of Wesel. His genius suggested to him a medium. For relying on the known valour of the British troops, which as usual, formed the flower of his army, he resolved upon a surprize, and for that purpose, on the 16th of October at ten at night, he began his march. Fischers famous body of irregulars lay between him and the French camp. Some shots were exchanged, the French were alarmed, and instantly drew up in a wood. By this time it was five in the morning, but the sight of the advantageous position of the French, far from daunting the English troops, seemed to inspire them with fresh valour. The action with incessant firings, and repeated attacks on the wood, continued from five in the morning to nine at night. This perseverance may be called obstinacy by some, and madness by others. The Prince animated the troops by his own example, but he was disabled by his horse being shot under him, and he himself receiving a wound; so that he was obliged to order a retreat, which perhaps he might have done long before, without any imputation either upon his courage or conduct. The British troops were the chief, if not the sole, sufferers in this desperate action, but the death of none of them was more lamented both in Germany and England than that of the Lord Downe. He seemed to be born for social and gay life, but the war no sooner broke out, than he applied himself, with a most surprizing progress, to the most laborious duties of a military life. He formed in the country, where he had interest, a handful of his friends and dependents, by his own pains and example, to the exercises of war, in which they were as complete as the best regulars in Europe, and he had the glory to die as a voluntier at their head. The loss of the English in killed and wounded were 1190, and about 500 were made prisoners. After the slaughter of so many brave men, in a battle which ought to have been fought by others, it is but a poor comfort for an English reader to be told that the loss of the French was much greater, though it is some to reflect, that the British valour had impressed the enemy with such ideas, that they durst not follow their victory, for such, indeed, it was they had obtained.
The siege of Wesel became now impracticable to be carried on, and the hourly increase of the waters, had the Prince delayed repassing the Rhine, must have rendered his retreat so likewise. He seized the first opportunity, and his manoeuvres were so well concerted, that the French did not attempt even to disturb his rear, notwithstanding the vast superiority they had over him in all respects, but that of courage. We shall perform the disagreeable task, before we leave the operations of the allied army this year, of following them into their winter-quarters, which proved more fatal to them than the campaign itself, severe as their hardships had been during it, and unequal as the share of service was, which they had undergone. Upon the return of the Hereditary Prince to the allied army, the blockade of Gottingen was attempted, and continued from the 22d of November to the 12th of December following. The operations that preceded this siege was as languid as they were indecisive. A Hanoverian General attempted to take Heydemunden, but failed of success in a most unaccountable, if not shameful, manner; and the Freneh defended Gottingen so bravely, that the blockade was raised. Soon after, both armies rather slipped, than marched, into winter-quarters. Prince Ferdinand made his as comfortable as he could, by having behind him a country not quite exhausted, and by giving large premiums to the country people for supplying his camp with provisions. The winter quarters of the British troops were in the city and bishopric of Paderborn, the most exhausted place, of the most exhausted country in Europe, for such Germany then was. Their miserable condition was encreased by the extortions and villanies of their Jewish and other contractors, and the whole was crowned by the difficulties of the roads through the late rains. The consequences were, that distresses and diseases of all kinds broke in upon them, and carried off a prodigious number both men and horses, while their miseries were embittered by seeing the French in a most advantageous position, where they received, by the Rhine and the Maine, all the comforts of life.
While our army abroad remained in this uncomfortable situation, the great and unexpected event of the death of George the 2d happened, on the 25th of October 1760, between the hours of seven and eight in the morning, in the 77th year of his age, and the 34th of his reign. His death was occasioned by a rupture of the substance of the right ventricle of his heart, which was uncommonly dilated▪ and which, by stopping the circulation, put an immediate end to his life, without the smallest apparent pain. For some years before, he had few or no illnesses, but such as were incident to his advanced age, and his death depended so entirely upon natural causes, which appeared at the time of his body being opened, that it is in vain to seek for any other. The last question he ever asked was, in the morning of his death, when he enquired what quarter the wind was in, and expressed some anxiety about the sailing of his fleet.
The uncommon term of life which he enjoyed, which was longer than that of any of his predecessors, was owing to his temperance, sobriety, and regularity. If he had fits of passion, they were so soon over, that they may be said rather to have circulated his blood, than to have disordered his constitution, and he was blest with a peculiar magnanimity, that quickly got the better of any feelings from the blows of fortune; though he had shewed a sincere concern at the death of his Queen, and was susceptible of the tender, as well as the violent, passions. To his domestics he was a constant and an easy master, and in private he gave them less trouble than any gentleman of five hundred pounds a year would have given his. He was a Prince of indefatigable application to business, and had numerous private correspondents whom he directed and answered with his own hand, for he was generally stirring at seven in the morning, and was employed till near nine in writing letters. By this means, he came to the knowledge of many important particulars in the courts he was concerned with, and it was thought, he had the best intelligence of any man in England. Sometimes, however, he was imposed on, though, upon the whole, it cost him vast sums. He was equally just to his private as public, engagements. He hated lying, and detested cowardice. In his private oeconomy he was most exact, and in his personal expences more frugal, than became a great King. He may be said to have been rather magnanimous than generous. He looked upon the many exorbiant abuses and impositions that prevailed in his court, as the lawful perquisites of his state officers and their dependents, and never encouraged any severe reformation of his public expences. From this principle, he suffered himself in some particulars to be ill treated, and in others to be served with scarcely the decency, far less the magnificence, that ought to appear in a royal palace.
As the head justiciary of his people, he was scrupulous of blood, and has been often known to inform himself minutely of the circumstances of the trial, before he signed the sentence, but this tenderness never led him to break into the great lines of either public or private justice. He was so conscious of the difficulty he had to resist applications in capital matters, that he formally declared, upon the suppression of the rebellion of 1745, that he should be directed by his council as to the punishment of the offenders, and it is said, he strictly adhered to this resolution. His person, though scarcely of midling stature, was erect and well made. His air bespoke him to be a King, and there was a dignity even in the negligences of his dress. That he had great natural courage, would be ridiculous to doubt, and he was himself a most excellent General. But we must now attend the most public parts of his character, in which he will appear, every thing considered, superior to the most glorious of his predecessors.
He came to England with strong prepossessions and some prejudices, as to parties and public affairs. It was not without reason, he thought he had been ill treated by the tories, and that Queen Anne had encouraged a faction in favour of the Pretender. He had been bred up with the highest opinion of the measures formed by King William against the power of France, and he had served under the most illustrious Generals of that confederacy. He thought, that the support of the house of Austria against that of Bourbon ought to be the ruling principle of every German patriot, and it was so much his own, that even after he came to the crown, he voluntarily ventured his person at the head of an army in that cause; and this, together with the vast subsidies he and his Parliament granted to the heiress of the Austrian succession, enabled her to maintain it, otherwise she must have lost it. Notwithstanding many provocations he received from her obstinacy and inveteracy against the King of Prussia, during the course of that war, he never would have abandoned her, had she not abandoned every principle of justice, honour, and policy, in joining with France, the hereditary enemy of his own and her dominions. His attachments to his electorate, strong and natural as they are acknowledged to have been, gave way on the same occasion; a signal proof of the rectitude of his heart, as well as the soundness of his judgment. Tho' the chief imputation upon his reign is the abovementioned attachment, yet if we should candidly examine it, it would be found to spring from the concern he took, in preserving the independency of the Germanic constitution, with which he was perfectly well acquainted, and upon which he thought the liberties of all Europe depended. If he erred in this, he erred in common with the greatest patriots and politicians, that this, and the four preceding ages have produced, even in England itself.
His conduct as a King of Great Britain was irreproachable, for he suffered on many occasions his public duties, to get the better of his private affections. By the mere force of good sense he guided parties, by suffering them to think that they were guiding him; for, during the long course of his reign, he never once failed attaining the favourite objects he kept in view. He had the happiness to live till he saw national parties abolished in his regal dominions. This, towards the latter end of his reign, rendered his natural disposition practicable, mild, and indeed amiable, and those qualities every day grew, by the encrease of his subjects affection to his person and family, which they procured him. This was the true source of that unexampled unanimity, which during the latter years of his reign, rendered him one of the greatest monarchs that ever sat on any throne.
Having said thus much, we may almost venture to pronounce, that he died in the height of his happiness, as well as of his glory. Had he survived a few months, his satisfaction must have been embittered, by the growing discontents of his subjects, at the sufferings of their brave countrymen in Germany, as well as the prodigious expences and subsidies paid to maintain that war. The enemies of his government, during the first twelve or thirteen years of his reign, accused it of scandalous corruption at home, and inglorious inactivity abroad. We shall not vindicate his then Minister, further than by repeating what he said himself, that when he came to power, such was his degeneracy of the English, that he was obliged to bribe them even to their duty. That our foreign inactivity was inglorious, is far from being clear; but it is certain, that during that inactivity, the commerce of Great Britain was silently rooting itself through all quarters of the Globe, and produced those glorious fruits which we reaped when activity became necessary. Before we close this part of his character, it is but doing it common justice to observe, that his electoral dominions, against the general opinion, were irreparably injured by the accession of his family to the crown of Great Britain, and this may serve as an apology for any little partialities he shewed his subjects there, by sometimes keeping his court at Hanover.
The polite arts flourished in England during his reign, tho' they were but little indebted to his encouragement. Besides German, French and Italian, he had no mean knowledge of the Latin, and could converse in the English tongue, but he read his speeches to parliament with a bad grace, and in a disagreeable tone. He encouraged a strict, but not a severe, far less a cruel, observance of military discipline, and he loved those Generals, as well as Ministers, whose years approached nearest to his own. But he often employed those who were much younger, and till he did so, it cannot be said, that his armies were in any excellent condition. He was as placable in his public, as he was in his private, resentments. Though he hated France, yet he never manifested that hatred indecently, and when he came into a good understanding with his nephew the King of Prussia, he talked of him, as if there never had been the least difference between them. When the party, that had given him the greatest uneasiness in his royal dominions, came into power, (which some of its leaders certainly did against his inclination) he seemed to have lost all remembrance of what had passed; and at the same time he never altered his countenance or manner towards those Ministers and officers of state who had been removed. Notwithstanding all this, he was much subject to personal prepossessions, which he never was at pains to conceal, for he seemed to catch them by impulse. But they seldom were known to be attended with consequences to the prejudice of their objects. His temperance and frugality induced many to think he died rich, especially as he had a large privy purse; but that was far from being the case. The money and effects of every kind, that he left behind him, were of very little value, which must be owing to his private bounties. But I am now to return to the main subject of this review, by resuming the history of the Prussian and Austrian war.
It is more than probable, that the present King and his Ministers, upon his Majesty's accession to the throne, had secretly resolved to bind up the wounds of England and Europe, and to close the scene of blood; but to do it in a way that was consistent with their own, and the national honour. An immediate publication of such a resolution must have been attended with the worst effects both at home and abroad, as it must have damped the interests of his Prussian Majesty, and of our protestant allies in Germany. Therefore, on the 18th of November, when the Parliament met, his Majesty declared he would continue the war, till he should obtain a safe and honourable peace. This declaration gave great spirits to his Prussian Majesty, who was at this time in the southern parts of Silesia, while a great body of Russians under Count Czernichew, had entered the new Marche of Brandenburgh, and 15,000 Austrians proposed to meet them under the Generals Lacy and Brentano at the gates of Berlin, the whole amounting to 40,000 men. The Prussian Generals Hulsen and Werner, after a variety of rapid marches and artful movements, endeavoured to cover that capital; but their whole force did not amount to 16,000 men; so that all they could do was to make a faint opposition to the advanced body of the Russians under Count Tottleben, and to retreat, after throwing into the city three incomplete battalions. Thus his Prussian Majesty's capital, the proud the envied seat of arms and arts, adorned with all the improvements and beauties, that a long series of wise princes could give it, the populous residence of the popish, as well as the reformed religion, was in a manner abandoned to the power of inveterate enemies, and barbarous conquerors, who were pleased with the near prospect they had of plundering one of the finest cities in the world. The inhabitants were manufacturers, shopkeepers, merchants and artists, but they knew nothing of arms, and gave themselves up to total despondency. The garrison was weak and became prisoners of war; so that the former had now nothing to depend upon to save them from the worst of fates, but the mediation of the foreign Ministers residing at Berlin. This proved far more effectual than was expected. A free exercise of religion was granted to the inhabitants; they were to be protected in in their persons and effects, and it was agreed that the Russian irregulars should not enter the city. Notwithstanding those favourable terms, great excesses were committed. The regulars, who marched in, destroyed the magazines, the foundaries, and all the warehouses of military stores, of which they seized immense quantities, besides artillery and arms. The contributions that were demanded amounted to a regular kind of plundering the city. Eight hundred thousand guilders were ordered to be immediately paid down, and a further contribution of 1,900,000 German crowns was imposed, and it was with the utmost difficulty that the officers were able to preserve a tolerable degree of discipline amongst the barbarians.
The public, considering the exasperated state of the Austrians, was surprized that the inhabitants of Berlin had suffered so little as they did. We may partly account for this by the great indulgences, and freedom they enjoyed in that city, which made it the residence of strangers of all religions, and from all parts of Germany; so that it is easy to be supposed, the Austrians, (officers as well as soldiers) who entered it, had many friends and relations there. This account is the more probable, as both Austrians and Russians were guilty of the most ungenerous and unmanly depredations upon the royal palace. Like true descendents of the Goths and Vandals, they plundered the royal palace of Charlottenburg, destroyed the furniture they could not carry off, defaced, the paintings, and broke in pieces the noble collection of antique and other statues that had belonged to the Brandenburg family, and particularly that made by the famous Cardinal Polignac. The Queen's castle of Schonhausen, and that of the Margrave Charles of Fredericksfield experienced the like treatment. Amidst the numerous host of barbarians, one General was found who deserves a better epithet. This was Prince Esterhasi, who took possession of the palace of Potsdam, his Prussian Majesty's sans souci. All the ravage there committed was, that the Prince in viewing the apartments, took into his custody the picture which he was told bore the greatest resemblance to his Prussian Majesty, and two German flutes which he usually played on, and even that, not without asking the leave of the keepers of the palace.
On the 13th of October, Berlin was evacuated after groaning for four days under the scourge of the Austrians and Russians, who left Brandenburg little better than a desert, having destroyed the country and carried off all the horses and cattle they could find. The consequence of this blow upon his Prussian Majesty was, that having no army in Saxony, his enemies after leaving Berlin, recovered all that electorate, while Stainville at the head of a detachment of Broglio's army, laid Hulberstadt under contribution, and the Russians laid siege to the important sea-port of Colberg. The Swedes, all this while, were advancing in the western Pomerania, and in Silesia. Laudohn invested the fortress of Cosel. In short, upon the whole, his Prussian Majesty's affairs seemed to be now more desperate than ever. When his enemies took the cities of Wittemberg, Meissen, Leipsic, and Torgau, he lost all his immense magazines of stores, and he himself was closely watched by a far superior army, under the most vigilent general of his age, Count Daun, without his knowing where to take his winter quarters; so completely had his enemies ravaged his dominions. He had made some movements towards the relief of his capital, and upon its being evacuated, he passed the Elbe the 25th of October, as Daun did the same day. Soon after his Majesty was joined by his Generals, Hulsen and Prince Eugene of Wirtemberg, but found himself under circumstances in which he could get relief only from despair. His was not of the blind, furious kind; his dispositions were as wise as his conduct was intrepid. Daun, that he might cover Leipsic and Torgau, had fallen back upon the latter, and his Prussian Majesty saw him encamped at the head of 80,000 men, secured on the one side by the Elbe of the other by Morasses, hills and woods, with 200 pieces of cannon in his front, where alone he could be attacked. His Prussian Majesty, undaunted by that dreadful object, acquainted his troops in person, on the 3d of November, that he would that day set them an example to conquer or die. He gave General Hulsen the command of his right wing, with orders to take post in a wood to the left of the Austrians, and there to wait till the battle should begin. General Ziethen with the left wing, was to attack the right of the enemy, while the King was to make the grand charge in the front. These dispositions directed Daun in his, and he made them in a masterly manner. Ziethen began the attack, upon which his Majesty hastened his march. The situation of both armies was such, according to the accounts published at Magdeburg, that either the Prussian right or left must take the enemy in their rear, and so prevent their affording any assistance to that part of their army, where the main attack was to be made. It would be mispending the readers time to think of describing a battle so extensive and complicated, as this was, in which, even they who were present, disagree as to their several relations. It is allowed on all hands that his Prussian Majesty, rapid and intrepid as his charge was, was three times repulsed with great slaughter; but General Ziethen having beat the right wing of the Austrians, made himself master of some advantageous eminences, and galloping up with a strong body of horse to sustain the infantry, the latter, notwithstanding their prodigious losses and fatigues, returned once more to the charge, and proved victorious. The enemy was every where routed with vast slaughter after a continued engagement, from two in the afternoon to nine at night, when the Austrians were obliged to repass the Elbe, which they did in excellent order.
This battle was the most important of any his Prussian Majesty had yet gained, and cost him the dearest, but it was attended with the most wonderful, though favourable, circumstances for him. He had lost in killed and wounded about 10,000 of his best men, besides 3000 who were made prisoners. The loss of the Austrians in men was not greater. The Prussians, however, made about 8,000 prisoners, amongst whom were four Generals, and 216 other officers, and were in possession of the greatest number of warlike trophies taken from the enemy. Both sides seem to agree that the Prussians victory was owing, next to their own valour, and that of their King, to a wound which Count Daun received in the thigh, and which obliged him to retire from the field of battle, and to leave the command to General O'Donnel, who ordered the retreat. The pitchy darkness of the night was equally favourable to both armies, fatigued and exhausted as they were.
The court of Vienna was surprized, astonished, and ashamed at this sudden reverse of fortune. In vain did the Ministers of the Queen in publications of every kind, endeavour to extenuate their loss, and to magnify that of their enemy; all they could do was to keep up the desponding spirits of their allies. They could not dissemble that, besides all the other disadvantages the Prussians lay under in the attack, the Austrians were 30,000 superior to them in the field, so that the palm of generalship and discipline was by the public voice adjudged to his Prussian Majesty, who received a contusion in the breast, and during the hottest of the action, exposed his person, as if he had known himself to be immortal. But the consequences decided beyond all dispute the victory to be in his favour, for he recovered all Saxony but its capital, and he was in no condition to besiege that, because Count Daun had posted all his army, which was still more numerous than that of the Prussians in that city, or in cantonments round it. In the mean time the Prussian General Werner had, after the evacuation of Berlin, been sent with a body of troops into Pomerania, where he obliged the Russians to abandon the long continued siege of Colberg, and after defeating the Swedes in the western parts of that province, he forced them to fall back upon Stralsund, and to abandon the whole of the Prussian Pomerania. On the side of Silesia, Laudohn was obliged to raise the siege of Cosel to abandon Landshut, and to retire into the Austrian Silesia, while the Russians had entirely evacuated the other parts of his Prussian Majesty's dominions, and the army of the Empire, about the same time, retired into Franconia.
His Prussian Majesty lost no advantage that could possibly be drawn from his victory at Torgau, as was before mentioned. Pretending to have received great provocation, he taxed the circle of Leipsic alone, not only in its ordinary revenue, and in vast magazines of provisions, but in two millions of crowns for the ensuing year, a contribution, which London itself, the richest city in the world, would have found difficult to raise. All the other parts of Misnia were taxed in the same proportion, and, estimating the Saxons as beasts of burden, he made the raising 20,000 of them, for recruiting his army, a part of their contributions. But no country suffered more from his Prussian Majesty's successes, than the dominions of the Dukes of Mecklenburgh, which were so unfortunately situated, with regard to those of Prussia, that they were deprived of relief from their allies. The treatment which those Princes met with, and the hardships inflicted on their subjects, were, perhaps, more than severe, and are said to have drawn from the pen of a young Princess, who now fills the most august throne in the world, a pathetic representation of her family and country's sufferings, which touched even his Prussian Majesty, but made much deeper impressions in the breast of another, and a greater royal personage, to whom the letter was communicated. Such was the situation of affairs on the continent of Europe, at the close of the year 1760, that of the Prussians was indeed become better, but that of the British troops was very undesireable, while the Austrians and the French, by preserving their communications, the former with the Elbe, and the latter with the Rhine, enjoyed comfortable winter quarters.
We are now to attend the motions of a marine Don Quixote. Thurot had all the enterprising, genius, the valour, the generosity, and even the magnanimity of that celebrated knight errand. His birth was obscure, if not fabulous, and his outset into the world romatic. He, however, raised himself by a series of bold, but fortunate adventures, to the notice of the French ministry, who appointed him to the command of five frigates, with 1270 land soldiers on board. During the equipment of those frigates of Dunkirk, various were the conjectures of the public, which probably never was determined any further, than that Thurot should make a landing on some part of Ireland, which should be most convenient for favouring the grand expedition under Conflans. On the 5th of October, 1759, the five frigates escaped the English fleet, in a hazy night, out of Dunkirk; in ten days they reached Gottenburg in Sweden, and after that, Bergen in Norway, but not without suffering so much by sickness and stress of weather, that Thurot was obliged to send his best frigate back to France. Sailing from Bergen, he was, for almost three months, buffetted about the seas, and lost one of his remaining frigates, which has never since been heard of. In vain he attempted to land near Derry in Ireland, and, on the 16th of February, he was obliged to put into the isle of Ilay, one of the Hebrides of the coast of Scotland, where he refitted his ships, and paid, even to profusion, for some provisions and cattle they took in. The accounts he received of the defeat of Conflans appeared to him suspicious, and did not deter him from pursuing his course towards Ireland, where, on the 28th of February, he landed his troops, which were now reduced to 600 men, at Carrickfergus; but, by draughts from the seamen, he made a shift to muster up about 1000 on the breach, and with them he proceeded to attack the town, which was defended by Colonel Jennings, with about four companies of new raised men, destitute of cannon and with very little ammunition. The Colonel, however, made the best defence he could at the gate of the town, till his ammunition being spent, he drew off his men towards the Castle, which, like the town wall, was old, ruinous and untenable, so that his men were obliged to surrender themselves prisoners of war. After this, Carrickfergus, because its magistrates refused to comply with Thurot's demands of wine and provisions, was plundered, and Thurot re-imbarked his men for France.
The Duke of Bedford was then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and receiving early intelligence of Thurot's descent, he dispatched an express to Kinsale for three English frigates, who lay there to sail in quest of Thurot. One of those frigates, commanded by Captain Elliot, carried 36 guns, the other two, 32 each, and so great was their dispatch, that they came up with Thurot in sight of the Isle of Man. Here the ascendency of the British, over the French maritime genius, was fully proved. Thurot's ships were of greater force, and he fought with a great superiority of numbers on his side. He had every motive that could animate a brave man to exert his utmost, which indeed he did, for he was killed in the discharge of his duty, and all the three ships, being taken by the English, were carried into Ramsay bay in the Isle of Man. Thurot was lamented, less, perhaps, by his countrymen, than his enemies, who had often experienced his humanity, as well as his courage; and thus the only insult, that his Britannic Majesty's European coasts had suffered during the war, was amply revenged.—We are now to attend America.
After the French had been forced to raise the siege of Quebec, Vaudreuil the Governor of Canada took post at Montreal, where he assembled all his force, with the appearance of preparing for a decisive effort. Finding the Canadians were discouraged, he had resource to circulating, by his letters to them, the meanest lies, on the prodigious successes of the French arms through all the quarters of the globe, to keep up their spirits, while the difficulty of entering Canada, he thought, would put the British troops under such difficulties as would render all attempts against Montreal fruitless, at least for that campaign.
On the 21st of June, Mr. Amherst, who commanded in chief the British forces in America, left Shenectady, and on the 9th of July, he arrived at Oswego, where, on a review of his army, he found it to amount to 10,000 men, of whom 1000, a sight never known before, were Iroquois, brought by Sir William Johnson to fight in a British quarrel. Before Sir William Johnson left Shenectady, he had ordered General Murray to advance with all the force he could spare from the garrison of Quebec, towards Montreal, while Colonel Haviland was to sail from Crown Point, and after taking possession of the Isle au Noix, to proceed to Montreal likewise. On the 10th of August, Amherst's army embarked with its baggage, ammunition, and artillery, on the lake of Ontario, the most numerous body, perhaps, that ever traversed in boats so prodigious an expance of water. Good fortune, and good conduct, equally befriended him. He took Swegatchie and invested L'Isle Royal, in the river of St. Laurence, the forts of which surrendered to him on the 25th of August. Having made all the proper arrangements in that island, which is of the utmost importance for commanding the Lake, as well as securing the British frontier, he proceeded to the most difficult part of his expedition, that of encountering the rapid falls of the river St. Laurence, between L'Isle Royal and Montreal. Amherst surmounted even that difficulty, with the loss of many of his vessels, but no more than ninety lives; and on the 6th of September, his army came in sight of Montreal, the second city of importance for strength, situation and riches in the French America. The very day that Amherst landed here, General Murray landed from Quebec, and next day Haviland from the Isle au Noix; so great was the precision with which this expedition was planned and executed.
After surmounting such incredible difficulties, and arriving before Montreal, the British Generals scarcely thought the reduction of that place
o be an object of their concern. Vaudreuil surrendered it, and the garrison were sent prisoners to France on condition of their not serving again that war. Nothing, in the success of this expedition, covered the British Generals with so much glory, as did the humanity which attended their conquests. Except at the Isle Royal no blood was spilt, and it was with the utmost reluctance that General Murray in his march from Quebec, found himself under a necessity of giving orders for setting on fire some villages whose inhabitants were in arms against him. At Montreal no person was injured. The British Generals relieved the misery of the Canadians, by giving them food, and notwithstanding all the provocations they had received during the course of the war, from the treachery of the French, they employed their soldiers in defending them, from the scalping knives of their own, the neutral, and the British savages, who know no ties of obedience or gratitude but conquest.
During the reduction of Montreal, which completed our conquest of all Canada, a British squadron under Lord Colville, commanded the mouth of the river St. Laurence, which three French frigates, with about 20 sail of ships, loaded with troops and military stores for relieving Montreal, observing they put into the bay of Chaleurs, but being discovered, their whole armament was taken by the Lord Byron, a Captain of one of the British ships.
The French were equally unsuccessful in their other schemes upon the vast continent. Having, by means of their missionaries, a much greater power, than the English have over the minds of the savages, they had debauched the Cherokee Indians into their interest, and there was reason for believing, that the Creeks, another very powerful nation, would follow their example. Whatever flattering pictures philosophers or philosophical historians may exhibit of human nature in its most savage state, there is reason to believe from repeated experience, that the American Indians in general, have no sentiments but those of cruelty, revenge and rapine, which they never sail to gratify; and that they are to be awed only by force. Mr. Lyttleton, who was the Governor of Carolina, knew this, and in October, 1759, he marched with about 1100 regulars and provincials, 300 miles into their country, lying between Keeowee and Charles Town. The barbarians, thus seeing their persons and possessions exposed to immediate destruc
ion, humbled themselves before the Governo
, and agreed to all the terms he imposed. They even put into his hands such of their countrymen as had been guilty of the greatest barbarities and murders upon the English, and gave him 22 hostages for their performance.
Mr. Littleton having, as he had reason to think, been successful in his expedition, returned to his government: but no sooner was his back turned, than the very same Savages blocked up Fort Loudon, and attempted to take Fort Edward. General Amherst, hearing of this, sent Colonel Montgomery to relieve those two British forts, and to chastise the barbarians, with a regiment of Highlanders, a battalion of Royal Americans, some grenadiers, and the provincial troops. Upon his entering the country of the Savages, he burnt one of their capital towns consisting of about 200 houses, and making war after their own manner, he spread terror and desolation wherever he came. He marched on to the middle Cherokees, and in his progress fell into an ambush, where he had 20 men killed and 80 wounded. Though the enemy in this skirmish lost 80 men, besides a considerable town, yet the Colonel perceiving that he must every day meet with such encounters as he advanced, found it necessary to retreat to Fort St. George, from whence he went to New York, to rejoin the grand army; but left behind him 400 men for the protection of the province. But by this time the garrison of Fort Loudon having consumed all their provisions was obliged to come to a capitulation, August the 7th, with the barbarians, who most infamously broke it by butchering all the officers but one, and by carrying such of the soldiers as they did not kill into the most miserable of all captivities. We are now to take a long stride from America to Asia.
On the 16th of April, 1759, after the siege of Fort St. George had been raised, Major Brereton took the town and fort of Conjioeram; as Major Ford did by storm the city of Masulipatam; while Colonel Clive drove the French out of the rich province of Bengal. Thus the English company was possessed of the commerce of a vast trading and manufacturing country on the coast of Coromandel, while that of their enemies was confined almost to Pondicherry alone. In September, Major Brereton at the head of about 12,000 men, was defeated with the loss of 3 or 4000 killed and wounded, by an army of French and Indians; and the French General Lally threatened the siege of Trichenopoly. In the mean while, Colonel Coote, with all the troops he could assemble, took Wandewash in three days, making the garrison prisoners of war; and in four he became master of Carongoly, and obliged the garrison to march out of the place. Those two places were taken, the first on the 30th of November, and the last on the 10th of December. Upon this Lally laid siege to Wandewash, a place of the utmost importance to either party, and probably would have retaken it, had not Colonel Coote, with inconceivable diligence marched to its relief. This brought on a battle. Lally's army was composed of about 2200 Europeans and between nine and 10,000 blacks, that of Coote amounted to about 1700 Europeans and 3000 blacks. The victory fell to the English after a bloody dispute; for the French were totally routed and their camp and artillery were taken. Of the French army about 1000 were killed and wounded, and amongst the prisoners was Brigadier General Bussy, who was reckoned the richest subject in the world; the Chevalier Godeville, quarter-master General, and Lieutenant Colonel Murphy. Of the English, 200 were killed and wounded, amongst the former was the brave Major Brereton, and 70 of their black soldiers were slain or wounded.
This important victory did great honour to Colonel Coote as a commander. It opened his way to Chittiput and Arcot the capital of the province; both which places were reduced by the English, and in the latter 300 Europeans were made prisoners of war. On the 4th of September, Admiral Pocock defeated the fleet of M. D'Ache the French Admiral, and obliged him to take shelter under the walls of Pondicherry. This naval victory was the more glorious to the conqueror as D'Ache was not only a most excellent officer, but commanded a fleet far superior to that of the English in the number and largeness of men and ships, as well as the weight of metal. In this fight, which continued very hot for above two hours, eight English ships stood the fire of 16 French, and lost 560 men, while the loss of the French was 1000, and the vessels on both sides were disabled; D'Ache retired under the cannon of Pondicherry, where Pocock, after he had refitted his ships, braved and blocked him up. Soon after, upon the junction of Admiral Cornish with Pocock on the coast of Coromandel, the French ships found means to escape, and some of them saved themselves, it was thought, by sailing to the island St. Mauritius, for they disappeared from those seas. The consequence of this was, that Admiral Cornish and Major Monkton took possession, on the 5th of April, of the important fortress of Carcal; and thus the French power on that coast was confined to Pondicherry, and a few other inconsiderable places.
Pondicherry is a noble strong town, four leagues in circumference, and about 40 miles distant from the English settlement of Madrass. The French at this place had been accumulating wealth for many years; and it was now the center of all the riches in those parts, being well provided with artillery and military stores. The officer, who commanded the garrison, was Lally an Irishman, or of an Irish family, a man, whimsical, haughty and ill fitted for either superiority over, or society with, the wealthy, dissolute, proud, selfish French Asiatics. At the same time he was sober, faithful, brave to excess, and an excellent disciplinarian. When the siege of Pondicherry was resolved on, the garrison consisted of about 1500 European regulars; and Lally, who had the utmost abhorrence for the profligacy and impiety of the merchants and inhabitants, obliged many of them to do duty likewise, when Colonel Coote and Admiral Stevens, the first by land, the other by sea, invested the place. It was surrounded by adjacent fortresses, which in former sieges had given us great trouble, but were now easily reduced, as the neighbouring country was in the hands of the English. The approaching rainy seasons, and Lally's known character for resolution, rendered a regular siege unadvisable, and a blockade by sea and land, for obvious reasons, was resolved on. This blockade was supported and assisted by proper batteries, which continually harrassed the garrison and were daily, though insensibly, drawing near to the place, but were incommoded by the rainy weather.
Those kind of operations continued for seven months, the batteries being sometimes ruined and sometimes repaired by the indefatigable perseverance of the English, in both which they were equalled by the French. The English, however, had the comfort to reflect, that, amidst all their hardships and labours the purposes of the blockade were still going on; and that the French within the place were reduced to live on dogs, cats, elephants and camels, and that even those loathsome kinds of food must, if the blockade continued, fail them in a few days. The French seldom lose their hopes. They comforted themselves with the thoughts of being relieved by their fleet; but a storm which happened on the first of January 1761, gave them a much better grounded assurance of deliverance. This storm destroyed four English ships of the line and drove the rest from the blockade. Upon this Lally, the day after, wrote a letter to Raymond the French resident at Pullicat, in which letter he in a manner annihilates the English fleet. His beginning and concluding sentences may give the reader some idea of this General's sanguine impetuosity. He begins,
The English squadron is no more, Sir.
He concludes,
in short, risque all, force all, attempt all, and send us some rice, should it be but half a garse at a time.
His hopes were short lived. In four days after the storm, and before the garrison could receive the smallest supply, Admiral Stevens again appeared before the place and renewed the blockade with 11 ships of the line and a frigate; and a large battery was advanced within 450 yards of the rampart.
The garrison had now only three days miserable provision to subsist on; but this wretchedness made no impression upon the disposition of Lally. He continued at best passively sullen, pretending, that the English breaches of faith disabled him from treating with them. At last, however, a signal for cessation was made, and the principal of the Jesuits with two civilians, but without any apparent authority from the Governor, were sent out to treat with the English. As this deputation had no legal commission to treat, the English knew not well how to behave; but being given to understand that they would meet with no opposition from the Governor, they took possession of the place and all its immense riches; and thus, excepting the unimportant settlement of Makie on the coast of Malabar, which was soon after reduced, the whole trade of the vast peninsula of India, the richest of any in the known world, fell into the hands of the English, through the unparallelled intrepidity and perseverance of their officers and soldiers. But we are now to give an account, before we close the history of this war, of an internal revolution in India which threatened to deprive us of all our amazing successes.
The famous Timur Beg or Tamerlane, at the head of his savage Moguls, a hideous race, conquered India and its vast peninsula, which he left to a branch of his family. That branch failing, another which was driven out of Buckharia, and from thence to Persia passed the Ind; and such was the veneration of the inhabitants for a descendant of Timur Beg, that he mounted the throne of his ancestors under the appellation of the Great Mogul, which is there synonimous with that of Great Conqueror; and for some years he and his prosperity made use of none but Mogul guards, by which they established a most unbounded despotism over their Indian subjects. Though neither they nor the Moguls are very nice in matters of succession, yet it has been always found necessary for the succeeding Emperors there, ever since the days of Aureng Zebe, to claim some kindred with the Timur Beg blood. At the time we now treat of, the Marattas were the military force of India, and having deposed the late Great Mogul, his son Sha Zaddah assumed that title, but his authority was disputed by some provinces. Being supported by Mr. Law a French officer, nephew to the celebrated Mississippi Law, at the head of about 200 French fugitives, he made great progress in asserting his title, and at last Law persuaded him, at the head of 80,000 of his country troops, and, what he had a much greater dependence on, the 200 French, to march against the English in Bengal. They were met by 20,000 of the same country troops and 500 English under the command of Major Carnac, who in a pitched battle entirely defeated them, and made the young Mogul, and his General Law, prisoners, the very day on which Pondicherry was surrendered.
The fortune of the English prevailed equally in other parts of India. Jaffier Ali Cawn who had, in the manner already related, been raised to the Nabobship of Bengal, grew intoxicated with his power, even to a kind of phrenzy, which lost him the protection of the English, who obliged him to resign his government in favour of his son in law, which he did without resistance. This new Nabob confirmed and encreased the English privileges in Bengal to such an extent as drew upon them the jealousy of the Dutch, which occasioned some very disagreeable consequences from an actual invasion of that country by the Dutch, with a design, as is said, utterly to extirpate the English in Bengal. They were, however, repelled by the valour of the English, and the matter is now under a civil deliberation, which makes it improper for a Martial Review. During those transactions in India the Count D'Estaign, a French officer, with no more than two frigates of ordinary force, by his valour, conduct and activity, reflected reproach upon his countrymen in all other parts of the globe. In October 1759, he destroyed the English settlement of Bender Abassi in the gulph of Persia. After that, he reduced Bencoolen in the isle of Sumatra, where we carry on great trade, especially in pepper, and ruined all our forts and settlements there. This enterprising adventurer afterwards fell into the hands of the English, and has been accused of committing all those hostilities while he was there, prisoner on his parole. Though we can say nothing positively as to that fact, yet we apprehend it must be either false or mis-stated, because the British government suffered him to return to France without ransom, and he has, since the signature of the late preliminaries, been nominated to their chief command in India. And here we close our Review of the war in that country and return to Europe.
During the winter of 1760, and the beginning of 1761, the French winter quarters on the Lower Rhine, in Hesse, and upon the frontiers of Hanover were not only secure but plentiful; while those of the allies were the reverse. Discontents in England concerning the management of the German war had now risen to a greater height than ever, and Prince Ferdinand, notwithstanding the rigour of the season, drew his troops together on the 9th of November, and began his march in three divisions. The hereditary Prince and the Marquis of Granby, left the country of Hesse to the Eastward, at the head of the right division, General Sporken penetrated into Thuringia with the left, and our German General with the center marched directly towards Cassel. It is inconceivable what Prince Ferdinand could mean by such a plan of bold operations. The French could have no rational expectation of them, and as they were executed with amazing rapidity and spirit, their army was thrown into a consternation, which bore some symptoms of a total rout, The hereditary Prince and the Marquis of Granby, who were most advanced, struck the first blow; but the former was repulsed before Fritzlar, and Breidenbach a Hanoverian General lost his life in attempting to surprize Marbourg; both checks being attended with a considerable loss on the part of the allies. Fritzlar, being again attempted by cannon, surrendered on the 15th of February; and the Marquis of Granby, after reducing the adjacent forts, pushed forward at the head of the English cavalry with so much spirit, that vast magazines of the French fell into the hands of the allies, which kept the horses, perhaps the men, alive in that exhausted country. The French would gladly have fired those magazines, but were so closely pursued that they had no time, and they fell back almost to the Mayne.
Thus far this unintelligible attempt (as was before mentioned) succeeded beyond any reasonable expectation; but the wisest heads amongst the French officers gave themselves but little concern with regard to the sequel. The siege and recovery of Cassel was Prince Ferdinand's great object, but an object in all probability unattainable at that season of the year, as the garrison was extremely strong, and Marshal Broglio, though he had retreated towards Frankfort, hung over him with a superior army, and had now recalled to his assistance the detachments he had sent to the Lower Rhine. Those rapid successes of the allies, for Sporken was victorious on his side, led them into many mistakes, for while they were driving the French from their cantonments and weak passes, they left behind them large tracts of unguarded country, and places provided with garrisons in number and strength almost equal to armies. All the allies had hitherto acquired was by
coups du main,
but the siege of Cassel was now regularly formed, and Marpurg and Ziegenhagen blockaded by them, and Prince Ferdinand made such a disposition as was best suited for carrying on the siege of Cassel under the direction of the Count of Lippe Schoumbourg, and watched the motions of the Marshal Broglio. But all those dispositions, however plausible, were found to be fundamentally wrong. Sporken, though he had been successful, and had driven the French back to Bamberg, had his retreat cut off with considerable loss by the Count de Vaux the French governor of Gottingen, who likewise took the town of Duderstadt, so that Sporken was obliged to rejoin the main army under Prince Ferdinand, where his presence now became necessary. The strong posts of Marpurg and Ziegenhagen lay to the rear of the allied army, and in their front they had the collected strength of Marshal Broglio, and all this while the important siege of Cassel was going forward.
Broglio, having laid his plan of operations, attacked the advanced parts of the allies under the Hereditary Prince near Grunberg, which, consisting of Hessians, Hanoverians, and Brunswickers, whom he entirely routed making 2000 prisoners. Upon receiving this severe blow, the allies abandoned the siege of Cassel, after 27 days open trenches. The blockade of Ziegenhagen was broken up, their other posts abandoned, and having once more evacuated Hesse, they fell back upon the Dymel near to their former quarters. Upon the whole, the allies by this unaccountable expedition acquired only somewhat to eat, and could be said to fight, not so much for territory or glory, as for victuals; and all the good resulting from it, was, that it cost the French some time to repair their magazines.
An expedition was at this time equipping in England, that if possible, was more unaccountable than Prince Ferdinand's irruption into Hesse. This was against the wretched barren island of Belleisle lying on the coast of France, and upon which, 5000 inhabitants may be said, rather to breathe, than to live, in miserable huts. It has, however, a small fortified city, called Palais, which was defended by a garrison under the Chevalier de Croix. This expedition, against a place that never could be of use to England, astonished all Europe, as the very expence of the equipment amounted to a greater sum than fifty times the value of the fee simple of the whole island, if sold, could have produced. The command of the sea armament was given to Commodore Keppel, that of the land to General Hodgson. Our troops, in attempting first to land, met with a bloody repulse. On the 25th of April, they made their landing good. The siege of Palais was formed, and after some disagreeable incidents, which happened to our troops, the place, on the 7th of June, capitulated. The city of London in compliment to their favourite minister, addressed the King on this occasion, while, thinking men saw with regret so much British courage, blood, and treasure, employed on so worthless an object.
By this time▪ the negotiations for peace had been set on foot between the courts of London and Versailles; and the irruption of Prince Ferdinand into Hesse was no longer a mystery. A negotiation at Augsburgh, for which the plenipotentiaries of the belligerent powers had been named, was still depending, but it was foreseen, that the variety of their claims and interests would either prolong the conferences to an unmeasureable, and indeed an indefinite, length, or render them entirely fruitless, and therefore a separate negotiation between France and England was thought more practicable. Of those two powers, the French ministry was unanimous, but insidious; that of England was divided. The French earnesty desired peace, and would have made almost any concessions to have obtained it, but the character of the British minister, who maintained his credit by the success and continuance of the war, gave them but small prospect of success; they therefore turned their eyes to Spain. They represented to his Catholic Majesty, who was himself extremely well disposed to adopt the doctrine, the danger which the house of Bourbon was exposed to, by the prevalence of the British arms, and the unavoidable ruin of the Spanish empire in America, if the war would continue, unless his Catholic Majesty would interpose and take part with France. Charles of Spain, naturally inclined to peace, and to the enjoyment of the vast treasures he was every day amassing by his late succession to the crown of Spain; but fearing that the English would proceed to the conquest of St. Domingo, and afterwards to that of Mexico and Peru, by which his empire must be in a manner annihilated, he with great reluctance and secrecy entered into a treaty with France, which is now well known by the name of the family compact. By this treaty, the contracting parties guaranty each others dominions; and each takes a common concern with the other in all matters relating either to peace or war.
The English minister shewed more art in discovering, than he did sagacity in preventing, this treaty, by which France was sure of being supplied with money, the only ingredient she wanted for making war, her country being full of men, and the seasons that year remarkably favourable and fruitful. A small share, however, of pliancy, on the part of the British minister, would have prevented his Catholic Majesty from complying with a measure, to which he was so averse, as that of entering into the war. But from what appears to the public, no step was taken to make him easy or to remove his apprehensions. On the contrary, after the British minister had a moral certainty of the family compact being concluded, though not published, he pushed for an immediate war with Spain without farther ceremony, and for intercepting their treasures on the return of their ships to Europe.
We have already mentioned the divisions of the English administration, the state of which it is now proper to explain. His Majesty, with equal wisdom and tenderness for his people, indulged them in the favourable opinion they had of his minister, whom he continued in his post, but he soon found a total division between him and the rest of his council, the Minister's brother in law excepted. It will, appear a problem to future times, whether the minister had within him a serious conviction of the expediency, if not necessity, of declaring war against Spain, or whether, foreseeing that such a measure could not be complied with, he made use of the noncompliance, as a handle for being rid of an administration, which he was conscious he could no longer carry on with credit. Be that as it will, it is certain his Majesty's other ministers of all denominations were unanimously for opening a negotiation. The minister was obliged to seem to comply, but it is pretty plain from the manner of carrying it on, that he was far from being in earnest to complete it. Bussy, who had by office-business, wriggled himself into some consideration at the French court, was sent to London, because he had been there before, and had a few paltry connections with the English. The negotiations between him and the British minister were opened, and at first promised fair to succeed, but ministerial craft on the one side, and more than ministerial haughtiness on the other, blasted them.
Bussy, a low-bred clerk, without abilities to conduct a negotiation that required all the powers of policy, thought it sufficient if he plied the British minister with the common places of compliments and soothing expressions. The genius of the other disdained those mechanical arts, which the court of Versailles, and some, perhaps, at that of St. James's, thought to be essentials. Bussy from the manner and answers of Mr. P—might have foreseen this; but as his capacity reached no farther than forms, and the servile observances of instructions, he was puzzled, and never was there more weakness discovered in any negotiation, than was manifested in this, on the part of France, though, perhaps, that court was not alone to blame. It is certain that the French from the commencement of the negotiation treated under the wings of Spain, whose affairs were managed by a minister of a still more narrow capacity, and, if possible, of a meaner original than even Bussy himself. Being by Birth an Italian, he had been serviceable to his Catholic Majesty, who employed him in the affairs of Spain, where he found himself bewildered, but his vanity, impelled, perhaps, by a superior influence, became at last his ruling direction. For the court of Madrid must make a capital figure; and against every principle of policy, decency, and indeed common sense, Mr. Bussy was obliged (for in charity we must think him so) to present to the English minister, what he called, a private memorial, intimating that his Catholic Majesty should be invited to accede to the guaranty of the treaty, and that his concerns likewise should be included in ths negotiation. Those were comprized under three heads. First, satisfaction for Spanish captures made by the English flag, for which there was little or no colour of complaint. Secondly, the claim of the Spaniards to fish upon the banks of Newfoundland, a claim of which the foundation of it is a secret; and we are glad that we can oblige the public with some account of it.
Newfoundland is not the most inviting country in the world, and has occasionally passed through several hands. Nothing is more indisputable, than that the original right of it, by discovery, belonged to the crown of England, so far back as the reign of Henry the 7th. But the climate was so uninviting, that the English, though they never made any formal cession of it, about the year 1570, neglected it so greatly that the Biscayners, or, as they are called, the Guipuscoans, for the benefit of the Spanish lent-observers, fished on the banks of Newfoundland, and otherwise carried on a considerable trade there in furs and skins, till in the year 1579, the English re-asserted their right to the place, and in the year 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a Devonshire gentleman, took an exclusive possession of it by a commission under Queen Elizabeth.
Notwithstanding those facts are incontestable, the Spaniards never lost sight of the right of pasturage they pretended to on this sea-common, the most fertile and profitable of any in the world. They mentioned it at the treaty of Utrecht, where it was not thought worthy of a serious discussion, and it remained dormant till, to the amazement of the world, it was revived in the negotiation at London in the year 1761, between Mr. Pitt and Mr. Bussy.
The third claim that Spain entered on this occasion was reasonable and well founded, and it regarded the logwood trade on the bay of Campeachy. This trade had been long an object of contest, and a report of the English board of trade, in 1718, had given the English as good a right to it as the Spaniards. The latter, however, never was satisfied with this report, and to say the truth, the foundation of it was a little more than dubious. As the English, however, had been long in possession of that trade, the court of Spain was willing to allow them the benefit, but not the right, of prescription, and insisted upon the demolition of the English settlements and fortifications, that had been erected on the bay of Honduras, upon Spanish territory.
Such was the substance of this famous secret memorial, which the British minister treated with an indignation and contempt, beyond, perhaps, what a Burleigh or a Walsingham would have expressed. The event was, that though the negotiation still went on with a variety of altercations and concessions, the particulars of which are foreign to this work, yet it was easy to foresee that the treaty must, in the end, prove abortive, if Mr. P—continued to have the sole direction of it. This produced many strong debates in the cabinet, where Bussy's conduct was totally condemned, especially as a person of quality and consideration then resided at London, as an Ambassador from his Catholic Majesty, who, however, ordered that minister to justify all that Bussy had done; but in a manner that might give as little offence as possible to the British ministry. There is even some reason for believing, that if the court of Versailles did not disapprove of Bussy's proceedings, they, at least, were sorry for it.
On the other hand, his Britannic Majesty's privy council, and all his other ministers did not think that this faux pas was of consequence enough to blow up the whole negotiation. The spirit with which Mr. P—acted was now known to the public, and so much applauded, that he was then become more popular than ever. He therefore, backed by his brother in law, renewed his efforts for a war with Spain. The point was debated solemnly and seriously, and threw the rest of the King's servants into great perplexities. His Majesty discovered a visible backwardness to the proposition, which was likewise opposed by the other ministers, while the minister's influence with the public was so great, that, could they have avoided it, they would not have broken with him; but at last such a breach became necessary.
We do not hazard too bold a conjecture, when we say, that such a necessity was mutual. The minister grew every day more and more convinced that he could not carry on the war, and that his manners were disgusting to his fellow counsellors, and, therefore, he wanted but a pretext for breaking with them. The wiser and the more sedate part of the latter, were secretly resolved upon peace, and, let the consequences be what they would, to take out of his hands a negotiation, which, it was plain, he never intended, should be successful, for he was even heard to complain of his being forced into the few preliminary concessions he had already made to France, and which the public seemed to dislike; so very tender he was of his popularity. It was not long before they met each other half way; for the negotiation between England and France took a new turn. The latter refused to abandon their allies in Germany, and insisted upon the restitution of the captures made at sea before the declaration of war. The British ministry were highly sensible that their obstinacy was in a great measure owing to the encouragement they had received from Spain, and resolved to break off the negotiation, as they could find no other means of taking it out of Mr. P—'s hands. Mr. Stanley, who had negotiated the British affairs at Paris, was recalled from thence, as Bussy was from London; but still Mr. P—kept in his hands the direction of the war, and now matters came to a crisis. He continued to urge the necessity of an immediate declaration of war with Spain, and his arguments were plausible and popular. They were grounded upon the danger of the familycompact, the provocations which Spain had already given to Great Britain, upon the practicability of intercepting their West-India treasures; and he endeavoured to shew that we could, with very little more expence, carry on the war against both powers, than what it cost us singly against France.
His Majesty's other ministers differed from him for many prudential considerations, but agreed with him in acting with firmness and spirit, if Spain, after proper representations being made, should persist in joining France. They insisted upon the general connections which England ought always to have with the Spanish Monarchy; that an attempt to intercept their treasures was not only precarious, but would render all the rest of Europe either our open or secret enemies, and though successful, would hurt ourselves more than any other nation. Upon the whole, the sense of the council was to apply, previous to a breach with Spain, every wise but vigorous expedient to prevent it. The minister, upon those and other arguments arising from the inability of the nation to maintain a general war, declared, that as he was called to his post by the voice of the people, he considered himself as their minister; and that he was resolved to retire from all public business, if his measures were not followed by an immediate declaration of war against Spain. His speech was resented by the other Counsellors, and by none more than the Earl of Granville, President of the council, who had always been noted when out, as well as when in power, for the vigour, if not the violence, of his measures; and the words of his answer, the authenticity of which seems to be established, are said to have been as follows.
I find the gentleman is determined to leave us, nor can I say I am sorry for it, since he would otherwise have certainly compelled us to leave him; but, if he resolved to assume the right of advising his Majesty, and directing the operations of the war, to what purpose are we called to this council? when he talks of being responsible to the people, he talks the language of the house of commons, and forgets, that at this board, he is only reponsible to the King. However, though he may possibly have convinced himself of his infallibility, still it remains that we should be equally convinced, before we can reign our understandings to his direction, or join with him in the measure he proposes.
This speech was, from the acquiescence and approbation it met with from all the rest of the council considered as their sense; and their opinion was honoured with the countenance of the greatest character in the nation, who declared, that had his council been as unanimous in following, as they were in rejecting, his ministers sentiments, he would have found himself under great difficulties. Soon after Mr. P—and his brother in law resigned their places, and within a day or two the London Gazette announced Mr. P—'s resignation and that his Majesty had, in consideration of his great services settled upon him a pension of 3000l. a year for three lives; and that the title of an English barony was conferred upon his lady and her issue.
Had the government of England been threatened with immediate dissolution, it could not have created a more general consternation, than this resignation did in the minds of the public; but a little reflection soon recovered them. It was remembered, that the Minister's late continental measures were direct violations of those professions, for which the voice of the people had called him to power. That, by accepting the pension and the title, he laid himself under the tacit obligations of honour and gratitude, not to distress, and even not to oppose, his Majesty's measures; and many went so far as to say, that he had exchanged his power for the pension and the title; and had in fact bartered away the interests of the people. Though the last accusation against him was certainly unjust and groundless; yet it had its weight with many zealots, who think they never can be wrong if they oppose a court. Other considerations had their weight with more sensible people. The British minister, at the court of Spain, gave great hopes, that his Catholic Majesty's ministry inclined to avoid the war, and to settle matters by an amicable accommodation. Men of sense and reflection could not conceive that it became any minister to assume to himself a dictatorial power at his Majesty's council-board, that was equally unconstitutional as insolent; and they were confirmed in this opinion by the following letter, which was published as authentic in the Public Ledger, and which never was disowned to be such, either by the minister or his friends.
A letter from a Right Hon. person, to—in the City.
DEAR SIR,
Finding to my great surprize, that the cause and manner of my resigning the seals, is grossly misrepresented in the city, as well as that the most gracious and
spontaneous
marks of his Majesty's approbation of my services, which marks followed my resignation, have been infamously traduced as a bargain for my forsaking the public. I am under a necessity of declaring the truth of both these facts, in a manner which I am sure no gentleman will contradict. A difference of opinion, with regard to measures to be taken against Spain, of the highest importance to the honour of the crown, and to the most essential national interests, (and this, founded on what Spain had already done, not on what court may further intend to do) was the cause of my resigning the seals. Lord Temple and I submitted in writing, and signed by us, our most humble sentiments to his Majesty; which being over-ruled by the united opinion of all the rest of the King's servants, I resigned the seals on Monday the 5th of this month, in order not to remain responsible for measures, which I was no longer allowed to guide. Most gracious public marks of his Majesty's approbation of my services followed my resignation, they are unmerited and unsollicited, and I shall ever be proud to have received them from the best of sovereigns.
I will now only add, my dear Sir, that I have explained these matters only for the honour of truth, not in any view to court return of confidence from any man, who, with a credulity as weak as it is injurious, has thought fit hastily to withdraw his good opinion from one, who has served his country with fidelity and success; and who justly reveres the upright and candid judgment of it; little sollicitous about the censures of the capricious and the ungenerous, accept of my sincerest acknowledgements for all your kind friendship, and believe me ever, with truth and esteem,
My Dear Sir,
Your Faithful Friend, &c.
The minister's conduct was generally condemned, not so much for the matter contained in the letter (as was before mentioned) as for the manner in which he expressed himself; and some construed it as a disrespectful appeal to the public from the crown, after the almost unparallelled obligations he lay under to his Majesty. The wording of the letter, to say the best of it, was certainly incautious, and his assailants from the press had so greatly the advantage of him, that a mighty breach was made in his popularity. He was now blamed by some of his best friends for the concessions he had made to France in his negotiation with Bussy; and all that could be urged in the abatement of the charge, was, that he had been forced into those concessions. The reply was ready. If he suffered himself to be ravished in the one case, why not in the other? Why was he so uncomplying with Spain and so very tame with France?
The Earl of E—was appointed secretary of state in his room, and the new ministry gave out, that they were resolved to proceed with the same, if not greater, firmness, both with regard to France and Spain, as Mr. P—had done. It soon appeared that the latter had sent very proper instructions to the Earl of Bristol, his Britannic Majesty's Ambassador at the Spanish court, and that his Lordship had executed them with great abilities and punctuality. He gave Mr. Wall the Spanish minister, to understand, that the British court entirely rejected the claim of the Spaniards upon part of the Newfoundland fishery. That the Spanish captures, complained of, must be adjudged by the courts of Admiralty and appeal in England, and that the right of cutting logwood in the bay of Honduras never would be given up on the part of Great Britain Wall disclaimed all intention that the court of Madrid had to offend that of London by the memorial presented by Bussy, but intimated, that the engagements entered into by both courts, and the advantages offered by France to Spain, had cemented their interests. He refused explicitly to give up any of the claims of Spain, but insinuatd that, in the main point of dispute between them, the logwood trade, the interest of England, might be gratified, provided the honour of his Catholic Majesty was consulted by a demolition of the settlements, which the British had forcibly made in that bay, and complained of the trifling the English had made use of in that important point, during a six years negotiation upon it. The new British ministry gave some ear to his answers. But the interests of the French court, assisted by a general opinion, that Great Britain was unable longer to carry on the war, prevailed. In the mean while, the war in Germany took an unfavourable turn for England; the Spanish Flota arrived safe in their ports; and his Catholic Majesty highly resented the indignant manner in which the offer of his medation had been treated by the late British minister; and then the connections between France and Spain, by the family-compact were openly avowed. The Earl of Bristol's instructions from the new British ministry, was to demand, in a dispassionate but earnest, manner, an immediate and categorical answer, whether such a treaty, as public fame reported, existed between Spain and France, and whether Spain would assist France in a war with Great Britain.
The Earl of Bristol was sufficiently apprized of the truth, but punctually performed his instructions, and then Mr. Wall, who seems, on this occasion, to have been under some controul, entirely altered his language and behaviour, and acknowledged, that his Catholic Majesty considered the successes of England in America as so many preludes to his own ruin, and that he was resolved to be no longer passive. All the reasonings which the British Ambassador urged for a further explanation, was in vain, and he received new instructions to declare that if the Spaniards did not disavow their intentions to assist France, the court of England would consider such a refusal as a declaration of war. Mr. Wall's language, was, if possible, more haughty than before. He said, that war had been declared by the spirit of pride and discord reigning in the English government, and the attack they had made on his Catholic Majesty's dignity; and that the Earl of Bristol might depart when and in what manner he thought proper. His Lordship accordingly immediately retired from Madrid, December 17, 1761, and the Spanish Ambassador in like manner took leave of London.
Soon after, declarations of war were published by the courts of London and Madrid, and its operations seemed to threaten a general conflagration in the consequences. During the negotiation, both parties thought they would get the better terms of peace, the more vigorously they carried on war; but the French in this respect had a vast superiority; for though the allies had greatly incommoded and retarded them by burning their magazines, yet the defeat of the Hereditary Prince at Stangerode, their raising the siege of Cassel, the evacuation of the country of Hesse, the losses and fatigues they had suffered, and various other untowardly accidents, having obliged them to repass the Dymel, the French, in the mean while, recruited both their magazines and armies. The month of June, however, was far advanced, before Broglio could draw his forces to the field from Cassel and its neighbourhood, when he moved towards the Dymel to join Soubise. General Sporken was posted so with a strong detachment in the front of the allied army, as to be able to dispute the passage of the Dymel; but, on the advance of Broglio, he attempted to retire, though with considerable loss, for besides the killed, 800 were made prisoners, 19 pieces of cannon, 400 horses, and above 170 waggons were taken by the enemy. The allies endeavoured to extenuate this loss, but it appeared too plain, by the French passing the Dymel and seizing Warburg, Dringleburg, and Paderborn, and by Prince Ferdinand falling back upon the Lippe and taking post between Ham and Lipstadt, by which he was in hopes of cutting off Soubise's communication with the Rhine. The allies being thus advantageously posted, Broglio durst not march towards Hanover, but resolved, after he had joined the Prince de Soubise, which he did at Soest, to attack the allied army. Their dispositions soon convinced Prince Ferdinand of their intention, and he called in all his parties. His first care was to secure the communication between Lipstadt and Ham, and his left wing took post between the Lippe and the Aast. The body of the army occupied the height of Wambeln, and the Prince of Anhalt the ground between Illingen and Hohenover. Lord Granby kept this position upon the heights of Kirch-Denkern, and Lieutenant General Wulgenau, who was encamped upon the heath of Untrup, marched by his right to approach the village of Kirch-Denkern. The avenues and posts on the little rivers Aast, and Sultzbach, were guarded by the piquets of the army. While those dispositions were planning, on the 15th of July, at six in the evening, the enemy dislodged Lord Granby's advanced posts, and attacked his camp in a strong body. It had been before concerted, that Wulgenau should support him, and Prince Ferdinand ordered the Marquis to maintain his ground to the last extremity, till he was joined by Wulgenau, which his Lordship did so gallantly, that, notwithstanding the fury of the French attack and their superiority of numbers, the enemy was repulsed, the battle having continued till it was quite dark.
Next morning at three o'clock, the battle began a fresh, and Wulgenau's corps appeared to be the chief object of the French, whose right was commanded by Broglio, as their center and left were by Soubise. The firing continued very hot for five hours, without the enemy obtaining any advantage. About nine the French seemed inclined to erect a battery on an exposed eminence, which commanded the Marquis of Granby's camp; upon which, Prince Ferdinand, after ordering a body of reserve under Sporken to advance, which they did, commanded an immediate attack, before the enemy could resolve on what to do. They resolved on a flight, and their right wing retired with precipitation, their center and left, which never, properly speaking, had been engaged, otherwise than by a cannonade from the other side of the Sulzbach, followed the example of their right, and thus the allies remained masters of the field of battle, but the nature of the ground not suffering their cavalry to act, they were obliged soon to discontinue the pursuit. The enemy left their dead and wounded with some pieces of cannon; and Maxwell's single battalion of grenadiers took the regiment of Rouze, consisting of four battalions, with its cannon and colours. Upon the whole, the loss of the French in killed wounded and prisoners, was said to be 5000, while that of the allies amounted only to 300 killed, 1000 wounded, and 200 taken prisoners.
It happened during the course of this war, by a seeming fatality, that the defeats the French received, served, upon the whole, to advance their affairs. It is true, Broglio and Soubise endeavoured to throw upon one another the blame of the late disgrace they had received at Kirch-Denkern. The former accused the latter of being too late, and the latter the former of being too precipitate, in the attack, but their service did not suffer. Their loss of men was soon repaired, that of the allies was irreparable. Their army again divided; Soubise at the head of one part of it crossed the Lippe, intending to besiege Munster, as Broglio's division did the Weser, with a seeming intention to penetrate into Hanover. The allied General was obliged to follow their example; he himself observed the motions of Broglio, while the Hereditary Prince was sent to co
er Munster. Broglio avoided a battle, but many skirmishes happened, in one of which, the brave young Prince Henry of Brunswick brother to the Hereditary Prince, was mortally wounded. Those actions were generally in favour of the allies, whose successes were owing to the bravery of the British troops under the Marquis of Granby. The French received a considerable check near Warburg, and might then have fought on equal terms, but they still declined it, as if their intention had been to waste the allied troops by skirmishes and fatigues, in which they succeeded but too well. Mean while, the Hereditary Prince, seeing Soubise more in earnest to besiege Munster, than Broglio was to march into Hanover, attacked Dorsten on the 30th of August, and obliged the garrison to surrender prisoners of war. Upon this, Soubise gave over thoughts of besieging Munster and retired from the Lippe. Prince Ferdinand, on the other hand, seemed to threaten, by advancing into Hesse, to stop all supplies from that country to Broglio's army; upon which the latter returned to Hesse, as the Prince did to Paderborn. After this, the Hereditary Prince, who had rejoined his uncle, made an irruption into Hesse, and destroyed the enemy's magazines as far as Fritzlar; while Broglio, on the 25th of October, entered the forest of Hartz, where he took and destroyed the strong castle of Schartzels and levied severe contributions on a large tract of country; but the allies received a still more considerable check by Prince Xavier of Saxony taking Wolfenbuttel after five days bombardment. The French then drove the reigning Prince of Brunswick from his capital to Hamburgh, where he met the reigning Landgrave of Hesse, who was under the like unfortunate circumstances. Prince Ferdinand, perceiving the uninterrupted progress of the French to the eastward of the Weser, dispatched his nephew the Hereditary Prince to relieve Brunswick, which was now invested by Prince Xavier. The Hereditary Prince, being joined by General Luckner, who was detached with the cavalry towards Pein, attacked the enemy, drove them out of their entrenchments, and forced them, not only to raise their siege, but precipitately to abandon Wolfenbuttel with a very considerable loss of men and cannon.
The French were not so unsuccessful in Westphalia, which the Prince Soubise ravaged, and where, after taking Osnabourg, he gave that city and its miserable inhabitants up to the pillage of his soldiers. About the same time, a body of French light troops appeared before Embden, which was garrisoned by no more than 200 British invalids, whom the inhabitants refused to assist in defending the place, and which was given up, after capitulating for favourable treatment. This capitulation was infamously broken, and the French, not only put that city, but the greatest part of East Friesland under the most unconscionable contributions. Those oppressions proved in the end as impolitic as they were unjust, for they exasperated the boors of the country so much that they took up arms, and drove the French out of Embden. In the mean while, the Prince of Condé with another detachment of Soubise's army, took Mappen, a place of some consequence, on the Ems, where the allies had some magazines. They had, however, far more considerable ones in Bremen, a city of the utmost importance by its situation on the Weser, because from it the English were supplied with all their subsistance. The French attempted to enter it, but were repulsed, and the garrison, which was before but small, was reinforced. As to the rest of the operations in Westphalia and Hesse this year, they were various, brisk, and greatly to the honour of the allied officers, particularly the Marquis of Granby and the other English Generals. But the French being so numerous, though they were beaten in almost every encounter, nothing decisive followed upon them; and therefore the nature of our design does not suffer us to particularize them. It is sufficient to say, that the Hereditary Prince posted himself so as to secure the coast of the Weser, and incessantly alarmed the French by detachments, till the enemy went into winter quarters, as he himself did soon after. His head quarters were fixed at Hildersheim; those of the Hereditary Prince at Munster. The British cavalry wintered in East Friesland and their infantry in the bishopric of Osnabourg, while the French quartered 20,000 troops in the country of Hesse.
Though the British ministry, during their negotiation with France, had refused to abandon his Prussian Majesty, yet the very treating on such a point gave him apprehensions, and his intelligence was too good for him not to foresee, that England would soon alter her system with regard to him. He therefore resolved to act on the defensive. He had an army under Prince Henry strongly entrenched at Leipsic in Saxony. Daun was encamped near Dresden, as his Prussian Majesty was near Schweidnitz. General Tottleben led one division of the Russian army towards Pomerania, as Butterlin did another into the Upper Silesia, where, being joined by Laudohn, all that country was laid under severe contributions. About the 1st of August, a body of Russians appeared before Breslau, which they cannonaded, but all the various arts, marches and countermarches of Laudohn, could not draw his Prussian Majesty from his advantageous situation. In Pomerania, Tottleben lost his command for secretly corresponding with his Prussian Majesty; and was succeeded by General Romanzow, who formed the siege of the important town of Colberg by land, while a fleet of 40 ships attacked it by sea. The place however had been lately fortified, and the Prince of Wirtemberg, a Prussian General, was entrenched under its cannon with 6 or 7000 men. To save Colberg, the key of his Prussian Majesty's dominions on the north, he detached General Platen to destroy the Russian magazines in Poland, and then to continue his march towards Pomerania. Platen performed the service with great success, and the Russians, to preserve their remaining magazines, without which they knew they could not subsist, left Silesia and returned to Poland. From thence, after securing his magazines, Butterlin carried fire and sword into the Marche of Brandenburgh, and directed his course towards Pomerania. All his Prussian Majesty could do, was, to detach General Knoblock after him, that he and Platen might distress their convoys.
His Majesty, by this time, began to be in want of provisions in the strong camp he still preserved near Schweidnitz, and made a motion towards the Oder, thinking himself so secure of Schweidnitz, that he had withdrawn 4000 of his garrison. Laudohn siezed the critical moment with the greatest rapidity, yet caution. His troops advanced to the four quarters of the town; clapped their scaling ladders to its walls, and a magazine blowing up, became master of the place. About 3000 Prussians in garrison were made prisoners on this occasion, with the Governor, Lieutenant General Zastrow, and large stores both of artillery and meal fell into the hands of the conqueror, who effected this amazing
coup de main
with the loss of no more than 600 men, of whom 300, with as many Prussians, were killed by the blowing up of the magazine. His Prussian Majesty behaved with his usual firmness under this heavy blow. "It is fatal, said he, but we must endeavour to remedy it". His letter to General Zastrow was as follows,
We may now say, what Francis the First of France wrote to his mother, after the battle of Pavia. We have lost all except our honour. As I cannot comprehend what hath happened to you, I shall suspend my judgment, the thing is very extraordinary.
Colberg still continued to make an obstinate resistance, but General Platen, who had joined the Prince of Wirtemberg, in endeavouring to open a way for the Prussian reinforcements under Knoblock, was beaten by Romanzow; upon which, Knoblock, with 2000 men under his command, surrendered themselves prisoners of war. A storm had driven the fleets of Russia and Sweden from their station before Colberg; but that procured the place no relief, and it was now visible that famine and the Russians, whose numbers amounted to 50,000 men, must force it to surrender. This was so much the opinion of the Prince of Wirtemberg, that he broke through the Russian army, and left Colberg to make its own terms; and its brave Governor Heyde, after a noble defence of six months, with his garrison, became prisoners of war. The Russians, by taking Colberg, which fell into their hands December 16, were now masters of the Baltic; and were no longer under a necessity of depending upon precarious supplies of provision from Poland, while his Prussian Majesty seemed now undone beyond all possibility of recovery, when all of a sudden he was relieved from the bitterest distresses he had ever yet experienced by the death of his most determined enemy the Empress of Russia, which happened soon after he lost Colberg.
The critical and indeed providential event was as fortunate for Great Britain as it was for his Prussian Majesty. The court of Vienna at f
rst affected to give out, that the new Emperor of Russia would pursue the system of the late Empress, but a few days undeceived the public. Mutual Embassies passed between the two courts of Petersburgh and Berlin, and Czernichef, the Russian General in Silesia, having orders to retreat towards Poland, began his march accordingly. Soon after, it was publickly known, that his Imperial Majesty of Russia was determined totally to reverse the maxims of his immediate predecessor, and an entire cessation of hostilities between the two courts soon after took place.
The court of Great Britain, who had hitherto been hampered between its own interests and the ties of honour due to the distrest situation of his Prussian Majesty, seeing with pleasure that he was easied of the weight, which, ever since the commencement of the war, had turned its scale against him, began now seriously to think of delivering itself from the heavy burden of his Prussian Majesty's subsidy. There was the greater reason for this, as we were now, in fact, entering upon two fresh wars, one by sea, and another by land, but both against Spain, who had already marched their troops towards Portugal. The grounds of this invasion were as infamous as any that history can produce. Neither France nor Spain so much as alledged any provocation that had been given them by the King of Portugal, and they attacked him for no other reason, but because he would not break with Great Britain, by acceding to the family-compact. The Prussian ministers, both in Germany and England, made a great noise when it was intimated to them that their master's subsidy would be no longer paid; but as neither they nor their master had a shadow of complaint of failure in engagements by the British ministry, the affair, as we say, went off. In the mean while, the good effects which his Prussian Majesty reaped from the friendship of his Imperial Majesty of Russia daily appeared, for a cessation of hostilities was concluded between the troops of Prussia and Sweden, while the Spaniards were redoubling their preparations by sea and land to invade Portugal, and even threatened Gibraltar itself.
The defection of Russia from the Imperial and French courts damped neither of those powers. In Germany, the French made preparations for bringing into the field, the next campaign, 140,000 troops. Those of her Imperial Majesty were equal, and his Prussian Majesty augmented his army to 150,000 men; but it is now time to attend the progress of the British arms in America. Next to the conquest of Quebec, that of Martinico was thought to be of the greatest consequence to England, and some thought that it even ought to have the preference on many accounts. Great difficulties had been foreseen in completing the undertaking, arising chiefly from the bad success of the former attempts upon that island, and our ignorance of its strength and situation. When it was determined the conquest of it should be attempted, General Monkton was appointed to the command of the land forces, as Rear Admiral Rodney was to that of the sea. On the 5th of January, 1762, the whole armament moved from Barbadoes, and, on the 7th, anchored at St. Anne's bay in Martinico. When our troops landed, they found the island full of gullies that were difficult of access, guarded by batteries and redoubts, and themselves precluded from all intelligence, so that the conquest of the island appeared to be a matter of great difficulty. The enemy was possessed of two strong posts, together with Mont Tartenson leading to Fort Royale; but being beaten from both, by the valour of the British troops, they retired to Mont Garnier, a post so strong, that they thought it impregnable. They were, however, driven from it by the British grenadiers, and after that, they were beaten from post to post till the citadel of Fort Royale was surrendered, and La Touche, the French Governor, after leaving a garrison in Fort Royale, retired to St. Pierre, and then the whole island of Martinico surrendered by capitulation to the British arms, on the 7th of February. This conquest was followed by the reduction of the isle of Grenada, by Commodore Swanton, and Brigadier General Walsh, which was effected without the loss of a man. Those amazing successes did great service to the reputation of the new British ministry; and justified the promises they had made, that the resignation of the late minister should rather forward than retard the prosecution of the war, but they had a still greater object in view, which was no less than the conquest of the Havannah itself; an undertaking so arduous, that Britons alone could have thought of it. The honour of this bold project was disputed by some of the partizans of the late ministry; but the merit of carrying it into execution, undoubtedly, was due to the new one. They thought a peace desireable, and that nothing could bring it about so effectually as a blow that might disable both France and Spain from carrying on the war.
As no measure ever was entered into with a more general approbation of the public, so the minister very honestly and very wisely united the cabinet in the same sentiments. The nomination of the chief land officers, and the operations of the expedition, were left to a royal personage, who was an excellent judge of both, and the Earl of Albermarle was pitched upon to be commander in chief of the army, as Sir George Pocock was of the fleet. Under his lordship acted his brother Major General Keppel; another brother, Commodore Keppel, commanded under Sir George. The ministry seemed to take a pride in omitting nothing that could make this expedition successful, and on the 17th of February, Sir George Pocock took leave of his Majesty, and set out for Portsmouth to imbark the troops. On the 7th of March, the fleet passed by Plymouth, and on the 16th of June, an account came to England of the Admiral having sailed, with the men of war and transports, the 16th of May, from Martinico to the Havannah. A long silence with regard to this expedition succeeded, which greatly embarrassed the public of England, but in September, an account came by a gentleman who left the Havannah the 18th of July. By it, we were informed, that two days before our fleet arrived there, two Dutch ships got in with powder and warlike stores; and that our troops took two waggons laden with money, going from the town to the mountains, where all the nuns, priests, and other people had retired. That the Spanish fleet at that place consisted of seven ships of 70 guns, and three of 60, having on board 5340 seamen, 1460 soldiers; two of 60, just launched, one rigged but not manned, and that Don Lewis de Velasco, Captain of the El Bayna of 70 guns, commanded in the Moro castle. All this intelligence happened to be pretty near the truth, only the Spanish naval force was in reality greater than we knew of. After this, the public apprehensions encreased from the profound silence that was observed with regard to the siege, the reason of which soon appeared. For the castle El Moro, being the capital defence of the place, it had been agreed upon, between the General and the Admiral, to dispatch no accounts till that was reduced, as they were morally sure the town and the other forts must soon follow. At last, on the 30th of September, letters from the Earl of Albermarle and Sir George Pocock arrived at the Secretary of State's, and the Admiralty Office, dated August 21, with an account, that the Moro Fort was taken by storm, on the 30th of July, by his Majesty's troops under Major General Keppel, who commanded the attack.
Our mines, said the Earl of Albermarle in his letter to the Earl of Egremont, were sprung about one o'clock and a breach made just practicable for a file of men in front. The enemy was drawn up on the top of it in force, with a seeming determination to defend it. The attack was so vigorous and impetuous, that the enemy was instantaneously drove from the breach, and his Majesty's standard planted upon the bastion. I did not send a particular express with this good news to your Lordship, because I flattered myself, that what has happened would soon be the consequence of our success at Fort Moro. On the 11th in the morning, by a signal from the fort, we opened our batteries against the town and Punta fort. The guns and mortars were so well served by the artillery and sailors, and their effect so great, that in less than six hours, all the guns in the fort and north bastion were silenced. The governor hung out the white flag, and beat a parley, and, at the same time, sent out an officer to propose a cessation of arms for twenty four hours, in order to prepare the articles of capitulation.
This good news dissipated the gloom, and the melancholy apprehensions of the public, and the ministry seemed now to triumph over all opposition. All this while, his Catholic Majesty was making the most vigorous preparations for the entire conquest of Portugal, and the command of that expedition was given to the Marquis of Serria; while the French army was advancing to second his motions. Upon this, his most Faithful Majesty recalled his ministers from the courts of Madrid and Versailles, the Marquis of Serria entered the Portuguese territories on the 7th of May, and rather seemed to make a tour than a campaign, so cowardly was the behaviour of the Portuguese. Unfortunately for England, his most Faithful Majesty's severities, however necessary they might have been, against his greatest subjects, had raised up a great spirit of disaffection against him, and many, even of those who were intrusted with military commands, were in the interests of Spain. The first place in Portugal which the Spanish General attacked was Miranda, and, while they were preparing a battery to act against it, a fire broke out in a magazine in the town and blew it up. Though hostilities had not been then begun, this event had determined Don Bento Joseph Fagueredo, governor of the place, to desire the Spaniards would not proceed in their operations, and to surrender himself prisoner of war with his garrison. Four battalions of the Irish brigade, assisted by the regiment of Galicia, entered through two breaches made in the walls by the explosion; while the regiment of Numantia and Merida dragoons entered by the gates, under the orders of Don Risaguero Lieutenant General. They found in Miranda, exclusive of the staff officers of the place, twenty other officers, fifteen serjeants, one drummer, and 324 soldiers of the regiment of Braganza, together with two troopers, one officer of artillery, fifteen mattross
s, and three engineers; the other officers and soldiers on guard were almost all buried in the ruins of the magazine, and it is computed that 500 persons perished there, including the inhabitants. This acquisition was succeeded by the surrender of Braganza, which the garrison, consisting of five companies of foot abandoned, as the garrison of Chaves, though composed of 2000 men, did that place; and the conquerors found Moncorso evacuated not only by the military, but the civil power. The Spaniards then proceeded against Almeyda, where they met with a small check from the Portuguese militia. But by this time the British auxiliaries had landed, and Crauford's regiment having joined the Portuguese army, they took a position for cutting off the return of the Spaniards to their own country, flattering themselves that the invaders, being prest for want of provisions, must soon retreat.
But, at this juncture, the French auxiliaries were marching to support the Spaniards, and the English under the Count la Lippe, had taken the field for the Portuguese, while the Spaniards were making themselves masters of Salvaterra, and the castle of Segura; and the French on their part met with as little opposition. Thus, the whole kingdom of Portugal was on the point of falling a prey to her enemies in the most shameful dastardly manner that we meet with in history, when she was saved by British arms and British councils. Count de la Lippe resolved to open his operations, by exhibiting a specimen of British courage, that should astonish the Spaniards, and encourage the Portuguese. He detached Brigadier General Burgoyne with his regiment and 17 companies of grenadiers, to make an attack on Valencia d'Alcantara, from whence they dislodged the enemy sword in hand. The Spanish regiment of Seville was entirely destroyed, a Major General, a Colonel, a Captain, five Lieutenants, three stands of colours, and all the private men were taken who escaped the sword. The loss of the British troops on this occasion were no more than Lieutenant Burk of Colonel Frederick's, one serjeant and three private killed; two serjeants, one drummer, and 18 private wounded. After this, the English and Portuguese entrenched themselves about eight miles from Abrantes, the pass for Lisbon; being determined there to wait for the Spaniards.
But all the exertion of the British courage and discipline could not inspire the Portuguese with courage, or even reconcile them to the British, whom they treated, not as their deliverers, but their enemies. Count de la Lippe complained of this to his Portuguese Majesty, but all he could do was, to threaten his Generals and Officers for their disobedience. This seems to have had some kind of influence, for, on the 6th of October, at Villa Velha the Portuguese troops shewed some degree of spirit, when the Generals Townshend and Burgoyne surrounded a large body of Spaniards there, and forced them to surrender prisoners. Some very hot encounters afterwards happened, in which the British courage, as usual, distinguished itself, and effectually defeated the scheme the Spaniards had formed, of passing over the Tagus into the province of Alentejo. After that, they were obliged to retire from Castello Branco, and repass the mountains which separate the provinces of Estremadura and Beira. But we are to observe, that by this time, the peace was looked upon to be in forwardness between Great Britain and France.
The more discerning part of the public, perceiving that nothing obstructed its final conclusion, so much as the incertainty both courts were under with regard to the affairs of America. The news of the reduction of Martinico had not yet arrived in Europe, and the British expedition against the Havannah was no secret to the public. The French, who treated separately from Spain, affected to give out, that they were ready to grant the same terms which they had offered before, whether the expedition against Martinico was successful or no. But the British ministry resolved to wait the event, and to act accordingly. They carried their views farther than their predecessors had done for the security of the British colonies in North America, which they thought must be precarious, without a much larger extent of territory, than what the French had yet offered; and unless they obtained the free navigation of the Mississippi. They thought, when they had obtained that, their back settlements were impregnable to the power of their enemies, and that every thing was provided for, that their colonies in those parts had so long required, and lamented that they were not able to obtain. These advantages, they reasonably imagined, must be greatly improved, in case the expedition against the Havannah should prove successful; but it must be obtained, if it should not.
The conquest of Martinico did not forward the conclusion of peace so much as was expected. The French grew sullen at their loss and disgrace, and the easy purchase the English had made of the finest possession in America; while the court of London, on the other hand, thought that the conquest of Martinico intitled them to insist upon higher terms than before. Thus the secret negociations between the two courts grew more perplexed, and possibly would have been ineffectual, had not his most Christian Majesty been inflexibly determined to have peace at any rate, and given his ministers orders accordingly. The majority of his council opposed this pacific disposition, and the court of Madrid insisted upon his most Christian Majesty's waiting for the result of the English expedition against the Havannah, which they considered to be more romantic and impracticable than any of the many adventures of their own knight errant.
But all remonstrances were in vain, and the preliminaries being agreed upon, the Duke de Nivernois was appointed Ambassador from his most Christian, to his Britannic Majesty; and the Duke of Bedford was, by his Britannic Majesty, on the 4th of September, appointed his minister plenipotentiary to the court of France. While those pacific measures were carrying into execution, the British troops were undergoing the most fatiguing service, any body of men ever experienced, in the siege of the Havannah, but with such persevering intrepidity, that, on the 29th of September, the Captains Harvey and Nugent brought to St. James's, an account of its surrender, and presented to his Majesty the colours taken in the place. As the particulars of this memorable siege are heavy and unentertaining, it may be sufficient to acquaint our readers, that many of our bravest soldiers and sailors died before the place, through the inclemency of the climate, and that it was at last taken, after storming the breach our troops had made in the Moro Castle, where the brave Velasco its Governor was killed; and that the other forts and the town surrendered by capitulation. But though the negotiations and treaty of peace, between France and England, had relaxed, and at last extinguished the war between those two powers, they as yet had no effect on the war between his Prussian Majesty and the Empress Queen. The British troops, in the beginning of the year, still remained in Germany, and Prince Henry of Prussia opened the campaign in Saxony, with some advantages over the army of the Empire. The allied army under Prince Ferdinand assembled in its cantonments, and sent for 12 battalions from their army on the Lower Rhine, while the war continued in Silesia between his Prussian Majesty and the Empress Queen, who threatened to lay siege either to Neiss or Glogau. The Russian General Brandemer met with a severe defeat near Chemnitz, but in return Prince Henry took Freyberg, every where defeated the Austrians, and made upwards of 7000 of them prisoners, with all their artillery, waggons, and ammunition. In the mean while, his Prussian Majesty obliged Count Daun to retire to the mountains on the frontiers of Bohemia, and his affairs were in the full career of success, when he received the astonishing news that his friend and ally the new Emperor of Russia was deposed and murdered. From this time his Prussian Majesty resolved to act on the defensive, but had the good fortune to retake Schweidnitz, in which was a garrison of 8000 men, commanded by Count Guasco. Here we may fairly close the history of his Prussian Majesty's military operations, during the last campaign of this war. All that succeeded were merely precautionary, but were conducted with such judgment, as terminated in his concluding with the court of Vienna, a most glorious peace, and entering with the Empress Queen into connexions, so strict and intimate, that we can scarcely persuade ourselves they had ever been at war.
However dazzling this good fortune of his Prussian Majesty, it is most certain, that it was entirely owing to the friendship of the court of England. While the negociations for peace were in suspence, the British Generals in Germany received orders to act with redoubled vigour. In consequence of this, Prince Ferdinand, on the 4th of June, attacked the French in their camp of Graebenstein, under the Marshals D'Etrees and Soubise. Four different attacks were made. The first under General Luckner, one under General Sporken, one under Prince Ferdinand himself who attacked the center, and the last by the Marquiss of Granby. The three last Generals passed the Dymel, tho' from different quarters, almost at the same minute; and had it not been for the intrepidity of Mons. de Stanville, a French officer, who put himself at the head of the flower of the French infantry, their whole army must have been destroyed; an undisputed victory, however, fell to his Britannic Majesty's troops, who did not lose above 300 men. The loss of the French was immense. The fine body of infantry under Stanville, by favouring the retreat of their cavalry, was entirely destroyed or taken prisoners, excepting two battalions that fled, and it was upon all hands agreed, that the victory, in which 2570 French prisoners were made, was in a great measure owing to the gallant behaviour of the Marquiss of Granby, at the head of the British troops. We are only to add on this occasion, that the French infantry consisted of 100 battalions, and the English had no more than 60.
After this victory, part of the French army retired precipitately over the Fulda, and there encamped themselves under the cannon of Hesse. On the 23d of July, the Hanoverians and Hessians passed the Fulda, and beat the right of the French army under the command of Prince Xavier. On which occasion, the French again owed their preservation to the courage and conduct of their General Stanville. Various operations then succeeded; but the Prince of Condé, having, without the knowledge of the Hereditary Prince, been reinforced by the two French Marshals, beat his serene highness, who, besides the Germans, had with him Elliot's dragoons and the piquets under Lord Frederic Cavendish. In this action, the Hereditary Prince was wounded, and the loss of the allies in killed, wounded, and prisoners, amounted to at least 1500 men; but by the good dispositions of Prince Ferdinand, their enemies were prevented from pursuing their advantage.
Mean while, Prince Ferdinand laid siege to Cassel, which was obstinately defended by Mons. Diesbach, the French commandant, but was at last obliged to surrender, in consequence, as we apprehend, of orders from his court, who had now fully settled the preliminaries with Great Britain. While this siege was carrying on, one of the most desperate actions, that had happened during the whole war, passed at Amoeneburg (which was in possession of the allies) between the French and the Marquis of Granby, in the night between the 20th and 21st of October. The intention of the French was to dislodge the allies from that town, against which they raised some batteries in the night near a mill. The firing alarmed Lord Granby. He marched with all his troops to the relief of the place as the French did with all theirs to support the attack, and the latter at last brought out 20 pieces of artillery. The most dreadful cannonading, considering the smallness of the posts, that ever was known in the military art, ensued. The allies maintained the redoubt, and the French the works they had raised at the mill. The enemy fired from their great artillery upon the redoubt, at the distance of no more than 300, and with their small arms, at that of 30 paces. Fifty pieces of cannon were employed, the execution of which was confined to a space not exceeding 400 paces, and for 15 hours, the firing both from the great and small arms had not the smallest intermission. No fewer than 17 complete battalions were successively employed in relieving the troops that defended the redoubt, and those who came latest, were obliged to raise a parapet of dead bodies for their defence. The French at the same time attacked Amoeneburg, and after being three times repulsed, the garrison surrendered prisoners, which put an end to this bloody action. As to the loss, it very probably was diminished on both sides; for the allies gave out that they had not above 800 killed; but the French themselves, two of whose Generals were dangerously wounded in the action, did not deny that their loss was much greater. This, as it was the most bloody, was the last action of the war; for, on the 15th of December, a convention was signed at Brucker's Muhl upon the Oh'me, between the Generals Howard and Guerchy, authorised by his serene highness Prince Ferdinand, and the French Marshals, for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the British and French armies, who were upon the point of separating, in order to march into their respective winter quarters. Never was there a more sudden and more pleasing transition from enmity to esteem, than succeeded the signature. The French and the allies rushed into mutual embraces, and nothing was heard but the most rapturous admiration of the valour of the one from the mouths of the other. Several days were spent in magnificent and social entertainments, given by the one army to the other, from the commander in chief to the meanest subaltern. And, to the honour of the British troops, we must observe, that on their return home, they received the thanks of the States-General themselves, through whose dominions they passed, for their sobriety, regularity, and punctual payment of whatever they were furnished with, in that republick.
The loss of the Havannah gave a most dreadful blow to the interests of Spain, and such as that court believed impossible to have happened, yet the new British ministry to make good their professions upon the resignation of Mr. Pitt, that they would carry on the war with more vigour than ever, if Spain should force them to declare it, resolved to attack Manilla, one of the Philippine Islands, an enterprize till then deemed impracticable by any European power. Every one knows how inaccessible those islands which extend from North lat. 6, to near 20; and from East lon. 114, to 126, are to all but the Spaniards, which, ever since their discovery under Philip the Second, from whom they take their name, they have industriously concealed from the rest of the world, as being the most recondite store houses of their wealth. Those islands, are said to be 1200 in number, the chief, which belongs to the Spaniards is Luconia, and contains the city Manilla, the seat of the Spanish Viceroy. Without entering into any geographical description, which does not belong to this work, the city of Manilla is rich, populous, and strong, and, all the time of the expedition we are now to treat of, was thought to contain immense quantities of treasure. The command of the land forces, appointed to reduce it, was given to Colonel William Draper, who had signalized himself on many occasions in the East Indies. The embarkation was made at Madrass, and the forces consisted of the 75th regiment with a company of the royal artillery, while the settlement at Madrass furnished 600 Sea-poys, a company of Cafres, one of Topazes, two companies of French, who had inlisted in their service, and some unarmed Lascars for the use of the artillery. This little army was reinforced by rear Admiral Cornish, who commanded the sea forces, with a fine battalion of 350 seamen and 270 marines; so that the whole force for the land operations amounted to 2300 men, which were all that could be spared from the necessary protection of Madrass. The ships employed upon the expedition, were the Elizabeth, Grafton, Lenox, Weymouth, and Argo, who were dispatched before with Commodore Tiddeman; and on the first of August, they were followed by the Norfolk, Panther, America, Seaford, South-sea castle store ship, Admiral Stevens's store ship, and the Osterly a company's ship, under the command of Admiral Cornish; two East-India ships serving for transports. Nothing remarkable happened till, on the 23d of September, they anchored in Manilla bay, and the Colonel, after landing his men and artillery under a fire of the frigates, which dispersed the Spaniards who were assembling in great numbers, on the 25th, possessed themselves of an excellent post, which not only covered the landing of their stores, but secured their communication with their squadron. The English troops, however, suffered greatly from the rains, and the perpetual surf on the shore rendered the landing of the artillery and stores a matter of great difficulty. The perseverance and intrepidity of the English troops got the better of all obstacles, and the Spaniards were driven from their advanced posts into the town, after a resistance that gave the English no high ideas of their courage.
The pride, ignorance, and cruelty, of the defendants, are scarcely to be credited. Their Archbishop was their governor and commander in chief; but so weak a man, that when some foul weather began to rise which incommoded the English, he publickly declared to his people, that the angel of God was about to disperse and destroy the English, as he had done the host of Sennacherib. When summoned to surrender, he in return advised the English to desist from their undertaking, because his city was impregnable. Ten thousand neighbouring Indians, the most cruel and barbarous people under the sun, were introduced into the city, which was in a manner open to them, the handful of English being able to invest but a very small part of it. The fierceness of the Barbarians was remarkably displayed in the following tragedy. The governor's nephew had been taken in the bay by the English, and his excellency sent a flag of truce requesting the favour that he might be set on shore, which was accordingly granted; and Lieutenant Fryar, the General's own secretary, was appointed to conduct him to the city. In their way thither, they met with a large party of the garrison, intermingled with Indians, who most inhumanly murdered Lieutenant Fryar and mangled his body in a manner too shocking so be related, and at the same time mortally wounded the gentleman, while he was endeavouring to save his conductor. The weather and rains continued still to be so unfavourable to the English, that the Archbishop trusted to the elements for his deliverance; while the Indians in their sallies, though slightly armed, fearlessly ran up to the very muzzles of their enemy's pieces, and expired like wild beasts gnawing the bayonet that gave them death. At last, after surmounting incredible difficulties, and the Spaniards continuing still obstinate, though not brave, a breach was made, which the English resolved to storm. This was done with such amazing spirit and rapidity, that the Spaniards made no effort of resistance, so that the English were afraid the enemy had some mines in reserve to spring; but without reason. The chief resistance they met with was at the royal gate, where a hundred Spaniards and Indians, who refused to surrender, were put to the sword, and about 300 were drowned in attempting to pass the river. At last, the governor and principal officers, who had retired to the citadel, which was in a good posture of defence, surrendered at discretion; and thus the absolute reduction of the place, with its numerous artillery and stores, was effected. If the treasure found here by the English was not so great as expected, it was owing to the unavoidable misfortune they were under of not being able to invest the place; by which, their enemies were at liberty to dispose of their treasure and effects as they pleased. To make them some amends, however, during the siege, Captain Parker in the Panther made prize of a rich Acapulco ship, valued at three millions of dollars; and the Admiral and General reduced the enemy to the necessity of offering our forces an honourable and beneficial capitulation, which they accepted, very fortunately for them, and for us, as the places would otherwise have been given up, without redemption, by the following treaty.
The Definitive Treaty.
By the KING.
A PROCLAMATION.
GEORGE R.
WHEREAS a definitive treaty of peace and friendship between us, the most Christian King, and the King of Spain, to which the King of Portugal hath acceded, hath been concluded at Paris on the 10th day of February last, and the ratifications thereof have been exchanged upon the 10th day of this instant March; in conformity thereunto, we have thought fit hereby to command, that the same be published throughout all our dominions: And we do declare to all our loving subjects our will and pleasure, that the said treaty of peace and friendship be observed inviolably, as well by sea as land, and in all places whatsoever; strictly charging and commanding all our loving subjects to take notice hereof, and to conform themselves thereunto accordingly.
Given at our court at St. James's,
the 21st day of March, 1763, in the 3d year of our reign.
GOD save the KING.
In the Name of the most holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. So be it.
BE it known to all those to whom it shall, or may, in any manner, belong.
It has pleased the most High to diffuse the spirit of union and concord among the Princes, whose divisions had spread troubles in the four parts of the world, and to inspire them with the inclination to cause the comforts of peace to succeed to the misfortunes of a long and bloody war, which, having arisen between England and France, during the reign of the most serene and most potent Prince, George the Second, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, of glorious memory, continued under the reign of the most serene and most potent Prince, George the Third, his successor, and, in its progress, communicated itself to Spain and Portugal: Consequently, the most serene and most potent Prince, George the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick and Lunenbourg, Arch-Treasurer, and Elector, of the Holy Roman empire; the most serene and most potent Prince, Lewis the Fifteenth, by the Grace of God, most Christian King; and the most serene and most potent Prince, Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Spain and of the Indies, after having laid the foundations of peace in the preliminaries, signed at Fontainbleau the 3d of November last; and the most serene and most potent Prince, Don Joseph the First, by the Grace of God, King of Portugal and of the Algarves, after having acceded thereto, determined to compleat, without delay, this great and important work. For this purpose, the high contracting parties have named and appointed their respective Ambassadors Extraordinary, and Ministers Plenipotentiary, viz. his Sacred Majesty the King of Great Britain, the most illustrious and most excellent Lord, John, Duke and Earl of Bedford, Marquess of Tavistock, &c. his Minister of State, Lieutenant General of his armies, Keeper of his Privy Seal, Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter, and his Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to his most Christian Majesty; his Sacred Majesty the most Christian King, the most illustrious and most excellent Lord Caesar Gabriel de Choiseul, Duke of Praslin, Peer of France, Knight of his Orders, Lieutenant General of his armies, and of the province of Britanny, Counsellor in all his Councils, Minister and Secretary of State, and of his commands and Finances; his Sacred Majesty the Catholick King, the most illustrious and most excellent Lord, Dom Jerome Grimaldi, Marquis de Grimaldi, Knight of the most Christian King's orders, Gentleman of his Catholick Majesty's Bed-chamber in employment, and his Ambassador extraordinary to his most Christian Majesty; his Sacred Majesty the most Faithful King, the most illustrious and most excellent Lord, Martin de Mello and Castro, Knight professed of the order of Christ, of his most Faithful Majesty's Council, and his Ambassador and Minister Plenipotentiary to his most Christian Majesty.
Who, after having duly communicated to each other their full powers, in good form, copies whereof are transcribed at the end of the present treaty of peace, have agreed upon the articles, the tenor of which is as follows:
Art. I. There shall be a christian, universal, and perpetual peace, as well by sea as by land, and a sincere and constant friendship shall be reestablished between their Britannick, Most Christian, Catholick, and Most Faithful Majesties, and between their heirs and successors, kingdoms, dominions, provinces, countries, subjects, and vassals, of what quality or condition soever they be, without exception of places, or of persons: So that the high contracting parties shall give the greatest attention to maintain between themselves and their said dominions and subjects, this reciprocal friendship and correspondence, without permitting, on either side, any kind of hostilities, by sea or by land, to be committed, from henceforth, for any cause, or under any pretence whatsoever, and every thing shall be carefully avoided, which might, hereafter, prejudice the union happily re-established, applying themselves, on the contrary, on every occasion, to procure for each other whatever may contribute to their mutual glory, interests, and advantages, without giving any assistance or protection, directly or indirectly, to those who would cause any Prejudice to either of the high contracting parties: there shall be a general oblivion of every thing that may have been done or committed before, or since, the commencement of the war, which is just ended.
Art. II. The treaties of Westphalia of 1648; those of Madrid between the crowns of Great Britain and Spain of 1667, and 1670; the treaties of peace of Nimeguen of 1678, and 1679; of Ryswyck of 1697; those of peace and of commerce of Utrecht of 1713; that of Baden of 1714; the treaty of the triple alliance of the Hague of 1717; that of the quadruple alliance of London of 1718; the treaty of peace of Vienna of 1738; the definitive treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748; and that of Madrid, between the crowns of Great Britain and Spain, of 1750; as well as the treaties between the crowns of Spain and Portugal, of the 13th of February 1668; of the 6th of Feb. 1715; and of the 12th of Feb. 1761; and that of the 11th of April 1713, between France and Portugal, with the guaranties of Great Britain; serve as a basis and foundation to the peace, and to the present treaty: and for this purpose, they are all renewed and confirmed in the best form, as well as all the treaties in general, which subsisted between the high contracting parties before the war, as if they were inserted here word for word, so that they are to be exactly observed, for the future, in their whole tenor, and religiously executed on all sides, in all their points, which shall not be derogated from by the present treaty, notwithstanding all that may have been stipulated to the contrary by any of the high contracting parties: and all the said parties declare, that they will not suffer any privilege, favour, or indulgence, to subsist, contrary to the treaties above confirmed, except what shall have been agreed and stipulated by the present treaty.
Art. III. All the prisoners made, on all sides, as well by land, as by sea, and the hostages carried away, or given during the war, and to this day, shall be restored, without ransom, six weeks, at latest, to be computed from the day of the exchange of the ratification of the present treaty, each crown respectively paying the advances, which shall have been made for the subsistence and maintenance of their prisoners, by the Sovereign of the country where they shall have been detained, according to the attested receipts and estimates, and other authentic vouchers, which shall be furnished on one side and the other: and securities shall be reciprocally given for the payment of the debts which the prisoners shall have contracted in the countries, where they have been detained, until their entire liberty. And all the ships of war and merchant vessels, which shall have been taken, since the expiration of the terms agreed upon for the cessation of hostilities by sea, shall be likewise restored bonâ fide, with all their crews and cargoes: And the execution of this article shall be proceeded upon immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty.
Art. IV. His most Christian Majesty renounces all pretensions, which he has heretofore formed, or might form, to Nova Scotia, or Acadia, in all its parts; and guaranties the whole of it, with all its dependencies, to the King of Great Britain: Moreover, his most Christian Majesty cedes, and guaranties, to his said Britannic Majesty, in full right, Canada, with all its dependencies, as well as the island of Cape Breton, and all the other islands and coasts, in the gulph and river of St. Laurence, and in general every thing that depends on the said countries, lands, islands, and coasts, with the sovereignty, property, possession, and all rights acquired by treaty or otherwise, which the most Christian King, and the crown of France, have had, till now, over the said countries, islands, lands, places, coasts, and their inhabitants, so that the most Christian King cedes and makes over the whole to the said King, and to the crown of Great Britain, and that in the most ample manner and form, without restriction, and without any liberty to depart from the said cession and guaranty, under any pretence, or to disturb Great Britain in the possessions above-mentioned. His Britannic Majesty, on his side, agrees to grant the liberty of the Catholick religion to the inhabitants of Canada: He will, consequently, give the most precise and most effectual orders, that his new Roman Catholick subjects may profess the worship of their religion, according to the rites of the Romish church, as far as the laws of Great Britain permit. His Britannic Majesty further agrees, that the French inhabitants, or others who had been subjects of the most Christian King in Canada, may retire, with all safety and freedom, wherever they shall think proper, and may sell their estates, provided it be to subjects of his Britannic Majesty, and bring away their effects, as well as their persons, without being restrained in their emigration, under any pretence whatsoever, except that of debts, or of criminal prosecutions: The term, limited for this emigration, shall be fixed to the space of eighteen months, to be computed from the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty.
Art. V. The subjects of France shall have the liberty of fishing and drying on a part of the coasts of the island of Newfoundland, such as it is specified in the XIIIth article of the treaty of Utrecht; which article is renewed and confirmed by the present treaty (except what relates to the island of Cape B
e
on, as well as to the other islands and coasts, in the mouth and in the gulph of St. Laurence): And his Britannic Majesty consents to leave to the subjects of the most Christian King the liberty of fishing in the gulph St. Laurence, on condition that the subjects of France do not exercise the said fishery, but at the distance of three leagues from all the coasts belonging to Great Britain, as well those of the continent, as those of the islands situated in the said gulph St. Laurence. And as to what relates to the fishery on the coasts of the island of Cape Breton out of the said gulph, the subjects of the most Christian King shall not be permitted to exercise the said fishery, but at the distance of fifteen leagues from the coasts of the island of Cape Breton; and the fishery on the coasts of Nova Scotia or Acadia, and every where else out of the said gulph, shall remain on the foot of former treaties.
Art. VI. The King of Great Britain cedes the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, in full right, to his most Christian Majesty, to serve as a shelter to the French fishermen: And his said most Christian Majesty engages not to fortify the said islands; to erect no buildings upon them, but merely for the convenience of the fishery; and to keep upon them a guard of fifty men only for the police.
Art. VII. In order to re-establish peace on solid and durable foundations, and to remove for ever all subject of dispute with regard to the limits of the British and French territories on the Continent of America; It is agreed, that, for the future, the confines between the dominions of his Britannic Majesty, and those of his most Christian Majesty, in that part of the world, shall be fixed irrevocably by a line drawn along the middle of the river Mississippi, from its source to the river Iberville, and from thence, by a line drawn along the middle of this river, and the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the sea; and, for this purpose, the most Christian King cedes in full right, and guaranties to his Britannic Majesty, the river and port of the Mobile, and every thing which he possesses, or ought to possess, on the left side of the river Mississippi, except the town of New Orleans, and the island in which it is situated, which shall remain to France, provided that the navigation of the river Mississippi shall be equally free, as well to the subjects of Great Britain, as to those of France, in its whole breadth and length, from its source to the sea, and expresly that part which is between the said island of New Orleans, and the right bank of that river, as well as the passage both in and out of its mouth: It is further stipulated, that the vessels belonging to the subjects of either nation, shall not be stopped, visited, or subjected to the payment of any duty whatsoever. The stipulations inserted in the IVth article, in favour of the inhabitants of Canada, shall also take place, with regard to the inhabitants of the countries ceded by this article.
Art. VIII. The King of Great Britain shall restore to France the islands of Guadaloupe, of Marie Galante, of Desirade, of Martinico, and of Belleisle; and the fortresses of these islands shall be restored in the same condition they were in, when they were conquered by the British arms; provided that his Britannic Majesty's subjects, who shall have settled in the said islands, or those who shall have any commercial affairs to settle there, or in the other places restored to France by the present treaty, shall have liberty to sell their lands, and their estates, to settle their affairs; to recover their debts, and to bring away their effects, as well as their persons, on board vessels, which they shall be permitted to send to the said islands, and other places restored as above, and which shall serve for this use only, without being restrained, on account of their religion, or under any other pretence whatsoever, except that of debts, or of criminal prosecutions: And for this purpose, the term of eighteen months is allowed to his Britannic Majesty's subjects, to be computed from the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty: But, as the liberty, granted to his Britannic Majesty's subjects, to bring away their persons and their effects, in vessels of their nation, may be liable to abuses, if precautions were not taken to prevent them: It has been expresly agreed between his Britannic Majesty and his most Christian Majesty, that the number of English vessels, which shall have leave to go to the said islands and places restored to France, shall be limited, as well as the number of tons of each one; That they shall go in ballast; shall set sail at a fixed time; and shall make one voyage only, all the effects belonging to the English, being to be embarked at the same time. It has been further agreed, That his most Christian Majesty shall cause the necessary passports to be given to the said vessels; That, for the greater security, it shall be allowed to place two French Clerks, or Guards, in each of the said vessels, which shall be visited in the landing places, and ports, of the said islands, and places, restored to France, and that the merchandise, which shall be found therein, shall be confiscated.
Art. IX. The most Christian King cedes and guaranties, to his Britannic Majesty, in full right, the islands of Grenada and of the Grenadines, with the same stipulations in favour of the inhabitants of this colony, inserted in the IVth article for those of Canada: and the partition of the islands, called Neutral, is agreed and fixed, so that those of St. Vincent, Dominica, and Tobago, shall remain, in full right, to Great Britain, and that that of St. Lucia shall be delivered to France, to enjoy the same likewise in full right; and the high contracting parties guaranty the partition so stipulated.
Art. X. His Britannic Majesty shall restore to France the island of Gorée in the condition it was in when conquered: And his most Christian Majesty cedes, in full right, and guaranties to the King of Great Britain the river Senegal, with the forts and factories of St. Lewis, Podor, and Galam; and with all the rights and dependencies of the said river Senegal.
Art. XI. In the East Indies, Great Britain shall restore to France, in the condition they are now in, the different factories, which that crown possessed, as well on the coast of Coromandel and Orixa, as on that of Malabar, as also in Bengal, at the beginning of the year 1749. And his most Christian Majesty renounces all pretension to the acquisitions which he had made on the coast of Coromandel and Orixa, since the said beginning of the year 1749. His most Christian Majesty shall restore, on his side, all that he may have conquered from Great Britain, in the East Indies, during the present war; and will expresly cause Nattal and Tapanoully, in the island of Sumatra, to be restored; he engages further, not to erect fortifications, or to keep troops in any part of the dominions of the Subah of Bengal. And in order to preserve future peace on the coast of Coromandel and Orixa, the English and French shall acknowledge Mahomet Ally Khan for lawful Nabob of the Carnatick, and Salabat Jing for lawful Subah of the Decan; and both parties shall renounce all demands and pretensions of satisfaction, with which they might charge each other, or their Indian allies, for the depredations, or pillage, committed, on the one side, or on the other, during the war.
Art. XII. The island of Minorca shall be restored to his Britannic Majesty, as well as Fort St. Philip, in the same condition they were in, when conquered by the arms of the most Christian King; and with the artillery which was there, when the said island and the said fort were taken.
Art. XIII. The town and port of Dunkirk shall be put into the state fixed by the last treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and by former treaties. The Cunette shall be destroyed immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, as well as the forts and batteries which defend the entrance on the side of the sea; and provisions shall be made, at the same time, for the wholesomeness of the air, and for the health of the inhabitants, by some other means, to the satisfaction of the King of Great Britain.
Art. XIV. France shall restore all the countries belonging to the Electorate of Hanover, to the Landgrave of Hesse, to the Duke of Brunswick, and to the Count of La Lippe Buckebourg, which are, or shall be occupied by his most Christian Majesty's arms: The fortresses of these different countries shall be restored in the same condition they were in, when conquered by the French arms; and the pieces of artillery, which shall have been carried elsewhere, shall be replaced by the same number, of the same bore, weight, and metal.
Art. XV. In case the stipulations, contained in the 13th article of the preliminaries, should not be compleated at the time of the signature of the present treaty, as well with regard to the evacuations to be made by the armies of France of the fortresses of Cleves, Wesel, Guelders, and of all the countries belonging to the King of Prussia, as with regard to the evacuations to be made by the British and French armies of the countries which they occupy in Westphalia, Lower Saxony, on the Lower Rhine, the Upper Rhine, and in all the Empire, and to the retreat of the troops into the dominions of their respective sovereigns; their Britannic, and most Christian Majesties promise to proceed, bonâ fide, with all the dispatch the case will permit of, to the said evacuations, the entire completion whereof they stipulate before the 15th of March next, or sooner if it can be done; and their Britannic and most Christian Majesties further engage, and promise to each other, not to furnish any succours, of any kind, to their respective allies, who shall continue engaged in the war in Germany.
Art. XVI. The decision of the prizes made, in time of peace, by the subjects of Great Britain, on the Spaniards, shall be referred to the courts of justice of the admiralty of Great Britain, conformably to the rules established among all nations, so that the validity of the said prizes, between the British and Spanish nations, shall be decided and judged, according to the law of nations, and according to treaties, in the courts of justice of the nation, who shall have made the capture.
Art. XVII. His Britannic Majesty shall cause to be demolished all the fortifications which his subjects shall have erected in the bay of Honduras and other places of the territory of Spain, in that part of the world, four months after the ratification of the present treaty: and his Catholic Majesty shall not permit his Britannic Majesty's subjects, or their workmen, to be disturbed, or molested, under any pretence whatsoever, in the said places, in their occupation of cutting, loading, and carrying away logwood: and for this purpose, they may build without hindrance, and occupy without interruption, the houses and magazines which are necessary for them, for their families, and for their effects: and his Catholick Majesty assures to them, by this article, the full enjoyment of those advantages, and powers, on the Spanish coasts and territories, as above stipulated, immediately after the ratifications of the present treaty.
Art. XVIII. His Catholic Majesty desists, as well for himself, as for his successors, from all pretension, which he may have formed, in favour of the Guipuscoans, and other his subjects, to the right of fishing in the neighbourhood of the island of Newfoundland.
Art. XIX. The King of Great Britain shall restore to Spain all the territory which he has conquered in the island of Cuba, with the fortress of the Havannah; and this fortress, as well as all the other fortresses of the said island, shall be restored in the same condition they were in when conquered by his Britannic Majesty's arms; provided, that his Britannic Majesty's subjects, who shall have settled in the said island, restored to Spain by the present treaty, or those who shall have any commercial affairs to settle there, shall have liberty to fell their lands, and their estates, to settle their affairs, to recover their debts, and to bring away their effects, as well as their persons, on board vessels which they shall be permitted to send to the said island restored as above, and which shall serve for that use only, without being restrained on account of their religion, or under any other pretence whatsoever, except that of debts, or of criminal prosecutions: and for this purpose, the term of eighteen months is allowed to his Britannic Majesty's subjects, to be computed from the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty: but as the liberty, granted to his Britannic Majesty's subjects, to bring away their persons, and their effects, in vessels of their nation, may be liable to abuses, if precautions were not taken to prevent them; it has been expresly agreed, between his Britannic Majesty and his Catholic Majesty, that the number of English vessels, which shall have leave to go to the said island restored to Spain, shall be limited, as well as the number of tons of each one; that they shall go in ballast; shall set sail at a fixed time; and shall make one voyage only; all the effects belonging to the English being to be embarked at the same time: It has been further agreed, that his Catholic Majesty shall cause the necessary passports to be given to the said vessels; that, for the greater security, it shall be allowed to place two Spanish clerks, or guards, in each of the said vessels, which shall be visited in the landing places, and ports of the said island restored to Spain, and that the merchandize, which shall be found therein, shall be confiscated.
Art. XX. In consequence of the restitution stipulated in the preceding article, his Catholic Majesty cedes and guaranties, in full right, to his Britannic Majesty, Florida, with fort St. Augustin, and the bay of Pensacola, as well as all that Spain possesses on the continent of North America, to the east, or to the south east, of the river Mississippi. And in general, every thing that depends on the said countries and lands, with the sovereignty, property, possession, and all rights, acquired by treaties or otherwise, which the Catholic King, and the Crown of Spain, have had, till now, over the said countries, lands, places, and their inhabitants; so that the Catholic King cedes and makes over the whole to the said King, and to the crown of Great Britain, and that in the most ample manner and form. His Britannic Majesty agrees, on his side, to grant to the inhabitants of the countries, above ceded, the liberty of the Catholic religion: He will consequently give the most express and the most effectual orders, that his new Roman Catholic subjects may profess the worship of their religion, according to the rites of the Romish church, as far as the laws of Great Britain permit: His Britannic Majesty further agrees, that the Spanish inhabitants, or others who had been subjects of the Catholic King in the said countries, may retire, with all safety and freedom, wherever they think proper; and may sell their estates, provided it be to his Britannic Majesty's subjects, and bring away their effects, as well as their persons, without being restrained in their emigration, under any pretence whatsoever, except that of debts, or of criminal prosecutions: The term, limited for this emigration, being fixed to the space of eighteen months, to be computed from the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty. It is moreover stipulated, that his Catholic Majesty shall have power to cause all the effects, that may belong to him, to be brought away, whether it be artillery, or other things.
Art. XXI. The French and Spanish troops shall evacuate all the territories, lands, towns, places, and castles, of his most faithful Majesty, in Europe, without any reserve, which shall have been conquered by the armies of France and Spain, and shall restore them in the same condition they were in when conquered, with the same artillery, and ammunition, which were found there: And, with regard to the Portuguese colonies in America, Africa, or in the East Indies, if any change shall have happened there, all things shall be restored on the same footing they were in, and conformably to the preceding treaties, which subsisted between the courts of France, Spain, and Portugal, before the present war.
Art. XXII. All the papers, letters, documents, and archieves, which were found in the countries, territories, towns, and places, which are restored, and those belonging to the countries ceded, shall be, respectively and bonâ fide, delivered, or furnished at the same time, if possible, that possession is taken, or, at latest, four months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, in whatever places the said papers or documents may be found.
Art. XXIII. All the countries and territories, which may have been conquered, in whatsoever part of the world, by the arms of their Britannic and most faithful Majesties, as well as by those of their most Christian and Catholic Majesties, which are not included in the present treaty, either under the title of cessions, or under the title of restitutions, shall be restored without difficulty, and without requiring any compensation.
Art. XXIV. As it is necessary to assign a fixed epoch for the restitutions, and the evacuations, to be made by each of the high contracting parties; it is agreed, that the British and French troops shall compleat, before the 15th of March next, all that shall remain to be executed of the XIIth and XIIIth articles of the preliminaries, signed the 3d day of November last, with regard to the evacuation to be made in the empire, or elsewhere. The island of Belleisle shall be evacuated six weeks after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, or sooner if it can be done. Guadaloup, Desirade, Marie Galante, Martinico, and St. Lucia, three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, or sooner if it can be done. Great Britain shall likewise, at the end of three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, or sooner if it can be done, enter into possession of the river and port of the Mobile, and of all that is to form the limits of the territory of Great Britain, on the side of the river Mississippi, as they are specified in the VIIth article. The island of Gorée shall be evacuated by Great Britain, three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty; and the island of Minorca, by France at the same epoch, or sooner if it can be done: and according to the conditions of the VIIth article, France shall likewise enter into possession of the islands of St. Peter, and of Miquelon, at the end of three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty. The factories in the East Indies shall be restored six months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, or sooner if it can be done. The fortress of the Havannah, with all that has been conquered in the island of Cuba, shall be restored three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, or sooner if it can be done: and at the same time, Great Britain shall enter into possession of the country ceded by Spain, according to the XXth article. All the places and countries of his most Faithful Majesty, in Europe, shall be restored immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty; and the Portuguese colonies, which may have been conquered, shall be restored in the space of three months in the West Indies, and of six months in the East Indies, after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, or sooner if it can be done. All the fortresses, the restitution whereof is stipulated above, shall be restored with the artillery and ammunition, which were found there at the time of the conquest. In consequence whereof, the necessary orders shall be sent by each of the high contracting parties, with reciprocal passports for the ships that shall carry them, immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty.
Art. XXV. His Britannic Majesty, as Elector of Brunswick Lunenbourg, as well for himself, as for his heirs and successors, and all the dominions and possessions of his said Majesty in Germany, are included and guarantied by the present treaty of peace.
Art. XXVI. Their Sacred Britannic, most Christian, Catholic, and most Faithful Majesties, promise to observe sincerely, and bonâ fide, all the articles contained and settled in the present treaty; and they will not suffer the same to be infringed, directly or indirectly, by their respective subjects; and the said high contracting parties, generally and reciprocally, guaranty to each other all the stipulations of the present treaty.
Art. XXVII. The solemn ratifications of the present treaty, expedited in good and due form, shall be exchanged in this city of Paris, between the high contracting parties, in the space of a month, or sooner if possible, to be computed from the day of the signature of the present treaty.
In witness whereof, We the under-written, their Ambassadors Extraordinary, and Ministers Plenipotentiary, have signed with our hands, in their name, and in virtue of our full powers, the present Definitive Treaty, and have caused the seal of our arms to be put thereto.
Done at Paris
the tenth of February, 1763.
(L. S.) BEDFORD, C. P. S.
(L. S.) CHOISEUL, DUC DE PRASLIN.
(L. S.) EL MARQ. DE GRIMALDI.
SEPARATE ARTICLES.
I. SOME of the titles made use of by the contracting powers, either in the full powers, and other acts, during the course of the negociation, or in the preamble of the present treaty, not being generally acknowledged; it has been agreed, that no prejudice shall ever result therefrom to any of the said contracting parties, and that the titles, taken or omitted, on either side, on occasion of the said negociation, and of the present treaty, shall not be cited, or quoted as a precedent.
II. It has been agreed and determined, that the French language, made use of in all the copies of the present treaty, shall not become an example, which may be alledged, or made a precedent of, or prejudice, in any manner, any of the contracting powers; and that they shall conform themselves, for the future, to what has been observed, and ought to be observed, with regard to, and on the part of, Powers who are used, and have a right, to give and to receive copies of like treaties in another language than French; the present treaty having still the same force and effect, as if the aforesaid custom had been therein observed.
III. Though the King of Portugal has not signed the present definitive treaty, their Britannic, most Christian, and Catholic Majesties, acknowledge, nevertheless, that his most Faithful Majesty is formally included therein, as a contracting party, and as if he had expresly signed the said treaty: Consequently, their Britannic, most Christian, and Catholic Majesties, respectively and conjointly promise to his most Faithful Majesty, in the most express and most binding manner, the execution of all and every the clauses, contained in the said treaty, on his act of accession.
The present separate articles shall have the same force as if they were inserted in the above treaty.
In witness whereof, we the under-written Ambassadors Extraordinary, and Ministers Plenipotentiary of their Britannic, most Christian, and Catholic Majesties, have signed the present separate articles, and have caused the seal of our arms to be put thereto.
Done at Paris
the 10th of February, 1763.
(L. S.) BEDFORD, C. P. S.
(L. S.) CHOISEUL, DUC DE PRASLIN.
(L. S.) EL MARQ. DE GRIMALDI.
Declaration of his most Christian Majesty's Plenipotentiary, with regard to the debts due to the Canadians.
THE King of Great Britain, having desired, that the payment of the letters of exchange and bills, which had been delivered to the Canadians for the necessaries furnished to the French troops, should be secured, His most Christian Majesty, entirely disposed to render to every one that justice which is legally due to them, has declared, and does declare, That the said bills, and letters of exchange, shall be punctually paid, agreeably to a liquidation made in a convenient time, according to the distance of the places, and to what shall be possible; taking care, however, that the bills, and letters of exchange, which the French subjects may have at the time of this declaration, be not confounded with the bills and letters of exchange, which are in the possession of the new subjects of the King of Great Britain.
In witness whereof, we the under-written Minister of his most Christian Majesty, duly authorised for this purpose, have signed the present declaration, and caused the seal of our arms to be put thereto.
Done at Paris
the tenth of February, 1763.
CHOISEUL, DUC DE PRASLIN. (L. S.)
Declaration of his Britannic Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, with regard to the limits of Bengal in the East Indies.
WE the under-written Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the King of Great Britain, in order to prevent all subject of dispute on account of the limits of the dominions of the Subah of Bengal, as well as of the coast of Coromandel and Orixa, declare, in the name and by order of his said Britannic Majesty, that the said dominions of the Subah of Bengal shall be reputed not to extend farther than Yanaon exclusively, and that Yanaon shall be considered as included in the North part of the coast of Coromandel or Orixa.
In witness whereof, &c.
Done at Paris
the tenth of February, 1763.
BEDFORD, C. P. S. (L. S.)
(His Britannic, most Christian, and Catholic Majesties, full powers to their respective Ministers Plenipotentiary, with the accession of his most Faithful Majesty, his full Power, and declaration of his Minister (importing that no consequence shall be drawn from the alternative observed on the parts of the King of Great Britain, and the most Christian King, with the most Faithful King, in the act of accession of the Court of Portugal) are all the other papers that relate to this important transaction; but are here omitted, as containing only matters of mere form.]
Some Reflections on the above Treaty of Peace.
THIS Review would be incomplete, did we not indulge our readers and ourselves in a few reflections upon the probable consequences, which the glorious successes it contains, may produce.
France, the old and natural enemy of Great Britain, is now sensible of one truth, which, however seemingly inconsistent, is founded on reason and experience; we mean, that Great Britain is stronger, fighting by herself and for herself, than if half Europe were her allies. In the wars of King William and Queen Anne, she fought in the quarrels of nations, who were a dead weight upon her arms; her motions were directed by theirs; and, though under the Duke of Marlborough, she always was victorious, yet the fruits of her successes were lost, through the jarring, but private, interests of her allies, who left the greatest burden of the war upon her shoulders, though least concerned in its event. In the next war with France, that in support of the Austrian succession in the person of her present Imperial Majesty, it was evident she must have been victorious, had it not been for the Dutch and German confederates; the treacherous cowardice of the former lost her the battle of Fontenoy, as the selfish haughtiness of the other did that of Lafeldt. Even in the war, of which we have just closed the review, though Great Britain paid all, she may be said to have fought all, and scarcely a glorious action happened through the whole, that was not performed by her natives; but when we say this, we except the great exploits of his Prussian Majesty. The observation we have made holds still more strongly in her naval operations. How many disgraceful blows did she receive by sea from France, when her fleets were united with those of the Dutch; while in the late war, tho' she stood single, every action at sea, except that doubtful one under Admiral Byng, proved decisive in her favour. The consequence is, that France, humbled by so many repeated blows, has relinquished the ambitious, but artful schemes, which she had been forming for above half a century against the British settlements in North America. Had these proved successful, all intercourse between the British planters and the natives must have been entirely cut off; the French would have had the savages of their own training, as well as in their interest, and would have employed the natural ferocity of those barbarians, first in exterminating our back settlers, and next in attacking the vitals of our most populous colonies, which must have been attended with the almost immediate ruin of the British commerce in that part of the world.
The fortunate events of the war in our favour have turned upon the French the destruction they had meditated against us. They themselves are now dispossessed of almost all they had in North America, so effectually, that, in all human probability, we can never have a competitor in those parts of the world, either in power or commerce.
In the East Indies, the British arms have been beyond all precedent successful, and that too at a time when our common enemy, flushed with recent successes, was in hopes of engrossing, upon our ruin, the trade of Asia to himself. But now, there, as well as in North America, our interest is so durably established, and the power of France so effectually reduced, that we have nothing to fear but from the Dutch, as the natives, in all likelihood, will never break with the English, whom they have seen perform such amazing prodigies of valour.
Three important conquests, those of Guadaloupe, Martinico and the Havannah, have indeed been returned by the definitive treaty; but the loss of them were of infinitely more prejudice to the enemy, than their possession could have been of service to us.
We have also agreed to permit the French to fish on the banks of Newfoundland, in the gulph St. Lawrence, and on the coasts of the island of Cape Breton, and given them the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, for that purpose, with leave to keep stores, and to cure and dry their fish in Newfoundland. This is by far the worst part of the treaty; for besides that Great Britain, by engrossing the whole of the fishery, might have employed all her poor sailors who are now in distress, it would have brought large sums into the nation, and, what is of still greater consequence, her navy would have been so strengthened, and that of France so impaired, by this means, that in all probability no war would have ensued for a century, and our ministry and people, with common prudence, might have discharged the whole of the national debt, enormous as it is.—Besides the conquests made by Great Britain, during the course of the war, the French marine was almost annihilated, and that of Spain so damaged, as not to be repaired for some years; so that this seemed to be the time for Great Britain to settle a peace to her own satisfaction.
The war in Germany, in its own nature, was but a secondary consideration to Great Britain; but the engagements we had entered into there, rendered it in fact a primary one. To dissolve those engagements, without hurting the honour of the nation, or endangering the balance of power on the continent of Europe, was the great object that, soon after the accession of his present Majesty, employed the attention of his ministers. They succeeded in their intention beyond the expectation of the public. They more than fulfilled their actual engagements with his Prussian Majesty; and, after the defection of the Russians from the cause of Austria, they took off the French from being his enemies. The sensible and immediate effect of this was, that the Princes of the empire, who think they have no security against the power of Austria, but the treaty of Westphalia, of which the French are guarantees, openly embraced a neutrality, and secretly resolved to oblige the Queen of Hungary to lay down her arms, and thereby to give some respite to the exhausted, desolated, country of Germany. Thus his Prussian Majesty, by his own magnanimity, and the wise conduct of Great Britain, in obliging the French to abandon the German war, gained all he had fought for. The court of Vienna, finding itself unsupported, agreed to a peace, which might have been made in the beginning of the war, and which would have saved the lives of above a million of brave men. Nor was this the only good effect of their conduct, for her Imperial Majesty begins now to be sensible of the selfish views with which France joined her, and sees how dangerous such an unnatural conjunction may prove to the peace and independency of the Germanic body. There is, therefore, all the reason in the world to hope, that the house of Austria, finding it can do nothing against that of Brandenburgh, will unite with it in watching that of Bourbon, while his Britannic Majesty, divested of all foreign partialities, will resume the glorious, but almost forgotten, character of being the umpire of Europe.
FINIS.
ERRATA.
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The battle in the East Indies, between Col.
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Lally,
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