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 Mli-iTARY BIOGHAPHY, 
 
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 :E:^ufusyiaj tor the E:?fGxisii classics 
 
 FCBLISHETj BT SCOTT. "VTEBSTER It GEARY .
 
 BRITISH 
 
 MILITARY BIOGRAPHY: 
 
 COIIPRISING 
 
 THE LIVES OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED COMMANDERS, 
 
 FROM 
 
 ALFRED TO WELLINGTON: 
 
 CONNECTED BY 
 
 AX OUTLINE OF THE 
 
 MILITARY HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 
 
 FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 Time it is, when racing war is done. 
 To smile at 'scapes and perils overblown. 
 
 Shakspeare, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR SCOTT, WEBSTER, AND GEARY, 
 
 CHARTERHOUSE SQUARE. 
 
 184L
 
 Uniform with thi? work is published, 
 BRITISH NAVAL BIOGRAPHY: comprising the Lives 
 of the raost distinguished Admirals, from Howard to Codring-ton: 
 with an outline of the Naval History of England, from the earliest 
 Period to the present Time. Second Edition, with portrait of 
 Codrington, and vignette, Price 5s.
 
 FIELD-MARSHAL 
 
 ARTHUR, DUKE OF WELLINGTON, 
 
 K.G., G.C.B,, G.C.H., 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 THE HERO OF WATERLOO, 
 
 AND TEE 
 MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OF THOSE GREAT COMMAKDERS 
 
 WHO HAVE LED BRITISH ARMIES TO VICTORT, 
 
 AND 
 
 MAINTAINED UNTARNISHED THE HONOUR OF THEIR 
 
 COUNTRT, 
 
 THIS VOLUME OF 
 
 xMILITARY HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 
 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 
 EY 
 HIS grace's very obedient SERVANTS, 
 
 THE PUBLISHERS.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 From the gratifying reception which has been 
 given by the Public'to the British Naval Biography, 
 the Author has been induced to complete the History 
 of the United Services by the publication of the 
 following work, of which a short explanation may 
 not be deemed unnecessary. 
 
 In detailing the exploits of our country by sea, 
 and tracing those steps by which she acquired the 
 unquestionable supremacy of the ocean, we were 
 obliged to confine our attention exclusively to mari- 
 time operations, in consequence of the limits to which 
 the work was restricted. A mere passing allusion, 
 therefore, was the utmost that could be given to 
 those wars which Britain conducted by land simul- 
 taneously with her naval expeditions, and by which 
 the services of her nav^ were rendered more brilliant 
 and eflFective. But in order to give a full and dis- 
 tinct \-iew of those wars that have been waged by 
 land and sea at the same period, and in which success 
 upon the one element facilitated our triumphs upon 
 the other, a separate work appeared to be indis- 
 pensable, wherein the Military events and personages 
 of our national history should enjoy the same atten- 
 tion which was bestowed upon the Naval. 
 
 But, besides this, how large an amount of heroic 
 achievements belongs to the military department of 
 British history, with which our maritime wars have 
 no connexion whatever ! ^Yhen as yet the navy of 
 our island consisted only of a few coracles, its natives 
 were maintaining a long and gallant resistance against
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 the legions of Rome, until they were reduced to tae 
 vassalage of Roman provincials. Then follows the 
 Anglo- Saxon portion of our annals, in which a fresh 
 life was infused into the country by the occupation 
 of a new race, but during which, comprising a period 
 of six centuries, the history was almost entirely of a 
 military character. Such, also, was the nature of 
 events during the long series of Anglo-Norman 
 kings, in which the terrible wars that were waged 
 with France and Scotland were conducted by land. 
 Indeed, until the accession of Queen Elizabeth, 
 Britain had neither properly understood nor rightly 
 availed herself of the advantages of her insular posi- 
 tion ; and therefore it is at her reign that the Naval 
 history of our country properly commences. But 
 previous to this era, we have fifteen centui'ics of in- 
 vasion and conflict to chronicle, amidst the struggles 
 of which the British nation had slowly emerged from 
 barbarism, and assumed a commanding station in the 
 civilized world. Even this extensive portion also, 
 crowded though it be with great events, is not the 
 most important in the records of our military achieve- 
 ments. The civil wars of the Commonwealth, the 
 campaigns of Marlborough, and, above all, the ex- 
 ploits of Wellington, will suffice to prove the truth 
 of the assertion. 
 
 With a subject so extensive for the purposes of 
 History, the Author of this work has pursued the 
 same plan which he adopted in the British Naval 
 Biography. The reader will therefore find that what 
 may be strictly called the Biographical department, 
 occupies the principal portion of the volume. An 
 account has been given, at the commencement, of 
 those bold barbarian chiefs who resisted, during the 
 first century, the attempts of the Romans to subject 
 Britain to their sway ; and as this portion of our 
 national records is remote, and therefore scanty and 
 obscure, a mere summary has been adopted from the 
 accounts of the Roman writers themselves, rather 
 than from the uncertain legends of the ancient British
 
 PREFACE. Tii 
 
 chronicles. After these, succeeds the history of the 
 Saxon Alfred— a hero all but sainted in our grateful 
 and admiring remembrances, and with the benefits of 
 whose institutions we are still almost as strongly im- 
 pressed as if he had been our contemporary. Then 
 comes the life of William the Conqueror, a mighty 
 land-mark in English history, as he was the founder of 
 a new dynasty which still occupies the British throne. 
 Richard I. succeeds, the model of a Crusading hero ; 
 and afterwards Edward I., one of the earliest of those 
 warriors of the middle ages who sought in military 
 superiority the means of territorial centralization. 
 The lives of Edward III., the Black Prince, and 
 Henry V., exhibit the origin of that national anti- 
 pathy, and those deadly wars, between France and 
 England, which, perhaps, unfortunately have not yet 
 wholly terminated ; while the biographies of Sidney 
 and Perrot, two heroes of the court of Elizabeth, 
 illustrate that important period when the chivalry of 
 the middle ages was melting fast away before the 
 coming of a new and better era. After this period, 
 we have a different state of politics, in which war is 
 rather the means, than the end, of national existence ; 
 and where heroes are animated with higher principles 
 than mere animal courage and the love of animal 
 excitement. From Cromwell to \yellington follows 
 an illustrious array of commanders, m whose deeds 
 we trace the aggrandizement of our national fame, 
 the extension of our empire, and the establishment 
 of our external safety, as well as those internal im- 
 provements which have substituted for the despotism 
 of the feudal, and the miseries of the barbaric ages, 
 the refinement, the security, and the happiness of 
 civilization. The individual sketches of this impor- 
 tant series have been also connected, as before, by 
 Chapters of General History, in which the origin 
 and progress of the different wars have been traced, 
 and those changes in society been illustrated, which 
 were necessary for the reader to understand the
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 epoch, and the position of each personage in his 
 proper order of succession. 
 
 With this brief explanation the Author submits his 
 work to the consideration of the public. He has 
 endeavoured impartially and faithfully to record, 
 and in a form which seemed to him best fitted for 
 the purpose, the great and glorious deeds of his 
 countrymen by sea and land. And he would also 
 state, in conclusion, that the task — at all times an 
 important one — has gradually acquired in his mind 
 a higher interest from the surmise that the period of 
 peace was again drawing to a conclusion ; and that 
 even the present generation may be summoned to 
 emulate those deeds of valour and patriotism which 
 it has been his lot to record. Should such an 
 emergency unhappily occur, he will not have written 
 in vain, if any of his readers should be animated by 
 the history of the past, to kindle at the deeds of their 
 fi'ih^r-s, and follow their example. 
 
 October, 1840.
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 Chap. I. — From the Invasion of Britain by Julius 
 
 Caesar to the arrival of the Saxons . . 1 
 
 Cassivellanus 7 
 
 Caractacus 11 
 
 Boadicea 17 
 
 Galgacus 21 
 
 Chap. II. — From the arrival of the Saxons in Eng- 
 land to the Norman Conquest . , . 27 
 Alfred the Great . bora a.d. 849, died 901 35 
 William the Conqueror . . . I0S7 57 
 
 Hereward Le Wake 80 
 
 Chap. III.— From the accession of William Rufus 
 
 to the death of Henr>' II 85 
 
 Richard Coeur de Lion born 1157, died 1199 117 
 Chap. IV. — From the accession of John to the death 
 
 of Henry III 134 
 
 Edward I. . . bom 1240, died 1307 155 
 Chap. V. — From the accession of Edward II. to the 
 
 invasion of France by Edward III. . . 174 
 
 Edward III. . . born 1312, died 1377 201 
 
 Edward the Black Prince . 1330 — ]37« 214 
 Chap. VI. — From the accession of Richard II. to 
 
 the death of Henry IV. .... 228 
 
 Henry V. . . . bom 1388, died 1422 243 
 Chap. VII.— From the accession of Henry VI. to 
 
 the expulsion of the English from France 255
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. VIII. — From the commencement of the 
 
 civil war between the Houses of York and 
 
 Lancaster to the accession of Henry VII. . 
 
 Chap. IX. — From the accession of Henry VII. to 
 
 ; the death of queen Elizabeth 
 
 Sir Philip Sidney . born 1554, died 15S6 
 
 Sir John Perrot ... — 1592 
 
 -Chap. X.— From the accession of James I. to the 
 
 death of Charles I. 
 
 Oliver Cromwell . born 1599, died 1C58 
 
 Chap. XL— From the death of Oliver Cromwell to 
 
 the Accession of George III. 
 
 Duke of Marlborough born 1650, died 1722 
 
 Earl of Peterborough . . 1658 — 1735 
 
 Duke of Argyll . . . 1678 — 1743 
 
 Major-General Wolfe . . 1726 — 1759 
 
 Chap. XII. — From the accession of George III. to 
 
 the Peace of 1815 
 
 Clive, baron of Plassey born 1725, died 1774 
 Elliott, lord Heathfield . 1718 — 1790 
 
 Sir Ralph Abercromby, K.B. 1733 — 180L 
 
 Marquis Cornwallis 
 Lord Harris 
 
 Sir David Baird, G.C.B. 
 Viscount Lake 
 Sir John Stuart, K.B. 
 Sir John Moore, K.B. 
 Duke of Wellington 
 Lord Hill . 
 Marquis of Anglesey . 
 Sir Thomas Picton 
 Viscount Combei'mere 
 Lord Lynedoch 
 Viscount Beresford 
 
 1737 
 
 1746 
 
 C. 1757 
 
 1744 
 
 1805 
 1829 
 1829 
 1806 
 
 1760 — 1815 
 
 1761 — 1809 
 1769 — 
 
 Pag'e 
 
 299 
 317 
 319 
 
 323 
 342 
 
 371 
 
 393 
 404 
 412 
 
 420 
 427 
 440 
 446 
 
 457 
 469 
 476 
 486 
 492 
 497 
 513 
 
 1768 — 
 
 1758 — 
 
 1775 — 
 
 1750 — 
 
 1815 604 
 612 
 618 
 625
 
 MILITAUY HISTORY. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 From the Invasion of Britain by Julius Ccpsar to the 
 Arrival of t lie Saxons. 
 
 That Britain was peopled from the opposite coast of 
 Gaul, seems scarcely to admit of doubt : this fact may be 
 assumed as certain, from the similarity in religion, 
 government, language, dress, and manners, that pre- 
 vailed between the Britons and the Gauls. When the 
 island was first invaded by the Roman conquerors, thej' 
 found it inhabited by a numerous and hi^h-spirited 
 population, ardent for liberty, and prepared to defend it. 
 But, unfortunately, their form of government was un- 
 fitted to resist the attack, of such invaders. The Britons, 
 instead of being united under one head, were divided 
 into forty tribes, some more, some less powerful; and 
 each tribe was g'overned by a petty king or chief, who 
 appears to have been elective, and whose authority was 
 of a very feeble and precarious character. Although, 
 in cases of great and general emergency, a chief was 
 invested v/ith the ofiice of generalissimo, his sway over 
 so many rival and independent leaders was, at the best, 
 uncertain. A sudden reverse of fortune, or even the 
 termination of a campaign, was enough to dissolve the 
 confederacy ; and each chieftain was then ready to make 
 a separate peace with the enemy, or to retire to his 
 own territory. 
 
 To prevent that total anarchy which would soon hare 
 been the result of such a government, it happened, 
 fortunately perhaps for the Britons, that the sacerdotal 
 was superior to the regal authority. The Druids, that 
 mystenous class of men who carefully confined all know- 
 ledge to themselves, were the true sovereigns both of the
 
 2 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 kings and people. They were the teachers of the youth, 
 the judges of the tribes, the legislators of the states; 
 and such was their influence, that no political measure 
 could be adopted without their sanction. But their office 
 as the ministers of the gods, independently of their 
 superior knowledge, invested them with an ascendancy 
 which no political considerations could have imparted. 
 While they promised future happiness to the obedient, 
 they could easily control the most refractory by spiritual 
 terrors and denunciations. In addition also to these, 
 they could inflict present misery, by excluding the cul- 
 prit from the public rites of religion — a sentence as 
 fearful as that of excommunication or interdict in the 
 darkest ages of popery. It was from this ecclesiastical 
 ascendancy that the Romans experienced their greatest 
 difficulty in the conquest of Britain. The Druids every 
 where roused the people to resistance by every religious 
 incentive, and, perhaps, exerted the uttermost of their 
 scientific knowledge in plans for the national defence. 
 Before the battle, they animated the bai-ds to sing the 
 deeds and praises of the brave ; and, when the conflict 
 was ended, they presided over the fate of the captives, 
 whom they sacrificed as the most acceptable offering to 
 the gods. It was no wonder, therefore, that the Romans, 
 who were so tolerant of all religions, had so little mercy 
 for the Druids : they felt that the conquest of Britain 
 could never be fully accomplished until the whole order 
 was destroyed. 
 
 The Britons, in their persons, were considerably taller 
 than the Gauls, and their physical strength seems to 
 have been proportioned to their bulk. The dress of the 
 inore civilized was cloth of chequered colours, like that 
 of the Gauls, or the skins of beasts ; but the clothing of 
 the greater part of the people was very scanty, until 
 they adopted the Roman costume. One peculiarity of 
 the Britons was the practice of tattooing, similar to that 
 of the South Sea islanders, by which they punctured 
 upon their limbs and bodies the indelible figures of 
 various objects. The food of the Britons chiefly consisted 
 of grain, the milk of their cattle, and the produce of the 
 chase; but, although their seas and rivers could have 
 afforded them a copious supply for the table, they ate 
 no fish, probably from some superstitious principle. In 
 the same manner, they avoided using hares as articles
 
 INVASION BY CiESAR. 3 
 
 of food. In the domestic life of the ancient Britons, as 
 detailed in the writings of Cassar and the Roman authors 
 of the first and second centuries, they appear to have 
 been a people very little advanced beyond the degree of 
 common savages ; but, on the other hand, their temples, 
 their barrows, their war-chariots, and military science, 
 shew a strength of intellect and knowledge of mecha- 
 nical arts which nations of mere savages have seldom, 
 if ever, exhibited. 
 
 Society was in this state when Julius Caesar, after hav- 
 ing conquered Gaul (France), felt an irresistible desire 
 of adding Albion to his conquests. By such an exploit 
 he would gratify his ambition, and afford an excuse 
 for being continued in command of his army for a longer 
 period than was customary, that he might promote his 
 ulterior views against the liberties of the Roman people. 
 Political reasons also were not wanting. Druidism was 
 the religion of Gaul as well as of Britain, and it was 
 considered that the subjugation of the former could only 
 be secured by the suppression of that religion ; and as 
 Britain was the sacred island of the Druids, the super- 
 stition must be suppressed at the fountain-head. Al- 
 though these causes could not be publicly avowed, one 
 was still in store, sufficient for the purposes of an invader. 
 The Gauls, in their resistance to the arms of the Romans, 
 had been aided by British auxiliaries. Having an- 
 nounced this circumstance as the motive of the expe- 
 dition, he marched his troops to the sea-coast between 
 Calais and Boulogne, and began to collect ships from 
 the neighbouring ports. He had previously acquired 
 some knowledge of the British coasts and the manners 
 of the natives, from his inquiries among the merchants 
 of Gaul, and a short reconnoitring voyage, made in a 
 single galley, by Yolusenus, one of his officers. 
 
 The simple Britons were not ignorant of the 
 B. c. stoi-m that thus gathered in the distance. The 
 55. traders of Gaul, who had been accustomed to 
 traffic with them, warned the British chiefs of 
 the approaching invasion, upon which they despatched 
 ambassadors to Cresar, with offers of hostages and sub- 
 mission. He dismissed these envoys with a gracious 
 answer, and soon after embarked with the foot soldiers 
 of the seventh and tenth legions, consisting of about 
 twelve thousand men in all, conveyed in eighty transports
 
 4 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 from the port of Itius, Icchis, or Witsand, between 
 Boulog-ne and Calais. His cavalry was also embarked in 
 eighteen other vessels ; but, owing to contrary winds, 
 they were unable to follow him — a circumstance that 
 impeded all the operations of the campaign. On the 26th 
 of August (B.C. 55), this important armament set sail, 
 and on reaching- the British coast, near Dover, he saw 
 the cliffs and the beach covered with armed men pre- 
 pared to oppose him. The nature of the coast made it 
 difficult to effect a landing. Ctesar, therefore, waited 
 until he was joined by the remainder of his fleet, and 
 then sailed about seven miles farther, until he found a 
 place fit for debarkation, in the neighbourhood of Sand- 
 wich. In the mean time, the Britons, who had followed 
 the motions of the fleet, rushed into the water, and 
 encountered the legionaries as soon as they attempted 
 to land with such resolution, that the situation of 
 the latter became every moment more perilous. It 
 was then that the standard-bearer of the tenth legion 
 performed an exploit which Ca?sar has thought worthy 
 to commemorate. First invoking the favour of the gods 
 upon his purpose, he exclaimed in a loud voice to his 
 companions — * Follow me, my fellow-soldiers, unless you 
 will give up your standard to the enemy : I, at least, will 
 do my duty to the commonwealth and my commander :' 
 and, with these words, he plunged into the sea with the 
 eagle of the legion, and hurried into the thickest of the 
 conflict. His example inspired the hesitating Romans, 
 who charged the enemy with irresistible violence. 
 This attack, and the war-engines upon the galleys, 
 now brought into proper position, and which swept the 
 beach with showers of missiles, decided the conflict. 
 The Britons, broken by this fresh attack, and confounded 
 by the novelty and destructiveness of these engines, 
 retired at last from the unequal conflict ; while Caesar, 
 from the want of cavalry, was unable to follow up his 
 success. 
 
 When the Britons had found that their pacific embassy 
 to Cjesar had been insufficient to avert the invasion, 
 they were so indignant, that they threw Comius, his 
 envoy, into prison ; but the subsequent conflict and the 
 establishment of the Romans upon their coast suggested 
 more pacific measures. They now liberated Comius, and 
 sent him with envoys to the conqueror to make fresh
 
 INVASION BY CESAR. 5 
 
 offers of submission. Caesar, after rebukiug them for 
 opposing him uithout cause, contented himself with 
 demanding a certain number of hostages, some of whom 
 were delivered immediately, and the others promised in 
 a few days. But, on the same night in which this peace 
 was ratified, a high spring tide rose, to the astonishment 
 of the Romans, who had been accustomed only to the 
 peaceful shores of the Mediterranean: the vessels that 
 were drawn up upon the beach were soon swamped and 
 filled with water, while the larger ships, that lay. at 
 anchor, were dashed to pieces and reduced to complete 
 wrecks. The astounded conquerors now felt themselves 
 cooped up in a strange country without means of retreat 
 or subsistence ; while the Britons triumphed in this 
 accident, and resolved to profit by it. Secretly, but 
 rapidly, the island chiefs mustered their forces, in the 
 hope of crushing the invaders at a blow, while they were 
 busily employed in patching up the wTecks of their fleet, 
 that they might send to Gaul for supplies of ships and 
 provisions. By this time, the Britons had gathered in 
 their harvest, and only one unreaped field remained to 
 tempt the famished Romans to forage. The seventh 
 legion was sent for this purpose ; but, as soon as they 
 began to cut down the grain, a powerful ambush of 
 the natives started from the field, while others burst 
 from the neighbouring woods ; a whole tide of horse, 
 foot, and chariots surrounded and had almost over- 
 powered this large Roman detachment, when Caesar, 
 •who saw from his fortified camp the cloud of dust in the 
 distance, suspected the cause and flew to the rescue. At 
 the head of two cohorts (1200 men) he arrived at the 
 scene of dangei*, and by great exertions of skill and 
 valour succeeded in withdrawing the legion. The natives 
 eagerly followed their retreat, and surrounded for several 
 days the camp itself, which they hoped to carry by 
 storm. But here Caesar gave them a terrible lesson in 
 Roman strategy. Selecting the point and the moment 
 of onset, he burst unexpectedly upon the enemy, broke 
 their loose ranks asunder, and pursued them with great 
 slaughter, until his soldiers were exhausted with the 
 chase. The Britons again sued for peace, with greater 
 sincerity than before, and Caesar, who was impatient to 
 return to Gaul, acceded to their request. He only re- 
 quired double the number of hostages that had been
 
 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 demanded on the former occasion ; and ordering them to 
 be sent after him into Gaul, he set sail the same night 
 (September 20th). In consequence of this hurried de- 
 parture, only two of the British chiefs fulfilled their part 
 of the treaty by sending hostages to the conqueror — a 
 circumstance that served as an apology for a fresh 
 invasion in the following year. 
 
 In the foregoing campaign, Caesar declares that 
 B. c. his purpose was not to conquer, but merely to 
 54. survey the island ; and having acquired the ne- 
 cessary information, he now made preparations 
 for an entire conquest, upon a scale that shewed his high 
 estimation of the valour of the Britons. Five legions 
 (about 30,000 men) and 2,000 cavalry, a force equal to 
 that with which he gained the victory at Pharsalia and 
 overthrew the liberty of Rome, was marched to Portus 
 Itius in the spring, and embarked in 800 vessels. This 
 time, the islanders, probably dismayed by such an im- 
 posing force, made no attempt to interrupt its landing ; 
 and Ceesar disembarked his soldiers at a place near 
 Sandwich, which he had fixed upon the preceding yeai* 
 as fittest for the purpose. As the Britons had retreated 
 on his arrival, he followed them in a rapid night march, 
 and at length came up with them well posted upon some 
 rising grounds behind a river — perhaps the Stour, near 
 Canterbury. The natives gallantly disputed the passage 
 of the river, but were repulsed ; after which they fell 
 back upon an entrenchment in the woods, the avenues 
 to which were defended by felled trees laid upon one 
 another. Such a fortress was but a poor defence against 
 the Romans ; and the seventh legion having thrown up 
 a mo(md of earth in front of it, soon compelled the 
 natives to abandon their position. On the following 
 morning, Ccesar was ready to pursue the retreating 
 enemy, when a party of Roman horse from the camp 
 arrived, with the unwelcome intelligence that his fleet 
 had been driven on shore during the night, and the 
 greater part of it wrecked ; upon which he hastily 
 marched his army back to the coast. Here he adopted 
 such measures for the repair of his damaged vessels, and 
 the construction of new ones, that his navy was soon as 
 effective as ever ; and having now acquired some experi- 
 ence of the uncertainty of the British seas, he caused 
 the whole fleet to be drawn up on shore and enclosed
 
 CASSIVELLANUS. 7 
 
 within the defences of his camp, after whicli he resumed 
 his active measures against the enemy. 
 
 CASSIVELLANUS.* 
 The resistance of the Britons had hitherto been of a 
 desultory character, the tribes acting without concert or 
 general principle ; but having become wise from their 
 disasters, they improved the interval of Caesar's absence 
 in electing a generalissimo. Their choice fell upon 
 Cassivellanus, king or chief of the Catuellani, a tribe 
 who are supposed to have occupied Buckingham, Bed- 
 ford, Hertford, Huntingdon, and part of Northampton. 
 This, the earliest of British heroes on record, had ac- 
 quired a high reputation in war, and his first measures 
 justified the choice of his compeers. Assuming the 
 oflFensive, he made a bold attack upon the enemy, and 
 though repulsed, his retreat appears to have been made 
 with much skill : Caesar indeed acknowledges that the 
 fugitives turned short upon the pursuers, and slew seve- 
 ral of his soldiers. After this battle, the Britons changed 
 their warfare into a course of surprisals, and in these 
 they were particularly successful : they darted unex- 
 pectedly from the woods upon two cohorts, routed and 
 nearly cut them in pieces, in sight of the whole Roman 
 army, and then retired to their fastnesses in safety. On 
 the next morning, Caesar saw only a few troops hover- 
 ing upon the distant hills, and supposing the opportunity 
 favourable for forage, he sent for this purpose more than 
 half of his army. This large detachment had not gone 
 far, when the Britons sallied from their concealments, 
 and assaulted the Roman legions with great confidence ; 
 but here, as in other pitched battles, the science and 
 discipline of the invaders triumphed. The naked bar- 
 barians, after prodigious efforts, were compelled to give 
 way to the iron masses of the enemy, and being charged 
 impetuously by horse and foot at the same instant, their 
 complete discomfiture followed. This defeat was fatal 
 to the British coalition ; the chiefs, most of whom had 
 been the enemies or the rivals of Cassivellanus, drew 
 off their followers, and retired to their own districts. 
 Even yet, however, the forsaken hero did not despair. 
 At the head of those forces that still adhered to him, he 
 
 * Milton calls him Casiibelan.
 
 8 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 fell back for the defence of his own territories beyond 
 the Thames, and Cassar, who had not yet penetrated into 
 the interior, prepared to follow him. On passing through 
 Kent, and part of Surrey, he arrived at the Thames 
 near Chertsey, where the river was fordable ; but Cas- 
 sivellanus, ^l•ho was posted with his troops on the other 
 side, had fortified both the bank and bed of the river 
 with sharp stakes, which, in the latter case, were con- 
 cealed by the water. Caesar, however, who had been 
 warned of these obstacles, quickly surmounted them ; 
 his soldiers forded the river, although only their heads 
 appeared above water, and on reaching the opposite side, 
 they charged the Britons with such vigour, that the 
 latter were soon put to flight. Cassivellanus, who now 
 retained only 4000 war-chariots, resolved to harass the 
 Romans by that desultory kind of warfare that had 
 hitherto been most effectual ; he therefore hovered upon 
 the flanks and rear of the enemy with his light forces, 
 distui-bed their march with continual alarms, and sur- 
 prised their foraging parties, so that the Romans were 
 never certain of a moment's rest, or masters of any 
 spot of ground, except that which was covered by their 
 camp. 
 
 In spite of these hei-oic efforts of the Britons, the pro- 
 gress of the legions, although slow, M'as certain. Cas- 
 sivellanus had swept their line of march of all the cattle 
 and provisions ; but the chiefs who had seceded from 
 the coalition, and were willing to make their peace with 
 Cassar, repaired to his camp, and not only supplied him 
 with provisions, but also with intelligence, so that he 
 was able to track his adversary through the intricate 
 passes of the country. At length he penetrated to the 
 capital or stronghold of Cassivellanus, supposed to have 
 been near St. Alban's, which was nothing but a thick 
 wood sprinkled with small clusters of huts, and sur- 
 rounded by a ditch and a rampart. Although this place 
 was of considerable strength, Cajsar attacked it in two 
 different points, and carried it, notwithstanding a brave 
 resistance of the Britons. During these events, Cas- 
 feivellanus had conceived the bold idea of shifting the 
 seat of war, and strikin.g a decisive blow, by an attack 
 upon the Roman camp and shipping on the coast; and 
 for this purpose he sent to the four kings who ruled 
 over Kent, instructing them to fall upon the enemy's
 
 CASSIVELLANUS. 9 
 
 entrenchments with all their forces. This they did, but 
 they were defeated with great slaughter; upon which 
 the brave Cassivellanus was obliged to yield to necessity. 
 Caesar, who was as eager for peace as his enemy, granted 
 it on very easy terms, after which he immediately hur- 
 ried to Gaul, in consequence of revolts that had hap- 
 pened during his absence. From this period the gallant 
 Cassivellanus completely disappears from the page of 
 history. 
 
 In the foregoing account of the Roman campaigns in 
 Britain, we have followed the only narrative that re- 
 mains of it — the narrative of Caesar himself, which, 
 however, is open to several suspicions. His victories 
 over the islanders have nothing of the leni, vidi, tici, 
 about them: instead of this, they appear to have been 
 gained with great diflBculty, and were often followed by 
 serious checks. Notwithstanding his alleged successes, 
 his progress was slow, and his losses great for a con- 
 queror; and at last he seemed more eager to leave the 
 island than he had been to enter it. He boasted that he 
 had conquered Britain, although he neither built a 
 single fortress, or left a legion to secure such a valuable 
 acquisition. He tells us also that he compelled the 
 chieftains to become tributaries ; but this may safely be 
 considered to have merely extended to an acknowledg- 
 ment of the power of Rome, as he has left no account 
 of the nature or amount of the tribute, or that any 
 collectors were left by him to receive it. These proofs 
 of conquest Caesar has no where found it convenient 
 to establish. Tacitus indeed declares, that Caesar was 
 only the discoverer, not the conqueror of Britain ; and 
 the poet Lucan hints that the Britons actually put him 
 to flight. Be this as it may, his accounts of such re- 
 mote victories could scarcely be contradicted in the 
 Roman capital; and perhaps, like the bulletins of his 
 modern successor, Bonaparte, they were more calcu- 
 lated to produce an imposing effect for the passing day, 
 than to supply the purposes and the wants of veritable 
 history. 
 
 A brief glance at the weapons and military tactics of 
 the Britons gives us a high idea of the native valour of 
 the people. Defensive armour they had none, with the 
 exception of a light round shield, made of oziers ; they 
 even threw oflf their scanty clothing when preparing 
 B 2
 
 10 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 for battle, and thus opposed tlieir naked tattooed boilicM 
 to the massive well-tempered mail of the legionaries. 
 Their offensive weapons were, a large, clumsy sword 
 made of copper, which was sometimes hai-deued with a 
 little tin, but liable to break or bend notwithstanding 
 with a good blow— a spear, the butt-end of which had a 
 hollow ball containing small pieces of metal, by the 
 rattling of which in a charge they tried to frighten the 
 enemy's horses — and a short dirk. If the stone axes, 
 and the heads of arrows and lances made of flint, so 
 plentifully found in old British barrows, were also used 
 so late as the Roman invasion, it gives us a still poorer 
 idea of the weapons with which the Britons opposed the 
 bravest troops in the world, headed by the most prudent 
 and skilful conquerors. But the choicest arm of British 
 warfare was their chariots. These were furnished at 
 the axles with hooks and scythes, that pierced and cut 
 asunder every thing opposed to them ; the horses that 
 drew these cars seem to have been remarkable for fleet- 
 ness and docility, while the charioteers managed them 
 with consummate skill. The noise v.'ith which these 
 chariots advanced, the violence of their onset, and the 
 dexterity with which they were winded through every 
 opening in the ranks, confounded the legionaries, while 
 the drivers leaping to the ground at the most favourable 
 points of onset, and attacking in a thousand places at 
 once, increased the dismay and confusion. Besides their 
 war-chariots, the Britons possessed a very serviceable 
 cavalry; but the chief strength of their armies con- 
 sisted of the foot. Even with their scanty weapons, 
 and imperfect discipline, they might perhaps have held 
 their powerful enemy at bay, if they had contented 
 themselves with a war of skirmishes among the woods 
 and morasses, into which the heavy-armed legionaries 
 could not follow them with effect. But such a pro- 
 tracted kind of warfare is always too much either for 
 the foresight or the patience of barbarians. Unable to 
 endure suspense, eager to come to blows, and stake all 
 upon a single chance, the Britons rashly engaged the 
 enemy in pitched battles, where Roman science and 
 weapons were sure to be victorious. 
 
 After the departure of Cajsar from Britain, the 
 A. D. Romans made no farther attempt at invasion for 
 43. nearly a hundred years. Indeed, the difficulties
 
 CAR ACT AC us. U 
 
 that had attended the first aud second expeditions, how- 
 ever they may have been glossed over, seem to have 
 been very generally understood at Rome ; and although 
 each emperor was successively incited to the attempt, 
 and hailed as the future conqiiei-or of Britain, it was 
 only in the lays of laureates, and the flattery of courtiers. 
 The mad attempt of Caligula to realize these visions, is 
 well known. He marched to Boulogne; gazed upon the 
 British coast ; commanded his soldiers to gather some 
 shells as the spoils of victory, and returned to Ro-.ne in 
 triumph. At length, in a.d. 43, the emperor Claudius re- 
 solved to conquer Britain in good earnest, and Aulus 
 Plautius, a skilful leader, was sent for the purpose with 
 an army of four legions, and a large force of auxiliaries, 
 amounting in all to above 50,000 men. The materials also 
 of which this army was composed were perhaps better 
 fitted for this purpose than even the army of Julius 
 Caesar. For while the legionaries were adequate to all the 
 contingencies of regular warfare, the allies, by whom they 
 were accompanied, were chiefly German barbarians — 
 men as brave, as lightly armed, and skilful in the flying 
 warfare of the woods, as the Britons themselves, and to 
 ■whom therefore the Romans were chiefly indebted for 
 their subsequent success. 
 
 CARACTACUS. 
 
 That disunion which had formerly favoured the opera- 
 tions of Cassar still existed among the Britons, and in- 
 stead of uniting for their common safety, each tribe or 
 nation waited passively for the coming of the enemy. 
 The Romans thus landed unopposed, and with the same 
 facility advanced into the country. At length, when 
 the favourable moment of resistance had been lost, two 
 princes of the Trinobantes, Caractacus andTogodumnus, 
 succeeded in rousing the tribes, and leading them against 
 the invaders. A battle ensued, in which the brothers 
 were defeated ; and in consequence of this disaster, se- 
 veral of the tribes withdrew from the confederacy, and 
 submitted to the Romans. Togodumnus and Caractacus 
 were closely followed by the enemy, and again defeated 
 on the right bank of the Severn, after which they con- 
 tinued to retreat eastward to the Thames, where the 
 marshes formed a favourable srround for British warfare.
 
 12 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Here a desperate conflict took place, in which, although 
 Togodumnus was slain, the Britons appear to have had 
 the advantage. Multitudes of the German and other 
 barbarians who were attached to the Roman army were 
 lost in the morasses, and Plautius was obliged to with- 
 draw his army to a safer position — to wait the arrival of 
 the emperor, who was coming to the island with powerful 
 reinforcements. 
 
 At length, Claudius arrived from Gaul (a.d. 49); and 
 although his warlike abilities were not of a character to 
 accelerate the conquest of the island, he brought with 
 him a force which, when added to the army of Plautius, 
 seemed to ensure success. Among these reinforcements 
 we read of certain elephants completely harnessed, 
 which were employed for the first and the last time in 
 our island warfare ; but the service they performed, or 
 the astonishment and dismay with which they must 
 have struck the stout hearts of the natives, has been no 
 where recorded. The country of the Ti-inobantes was 
 now overrun by an irresistible enemy, and Camalo- 
 dunum, the capital of Caractacus, was seized and oc- 
 cupied. But that hero was still in the field. Although 
 Vespasian, who had been left in command by Claudius, 
 was employed in subduing the Isle of Wight, and the 
 adjacent states on the coast, while Aulus Plautius was 
 conducting a skilful campaign in the interior, the Bri- 
 tish hero was resisting the latter so successfully, that the 
 advance of the Romans was both slow and ruinous. It is 
 difficult, or rather impossible, at this distance of time to 
 penetrate the darkness of British history during the first 
 century, so as to ascertain the particular achievements 
 of this the most illustrious of its characters ; luit it is 
 enough to state, that with equal, and often with inferior 
 forces, he maintained the warfare for nine years, gave 
 the enemy many a bloody check, and while he was in 
 the field prevented both Plautius and Vespasian from 
 occupying- more of the country than that which lay on 
 the south of the Thames. In the mean time his name 
 had not only become the great rallying word of every 
 British clan, but had already resounded over every 
 part of Italy ; and it was the fashion to compare the 
 poor chief of a barbarian tribe to the most dreaded ene- 
 mies that Rome had ever encountered — to Hannibal and 
 Mithridates.
 
 CARACTACUS. 13 
 
 Tlie arrival of Ostorius Scapula, as proprtetor ol" 
 A. u. Britain, changed the scene. He found the affairs 
 50. of the Romans almost hopeless ; but he brought 
 considerable reinforcements, and, what was of more 
 account, he seems to have understood the nature of a 
 British campaign better than his predecessors. On his 
 arrival, instead of waiting for the spring, he commenced 
 hostilities in winter, contrary to every former usage, 
 and the Britons were attacked at unawares, and easily 
 defeated. Having thus recovered all the ground formerly 
 occupied by the Romans, and from which they had been 
 driven back, he secured its possession by a line of forts 
 on the Severn and the Neve, taking care to disarm the 
 natives within the boundary; and in this manner he 
 continued to advance, fortifying each new acquisition, 
 until the more civilized part of the island was enclosed 
 within his defences. It is in the midst of these suc- 
 cesses of Ostorius that Caractacus reappears on the 
 scene. The Silures, who inhabited South Wales, besides 
 being the bravest of the British tribes, were now ani- 
 mated by the presence of that chief, and as his deeds 
 were the theme of every hovel, they selected him for 
 their leader against the aggressors. But notwithstanding 
 his military skill, and perfect knowledge of the country, 
 he was obliged to retire before the enemy, who were 
 superior in numbers. He fell back upon North Wales, 
 where he was joined by many of his brave countrymen, 
 v/ho still prefeiTed death to bondage, and here he re- 
 solved to make a final stand. His ground was admirably 
 selected. His ai^my was secured by natural entrench- 
 ments of steep, rugged hills, the entrances of which 
 were defended by ramparts of huge stones laid upon 
 each other, while a river, difficult to be forded, inter- 
 posed between him and the enemy, and secured him in 
 front. 
 
 The Roman army now advanced, and Ostorius was as- 
 tonished at the skilful manner in which the Britons were 
 posted. In the mean time, Caractacus harangued the 
 tribes. He told them the hour had come that was to 
 decide whether they should be freemen or slaves ; and 
 he adjured them, by the memory of their brave ances- 
 tors who had baffled the efforts of Caesar, and by the love 
 they bore for their homes, their wives, and their child- 
 ren, to do their uttermost upon this eventful occasion.
 
 14 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 His followers answered with inspiring shouts, and were 
 eager for the encounter. But still, as in former cases, 
 the Roman arms and discipline, hacked as they were on 
 this occasion by superiority of numbers, gained the vic- 
 tory. The river in front of the Britons was forded ; the 
 rude ramparts were thrown down or scaled ; after which 
 it was a hopeless struggle between loose groups of bar- 
 barians against dense, well-arrayed ranks, and naked 
 breasts against bodies covered with mail. All that brave 
 men could do was done by the Britons ; but they were 
 broken, and routed with great slaughter. Caractacus, 
 baffled but still unsubdued, escaped the carnage, and in 
 the hope of renewing the war, as he had often done 
 after defeat, he fled for temporary refuge to his step- 
 mother, Cartismandua, queen of the Brigantes ; but that 
 faithless woman caused him to be put in chains, and 
 delivered up to the enemy. He was sent to Rome a 
 prisoner, to abide the award of Claudius, with his wife, 
 daughter, and brothers, who had been taken after the 
 battle. 
 
 If any thing could have soothed the wounded feelings 
 of the hero, and softened the sense of his disasters, it 
 must have been the sensation of popular triumph which 
 his arrival at Rome occasioned. Not only the millions 
 of the vast metropolis, but crowds from every part of 
 Italy were assembled, to gaze upon the far-famed captive 
 who had so long defied their power. As for Caractacus, 
 he moved as proudly along in his fetters as if he had 
 been still at the head of his troops ; and while the splen- 
 did buildings of the city every where met his eye, he 
 could not help exclaiming, ' Alas ! could a people who 
 inhabit such palaces, envy Caractacus a hut in Britain?' 
 Before the tribunal of the emperor, he displayed the 
 same unbroken dignity, employing neither supplications 
 nor tears, but justifying the part he had taken, and the 
 deeds he had wrought against the Romans. It is gra- 
 tifying to be able to add, that the loftiness of true worth 
 prevailed with those who had hitherto been deaf to 
 the weeping entreaties of so many captive kings. His 
 chains were struck off, his kindred were set free, and 
 he was dismissed as the friend of Rome. As if afraid of 
 destroying the dramatic effect of such an incident, the 
 historians have ended the narrative at this point — so 
 that we learn nothing farther of the deeds of Caractacus.
 
 CONQUEST OF AXGLESEA. 15 
 
 Although this dreaded enemy had been defeated, the 
 Romans were still far from eflecting the subjugation of 
 the brave Silures. On the contrary, this tiibe assumed 
 the ag-giessive, routed the Roman detachments in seve- 
 ral sangaiinary skirmishes, and prevented their country 
 from being bridled by a line of fortresses, as had been 
 the case with the other districts. Such indeed was the 
 obstinacy and success of tlieir resistance, that the 
 dreaded Ostorius expired through fatigue and disap- 
 pointment. The progress of conquest in Bintain was 
 so slow, also, under the immediate successors of Ostorius, 
 that Nero, who succeeded Claudius, had at one time 
 determined to abandon the attempt as hopeless, and 
 recall the troops to Italy. Having however invested 
 Suetonius Paulinus with the chief command, that distin- 
 guished officer arrived in Britain in the year 59, and 
 quickly changed the character of the warfare. We have 
 already mentioned, that the Gauls had been chiefly 
 stimulated in their resistance to Rome by Druidism, of 
 which religious system Britain had been the principal 
 seat ; in like manner, the British tribes were combined 
 and animated against the enemy by their own Druidi,, 
 whose most sacred residence and chief college was 
 Mona, or the island of Anglesey. The destruction there- 
 fore of the holy island would strike a mortal blow at the 
 very heart of British independence, which could scarcely 
 be expected to survive the ruin of its gods, and its 
 priests ; and upon this principle Suetonius turned his 
 chief attention to the conquest of Anglesey. Flat-bot- 
 tomed boats were provided for transporting the foot 
 over the narrow strait of the Menai, while the cavalry 
 could easily cross by fording and swimming. But in 
 spite of these facilities, the exploit was attended with 
 fearful terrors. It was not because the island was 
 manned by bold refugees from every tribe, who were 
 ready to die in defence of their altars. The Roman 
 soldiers, who were eager to march against any enemies 
 of mere flesh and blood, were not brave enough to en- 
 counter phantoms; and awful tales had been circulated 
 among them of the supernatural powers of the Druids. 
 The spectacle which the island also presented, as the 
 Romans stood on the opposite shore, seemed to give 
 countenance to their wildest fears. Women ran to 
 and fro upon the sacred strand, in dismal dresses, with
 
 16 MILIIARY HISTORY. 
 
 dishevelled hair and lighted torches; the priests, in their 
 white robes, stretched their arms to heaven with horrid 
 incantations, devoting their enemies to ruin ; and in 
 the back-ground, the dim woods, the abodes of unutter- 
 able mystery, were lit at intervals with those sacrificial 
 fires in which the Romans, who should be taken pri- 
 soners, were to be consumed. The legionaries were 
 frozen at the spectacle : every hearty for the moment, 
 was as powerless as infancy. At last, the stern, re- 
 proachful voice of their commander roused them from 
 this trance, by upbraiding them for their fears of mad 
 women, and unarmed priests ; upon which the soldiers 
 rushed forward in desperation to this new and strange 
 encounter. The clash of arms, and their struggle with 
 the island defenders, soon restored their wonted cou- 
 rage ; and as they fought, they found that neither awful 
 foi-ms nor destroying lightnings came from heaven, to 
 protect the sacred territory. The armed Britons, the 
 Druids, the priestesses, were cut down with the sword, 
 or thrown into the flames which they had kindled for 
 the conquerors; the forests were felled, and the island 
 was occupied by a garrison. Never, perhaps, on any 
 former occasion had the legionaries contemplated their 
 own prowess with such complacency, as when they were 
 e«nployed in cutting down the consecrated trees of 
 Anglesey, and converting its dreaded recesses into com- 
 mon military stations. 
 
 The work of Roman conquest in Britain, so far from 
 being ended, had as yet but comparatively commenced. 
 The invaders had planted a few colonies in the island, a 
 portion of which was either in subjection or alliance ; 
 and the suppression of Druidism, by the capture of 
 Anglesey, although it promised final success, made an 
 immediate reaction to be apprehended, on account of 
 the devotedness of the Britons to their national priest- 
 hood. But such prudential calculations, so common in 
 the discreet days of Roman republicanism, were lost 
 sight of under the imperial government, when conquest 
 was regarded chiefly for its fruits of licence and pillage. 
 Swarms of tax-gatherers, and needy adventurers, took, 
 possession therefore of those lands which the legions 
 had subdued ; and the high-spirited natives, after being 
 subjected to all the insolence of military conquerors, 
 were plundered aud enslaved by despicable usurers.
 
 IIOADICCA. 17 
 
 This premature arrogaiice and oppression had, for its 
 natural result, the Boadicean war, in which the grasping 
 Romans had nearly lost the whole of their conquests in 
 Britain at a single blow. 
 
 BOADICEA. 
 This terrible revolt is said to have originated in the 
 following circumstances, which have an air of great 
 probabilit}'. Prasutagus, king of the Iceni (Norfolk, 
 Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire), conscious at his death of 
 the ascendancy of the victors in that part of the island, 
 as well as the helplessness of his family, conceived that 
 he could propitiate the former, and ensure the safety of 
 the latter, by a voluntary surrender of part of his ter- 
 ritory to the Romans ; on which account, he made them 
 his heirs, conjointly with his wife and daughters. But 
 this, instead of proving the protection, was only the 
 ruin of his family and people. The Romans, not content 
 with a portion, were determined to have all : they there- 
 fore took possession of his goods and kingdom, and pro- 
 ceeded to tyrannise at will ; and when queen Boadicea 
 remonstrated with the officers upon this injustice, she 
 was ignominiously scourged with rods, and her daughters 
 were violated in her presence. This flagrant outrage 
 was intolerable in the eyes of a people still smarting 
 under numerous injuries ; it was peculiarly so to Britons, 
 who were famed for their respectful devotedness to 
 women, and the readiness with which they obeyed 
 them, whether as priestesses or queens ; and the in- 
 dignant representations of Boadicea, with her energy of 
 character, rallied the dispersed tribes, and drew them 
 into a closer union than ever. The moment, too, was 
 favourable for the revolt. Suetonius was still employed 
 with the chief strength of the army in Anglesey, while 
 the colonised districts, instead of being bristled with 
 ramparts, wtre tinselled with luxurious baths and pa- 
 laces. It was in the midst of this vain security that the 
 explosion occurred: the colony of Camolodanum was 
 attacked, and overwhelmed, while a legion that at- 
 tempted to defend it, was annihilated ; after which, the 
 immense throng of insurgents rushed onward towards 
 London, at this time a principal settlement of the Ro- 
 mans, and distinguished for extent and wealth. Sueto- 
 itius, on the first tidings of insurrection, hurried from
 
 18 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Anglesey, and pressed forward to the defence of London ; 
 but finding bis force inadequate for the protection of so 
 large a town, he resolved to evacuate it. The miserable 
 inhabitants implored him to remain, but in vain ; all 
 he could do, was to permit such of them as were able, 
 to accompany the retreat of his soldiers. Scarcely had 
 his army cleared the town at one extremity, than the 
 Britons appeared at the other, and after meeting with 
 little resistance, such of the citizens as remained were 
 massacred without mercy. The next burst of the tem- 
 pest was upon Verulamium (St. Alban's), which shared 
 the same fate. It seemed as if every injury endured 
 from the Romans since the landing of Csesar was now re- 
 membered, and revenged to the full. The mere death 
 of the colonists was too little to satiate the Britons upon 
 this terrible occasion ; and tortures and the cross were 
 inflicted upon those victims who had unfortunately 
 escaped the sword. Seventy thousand Romans and 
 Roman allies perished in this frightful massacre. 
 
 In the mean time Suetonius, who had now mustered 
 10,000 veterans, resolved to make a stand: the experi- 
 ment seemed desperate, but the very existence of Rome 
 in Britain was now at stake, and not mere victory or 
 conquest. He selected his ground with consummate 
 skill, and calmly awaited the coming of the enemy. 
 The number of the insurgents has been rated at hundreds 
 of thousands; but although this amount may be ex- 
 aggerated, it must still be remembered that they con- 
 sisted, not of an army, but a nation — men, women, and 
 children, bound together by a common feeling, and 
 incited by a universal impulse. Before the battle, 
 Boadicea, mounted in her war-chariot, and with her 
 injured daughters seated at her feet, drove through the 
 British ranks, to animate her followers. Her appear- 
 ance on this occasion, as described by the Roman his- 
 torians, was like a personification of barbaric heroism — 
 a Bellona of the ancient Britons. Her stately figure 
 was clothed in a plaited tunic of various colours, over 
 ■which was thrown a long mantle ; a chain of gold sur 
 rounded her waist, while her long, yellow hair streamed 
 to her feet. She harangued the troops upon the wrongs 
 she had suffered, and entreated them to revenge her; 
 and upon the slavery of their country, and besought 
 them to free it; and by a practical figm-e of speech.
 
 BOADICEA. 19 
 
 cotamon among rude tribes, she let slip a live hare, 
 which she had concealed in her robe, and exclaimed, 
 • That in like manner the enemy would fly before them.' 
 But this aug-ury was not fated to be fulfilled. The 
 myriads, who charged at her signal, and rushed boldly 
 upon the opposite swords, were, compared with the 
 enemy, a mere mob; their attacks were the impulses 
 of blind fury, and, when driven back, they were en- 
 tangled among the lanes of cars and waggons, which 
 they had drawn up for their defence, in the rear. The 
 Roman Teterans, after they had sustained the first shock 
 of onset, easily succeeded in breaking the foremost 
 ranks of the Britons, after which, their only work was 
 an unresisted massacre among a confused and encum- 
 bered crowd. On this occasion, the debt of vengeance 
 was not forgot; 80,000 Britons, men, women, and child- 
 len, were slaughtered without regard to age or sex ; 
 and Boadicea, unable to survive her defeat, though 
 she had escaped the carnage, drank poison, and ex- 
 pired (a.d. 61). 
 
 This terrible overthrow of the tribes, although 
 A. D. followed by famine and pestilence, was still in- 
 78- sufficient to break the spirit, or subdue the resist- 
 ance, of the Britons ; and for several years after, 
 the progress of Roman conquest was almost stationary, 
 until the arrival of Agidcola in Britain. This, the most 
 illustrious and the best of Roman governors, added to 
 high talents in war a thorough acquaintanceship with 
 the militai-y tactics and manners of the Britons; and 
 besides, he was just, humane, and conciliating — qualities 
 which the natives had not as yet found in his predeces- 
 sors. These were more available for the work of con- 
 quest than the sword, and therefore his progress was an 
 uninterrupted course of success. Those tribes that were 
 successively subdued by his victories learned to endure 
 his easy yoke, to which they were perhaps the more 
 readily induced, from the dissensions that had generally 
 prevailed among their native rulers. Agricola soon per- 
 suaded the people to forsake their unsettled life for the 
 security of cities, to build commodious houses, and adopt 
 the domestic comforts that were in use among the Ro- 
 mans. They also assumed the dress, and began to study 
 the language and the sciences, of the conquerors ; and 
 having thus acquired a taste for civilization, they gra-
 
 20 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 dually lost the ancient characteristics of their race, and 
 became to all intents Roman provincials. It was by this 
 wise policy, after so much hazardous and ineffective 
 ■warfare, that the subjug^ation of Britain was accom- 
 plished. Succeeding governors found it easy to carry 
 on the system which had been thus happily commenced, 
 and a verj' few generations sufficed wholly to revolu- 
 tionise the external appearance, as well as the internal 
 character, of the province. This subject, however, be- 
 longs rather to the political and intellectual history of 
 Britain; the military department is chiefly occupied, 
 from this period, with the attempts of the Romans to 
 subjugate the tribes of the north, and the subsequent 
 invasions of the northern population upon the Britons of 
 the province. 
 
 The sagacious eye of Agricola soon perceived that, in 
 order to secure the conquest and civilization of the 
 southern part of the island, it was necessary either to 
 subdue the northern department also, or at least to iso- 
 late its wild inhabitants entirely fi-om the natives of the 
 south. In his third British campaign, therefore (a.u. 80), 
 he entered Caledonia ; and as no enemy appeared iu 
 the field, he was enabled to penetrate, without molesta- 
 tion, as far as the river Tay. The Caledonians, who 
 were to the full as fierce, as brave, and as strongly de- 
 voted to freedom as the tribes of the south had been, 
 possessed the additional advantages of rugged moun- 
 tains that could defy an enemy, as well as barren plains 
 that could starve him out; and in this confidence they 
 had retired, imagining that the invasion could only be 
 temporai-y. But in this calculation, they had not 
 reckoned on the resources of the Roman general. He 
 built forts upon the ground he had secured, stored them 
 with provisions for the winter, and garrisoned them 
 with soldiers. With each spring, he reappeared upon 
 the field, advanced in the same cautious manner, and 
 enclosed his conquests by new defences, so that in 
 A.D. 81, he had built a line of forts across the narrow 
 neck of land that separates the Frith of Forth from that 
 of the Clyde ; and on the two following summers he 
 still continued his march, having a large fleet, that 
 alternately transported his land forces, and co-operated 
 with their movements on shore. The Caledonians in 
 the mean time had made desperate efforts to destroy
 
 GALGACUS. 21 
 
 these obnoxious fortresses, but in vain: at the end of 
 each campaign they found themselves driven farther off 
 from their former boundaries, and still nearer to the 
 sea, which could be commanded at any time by the 
 Roman fleet. Even in this extremity, however, they 
 were not dismayed. Like lions at bay, they turned upon 
 the enclosing lines of the hunters, and as the Roman 
 army was divided into several parties, the Caledonians 
 united their forces, with the intention of falling upon 
 each successively. On one occasion, they made a des- 
 perate attack, during the night, upon the ninth legion 
 in its fortified camp, and would have cut it in pieces 
 lit for the opportune arrival of Agricola. 
 
 GALGACUS. 
 These, however, were but preludes to a greater and 
 more general movement. The Caledonian tribes having 
 entered into an alliance with each .other against the 
 enemy, and confirmed it by the most solemn sacrifices, 
 elected for their chief leader the celebrated Galgacus, 
 renowned as the most warlike of their chieftains. Thirty 
 thousand warriors, including many young men who carried 
 arms for the first time, and many worn-out veterans who 
 resumed their swords upon this great occasion, followed 
 the banner of Galgacus. With these, he encamped upon 
 the skirts of the Grampian hills (probably at the place 
 now called Fortiugall), having selected his station and 
 made his arrangements with great military skill. The 
 army of the Caledonians was not only inferior in point 
 of numbers to that of the Romans, but was as rudely 
 armed as the forces of the south in the days of Cassi- 
 vellanus : the rattle-headed lance, the brittle and un- 
 wieldy broad-sword, the basket-plated target, and the 
 hooked chariot, seem to have constituted their whole 
 military equipments. The Romans, besides their well- 
 appointed legions, had troops of barbarian auxiliaries 
 from Holland and Belgium, and several bodies of pro- 
 vincial Britons, who, like all enslaved people, were now 
 ready to fight gallantly to reduce others to the same con- 
 dition. On the approach of the enemy, Galgacus drove 
 through the ranks of the confederates, exhorting them 
 to fight bravely ; and although we cannot bring ourselves 
 to suppose that he uttered, upon this occasion, the elo- 
 quent harangue which Tacitus has translated into such
 
 22 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 majestic Latin, his exhortations were no doubt as much 
 to the point, and better understood. His speech was 
 answered with song-s of triumph and loud outcries of 
 heroic eagerness. 
 
 In the mean time, Agricola had prepared for victory 
 by such measures as could best secure it. His centre 
 was composed, not of legionary soldiers, as in usual cases, 
 but of auxiliai-ies, who were best fitted to engage on 
 uneven ground, and these were flanked on the wings by 
 cavalry: the legions were drawn up in a second line, in 
 the rear, where they could support the front, if it should 
 be repulsed. The battle commenced by discharges of 
 missiles, in which the Caledonians had the advantage, 
 as they warded oil' the spears of the enemy with their 
 little round targets, and discharged their own with great 
 vigour and effect. Upon this, Agricola bi'ought up five 
 cohorts of Batavians and Tungrians to encounter the 
 enemy hand to hand; and here the clumsy swords of 
 the Caledonians were most unfit for the close melee that 
 followed : the other auxiliaries soon rushed in, and bore 
 down all before them with their massive, spiked bucklers 
 and short, stabbing swords. At the same instant, the 
 Caledonian war-chariots increased the confusion beyond 
 remedy; for the horses, being maddened by the unusual 
 din, turned back, galloped through their own ranks, and 
 overturned every thing in their way. In the midst of 
 this wild disorder, the battle was almost retrieved by a 
 large body of Caledonians stationed on the summit of the 
 hill. When they saw the distress of their countrymen 
 beneath, tbey fetched a compass, and stealthily de- 
 scended, with the design of falling upon the rear of the 
 pursuers ; but the design was discovered and discon- 
 certed by Agricola, who attacked and defeated them 
 ■with his reserves of cavalry. The Caledonians even yet 
 attempted to rally upon the skirts of the neighbouring 
 woods; and, wheeling suddenly about, they assailed the 
 eager victors, and threw them into temporary disorder. 
 But the arrival of Agricola again turned the scale. He 
 rallied his forces, and directed them to continue the 
 pursuit only in large bodies; upon which the Caledoni- 
 ans dispersed so completely, that two men could scarcely 
 be found together. Nothing could exceed their anguish 
 and despair after this signal defeat. They burnt their 
 houses to the ground, and slew their wives and children,
 
 INVASION OF CALEDONIA. 23 
 
 that they might not fall into the hands of the Romans; 
 so that, on the next day, when Agricola sent his scouts 
 to explore the country, they could descry nothing but 
 burning huts, and the silence of a universal desolation. 
 From this moment, the brave Galgacus, like the other 
 British heroes, disappears from the scene. The Roman 
 historians of the period seem to have thought that a hero 
 in defeat and adversity was either unworthy of farther 
 notice, or that dramatic effect would be violated by his 
 re-appearance upon the stage. 
 
 Although the victory of Agricola was very far from 
 compelling the submission of the Caledonians, yet the 
 dread it inspired, and the line of fortresses he had 
 erected, prevented, in all likelihood, an inroad of the 
 tribes into the south for many years. But, in the reign 
 of Hadrian, this line was stormed and demolished, 
 and the Caledonians recovered all the territory that 
 had been wrested from them north of the Tyue and 
 Solway. In consequence of this, Hadrian raised a new 
 and stronger rampart (a. d. 121) between the Solway 
 Frith and the German Ocean, which he resolved should 
 be the modest limit of his South-British province. But, 
 in consequence of the incursions of the northern bar- 
 barians, LoUius Urbicus, after di-iving them back, re- 
 sumed the old line of Agricola, where he dug a deep 
 trench, and constructed a wall of earth raised upon a 
 stone foundation, extending about thirty-one miles, and 
 fortified with towers at proper intervals. This building, 
 which was finished about a. d. 140, is still popularly re- 
 membered as Graeme's Dyke. But even this barrier was 
 insufficient to shut out the enemy : they broke through 
 it, and ravaged the whole counti-y that lay between it 
 and the wall of Hadrian. At length (a.d. 207), the 
 emperor Severus, although afflicted with the gout and 
 enfeebled by old age, resolved to subdue these northern 
 enemies in one decisive campaign. He therefore marched 
 a vei-y numerous army to the provincial frontier ; but, 
 after entering the enemy's territories, he found that to 
 subdue the country was very different from merely con- 
 quering the inhabitants. He proceeded, however, to 
 the work with his characteristic ardour : morasses were 
 drained, forests were levelled, bridges were raised, and 
 military roads constructed, and in these laborious works 
 the soldiers were so completely exhausted, that many in
 
 24 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 despair fell upon theii- own swords. Rut the indomitable 
 old man persevered in cutting and clearing his way 
 through every obstacle, until he advanced as far as the 
 narrow promontory that separates the Murray and Cro- 
 marty Friths, although with a loss of 50,000 men in this 
 fierce warfare against Nature's bulwarks and defences ; 
 upon which, the Caledonians, dismayed at such merciless 
 resolution, made humble supplications for peace. As it 
 was impossible to maintain an army among such sterile 
 deserts, he soon retraced his steps to the south ; after 
 which, he determined to limit the boundary of the pro- 
 vince to Hadrian's wall, that was to be superseded by 
 one of much stronger materials. This work, in which 
 the soldiers and the Britons were employed for two years, 
 was worthy of the Roman genius and grandeur. The 
 wall was twelve feet high to the base of the battlements, 
 and eight feet thick, and defended not only by towns or 
 military stations, but by eighty-one castles and three 
 hundred and thirty small towers ; while the ditch that 
 interposed between it and the north was thirty-six feet 
 wide and above twelve feet deep. He also constructed 
 roads that led from turret to turret and from castle to 
 castle, besides larger ones that communicated from one 
 station to another; and an alarm-fire, kindled at any 
 one point, could in a short time be communicated from 
 bulwark to bulwark along the whole line of fortification. 
 Such vast defences, garrisoned by numerous armies of 
 Romans and provincials, were for many years an effectual 
 check upon the Caledonians ; but, in process of time, 
 new and more terrible enemies appeared for the de- 
 struction of the South-Britons. These were the Scots, 
 who, having emigrated from Ireland (the Scotland of 
 these ages) to Caledonia, drove the clans before them 
 towards the south, like tempestuous waves, and then 
 entered in their wake ; and the dreaded Saxon pirates, 
 ■who launched their frail skiffs from the German and 
 Danish shores, and assailed the provincial towns upon 
 the coast. As these dangers and enemies continued to 
 increase, the Romans and provincials were every year 
 becoming more unfitted for defence. The legions, now 
 the mere phantoms of those who had conquered the 
 world, were a tumultuary throng, more prompt to turn 
 their swords upon their officers than the enemy; and as 
 for the Britons, having no national liberty for which to
 
 INCURSIONS OF THE PICTS AND SCOTS. 25 
 
 contend, it mattered little to them whether Roman or 
 barbarian should prevail. At length, in a. d. 364, the 
 Scots and Picts burst through the wall of Severus, 
 making great havoc among its defenders ; and three 
 years after, they stoi-med and plundered the city of 
 London, and carried oflF its inhabitants into slavery. la 
 the midst of these national calamities, the bravest of the 
 British youths, instead of being left for the defence of 
 their own soil, were transported to Italy, to swell the 
 ranks and fight the battles of imperial usurpers. The 
 Roman army in Britain also had been gradually re- 
 duced, until at length, in a. d. 409, the remaining legions 
 were recalled by the emperor Honorius for the protection 
 of Italy. In this defenceless state the province was left 
 to the depredations of the Saxon pirates and the incur- 
 sions of the savage Scots and Picts. The Britons were 
 obliged to assemble in arms, and after having repelled 
 the invaders, they declared themselves independent; 
 but so completely had the national spirit been destroyed 
 during the four centuries of Roman sway, that they were 
 unable to maintain that independence. The emperor 
 even discharged them from their allegiance, and en- 
 couraged them to provide for their own defence; and 
 although himself opposed by more formidable enemies 
 than either Scots or Picts, he sent them two legions, at 
 different times, by which they were enabled to beat 
 back their invaders. The Romans acted in the most 
 friendly manner towards the Britons ; and Gallio of 
 Ravenna, the last of their commanders, not only as- 
 sisted in repairing the wall of Severus, but instructed 
 them in the art of war and in the manufacture of arms, 
 previous to withdrawing the last Roman legion. After 
 telling them that they must expect no further aid from 
 Rome, he crossed over to the opposite coast in the year 
 426. 
 
 When the departure of the Roman legion became 
 known to the Scots and Picts, they landed in swarms 
 from their leather boats, and committed greater ravages 
 than ever, destroying all with fire and sword. Their suc- 
 cess encouraged them to open a way into the country by 
 laud ; they surmounted the ditch and scaled the wall of 
 Severus at every point; and spreading themselves over 
 tlie country, they ravaged it almost without opposition. 
 As if even this had not been enough to produce unaui- 
 C
 
 26 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 mity, the miserable Britons were not only divided into 
 two great political parties, where Romans and natives 
 were contending for pre-eminence, but split into religious 
 factious, that debated with each other on points of 
 orthodoxy, while a fierce enemy was advancing against 
 their very churches with torch and sword. Only one 
 thing was done in this tenible crisis — and that was 
 merely to implore help from Rome ; and their last 
 appeal to iEtius, thrice consul, — and piteously entitled the 
 ' Groans of the Britons,' — explained in expressive terms 
 the completeness of their misery. * The barbarians,' 
 they said, 'chase us into the sea; the sea throws us 
 back upon the barbarians ; and we have only the hard 
 choice left us, of perishing by the sword, or by the 
 waves.' But this address was in vain ; for Rome herself 
 was awaiting her fall from the advance of Attila. At 
 length, a desperate remedy was adopted by the Britons; 
 that of hiring barbarians to defend them against bar- 
 barians — the same fatal policy which the Romans adopted 
 in their decline, and through which they fell. The ex- 
 treme national weakness of the Britons at this time can 
 only be accounted for upon the supposition that the long 
 security which the nation had enjoyed had extinguished 
 their martial character, and promoted the same cor- 
 ruption and efteminacy of manners which led to the 
 conquest of other provinces of the empire. Various 
 chiefs or princes had been elected kings during the 
 forty years (409 — 449) from their assumption of in- 
 dependence until the calling in of the Saxons ; but 
 these were deposed in succession, as unequal to their 
 station. On the report that a fresh invasion was to 
 be expected from the Scots, Vortigern, who was 
 then king, recommended an alliance with the Saxon 
 pirates, to assist against the Scots and Picts; and 
 in A. D. 449, the application was made. Three long 
 keels, or ships, under the command of Hengist and 
 Horsa, were at this time cruising in the British chan- 
 nel; and on receiving the invitation, these celebrated 
 chiefs gladly agreed to become the military stipendiaries 
 of the Britons. They were in quest of plunder, and to 
 them it mattered little from what quarter it came. They 
 little thought, as they turned their prows to the shore, 
 what an empire they were going to found, and of what 
 a dynasty they were to become the ancestors.
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 27 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 From the arrival of the Saxons in England to the 
 Norman Conquest. 
 
 Although the Teutonic race, who were now to super- 
 sede the ancient Britons, and become the fathers of the 
 fZnglish, are classed under the general name of Saxons, 
 yet the people to whom this term properly belonged 
 formed only a part of the invaders. There were three 
 separate tribes by whom South Britain was conquered 
 and colonized ; of these the Jutes and Angles were the 
 inhabitants of the peninsula of Jutland, and part of 
 Schlesswig, while the Saxons proper, who gave their 
 name to the whole people, occupied a tract of country 
 extending from the Weser to the Delta of the Rhine. 
 The first of the invaders who arrived under Hengist and 
 Horsa were Jutes, although the Angles had subsequently 
 the distinction of confen-ing their name upon the coun- 
 try. In Holstein, there is a district still called Anglen, 
 the primitive England, from which the Angles emi- 
 grated. These tribes were families of the great Scythian 
 race, who, in some very remote political convulsion, had 
 been driven, or induced to emigrate, from their Asiatic 
 home on the shores of the Caspian sea, and in the course 
 of years or ages, after a variety of fortunes, had at last 
 obtained settlements on the Baltic and the Rhine. 
 
 When the Saxons first emerged into public notice, it 
 was in the character of pirates. The sterility of the 
 country they occupied, and their command of sea-coast, 
 naturally suggested to a barbarous and warlike race 
 such a course of naval enterprise ; and piracy, in their 
 hands, quickly became a national occupation, as well as 
 the chief means of subsistence. During the first four 
 centuries of our era, whole swarms of their frail barks, 
 or canoes, composed of a light frame-work of timber, 
 surmounted with oziers, and covered with skins, braved 
 the storms of the Baltic and the German ocean, swept 
 the coasts of Gaul and Britain, and filled even the heart 
 of Rome itself with dismay. In the course of these adven- 
 tures also, the Saxons not only acquired the wealth 
 they coveted, but also nautical skill and hardihood, good
 
 28 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 weapons, and military science. It was their custom to 
 laimch their fleets upon the ocean when other ships were 
 drawn up upon the shore ; the stoi-m and the tempest 
 were their signals for attack, because it was then that 
 they found their victims unguarded, as well as retreat 
 more easy if they happened to be overpowered ; and for 
 land encounter, they seem to have been as well armed 
 as the Roman legions themselves. But their favou- 
 rite weapon was the ponderous battle-axe, which they 
 wielded with both hands, and with a vigour that no 
 armour could resist. The religion also of the Saxons was 
 well fitted to cherish this love of violence and bloodshed, 
 as it was a system of ferocious precepts, and sanguinary 
 rites. Had the Britons but reflected for a moment, they 
 might have seen that a people of such a bloody faith 
 would, at the best, be very doubtful allies to any Chris- 
 tian nation ; but the urgency of the danger had swal- 
 lowed up every other thought. They only felt that they 
 were perishing ; and in the absence of the Romans, their 
 former protectors, they thought that the brave Saxons 
 could best defend them. 
 
 Hengist and Horsa appear, in the first instance, to 
 have served their new employers with fidelity. At the 
 head of their followers, and with the aid of the British 
 troops, they successfully drove back the Picts and the 
 Scots into their own country. This object being ac- 
 complished, they soon appear to have contemplated 
 a permanent settlement. But they were obliged to 
 go warily to work, as their handful of Jutes was too 
 weak to gain possession by the sword ; and in the fol- 
 lowing year they obtained a reinforcement of Saxons, 
 Danes, and Angles, who arrived in sixteen large ships, 
 and with them came Rowena, the beautiful daughter of 
 Horsa. Hengist conceived that a matrimonial alliance 
 with the sovereign was the most natural plan he could 
 adopt to promote his views, and accordingly he invited 
 Vortigern and his nobles to a banquet, in his castle at 
 Thong-caster; and in the midst of the feast, his niece, 
 the beautiful and fair-haired Rowena, entered the hall, 
 and gracefully presented upon her knee a flagon to the ad- 
 miring king, with the northern salutAtion, Liever kyning, 
 tt'ttss hael (Dear kin«f, yonr health). Wine and beauty 
 had their natural effect upon the luxurious monarch. 
 He sought and obtained the fair cup-bearer for his wife ;
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 29 
 
 and in consideration of this event, her father Hoi-sa was 
 invested with the lordship of Kent and Thanet, which 
 he forthwith proceeded to fortify. Having thus secured 
 a maritime territory, it was easy to persuade the indo- 
 lent Britons that more troops were necessary for their 
 defence; and on permission being granted, large rein- 
 forcements arrived in the two following years to join 
 their countrymen, and, among others, a third brother 
 Octa, and Ebusa the son of Hengist. The pirate now 
 possessed the door of the kingdom, by which his coun- 
 trymen could enter at pleasure, and the Saxons, to facili- 
 tate their plans of conquest, entered into an alliance with 
 the Scots and Picts whom they had been hired to de- 
 stroy. The distracted Britons had thus at one and the 
 same time their ancient enemies without, and a per- 
 fidious foe within the kingdom, and were obliged to 
 rouse themselves with the courage of despair. Several 
 battles followed, the results of which are uncertain ; after 
 which we are informed that an event took place, of a 
 nature too common in such kinds of warfare. A hollow 
 truce or peace was ratified, and the chiefs of the Britons 
 and Saxons were assembled at a feast, when Hengist, 
 in the midst of it, suddenly exclaimed, Nimed eure 
 Seaxas (Draw your swords) ; upon which his followers 
 started up, plucked out the short swords or daggers 
 which they carried concealed in their hose, and slew all 
 the British nobles upon the spot. This bloody banquet 
 is said to have taken place at Stonehenge, on the 1st of 
 May, 476. That such an event happened is certain, from 
 the concurring testimony of several traditions ; but it has 
 been suspected by an able writer that the Saxons, in- 
 stead of being the plotters, were the intended victims, 
 and that they slew the other party in self-defeuce. 
 
 Even this fatal loss, however, does not appear to have 
 dbmayed the Britons, and becoming wiser from misfor- 
 tune, they united with the Roman faction against the 
 common enemy. On this account the conquest of the 
 country was a work of time, as well as labour, and 
 many a fierce invader bit the dust before a single king- 
 dom of the Heptarchy was established. But the Saxons 
 were reinforced more rapidly than they were destroyed, 
 and the great northern store-house of men poured forth 
 its successive multitudes in such abundance, that the 
 conquest of Britain though slow, wus inevitable. The
 
 30 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 historical traditions of the various hattles that were 
 fought are so obscure, as to be unworthy of notice, a 
 proof of which may be found in the legends about king 
 Arthur, who is represented as every where victorious 
 and irresistible, even while the Saxons must have been 
 spoiling him of his kingdom, step by step. We shall 
 content ourselves therefore with merely stating the re- 
 sults of these conflicts in the successive settlements of 
 the Saxon tribes on the conquered portions of the Bri- 
 tish soil. 
 
 The first kingdom which the invaders established was 
 that of Kent, or Cantwara-land. This rich province was 
 the mark of Hengist's ambition ; but its resistance was 
 so obstinate, that the conquest was not accomplished 
 till some years after his death by his son Eric, at the head 
 of the Jutes, and some Angles. Those who were pro- 
 perly called Saxons invaded Sussex, a. D. 477, under 
 their leader Ella, and after several victories drove out 
 the natives, and founded the kingdom of the South 
 Saxons. In 495, another band of the same tribe, under 
 the command of Cerdic, conquered Hampshire and 
 the Isle of Wight, and founded the kingdom of Wes- 
 sex, or the West Saxons, from whom descended the 
 kings of England, in the male line to Edward the Con- 
 fessor, and in the female line to the present family. The 
 state of the East Saxons was formed by Ei-cenwine, who, 
 about the year 527, took possession of the flats of Essex, 
 and a portion of the neighbouring country. The ample 
 territory lying between the Tees and the Tyne, which 
 at that time was a barren uninhabited country, overrun 
 by wild beasts, was next won, and established as the 
 kingdom of Beruicia ; Deira followed next, lying be- 
 tween the Tees and the H umber, and which was con- 
 quered after several years of hard conflict. About the 
 end of the sixth century, a powerful band of warrior- 
 emigrants from Anglen, in two divisions, under the 
 names of the North-folk and the South-folk, invaded 
 the counties to which they afterwards gave their desig- 
 nations, and formed of them the kingdom of East Anglia ; 
 while other droves of Angles conquered and established 
 the powerful kingdom of Myrcna-ric, or Mercia. Such 
 is a very brief summary of the conquest and occupation 
 of England, a work of time and labour, as well as fre- 
 quent defeat — so that Cornwall, the last acquisition of
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 31 
 
 tlie Saxons, was not even nominally reduced till a.d. 647, 
 or two centuries after the landing of Hengist and Horsa. 
 And what became of the unfortunate Britons who 
 thus ceased to be a nation, or to hold a separate exist- 
 ence? Some have laboured to prove that they must 
 have been utterly extirpated ; but the Britons, although 
 weak enough, as we have seen, could not be annihilated 
 so easily. Others have recognised them as a separate 
 people in the principality of Wales ; but the Welsh are 
 not Celts ; they are the descendants of a dift'erent race 
 from those who fought under Cassivellanus and Vortimer, 
 and it has been successfully shewn of late that they are 
 rather the descendants of the Picts than the Britons of 
 the south. For the refugees from the Saxon swords we 
 must look to Armorica (Bretagne), to which multitudes 
 of the Britons betook themselves for shelter, or to Devon- 
 shire and Cornwall, where the conquest was little more 
 than nominal. But we shall be most correct in sup- 
 posing, that by far the greater part of the vanquished 
 assumed in course of time the language, dress, and 
 habits of the conquerors, became their serfs or servants, 
 and were finally absorbed into the general population, 
 which they might tend to improve by their superior 
 knowledge and refinement. To this circumstance also 
 we may perhaps trace the readiness with which the 
 victors laid aside their unsettled habits, and became in- 
 dustrious cultivators of the soil they had won, as well as 
 the alacrity with which they became Christians on the 
 arrival of Saint Augustine — two important changes which 
 occurred to the Saxons while the work of conquest and 
 occupation was still pending. 
 
 The slowness of the Saxon conquest, to which we have 
 already adverted, was not wholly owing to the resistance 
 of the natives. A still stronger counteracting principle 
 is to be found in the disunion of the conquerors them- 
 selves. The Saxon chiefs acted without mutual concert ; 
 each selected his portion, and won it with his own good 
 sword ; and as independent kings thus continued to 
 multiply, causes of rivalry and contention arose, that 
 soon set kingdom against kingdom. Thus, during the 
 two centuries in w'hich the conquest was proceeding, the 
 infant states of the Heptarchy were warring as fiercely 
 with each other as with the common enemy. Even the 
 introduction of Christianity, at first, increased this prin-
 
 32 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 ciple of dissension, by arraying the heathen Saxons 
 against their converted brethren. It could not be ex- 
 pected that these grounds of quarrel would be dimi- 
 nished after the Britons were wholly subdued; and, 
 therefore, the history of the Heptarchy, subsequent to 
 this period, is a sickening record of the wars of one state 
 against another. Into these it is unnecessary to enter ; 
 their consequences, however, were that the smaller states 
 of Sussex, Essex, Kent, and East Anglia, were swal- 
 lowed up by the other powers in the latter part of the 
 seventh century, and the contest was thus simplified be- 
 tween the three great kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, 
 and Wessex. Of these, Northumbria and Mercia, being 
 irreconcilable rivals, wasted each other in sanguinary 
 conflicts ; and the former, independently of its antagonist, 
 was also ravaged by the fearful inroads of the Scots and 
 Picts. A melancholy picture of the state of England at 
 this time may be formed from the fate of fourteen 
 Northumbrian kings, during the course of a single cen- 
 tury. Of these, six were slaughtered by their relatives 
 or competitors, and five were deposed by their subjects ; 
 two shaved their heads and retired to a cloister, and only 
 one died a king. 
 
 Happily, however, for the existence of the English, as 
 a people, this principle of national dissolution was soon 
 destroyed, by the union of the kingdoms under one head. 
 Wessex, in the course of its manifold mutation, had two 
 pretenders to the crown ; and Egbert, one of the claim- 
 ants, being defeated, was glad to flee to the court of 
 Charlemagne, where he found a cordial welcome. The 
 young English prince remained in this exile fourteen 
 years, during which he acquired those high accomplish- 
 ments that afterwards distinguished him as a soldier and 
 statesman ; and on the death of Brihtric, his successful 
 rival, he returned to Wessex, where he was received 
 with universal welcome. He was soon attacked by the 
 Mercians, whom he signally defeated ; after which he 
 annexed the whole kingdom of Mercia to his own 
 dominions. He then invaded Northumbria, at this time 
 helpless from the anarchy into which it had fallen ; and 
 in a short time the inhabitants were glad to become his 
 vassals. This event happened a.d. 825, and the sway of 
 Egbert, generally speaking, extended from the extremity 
 of Cornwall to the shores of the British channel and the
 
 TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 33 
 
 river Tweed. It was in a happy hour for England that 
 this union of the kingdoms took place, for now a new 
 enemy appeared, to task the united energy of the coun- 
 try. These were the Danes, whose first visit to England 
 is said to have been made about the end of the eighth 
 century. Their landing was in Mercia, and they con- 
 sisted of only a few ships' crews, that were easily driven 
 from the coast ; but this event was the prelude of more 
 terrible visitations. They landed again, a.d. 832, in the 
 isle of Sheppey, which they plundered, and then with- 
 drew. On the following year, they returned in greater 
 numbers ; and although they -were driven at last to their 
 ships by Egbert, it was after having given such proofs 
 of their valour as dismayed the English. Their perti- 
 nacity was equal to their valour; for having formed an 
 alliance with the Britons of Cornwall, by whom they 
 were reinforced, they advanced (a. d. 834) as far as 
 Hengsdown hill ; but here they were met by Egbert, and 
 routed with great slaughter. This brave monarch died 
 soon after, and the Danes renewed their visits : they 
 sailed up the Thames and the Medway, and plundered 
 the rich cities of London, Rochester, and Canterbury. 
 The English had again become disunited after the death 
 of Egbert, hut their Danish visitors taught them wisdom ; 
 they therefore combined their efforts, and after inflicting 
 several sanguinary repulses, they succeeded in driving 
 out the marauders for a short period. Such, however, 
 was the ferocious bravery of the Danes, and their un- 
 sparing havoc, that, under the apprehension of their 
 return, the Wednesday of every week was appointed as 
 a day of prayer throughout England, that the nation 
 might deprecate the judgment of a Danish invasion. 
 
 This people, who now occupied so important a part in 
 English history, were to the ninth century what the 
 Saxons had been to the fourth — the great pirates against 
 all nations, and the dread and curse of every shore. But 
 a closer resemblance still existed between the Saxons 
 and the Danes : both were of the same Teutonic race, 
 and spoke the same tongue ; even the country from 
 which they issued was the same, as the latter seem to 
 have only occupied the void produced by the emigration 
 of the former. Such considerations of relationship, how- 
 ever, could not move a Dane, so long as the English 
 possessed such herds of fat beeves and masses of tenipt- 
 C 2
 
 *^4 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 iug gold. Independently of this, the Saxons had aban- 
 doned their northern faith for Christianity— a religion 
 which the Danes mortally hated, on account of the perse- 
 cutions of Charlemagne, who had endeavoured to con- 
 vert them with fire and sword ; and hence the double 
 fury with which they wasted every country in which 
 the cross was planted, and the unsparing havoc they 
 wrought upon churches and monasteries. In personal 
 bravery, the Danes were fully equal to the bravest of 
 those tribes who effected the downfal of Rome ; while in 
 military skill and equipments they were much superior. 
 Their hands were trained to arms from the age of tender 
 infancy ; every warrior was taught to handle the oar 
 as skilfully as the sword ; and after surmounting the 
 storms of the ocean, with which they sported in full 
 consciousness of superiority, every sailor, on landing, 
 was ready for the duties of a well-practised soldier, 
 whether on horseback or on foot. For active conflict 
 they had every kind of armour, while their favourite 
 weapons for close tight were the doublebladed battle- 
 axe and a ponderous iron-headed sledge-hammer, bor- 
 rowed from their stormy god Thor, and which afterwards 
 became the mace of northern chivalry ; and in defensive 
 warfare they displayed such labour and skill in erecting 
 fortifications and securing a camp, as could only be pa- 
 ralleled in the wars of the Roman legions. The religion 
 of such a people was fitted to their character, being of a 
 darker and sterner cast than that of the other northern 
 tribes, so that their heaven was a very shambles of 
 massacre, and only to be attained by wading through a 
 sea of blood ; and such were even their amusements, 
 that one of them consisted in tossing the infants of their 
 enemies into the air, and catching them on the points of 
 their spears. The Danish kings and nobles of the land, 
 after providing for their immediate successors, taught 
 the younger branches of the family that their only in- 
 heritance was to be foujid in the ocean ; and after pro- 
 viding them with a fleet, or a single ship, they thrust 
 them forth in quest of fortune or a grave, in either of 
 which cases their destiny was fulfilled. Thus the north- 
 ern seas, and their numerous bays and concealments, 
 swarmed with Vikingr and Jarls, like the Asiatic deserts 
 with the marauding children of Ishmael ; and, like the 
 Arabs, their hand was against every man, and every
 
 ALFRED THE GREAT. 35 
 
 man's hand was against them. Their only home was 
 the hostile shore that held out the fairest prospect of 
 plunder ; and their wealth was contained in every casket 
 which their swords could unclasp or their axes burst 
 asunder. 
 
 ALFRED THE GREAT. 
 
 Such were the enemies who called the full energies of 
 Alfred into existence, and but for whom England would 
 have been undone in its infancy. He was the son of 
 Ethelwulf, and was born a.d. 84!). being the youngest of 
 four sons. His father Ethelwulf, the son and successor 
 of Esrbert, was desirous, according to a fashion among 
 English kings, to make a pilgrimage to Rome ; and he 
 took with him Alfred, the Benjamin of his old age, in 
 the year 853, and a second time in 856. Here he tarried 
 nearly a year; and it is not impossible that even at this 
 tender age the mind of the boy received its 6rst impulses 
 from the grandeur of the Eternal City, and the intel- 
 lectual character of its society. Here also the pope 
 anointed him with the holy oil that was kept only for 
 royal purposes — a circumstance that excited the jealousy 
 of his brothers, who thought, from this distinction, that 
 he was to be preferred before them. But although the 
 education of Alfred was that of a prince, he reached his 
 twijlfth year without being able to read ; and he might have 
 gi'own to manhood, like his contemporaries, without know- 
 ing a letter, when his intellectual progress commenced 
 in the following manner. His mother Osburgha was 
 one day reading a volume of Saxon poetry in the midst 
 of the family, and the young princes were delighted 
 with the rich illuminated paintings with which the book 
 was adorned. But Alfred, who already had shewn him- 
 self an enthusiast for the songs of the glee-men, was 
 perhaps kindled by a nobler feeling than the mere ad- 
 miration of gaudy colours ; so that when the queen de- 
 clared she would give the volume to him who would 
 first learn to read it, he alone determined to be the 
 winner, while his seniors abandoned the task as too 
 tedious. He therefore found a person who could teach 
 him (probably some churchman), and persevered in con- 
 ning his laborious tasks until he was able to claim the 
 reward. Though Alfred had thus opened the door of 
 knowledge, and possessed a rniud to be tempted by the
 
 36 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 glorious prospect that unfolded itself, he did not suffer 
 himself to be allured into the solitary delights of an in- 
 tellectual existence. Instead of this, he perfected him- 
 self in every warlike exercise, and hardened his frame 
 by the labours of the chase, in which he soon excelled 
 all his competitors. These preliminary exercises were 
 liot more than necessary ; for when he had reached his 
 sixteenth year, the Danes came to England, not menly 
 to plunder the coast, but to gain permanent possession 
 of the country. They first secured the isle of Thane t, 
 which served them for winter quarters ; and from this 
 place, with the return of every spring, they sent out 
 their hordes in every direction. Thus Northumbria was 
 conquered, and York colonized ; the districts of Notting- 
 ham, Lincoln, Cambridge, Norfolk, and Suffolk, were 
 overrun; and the fortified camps of the marauders were 
 continually extending and advancing. Alfred aided his 
 brothers gallantly, and many engagements were fought 
 in which the invaders were checked or discomfited ; but 
 such was their fierce pertinacity, and the numerous rein- 
 forcements they received from their countrymen, that 
 their power seemed to increase with every defeat. 
 While they thus swept through the land, their mode of 
 warfare was unlike that of even the most barbarous 
 nations ; for, although savages had learned to revere 
 certain sanctions by which their atrocities were re- 
 stricted, the Danes recognised none ; their route could be 
 traced by the indiscriminate overthrow of church, for- 
 tress, and hut, and the unsparing massaci-e of helpless 
 old age and infancy as well as warlike manhood. Even 
 those solemn engagements also by which the worst of 
 enemies were bound had no sanctions for the Danes, 
 who were proverbially a nation of truce-breakers. Thus, 
 they borrowed horses of the Mercians to extend their 
 ravages, under the most solemn oaths that they would 
 not injure the lenders; but, when mounted, they plun- 
 dered ally and foe without distinction. They received 
 large sums from different districts as the price of for- 
 bearance ; but, after they had secured the gold, they 
 renewed their demands, and bereaved the givers of all 
 that was still left. In the midst of these wars, Ethelbert, 
 the eldest brother of Alfred, died, and was succeeded by 
 Ethelred, and under him Alfred fought in nine pitched 
 battles against the Danes in the course of a single year.
 
 ALFRED THE GREAT. 37 
 
 In oue of these, which was fought at Ashenden, in Berk- 
 shire, Ethelred was overtaken by a most unseasonable 
 fit of devotion, so that he retired to his tent to hear mass 
 just as the enemy was advancing; upon which, Alfred 
 bore up with his division against the whole brunt of the 
 onset, and mainly contributed to the victory that fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 Ethelred died at Whittingham of wounds received in 
 battle, and in 871 Alfred succeeded to the royal authority. 
 But by this time it was nothing but a mockery of 
 kingship, and threatening ruin to him who assumed 
 it. The kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria had 
 seceded from the national alliance, and nothing re- 
 mained for Alfred but the state of Wessex, already sur- 
 rounded by the enemy, and menaced with destruction. 
 By a partial victory at Wilton, however, he impressed the 
 Danes with such respect for his abilities, that they for- 
 bore to trouble him for three years, during which he was 
 indefatigably employed in preparing for the national 
 defence. Above all, he saw that it was necessary to 
 obtain command of the sea, without which the enemy 
 could be reinforced at pleasure ; but the Saxons, for- 
 merly such skilful mariners, had abandoned navigation 
 when they forsook the practice of piracy. Alfred, in this 
 case, adopted what would seem to us a startling expe- 
 dient : he hired bands of the Friesland rovers to man his 
 navy, and instruct his inexperienced subjects. These 
 pirates, who inhabited the country of the Angles, gladly 
 came to the assistance of their kindred ; and they 
 manned the English " wooden walls" of that period 
 with such valour and fidelity, that their employer had 
 no reason to regret the experiment. 
 
 In the year 876, the war was brouu:ht into the king- 
 dom of Wessex, and an army of Danes that had win- 
 tered in Cambridge, suddenly landed on the coast of 
 Dorsetshire, and surprised the castle of Wareham. Here 
 Alfred reaped the fruits of his foresight, in the services 
 of his infant navy, which routed a fleet of the enemy 
 that was bringing reinforcements to the insurgents. The 
 Danes, thus deprived of the expected aid, and finding 
 their situation untenable, proposed to evacuate Wessex, 
 on condition of a free departure. To these terms Alfred 
 agreed, and not content with swearing them upon their 
 bracelets (which was their most sacred oath), to be faith-
 
 38 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 ful to the treaty, he also obliged them to renew their 
 pledge upon the relics of Christian saints. The Danes 
 swore readily in both fashions, for Christian or pagan 
 oaths cost them nothing; but on the next night, they 
 suddenly fell upon Alfred as he was riding with a small 
 force, unsuspicious of such perfidy. After a gallant re- 
 sistance, his faithful band perished almost to a man ; the 
 king escaped with difficulty ; and the rovers, mounting 
 the captured horses, galloped towards Exeter, where they 
 expected to be reinforced by a Danish fleet. In this 
 however they were disappointed by a second naval 
 victory, in which the fleet of Alfred destroyed or dis- 
 persed the enemy, while the king closely invested Exeter 
 with his forces. The Danes on learning the defeat of 
 their brethren by sea were glad again to capitulate ; and 
 Guthrun their leader, after swearing the usual oaths of 
 fidelity, withdrew his troops from the kingdom of Wessex, 
 and retired into Mercia. 
 
 Of all the Danish chieftains with whom the English 
 had as yet contended, this last-mentioned warrior ap- 
 pears to have been the bravest; and as he possessed 
 that disregard of treaties which was common to his 
 countrymen, he mustered fresh forces for a new inva- 
 sion of Wessex, notwithstanding his late agreement. 
 But having felt the vigour of his antagonist, he went 
 warily to work, and conceived the novel idea of a winter 
 campaign, to which both English and Danes had been 
 hitherto unaccustomed. His warriors were secretly as- 
 sembled on the 1st of Januai-y, 878, and while Alfred 
 was holding Twelfth Night at Chippenham, in fancied 
 security, he was roused by the sound of the Danish 
 axes at the gate. The towns' people, taken by sur- 
 prise, offered but a faint resistance, and Alfred was 
 again compelled to fly. The plan of Guthrun was 
 so well laid, and his forces were so numerous, that the 
 fate of Chippenham was soon that of the kingdom of 
 Wessex ; every place yielded to this unforeseen winter 
 storm ; and Alfred, having done all that valour and pru- 
 dence could accomplish, sought shelter in obscurity, and 
 reserved himself for a happier hour. With a few atten- 
 dants he lurked among the fens of Essex, until a deeper 
 concealment was necessary, in consequence of which he 
 passed over to Athelney, or Prince's Island, at that time 
 covered with thick woods, and insulated by the con-
 
 ALFRED THE GREAT. 39 
 
 fluence of the rivers Tbone and Parret, and by bogs and 
 inundations, so that it could only be reached in a boat. 
 In this desolate spot, the abode of wild beasts, the heroic 
 Alfred led the life of a houseless outlaw, subsisting 
 chiefly upon the scanty produce of hunting; and the 
 place of his retreat was known to so few, that he was ge- 
 nerally beliered to be dead. On one occasion, perhaps 
 from the pressure of want, as well as for the purposes 
 of concealment, he sou^iht shelter disguised as a menial, 
 in the hut of a swineherd, and was there engaged for 
 some time in the most lowly occupations. An amusing 
 incident connected with this circumstance was commu- 
 nicated by Alfred to his beloved friend Asser. The 
 swineherd's wife, ignorant that her guest was the king, 
 ordered him one day to superintend her loaves, that were 
 toasting upon the hearth ; but Alfred, whose thoughts 
 were far otherwise occupied, forgot the bread, until it 
 was burnt to a cinder. When the shrewish housewife 
 returned, and found her loaves thus neglected, she flew 
 into a rage, exclaiming, ' You, fellow, yoii will not turn 
 the bread when it is burning, and yet you are ready 
 enough to eat it !' 
 
 After some time spent in this miserable retreat, 
 the tidings of Alfred's hiding-place were whispered 
 among his subjects, so that bauds of his most devoted 
 adherents repaired to Athelney, by whose aid he was 
 enabled to fortify the little island, and make occasional 
 incursions upon the Danes. At this period also, a cir- 
 cumstance occurred, that may be considered as the 
 turning point of his fortune. Hubba, a Danish chief of 
 great renown, in attempting a landing in Devonshire, 
 was slain, with above SOO of his followers ; but a circum- 
 stance more fatal to the enemy than even this slaughter, 
 was the capture of their great pledge of success, their 
 charmed banner, called the Reafan. This standard, 
 to which the Danes attached a mysterious importance, 
 had been embroidered in the course of a single noon- 
 tide by the three daughters of Lodbrok. In consequence 
 of this success, Alfred judged that he might safely re- 
 sume the offensive, and therefore his friends were di- 
 rected to warn his subjects of Wessex, to muster in 
 secrecy at Egbert's stone, on the east of Selwood forest: 
 while during the interval he resolved to make himself 
 fully acquainted with the state and purposes of the
 
 40 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Daniiib army. This hazardous experiment he performed 
 in the guise of a minstrel or glee-man, at that time a 
 favoured character among all the northern tribes. With 
 his harp in his hand, Alfred traversed the enemy's en- 
 campment ; and while he delighted the chiefs with his 
 minstrelsy, he caught with a quick ear the results of 
 their consultations, after which he returned undetected 
 to Athelney. The soldiers of Wessex mustered, accord- 
 ing to orders, unconscious however that these had pro- 
 ceeded from their beloved sov.ereign, so that his unex- 
 pected appearance among them was like a rising from 
 the dead. In the enthusiasm of such a meeting the 
 English were irresistible, and in the battle of Ethandune, 
 which immediately followed, the unsuspecting Danes 
 were routed with great slaughter. Guthrun, thus sur- 
 prised in turn, took shelter within his fortified entrench- 
 ments; and as these were too strong to be stormed, 
 Alfred resolved to reduce him by famine. This plan 
 was successful, and after a close blockade of four- 
 teen days, Guthrun was obliged to surrender. The wise 
 policy of Alfred, on this event, is worthy of admiration. 
 He did not reduce an enemy to despair who might still per- 
 haps have defied his efforts ; neither did he dismiss the 
 Panes, to swell the ranks of their marauding countrymen. 
 Instead of this, he resolved to give them lands in Eng- 
 land, of which there was a superabundance, and thus 
 they would in process of time enrich and defend the 
 country which they had laid waste. He therefore ceded 
 to them the whole eastern country from the Thames to 
 the Tweed, which from this circumstance was afterwards 
 called the Danelagh. But one condition annexed to 
 this treaty was, that Guthrun and his followers should 
 embrace Christianity, without which it was impossible 
 that they could become either faithful allies or peace- 
 able subjects; and to this condition a ready assent was 
 given. The brave Guthrun appears to have been as 
 much subdued by the courtesy, as by the valour and skill, 
 of his antagonist; and therefore, after this treaty, he 
 fearlessly repaired to Alfred's camp, near Athelney, at- 
 tended only by thirty of his chieftains. The royal Dane 
 was baptized by the name of Athelstane, Alfred him- 
 self officiating as sponsor; and after enjoying for twelve 
 days the hospitality of his new godfather, Guthrun de- 
 parted, laden with rich presents. Ever after he remained
 
 ALFRED THE GREAT. 41 
 
 stedfast to the treaty, although it was long: before his 
 subjects amalgamated with the Euglish, and became a 
 peaceful and industrious people. 
 
 Alfred having thus rescued his paternal kingdom from 
 the enemy, beg£in the more difficult task of repairing the 
 havoc they had wrought. But the rest of England was 
 still open to the successive incursions of those Danish 
 rovers who had taken no part in the treaty of Guthrun. 
 It was now the practice of these restless invaders to ex- 
 amine both sides of the English channel; and if the 
 British coast was found too well defended, they then 
 made a landing in France, where there was no Alfred 
 to protect it. In this manner they had made several 
 attempts upon England, but they were defeated both by 
 land and sea. Seven years of intermission then fol- 
 lowed, during which peace had spread beauty and abun- 
 dance over the land, when the Danes, who had been 
 warring in Flanders, until the country was exhausted 
 with famine, hurried across the channel, like ravening 
 wolves, eager to devour as well as conquer. In the 
 year 893, while all was peace and security, a fleet of two 
 hundred and fifty ships stood over for the English coast, 
 and lauded a powerful army near Romney Marsh; 
 another fleet of eighty ships that followed, under the 
 command of the renowned Hasting, the chief leader of 
 the expedition, entered the Thames ; while other squad- 
 rons hovered in the distance, and menaced the English 
 at different points, to distract and divide their forces. 
 To add to these calamities the faithful Guthrun was now 
 dead, and his ungrateful subjects of the Danelagh, no 
 longer restrained by his authority, forgot their promises, 
 and took part with the invaders. 
 
 Alfred was thus compelled to forego his beloved occu- 
 pations of a legislator, and resume his military labours ; 
 but he was found equal to the emergency. Hitherto, 
 the English army had consisted of a militia, who were 
 bound to keep the field for a certain number of days 
 only; but the king, knowing the necessity of being 
 always in arms azainst such opponents as the Danes, 
 divided these feudal forces into two parts, that re- 
 lieved each other alternately, and thus he had always 
 an army fit for immediate service. This was an astound- 
 ing novelty to the Danes, who saw that they were to be 
 opposed without intermission. The first measure of
 
 42 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Alfred, in commencing the campaig-ii, was €o prevent 
 the two Danish armies that had landed from uniting 
 their forces ; and accordingly he threw himself between 
 them, and fortified himself so skilfully in front, flank, 
 and rear, that the enemy did not dare to attack him. 
 Here therefore they remained cooped up in their respec- 
 tive entrenchments, until Hasting, the Danish leader, 
 resolved to extricate himself by a bold manoeuvre. He 
 sent messengers professing his desire of leaving the 
 kingdom ; and when permission was granted, he seemed 
 to make every preparation for departure. He even 
 drew off his forces, and embarked them in his ships ; 
 but instead of leaving England, he only crossed the 
 Thames, and landed in the Danelagh, upon the coast of 
 Essex, where he took up a strong position. In the mean 
 time the larger Danish army, that was blockaded by the 
 rear of the English force, suddenly burst from its en- 
 trenchments, in the hope of effecting a junction with 
 Hasting, in Essex. Alfred, who thus found himself cir- 
 cumvented, and without a fleet at hand to pursue the 
 armament of Hasting, followed the land march of the 
 enemy with great expedition : he overtook them near 
 Farnham, in Surrey, brought them to action, and de- 
 feated them with great loss. The survivors hastily 
 retreated before him, until they reached the isle of 
 Mersey, where they strongly fortified themselves ; but 
 the king, who had closely followed their steps, invested 
 them so strictly, that they were on the point of surren- 
 dering, when he was called away by a revolt of the 
 Danelagh. The settlers of that district had raised two 
 large fleets, with which they attacked different parts of 
 the coast, to effect a diversion in favour of their heathen 
 brethren. In this emergency, Alfred left a portion of 
 his army to continue the blockade of Mersey, and mount- 
 ing the rest on horses, he flew with great celerity to 
 Exeter, which the men of the Danelagh were besieging. 
 His arrival compelled them to abandon the siege, and fly 
 to their shipping, after which he returned to Mersey. 
 Here he exhibited a trait of generosity, that shewed 
 Ijow superior he was to the age, or his contemporaries. 
 During his absence, the wife and two sons of Hasting 
 had been taken prisoners ; and the Thanes were earnest 
 that Alfred should put them to death, or at least detain 
 them as hostages, to keep the enemy in check. But the
 
 ALFRED THE GREAT. 43 
 
 king disdained such ignoble modes of warfare, sanc- 
 tioned as they had been by general custom ; and there- 
 fore he not only freed the captives, but sent them to 
 Hasting, laden with rich presents. 
 
 In the mean time, Hasting was so much strengthened 
 by reinforcements from the Danelagh, and from beyond 
 sea, that he was soon enabled to assume the aggressive : 
 he therefore sailed up the Thames, and plundered the 
 country on either side ; after which he marched to the 
 Severn, and fortified himself strongly at Buttington. 
 But Alfred, who was powerfully reinforced by the 
 Welsh, was enabled again to blockade the enemy, so 
 that the Danes at last, in the extremity of hunger, 
 were obliged to eat all their horses. Hasting once more 
 broke from his confinement, and after a desperate attack 
 on the English lines, and great havoc among his follow- 
 ers, he succeeded in reaching his shipping, on the coast 
 of Essex. But Alfred was unable to pursue the retreat- 
 ing enemy, in consequence of his losses in the last 
 conflict, while the diminished ranks of his antagonist 
 continued to be swelled by fresh accessions from the 
 Danelagh. Hasting therefore maintained his superi- 
 ority, and was still able to march and ravage as before. 
 Such continued to be the history of three campaigns, 
 composed of alternate checks and successes, in which 
 the greater part of England was traversed by the op- 
 posing armies, and where the skill and valour of Alfred 
 were encountered by almost equal resources on the part 
 of his indefatigable rival. One stratagem of the former, 
 during the second year of this trying warfare, is woi'thy 
 of particular notice. During the spring. Hasting sailed 
 up the Lea, and erected a sti-ong fortress about twenty 
 miles above London, and then harassed the city with 
 perpetual incursions; upon which Alfred, who drew his 
 forces round London to protect it, conceived the bold 
 idea of clipping the wings of the invaders, by making 
 their shipping unserviceable. He accordingly erected a 
 fortress on each side of the river, a little below the 
 Danish station ; after which he drew off the waters of 
 the Lea into the Thames, by cutting three broad chan- 
 nels, so that a small boat would have grounded where 
 a fleet had lately passed ; and the Danes, with astonish- 
 ment and gi-ief, beheld their whole navy stranded. Even 
 after this afflicting disaster, Hasting continued to shew
 
 44 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 aa bold a front, and as much fertility of resources, as 
 ever, so that he spun out the war into a third year, and 
 might have continued it much longer, but his indomi- 
 table spirit was not shared by his desponding country- 
 men. They now perceived that, under the reign of 
 Alfred, they were likely to possess no portion of the 
 English soil, except as a place of burial ; and however 
 they might be indifferent to toil and wounds, they were 
 too wise to covet them without the accompaniment of 
 plunder. The Jarls, who followed the raven-banner of 
 their great leader, withdrew successively, and set sail 
 in quest of less dangerous enemies, while others found 
 homes among their brethren in the Danelagh; and 
 Hasting, with an indignant regret, like Hannibal when 
 torn from Italy, felt himself compelled to abandon that 
 beautiful England, which he had so fondly hoped to 
 conquer. In a few ships, some of which were hastily 
 constructed by his followers, and others procured from the 
 Danelagh, he crossed over to Normandy (a.d. 897), and 
 there obtained an humbler settlement by negotiation. 
 
 Alfred thus cleared the land of an enemy under which 
 it had almost fallen ; and such was the wholesome terror 
 which his victories produced, as well as the efficiency to 
 which he brought his navy, that the rovers returned no 
 more during the rest of his reign. But his character as 
 a warrior was the least of his well-earned reputation. 
 He was the legislator and teacher, as well as the deliverer 
 of England, and the labour which he underwent to in- 
 struct himself, that he might be able to humanize and 
 instruct his subjects, was worth all the achievements 
 that ever valour performed. Our admiration of so much 
 worth is also heightened, when we recollect that all was 
 accomplished within a comparatively short life, as he 
 died at the age of fifty-three — and a life that had been 
 embittered from his youth by the agonies of a mysterious 
 disease, that eluded the skill, and defied the remedies, of 
 the physician. Indeed, were it not that he forms such 
 an authentic portion of history, we might almost imagine 
 that so much excellence could never have existed in one 
 individual— that his life was some beautiful fiction of 
 inspired genius, rather than a portraiture of reality — and 
 that it had been happily devised as a model for kings, 
 which they might strive to imitate, without the hope to 
 equal.
 
 BATTLE OF BRUNANBURGH, 45 
 
 A. D. Alfred was succeeded by his second son Edward, 
 901. whose reign was chiefly distinguished by a civil 
 contest which had been stirred up by his cousin 
 Ethelwald, and the war which he carried on against the 
 colonists of the Danelagh. This people, notwithstanding 
 their long settlement in England, and their profession of 
 Christianity, seem to have still looked back, with fond- 
 ness to their relinquished habits, and forsaken gods ; 
 and having now become numerous and powerful, they 
 scorned their territorial limits, and aspired to the posses- 
 sion of the whole country. In the year 911, they ad- 
 vanced as far as the Severn, where they were defeated 
 by Edward with great slaughter. He then turned his 
 attention to the East Anglian Danes and to Mercia, and at 
 length, by unremitting perseverance, he abolished every 
 trace of separate government, and united all the Saxon 
 territories into one kingdom about a.d. 924. He died 
 shortly after, and his death was immediately followed by 
 that of his eldest son Ethelwald. But his illegitimate 
 son and successor Athelstane, was destined more effec- 
 tually to reunite the kingdom. He conquered the Welsh, 
 whom he compelled to pay tribute, and reduced to sub- 
 mission the Briton race of Devonshire and Cornwall, 
 who had never been effectually subdued. But the great 
 event of his reign was, the battle of Brunanburgh, in 
 Northumbria, in which he destroyed a more formidable 
 coalition than England had ever yet encountered. Anlaf 
 the Dane,who had obtained a settlement in Ireland, sailed 
 up the H umber, in the year 937, with six hundred and 
 twenty ships; and this vast armament was aided by 
 Constantine the Scottish king, by the men of the Dane- 
 lagh, the Cumbrians, the people of Strathclyde, and the 
 inhabitants of North Wales, while the whole land seemed 
 to faint under the shadow of so many hostile banners. 
 Athelstane boldly encountered them, and the battle, 
 which lasted from sunrise till sunset, was long after- 
 wards the pride, and chief theme, of Saxon minstrelsy. 
 The confederates were defeated with immense loss, and 
 five kings and seven Jarls were numbered among the 
 slain. The important fruits of this victory were, the 
 complete subjugation of the Danelagh and Wales ; and 
 thus Athelstane had the glory of being the second Egbert, 
 by effecting the reunion of all England into one monarchy. 
 The land now assumed an appearance of unprecedented
 
 46 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 grandeur and importance, and the court of Athelstane 
 became alternately a seminary and a sanctuary, to 
 which princes repaired for improvement, or fled for pro 
 tection. The magTianimity of the grandson of Alfred 
 was commensurate with the extent of his power, so that 
 when he restored Constantiue to his Scottish throne, and 
 Howel to his Welsh princedom, it was with the heroic 
 declaration, that he would rather bestow kingdoms than 
 enjoy them. Most unfortunately for England, his reign 
 was brief, as he died in the year 940. Had he lived 
 longer, he might perhaps, like his grandfather, have 
 secured the kingdom against those calamities which so 
 soon befell it, when the sceptre had passed into feebler 
 hands. 
 
 The short reigns of Edmund the Magnificent, and Edred 
 the Feeble-footed; of Edwy, the unhappy victim of Dun- 
 stan, and Edgar, whose manifold and high-sounding 
 titles occupy sometimes a score of lines, and who was 
 rowed in his barge on the river Dee by eight crowned 
 kings ; and his son Edward the Martyr, who was assas- 
 sinated by the command of his stepmother Elfrida ; — 
 these reigns furnish no particular events in the military 
 history of the period. Thirty-nine years only elapsed 
 between the death of Athelstane, and that of the last- 
 mentioned monarch, and the chief warfare in England 
 during that period was the warfare of the church, in 
 which St. Dunstan figured as the principal combatant. 
 But all this was fatally pi-eparing for the military degra- 
 dation and defeat of England. During that ghostly as- 
 cendancy of the priests which was every year becoming 
 more complete, the country was drained of its substance 
 to enrich the church ; the wealthy, who sought forgive- 
 ness of sin, were instructed to build monasteries, and the 
 poor, who had nothing to give, were invited to fill them. 
 This monkish humour increased, so that thousands and 
 myriads who ought to have laboured for the national 
 prosperity, and been prepared in the hour of jeopardy 
 for the national defence, sheltered their sloth and cow- 
 ardice under a shaven crown and monastic frock. The 
 venerable Bede, who had foreseen the evil at an early 
 period, predicted that, in the event of an invasiou, 
 enough of soldiers would not be found from the preva- 
 lence of this habit. The danger was now at hand, and 
 the prophecy was fulfilled.
 
 RETURN OF THE DANES. 47 
 
 Edward the Martyr had been succeeded in the throne 
 ot England by Ethelred the Unready, when the Danes 
 ajain made their appearance. Forty-four years had 
 elapsed since their former visit, during which they had 
 been conquering and plundering in other quarters ; but 
 Sweyn, a Danish prince, who was banished by his father, 
 resolved to win, in lieu of his patei'nal inheritance, the 
 rich kingdom of England ; and he landed k.u. 981, at the 
 bead of a large host whom he had allured to his exiled 
 standard. The Unready king was worthy of his title ; 
 and his counsellors and warriors, unrestrained by his 
 feeble administration, were more occupied with their 
 own selfish feuds, than the means of national defence. 
 Even, too, when fleets and armies were mustered, they 
 were too often commanded by traitors in league w^th 
 the enemy ; and thus the Danish career was one of 
 almost unchecked success, while one armament after 
 another followed in the tract of Sweyn. In this emer- 
 gency, the miserable expedient was adopted by Ethelred 
 of buying oflf the enemy with money, and the safety of 
 England was purchased from 10,000 rovers by as many 
 pounds of silver. But although one band of the enemy 
 was thus bought oiF, it was only that others might be 
 allured to so rich a market ; and England was daily be- 
 coming more exhausted and helpless by fresh imposts 
 of Dane-gelt, which such a system required. At last, in 
 A. D. 994, Sweyn, who had succeeded to the crown of 
 Denmark, made a fresh invasion, accompanied by Olave 
 king of Norway, and these two arch-pirates made such 
 dire havoc, that sixteen thousand pounds of silver had 
 to be raised to purchase their foi'bearance ; and again, 
 in A.D. 1001, a fresh Danish invasion was made that re- 
 quired to be bought oflf by twenty-four thousand pounds. 
 In the mean time, every period, whether of war or nego- 
 tiation, was equally filled with Danish atrocity and 
 pillage; the rovers saw the feebleness of the land, and 
 all that they coveted became their own. 
 
 At last, after the English had exhausted their coflfers, 
 and wearied heaven with unavailing prayers and pe- 
 nances, a device for the deliverance of the land was 
 adopted — a device that indicated the lowest stage of 
 national feebleness and baseness. This was, to rid 
 themselves of all the Danes in England by a sudden 
 and universal massacre. Secret orders were sent to the
 
 48 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 rulers of the towns and districts, for this purpose ; anc' 
 on the 13th of November, 1002, which was the festival 
 of St. Bryce, the oppressors were suddenly attacked and 
 murdered, without distinction of age or sex. The Dane- 
 lagh, which was too strong for such an experiment, was 
 left untouched ; but in every other part of England the 
 massacre commenced at the same day and hour, and 
 those Danes who had long been colonists in the country, 
 and had connected themselves with the natives by 
 intermarriages, and friendly intercourse, were unspar- 
 ingly confounded with the untamed murderer and ma- 
 rauder. Even Gunhilda, a sister of Sweyn, who had be- 
 come a Christian, and been married to an English earl, 
 was remorselessly put to death, after her husband and 
 children had been butchered in her presence ; and with 
 her last breath she hurled curses upon her murderers, 
 and foretold the vengeance that was at hand. 
 
 It indeed required no prophetic power to foresee a 
 terrible retribution. The cry of blood was wafted to 
 Denmark, and the whole nation rose at the summons. 
 They looked upon the cause as a sacred one, and there- 
 fore an armament was assembled, not composed of a 
 few Jarls, as heretofore, but of the whole might and 
 worth of the kingdom ; and they set sail, to revenge a 
 deed which no gold and silver could expiate. They 
 landed unopposed, and swept over England like a tor- 
 rent. The bitterness of vengeance, among such a people, 
 assumed a certain frightful appearance of gaiety ; for in 
 all the towns and villages through which they marched, 
 they caused repasts to be prepared, and the inhabitants 
 to wait upon them; and when the revelry was ended, 
 they coolly slew the entertainers, and set fire to their 
 houses. For two years this frightful career continued, 
 until the Danes, starved out by the famine they had oc- 
 casioned, were obliged to leave the kingdom. A respite 
 of two years then occuiTcd in England ; but in a.d. 1006, 
 Sweyn returned, and was bought off by the payment of 
 thirty-six thousand pounds of silver (£108,000), and after 
 him succeeded a large array called 'Thyrkel's host,' 
 who besieged and destroyed Canterbury in 1011, with 
 many thousands of the inhabitants. His departure was 
 also effected by the payment of forty-eight thousand 
 pounds of silver (£144,000). In the language of a mo- 
 dern conqueror ' the pear was now ripe,' and Sweyn re-
 
 DANISH COxVQUEST OF ENGLAND. 49 
 
 turned, not for a fresh bribe of English money, but to seize 
 the kingdom itself. His course was a triumphant march, 
 rather than a conquest; every town and province yielded 
 at his approach, while Ethelred, that poor pageant of a 
 king, fled with his wife and children to the court of his 
 father-in-law, duke Richard of Normandy. Sweyn was 
 proclaimed 'full king of England,' a.d. 1013, and had only 
 enjoyed the great prize of his ambition for a few days, 
 when he died ; but his conquests fell into the more able 
 hands of his son and successor, Canute. Even in this ex- 
 tremity, the English rallied for a dying struggle, incited, 
 or rather dragged into the field by Edmund Ironside, a 
 bastai-d son of Ethelred, and in whom the mighty spirit 
 of Alfred seemed to have been renewed. But although 
 the Ironside displayed surpassing valour and military 
 skill, the fate of England was beyond the retrieval of 
 any single hero ; and after several fruitless victories, 
 Edmund agreed to a proposal of his rival, to divide the 
 country between them. Edmund survived this treaty 
 only two months ; and after his death, in a.u. 1017, Ca- 
 nute remained in possession of the whole kingdom. 
 
 After Canute had been peaceably settled on the throne, 
 the grandeur, power, and wisdom of Charlemagne seemed 
 to have revived in his person. He was king of Denmark, 
 Norway, and Sweden, as well as England; and the last 
 of these countries, under his energetic administration, 
 became peaceful, powerful, and happy. Indeed, it must 
 be acknowledged, that for some time the English na- 
 tional character had become so deteriorated, especially 
 among the higher classes, that an infusion of fresh spirit 
 was necessary ; and this was obtained by the peaceable 
 influx of Danes into the kingdom under Canute, and his 
 immediate successors. Canute died in a.d. 1035, and was 
 succeeded first by Harold, and then by Hardicanute, 
 his two sons ; after which the English line was restored 
 in Edward the Confessor, the son of Ethelred the 
 Unready. 
 
 To Edward may indirectly be traced the chief causes 
 of the Norman conquest of England. He had been sent 
 in childhood to the protection of the Norman court, 
 where he naturally acquired a predilection for the dress, 
 habits, and language of the country ; but when he suc- 
 ceeded to his native throne, he retained these peculiari- 
 ties, to the great dislike of his subjects. Even this 
 D
 
 50 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 would have been tolerable, compared with that subse- 
 quent folly by which he inundated the court with a 
 throng of Norman favourites, who soon usurped every 
 office of profit and authority in the state, the church, 
 and the army. The French tongue and the costume of 
 Normandy were now the predominant fashion of the 
 courtiers, while the avarice and extortion of the domi- 
 neering strangers became almost as insupportable as 
 the former Danish exactions. In this state of matters a 
 popular champion stepped forward, who ably advanced 
 his own interests, by espousing the rights of the people. 
 This was earl Godwin, who, from having been the son 
 of a cowherd, had become the wealthiest and most pow- 
 erful noble in England, and the father in-law of his 
 sovereign, by his daughter Editha. But this marriage, 
 which might have bound king and earl together, only 
 set them the more at variance, and prepared the way for 
 the approaching conquest of England. Although Editha 
 was good and beautiful, the king had bound himself by 
 a monkish vow of chastity, which his hatred of her 
 father made him by no means likely to break; and the 
 question of who should be his successor, was anxiously 
 considered by every English heart, A general suspicion 
 that Edward already intended this distinction for his 
 cousin, the duke of Normandy, made the Norman favour- 
 ites still more obnoxious to the whole country. 
 
 While the popular feeling was in this state, an event, 
 that happened in 1051, brought it to a crisis. Eustace, 
 count of Boulogne, who had married a sister of Edward, 
 Tisited his brother-in-law with a powerful Norman re- 
 tinue ; and as he saw French and Norman prelates and 
 courtiers every where predominating in England, he was 
 led to despise the natives as a people already conquered. 
 With this feeling he returned from court, to set sail to his 
 own country ; and when he came within a short dis- 
 tance of Dover, he armed himself, mounted his war- 
 charger, and at the head of his mailed retinue galloped 
 into the city, in the fashion of a military triumph. His 
 followers proceeded to take free quarters for the night by 
 selecting the best houses, and ejecting the owners; an 
 Englishman who resisted was wounded by a Norman, 
 upon which he armed himself, and slew the intruder; 
 but for this he was beset, and slaughtered upon his own 
 threshold, by the arrogant strangers. After this they
 
 VISITS OF THE NORMANS. 51 
 
 galloped furiously among the crowd, and wounded or 
 trampled down all who stood in their way ; but the 
 citizens having furnished themselves with weapons, slew 
 several of the Normans, and Eustace, who was unable 
 to fight his way to the port, flew back at full speed to 
 the king, to complain of the indignity he had sustained 
 from the men of Dover. The town was under the juris- 
 diction of Godwin, who was therefore ordered by the king 
 to perform sti-ict military execution upon the insurgents ; 
 but this the earl refused, alleging that they were con- 
 demned, unheard. In consequence of the rage of Ed- 
 ward on this occasion, the old earl took up arms, for the 
 defence of the English against the strangers ; but the 
 wily politician was out-manceuvred by the king in this 
 instance, and obliged to fly with his family to foreign 
 countries, while his immense estates, and high offices, 
 were doled out to Norman favourites. During this exile 
 of earl Godwin, Edward invited the duke of Normandy 
 to England, and he came at the invitation with a nu- 
 merous and splendid train. He already saw, in the 
 preponderance of Norman interests at court, the way 
 prepared for his ambitious hopes, and it has been as- 
 serted that, during this visit, his siiccession to the Eng- 
 lish throne was secretly ratified by the Confessor. After 
 this the scene shifted. Godwin returned ; and the people 
 who regarded him as their champion and martyr, flocked 
 to his standard, while the Normans, who saw the help- 
 lessness of resistance, hurried from every quarter to the 
 sea coast, and fled the kingdom. Edward, thus bereaved 
 of his counsellors and favourites, was obliged to suc- 
 cumb to his victorious father-in-law. Soon after this 
 event earl Godwin died, and was succeeded by Harold, 
 the bravest, wisest, and best of his family; a hero en- 
 deared to the English not only by his popular qualities, 
 and his splendid victories over the Welsh, but also by 
 the zeal with which he had fought and sufiered in vin- 
 dicating their rights against the strangers. 
 
 Another important event in the drama of the English 
 conquest now occurred. Harold had occasion to repair 
 to Normandy, for what purpose it is impossible to ascer- 
 tain, but through the unskilfulness of the mariners his 
 vessel was wrecked, near the mouth of the river Somme. 
 Upon this, the lord of Ponthieu, on whose coast the 
 accident happened, seized the persons of Harold and his
 
 52 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 followers, and threw them into prison, for the purpose of 
 extorting a large ransom for their liberty, according to 
 the barbarous usages of tlie age. The duke of Nor- 
 mandy heard of this circumstance, and resolved to 
 convert it to his own advantage ; he therefore com- 
 pelled the count to release his prisoners, and forward 
 them to the Norman court. When Harold arrived, he 
 soon perceived, notwithstanding the smooth courtesies of 
 the duke, that he was more a prisoner than before. 
 William announced to Harold his hopes of succeeding 
 Edward, and desired the other's co-operation; and Harold 
 promised every thing. But still the duke was not satis- 
 fied, and he was resolved to extort oaths, as well as 
 promises, from his helpless rival. For this purpose he 
 assembled his chiefs and nobles in full court, and hav- 
 ing secretly gathered the bones and relies of saints from 
 all the churches in the country, he deposited them in a 
 huge cask, which was covered with a cloth of gold, that 
 gave it the appearance of an altar, while the whole was 
 surmounted by a missal, open at the Evangelists. Harold" 
 was then brought in, and duke William, who was seated 
 in his chair of state, with a golden diadem on his head, 
 and a rich sword in his hand, rose and said, ' Earl 
 Harold, I require thee before this noble assembly to 
 confirm by oath the promises thou hast made me ;— to 
 wit, that thou wilt aid me in obtaining the kingdom of 
 England, after king Edward's death; that thou wilt 
 marry my daughter Adela ; and send me thy sister, that 
 I may give her in marriage to one of my chiefs.' The 
 son of Godwin, who was unable to retract, advanced 
 with a reluctant step; and laying his hand upon the 
 missal, he swore to the performance of these conditions. 
 At a signal from William the cloth of gold was then 
 lifted up, and Harold saw with a shudder the ghastly 
 heap of sanctity upon which he had pledged himself. 
 In those days of loose morality and perverted religion, 
 an oath might be easily eluded, however the Divine 
 Being might have been attested ; but to swear upon the 
 thumb or the toe of a departed saint was a sanction not 
 to be violated. 
 
 Some time after this event, Edward sickened, and 
 was laid upon his death-bed, and his last hours were 
 haunted with the terrible consequences of his foolish 
 monastic vow. The crown of England would soon be
 
 HAROLD ELECTED KING. 53 
 
 the object of a fearful struggle between two rivals, each 
 too proud to yield; and while the monarch foresaw the 
 torrents of blood that would be shed, he incoherently re- 
 peated in his dying agonies those passages of scripture 
 that announce woe and desolation to guilty kingdoms. 
 He died on the 5th of January, 1060, but his choice of 
 a successor is still a mystery. The Norman party de- 
 clared that he elected their duke ; but no will or docu- 
 ment was even forged for the purpose, when such a 
 testimony would have been availing. On the other 
 hand the English asserted, that the Confessor in his last 
 illness had appointed Harold to succeed him, with the 
 declaration, that none was so worthy to wear the crown 
 as the great son of earl Godwin. Be that as it may, 
 the right of Harold was certainly superior to that of his 
 rival, inasmuch as he was raised to the throne by the 
 choice of the nation; and hitherto, England had been 
 more an elective than an hereditai-y monarchy. So eager 
 was the popular feeling in behalf of the man of its choice, 
 that one and the same evening celebrated the obsequies 
 of Edward, and the coronation of Harold. 
 
 Had William been as able as he was willing to invade 
 England immediately after this event, the probability 
 is, that a Norman dynasty would never have been settled 
 upon the English throne. But events rolled onward to 
 the accomplishment of this purpose with a mysterious- 
 ness that defied human calculation, and with a power 
 that nothing could resist. While the duke of Normandy 
 was employed in long and anxious preparation for the 
 future conquest, an English traitor was preparing the 
 way for him, by stirring up other enemies against his 
 native country. This was Tostig, the brother of Harold, 
 who had been deposed and expelled his earldom of 
 Northumberland on account of his oppression and cru- 
 elty. Harold's love of justice would not permit him to 
 recall the oppressor, and Tostig became as fierce an 
 enemy of his royal brother as duke William himself, 
 whom he instigated to the invasion; and not content 
 with this, he attempted by himself a hostile landing in 
 England, but was soon driven to his ships. He then 
 fled to Denmark, to instigate its king against England, 
 but the Danes were now ceasing to be a nation of ad- 
 venturous pirates ; upon which he repaired to Hardrada, 
 king of Norway, who listened to the proposal with a more
 
 54 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 willing ear. This, the last of the terrible sea-kings, was 
 persuaded by the traitor that he could easily exchange 
 his barren Norway for fair and fertile England. He 
 therefore raised an immense ai-mament, consisting of 
 two hundred war-ships, and three hundred store-ships 
 and vessels of smaller size, in which the flower of his 
 kingdom was embarked : he landed in England, near 
 York, and at first swept all opposition before him. Harold, 
 who had taken post with his forces upon the southern 
 coasts, to prevent the landing of William, was now 
 obliged to break up his encampment hastily, that he 
 might march against his new Norwegian rival ; and this 
 he did with such promptitude and skill, that Hardrada 
 was surprised within a few miles of York. It is even 
 said in the Runic songs that the Norwegians, who had 
 been only a few days landed, were without their cui- 
 rasses, and that nearly half their forces were still with 
 the ships. But Hardrada immediately despatched mes- 
 sengers to the rest of the army to hasten their coming, 
 while he drew up his surprised troops at Stamford bridge, 
 on the Derwent, to abide the brunt of the onset. He 
 arranged his army in a circle : the front soldiers were or- 
 dered to plant their spears upon the ground, with tlie 
 points presented to the enemy, while the second rank 
 held their weapons breast-high, and pointing forward; 
 and in this way he hoped to repel the English horsemen, 
 as he had very few cavalry. As he rode among his 
 lines, and chanted a war-song, his horse stumbled, and 
 he fell; but starting up unhurt, he exclaimed, that this 
 was a good omen. But the event was interpreted dif- 
 ferently both by his followers and the enemy. Harold 
 asked bis people, who that stately warrior might be, with 
 the golden helmet, and blue mantle, who had just fallen . 
 and on being told that it was Hardrada, he said, * He is 
 a tall and strong person ; but I see that fortune has for- 
 saken him.' 
 
 Before the battle joined, a generous attempt was made 
 on the part of Harold to recall Tostig to his duty. Com- 
 pletely concealed from head to foot by his mail, and 
 followed by a score of mailed horsemen, the king gal- 
 loped to that part of the Norwegian army where the 
 banner of Tostig was flying, and demanded if the Ensilish 
 earl was there. ' You know he is here,' cried Tostig, 
 stepping forward, and answering for himself. The dis- 
 
 I
 
 DEFEAT OF THE NORWEGIANS. 55 
 
 guiseii horseman then, iu the name of his bix)ther, pro- 
 mised him peace, and the fair earldom of North umbria, 
 if he would return to his allegiance. ' And what territory 
 will you g-ive,' said the other, ' to my ally, Hardrada, 
 the king of Norway?' ' Seven feet of English earth,' 
 cried the other boldly ; ' or, since he is taller than most 
 men, he shall have a little more.' ' Ride back., ride 
 back,' said Tostig, ' and tell Harold to prepare for 
 battle. When the northmen tell the tale of this day, 
 they shall never say tliat Tostig forsook Hardiada, the 
 son of Sigurd.' The English earl knew that he had par- 
 leyed with his brother ; but although sufficiently ready 
 to slay him in the fair shock of battle, his rude sense 
 of honour made him as incapable of hindering his safe 
 departure, as of abandoning the cause of the king of 
 Norway. The battle that ensued was long, fierce, and 
 sanguinary, and even when the northmen were over- 
 powered, their countrymen from the ships arrived, and 
 renewed the combat. But at last the victory was de- 
 cided in favour of Harold, by the death of Hardrada, 
 Tostig, and every Norwegian chief of consequence, and 
 the destniction of nearly the whole of tbeir aiTuj'. The 
 fleet of the enemy also fell into the hands of the con- 
 queror ; but he generously permitted Olave, the son of 
 Hardrada, to gather the mournful relics of the invaders, 
 and depart with them in twenty-four ships to Noi-way. 
 
 This great battle, which was so glorious but fatal to 
 England, was fought on the 25th of September, 1006, and 
 four days after, during the rejoicings of the English, in- 
 telligence was brought to Harold that duke William of 
 Normandy had landed without opposition on the coast of 
 Susses.. The king, elated by his recent victory, hastened 
 from York with his diminished forces, and, without 
 waiting for reinforcements, determined to give battle 
 to his formidable opponent. At London he showed a 
 still greater infatuation, in weakening his army, by 
 manning seven hundred ships to hinder the escape of 
 William, so confident was he of success. Thus strangely 
 did friend and enemy conspire to work out that event 
 which was to put an end to the Saxon line, and to 
 place the Norman dynasty upon the throne of England. 
 The account of the memorable battle of Hastings, and 
 the death of Harold, will be found fully detailed in the 
 life of the Conqueror.
 
 56 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 
 
 This great fouuder of the dynasty of the Normans ill 
 England was the son of Robert, duke of Normandy, 
 commonly called Robert the Devil, by a young girl of 
 humble rank, named Harlotta, or, the well-beloved.* 
 One day the duke, as he returned from the chase, saw 
 this maiden washing linen in a brook, with her com- 
 panions, near Falaise ; and being smitten with her 
 beauty, he determined to make her his mistress. For 
 this pui-pose he sent proposals to her father, who was a 
 tanner, by one of his most discreet knights. The tanner 
 was unwilling to grant, but afraid to refuse, the wishes 
 of his lord ; and in this perplexity he sent to his brother, 
 who Avas a hermit, to have his scruples resolved. The 
 answer of the holy man was, that the will of a powerful 
 man should be done in all things ; upon which Har- 
 lotta was given up to the will of duke Robert, and be- 
 came the mother of William, The infant was cherished 
 as if he had been the son of a wife ; and when he was 
 only seven years old, his father resolved, according to 
 the prevalent fashion, to make a pilgrimage to Jerusa- 
 lem, for the remission of his sins. Tlie idea of this 
 journey, however, dismayed the Noraian chiefs, who 
 represented to the duke, that it was not well to 
 leave tliera without a chief; upon wliich he answered, 
 ' By my faith, sirs, ye say well : here I have a little 
 bastard, who, please God, will grow bigger : choose him 
 for your duke, and I will appoint him my successor.' 
 The Normans relished the proposal, because they found 
 it convenient ; and they placed their palms between the 
 hands of the boy, according to the northern fashion, and 
 swore that they would be his men ; after which cere- 
 mony duke Robert departed. He never returned, and 
 therefore William, even from his early years, was in- 
 volved in continual wars against those who envied his 
 good fortune, or objected to his illegitimacy. But the 
 youth, by the aid of the king of France, triumphed over 
 all opposition, and as he grew to manhood, he exhibited 
 
 » The Eng-lisli, in their hatred of every thing pertainin"- to the Con- 
 queror, soon chang-ed this name into one of very different meaning.
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 57 
 
 a character which his fiercest rnaligners were compelled 
 to respect. He was one of the strongest and bravest 
 men which that wai-like age had produced ; his mili- 
 tary skill was superior to that of any contemporary ; and 
 his political sagacity, sharpened and matured by the 
 troubles of his youth, enabled him to succeed in those 
 great enterprises where military qualities alone would 
 have been of little avail. 
 
 Mention has already been made of the relationship 
 that subsisted between William and Edward the Con- 
 fessor, and the visit which the former made to the 
 English court. So much was the Norman's hope ex- 
 cited from these circumstances, of becoming one day 
 king of England, that some historians have actually 
 imagined that a secret compact to this effect had been 
 ratified betwixt him and Edward. When Harold was so 
 shamefully circumvented at the court of Normandy, as 
 has been already described, the hopes of William 
 must have been greatly strengthened, and, therefore, 
 it was with astonishment and chagrin that he received 
 tidings of the coronation of his rival. He was trying a 
 new bow and arrows in his park, near Rouen, when the 
 news aiuived, upon which he immediately repaired to 
 the city, entered his palace, and walked to and fro in 
 great agitation. His attendants were eager to know the 
 cause of this disquietude, and interrogated the duke's 
 favourite officer ; but as he was equally ignorant, he re- 
 paired to his master for infonnation. When he had 
 heard the cause, he comforted William with these words : 
 ' Do not be angry about what cannot be amended : for 
 Edward's death there can be no remedy, but for Harold's 
 wrong there is. Yours is the good right — yours are the 
 good soldiers. Undertake boldly ; what is boldly un- 
 dertaken is half accomplished.' William, in the first 
 instance, tried the effect of negotiation, and sent a 
 messenger to Harold, to remind him of his oath. He 
 was not so ignorant as to imagine that, from such an 
 argument, Harold would descend from his throne, and 
 comply with the conditions of the treaty ; but from the 
 refusal which he anticipated, he perhaps hoped to 
 make the new king odious in the eyes of all super- 
 stitious men, and thus to vindicate the contemplated 
 invasion of England. Harold, with some show of jus- 
 tice, replied, that he had sworn upon compulsion, and, 
 D2
 
 58 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 therefore, was free of the oath. As for the royal ofiice, 
 he liad received it from the country, and by the same 
 autliority only he would lay it down again. ' I cannot 
 take a foreign wife,' he added, ' without the same per- 
 mission ; and as for my sister, whom he claims, to 
 marry her to one of his chiefs, she has been dead within 
 the year : would he have me send her corpse V William 
 afterwards demanded that Harold should, at least, marry 
 his daughter ; but the latter, who perhaps thought that 
 the recognition of this part of the treaty would be an 
 acknowledgment of the whole, returned a positive de- 
 nial, and soon after he tei-minated all farther negotia- 
 tion by marrying a Saxon lady, the sister of Edwin and 
 Morcar, the two powerful chiefs of Northumbria and 
 Mercia. 
 
 The only arbitration of the quarrel that now remained 
 was by the sword, and a parliament of the Norman 
 chiefs was assembled, to supply their liege with the 
 means of vindicating his claim to England. A stormy 
 debate followed, for the Normans were as yet a free 
 people ; and they thought it enough to pay their feudal 
 dues, without helping their duke to foreign conquests. 
 They also thought that their own liberties would be 
 compromised if William obtained the crown of Eng- 
 land. They therefore appointed for their representative 
 William Fitz-Osbert, to announce and excuse to the 
 duke their inability to aid him in the invasion ; but 
 Fitz-Osbert, when he appeared before William, instead 
 of delivering their sentiments faithfully, used a wholly 
 difierent language : * You know,' he said, ' the helps 
 they have furnished, and the great services they have 
 done you : well, they now wish to do more ; they wish 
 to serve you on the other side of the sea, as well as on 
 this. Go on, and spare nothing that they can do ; he 
 who has furnished you with two good horsemen, will be 
 at the expense of double that number.' ' No, no!' cried 
 the astonished Normans, who followed Fitz-Osbert, * we 
 did not bid you carry such an answer. It cannot be ! — 
 it cannot be !' The wrath of the members every moment 
 becoming louder and warmer, at last threatened a tu- 
 mult, and William dismissed the assembly. He now 
 adopted a practice which was used some centuries after- 
 wards in England, by his descendants, when they en- 
 countered a similar opposition. He called the chiefs one
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 59 
 
 by one into his presence, and by soft words, and many 
 promises, overcame their opposition ; for separately, 
 every one was either won over by his flattery, or afraid 
 to oppose his lord. In this way, ships, men, and mili- 
 tary stores, poured in from every quarter of Normandy ; 
 but as these were still far from being sufficient for the 
 conquest of such a country as England, William published 
 his proclamation of war in all the neighbouring lauds, 
 with the promise of pay and plunder to every soldier 
 who would join him. 'Then,' says the Norman Chroni- 
 cle, ' a multitude came by all roads, from far and near — 
 from the south and from the north— from- Maine and 
 from Anjou, from Poitou and from Brittany, from the 
 French country and from Flanders, from Aquitaine and 
 fiom Burgundy, from Piedmont and from the banks 
 of the Rhine.' Of this motley but formidable host of 
 adventurers, some asked regular pay, others what- 
 ever plunder they could win ; some were eager for lauds, 
 houses, or castles in England, while others limited their 
 modest wishes to some rich English bride. William 
 rejected none, and gratified all with promises. While 
 he thus received military aid from every quarter, the 
 church was not idle. It was thought, according to the 
 policy of Rome, that a usurper would be more subser- 
 vient to ghostly authority than a lawful king, and 
 therefore the pope, Alexander II., espoused the cause 
 cif William. Harold was proclaimed by the pontiff a 
 perjured person, and a traitor, and tlie duke of Nor- 
 mandy the lawful sovereign of the country. A bull also 
 was sent to the Norman granting him authority to take 
 possession of England ; and with the bull, was a con- 
 secrated standard, and a ring containing, within a rich 
 diamond, a hair from the head of St. Peter. William, 
 thus furnished with all kinds of right, according to the 
 opinion of the times, hastened his preparations during 
 the whole of the spring and summer. The place of 
 meeting for the ships and warriors was at the mouth of 
 the Dive, but when all was ready, the fleet was de- 
 tained for a month in port, by contrary winds, and the 
 men, little knowing that all this delay was indispensa- 
 ble to the success of their expedition, broke into indig- 
 nant murmurs. ' That man,' they cried, • is foolish, he 
 is very foolish, who seeks to possess himself of another 
 man's land : God is angry at such designs, and shows
 
 60 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 his displeasure by refusing us a fair wind.' William 
 attempted to soothe them by adding strong liquors to 
 their provisions, and causing the relics of St. Valery to 
 be carried in procession through the camp. On the 
 next night the wind changed, and the whole fleet, con- 
 sisting of about three thousand vessels, left the port 
 on the following moniing. On the next day the ship of 
 William, which led the van, had far outsailed the rest, 
 so that he was obliged to cast anchor, and wait their 
 coming up. On the 28th of September, lOGO, the whole 
 armament landed unopposed at Pevensey, near Hastings, 
 just three days after Harold's victory over the Nor- 
 wegians. William was the last man of the army who 
 stepped on shore, in doing which he stumbled, and fell 
 on his face. His followers began to murmur at the evil 
 omen, but William, who had started immediately to his 
 feet, showed them his hands filled with mud. * What 
 is the matter r he gaily exclaimed ; ' I have taken 
 seisin of this land ; and, by the splendour of God, so 
 far as it extends, it is mine — it is yours.' The army 
 marched towards Hastings, near which an encampment 
 was drawn out ; and three wooden castles, that had been 
 brought over in ]'ieces, were set up, and victualled, that 
 they might serve as a retreat, or rallying point, in case 
 of emergency. 
 
 In the mean time Harold, who was at York, and still 
 smarting with his wounds, no sooner heard of the arri- 
 val of the duke, than he hoped to surprise him, as he 
 had done Hardrada, by a sudden onset ; he, therefore, 
 made such hasty marches, that he was at hand long 
 befoie William could have expected his coming. But 
 the Noi-man army was defended by strong and nume- 
 rous outposts, and these falling back as Harold advanced, 
 gave timely notice of his approach. The English king, 
 therefore, altered his plan, and halted within seven 
 miles of the enemy's camp, where he entrenched him- 
 self behind palisades and ditches. He then sent spies 
 to survey the Norman encampment, who, on their re- 
 turn, declared, with astonishment, that there were more 
 priests in the army of William than soldiers in their 
 own. It was the fashion of the Normans to shave their 
 beards, and cut their hair close in the form of a clerical 
 tonsure, leaving only the moustaches ; while the Eng- 
 lish, on the contrary, let their hair and beards gi-ow to
 
 WILLIAM TKE CONQUEROR. CI 
 
 their full length. Harold smiled at tbe mistake, and 
 replied, ' Those whom you have seen are not pnests, 
 but good soldiers, and they will make us feel what they 
 are.' William now renewed his negotiations, giving 
 Harold the choice of three alternatives : these were, 
 to resign his crown in favour of William — to refer 
 the question to the arbitration of the pope — or decide 
 which of the two should be king by the issue of a single 
 combat ; but to all these proposals Harold gave an 
 abrupt refusal. William again sent his messenger with 
 the offer, that all the country beyond the Kumber 
 should be left to Harold, if he would acknowledge the 
 other's claim, ' otherwise,' added the duke, ' tell him 
 before all his people, that he is a perjurer, and a liar ; 
 that he and all his supporters are excommunicated, and 
 that the bull to that effect is in my possession.' When 
 the message was delivered, the English started at the 
 word excommunication, and looked at each other in 
 silence. But when they remembered that the Normau 
 had already parcelled out their houses and lands among 
 his followers, they determined to tight stoutly, and 
 conquer or die in their defence. On the night that 
 preceded the battle the foreign priests and monks, who 
 had followed the army of William in multitudes, in the 
 hope of booty and promotion, uttered prayers and 
 chanted litanies for the morrow's success, shrived the 
 soldiers, and administered the sacrament ; after which 
 there was a solemn silence for the night. But in the 
 English camp it was far otherwise. There, the soldiers 
 passed the interval in military glee, shouting, singing 
 their national songs, and quaffing huge horns of ale and 
 wine, like men preparing for victory, or, at least, de- 
 termined to enjoy their last hours in mirth and revelry. 
 At length the day dawned — the day so pathetically 
 bewailed in the ancient chronicles of England as being: 
 ' so deadly, so bitter, and so stained with the blood of 
 the brave.' On the morning, the bishop of Bayeux, 
 the son of William's mother by a citizen of Falaise, 
 cele'orated mass in the Norman camp, with a rocket 
 over his armour; after which he threw aside his clerical 
 vestment, mounted a war-horse, and marshalled his 
 brigade of cavalry with a truncheon. William was 
 mounted upon a Spanish steed; the holiest of the relics 
 upon which Harold had sworn, were suspended from
 
 C2 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 his neck in a casket, while by his side rode Toustaiu 
 the Fair, bearing aloft the banner that had been blessed 
 by the pope ; and when the soldiers were prepared for 
 battle, he thus addressed them : ' Remember to fight 
 well, and put all to death ; for if we conquer, we shall 
 all be rich. What I gain, you will gain ; if I conquer, 
 you will conquer also ; if I take the land, you will have 
 it. Know ye also that I have not come hither merely 
 to obtain my right ; but also to avenge our whole race 
 for the perjuries and treacheries of these English. They 
 muidered our kinsmen the Danes, men and women, on 
 the night of good St. Bryce. They decimated the compa- 
 nions of my kinsman Alfred, and took his life. Forward 
 then, and with God's help let us punish them for these 
 iniquities !' The Norman army then set up a shout, and 
 advanced within arrow-shot of the English, who were 
 strongly posted behind their palisades and trenches ; the 
 numerous archers and cross-bow men of the invaders 
 sent a shower of arrows among their antagonists, most 
 of which were deadened by the breastwork, and a furi- 
 ous charge of Norman cavalry and foot succeeded, who 
 endeavoured to force the redoubts. But the English, 
 who were on foot, and in a solid, compact mass around 
 their standard, received the onset with their ponderous 
 battle-axes, which, wielded with both hands, shivered 
 the long spears of the enemy, and hewed their shields 
 and hauberks asunder. The Normans struggled despe- 
 rately to tear up the palisades, and make good their 
 entrance ; but, exhausted and unsuccessful, they were 
 driven back upon the division which William com- 
 manded. The duke then ordered his archers to advance 
 again, and instead of shooting v.ith a level aim, to dis- 
 charge their arrows with their utmost force into the air, 
 that they might fall upon the heads of the English; this 
 was done, and the deadly shower wounded many in the 
 face. Harold himself lost an eye by an an-ow, but he still 
 continued to fight, and give directions with undaunted 
 vigour. Another terrible attack of horse and foot was 
 now directed, like a tempest, against the entrenchments, 
 and the Normans came on with the cry of ' Our Lady 
 to help ! God be our help !' But they were encountered 
 by the English, who shouted, ' God's rood! Christ's 
 rood !' while their axes did such fearful execution, that 
 their enemies were driv?n back to a great ravine, into
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 63 
 
 which horses and men tumbled pell-mell, and many 
 were slain or smothered. Confusion now spread through 
 the ranks of the Normans ; the cry arose that William 
 himself had been slain, and \vhole ranks beg-an to fly at 
 the alarm. The duke immediately threw himself before 
 the fui^itives, shouting', and striking them with his lance. 
 ' Here I am,' he cried — ' look at me — I live, and will 
 conquer with God's help.' Again his splendid cavalry 
 returned and charged up to the redoubts, but the close 
 phalanx and indomitable valour of the English made this 
 onset as ineffectual as the former. The duke now re- 
 solved to allure the enemy from their defences, and for 
 this purpose he ordered a thousand horse to advance, as 
 if for an attack, and then suddenly to turn round with 
 an appearance of flight. The stratagem succeeded. The 
 English, eager to pursue, slung their heavy battle-axes 
 roiind their necks, and rushed from their entrench- 
 ments ; but they were instantly assaulted on all sides by 
 horse and foot, with spears and swords and arrows ; 
 their ranks were broken asunder and exterminated in 
 detail, and the entrances to their camp being now unde- 
 fended, the Normans entered pell-mell among the fugi- 
 tives. All beyond this was a hopeless, but terrible death- 
 struggle on the part of the English : they now grappled 
 hand to hand with the enemy in the fury of despair. Wil- 
 liam had his horse killed under him ; but Harold, who had 
 gallantly fought in front of the men of Kent from morning' 
 till evening, fell dead at the foot of his standard, while 
 his two brave brothers, Gurth and Leofwin, perished by 
 his side. The banner was then plucked from the ground, 
 the consecrated standard was planted in its room, and 
 the English, who prolonged the conflict till it was so 
 dark that they could only recognise each other by speech, 
 sought safety in flight. The Normans ventured to pur- 
 sue, but in many instances the English turned upon 
 them, and inflicted a severe though unavailing ven- 
 geance for the slaughter of their countrymen. The in- 
 vaders passed the night on the field of battle, and at 
 sunrise William caused the roll to be called of the names 
 of those chiefs who had followed him across the sea. 
 But multitudes did not answer: they lay among the 
 dying or the dead. The English wives, mothers, and 
 children, wandered over the field, in quest of their kin- 
 dred, after having implored permission of the conquerors.
 
 G4 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 The monks of Waltham also carae to search for the body 
 of Harold, and having paid ten marks of gold to Wil- 
 liam for permission, they sought over the ground, but in 
 vain— for the corpse had been so much mutilated with 
 wounds, that they were unable to recognise it. It is 
 said, that in this extremity they had recourse to Editha, 
 surnamed the swan-necked, who had lived with Harold 
 as his mistress before he became king, and that her 
 affection enabled her at last to discover the defaced body 
 of the man she had loved. 
 
 William, instead of advancing towards London, after 
 this decisive victory, fell back upon Hastings, whei'e he 
 waited for some time, in the hope that the people would 
 make a voluntary submission. But no one came to him ; 
 and after having received reinforcements from Nor- 
 mandy, he proceeded to ravage the coast, and destroy 
 the town of Romney. The conqueror well knew that the 
 real strength of England, so far from being prostrated, 
 was but slightly injured by the battle of Hastings, and 
 he therefore advanced with slow and cautious steps. 
 From Romney he proceeded to Dover, the fortress of 
 which he took and garrisoned; and after passing eight 
 days there, he began his march towards London ; and 
 passed through the county of Kent. Surrey, Sussex, and 
 Hants, were in like manner traversed, while the path of 
 the Normans was indicated by burning villages, and 
 their massacred inhabitants. But in the capital there 
 was still no word of surrender ; on the contrary, forces 
 were raised that would have stood a fiercer conflict than 
 that of Hastings, had Harold still lived, or even left a 
 successor to command them. But unfortunately that 
 spirit of division — that curse of ancient England through 
 which every enemy successively triumphed, prevailed 
 on this critical occasion. The brave brothers of Harold 
 had died by his side ; his sons were too young to head 
 the English ; and in this difficulty, Edgar the Atheling,* 
 a nephew of the Confessor, a weak young man, whose 
 claims had scarcely been thought of when Harold was 
 elected, was dragged from his obscurity, and after much 
 time lost in useless debating, he was proclaimed king of 
 England. Edwin and Morcar, the brothers-in-law of the 
 late monarch, were indignant at this choice ; and as they 
 
 * Athclinsr or iEathcliiiff means illustrious.
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. C5 
 
 \vere by far the most powerful of the English chieftains, 
 instead of heading the national resistance against Wil- 
 liam, as they agreed to do, they retired to their govern- 
 ments with their numerous followers, thinking they 
 could defend the north of England, even if the rest 
 should be conquered. Amidst all this selfishness and 
 vacillation, the course of William was unchecked, so 
 that he advanced upon London ; but finding himself still 
 not strong enough to venture upon a siege, he encamped 
 at Berkhamstead, in Hertfordshire, and cut off all supplies 
 from the metropolis. London at last was starved into 
 sun-euder, and a deputation of the chief nobles and pre- 
 lates, with the Atheling at their head, repaired to Wil- 
 liam with offers of submission and allegiance. Next day, 
 the duke in consequence broke up his encampment, and 
 marched towards the metropolis; but instead of entering 
 it, he fortified himself without the city, and erected a 
 fortress, on the spot where the Tower now stands. His 
 coronation was fixed to take place at Christmas, which 
 was only a few days after, and even upon this solemn 
 occasion, an event occurred that was ominous of a reign 
 of blood. The new abbey of Westminster, in which the 
 victor was to be crowned, was filled with two hundred and 
 sixty of his bravest chiefs, a numerous throng of priests, 
 and many of the English nobles and prelates, who had 
 been persuaded to form a part in the pageant; and when 
 both Normans and English had expressed their assent 
 that William should be king of England, all raised a 
 joyous shout, indicating the heartiness of their choice. 
 Rut the foreign cavalry stationed near the abbey being 
 startled at the din, and supposing or pretending that this 
 was the signal of insurrection, begun to fire the neigh- 
 bouring houses, whilst others rushed to the abbey with 
 drawn swords, to rescue the duke. Those within the 
 building, Normans as well as English, were terrified at 
 the sounds of this sudden tumult, and hurriedly fled 
 from the scene, while William, trembling in every limb, 
 was left with the archbishop of York, and a few terri- 
 fied priests. Under these circumstances, the ceremonies 
 of the coronation were hurried over as rapidly as pos- 
 sible ; and the new sovereign, in addition to the usual 
 oaths of the English kings, added, of his own accord, that 
 he would treat the people as wtll as the best of their 
 kings had done. William's lust measures, after this
 
 63 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 event, were marked by a show of great moderation. 
 Edwin, Morcar, and the chief nobles of England, were 
 left in undisturbed possession of their estates and ofBces ; 
 Edgar Atheling was cherished as a peculiar favourite ; 
 and in a prouress which William made through such 
 parts of England as were now his own, he every where 
 studied to conciliate the people by the affability and 
 justice of his proceedings. The land was yet far from 
 being conquered ; the eastern and western coasts, and 
 the midland counties, were still untouched, and in the 
 event of a revolt, might have crushed his unconfirmed 
 sovereignty. But this promising state of matters soou 
 changed. When the land had been bridled in every di- 
 rection with fortresses, which was done in the course of 
 a fe%v months, England was then made to feel the bitter 
 fruits of the conquest. And first an enormous war- 
 tribute was imposed upon the people ; and afterwards 
 the estates of those Englishmen who had fallen at Hast- 
 ings, were conferred upon the Norman warriors. Then 
 followed the lands of those who had survived the con- 
 flict ; and lastly, those men who had taken no share in 
 the battle, were stripped of their possessions, because 
 they had intended to resist the Normans. And now the 
 promises which William had so largely made both to his 
 Norman subjects and foreign auxiliaries, were executed 
 to the full, and lordship-tenures, castles, and estates, 
 Were bestowed upon captains, while those who had 
 stipulated for Saxon brides received the well-dowried 
 widows of those Englishmen who had fallen in the battle. 
 The church property, too, was doomed to similar spolia- 
 tion, and the swarms of monks and priests who had 
 accompanied William's army were gratified with rich 
 bishoprics and monasteries. ' Low-born squires, and 
 filthy vagabonds,' say the English writers of this pe- 
 riod, ' disposed at their will of young women of the best 
 families, leaving them to weep, and wish for death. In- 
 fatuated wretches ! they wondered at their deeds, and 
 went mad with pride and astonishment, at finding them- 
 selves so powerful, and having servants with greater 
 wealth than their fathers had ever possessed. Whatever 
 they willed, they thought they had the right to do ; and 
 they shed blood in wantonness, snatched the last morsel 
 from the mouths of the unfortunate, and seized every 
 thing— money, goods, and land.'
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 67 
 
 Six months after William had landed at Pevensey, he 
 set sail from the same port, for the purpose of visiting 
 his native Normandy. Historians have been unable to 
 a .Lount for this movement ; the common supposition is, 
 that he purposely absented himself, in the hope that his 
 ~L)ldit'rs, unrestrained by his presence, would madden 
 - le Eniclish into rebellion, and thus justify his future 
 
 ipressions. He took with him, besides his Normans, a 
 uiultituJe of the English nobles, and on arriving- in Nor- 
 mandy, his own subjects and the French were dazzled 
 with the display of the rich spoils of the conquest ; and 
 while all thronged to congratulate him, none were dis- 
 missed unrewarded. If William's intention had been 
 to goad the English into rebellion during his absence, 
 his choice of viceroys was well fitted for the pui-pose : — 
 these were Odo, the proud bishop of Bayeux, who had 
 borne a distinguished share in the victory of Hastings, 
 and William Fitz-Osbert, the seneschal of Normandy, 
 of whom mention has been already made. These men 
 60 much exceeded the oppression even of William him- 
 self, that the English, in despair, had recourse to an old 
 enemy, to deliver them. They accordingly sent to that 
 Eustace, count of Boulogne, who had made such havoc in 
 Dover during the reign of the Confessor ; but now he 
 was only remembered as the relation of king Edward, 
 and the enemy of William, besides being a brave and 
 skilful warrior. Eustace readily embarked at the sum- 
 mons, and landed with a powerful force ; but in attempt- 
 ing to surprise Dover castle, his second adventure at this 
 quarter was more untoward than the first. The Norman 
 garrison made a stout resistance, aud a false alama being 
 raised that Odo was coming in full force to its relief, 
 Eustace retreated so hurriedly to his shipping, that 
 many of his followers, in their haste, fell from the cliflfs 
 and perished. This insurrectionary movement was but 
 a prelude to others, that began to extend through all 
 the parts of England that were still unsubdued : upon 
 which William, finding the time ripe for his return, 
 embarked at Dieppe, in December (1067), and came to 
 England. In London, he soothed the people with procla- 
 mations, and by his promises of preserving the laws of 
 the Confessor inviolate he separated the peaceful Eng- 
 lish from the insurgents; after which, he set ofl' to sub- 
 due the unconquered provinces. Exeter fell, chiefly
 
 68 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 through the cowardice or treachery of the English lead- 
 ers, after a brave resistance ; Devonshire was then re- 
 duced to subjection ; and soon afterwards, the wastes of 
 Somerset and Gloucester were conquered, and parcelled 
 out among the Normans. The northern provinces still 
 remained free, and thither multitudes of the persecuted 
 natives repaired for shelter from every part of England; 
 while Edwin and Morcar, having formed an alliance 
 with the Welsh, resolved to maintain the national inde- 
 pendence over the country beyond the Humber, with the 
 city of York for its chief bulwark. In the mean time 
 William continued his progress of conquest, and the 
 towns of Oxford, Warwick, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, 
 and Lincoln, fell into his hands. On the last of these 
 captures, the Norman army advanced to the debateable 
 land, and after overwhelming the confederated English 
 and Welsh by superiority of numbers, they stormed the 
 city of York, and put all the inhabitants to the sword. 
 A strong Norman garrison was then placed in the city, 
 while the dispirited patriots retired before the conque- 
 rors, or fled for refuge to Scotland. York, however, con- 
 tinued to be the advanced post of the conquest for a con- 
 siderable time, and a post of uncei'tain tenure, until 
 William threw forward a strong force under Robert Co- 
 mine, to extend his line as far as Durham. The Norman 
 leader marched unopposed ; he even entered Durham, 
 and took up his quarters in the midst of fancied security. 
 But at night, the banks of the Tyne and the neighbour- 
 ing heights were lighted with watch-fires, by which the 
 men of Northumberland were assembled, and at day- 
 break they burst into the town, and assailed their ene- 
 mies from every qiiarter. The surprised Normans made 
 a desperate resistance in the streets, of the turnings and 
 intricacies of which they were ignorant, and among the 
 burning houses, that were fired over their heads ; but at 
 last the conflict ended in the death of Comine, with 
 1200 men-at-arms, and at least five times that amount of 
 foot-soldiers and attendants. This blow struck such ter- 
 ror into the Normans, that a larger force, which was sent 
 to revenge the slain, stopped short half-way between 
 York and Durham, and refused to proceed. The English 
 declared that good Saint Cuthbert had benumbed them 
 with supernatural teiTors, in defence of his favourite city 
 that contained his relics and his tomb.
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 69 
 
 Amiiist the strange mutations of fortune, those who 
 had been the fiercest enemies, were now considered the 
 chief hopes of the English. After this last exploit of the 
 hardy inhabitants of the Danelagh, a fleet of two hun- 
 dred and fifty ships, under the command of two sons and 
 a brother of Sweyn, king of Denmark, came to attempt 
 the deliverance of England, for the sake of their kins- 
 men of Northumbria. But the coast was more strongly 
 guarded now than in the days of their fathers, so that 
 they were beaten off by the Normans from every point 
 at which they attempted a landing. They then entered 
 the mouth of the Humber, where they were welcomed 
 and joined by multitudes of the English, and all pressed 
 forward to York, the siege of which they immediately 
 commenced. On the eighth day of the siege, the Nor- 
 man garrison, apprehensive that the suburban houses 
 would be used by the English and Danes for filling up 
 the trenches, imprudently set fire to them ; the flames 
 communicated to the town, and opened a way for the 
 besiegers, who carried the place, and slaughtered several 
 thousands of the Normans ; after which, the fortifications 
 were razed to the ground. Edgar the Atheling, who 
 had fled to- Scotland with the refugees, was now made 
 king at York, and his sway extended over the whole 
 country from the Humber to the Tweed. Thus England 
 was at present divided into two kingdoms, with two 
 rival and independent sovereigns. But it required no 
 uncommon prescience to foretell which of them would be 
 the victor. William swore a tremendous oath, that he 
 would not rest until he had massacred all the Northum- 
 brians ; and he commenced preparations to accomplish 
 his vow. He first tampered with the Danish leader, 
 whose departure from England he purchased with a large 
 sum ; he then so eflectually cajoled the English of the 
 conquered districts, that they were persuaded to remain 
 neuter in the approaching contest ; and having thus de- 
 prived the insurgents of every ally, he suddenly ap- 
 peared before York with a large army, just as the Danish 
 fleet had taken its departure. York was taken after a 
 terrible slaughter of the English, and Edgar Atheling, 
 with all who survived the storm, fled to the court of 
 Malcolm Canmore. William now fulfilled his vow with 
 remorseless fidelity, for Northumbria was laid waste, 
 and converted into a desert, and the inhabitants were
 
 70 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 massacred without distinction of a^e or sex. Cumber- 
 land and Westmoreland after this period were conquered, 
 and occupied by William's captains, and the English 
 leaders, who had struggled to the last, were now obliged 
 to acknowledge the hopelessness of resistance. Waltheof, 
 Gospatric, Morcar, Edwin, and even Edgar himself, the 
 last of the royal Saxon line, and the darling of the 
 English, threw aside their swords in despair, and swore 
 fealty to the Conqueror. The only relic of English inde- 
 pendence was the town of Chester, and its surrounding 
 district, which as yet had remained unvisited by the 
 Norman soldiery ; but even this small portion was speedily 
 annexed to the conquest. William crossed the chain of 
 hills that extends from south to north by ways hitherto 
 reckoned impracticable for cavalry, and after surmount- 
 ing such difficulties, Chester easily fell into his hands. 
 Thus, by the year 1071, the whole of England from the 
 Tweed to the Land's End, and from the English Channel 
 to the Severn, was reduced to the Norman yoke. And 
 miserable was now the condition of the wretched Eng- 
 lish. The lands and possessions which they had inhe- 
 rited from a long line of illustrious ancestry were given to 
 the counts and knights who had aided in the conquest, 
 so that while base foreigners and men of low degree 
 were suddenly elevated into rank and wealth, the lords 
 of the soil were converted into serfs, and their wives and 
 daughters became the degraded menials of the victors. 
 And still it was useless for the sufferers to complain, for 
 William either would not or dared not check those op- 
 pressors, upon whose swords he still depended for the 
 secure possession of England. All therefore who prefer- 
 red expatriation to bondage, and who still possessed the 
 means of escape, fled to Wales, to Scotland, or the Con- 
 tinent; and a large body of English, under the conduct 
 of Siward, emigrated to Constantinople, where, having 
 offered their services to the Greek emperor Alexis, they 
 were enrolled as his body guards, under the name of 
 Varangis, and gained a high name for fidelity and va- 
 lour. Many others of the dispossessed retired with their 
 dependants into the forests, and under the name of Out- 
 laws subsisted upon the plunder of the Normans, which 
 had once been their own property. In this way, numer- 
 ous bands arose in the ' gay greenwood' of merry Eng- 
 land—men who spoiled the rich Nonnans, and shared
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 71 
 
 tlie booty with the famishing Eng-lislitnen. These out- 
 laws, although they were called robbers by the tyrants, 
 were dear to the recollections of the English, so that 
 such men as Robin Hood received a celebrity equal to 
 that of the great national heroes. As yet there was 
 also a little camp at Ely, where Hereward le Wake had 
 established a sanctuary for the few remains of English 
 freedom ; and to this place many repaired who felt the 
 dominion of the foreigners intolerable, and thought it 
 better to die resisting, than to linger out their lives in 
 bondage. But this last hc^e of the English was de- 
 stroyed by the capture of Ely, and the surrender of 
 Hereward, after which William crossed the Tweed, and 
 pursued the English who had taken shelter in Scotland, 
 with the hope of still making head against their enemy. 
 Malcolm Canmore was too weak to resist this invasion, 
 and he accordingly agreed to abandon the cause of the 
 English exiles, and live in alliance with the Conqueror. 
 When thus all fear of resistance was at an end, 
 William once more crossed the sea, to take possession 
 of Maine, which had been bequeathed to him by the late 
 Count of that province ; and, to enforce his claim, he 
 carried with him an army of Englishmen, whom he had 
 persuaded to march under his banner. These men, in 
 the bitterness of iheir hearts, considered the inhabitants 
 of Maine as Normans, from the similarity of their lan- 
 guage ; and in this idea, as soon as the resistance of 
 the province commenced, they wasted the country with 
 fire and sword, until they made it as wretched as Eng- 
 land itself. Bat while V.'illiam was warring success- 
 fully abroad, a conspiracy was forming in England, 
 that threatened the loss of all his acquisitions. Roger, 
 lord of Hereford, the youngest son of that Fitz-Osbert 
 who had incited William to the conquest of England, 
 had contracted a marriage for his sister with the earl of 
 Norfolk ; hut this alliance displeased the king, and he 
 sent an order from Normandy that the agreement should 
 be annulled. But the son of Fitz-Osbert, setting this 
 prohibition at nought, assembled a large party of Nor- 
 mans, Saxons, and Welsh, at the town of Norwich, to 
 grace the marriage festival. There the wine flowed 
 freely, and the heated guests began to speak indig- 
 nantly of William's mandate, till from this topic they 
 soon proceeded to more general grievances. The Nor-
 
 72 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 mans branded their lord as a bastard unworthy to bear 
 rule, and a tyrant to those who had helped him to his 
 throne ; the Bretons charged him with poisoning- their 
 beloved count Conan ; the Saxons proclaimed him a 
 usurper, who had put their lords to death, or driven 
 them into banishment ; and all at last agreed, that the 
 ruin of their common enemy would be a most desirable 
 event, Normans and Saxons were now iusjnred with 
 one feeling of hatred against the Conqueror, and a con- 
 spiracy was formed by both parties to exclude him 
 from the throne of England. Waltheof, of Northumbria, 
 who had been reconciled to William, and had received 
 the hand of Judith, the king's niece, became the head 
 of the English party in this conspiracy, and agreed to 
 join the lord of Hereford, and the Norman barons, 
 with all the followers he could muster. But the good 
 fortune of the absent William still prevailed. When 
 Hereford had collected his forces, and set out to meet 
 the other conspirators, he was completely checked in 
 attempting the passage of the Severn by a strong 
 army, chiefly composed of Englishmen, who were now 
 ready to fight in the cause of William. In another 
 quarter, the earl of Norfolk, the most aggrieved of the 
 conspirators, who had assembled an army chiefly con- 
 sisting of English soldiers, was attacked and completely 
 defeated at Fagadon, by Odo, bishop of Bayeux ; and 
 the conquerors cut off" the right foot of every one of 
 their prisoners, whether English or Norman. After these 
 events, William returned to England to pass judgment 
 upon the conspirators. Norfolk, who had fled the king- 
 dom, was deprived of all his English possessions, and 
 Hereford, who was a prisoner, was condemned to lose 
 all his lands, and be confined for life in one of the royal 
 fortresses The fate of this person, to whose father 
 William was so greatly indebted, is of peculiar interest. 
 Upon an Easter, William sent the captive a splendid suit 
 of raiment, according to the custom of the Norman 
 court, as if he had been still free ; but Roger of Here- 
 ford having examined the rich apparel, piece by piece, 
 ordered a fire to be made, into which he deliberately 
 threw the whole present. * By the splendour of God,' 
 cried the king, when he heard how his gift had been 
 received, * that man shall never more see the light of 
 the sun.' The English exulted in the ruin of the son
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 73 
 
 mJ son-in-law of William Fitz-Osbert, the man from 
 whom the Norman invasion had chiefly originated, and 
 who was, therefore, accounted the main source of all 
 t'liL-ir national miseries. 
 
 The fate of W^altheofjthe son of the great Siward, the 
 c nqueror of Macbeth, and now the last hope of England, 
 v.as of a still more melancholy description. Although 
 he had been privy to the late conspiracy, he had not 
 tuken part in the rising, and therefore he was spared 
 for the present. But his doom was not the less certain 
 because it was delayed ; and soon after (a. d. 1074;, 
 when a Danish fleet appeared upon the coast, without 
 daring to hazard a descent, Waltheof was accused of 
 having invited it to England. It was in vain that the 
 earl repelled the accusation : the charge was supported 
 ijy his shameless Norman wife, Judith, whom he had 
 received as the pledge of the king's friendship. He was 
 confined for nearly a year ; and then, after a hurried 
 trial, sentence of death was passed upon him, chiefly by 
 those who coveted the three counties over which he 
 ruled. So much, however, was he beloved by the 
 English, that the sentence was executed in the town of 
 A\ inchester, at the earliest dawn, while the inhabitants 
 vere still asleep ; and the people, who were too late to 
 save him, regarded his death as a martyrdom, and en- 
 rolled him among their saints. So perished the last 
 chief of the English race by a Norman executioner. 
 As for the infamous Judith, she was confirmed in the 
 possession of all her murdered husband's extensive 
 domains ; but when she was about to choose for herself 
 a second mate, one for the love of whom she was sup- 
 posed to have sacrificed the virtuous Waltheof, she 
 found that the king, her uncle, had anticipated her pur- 
 pose. There was one Simon of Senlis, a brave soldier, 
 but lame and ill-made, whom William intended to 
 enrich with the widow and possessions of W^altheof ; 
 but when the lady heard of this purpose, she treated 
 both it and the proposed partner with immeasurable 
 disdain. William, indignant at her refusal, deprived 
 her of all her husband's estates, with which he endowed 
 Simon of Senlis, upon the easier tenure of furnishing 
 shoes for the king's horses ; while Judith, suddenly re- 
 duced tct poverty, lingered out her life for years, amidst 
 the scorn and abhorrence of all parties. 
 E
 
 74 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 William had now conquered England, tamed 
 A. u. the Welsh, and suppressed the Scots; but it 
 1077-9- v^-as amidst all this power and prosperity that 
 circumstances arose by which the rest of his 
 life was to be imbittered. On his first departure from 
 Normandy, his hopes of winning England had been so 
 strong, that be had promised the succession of the 
 duchy to his eldest son Robert, to the great satisfaction 
 of the inhabitants ; but when the kingdom of England 
 was fully won, William showed no inclination to relin- 
 quish his Norman possessions, although Robert was now 
 grown to man's estate ; and the young prince, who was 
 brave, high-spirited, and ambitious, on demanding the 
 promised dukedom of his father, received this homely 
 and decisive reply — ' Son, I do not purpose to throw off 
 my clothes till I go to bed.' The disappointed Robert 
 digested this answer in moody silence, until a trivial cir- 
 cumstance produced the crisis. One day, when William 
 and his nobles were staying in the town of L'Aigle, in 
 Normandy, the two younger sons of the king took pos- 
 session of Robert's lodging, and as he was passing in the 
 court below, they threw a bason of water upon his head, 
 in thoughtless sport. The prince, in a rage at what he 
 considered a premeditated insult, drew his sword, and 
 ran up stairs, vowing a bloody revenge upon his brothers, 
 and the king had much difficulty in calming the tumult. 
 Robert indignantly left the court the same night, crossed 
 the border of Normandy, and found refuge with his 
 father's enemies ; but, after a short period, he was per- 
 suaded to return by the solicitations of his mother. But 
 the discontented followers of William rallied round the 
 young prince, and stirred him up against the king, 
 whom they represented as an avaricious old man, re- 
 solved to keep all within his own grasp ; and instigated 
 bj' these evil counsellors, Robert again demanded the 
 dukedom of Normandy, which was still refused, with 
 the admonition to dismiss his associates, and adopt the 
 good and wise archbishop Lanfranc for his adviser. 
 ' Father,' cried the youth fiercely, at this advice, ' I 
 came to demand my right, and not to hear you preach : 
 I had homilies in plenty, and long ones too, when I 
 was learning my grammar.' He repeated his question, 
 whether he should be allowed the duchy of Normandy, 
 or, at least, an independent govemixent over Sbme part
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 75 
 
 of Ensrland ; but when William peremptorily answered, 
 ' that he would neither resign his own patrimonial ter- 
 ritory, nor yet a portion of his hard- won conquest,' the 
 prince finally exclaimed, ' Well, I will go and become 
 a soldier among strangers : from them perhaps I shall 
 obtain the justice which my father refuses.' He imme- 
 diately flung away from the royal presence, and began 
 to execute his threats, wandering from coimty to county, 
 and from province to province, every where complaining 
 of his wrongs. After some time had been spent in this 
 kind of en'antry, his cause was espoused by Philip, 
 the king of France, who eacablished Robert in the castle 
 of Gerberoy, upon the borders of Normandy. Adven- 
 turers, who lived by the lance and sword, now flocked 
 to the prince, as they had flocked in fonner years 
 to his father, while throngs of Noj-mans, the friends 
 of William, and even many of his own household, 
 repaired to Gerberoy, and swore allegiance to Robert. 
 This act of desertion cut the Conqueror to the heart, 
 and aggravated the guilt of his son. ' The traitor J' 
 he exclaimed — ' he has seduced my men — my own 
 scholars, whom I taught to light ; whom I fed with my 
 bread, and clothed with knightly armour.' 
 
 The most active measures were now required, to save 
 Normandy from falling into the hands of Robert and the 
 French king ; but amidst the general treachery that 
 prevailed, William was obliged to raise an English army, 
 to make war upon his rebellious son. He crossed the 
 channel with his usual activity, and invested the castle 
 of Gerberoy ; but the siege was protracted, in conse- 
 quence of the stubborn resistance of the garrison, and 
 many of his soldiers were killed in various sorties. 
 Upon one of these occasions an incident occurred that 
 reminds us of the romantic character of the age. 
 Robert, who was a gallant knight, happened, in the 
 heat of conflict, to engage a warrior of the other party. 
 Both combatants were equally strong and determined, 
 and both completely concealed in the panoply which 
 they wore ; but after a fierce combat, the prince wounded 
 and unhorsed his antagonist. The fallen knight shouted 
 to his companions for aid, and Robert discovered from 
 the voice, that it was his father he had overthrown. 
 He dismounted immediately, raised his parent, and 
 craved pardon upon his knees, with tears, at the same
 
 76 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 time supplying him with his own horse ; but William, 
 unmoved by this penitence, discharged a bitter curse 
 upon his son's head, and rode off. The king was obliged 
 to raise the siege, and retire to Rouen. Here however 
 his wife, his friends, and the Norman bishops, laboured 
 to procure a reconciliation between him and the prince, 
 and after long importunity he gave a reluctant assent. 
 Robert was admitted into the royal presence, where he 
 asked pardon upon his knees, after which he accom- 
 panied the king to England. But no return of affection 
 was manifested upon the part of the iron-hearted 
 William ; and Robert, suspicious that the reconciliation 
 was insincere, fled for the third time, followed by the 
 curses of his father, whom he never saw again. 
 
 Domestic calamities still continued to imbitter the last 
 years of the Conqueror, notwithstanding the absence of 
 his eldest son. Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's 
 uterine brother, who had fought so bravely at the battle 
 of Hastings, and aided the work of the conquest, had 
 been made earl of Kent, and was the most powerful sub- 
 ject in England ; but not content with this, he aspired 
 at a separate dominion, by intriguing for the popedom. 
 The king, who detected this conspiracy (a. d. 10S2), 
 arrested the warlike prelate, and imprisoned him in a 
 dungeon in Normandy. Shortly after this affair, Ma- 
 tilda, the wife of the Conqueror, to whom he was fondly 
 attached, paid the debt of nature ; and his sense of this 
 bereavement was exhibited by increasing moroseness of 
 temper, and deeper distrust of his captains and coun- 
 sellors. As if the alienation and absence of his first- 
 born had not also been sufficient, his two remaining 
 sons, William and Henry, became jealous of each other, 
 and brawled about the succession while their father was 
 still alive. But the most tragical domestic affliction 
 which William sustained, arose from one of his worst 
 acts of oppression. Like the other rough, unlearned 
 potentates of the period, he was so addicted to hunting, 
 that he was said, by the English, to love the wild beasts 
 of the chase as if he had been their father ; and to enjoy 
 this sport in perfection, he had dispeopled and laid waste 
 an immense portion of Hampshire, which was converted 
 into a hunting ground, and stocked with all kinds of 
 game. In this place, called the New Forest, his second 
 son, Richard, while engaged in hunting, was gored to
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 77 
 
 death by a stag. The English annalists have exulted 
 in this incident, as the first of a series of judgments 
 inflicted in the same place upon the descendants of the 
 tyrant, for such a wanton act of oppression. 
 
 The close of William's career was now at hand. The 
 country called Vexin, situated between the Epte and the 
 Oise, was ground equally claimed by Philip of France 
 and the king of England ; and the latter, who had 
 crossed the sea with a large army, at the end of the year 
 1086, for the recovery of the disputed territory, first tried 
 the effect of a negotiation with his rival. During the 
 course of the treaty, William, who of late years had 
 grown corpulent, notwithstanding his love of hunting, 
 was confined to his bed with sickness; and Philip, upon 
 this occasion, observed that his cousin of England was a 
 long time lying-in, and no doubt would have a glorious 
 churching when he had brought forth. This coarse joke 
 stung William to the quick, and he swore by the splen- 
 dour of God that he would hold his churching at Notre 
 Dame, in Paris, with ten thousand lances instead of 
 tapers. But, in spite of this boast, he was unable to rise 
 till the end of July in the following year ; and then he 
 marched forward, burning and destroying the whole 
 countr\-, until he came to the town of Mantes, which 
 he soon took, and ordered to be set on fire. The vindic- 
 tive tyrant then rode up to the walls to feast his eyes 
 with the conflagration ; but his horse having stepped 
 among some hot ashes, plunged with the pain, and 
 William was sorely bruised by the pommel of the saddle 
 — an accident which his gross habit of body made fatal. 
 He soon felt that he must die, and therefore he caused 
 himself to be can-ied to the monastery of St. Gervas, 
 that he might make his end in a holy place, while priests 
 and monks were summoned to his bedside to smooth his 
 passage into eternity. He ordered the churches of 
 Mantes which he had destroyed to be rebuilt ; he ap- 
 pointed large sums of money to be sent to churches and 
 monasteries in England ; and caused his Norman and 
 English captives to be set at liberty, some of whom had 
 languished in prison for more than twenty years. A day 
 or two before he died, there v/as a mustering and throng- 
 ing of his sons and nobles to learn his will upon the 
 succession. The still absent Robert was confirmed in 
 the duchy of Normandy, and his son William was to
 
 78 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 succeed him as king of Engrland ; while to Henry, the 
 youngest, he bequeathed five thousand pounds of silver. 
 Prince William immediately left the couch of his dying 
 father, and posted off to England ; while Henry departed 
 at the same time, to weigh his silver, and provide him- 
 self with a strong chest to keep it safe. As soon as the 
 forsaken father breathed his last sigh (which was on the 
 0th of September, 1087), the event was the signal for 
 universal desertion — nobles, knights, priests, physicians, 
 all fled from the lifeless clay to join in the new scramble 
 for place and profit, while the servants, to fill up the 
 measure of ingratitude, plundered the royal apartment of 
 every thing it contained, and then fled like the rest, 
 leaving the dead body lying almost naked upon the bare 
 boards. At last, some of the priests, either through 
 shame or charity, bethought them of the dead about three 
 hours after; but when arrangements were proposed 
 about the burial, not one of all the kindred and friends 
 of William was at hand to undertake the charges of this 
 last office, until a poor knight of the neighbourhood 
 undertook to bear them for good-will and the love of 
 God. The body was then removed to Caen for sepulture ; 
 but just as the procession had commenced, a sudden fire 
 broke out in the town, and so many of the train ran to 
 extinguish it, that only a few monks were left to follow 
 the corpse. Even yet this terrible sermon to kings and 
 conquerors was not ended. When at last the body had 
 been carried to the grave, and the mass pei-formed, just 
 as the corpse was about to be lowered, a voice from the 
 crowd exclaimed — ' Hold ! this ground is mine : the dead 
 king took it from me by violence, and in the name of God 
 I forbid you to bury him in my glebe.' The bystanders 
 confirmed the man's declarations, and sixty shillings 
 were immediately paid for the grave. But when they 
 proceeded to use it, they found that it had been made 
 too narrow, a fault that could not no%v be repaired, as it 
 was constructed of mason-work ; and in their hasty 
 eflTorts to accomplish the act of burial, the body, which 
 was without a cofiin, burst asunder. The spectators and 
 attendants fled in horror, and the priests, after a few 
 maimed prayers and a plentiful burning of incense, 
 hurried over the ceremony and fled with the rest. 
 
 The character of him who accomplished so important 
 and permanent a conquest, and whose descendants still
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. 79 
 
 occupy the throne of England, is worthy of attention. 
 The Conqueror was of lofty stature, and possessed such 
 ^treng•th that none but himself could bend his bow ; he 
 ■ as unmatched in every warlike exercise, and there was 
 i sternness in his countenance upon which few could 
 look without awe. Without these qualities, it would 
 have been impossible in such an iron age to obtain 
 an ascendancy in society. But -with these mere phy- 
 sical advantages, William, as we have seen from his 
 actions, possessed a wonderful depth of political sagacity 
 as Avell as military skill, that placed him beyond the 
 competition of his age ; so that his art in controlling and 
 persuading men often made him victorious where arms 
 would have failed. Still, however, it must be acknow- 
 ledged, that few conquerors have owed more to fortune- 
 In attempting the invasion of England, success or de- 
 struction was the only alternative ; and the adventure 
 depended upon numerous contingencies, a failure in the 
 least of which would have ensured his overthrow. 
 
 William was also a devout man, according to the 
 devotion inculcated in that age ; so that, however busied 
 he might be with deeds of fraud and massacre, he en- 
 dowed monasteries, and heard mass every morning. But 
 the energetic stand which he made against papal en- 
 croachment, was one of the few events in hi.s history that 
 merited the gratitude of England. Hildebrand, after- 
 wards Gregory VII., one of the ablest of those who have 
 filled the chair of St. Peter, imagined, that as the pope 
 had sanctioned the Norman invasion, therefore England 
 should be considered a fief of the Holy See. In this 
 idea, he demanded of William, not only the payment of 
 Peter's pence, but also feudal homage for the possession 
 of the kingdom. The answer of William, at a time when 
 kings and emperors were ready to hold the papal stirrup, 
 was stern and decisive. The tax he was ready to pay, 
 because it had been of long establishment; but as for 
 the homage, no king of England bad ever rendered it, 
 and therefore he would not. This reply formed so in- 
 spiriting an example to future English sovereigns, that 
 they held out against this ghostly tyranny when other 
 monarchs had succumbed, and thereby they paved the 
 way for that glorious Reformation by which England 
 became completely free.
 
 80 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 HEREWARD LE WAKE. 
 
 We gladly turn from the example of successful am- 
 bition, exhibited in the history of William the Con- 
 queror, to one of generous and devoted, though unsuc- 
 cessful, patriotism, as illustrated in the life of Hereward 
 le Wake. This gallant hero, who so bravely resisted the 
 Norman usurpation, aiid whose name was for ages so 
 fondly cherished by his countrymen, only needed more 
 ample means to have become the Bruce or the Tell of 
 his enslaved country. 
 
 Hereward was the son of Leofi-ic, lord of Brunne, in 
 Lincolnshire, a nobleman of warlike reputation ; and in 
 his boyish days, which were passed under the reign of 
 Edward the Confessor, he exhibited such traits of cha- 
 racter as were frequently deemed essential for heroes in 
 that early age. He was distinguished beyond his con- 
 temporaries for strength, stature, and beauty ; he de- 
 lighted in all active and military exercises; and such 
 was his enthusiasm for superiority, that he often drew 
 bis sword upon those whom he was unable to overcome 
 in sportive conflicts. On account of this ferocity, the 
 youths of his own age dreaded and shunned him ; and, 
 in consequence of their loud complaints, Leofric, his 
 father, went to the court of Edward, and procured an 
 order for Hereward's banishment from England. Upon 
 this, the young Anglo-Saxon, in the true spirit of the 
 period, set off in quest of adventures, in the course of 
 which he visited Ireland, and afterwards Flanders. As 
 conflicts were in abundance wherever he came, he never 
 failed to be a partaker ; and such was the bravery he 
 displayed on every occasion, that his name was widely 
 lauded as a hardy and successful warrior. At length, he 
 married in Flanders a noble lady called Turfrida, by 
 whom he had a daughter ; and as his deeds of prowess 
 were now the chief subjects of English songs, the dislike 
 of his parents, friends, and kindred, which had formerly 
 been so strong against him, was exchanged for the most 
 ardent affection. 
 
 It was during this interval that the events of the 
 Norman conquest took place, and many of the English 
 amidst their miseries turned a longing eye towards
 
 HEREWARD LE WAKE. 81 
 
 Flauders, the residence of their favourite hero. Several 
 of the emigrants fled to him, and informed him not only 
 of the general suffering's, but also that his father was 
 lead, that his paternal property had become the spoil of 
 > Norman nobleman, and that his aged mother was 
 driven out and exposed to the insults of the domineering 
 strangers. Hereward, at these tidings, returned to 
 England in secret, mustered a band of his friends, and 
 inflicted a terrible retaliation upon those who had in- 
 vaded his inheritance and insulted his mother. As he 
 had thus boldly proclaimed war against the enemy, it 
 was necessary to continue it in self defence; he there- 
 fore carried on a flying warfare in the neighbourhood 
 of his residence, and defeated several strong bands of 
 the Norman knights and noblemen that ventured to 
 oppose him. These deeds delighted the English in- 
 surgents who had taken shelter in the islands of Ely 
 and Thorney, so that they invited the successful adven- 
 turer to become their leader. Hereward acceded to their 
 request, and repaired to their place of refuge with his 
 followers ; but before he could assume so important a 
 command, it was necessary that he should receive the 
 order of knighthood, with which he had not yet been 
 invested. He therefore obtained this honour according 
 to the institutions of Anglo-Saxon chivalry. He repaired 
 to the abbey of Peterborough, in the neighbourhood of 
 the isle of Ely, where his uncle Brand, the abbot, con- 
 fessed and absolved him ; after which he passed a night 
 of vigil in the church, and on the morning heard mass, 
 and laid his sword upon the altar, where it was blessed 
 by the priest, and solemnly bound round his neck with 
 sacred benedictions. Thus Hereward le Wake, in the 
 language of his countrymen, was made a 'legitimate 
 soldier,' and privileged to command in any rank. This 
 religious form of investment was sneered at by the 
 haughty Normans, who declared that no man whose 
 sword had been girt by a long-gowned priest could be a 
 true knight. 
 
 The abbot Brand died a short time after this event, 
 and thus escaped the punishment with which he would 
 have been visited for having knighted a rebel. At this 
 period there was in England a fierce Norman abbot, 
 called Torauld of Fescamp, who ruled his monks by 
 E 2
 
 82 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 martial law, and attacked them at the head of his men- 
 at-arms when they demurred upon any point of convent 
 tliscipline. As Peterborough, from its neighbourhood to 
 the isle of Ely, was an outpost of great danger, William, 
 who had heard of this warlike priest, resolved that he 
 sliould enjoy sufficient opportunities of fighting, and pro- 
 moted him to the vacant abbacy. But Torauld knew 
 that it was safer to make war upon monks than soldiers, 
 and therefore he approached the neighbourhood of the 
 terrible Hereward with fear and trembling, at the head 
 of a hundred and sixty well-armed Normans. To his 
 great delight, he reached the abbey unharmed, and was 
 admitted by the inmates; after which, he entered into 
 an agreement with his neighbour, Ivo Taillebois, lord 
 of Spalding, to form an expedition against le Wake. 
 They mustered their forces, and set out accordingly ; but 
 the priest cautiously kept in the rear, while the van- 
 guard under Taillebois plunged into a forest of willows 
 in search of the enemy. In the mean time, Hereward, 
 who had seen the whole arrangement from his hiding- 
 place, emerged from the wood on the other side, and 
 fetching a short compass, he suddenly darted upon the 
 abbot and his whole company, carried them off prisoners, 
 and kept them in the fens until they had paid three 
 thousand marks for their ransom. 
 
 After this, William having suppressed his other ene- 
 mies, resolved to bend his whole force to the reduction 
 of Ely, and therefore he invested the Saxon camp on 
 every side, both by land and water. He threw dykes 
 and bridges over the marshes, and one great work in 
 which he particularly trusted was a raised causeway, 
 three thousand paces in length, over lakes covered with 
 flags and rushes. As its formidable approach threatened 
 ruin to the besieged, Hereward checked it by daily and 
 hourly attacks ; upon which Taillebois, finding that he 
 could not protect it by his soldiers, resolved on a more 
 effectual means of defence. He sent for a noted witch, 
 who was solemnly mounted on a high wooden tower in 
 front of the work, from which, like Balaam, she could 
 behold and curse the whole Saxon encampment. But 
 Hereward, who watched his time, suddenly set fire to 
 the dry reeds, and in a few moments the wooden tower, 
 the witch, the workmen, and the Norman guard, were 
 consumed in the flames.
 
 HERE WARD LE WAKE. 8S 
 
 After this success, the defence of Ely was 
 A D. maintained for several months, and more than 
 1072- one defeat held the numerous enemies of the in- 
 trepid English at bay. But the small numbers 
 iTid scanty resources of the patriots could only retard, 
 itbout effectually preventing, the advance of the over- 
 helming forces of the Normans, conducted as they were 
 v the choicest military science of the age, and the little 
 i land was soon so closely blockaded that no supplies 
 could enter. The severities of famine were therefore 
 a.ifled to the other hardships of the English; and, at 
 last, their ruin was accomplished by traitors belonging 
 to their own encampment. In Ely, there was, unfor- 
 tunately, a convent of monks, to whom the want of pro- 
 visions was more serious than the loss of liberty ; and 
 to free themselves from such penance, they privately 
 offered William a safe entrance into the camp, on con- 
 dition that their property should be respected. The 
 Norman gladly closed with this proposal, and their 
 treasonable design was fulfilled. The forces of William 
 entered unexpectedly by a secret passage which the 
 monks had pointed out, slew a thousand of the English, 
 and followed up their success so quickly, that the garrison 
 was compelled to surrender. Even then Hereward re- 
 fused to lay down his arms. After resisting to the last, 
 he retreated with a few of his brave companions through 
 marshy and dangerous paths, where the enemy did not 
 dare to follow, and at length reached Lincoln in safety. 
 In the neighbourhood there was a Norman military 
 post, and this Hereward was determined to surprise. A 
 Saxon fisherman, who had been accustomed to supply 
 the garrison and count Guy, their commander, with fish, 
 received the hero and his brave companions into his 
 boats, covered them carefully over with straw, and then 
 rowed to the usual landing-place. The soldiers received 
 the boatmen without suspicion, and afterwards went to 
 feast in their tents, when Hereward and his followers 
 suddenly started from their ambush, rushed upon the 
 enemy with their battle-axes, and slew nearly the whole 
 of them on the spot. 
 
 The fate of the brave defenders of Ely who had fallen 
 into the hands of the enemy, was such as might hare 
 been expected from the Conqueroi". Some had their
 
 84 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 limbs mutilated, aftei- which they were suffered to 
 wander at large in derision ; others were imprisoned in 
 various castles in England ; the venerable bishops, and 
 Stigand, their heroic primate, who had abode by the 
 falling fortunes of their people, and found protection in 
 the camp of Hereward, were imprisoned for life, as 
 pirates who had disturbed the public peace. As for the 
 traitor monks of Ely, they also had their reward. In 
 spite of their previous stipulation, a military ganison 
 was quartered upon them ; and when they complained of 
 this violation, they were coolly told that Ely must be 
 guarded. At length, they proposed to purchase exemp- 
 tion from the maintenance of the soldiers with the sum 
 of seven hundred marks ; but, after they had stripped 
 their church to make up the amount, the Norman lord, 
 on weighing the money, found that it fell short by a 
 drachm, upon which he condemned them to pay three 
 hundred marks more as an atonement. Even after they 
 had paid a thousand marks, they were so far from being 
 suifered to sit down in peace, that royal commission- 
 ers were sent to strip the convent of whatever it still 
 possessed, and divide the abbey land into military fiefs, 
 while the houseless and bereaved monks found none to 
 pity them, either among their countrymen whom they 
 had basely sold, or the enemy to whom they had be- 
 trayed them. 
 
 In the mean time, the indomitable Hereward, still 
 free and still struggling for the deliverance of England, 
 continued his warfare against the Normans. With his 
 flying party, he rapidly traversed the country, falling 
 upon the enemy when least expected, and cutting off 
 their parties in detail. But, although many brave men, 
 to whom the liberty of England was dearer than life, 
 continued to repair to his standard, no army could be 
 assembled to strike a decisive blow ; and he was at 
 length convinced, that it was not by a mere partisan 
 warfare that such enemies as the Normans could be 
 vanquished. William, also, who could shed the blood of 
 ordinary men in torrents without remorse, was charmed 
 with the sight of a valour and perseverance so much 
 like his own, and he accordingly offered such terms as 
 the brave patriot was justified in accepting. Hereward 
 le Wake, therefore, abandoned his resistance, and ob-
 
 THE NORMANS. 85 
 
 taiiied not only the roj'al pardon, but his paternal in- 
 heritance ; and after tliis, he continued to live feared 
 and respected, and died in peace. 
 
 From the multitude of songs made in praise of Here- 
 "»vard, not only by Saxon, but even Norman minstrels, 
 and the number of victories he gained over such power- 
 ful enemies, we can learn, even though the outline 
 which history has left is so defective, that he was a hero 
 of no common stamp. In him, the most heroic daring 
 seems to have been combined with a circumspection 
 that ensured success to the most difficult of his efforts ; 
 and, with more enlarged resources, it is easy to imagine 
 that he might have become the universal rallying point, 
 and at last the successful deliverer, of his enslaved 
 countrymen. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 From the Accession of William Ru/us to the Death of 
 Henry the Second. 
 
 Of all the warlike nations distinguished in the middle 
 ages, the greatest and most renowned were incontestibly 
 the Normans. In their earliest history, we find them 
 only a horde of piratical Danes, cruising the seas in 
 quest of plunder; and afterwards, a tribe of invaders, 
 seeking settlements in more congenial climates than 
 their own. In this latter capacity, we have had occasion 
 to notice their landings in England during the govern- 
 ment of the Saxon monarchs, and the wild destruction 
 with which their course was accompanied. That portion 
 of the marauders which settled in Normandy soon felt 
 the effects of the civilization of France, and made a 
 generous attempt to rival it; and, for this purpose, they 
 abandoned not only their native dress and manners, but 
 even their language and religion. They adopted the 
 French tongue and the Christian faith— the speech of 
 courtesy, and the creed of humanity and love. This 
 sacrifice, so new in the history of a people, was followed 
 by its reward. Their spirit of fearless, energetic enter- 
 prise, instead of being diminished, was elevated and 
 confirmed, so that they soon outstripped their instruc- 
 tors ; and, at the period of tbe conquest of England, 
 their deeds had made them famous as a nation of con-
 
 88 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 querors. Even in those countries into which they came 
 as wanderers or as exiles, they soon vindicated their 
 natural superiority, and became the leaders and princes 
 of those people from whom they had sought protection 
 and a home. 
 
 Such a race was particularly needed in England, not 
 only to infuse a fresh spirit into the population, but to 
 form a talented and high-spirited aristocracy for the 
 country. The truth of this is apparent from the history 
 of the Anglo-Saxons. With all their hardihood and 
 bravery in war, thej' were almost continually defeated 
 or subdued, unless an Alfred or an Athelstane happened 
 to be at their head. But it more frequently happened 
 that their kings were imbecile or cowardly, and their 
 councils weak or divided ; and that their chiefs were 
 more ready to purchase an inglorious peace than to win 
 it in the field at the head of their hardy followers. No- 
 thing, indeed, could be more besotted and contemptible 
 than the character of the Anglo-Saxon thanes for more 
 than a century before the Norman invasion. It was full 
 time, therefore, that such leaders should be supplanted ; 
 and when their honours and possessions passed into the 
 hands of foreigners, it was a transference to those who 
 were far better able to maintain them. The sufterings 
 occasioned to the people at large, during this process of 
 transference, mitil the Normans and Saxons were fused 
 into one people, were inevitable evils resulting from so 
 great a change as the conquest and regeneration of a 
 whole kingdom. 
 
 When William conquered England, the land, accord- 
 ing to the established law of conquest, became his own 
 propei'ty ; and as he had promised, at his landing, that 
 it should belong to his followers as well as himself, he 
 fulfilled his promise according to the principles of the 
 feudal system. The chief lords and barons who had 
 aided him in the conquest were gratified with a share of 
 the spoils, in the shape of rich manors and broad terri- 
 tories ; for which, however, they were bound to render 
 him obedience and military service. These magnates, 
 thus exalted into barons and princes, rewarded their 
 personal followers in the same manner, by bestowing 
 upon them knighthoods, farms, and immunities, accord- 
 ing to their rank, for which they were to render military 
 duty to the giver. Thus the soil of Enghuul was gra-
 
 THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 87 
 
 diKilly divided and subdivided, all tbe holders recog- 
 nising the king as the primary object of allegiance; and 
 when the royal standard was set up, the earls, the 
 barons, and the knights, all summoned their respective 
 military contingents, and repaired with their followers 
 to the royal muster. As each great lord could on this 
 principle assemble a formidable army of his own retain- 
 ers, it was necessary that the royal power should always 
 possess the means of permanent authority to repress any 
 ambitious and overgrown vassal, and therefore William 
 retained as his own share of the conquest 1422 manors, 
 and the principal towns of the kingdom. It was also 
 with offices as with property : the king had his senes- 
 chals, constables, marshals, and chamberlains, who were 
 rewarded with imposts and salaries ; and a similar esta- 
 blishment was formed by the chief barons, whose do- 
 mestic officers, in consideration of tolls and other feudal 
 privileges, were bound to follow their superior to the field, 
 or aid in the defence of his castle at home. Thus, in an 
 aggressive war, the king summoned his nobles, and the 
 nobles their feudal inferiors, and every fighting man was 
 mustered under his respective leader, armed according 
 to his station, and ready to do military duty for forty 
 days; while, in the event of an invasion, every county, 
 town, and village, was garrisoned by its military esta- 
 blishment and feudal superioi". 
 
 The Norman conquest, besides introducing this provi- 
 sion for the national warfare, made important changes 
 also in the modes of fighting, and the weapons of the 
 English. We have seen that the latter were chiefly a 
 nation of foot-soldiers, while their favourite weapon was 
 the heavy battle-axe. But in consequence of the chival- 
 rous habits of the Normans, a splendid cavalry was now 
 considered the main arm of the national array ; and 
 this force was composed of those who held a knight's 
 fee, of which there were above 60,000 in England, as 
 appears by the Doomsday-book. As for the commons, 
 or native English, the conquerors armed them with the 
 long bow, a weapon whose deadly efficacy was shown at 
 the battle of Hastings; and in the use of which they 
 made such proficiency, that most of the important battles 
 in which the nation afterwards engaged, were gained 
 by the ' cloth-yard shaft.' The English indeed seem to 
 have readily adopted the change— and iiot the less, per-
 
 88 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 haps, because their arrows could bring down the king's 
 deer, or even transfix the mailed breasts of their Nor- 
 man oppressors. Thus the best archers of the land were 
 to be found in the royal forests, among the Robin Hoods 
 of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Nothing could 
 be more careful also than the training of the yeomanry 
 in the practice of archery. The boy at seven years old 
 was furnished with a bow and arrows proportioned to 
 his strength ; as he grew older, these weapons were 
 replaced by heavier ; and thus at manhood, he could 
 manage with ease a bow which others were unable even 
 to bend, and discharge the arrow with a force and preci- 
 sion, and to a distance, that would appear impossible to 
 modern toxophilites. Every village, in process of time, 
 was furnished with its shooting ground ; days are set 
 apart for exercises and competitions in archery ; and 
 while all the male inhabitants above a certain age were 
 required to attend and practise at these musters under a 
 heavy penalty, prizes were bestowed upon the most skilful. 
 The Norman invasion was productive of great benefit 
 not only to England, but to the neighbouring kingdom 
 of Scotland ; and the advantages which the latter en- 
 joyed were not only more immediate, but also unmixed 
 with the evils of conquest. The Anglo-Saxons fled north- 
 ward in thousands, and found shelter and homes upon 
 the Scottish plains, under the wise administration of 
 Malcolm Canmore ; and throngs of Norman knights and 
 barons, who were discontented with the oppressive exac- 
 tions of William, renounced their allegiance, and sought 
 ser\ice in the court of Malcolm. The Scottish king re- 
 ceived these experienced warriors gladly, and gave them 
 lands and possessions in the north ; and thus they be- 
 came the founders of those illustrious families who, for 
 centuries after, defended the counti-y against the Nor- 
 man aggressors of the south. In this way also originated 
 that bitter hostility between the English and Scots, al- 
 though children of the same parents, which whole cen- 
 turies could scarcely eflace. While a Norman aristo- 
 cracy and Anglo-Saxon peasantry colonized the lowlands 
 of Scotland, the bond between these rival races was of a 
 far different character to that which subsisted in Eng- 
 land. Both had entered Scotland as fugitives, after 
 smarting under a common tyranny ; the Norman chiefs 
 gained their laud, not by conquest, but meritorious ser-
 
 RUFUS- WARS WITH HIS BROTHERS. 89 
 
 Tices ; and therefore, while the English of the south 
 preserved for ages their rancorous feelings against the 
 remotest descendants of their Nomiau masters, and 
 were ever ready to rebel against them, the Scottish low- 
 landers loved their landlords with a depth of affection 
 that became proverbial, and this devotedness formed the 
 strongest defence of the country in war, and the surest 
 safeguard against royal tyranny in time of peace. 
 
 We have already noticed the indecent haste with 
 which William, surnamed Rufus, or the Red, flew from 
 the bed of his dying father. He hurried to England, and 
 was crowned at Westminster, on the 26th of September, 
 10S7 ; and his first act of authority was to imprison anew 
 the English nobles whom his father had ordered to be 
 set free. But the chiefs of Normandy, indignant that a 
 younger son of the Conqueror should be preferred before 
 their own duke, maintained the superior right of Robert 
 to be king of England ; and Odo, who headed their fac- 
 tion, excited the Anglo-Norman nobles to join in their 
 hostility. William Rufus, who inherited many of his 
 father's qualities, was not to be daunted by this conspi- 
 racy. He turned from the doubtful faith of his own 
 countrymen to the fidelity of the oppressed English, and 
 by promises of better laws, and large immunities, he ral- 
 lied a powerful force of the natives around his standard. 
 Thirty thousand armed Englishmen, who served on foot, 
 were joined by the new king with a force of Norman ca- 
 Talry, and the siege of Rochester, in which Odo had for- 
 tified himself, was commenced. The English, who fought 
 with all the ardour of intense hatred against the prelatic 
 tyrant, and their Norman oppressors, would soon have 
 taken Rochester ; but William's chiefs perceived that this 
 would ultimately weaken their own cause, and therefore 
 they proposed an accommodation between the parties. 
 Odo and his followers were allowed a free egress from 
 the town, with their arms and horses; but when they 
 also stipulated that the music of the besiegers should not 
 sound in triumph, at their departure, William swore 
 that he would not lose this privilege for a thousand 
 golden marks. The garrison therefore came forth, and 
 the trumpets blew ; but no sooner did Odo appear, than 
 the music was drowned amidst the clamours of the Eng- 
 lish — ' Ho ! bring us ropes,' they shouted ; * bring us 
 ropes to hang this traitor of a bishop, and all his fol-
 
 9D MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 lowers !' The humbled prelate, in this disgraceful fashion, 
 was dismissed from the country which he had so ably 
 helped to conquer, and to which he never returned. 
 After this, Rufus crossed the sea with an army, but a 
 treaty was entered into in 1091, in which it was agreed 
 by Robert and William, that they should retain their 
 respective possessions, and that whoever survived the 
 other should possess both Noi*mandy and England. 
 Thus the interests of the native English were sacri- 
 ficed to those of the foreigners, and the promises and 
 concessions which VVilliam had made to the former 
 were revoked when the danger had ceased. 
 
 In the above-tnentioned treaty, the interests of another 
 party were also sacrificed, in the person of Henry, the 
 youngest son of the Conqueror, who had purchased the 
 Cotentin from Robert, with a part of his patrimonial 
 treasure. The agi-eement of his eldest brothers would 
 have stripped him even of this small possession, which 
 he was little disposed to resign, and therefore he seized 
 and fortified mount Saint Michael, in the determination 
 to hold out both against Normandy and England. The 
 brothers Robert and William soon reduced the Cotentin, 
 and then invested mount Saint Michael with their 
 united forces. During the siege, which was distin- 
 guished by several desperate skirmishes, the red king 
 was unhorsed, and almost slain by a common soldier. 
 At last, the garrison was so closely pressed, that the de- 
 fenders were in danger of dying from hunger and thirst. 
 Henry, in this strait, appealed to the compassion of his 
 brothers, and Robert generously allowed him a supply of 
 water for his own use. When William blamed the duke 
 for what he reckoned a ridiculous act of weakness, the 
 other nobly replied, • If we allowed our brother to perish 
 of thirst, where could we get another ?' At last Henry 
 was obliged to surrender his last possession, after which 
 he wandered about a landless adventurer, attended by a 
 few impoverished followers. 
 
 In the mean time, William's love of territorial acquisi- 
 tion seemed to grow stronger than ever ; and while he 
 endeavovired ineffectually to make conquests in Wales 
 and Scotland by arms, an opportunity occurred of in- 
 creasing his dominions more effectually by purchase. 
 The crusading spirit had commenced ; and Robert, who 
 caught the prevailing enthusiasm, offered to mortgage
 
 PURCHASES OF RUFUS. 91 
 
 the duchy of Normandy to his brother of England for 
 five years, on the receipt of ten thousand marks, to fur- 
 nish him for the expedition. In 1096, William wrung 
 the amount from the English clergy, and was put in 
 temporary possession of the dukedom. This new position 
 iuvolved him in wars with his neighbour the king of 
 Fiance, but without any decisive results, except the con- 
 
 icst of Maine in 1099, which was attended by circum- 
 lances that showed the fiery character of William. The 
 King was hunting in the New Forest, when be was told 
 that the capital of Maine had been surprised, upon which, 
 without waiting for his forces, he instantly galloped to 
 - le sea-side to embark. The wind at that time was high, 
 
 id the sea strong, so that the mariners were afraid to 
 ..jist sail; but William fearlessly exclaiming, ' Heard ye 
 ever of a king who was drowned ?' commanded them 
 iuimediately to launch. He joined his army in Nor- 
 mandy, and then burst upon his enemies like a thun- 
 I'.erbolt. The siege of Maine was soon raised, and the 
 province recovered. 
 
 In the following year, the duke of Guienne resolved 
 to join the crusade ; but to muster an army for such a 
 distant expedition, required more resources than he 
 possessed. In this difficulty, he applied to the wealthy 
 king of England, with an offer similar to that of the 
 duke of Normandy, and William caught at the proposal. 
 The money was prepared to purchase, and the army to 
 take possession, but a mightier monarch had counter- 
 acted the bargain. Just two mouths previous, the New- 
 Forest had exacted a fresh debt of vengeance against 
 the offspring of the Conqueror, by the death of Richard, 
 son to Robert of Normandy, who was killed accidentally 
 by a random arrow ; and on the second of August (a.d. 
 1100) William perished in the same place, and by a 
 similar fate. On the morning of that day, he gave a 
 plentiful repast at the castle of Winchester ; after which 
 the whole company, probably confused with wine and 
 revelry, repaired to the forest, to hunt. Among them 
 was the king's brother, Henry, who was now reinstated 
 in the royal favour. William drew his bow at a large 
 deer, but the string snapped : he then cried impatiently 
 to Walter Tyrrel, his favourite, who was standing near; 
 ' Shoot, Walter — shoot in the devil's name !' Walter did 
 shoot accordingly ; and either his arrow rebounding
 
 92 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 from a tree, or the shaft of some other person, entered the 
 king's heart, who instantly fell dead. Walter mounted 
 bis horse in terror, and fled to Normandy, so that he was 
 accused as the agent of the murder, although he sted- 
 fastly persevered in denying it. Some poor charcoal- 
 burners found the body, and having wrapped it in coarse 
 linen, and laid it in their cart, they conveyed it in this 
 humble state to the castle of Winchester. But Prince 
 Henry was already at the gates of this royal residence 
 clamouring for the keys of the king's treasury ; and 
 while the keepers demurred, he drew his sword, and 
 with the aid of the by-stauders took possession by force. 
 Having thus obtained the choicest figures of persuasion, 
 as well as the sinews of war, the claims of the absent 
 Robert were easily set aside ; and on the 5th of August, 
 1100, just three days after the death of Rufus, Henry 
 was crowned at London. 
 
 When Henry, surnamed Beauclerk, from his scho- 
 larship (which was remarkable at a period when few 
 princes could sign their own names), had ascended the 
 throne, he was conscious not only of the defectiveness of 
 his title, but the uncertain fealty of his nobles ; and the 
 return of Robert from Palestine, where he had already 
 acquired a very high reputation among the crusading 
 warriors, was an event to be daily expected. To pro- 
 vide therefore against the coming storm, the new 
 king had recourse to the plan of ingratiating himself 
 with the natives of England. They had been already 
 crushed to the earth, during the two preceding reigns; 
 but although repeatedly disappointed by kingly pro- 
 mises, they were still as ready to be deceived as ever. 
 Indeed, the accidental circumstance of Henry having 
 been born in England, endeared him more highly to the 
 people than any of the sons of William the Conqueror ; 
 his promise to restore the laws of Edwai'd the Confessor 
 gave them hopes of a more just and equal administration ; 
 but his marriage with Maud, the daughter of Malcolm 
 Canmore, and the female representative of the royal 
 Saxon line, was the crowning stroke of his conciliatory 
 policy. These measures wei'e not more than necessary, 
 as Robert returned from the Holy Land only a month 
 after Henry's accession, to assert his right to the crown. 
 An invasion from Normandy for this purpose was me- 
 naced, and on the 19th of July (1101) Robert landed with
 
 AGGRESSIONS OF HENRY. 93 
 
 a powerful force at Portsmouth. Henry, who had raised 
 an army chiefly of English, hastened to meet him, but 
 the rival forces, instead of engaging, faced each other as 
 if awe-struck for several days. A treaty was then pro- 
 posed ; and here, the brave crusader was no match for 
 the astute Henry ; for he was persuaded to resign his 
 claims upon England for an annual pension of three 
 thousand marks, with the vague condition, that if either 
 brother died without legitimate male issue, the other 
 should be his successor. After this compact, the twice- 
 befooled Robert retired to Normandy ; and Henry, being 
 freed from farther danger, proceeded to punish those 
 nobles who had taken part against him, in the late in- 
 vasion. He succeeded so efl'ectually, that the most pow- 
 erful of their number under various charges and pretexts 
 were reduced, ruined, or banished. Robert came over 
 from Normandy in 1103, to interpose in behalf of his old 
 friends ; but finding himself closely watched, and be- 
 coming apprehensive of the loss of his own liberty, he 
 not only was unable to effect any thing in their favour, 
 but was even glad to resign his pension as an act of 
 courtesy to the young queen. Thus baffled in every 
 quarter, he hurried out of England, and returned to 
 Normandy, to conceal his disgrace and shame. 
 
 Normandy was now a country of misery and blood- 
 shed on account of the weak rule of Robert : his 
 courage, which was matchless in the throng of battle, 
 was inadequate to repress his rebellious barons, or 
 encounter the hourly emergencies of government ; and 
 therefore while the rude chieftains slighted his autho- 
 rity, they made war upon each other, and involved all 
 in confusion. In this crisis, those nobles of Normandy 
 who loved peace, invited Henry to come over and 
 become their arbitrator, a summons with which he 
 gladly complied. In 1104, about Midsummer, he crossed 
 the sea, and ingratiated himself with the Norman 
 chiefs, and after reproaching Robert in no very gentle 
 terras for the indolence and disorder of his government, 
 he extorted from him the cession of the county of 
 Evreux. This was but the commencement of a system 
 of aggression ; for in the spring of the following year, 
 Henry again crossed to Normandy, where being joined 
 by many of its lords, he took the field under pretence of 
 redressing the country's grievances ; and after gaining
 
 94 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Bayeux and Caen, he returned to England to prepare 
 for a fresh campaign. His aim was now the total re- 
 duction of the duchy, and a battle was fought between 
 the rival brothers at Tinchebray, on the 28th of Septem- 
 ber (1106), in which Henry prevailed by superiority of 
 numbers, and Robert and many of his nobles were 
 taken prisoners. Among these captives also was no less 
 a personage than Edgar, the Atheliug. This unworthy 
 representative of the old English monarchy had, at 
 one time, been proclaimed king of England ; but, as 
 we have seen, he was a mere ' king of shreds and 
 patches,' who, at last, preferred a pension from the 
 tyrants, and a place at their board, to more heroic 
 alternatives. He had followed Robert as a vassal, to 
 the crusade ; he now fought under his banner, and 
 shared in his captivity ; and after this period he disap- 
 pears, as he well deserves to do, from the page of history. 
 The ungenerous Henry confined his brother to prison — a 
 man whose chief fault is naively stated by old his- 
 torians to have been, that ' he forgot and forgave too 
 much,' — and when the duke one day managed to pro- 
 cure a horse, and galloped from Cardiff castle, he was 
 overtaken, brought back, and deprived of his eyes by 
 order of the king. Robert died in the same prison after 
 a dark and lonely captivity of twenty-seven years, 
 during all which period his lofty spirit and high courage 
 never forsook him. One day a new suit was sent to 
 him in prison, and he was teld that the king had tried 
 it on, and found it too small. The duke at this threw 
 the clothes indignantly away, exclaiming, * Look at 
 this brother of mine ; this vile book-man, who has 
 dispossessed, imprisoned, and blinded me — me, who have 
 been so high and celebrated : he gives me his old 
 clothes out of charity, as if I were one of his hired 
 lackeys.' 
 
 Henry was now king of England, lord of Normandy, 
 and the most powerful potentate of his age ; but while 
 he looked back with remorse upon the steps by which 
 all this had been accomplished, he also looked forward 
 with dread to William, the son of Robert— a boy as yet 
 only five years old, but who might live to revenge his 
 father's injuries. He therefore sent a body of horse to 
 the castle of St. Saen, in Normandy, to seize the child 
 in the absence of his guardian ; but the faithful ser- 
 
 1
 
 INnilGL'ES OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND. 95 
 vants of the prince discovered the plot, and conveyed 
 liim away in safety ; after which his cause was espoused 
 by the French king, Louis the Sixth, commonly called 
 the Fat. This able monarch now perceived the error of 
 the French court in allowing his powerful neighbour 
 of England to strengthen himself by the possession of 
 Normandy, and other provinces in France ; and his 
 exertions on this occasion formed perhaps the earliest 
 of the precautionary wars of Europe to preserve the 
 balance of power, and prevent great states from ag- 
 grandizing- themselves to the hazard of the rest. Henry 
 was obliged to cross the sea a. d. 1111, in defence of his 
 continental territorie.', and he remained two years en- 
 gaged in war and negotiations, and with ultimate suc- 
 cess. Louis, and the o'her protectors of the prince of 
 Normandy, were withdrawn from his cause, and five 
 years of peace succeeded, in which Henry alternately 
 passed his time in England and in Normandy. His 
 chief aim was now to secure his dominions to his only 
 legitimate son, William ; and he, therefore, in 1114, 
 obliged the chiefs of Normandy to do homage to the 
 prince as their future sovereign, and on the following 
 year he required his subjects of England to perform 
 the same ceremony. He then endeavoured to entice 
 William, the son of duke Robert, into his power, with 
 flattering words, and large promises ; but the youth re- 
 membered that his father was still languishing in an 
 English prison, and put no faith in his uncle's declara- 
 tions. 
 
 The calm which had continued for some time, was now 
 interrupted. Louis, of France, offended with Henry's 
 proceedings, again set up young William of Normandy 
 against his uncle, and induced Baldwin, earl of Flanders, 
 and Fulk, earl of Anjou, to join in the same cause. Many 
 of the barons of Normandy also acceded to the coalition, 
 while even the court of Henry was filled with so many 
 secret traitors, that he knew not whom to trust. He 
 was even obliged to sleep in armour, with his sword 
 and shield ready, and a guard of trusty servants watch- 
 ing in his bed-chamber. When the war commenced, he 
 kept on the defensive, on account of the superiority of 
 his enemies, and had recourse to his old arts of negotia- 
 tion, by which he separated the members of the con- 
 federacy. The earl of Flanders was slain in a skirmish ;
 
 96 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the earl of Aujou was bought off by a marriagre between 
 his daughter and the young prince of England ; and 
 the revolted barons of Normandy were won back to the 
 cause of Henry, so that Louis was left alone to maintain 
 the conflict. The king of England now became the 
 assailant, and a battle was fought between the two 
 parties, at Brenneville, on the 20th of August, 1119. 
 This skirmish was not so remarkable for the numbers 
 engaged in it — there being only 500 English cavaliers 
 against 400 of the French — as for the rank of the com- 
 batants, there being two kings, two princes, and many 
 of the chief lords of France and England, fighting hand 
 to hand, like common soldiers. In this battle, young 
 William of Normandy, who led the van of the French, 
 made a brilliant charge, broke through the front rank 
 of the English, and fought his way up to his usurping 
 uncle, who, at the same instant, was fiercely assailed, 
 and almost struck down, by the blows of a French 
 knight ; but this gallant onset was not duly seconded, 
 and William, after losing his followers, and being him- 
 self unhorsed, was obliged to fight his way out of the 
 melee on foot. The English charged in turn, and the 
 French fled ; and such was the precipitation with which 
 king Louis hurried from the field, that he lost his way 
 in a thick wood, and there wandered about alone, until 
 he was conducted to Andeley by a common peasant. In 
 this aff"ray, only three knights were killed, as all the 
 combatants were armed cap-a-pie. This circumstance 
 in some measure verifies the joke of James VI. upon 
 the advantages of wearing defensive armour: he said 
 it was a good thing, as it hindered a man from doing 
 mischief, as well as from receiving it. 
 
 After this event, peace was established between the 
 kings of France and England, and Henry had now 
 leisure to further his beloved scheme of securing the 
 succession for his son. For this, he had repeatedly 
 sinned and repented ; for this, he had built monasteries 
 and committed murders, in rapid succession ; but the 
 time had arrived when all this toil was to leave nothing 
 behind but disappointment and remorse. In 1120, he 
 prevailed upon the barons of Normandy to renew their 
 oaths of fealty to his son, and, upon his invitation, 
 a gallant train of these chiefs accompanied him to 
 England on the 25th of November. But the prince of
 
 DEATH UF PRINCE WILLIAM. 97 
 
 Eiifrlaiid, who set sail a few hours later than his father, 
 attended by the prime of the young nobility, consisting 
 or -250 persons, had regaled the sailors with abundance 
 <: -trong wines; upon which they rashly plied their 
 - to overtake the ting, until they ran the ship with 
 t violence upon the rock of Catte-raze, so that her 
 u. : side was stove in. A universal ci-y of distress fol- 
 lowed, that rung over the sea, until it reached the 
 kmj's ship like a faint wail — but no one dreamed from 
 what cause the sound originated. At the moment of 
 danger, the boat was hoisted out, and entered by William 
 and some of the principal nobles ; but on hearing the 
 shrieks of his natural sister, the countess of Perche, 
 from the sinking vessel, he put back, in the hope of 
 rescuing her. At that moment the love of life was so 
 strong, and such multitudes flung themselves into the 
 boat, that it instantly sank. Thus all belonging to that 
 noble ship perished except a poor butcher of Rouen, who 
 clung to the yards till the morning, when he was saved 
 by some fishermen. The news of this calamity soon 
 reached Eny;land and the royal household, but not the 
 ears of the bereaved father, who continued to wonder 
 at the cause of his son's delay, supposing that he had 
 been put into some port upon the coast ; till the courtiers, 
 when they found that farther concealment was impossi- 
 ble, instructed a little boy, who, weeping, and falling at 
 the king's feet, informed him of what had happened. 
 Henry staggered, and fell insensible on the ground, and 
 only recovered to express the anguish of a broken heart. 
 But mournful as was the circumstance, the English 
 natives rejoiced in it as a national deliverance. The 
 departed prince appears, from incontrovertible testi- 
 mony, to have been stained with the worst vices that 
 can degrade and brutify humanity ; and although he 
 was the son of Maud, yet he cared so little for his 
 Saxon lineage, that he openly vowed he would yoke the 
 Saxons to the plough like oxen, when he became king 
 of England. 
 
 After Henry's grief had in some measure abated, he 
 thought to repair the evil by taking to himself a new 
 wife ; and on January 29th, 1121, he married Adelais, 
 daughter of Godfrey, duke of Louvain, by whom how- 
 ever he had no offspring. The barons of Normandy, 
 now that the prince of Enerland vsas dead, conceived 
 F
 
 98 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 themselves absolved from tlieir oaths of allegiance, 
 and they turned once more towards William, the son 
 of Robei-t. The ever-disturbed Henry was therefore 
 obliged to repair once more to Normandy with a large 
 army, which he did with such promptitude, that he 
 burst upon the confederates before they were aware of 
 his landing, and took the chief of them prisoners, as 
 they were riding quietly and at their ease between Beau- 
 mont and Vatteville — upon which the rest of the nobles 
 were compelled to submit. As for the unfortunate son of 
 Robert, who had suffered so much from infancy to man- 
 hood, and struggled so bravely through every change, 
 he returned to the court of France upon this new disso- 
 lution of his hopes. And now Maud, or Matilda, the 
 only legitimate daughter of Henry, who had been 
 married to the emperor of Germany, having become a 
 widow, returned to England in 112G,- and as the king 
 had no hopes of children by his wife, he resolved that 
 the empress should inherit the succession, in the room 
 of his departed William. The ceremony of swearing 
 the states of England and Normandy was therefore re- 
 sumed, and all swore allegiance to Matilda accordingly, 
 the first of the jurors being Stephen, the king's nephew, 
 who afterwards usurped the crown. To defend her claim 
 still farther, and exclude William, the son of Robert, 
 from every chance of disturbing it, Henry married the 
 empress to Geoffrey, count of Anjou, the founder of the 
 royal Plantagenets of England. This important union 
 was celebrated at Rouen, in the Whitsun-week of 1127, 
 and heralds shouted, at every cross-way in the streets, 
 the royal command for all to be happy, on pain of 
 treason. ' Thus saith king Henry,' was the proclama- 
 tion — • let no man here, whether native or foreigner, 
 rich or poor, high or low, warrior or peasant, be so 
 hardy as to stay away from the royal rejoicings ; for 
 whosoever shall not take part in the games and sports, 
 will be considered as an offender against his lord the 
 king.' The festival and rejoicings lasted for three long 
 weeks ; and if the people consented to be merry during 
 the whole space, it was certainly by a stretch of obe- 
 dience seldom paralleled in the history of monarchical 
 governments. 
 
 In the succeeding year the gallant prince of Nor- 
 mandy, whose image haunted Henry like a night-
 
 USURPATION OF STEPHEN. 99 
 
 mare, came to his end through the artifices of the king. 
 Henry had stirred up against him Thierri, the land- 
 grave of Alsace ; and in the war which ensued between 
 the two princes, William, who was victorious, was 
 ^vounded in the hand, and this slight accident brought 
 on a mortification of which he died. Henry's greatest 
 anxiety after this was occasioned by the empress re- 
 maining childless ; but in 1133 she produced a son, to 
 the great comfort of the old kinir, who was once more 
 delighted with the possession of a male heir. He caused 
 his nobles to renew their oaths of allegiance to the em- 
 press and her infant, who was named Henry ; and the 
 birth of a second, and afterwards of a third grandson, 
 confirmed the fond hopes of the king, that the sove- 
 reignty would be perpetuated in his own line. — He was 
 staying at the court of his son-in-law, and had spent 
 the day in hunting, in the forest of Lyons. In the 
 evening he supped plentifully upon lampreys, which 
 was his favourite dish ; but this repast was followed by 
 a fit of indigestion, of -which he died six days after. 
 This happened on the 1st of December, 1135, in the 
 sixty-seventh year of his age, and thirty-sixth of his 
 reign. 
 
 No sooner did Stephen, count of Blois, hear of his 
 uncle's death, than he hurried to London, where his 
 popular qualities recommended him to the citizens ; and 
 he soon prevailed upon the clergy, and some of the 
 influential nobles, to set aside the claims of Matilda, and 
 elect him king. This was the more easily acconaplished, 
 as the warlike barons of that period were indignant at 
 the thought of submitting to a she-king, and demanded 
 a man to govern them. The chiefs of Normandy co- 
 incided in this feeling, and in 1137 they also chose 
 Stephen for their sovereign, while the unfortunate Ma- 
 tilda thus saw herself stripped, in an instant, of all her 
 hereditary rights. But her cause was ably espoused by 
 Robert, earl of Gloucester, her natural brother, and by 
 David, king of Scotland, her uncle, the latter of whom 
 invaded Northumberland, in 1133, an event that occa- 
 sioned the battle of the Standard, the most distinguished 
 conflict of that warlike period. The army of the Scot- 
 tish king was a strange miscellany, composed of Nor- 
 mans, Germans, Saxons, Cumbrian Britons, and North- 
 umbrians, the inhabitants of Teviotdale and Lothian,
 
 100 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the Ficts, commonly called the men of Galloway, and the 
 ancient Scots, or Gael — men differing in race, in lan- 
 guage, and modes of warfare, but all equally ferocious, 
 and prompt to deeds of rapine and massacre. A powerful 
 army was raised by the barons of the north of England 
 to repel them, and on this occasion there was such a 
 feeling of unanimity, in consequence of the atrocity 
 committed by the invaders, that Normans and English 
 marched side by side with equal alacrity. To give also 
 the character of a holy war to this resistance, a stand- 
 ard, formed of a mast garaished with sacred banners, 
 and surmounted by a casket containing a consecrated 
 host, was erected upon a four-wheeled carriage, to move 
 with the English army, while a band of brave knights 
 undertook its defence, under a solemn vow to perish 
 rather than desert their charge. This military ensign 
 was common in Italy during the middle ages, under 
 the name of the Caroccio ; and it served not only to 
 stimulate the soldiery with religious enthusiasm during 
 the fight, but to form a rallying point for a tumultuary 
 army should it be thrown into confusion. 
 
 Nothing but a similar spirit of unanimity could have 
 ensured success to the Scots ; but amonj, so many dif- 
 ferent races such a feeling could not have been ex- 
 pected, so that on the evening before the battle their 
 council was a scene of contention about the honour ot 
 leading the van. David had intended that the battle 
 should be commenced by the men-at-arms and archers, 
 in whom his chief strength consisted ; but the men of 
 Galloway, who fought with long, slender spears, and 
 who had displayed great bravery during the campaign, 
 insisted upon taking the post of honour. ' And whence 
 this confidence of these mailed men V cried Malise, 
 earl of Strathearn, a Celtic chief, who felt jealous for 
 the honour of his people — ' I myself wear no mail, and 
 yet I will advance farther to-morrow than those who 
 are sheathed in steel.' This boast incensed the wearers 
 of armour, and Alan de Percy, a bastard brother of the 
 English baron of the name, but a follower of David, 
 told Malise that he had said more than he dared to 
 make good. The king was obliged to silence the con- 
 tention, and yield the van to the Galvvegians. On the 
 next morning, which was the 22d of August, both 
 armies drew up, the English forming a compact mass.
 
 BATTLE OF THE STANDARD. 101 
 
 with their cavalry in the rear, while the Scots advanced 
 in four lines, with the men of Galloway in front. The 
 latter rushed on like a tempest, shouting ' Albanigrh ! 
 Albanigrh!' and stag-gered the mass of spearmen, upon 
 whom they threw themselves with great fury ; hut here 
 the archery of the native English was terribly brought 
 to bear, for the first time, against the ranks of the 
 Scots. ' It was glorious,' says a contemporary chronicle, 
 ■ to see these stinging flies issue in swarms from the 
 quivers of the men of the south, and darken the air like 
 a cloud of dust.' The naked bodies of the Galwegians 
 could not sustain these deadly discbarges of forked 
 arrows, so that they were on the point of turning, when 
 the Scottish men-at-arms came up to their support. 
 They couched their lances, and charged with such im- 
 petuosity, that the English ranks opposed to them were 
 torn asunder ' like a spider's web.' The battle was 
 thus renewed, and with favourable promise to Scotland, 
 when a cry arose among the ranks that king David had 
 fallen. It was in vain that he threw oflF his helmet, and 
 galloped to and fro, assuring his soldiers that he was 
 unhurt, and attempted to rally them : the panic was 
 fatal to such a tumultuary army, and the king was 
 swept along with the fugitives. Had David obtained 
 this hard-won victory, which was so unexpectedly 
 torn from his grasp, he might have extended his sway 
 over the north of England, as far as the Trent and 
 Humber : as it was, Stephen, wlio was engaged in the 
 south, against the earl of Gloucester and the insurgent 
 barons, was obliged to surrender the earldom of North- 
 umberland to the Scots, in the full hope however of re- 
 sumini: it with a more tranquil opportunity. 
 
 In the mean time Stephen, who had inundated the 
 land with foreign mercenaries to support his claim, 
 began to experience the difliculties and evils of usurpa- 
 tion. His military hirelings disgusted the people by 
 their excesses ; the nobles, to whom he had gTanted 
 extraordinary privileges to secure their acquiescence, 
 fortified their castles, and then began to act as petty 
 sovereigns, independent of his authority ; and the 
 bishops, whom he had propitiated by similar favours, 
 fortified themselves in like manner. He perceived his 
 error when it was too late, and resolved to dethrone 
 these minor usurpers : accordingly, he commenced with
 
 102 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 his laercenaries an attack upon their strong'-holds, 
 which wei-e not taken without resistance and bloodshed. 
 Thus civil war was kindled at one and the same time in 
 different parts of England, and in addition to the arms 
 of his unruly vassals, Stephen was obliged to encounter 
 the more formidable menaces of the church. At this 
 conjuncture, Matilda landed in England, on the 13th 
 of September (1139), and was received by the queen- 
 dowager into Arundel castle, upon tidings of which 
 Stephen hurried to the place with a strong force, and 
 commenced the siege. Matilda would soon have fallen 
 into his hands, but for those extravagant rules of chi- 
 valrous courtesy which Stephen, as a good knight, was 
 bound to observe. It was represented to him, that he 
 was acting against his oath of knighthood, by attacking 
 a castle which was the property of his predecessor's 
 spouse, now a widowed helpless princess; upon which 
 he permitted Matilda to retire in safety, with her attend- 
 ants, to the strong castle of Bristol, that was held by 
 the earl of Gloucester with a numerous garrison. As if 
 this ,had not been enough, he furnished her with a 
 powerful escort, commanded by his brother, and hi.s 
 chief confidant, that she might sustain no harm by the 
 ■way. After this singular event, a series of battles and 
 skirmishes ensued, of which we know nothing, except 
 the miseries they entailed upon the people, who were 
 crushed between the two parties of conflicting Nor- 
 mans, until a decisive conflict took place near Lincoln, 
 on the 2d of February, 1141. The king's forces were 
 drawn up with the foot in the centre, and the cavalry 
 disposed upon each wing : the earl of Gloucester, the 
 leader and soul of the opposite pai-ty, made a similar 
 arrangement, placing upon his wings those knights and 
 barons who had been bereaved of their estates, and 
 were therefore most imbittered against the king. These 
 men commenced the battle in an unusual fashion ; in- 
 stead of couching their lances, they threw them away, 
 drew their swords, and rushed upon their antagonists ; 
 while the latter, expecting that they would first havfr 
 been assailed by tilting, suddenly wheeled their horses, 
 and fled in confusion. The main body of the king's 
 army was now assailed by horse and foot united, and 
 after many desperate charges on every quarter, the 
 ranks were overpowered, and compelled to give way.
 
 DEFEAT OF STEPHEN AT LINCOLN. 103 
 
 Stephen, who was ou foot through the whole couflict, 
 still di.sdaiueil to aurrender, and fought to the last, sur- 
 rounded by a few of his most faithful followers ; but he 
 was finally obliged to resign his sword to the earl of 
 (jiouce.-ter, by whom he was delivered up to Matilda. 
 I he royal captive was sent to confinement in the castle 
 'A' Bristol, and the empress proceeded to London, where 
 iicr claims were recognised, and preparations made for 
 her coronation. But the intolerable haughtiness with 
 which she treated her subjects, both Saxon and Nor- 
 man, excited universal disgust. Even the clergy, who 
 bad been the moat adverse to Stephen, now remembered 
 his popular qualities with regret ; and the bishop of 
 ^Vi^chester, the papal legate, and brother of Stephen, 
 \\ho had procured the deposition of the king, and the 
 recognition of the empress, made haste to reverse the 
 proceeding. During this period the hands of the English 
 l)relates had become as conversant with the truncheon 
 and battle axe as with the mass book, and crosier, so 
 that the legate found little difficulty in assembling, in a 
 few days, a very powerful force. So secretly, too, had 
 his proceedings been conducted, that he fell unexpect- 
 edly on the castle of Winchester, in which the empress 
 resided, as well as the king of Scotland, the earl of 
 Gloucester, and all the chief supporters of her cause ; 
 and so closely were these illustrious personages invested, 
 that they had apparently no alternative but to yield, or 
 perish from famine. In this dilemma, they escaped by a 
 stratagem of the earl of Gloucester. It was the custom 
 of those days to suspend military operations during a 
 church festival ; and on that of the Holy Cross, on 
 the I4th of September, the en)j)ress, mounted on a swift 
 horse, and escorted by her friends and guards, stole 
 silently out of Winchester. They had not got far, 
 however, before the alarm was raised, and a pursuit 
 commenced. ^latiida escaped to Devizes, half dead with 
 fatigue and fear; the king of Scotland was equally for- 
 tunate ; but Gloucester, who brougbt up the rear, was 
 taken prisoner. As his presence was of the utmost 
 importance to his party, a negotiation was entered into 
 for his liberty, and it was agreed, that he should be ex- 
 changed for Stephen, who was accordingly released 
 from confinement. His victorious brother, the bishop, 
 now revoked the anathemas he had pronounced with
 
 104 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 such empbasis only eight months before against tJie 
 king's party, and in lieu of these he excommunicated 
 his late patroness, and all her adherents. In the suc- 
 ceeding year, Matilda was so closely pursued, that she 
 was obliged to take refuge in the castle of Oxford, 
 while Stephen, who had surprised the city itself, uttered a 
 solemn vow, that he would not raise the siege of the castle 
 till she surrendered. After holding out for three months, 
 the empress escaped once more by a very singular 
 stratagem. The whole ground was covered with snow ; 
 and she dressed herself, and three of her knights, in 
 white, and stole forth with them by a postern, at mid- 
 night. In this winter-like uniform they eluded the 
 watchful centinels, and glided cautiously to the river, 
 which was frozen ; and having crossed it safely on foot, 
 they walked onward to Abington, from which place they 
 proceeded on horseback to Wallingford. 
 
 Amidst all this shifting and counter-shifting of par- 
 ties, at which the head becomes giddy, it would be 
 equally painful and unprofitable to follow the various 
 events of this most selfish warfare, which continued to 
 rage with unintermitting fury. Their character is but 
 read in the miseries which they produced upon the land. 
 The native English, who were equally persecuted by both 
 parties, hated both with a bitter hatred, and when either 
 suffered a repulse, they fell upon the fugitives, and made 
 them pay dearly for their oppression during the day of 
 prosperity. But such deeds of vengeance, instead of 
 alleviating, could only increase the evils of war, so that, 
 in the words of an historian of the period, ' multitudes 
 forsook their beloved country, and went into voluntary 
 exile ; others, abandoning their own houses, constructed 
 miserable huts in the church-yards, hoping protection 
 from the sanctity of the place. Whole families, after 
 sustaining life as long as they could by eating herbs, 
 (roots, and the flesh of dogs and horses, at last died of 
 hunger, and you might see many pleasant villages with- 
 out a single inhabitant of either sex.' 
 
 A more important competitor now appeared upon the 
 Bcene, in the person of Henry, son of Matilda ; and he 
 came armed not only with rights, but ample resources 
 to enforce them. In additiou to Anjou, Touraine and 
 Maine, his patrimonial territories, he was duke of Nor- 
 luaudy thiouuh his matei'nal grandfather, and lord of
 
 PRUDENT MEASURES OF HENRY 11. 105 
 
 Guienne and Poitou by his marriage with Eleanor, the 
 divorced queen of Louis VII. of France. He landed in 
 Eng-land.Jan.G, 1153, being then in his twenty-first ye.ir, 
 and pressed forward to action although it was now the 
 middle of winter. Stephen met him at Wallingford, 
 with a still larger army, and an immediate engagement 
 was expected ; but both parties continued to face each 
 other for three days, without coming to action. In coii- 
 sequeuce of this mutual forbearance several barons, who 
 deplored the miseries of the country, had hopes of peace, 
 and proposed an accommodation between the king and 
 prince. This was the more palatable to Stephen, as Eus- 
 tace, his eldest son, was dead ; and peace was concluded 
 between the parties, on condition that Stephen should 
 enjoy the crown for life, and Henry be appointed his 
 successor, while the principal castles were to be gar- 
 risoned by the friends of the latter, to secure his future 
 accession. The whole kingdom was delighted with this 
 arrangement, after having been traversed for so many 
 years by contending armies, and the nobles took the oath 
 of fealty to the young prince at Oxford, on the 13th of 
 January 1154. On the 2oth of October, the same year, 
 Stephen died at Dover, in the nineteenth year of his 
 reign; and Henry, who was in Normandy, came to Eng- 
 land in the following month, and was solemnly crowned 
 on the 19th at Westminster. 
 
 The first 'attempts of Henry on succeeding to the 
 throne were, to heal the evils of the late civil war. He 
 therefore commanded all the foreign mercenaries, who 
 had wasted the land under the banner of Stephen, to 
 quit the kingdom by a certain day on pain of death ; an 
 order which they promptly obeyed. He then ordered 
 the castles which the late king had permitted his parti- 
 sans to build, and which were more than a thousand in 
 number, to be levelled to the ground, and the reluctant 
 owners were compelled to comply. He also revoked 
 those extravagant and destructive grants of the crown 
 lands, and privileges, which had been made during 
 the late usurpation ; and the act of resumption was 
 greatly facilitated by the justice with which it was 
 executed. 
 
 Henry having by these and other wise measures, re- 
 stored peace to the afflicted kingdom during the first year 
 of his reign, was engaged for a long period in wars with 
 F 2
 
 13G MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 France, for the preservation and aggrandizement of his 
 continental possessions ; but the inilitai-y incidents with 
 which these were accompanied, are too minute and in- 
 significant for a detail. During the earlier part of the 
 contest, the power of Henry greatly preponderated ; for 
 independently of his English kingdom, he possessed al- 
 most a fifth part of what now comprises the kingdom of 
 France, while Louis VII. was kiug of not more than a 
 tenth. With such a superiority of force, and through 
 his skill in negotiation, Henry obtained the earldom of 
 Nantz, and afterwards a large portion of the earldom of 
 Thoulouse ; and returned to England in 1163. It was dur- 
 ing this war that a combatant flourished who was after- 
 wards to acquire celebrity in conflicts of a very different 
 character. This was Thomas a Becket, archdeacon of 
 Canterbury, and chancellor of the kingdom, the chief 
 companion of Henry's labours and amusements. The 
 future saint showed himself a brave man-at-arms, as well 
 as a wise leader : he unhorsed a gallant French knight 
 in single combat, in the presence of the armies of France 
 and England, and took three strong fortresses. It was 
 not long after this period that Henry, in order to further 
 his schemes of clerical reform which were now urgently 
 required, raised the valiant archdeacon to the see of 
 Canterbury ; but the unfortunate results of this choice 
 are foreign to the plan of a strictly military history. It 
 is suflicient to state that the king of France, who found 
 himself unable to cope with his powerful vassal in arms, 
 and who had tried every manoeuvre in diplomacy to lower 
 his authority in France, used the banished archbishop as 
 an instrument for making Henry odious in the eyes of 
 his continental subjects. In this, however, he was un- 
 successful ; and after various changes of fortune, peace 
 was established between them in 1169. On this occasion 
 prince Henry, the eldest son of the king, did homage to 
 Louis for Anjou and Maine, as he had formerly done for 
 Normandy ; Richard, the second son, for Aquitaine ; and 
 Geoffrey, the third, for Bretagne. By thus establishing- 
 his sons in his foreign principalities, the king of Eng- 
 land trusted that he had built his continental authority 
 upon a secure basis ; but, ou the contrary, it was from 
 this source that all his misfortunes originated. 
 
 In 1172, was commenced the conquest of Ireland, the 
 most wonderful military event of this age of warlike en-
 
 CONQUEST OF IRELAND. 107 
 
 rprise. Notwithstanding all that bards have sung, and 
 L ;aditions fabled, of the early power and civilization of that 
 ill-fated country, its barbarism in the twelfth century was 
 CKtreme ; and Henry, who, in the early part of his reign, 
 ■ jad received a gift of the island from the pope, and seen 
 :ie facility with which it might be conquered, was only 
 v.ithheld from the enterprise by more urgent occupa- 
 tions. At last, Dermot Macmorroiigh, king of Leinster, 
 Ijaving been expelled from the country for his crimes, 
 applied to Henry, who was then in Guienne, for aid, offer- 
 ing to liold Leinster as his vassal ; but Henry, who at 
 that time was sufficiently occupied with the hostility of 
 the church, and the king of France, refused the offer. He 
 gave Dermot, however, letters patent, permitting any of 
 his vassals to aid him, and, furnished with these, Mac- 
 mnrrough came to England, and applied to Strougbow, 
 earl of Pembroke, a nobleman needy and full of enter- 
 prise, who was soon persuaded to undertake the adven- 
 ture, by a promise of the hand of Eva, the Irish king's 
 daughter, with the reversion of his kingdom. Dermot also 
 applied to Fitz-Stephens, another adventurer of Wales, 
 whose aid he secured by the promise of a principality to 
 be formed from the town of Wexford and two adjoining 
 cantreds. Fitz-Stephens mustered his vassals, and, in 
 1170, he set sail for this important conquest, with no 
 gTeater force than 130 knights, 60 men-at-arms, and 
 about 300 archers. The events that followed seemed to 
 anticipate the conquest of Peru and Mexico four centu- 
 ries later. The Irish, whose principal weapons were 
 darts, hatchets, and stones, were confounded at the sight 
 of enemies covered with shining mail, and moving in 
 such perfect military order ; and in the encounters that 
 followed, they found themselves no match for the arms, 
 discipline, and prowess, of the invadei-s. The province 
 of Leinster was soon recovered, but the king of Con- 
 naught, who enjoyed a permanent authority in the 
 island, was filled with alarm at these startling events, 
 and soon formed a coalition of all the Irish chiefs to 
 expel the dangerous strangers. Fitz-Stephens therefore 
 fortified himself near Ferns in so skilful a manner, that 
 the troops of the Irish confederacy were unable to dis- 
 lodge him ; and having received a reinforcement of ten 
 knights, thirty squires, and 100 archers, he was enabled 
 to resume the offensive. After this auspicious com-
 
 108 MlLITAllY HISTORY. 
 
 tuencement, Strongbow was eager to enter into the rich 
 harvest. He entreated permission of his sovereign Henry 
 for that purpose ; and the king, with a sneer at what he 
 considered a case of overweening vanity, gave the im- 
 poverished baron permission to go and conquer Irehmd. 
 Strongbow, however, had not calculated his resources so 
 rashly as the king imagined. He sent off an advanced 
 guard during the winter, of ten knights and seventy 
 archers ; and this small body having landed in the 
 neighbourhood of Wexford, completely routed an army 
 of 3000 Irish, of whom 800 were slain in battle. Strong- 
 bow himself soon followed, with 200 knights and 1000 
 soldiers, a force which the natives were unable to resist; 
 and having obtained the hand of Eva, his promised bride, 
 he stormed the city of Dublin, and then reduced the 
 whole kingdom of Meath. Upon the death of Dermot, 
 in the following year, the earl succeeded his father-in- 
 law as king, without opposition. 
 
 Henry was aroused by these marvels, but it was to 
 feel iudig-nant that his subjects should presume to make 
 themselves independent kings, and of a territory which 
 he considered his own, as it had been g-ranted him by 
 the pope. He therefore forbade any more English ad- 
 venturers to proceed to Ireland, and commanded all 
 who were already there to return on pain of banishment 
 and confiscation. He resolved to complete the work of 
 the conquest in person, and embarked for Ireland on the 
 2(3th of October. Strongbow in the mean time had made 
 dutiful submission to his sovei-eign, and was allowed to 
 hold a great part of Leinster, as a vassal of the English 
 crown. The Irish chieftains and natives, who, like very 
 savages, were awe-struck by the power and dazzled with 
 the splendour of the English monarch, crowded from all 
 quarters with oifers of submission. In so short a space, 
 and with such facility, was an important conquest 
 achieved, which has cost England so much difficulty to 
 retain. 
 
 No monarch of that age could now be compared with 
 Henry, for extent of power, and success in war and ne- 
 gotiation ; but circumstances were at hand that might 
 have cured the envy even of the most ambitious. These 
 afflictions also originated in that domestii^^scortV which 
 seems to have been entailed as a curse upon the descend- 
 ants of William the Conqueror. The throe eldest £ons
 
 TROUBLES OF HENUY II. 109 
 
 of the king", now advancing to luanliood, were equally 
 brave, ambitious, and impatient for enterprise ; and from 
 eagerness to aggrandize his family, as well as from pa- 
 ternal love, he had caused the eldest, Henry, to be 
 anointed king of England conjointly with himself at the 
 age of sixteen, besides bestowing rich appanages upon 
 las other children. But these possessions only stimulated 
 their ambition, and evil counsellors were at hand to 
 stir them up against their parent. Henry, the prince- 
 king, who had been the most highly favoured, was the 
 first to rebel ; and the chief persons -who incited him 
 were, Eleanor, his mother, who was offended at her hus- 
 band's numerous gallantiies— and the king of France, 
 the prince's father in-law, who was eager to increase his 
 own power on the continent at the expense of his rival. 
 The young Henry, who longed to become king in reality, 
 entered into an infamous plot to dethrone his father, 
 and the king of Scotland, the earls of Flanders, Bou- 
 logne, and Blois, and many of the continental chiefs. 
 Were engaged to join in it by promises, which, if exe- 
 cuted, would have cut down England into a mere pro- 
 vince. Even many of the English nobles, and the princes 
 llichavd and Geoffrey, were also engaged in this infa- 
 mous conspiracy. When the whole plan was ripe for 
 execution, the young Henry fled to France, followed by 
 his two brothers, and the explosion commenced. The king 
 of France accompanied by prince Henry entered Nor- 
 mandy with a large army on one side, the earls of Flan- 
 ders and Boulogne burst into it on the other, and the 
 provinces of Anjou, Maine, Aquitaine, and Bretague, 
 were overrun and ravaged by their own barons, who had 
 joined the coalition. To deepen the confusion, England 
 was at one and the same instant invaded by the king of 
 Scots, who ravaged Cumberland and Carlisle, and dis- 
 tracted by the rebellious barons, who rose in arms in the 
 heart of the kingdom. 
 
 Amidst such trying diiSculties, and when all antici- 
 pated the king's destruction, his wonderful talents and 
 activity appeared to triumph over impossibilities. Hav- 
 ing garrisoned his principal fortresses in France and 
 Normandy, and placed them under captains upon whom 
 he could depend, he raised 20,000 Brabanjous, or merce- 
 nary soldiers, and held himself in readiiies--' wherever 
 tlie danger might be most pressing. At the siege of Dri-
 
 110 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 encouit, the earl of Boulogne died of a slight wound, and 
 the earl of Flanders, who was with him, immediately re- 
 tired from Normandy; and thus freed at once from two 
 powerful enemies, Henry fiew with his Brabanjons to 
 raise the siege of Verneuil, which was invested by the 
 French king. The latter was unable to comprehend 
 such a rapid movement, until he was assured of his 
 adversary's approach ; upon which he fled with such 
 precipitation, that he left his camp with all its valuables 
 behind, to be plundered by Henry's mercenaries. From 
 Verneuil, Henry passed with equal promptitude to Bre- 
 tagne, so that the rebellious nobles in that quarter were 
 obliged to surrender. In the mean time, the same good 
 fortune that had crowned his exertions upon the conti- 
 nent, rewarded his precautionary measures at home. 
 Those English nobles, to whom Henry had intrusted the 
 defence of the kingdom during his absence, compelled 
 the king of Scotland to retreat into his own dominions; 
 after which they attacked and defeated with great 
 slaughter an army of the insurgent barons, under the 
 command of the earl of Leicester. Henry thus every 
 v.here successful, obliged the kings of France and Scot- 
 land to agree to a truce, which was to last from the 
 feast of St. Hilary to the end of the Easter holidays. 
 
 'i'iiis truce was only a breathing time for the enemies 
 of England, during which they mustei'ed their resources, 
 and planned the operations of a new campaign. It was 
 now resolved that the prince-king, with the earl of Flan- 
 ders, should land a powerful army of Flemings in the 
 south of England ; that the king of Scotland should in- 
 vade the northern counties ; while the factious English 
 earls,' on the side of young Henry, wei'e at the same 
 instant to rise with their followers in different parts of 
 the kingdom, and increase the confusion. The distracted 
 father, who was at this time on the continent, immedi- 
 ately hurried to England, and being overwhelmed with 
 a conviction of the desperate state of his affairs, he 
 adopted an expedient which excited the astonishment 
 of both friends and foes. Since the murder of Becket, it 
 was a common belief that the anger of heaven was upon 
 the king, so that his affairs would never prosper ; and 
 from policy or remorse, or perhaps from a mixture of 
 both feelings, he resolved to make his peace witli the 
 departed saint, and thus revive the courage of his adhe-
 
 PENANCE OF HENRY II. Ill 
 
 rents. No sooner had he la .ded at Soutb.ampton on 
 July the 8th (1174), than he dismissed his splendid train, 
 clothed himself in penitential weeds, and proceeded to 
 Canterbury, to do penance at the tomb of the martyr. 
 Within a mile of the city he dismounted, and walked 
 barefoot ; and as he passed along the streets, the people 
 saw that his steps were marked with blood from his lace- 
 rated feet. When he came to the cathedral, he threw 
 himself before the tomb of the saint, and spent the night 
 stretched upon the pavement, in prayers and tears ; 
 after which he submitted his naked back to be scourged 
 by the monks, drank a draught of water that was mixed 
 with some of Becket's blood, and then received absolu- 
 tion. This painful process threw him into a temporary 
 fever when he arrived at London, so that he was cou- 
 lined to a sick bed ; but it was the less to be regretted, as 
 a tide in his affairs had taken place. On the very day 
 that he had propitiated the new saint, and received 
 absolution, his great antagonist, William the Lion, king 
 of Scotland, was taken pi-isoner. The Scots were besieg- 
 ing the castle of Alnwick, and plundering the surround- 
 ing country, when some of the English barons, with 400 
 horse, rode forth in quest of an adventure on the morn- 
 ing, during a heavy mist. When the fog cleared, they 
 unexpectedly saw before them the towers of Alnwick, 
 and a body of about sixty Scottish horse, who were 
 amusing themselves in playful careering before their 
 king, on a level meadow. William mistook the English 
 for a party of his own men returned from plundering ; 
 but when he found his mistake, he scorned the thought 
 of a retreat. He couched his lance, and exclaiming, 
 ' Now shall we see who are good knights!' he rushed 
 boldly amidst the enemy, but was unhorsed at the first 
 charge, and made prisoner, with tiie greater part of iiis 
 followers. Henry was awakened at midnight with the 
 tidings, at which he leapt from his bed, and wept for 
 joy. The captivity of the king of Scotland, tbe most 
 powerful of Henry's enemies, dissolved the coalition, so 
 that the rebellious English barons strove who should 
 be first in making submission. Henry then crossed 
 to Normandy with his Brabanfons, where he so effectu- 
 ally harassed his enemies on the continent, that the king 
 of France was compelled to a peace of which his rival 
 dictated the terms, and the three princes were once
 
 112 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 move received into favour. The heaviest punishment 
 for this unnatural war fell upon the head of the captive 
 king of Scotland ; and he was not released until he had 
 agreed, at Falaise, iu Normandy, in the month of De- 
 cember, to swear fealty to Henry, and do homage for 
 Scotland, and all his other possessions. 
 
 The moral influence of Henry's administration, his 
 admirable conduct in peace, and his valour and success 
 in war, had now made him renowned among the nations 
 of Christendom, and of this an illustrious proof was 
 afforded in 1177. Sanchez, king of Navarre, and Al- 
 phonso, king cf Castile, having long been rivals and 
 enemies, at length submitted their disputes to the arbi- 
 tration of the king of England. It was a new and glo- 
 rious spectacle in that age, to see the advocates of these 
 great sovereigns pleading their respective causes before 
 the royal tribunal of England, in implicit reliance upon 
 its wisdom and justice — and that their reliance was not 
 misapplied appeared from the fact, that both parties were 
 gratified by Henry's decision. During the few years of 
 unwonted peace that succeeded this prosperity, he also 
 established wise military laws for the defence of the king- 
 dom. In 1181, he published his assize of arms, tlie 
 excellence of which was so apparent, that it was adopted 
 by other countries. According to this new regulation, 
 every earl, baron, and knight, was to have ready for 
 service as many complete suits of armour as he had 
 knight's fees. Every freeman, who was worth sixteen 
 marks in rents or goods, was to have a suit of the same 
 armour; every freeman who had half that amount, was 
 to have an habergeon, an iron skull-cap, and a lance ; 
 and every free burgess was to have a wambois, a skull- 
 cap, and a lance.* These arms were neither to be lent, 
 sold, pawned, nor given away, but to be kept in con- 
 stant readiness for active service. 
 
 Peace and mutual confidence were not to be perma- 
 nent in the family of Henry, and his sons were once 
 more ready to take the field. Tliere was a wild romantic 
 story in the family of Anjou, that its founder had been 
 seduced into marriage with a beautiful but mysterious 
 
 * The habergeon was a coat of plate or cliain mail, in the form of a 
 shirt without sleeves. Tlie wambois was a coat composed of many 
 folds of linen stuffed with cotton, wool, or hair quilted, 'aud covered 
 with buck or <loe-skin Ictlier.
 
 DKATH OF PKIXCE HENRY. 113 
 
 foiiiale, vvbo had always shunned the presence of a 
 church, and every thing holy; but on being dragged at 
 unawares into a place of worship, and crossed with holy 
 water, she had vanished with a frightful shriek. From 
 this Satanic fair one, the young English princes were 
 descended ; and in telling the tale of their ancestry, 
 they were accustomed sportively to add, that those who 
 thus came from the devil, must also go to the devil. At 
 all events, they proved by their deeds, that the tale and 
 the logical conclusion were by no means uncongenial to 
 their feelings ; for when they were not occupied in war- 
 ring with their father, or with each other, they were 
 galloping to and fro like knight-errants in quest of 
 adventures, and breaking spears wherever a tournament 
 was held. Of this hopeful brood, Geoffrey the third son 
 was the most subtle and relentless, and he had constantly 
 declared that their detestation of their father could never 
 be suspended but by their hatred of each other. In 1183 
 accordingly a quarrel broke out among them, in conse- 
 quence of being required to do homage to their elder bro- 
 ther, Henry, for their respective dukedoms of Aquitaine 
 and Bretagne. Geoffrey complied, but Richard (after- 
 wards Coeur de Lion) spurned the proposal, upon which 
 the other brothers flew to arms, and commenced a war of 
 such ferocity against the recusant, that no quarter was 
 given on either side. Richard was at last in danger of 
 being overpowered by the united forces of Henry and 
 Geoffrey, when the father hurried to his aid. Henry the 
 prince-king being thus disappointed of revenge, proposed 
 a treaty, during which he and Geoffrey repeatedly at- 
 tempted to procure the assassination of their unsuspecting 
 parent. Negotiations were in consequence broken off, 
 and the two princes were preparing for battle with the 
 king, when prince Henry, agitated by remorse and 
 shame, was thrown into the paroxysms of a fever tliat 
 was soon pronounced mortal. In this condition, a sense 
 of his frightful guilt so imbittered his dying moments, 
 that he sent to his father, imploring him to come 
 and forgive him ; bat the latter, who had already been 
 more than once in mortal danger through the hypocri- 
 tical pretences of his sou, imagined that this was but a 
 new plan to assassinate him, and refused to comply. He 
 sent however a ring from his finger, as a token of for- 
 giveness. The dying p?ince kissed it with great emotion^
 
 114 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 and then caused himself to be dragged, with a halt r 
 round his neck, to a heap of ashes, upon which he peni- 
 tently expired. When the king- received the melancholy 
 tidings, he fainted away : all the injuries of his sou 
 were now forgotten in the remembrance of his amiable 
 qualities, and the repentance of his death. 
 
 But the example of this close of parricidal ambition 
 had no influence upon the remaining princes, and Rich- 
 ard seemed to have entered into the schemes, as well 
 as the rights, of his deceased brother. When the king 
 therefoie required him to resign Aquitaine to his youngest 
 brother John, he refused; upon which John, who was 
 now seventeen years old, was sent against him with an 
 army, to enforce compliance, while Henry went to Eng- 
 land, to repress the incursions of the Welsh. During 
 his absence, the three brothers were fighting against 
 each other so furiously in Noimandy, that Henry com- 
 manded them to disband their forces, and return home — 
 a mandate which they were obliged to obey. Richard 
 and Geoffrey afterwards obtained permission to set out 
 to their continental possessions ; but as soon as they were 
 freed from paternal restraint, they renewed their old 
 warfare, and Henry was compelled to cross to Normandy 
 with an army, in April, 1185, to subdue these iirecon- 
 cileable brethren. Indeed, nothing but death itself could 
 still them, and Henry was only freed from one of his 
 worst enemies by the loss of another son. The subtle and 
 unprincipled Geoffrey had demanded of his father the 
 government of Anjou, as well as that of Bretagne, and 
 on being refused, he fled to the court of France, to ma- 
 ture a fresh conspiracy. But in consequence of being 
 overthrown in a tournament, and trampled under his 
 horse's feet, he died at Paris, on the 19th of August, 1186. 
 Henry grieved little about this worthless youth, who 
 seems to have been the worst of the family. The fiery 
 Richard now stepped forward as Henry's chief antago- 
 nist. He repaired to the court of the king of France, 
 and on being summoned home, instead of obeying, he 
 seized the treasure of his father which was laid up at 
 Chinon, and began to fortify his towns and castles, 
 with the intention of holding out. But Henry still con- 
 tinued his negotiations, from the desire of avoiding 
 such unnatural bloodshed, and Richard, after submitting, 
 was again received to forgiveness.
 
 THE CRUSADES. 115 
 
 During the course of these proceedings., all Cliristen- 
 dom rang with the events of the crusading wars; and- 
 the pontitf had laboured for a long period with the kings 
 ff France and England to persuade them to lay aside 
 their mutual jealousies, and unite for the recoverj' of 
 the Holy Sepulchre. At length, at the end of 1187, 
 tidings an-ived in Europe that the Christians had been 
 defeated, and that Jerusalem had fallen into the hands 
 of Saladin ; upon which the two sovereigns, as if struck 
 with shame and compunction, assumed the cross, and 
 began to make preparations in earnest for an Asiatic 
 campaign. Here, however, the unhappy Richard, the 
 future prince of crusaders, was fated to traverse the de- 
 sign, and postpone it to a more distant period. Although 
 he had assumed the cross, he quarrelled as duke of Aqui- 
 taine with the earl of Thoulouse, about some trifling 
 mercantile imposts ; and bursting into the earl's territo- 
 ries he took several of his towns, and was about to be- 
 siege his capital. The earl in this strait invoked the aid 
 of his liege, the king of France, who hurried to the 
 rescue of his vassal, and broke into Henry's territories 
 of Berri, where he began to waste the country with fire 
 and sword, to the great indignation of the king of Eng- 
 land, who sent messengers to remonstrate upon the in- 
 vasion. These complaints were ineffectual, and Henry 
 was obliged to cross the sea in July (1188), and commence 
 reprisals, to the great iudi^nation of the continental 
 nobles, who had hastened their preparations for the cru- 
 sade, and were now eager to be gone. 
 
 Philip Augustus, the present king of France, although 
 still a youth, was a match for Henry himself in the arts 
 of negotiation ; and in all his political and military 
 plans, his great aim was, to lessen the dangerous power 
 of England upon the continent, and thereby to consoli- 
 date the broken monarchy of France, over a great por- 
 tion of which he had little more than a merely nominal 
 rule. On this account, his court was the refuge of the 
 malcontents of England and Normandy, and his labours 
 were incessant in fomenting the differences between 
 the English princes and their father. On the present 
 occasion, he successfully tampered with Richard, and 
 then attended a conference with the king of England, 
 which had been brought about by the mediation of those 
 princes who were impatient to depart to the crusade.
 
 116 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 At this meeting Philip Augustus demanded, not only 
 th:it the long-deferred marriage between his sister and 
 Richard should be immediately consummated, but that 
 all Henry's subjects in England, and tbe continent, 
 should be required to do homage to Richard as the 
 royal heir. The prince expressed his satisfaction at 
 these terms, and urged his father to comply, while 
 Henry was speechless at their extravagance. By such 
 a treaty he would be virtually uncrowned, and ex- 
 posed to the mercy of a rebellious son. As soon as he 
 recovered from his astonishment, he gave a direct re- 
 fusal ; upon which Richard, in presence of the whole 
 assembly, renounced allegiance to his parent, and did 
 homage to Philip for all the territories held by England 
 upon the continent. After this indecent specimen of 
 rebellion, the whole assembly broke up in confusion. 
 
 Such an act required to be enforced by desperate 
 deeds, and Philip and Richard, accompanied by the 
 chiefs of Normandy and Aquitaine, burst into the French 
 territories of Henry in the following year, carrying all 
 before them. At length, a conference was appointed by 
 the papal legate on the 5th of June ; but here, Richard 
 not only repeated his former demands, but required that 
 his brother John should accompany him to the Holy 
 Land, that he might not supplant him during his 
 absence. Henry returned as decided a negative as 
 before, upon which the war was resumed with redoubled 
 fury, and Richard gave fatal proofs against his own 
 father of that prowess for which he was afterwards so 
 distinguished against the Saracens. Henry, who had 
 been so long victorious, was now obliged to fly ; and 
 while he was driven from place to place before his 
 successful enemies, the last drop of domestic bitterness 
 was added to the cup, by the desertion of John, the 
 youngest and best-beloved of his children, for whose 
 interests he had more than once embroiled himself with 
 the rest. The abandonment of this youthful traitor was 
 more than the poor parent could endure : his heart was 
 broken, and cursing the day on which he was born, he 
 laid himself down to die. He was attacked by what 
 physicians called a fever, although utter misery would 
 have been the better term, and expired at Chinon, on 
 the 6th of July (1189), in the 57th year of his age, after 
 having reigned thirty-five years.
 
 RICHARD I. 117 
 
 RICHARD CGEUR DE LION. 
 
 In the preceding chapter, we have anticipated the 
 principal events of the early history of Richard I. of 
 England, generally surnamed Coeur de Lion, or the lion- 
 hearted. As his subsequent history is chiefly that of a 
 crusader, it may be useful to premise the narrative 
 with a short account of that peculiar kind of war from 
 which he derived his chief celebrity. 
 
 Mahomedanism, in its essence, was a religion of 
 conquest. The Koran commanded its believers to make 
 war upon all infidels, for the glory of God ; while it 
 promised, to all who fell in such conflicts, a heaven that 
 was most congenial to the sensualities of an eastern 
 imagination. Under this inspiration, the early followers 
 of Mohamed commenced a career of conquest unprece- 
 dented in the history of warfare, so that within thirty 
 years Syria, Persia, and Egypt, were subdued. The north 
 of Africa was then brought tinder the yoke of the cres- 
 cent ; Spain afterwards fell before the enemy ; France 
 was invaded, and almost overpowered ; and the rich 
 provinces of Italy were menaced with subjugation. A 
 fire so intense could not indeed be pennanent; and by 
 the tenth century the unwieldy Saracen empire was 
 rent by divisions, and falling in pieces, when a new- 
 people appeared upon the scene, to uphold and ad- 
 vance the conquests of Mahomedanism. These were 
 the Turks, a nation as fierce and brave as the 
 Saracens, who possessed the additional advantage of 
 being better united, under the command of a single 
 leader. These barbarians were originally a race of 
 Tartars, who, after numerous conflicts, subdued Persia, 
 India, Armenia, and Georgia, and then pushed their 
 conquests to the gates of Constantinople. The whole 
 Christian world was threatened with destruction, while 
 the enemy, united by a powerful bond of religion, and 
 animated by fanaticism, had only to select their succes- 
 sive victims. During the ascendancy of the Saracens, 
 learning and science had flourished ; but the Turks, who 
 succeeded them, hated all intellectual refinement, so 
 that their war against knowledge, and efibrts to extin- 
 guish it, were almost as intense as those which they 
 exerted against Christianity itself.
 
 118 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 During this perilous interval, Europe, instead of takings 
 the alarm, and unitiug- against the common enemy, was 
 divided by the contentions of its different sovereigns, so 
 that the Turkish power was enabled to advance almost 
 unimpeded. But that union of Christendom which no 
 political wisdom or foresight could have accomplished, 
 was brought about by feelings of superstition. Christians 
 of every country had been accustomed to regard Jerusa- 
 lem as their common spiritual metropolis, and a pilgrim- 
 age to its holy sepulchre as a passport to heaven ; but 
 the Mahomedans, who also regarded it as a holj' city, 
 coveted its possession, and soon took it. This was a 
 stroke at the very heart of Christendom, which was felt 
 to the most distant extremities; and when all were thus 
 aroused and anxious, the preaching of Peter the Hermit 
 sounded the call to arms. It was now a war of Europe 
 against Asia— of Christianity against Mohamedanisra — 
 of the fervid fanaticism of the north arrayed against that 
 of the east. Under the first impulse of this newly kindled 
 zeal, the Christians were victorious, and Jerusalem was 
 erected into a Christian kingdom, under the sway of 
 Godfrey, and his successors. After this prosperous event, 
 Europe again fell into a state of anarchy and conflict, 
 by which the enemy were enabled to triumph in turn, 
 so that the re-capture of the holy city obliged the Chris- 
 tian kingdoms again to unite for its recovery. Saladin, 
 the soldan of Egypt, at once the most able and the most 
 meritorious of all the Mussulman conquerors, had sub- 
 dued with ease the little Christian kingdom of Jerusa- 
 lem, in 1187, before it had existed for a century; and 
 such was the extent of his talents and resources, that he 
 might have realized those wild schemes of ambition 
 against Europe which his predecessors had dreamt of, 
 but for the coalition which was now formed for the 
 deliverance of the holy sepulchre. Philip Augustus, 
 Richard, and the chief princes of Europe, were leagued 
 together for this hazardous exploit ; and while perhaps 
 they had no higher motives than the love of enterprise, 
 the hope of petty acquisition, or the impulse of super- 
 stition, they were unconsciously labouring for the reli- 
 gious, political, and intellectual salvation of Europe, and 
 preparing unspeakable blessings for the human race at 
 large. 
 
 Richard, after weeping over his father's corpse with
 
 RICHARD I. 119 
 
 bitter but unavailing- repentance, repaired to Englaud. 
 and was crowned at Westminster, on tbe 3rd of Sep- 
 tember, 1189. But even his coronation was polluted 
 with the blood of unbelievers. The crusading zeal 
 was now so hot, that the Jews, who were regarded as 
 nothing- better than Mahomedans, were strictly com- 
 manded not to intrude into Westminster, upon the 
 occasion, lest they should harm the new king by their 
 magical practices. But several of the dispersed people 
 were eager to otFer rich gifts to the monarch on this 
 great day, and forced their way into tlie hall : a scuffle 
 commenced by a Christian striking a Jew at the gate, 
 and a cry immediately rose, that the king had given 
 permission to slay the intruders ; upon which many of 
 these unfortunate Israelites were murdered on the 
 spot. The report was eagerly caught by the populace, 
 who fell upon these defenceless aliens throughout the 
 city, and massacred them without distinction of age or 
 sex, while the courtiers, who. excited this popular fren- 
 zy, seized the opportunity of burning their own bonds 
 and vouchers of debt, which were treasured up in 
 the Jewish coffers. The example spread through the 
 kingdom, and the Jews, who were numerous at York, 
 after seeing many of their wives and children butchered 
 before their eyes by the mob, threw themselves into 
 the castle, and secured tbe gates. The governor, who 
 had been absent, returned, and demanded admission : 
 the trembling refugees refused, upon the plea that 
 the mob would make a forcible entry at his heels ; 
 and the governor, in a fui-y, ordered an instant attack 
 upon the fortress. The multitude, incited chiefly by 
 ecclesiastics, besieged the castle for several days ; and 
 on the night before the chief assault, an event took 
 place that frightfully reminds us of the last days of Jeru- 
 salem, in the pages of Josephus. A venerable Rabbi, who 
 had lately come from the foreign Hebrew schools, rose 
 in the midst of the cooped up and trembling garrison, 
 and thus addressed them : ' Men of Israel, God com- 
 mands us to die for his law, as our noble forefathers 
 have done in all age>. If we fall into the hands of our 
 enemies, they ^%ill cruelly torment us. That life, there- 
 fore, which our Creator gave, let us willingly and de- 
 votedly return to him with our own hands.' Most of 
 the hearers applauded the proposal, upon -which they
 
 120 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 proceeded to burn their costly garments, and destroy 
 their rich vessels, aud precious stoues. When they had 
 thus deprived their enemies of the expected spoil, Jocen, 
 the wealthiest of their number, stabbed his wife ; the 
 rest of the women were then slain, after which the men 
 plunged their weapons into their own breasts. On the 
 morning, a few pale and trembling- men, who had not 
 followed the example of their brethren, opened the gates 
 to the besiegers upon a promise of immunity, and were 
 instantly put to death; after which, the bonds of 
 Christian debts to Jewish creditors were taken from 
 the cathedral in which they had been deposited, aud 
 committed to the flames. 
 
 In spite of this massacre of Hebrew usurers, Richard 
 soon showed that the greatest of peculators still sur- 
 vived in himself, by the methods which he adopted to 
 raise money. He sold royal castles and possessions ; 
 he sold honours and important offices ; he sold the 
 superiority of the crown of England over Scotland — and 
 he even declared that he would sell England itself if 
 he could find a bidder. By these, and still more in- 
 glorious deeds of traffic, he gathered an immense sum, 
 to defray the expenses of his campaign ; and such was 
 the activity with which his preparations were made, that 
 on the 11th of December (1190), he embarked at Dover 
 with a more powerful armament than England had ever 
 sent from her shores. The armies of France and Eng- 
 land mustered on the plains of Vezelay, to the number 
 of 100,000 warriors, who after marching together to 
 Lyons, separated ; Philip Augustus resolving to embark 
 at Genoa, while Richard proposed to set sail from Mar- 
 seilles. The fleets of the two nations reached Messina, 
 where the hosts resolved to winter ; and here the kings 
 of France and England exhibited that mutual jealousy 
 which was so materially to aflfect the campaign. A 
 hollow reconciliation followed, and Richard, after con- 
 tracting an affiance with Berengaria, daughter of the king 
 of Navarre, to the rejection of the French king's sister, 
 set sail from Messina on the lOth of April. His fleet how- 
 ever was scattered by a storm, and the ship that carried 
 the fair Berengaria and his sister was driven upon the 
 island of Cyprus, the petty king or emperor of which 
 would not permit the ladies to land. He even plundered 
 the other English ships that were stranded upon the
 
 RICHARD I. 121 
 
 coast. As soon as Richard heard these tidings, the cru- 
 sade was for the moment forgot : he landed with his 
 whole army in Cyprus, easily defeated the half armed 
 Cypriots in two engagements, and took their sovereign 
 prisoner, whom he put into silver chains. Here, several 
 of the rulers of Palestine arrived, to implore Richard 
 to hasten his march ; upon which he solemnized his nup- 
 tials with Berengaria, and on June the 8th he airived 
 at Acre, where his prowess in behalf of the cross was to 
 be first exhibited. 
 
 This town, so famous in the history of modern sieges, 
 had been invested for above two years by the Christian 
 army, composed of adventurous bands from different 
 parts of Europe ; and above 300,000 men are said to have 
 perished during the siege. The king of France, who 
 first arrived to their aid, prevented them from resigning 
 the task in despair ; but it was the coming of Richard 
 that turned the tide of affairs. On the voyage he had 
 captured an immense dromond, bringing supplies to the 
 besieged ; and as he entered the port, he saw the city 
 surrounded with the tents of European warriors, while 
 the distant heights were crowned with the numerous 
 army of Saladin, ready to throw supplies into the city, or 
 to rush down upon the besiegers. Richard's first engines, 
 which he planted against the gates, were consumed by 
 the terrible Greek fire ; new ones were constructed, and 
 these were as speedily destroyed, while the king of 
 England himself, who had sickened with the heat of 
 the climate, was so disabled by disease, that he was 
 carried to the trenches and works upon a silken mattress. 
 In spite of this, he superintended every operation in per- 
 son, and frequently discharged with his own hands the 
 mangonels and arbalists that were planted against the 
 walls. This inspiriting example animated the whole 
 crusading army, and the Saracens were so closely pressed 
 that they offered to surrender, on condition of being 
 allowed to depart with their arms and goods. ' No,' 
 cried Richard, ♦ after such exertions, we must gain 
 something more than an empty town.' At last, an 
 agreement was ratified with Saladin, that the garrison 
 should march out in their shirts only, and remain 
 hostages with the Christians until he had paid 200,000 
 bezants for the ransom of his soldiers, who were prison- 
 ers — and that he should restore a fragment of the true 
 G
 
 122 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 cross which had fallen into his possession, and '2,.^00 of 
 the principal Christian captives. On the I'ith of July, 
 1191, Acre was triumphantly entered, and the two kings 
 of France and Eni^laud planted their standards on 
 the walls, over their respective portions of the town. 
 Leopold, the duke of Austria, also attempted to set up 
 his banner, to the great indignation of the English, who 
 said, ' Do you, a mere duke, put yourself on a footing 
 with kings?' * I fight,' replied the offended potentate, 
 ' I make war, by my own authority ; and, under God, I 
 acknowledge no superior but St. Peter.' It has been 
 added, that Richard caused the standard to be torn 
 down, and thrown contemptuously into the ditch ; an 
 insult which the duke did not readily forget. 
 
 This beginning of success to the Christian arms was 
 the principal cause of the failure of the crusade. Al- 
 though Philip Augustus was generalissimo, as well as 
 the feudal superior of Richard, yet the open-handed 
 liberality of the latter, combined with his splendid 
 personal bravery, soon threw his politic rival into the 
 shade, and the king of France was anxious to withdraw 
 from an association in which he felt himself eclipsed. 
 Perhaps he also expected to recover some of the conti- 
 nental possessions of England during the absence of 
 Richard. Philip Augustus, therefore, pretending ill 
 health, announced his intention of returning to France, 
 to the great astonishment of the crusading princes. 
 Richard implored him to stay, now that the way to 
 Jerusalem was opened by the conquest of Acre ; but 
 the French king was obdurate. He would only con- 
 sent to leave 10,000 of his soldiers under the duke of 
 Burgundy : he also took an oath that he would not 
 molest the territories of Richard, during his absence ; 
 after which he set sail to France, on the 1st of August. 
 The watchful Saladin, who exulted in this secession, 
 thought that he could now safely elude the hard terms 
 of the surrender of Acre. But the fierce Richard, as 
 soon as he perceived this intention, took revenge in a 
 manner that was accounted barbarous even during the 
 middle ages. On the 15th of August, while he and his 
 army were celebrating the assumption of the blessed 
 Tirgin, he caused 2,500 of the brave garrison of Acre to 
 fee led to an adjoining meadow, and there massacred 
 without exception. The Christians even explored the
 
 RICHARD I. 123 
 
 mangled carcases, in the hope of finding gold, which 
 they supposed tlie captives might have swallowed, and 
 they converted the gall, which they found in the dead 
 hodies, into medicines. 
 
 Nine days after this atrocity, the camp of the crusa- 
 ders was broken up, for the purpose of marching to 
 Askalon ; and Saladiu, burning with the desire of ven- 
 geance, hastened to prevent them. The Christians, who 
 now mustered little more than 30,000 men, were obliged 
 to march in a dense mass, and fighting order, winding 
 their way slowly through the deserts, amidst hunger, 
 thirst, and excessive heat, while a hostile army, nearly 
 ten times their number, hovered incessantly in their 
 front, flank, and rear, and cut off every straggler who 
 wandered but a few paces from the main body. The 
 Mahomedans also planted the ground, where they 
 knew the Christians would encamp, with sharp knives 
 and other instruments, that gashed the legs of the 
 horses, and brought their riders to the ground. Nothing 
 could be more magnificently contrasted as a military 
 spectacle than the concentrated mass of northern chi- 
 valry, glittering with iron, and bristled with spears, 
 while the myriads of the desert, in their picturesque 
 costume, hovered upon every point, and retreated or 
 advanced with the rapidity of a whirlwind. To add to 
 the terrors of the crusaders, they saw, for the first time, 
 bauds of negroes in the service of Saladin, at which 
 spectacle they shuddered. It seemed to their maddened 
 imaginations, amidst the agonies of their march, as if 
 fiends, as well as men and warring elements, had been 
 summoned to destroy them. Every night, when the 
 Christian army encamped, the heralds went about with 
 the cry, ♦ God help the holy sepulchre !' which was re- 
 echoed three times by the whole body of warriors. 
 During this terrible progress, Richard, who had made 
 arrangements with the skill of a most able commander, 
 showed a personal prowess that seemed to realize even 
 the wildest dreams of romance. Before he left England, 
 he had caused a mighty battle-axe to be made, into the 
 head of which twenty pounds of steel were wrought ; 
 this weapon, wielded by an arm that excelled the 
 strength of common mortals, hewed the linked mail 
 and quilted turbans of the enemy asunder, and with a 
 single stroke often sent man and horse to the ground.
 
 124 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Choosing his station wherever clanger was most press- 
 ing, he was always the foremost in driving back the 
 assailants, so that the name of Melee Ric (or king 
 Richard) was a name of dread, at which the boldest 
 Mussulmans trembled. 
 
 At length a conference was demanded, and Aladil, a 
 Turkish prince, was sent on the part of Saladin, 
 of whom Richard required the surrender of all the 
 countries taken from the Christians in Syria ; and, as 
 might be expected, the proposal was refused. Both 
 sides therefore prepared for the arbitration of a decisive 
 battle in the neighbourhood of Jaffa, which occurred 
 on the 6th of September (1191). The Turks, Arabs, 
 and Egyptians, rushed on amidst a tremendous clangour 
 of drums, trumpets, and cymbals, and loud bowlings 
 that almost drowned the notes of martial music, while 
 the crusaders stood firm to receive them, with linked 
 shields and levelled lances. The air was soon darkened 
 with the arrows of the sons of the desert, and the Eng- 
 lish were falling in multitudes, when the Knights Hos- 
 pitallers, impatient of the deadly shower, demanded 
 permission to charge ; but Richard commanded them 
 to stand fast, and be patient. The Turks, encouraged 
 by this forbearance, rushed on to closer combat ; but 
 Richard still waited till the rage of the barbarians should 
 throw them into disorder. It was only by a close and 
 hand-to-hand charge, that the iron chivalry of Europe 
 could reach and overwhelm their light antagonists. 
 The signal for this purpose was given at the critical 
 moment, and the Christian knights, as soon as they 
 heard the English ti-umpets, darted from the opening 
 ranks of infantry, and burst through the light-armed 
 squadrons of the Mahomedans. In such a conflict, the 
 latter could not stand for a moment. Thousands were 
 trampled under foot beneath the heavy-mailed chivalry 
 of the north ; and although Saladin flew from rant to 
 rank, and endeavoured to rally his warriors, they en- 
 countered wherever they turned the ten-ible presence 
 and resistless battle-axe of Melee Ric, who, after having 
 arranged the whole conflict, was fighting in the front 
 with a prowess that appeared supernatural. The battle, 
 which raged from morning till night, ended in the com- 
 plete defeat of the Mahomedans, with great slaughter, 
 flo that Saladin, despairing of being able to keep the
 
 RICHAUD I. 125 
 
 field, was obliged to dismantle Caesaiea, Askalon, Joppa, 
 and other towns, to strengthen the defences of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 Richard, by this victory, obtained command of the 
 sea-coast, in consequence of which he built or re- 
 stored several fortresses, although interrupted by skir- 
 mishes with the Turks. Like a true knight, he also 
 mingled sport with warfare, an indulgence that, on one 
 occasion, had almost cost him dear. He set out, accom- 
 panied by a noble party, with falcons on their wrists, 
 intending to indulge in the favourite amusement of 
 hawking, when the whole unarmed train fell into an 
 ambush of the Turks. Nothing but flight could save 
 them, and the stout warriors spurred in desperation ; 
 but the fleet steeds of the wilderness would soon have 
 overtaken the king, had it not been for the devotedness 
 of William de Preaux, a brave and goodly warrior, who 
 threw himself in the way of the pursuers, crying out, 
 that he was Melee Ric. The barbarians were overjoyed 
 at their fancied success, and can-ied their captive to 
 Saladin, who pardoned and honoured him for his 
 fidelity. On another occasion, a small band of Templars, 
 •while employed in foraging, were surrounded by 5,000 
 cavalry. The king, who was near with a few knights, 
 sent them forward to the rescue, while he should 
 buckle on his armour ; but they retreated from the 
 unequal conflict, and advised him to flee also. Indig- 
 nantly he exclaimed, ' If I do not assist those friends, 
 whom I sent into perils with the promise of aid, I will 
 never usurp the name of king more.' Half-armed as he 
 was, he rushed into the thickest of the conflict, dealing 
 such tremendous blows with his axe, that heads and 
 limbs flew asunder in every direction, and the over- 
 powered knights of the Temple were efi'ectually rescued 
 from destruction. 
 
 But although by these and other deeds of transcend- 
 ant chivalry, the name of Richard became so famous 
 among the Mussulmans, that they were wont to still 
 their children, and even threaten their unruly horses 
 with the word, Jerusalem was not to be conquered 
 even by such prowess as his. Saladin was to the full 
 as skilful a leader, while he was a far better politician, 
 than the king of England ; and although his light forces 
 might be inferior in the shock of battle to the massive.
 
 126 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 well-appointed ranks of the crusaders, yet they were 
 better fitted for the harassing warfare of a long march, 
 and much more numerous. The Christians also were 
 overpowered by the elements, still more than by the 
 weapons of their enemies. Their horses died from 
 wet and hunger ; the provisions of the soldiers were 
 damaged ; their armour was covered with rust, and 
 their bodies were enfeebled with disease. Then also 
 dissension, the worst enemy of a suflering army, broke 
 out among them. Thus, when the Christians had marched 
 from Jaffa towards Jerusalem, and reached the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Holy City, after much toil and skir- 
 mishing, the French party pretended that it was too 
 strong to be besieged, and clamoured for a return to 
 Askalon, with which the indignant Richard was forced 
 to comply. He thus saw the fruits of all his labours and 
 victories torn in an instant from his grasp, so that when 
 the army ascended an eminence, to behold Jerusalem 
 he held his shield before his face, as if unworthy to 
 look upon that sacred place which he was unable to 
 rescue. His indignation, on returning to Askalon and 
 repairing the city, broke forth upon those who had thus 
 thwarted his favourite design ; and the chief of these 
 happened to be his old adversary Leopold. While the 
 nobles and commanders, and even the king of England, 
 worked like common labourers to strengthen the de- 
 fences, the duke of Austria stood still, and looked on. 
 His sullen reply to remonstrance was, ' My father was 
 not a mason, and I was not bred a carpenter.' Richard, 
 we are told, in the bitterness of his indignation, actually 
 kicked the duke. 
 
 But the most urgent cause for Richard's departure 
 from Palestine existed at this period in the disturbances 
 in England. Philip Augustus, on his return to France, 
 forgot his oaths, and entered into intrigues with John, 
 to displace his brother Richard ; and he also endea- 
 voured to make an irruption into l^ormandy, for the 
 purpose of subduing it, while England itself was rent 
 into factions between John, and Longchamp the Jus- 
 ticiary. Even before the works of Askalon were com- 
 pleted, the duke of Burgundy, too, had allured the 
 French, Genoese, and other auxiliaries, to separate 
 from the main army, and return home by the way of 
 Acre and Tyre. The force of these circumstances com-
 
 RICHARD I. 127 
 
 elled Richard to retreat •vyith his enfeebled and 
 iitiiinished forces; and Saladin, taking confidence from 
 ;iis circumstance, advanced, to recover Jaffa. Richard 
 lade a last exertion to protect this portion of his Syrian 
 )iiquests, and hastened by sea to its relief, and a battle 
 I illowed in which Saladin was driven from the town. 
 I'he Sultan however attempted a night surprise, in 
 which he wzis nearly successful. Richard finding' the 
 enemy upon him before he was aware, hastily armed 
 Jiimself, collected a handful of gallant foUowei-s, and 
 rushed into the thickest of the conflict. His irresistible 
 ; I'jwess on this, as on other occasions, baffle i every 
 Ivautage of position and numbers on the part of the 
 iiiemy, so that they quailed, and fled before him. In 
 tills nocturnal eng-ag-emeut an accident happened charac- 
 teristic of the warfare of the chivalrous ages. Richard 
 was met, as he was fighting in front of his men, and on 
 foat, by Saphadin, the brother of Saladin, upon which 
 the gallant Syrian presented his antagonist with two 
 noble steeds, that he might be mounted as became a 
 king. The prodigious exertions of Richard on this oc- 
 casion saved his army, but threw him into a slow fever, 
 and finding that he could not recall the recreant French 
 to his banner, a truce with Saladin followed, which was 
 to last fjr three years, three months, three weeks, 
 three days, and three hours — a fantastic number sanc- 
 tioned by the usages of chivalry. Richard, during his 
 illness, had received every act of courtesy from his high- 
 minded adversary, Saladin often sending him fruits and 
 ice to accelerate his recovery. Thus the king of Eng- 
 land, although he had secured no immediate political 
 advantages from such an immense expenditure of men 
 and money upon this sacred expedition, had impressed 
 upon the Mahomedan world a sense of the northern 
 valour which they were compelled to respect for ages ; 
 and he had also unconsciously maimed the right arm 
 of the enemy of Christendom, so that the ambitious 
 schemes of the East were indefinitely postponed. It is 
 only in such results that we perceive the real advantage 
 of the crusades. If, centuries after these periods, the 
 Turks were able to take Constantinople, and threaten 
 Vienna, what would have been the termination of their 
 career but for these early obstacles ? 
 
 Previous to the departure of Richard from Palestine,
 
 129 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 it was necessary to bestow the crown of Jerusalem, for 
 which there were two competitors — Guy of Lusignan, 
 his favourite, and Conrade, of Montferrat, the brave 
 defender of Tyre against Saladin. Such an honour was 
 little more than nominal, as the real power was in the 
 hands of the Soldan ; but, like other nominal honours, 
 it was not the less keenly contested ; and Richard, 
 yielding his private feelings to the common wish, con- 
 ferred the title upon the marquis of Montferrat, while 
 to comfort the unsuccessful candidate, he conferred 
 upon Guy his own conquest of the kingdom of Cyprus. 
 Unfortunately, Conrade did not long enjoy his empty 
 dignity, having been murdered in the streets of Tyre 
 by two emissaries of an eastern potentate, called The 
 Old Man of the Mountains. On being put to the torture, 
 these miscreants gloried in the deed, and acknowledged 
 the master who had set them on ; but in spite of this 
 confession, it was alleged, by the French party, that 
 Richard was the instigator — as if one so proud and fear- 
 less would have hired a mercenary dagger. 
 
 Richard slowly recovered from his sickness, and pre- 
 pared to return home. Having embarked the queen and 
 his sister, he followed in a swift-sailing ship, which left 
 the port of Acre on the 25th of October (1192), amidst 
 the prayers and tears of the inhabitants, who were 
 charmed with his liberality and valour. But it was now 
 that the most perilous part of his career awaited him. 
 Tempests fii-st arose, so that for six weeks he was sepa- 
 rated from his fleet, and buffeted by the waves ; and 
 when the storms had assuaged, his ship was boarded by 
 pirates, in the neighbourhood of Corfu. The king, who 
 admired the hardy valour of these depredators, made 
 himself known to them, and persuaded them to carry 
 him to Zara, where he landed ; and he there resumed, 
 with his attendants, his journey on foot, disguised as a 
 pilgrim, and under the name of Hugh the merchant. 
 But Richard was ill qualified to support any disguise ; 
 and having sent the princely gift of a rich jewel to the 
 governor of Goritz, in order to obtain a passport, this 
 chieftain well knew that wandering merchants were not 
 in the habit of giving such presents, and he concluded 
 that so liberal an applicant could be no other than 
 Richard himself. The king was startled when he learnt 
 that he was discovered, more especially as he knew that
 
 RICHARD !. 129 
 
 the governor was a nephew of the mnrdLred Conrade, 
 whose assassination had been laid to his charge ; and 
 thei-efore he escaped from the dangerous neighbourhood, 
 and after journeying' for three days and three nights 
 without food, attended only by a knight and a young 
 lad, he arrived at a town near Vienna, on the Danube. 
 But this escape only brought him into greater danger, 
 for Leopold of Austria happened, at that time, to be in 
 the town. The king, however, who was exhausted with 
 hunger and fatigue, halted at an obscure cottage to rest, 
 while he sent the lad, who could speak German, to pur- 
 chase food. The young attendant imprudently carried his 
 master's embroidered gloves in his girdle, which at- 
 tracted the inquiries of the town's people respecting the 
 real rank of his employer ; but his answers were so 
 confused that they threatened to employ the torture, 
 upon which he confessed the truth. These were glorious 
 tidings to the archduke, in whose mind the disgraces 
 endured at Acre and Askalon were still I'ankling, and he 
 beset the cottage with an armed force, the noise of which 
 soon awoke the king. He saw the uselessuess of resist- 
 ance, and surrendered his sword to the archduke, fi-om 
 whom he expected at least the courtesy which one brave 
 enemy owes to another ; but he had not yet fathomed 
 the malice and avarice of the Austrian's dark spirit. 
 The king was treated as a prisoner of war, and sent 
 to close confinement in the castle of Tyernsteign, under 
 the keeping of Hadmar, an Austrian baron. But soon 
 another broker appeared in this scene of treachery, in 
 the person of the emperor of Germany, the feudal supe- 
 rior of Leopold, who told the archduke that none but an 
 emperor was worthy to have a royal captive ; and to en- 
 force this curious argument, he promised the archduke 
 £00,000 out of the ransom which he intended to extort 
 for Richard's deliverance. The bargain was soon settled 
 between these exalted kidnappers, and Richard was 
 transferred to one of the emperor's castles iu the Tyrol, 
 where he was loaded with heavy chains, and delivered 
 to the keeping of trusty guards, who watched over him 
 day and night with drawn swords. 
 
 The fame which Richard had acquired in Palestine 
 bad endeared him to his warlike subjects, so that all his 
 ruly faults had been fortrotten ; and when they heard of 
 ^ G 2
 
 130 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 his departure from Acre, every bell of ' merry England' 
 was prepared to ring out a welcome, as soon as he should 
 land upon her shores. But weeks and months passed 
 away, and still he came not, and the hearts of his people 
 became sick with the weariness of hope deferred. In 
 the lawless state of Europe at this period, and consi- 
 dering how many were the open or secret enemies of 
 Richard, nothing was more reasonable than to suspect 
 that, if he had escaped the sea, he might be languishing 
 in the prison of some foreign castle ; and an expedient 
 was adopted to ascertain the fact, which, although suffi- 
 ciently romantic, was at the same time so natural, that 
 we see no just ground for discrediting the tale. Blondel, 
 the favourite minstrel of Richard, who was himself a 
 Troubadour of no mean skill, resolved to commence a 
 pilgrimage in quest of the master whom he had so 
 dearly loved; and taking his harp in his hand, he passed 
 safely through various countries, protected by his almost 
 sacred office, and gaining a welcome in town and tower, 
 by the charms of his minstrelsy. It is probable, although 
 we are not informed by the story, that be was at length 
 enabled to track the course of the king to Germany ; 
 and that there he learned enough to surmise the country 
 of Richard's captivity. He wandered among the moun- 
 tains of the Tyrol, until he came to a stately castle, near 
 the walls of which he tuned his harp, and commenced a 
 song which had been the joint production of Richard 
 and himself; and as he sang, every alternate stanza 
 was chanted by a deep voice from within. He knew 
 that it was the voice of his beloved master, and now his 
 mission was accomplished. He hurried to England ; and 
 every country soon resounded with the indignant cry, 
 that the great hero of the age and champion of the 
 cross was a prisoner to the emperor of Germany. All his 
 friends in England and France immediately entered into 
 negotiations for his deliverance ; and when the emperor 
 demurred, the pope threatened him with the thunder of 
 the church, if he persevered in detaining its bravest de- 
 fender. At length, after much negotiation, the reluctant 
 emperor consented to release his prisoner for a ransom 
 of one hundred thousand marks of silver ; and the Eng- 
 lish raised this exorbitant sum with joyful alacrity, the 
 clergy even melting down the church plate for the deli-
 
 RICHARD I. 131 
 
 verance of the hero of the church.* Richard wa? set at 
 liberty on the 4tb of February, 1194, after an unjust 
 bondage of nearly fourteen months. 
 
 It was indeed full time that the king of England 
 should return to his dominions, as confusion and trea- 
 chery had predominated during his absence. The king 
 of France, notwithstanding his oath to respect the do- 
 minions of Richard, had applied to the pope for a dis- 
 pensation, immediately on his return from Palestine ; 
 and on this being denied, he would have invaded Nor- 
 mandy, but his barons, who were more scrupulous thau 
 himself, refused to second him. He also tampered with 
 the wicked and imbecile John, who endeavoured to 
 usurp the crown of England, under the pretence that 
 Richard was dead. But the English nobility were faith- 
 ful to their sovereign, and his hopes were disappointed. 
 As soon as the king's captivity was known by Philip 
 Augustus and John, they hoped to make his imprison- 
 ment perpetual, by working upon the emperor's cupi- 
 dity, and it was chiefly by their intrigues that the 
 negotiation was protracted during five months. Even 
 when the treaty was ratified with the English com- 
 missioners, John and his ally endeavoured to break it, 
 by offering the emperor double the amount of ransom to 
 detain Richard in prison ; and the emperor would have 
 complied, had it not been for the terrors of the pontiff, 
 and the integrity of his own nobles. 
 
 All these clouds were soon dissipated by the landing of 
 Richard in England, and as he rode through the streets 
 of Loudon, such was the intoxication of triumph among 
 his people, and the magnificence with which he was 
 received, that some German knights who had accompa- 
 nied him, could not help exclaiming, ' Sir King, had our 
 Caesar known of such wealth, your ransom would not 
 have been so easy !' Richard, who felt as if his bondage 
 had un-kinged and degraded him, caused himself to be 
 crowned anew with great pomp, on the 17th of April, 
 after which, breathing out nothing but vengeance against 
 the treachery of Philip Augustus, he made every prepa- 
 ration to invade France. Such was his eagerness for this 
 expedition that, in the following month, he landed at 
 
 * With part of this dishonestly acquired money Vienna was frtrfified 
 with walls — those verv walls which, in our own dav, wtre so inefTertnal 
 for the protection of the German cajiital, ajrainst one who faili d at Acre.
 
 132 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Barfleur. Here John, who now forsook his ally in ini- 
 quity, repaired to the presence of his oflfended brother, 
 with ci-awling supplications, and was received with for- 
 giveness. 
 
 Six years of desultory warfare between France and 
 England now ensued, the events of which however are 
 so uninteresting as to be unworthy of detail, consisting 
 chiefly of the surprise of fortresses and petty skirmishes, 
 in which little advantage was gained on either side ; 
 and these were generally followed by truces that showed 
 the weakness of both parties. Both kings, indeed, had 
 exhausted their finances in the expedition to Palestine, 
 so that their individual qualities, more than the number 
 of their forces, were at issue, and in such a conflict the 
 impetuous valour of Richard was counteracted by the 
 cool, cautious policy of his rival. The chief action that 
 occurred, during these wars, was one fought near 
 Gisors, in which Philip, at the head of three hundred 
 knights, with their squires, and a large body of cavalry, 
 was completely defeated. The French fled in confusion 
 towards the fortress of Gisors, and the English followed 
 pell-mell, when the bridge along which the king of 
 France was hurrying broke down, and precipitated 
 bim, heavily armed as he was, with twenty of his 
 knights, into the river Epte. Here he would have been 
 drowned, but for the chivalrous devotedness of his fol- 
 lowers, who rallied against the pursuers, and perished 
 to a man, that he might have time to escape. Richard, 
 in describing this event, exultingly told, how he had 
 obliged his rival to drink of the waters of the Epte. 
 
 Another event which gratified the personal resentment 
 of the king of England during this war was, the capture 
 of Philip, bishop of Beauvais. This ecclesiastic was so 
 enamoured of military renown, that he was wont to 
 take the field at the head of his followers, and his fame 
 for personal prowess was almost as great as that of 
 Richard himself. But as he had still some scruples of 
 conscience in his warlike capacity, he respected the 
 canon which prohibited a priest from blood-shedding, 
 and usually wielded a huge mace in battle, with which 
 he unhorsed his enemies, or knocked them on the head, 
 without spilling their blood. Of all the enemies of 
 Richard, none was more imbittered against him than 
 this belligerent ecclesiastic, so that when the king was
 
 RICHARD I. 133 
 
 the prisoner of tbe emperor, he had intrigued for the 
 prolon;iation of his captivity. But in a skirruish under 
 the walls of Beauvais, the bishop was taken prisoner by 
 .Marcadee, the comruander of Richard's mercenaries, 
 and brought to the king, by whom he was immediately 
 loaded with the heaviest irons, and thrown into a dun- 
 geon. The unfortunate prelate endeavoured to stir up 
 the pope to procure his release, and the latter accord- 
 ingly sent a supplicating letter to Richard, entreating 
 him to release ' his dear son, the bishop of Beauvais.' 
 Richard sent back to the pontifl' the battered and blood- 
 stained armour of the priest, with the following text : 
 ' This have we found ; know, now, whether it be thy son's 
 coat or no.' • Not of a son of mine !' cried the pontiff, 
 smiling — ' it is the coat of a son of Mars : let Mars deliver 
 him if he will.' The bishop did not recover his liberty 
 until Richard died. 
 
 That event, which took place in the year 1199, was 
 altogether unworthy of Coeur de Lion's high character 
 and station. An ancient treasure had been discovered 
 on the estate of Vidomar, count of Limoges, who ofTered 
 a portion of it to Richard, as his superior lord. But the 
 king demanded the whole ; * and on being refused, he 
 laid siege to the castle of Chaluz, in which the treasure 
 was contained. The garrison offered to surrender, but 
 the king, incensed at their resistance, vauntingly told 
 them, that he would take the castle by force, and put 
 them all to death. On the fourth day of the siege, as he 
 vas riding round the walls, to discover the most favour- 
 able point of onset, one of the garrison, called Bertram 
 de Jourdan, a cross-bowman, took steady aim, and struck 
 tbe king with an iron-headed bolt in the left shoulder. 
 The wound was trivial, but such was the unskilfuluess of 
 the surgeons in attempting to extract the arrow, that a 
 mortification foUowed.t The assault in the mean time 
 
 * By the feudal law the crown could claim all treas^ire-trove— that 
 -, money, plate, or buhion, found hidden in the earth. Richard's de- 
 
 .-aii(i, therefore, was perfectly consistent with justice. 
 t Of thi- nature of surgery at this pernid, we have a very curious 
 
 ^jeciraen in the case of the archdukt of Austii i, the enemy of 'Rich ird. 
 
 I : con.-equence of a fall at a tournament, his leg was bruised, and a 
 
 -i.iiirene ensued. The amputaiiou of the limb w.is declared iniis- 
 
 ■ nsable for the recovery f>f the patient ; but no one had the necessary 
 
 .1 f<ir this feat of surgery. At length one of his attendants snatch d 
 
 ■■ a common axe, and ut i rin^^ a pious ejaculaiion, he lopped ('ff the 
 
 ' inher with a single downright b ow. The liiike died not"ith- 
 
 -'.iidiniT.
 
 1S4 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 was given, the castle was taken, and all the defenders 
 were put to death except the archer, who was reserved 
 for a death of torture. He was brought into the pre- 
 sence of the dying king, who indignantly exclaimed, 
 ' Wretch ! what evil have I done to you, that you at- 
 tempted my life?' ' Sir King,' said the other undaunt- 
 edly, ' with your own hand you killed my father, and 
 my bi'other, and me also you designed to put to an igno- 
 minious death. I can now suffer your greatest tortures 
 with joy, in the thought that I have slain a tyrant, and 
 a murderer.' Richard was softened by the approach of 
 death and the man's magnanimity, so that he ordered 
 him to be set free, and a hundred shillings to be given to 
 him; but Marcadee, the commander of the Brabanfons, 
 caused him to be flayed alive. The king died on the 6th 
 of April, in the forty-second year of his age, after having 
 reigned ten years, not one of which was spent in his 
 own kingdom. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 From the Accession of John to the Death of 
 Henry the Third. 
 
 On the death of Richard Coeur de Lion, the crown of 
 England, according to the principles of hereditary suc- 
 cession, should have descended to Arthur, the son of 
 Geoffrey. This disposition had been also made by the 
 will of the late king ; but the rights of an unprotected 
 infant were not likely to be respected by an uncle so 
 bold and unscrupulous as John. The latter, on the death 
 of Richard, took possession of Chinon, which contained 
 the royal treasure ; and having thus armed himself with 
 golden persuasions, he prevailed upon the Norman ba- 
 rons to inaugurate him as duke of Normandy, on the 
 25th of April (1199). But his claims were not so speedily 
 recognised in England, where he w^as generally hated, 
 and the nobles made preparations in every quarter to 
 oppose his accession. It was only the fear of a civil war 
 that induced them to drop their hostility ; and John, after 
 a plentiful distribution of money among his opponents, 
 and many promises of good government, was recognised 
 king of England at Westminster, on the 28th of May, 
 being then in the thirty-second year of his age.
 
 JOHN'S WARS WITH FRANCE. 1S5 
 
 In the mean time, Philip Augustus was not indifferent 
 to these events in England. In his great aim of restor- 
 lug the integrity of the French dominions, he had divided 
 the family and imbittered the last days of Henry II., as 
 well as retarded the conquests of Richard ; and although 
 he had been checked by the great abilities of the former, 
 and the valour of the latter, he had never swerved from 
 his purpose. But John was an antagonist of a very dif- 
 ferent stamp ; weak, not only from his personal qualities 
 and crimes, but weak as a usurper; and the king of 
 France commenced hostilities by espousing the cause of 
 Arthur., in whose behalf he demanded from John the ces- 
 sion of all his French possessions. The events that fol- 
 lowed are more of a political than a military complexion, 
 iiid negotiations followed each other, in which the in- 
 tH rests of Arthur, now duke of Bretagne, were banded to 
 and fro between the selfishness of the two chief compe- 
 titors. At length an event took place, that not only 
 deprived England of all her possessions on the continent, 
 but sowed those seeds of dissension between John and 
 his nobles, that afterwards ripened into such a porten- 
 tous harvest. He had already disgusted the chiefs of 
 Aquitaine and Poictou, when, to crown all, he conceived 
 a lawless passion for the beautiful wife of the count of 
 la Marche ; and although he had been married for ten 
 years to the fair and virtuous Avisa, daughter of the 
 earl of Gloucester, he got possession of the person of the 
 countess, and married her at Augouleme. The injured 
 husband roused the nobles of Aquitaine and Poictou to 
 arms ; but when John prepared to chastise them, his 
 English barons refused to follow bis standard in such a 
 petty and dishonourable warfare. The king of France 
 joyfully took part with the revolters of the continent, 
 and by again setting up the claims of the duke of Bre- 
 tagne, he successfully multiplied the difficulties of the 
 flagitious John. The French forces were poured into Nor- 
 mandy, while an army under Arthur laid siege to the 
 town of Mirebeau, about six miles from Poictiers, in 
 which Eleaiior the mother of John resided. But this 
 ancient heroine made a stout resistance, until her son 
 was apprised of her difficulties, upon which he flew to 
 her rescue. The town was already in the possession of 
 The enemy, while Eleanor held out in the citadel; but 
 khn, who I!) this solitary instance showed great promp-
 
 136 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 titude, jrnt possession of Mirebeau by treachex'y, on the 
 night of the 31st of July (1202), and took. Arthur pri- 
 soner, with above 200 of his most distinguished fol- 
 lowers. The miseries of this young competitor, who was 
 now only fifteen years old, had commenced even before 
 he saw the light. His father had been killed at a tour- 
 nament, eight months before he was born ; his infancy 
 had been continually endangered by John's machinations ; 
 and during the period of his boyhood, his cause had been 
 alternately espoused and sacrificed by the French king, 
 who used him as an instrument to promote his own 
 purposes. His first trial in arms had now terminated 
 in the ruin of his followers, and his own captivity, and 
 from such a jailor as John no liberation but that of 
 death could be expected. He soon ceased to be seen 
 either by friend or enemy : it was universally known 
 that he had been assassinated ; and several writers have 
 not scrupled to allege, that John himself was the 
 assassin. 
 
 It only needed an action like this to make the king 
 of England universally odious upon the continent. The 
 people of Bretagne, by whom their young prince was en- 
 thusiastically beloved, were almost frantic at his death, 
 and, according to the feudal custom, they laid their 
 grievances before their sovereign, the king of France, 
 and clamoured for justice against the murderer. Philip 
 Augustus summoned John to appear before him, as a 
 vassal of the French crown, to answer their accusations, 
 a command with which, as might have been expected, 
 John did not find it convenient to comply ; and upon 
 this the court declared him a rebel against France, and 
 sentenced bira to the forfeiture of all those dominions 
 which he held of the French seigniory. Philip Augustus 
 had no sooner levied an army, and commenced his 
 march, to enforce the decision, than the chiefs of Nor- 
 mandy and Bretagne, of Anjou, and Maine, yielded up 
 their strong-holds, and flocked to his banner, so that his 
 progress was a triumphal march, rather than a campaign. 
 In the mean time, John, who should have been in the 
 field, was spending his time in riot and debauchery, at 
 Rouen, surrounded by lewd women and effeminate cour- 
 tiers ; and when told of the successes of the enemy, he 
 only answered with a loud laugh — ' Let them go on; 
 let the scum of French and Bretons go on : I will re-
 
 JOHN'S DISPUTES WITH THE POPi. 137 
 
 cover in a single day what they are winning with such 
 time and labour!' The enemy did go on, until they 
 came to the neighbourhood of Rouen, upon which John 
 roused himself; but it was only to fly to England, which 
 he did with great activity. He now endeavoured to stir 
 up the English nobles to assist him in the recovery of his 
 foreign dominions ; but they were disgusted at the man- 
 ner in which they had been lost, and peremptorily re- 
 fused to follow his banner out of the country. In the 
 mean time the progress of the king of France was so 
 successful, that by the end of 1204, Normandy, Bretagne, 
 Anjou, Maine, Touraine and Poictou— all the rich pos- 
 sessions that had been united to the crown of England 
 by the accession of William the Conqueror and Henry II. 
 and the preservation of which had been maintained at 
 such an expense of blood and treasure, reverted to the 
 possession ef France with a quickness and facility that 
 can find no parallel even in the conquests of the middle 
 ages. 
 
 The course of John, after these events, can only be 
 understood as that of a madman. As if France had 
 not now been a sufficiently powerful enemy by the ac- 
 cession of so much territory, he hurled defiance against 
 a power more formidable than that of France, and with 
 which kings and emperors had striven in vain. The 
 ominous see of Canterbury had become vacant, and the 
 pope had nominated Stephen Langton to the primacy; 
 but John — regardless of his father's example in the case 
 of Thomas a Becket — nominated a different candidate ; 
 and when the monks of Canterbury refused to receive 
 him, they were driven from their convent, and banished 
 to Flanders. The pope remonstrated, but in vain : John 
 defied his authority, and continued to persecute the 
 clergy, upon which the pope threatened him with an 
 interdict. As soon as the bishops, who were commis- 
 sioned with this message, had announced it, the king 
 foamed with rage : he swore by God's teeth, that if they 
 dared to lay his kingdom under an interdict, he would 
 send them all packing to Rome ; and that if he caught 
 any Roman shavelings in the land, he would tear out 
 their eyes, cut off their noses, and send them in this 
 condition to the pope. These, indeed, were big words ; 
 but the match was wofully unequal between Innocent 
 III. the ablest of pontiffs, and John, the weakest of
 
 138 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 English sovereigns. On the 23d of March, 1208, the 
 dreadful sentence was pronounced, by which the public 
 exercises of religion were suspended in England. The 
 churches were closed ; the statues of the saints were 
 removed from their niches, and laid prostrate on the 
 ground ; the church bells were no longer rung ; even 
 the dead bodies, instead of being laid in consecrated 
 earth, were thrown into ditches, or huddled into dis- 
 honoured graves, without prayer or blessing. The whole 
 flock was thus smitten for the offences of its shepherd, 
 but John, unmoved by the distress of his people, still 
 held out, upon which the pontiff proceeded to the more 
 terrible sentence of excommunication. By this the 
 offender himself was reached: he was debarred, not 
 only from the rites of religion, but even the attendance 
 of his servants, and the intercourse of his friends ; all 
 were enjoined to shun him as an accursed thing, and a 
 blessing was pronounced upon the hand that either 
 secretly or openly should deprive him of life. A king 
 thus denounced was more miserable and helpless than 
 his meanest servant. In the midst of his guards every 
 sword might be turned against him, while in solitude 
 every recess might conceal an assassin. 
 
 It was during the period of the interdict, however, 
 which lasted a year, that John conducted the only suc- 
 cessful expedition of his reign. The English nobility of 
 Ireland had of late been rebellious to his authority, upon 
 which he levied an army, under pretence of recovering 
 Normandy ; but when all was ready, he set sail for 
 Ireland, where he landed on the 6th of June (1210), after 
 which he immediately proceeded to Dublin. His force 
 on this occasion was such as neither the native chiefs 
 nor the English revolters could resist; and in twelve 
 weeks, the whole couTitry was effectually reduced to 
 submission, and placed under the government of English 
 law. In the next year John planned an expedition 
 into Wales; and to raise supplies for the purpose, he 
 extorted money in the most oppressive manner from the 
 monasteries, but especially from the Jews. Among 
 others, a rich Jew of the town of Bristol was imprisoned, 
 and assessed in the enormous sum of 10,000 marks for 
 his deliverance : this he refused to pay, xipon which 
 John ordered that a tooth should be daily extracted 
 from the recusant's jaw, until payment was made. The 
 
 I 
 
 I
 
 PAPAL DEPOSITION OF JOHN. 139 
 
 Hebrew stubbornly persevered in the defence of his 
 money for seven days, during which he lost as many 
 teeth ; but on the eighth day, he surrendered, and paid 
 the ransom. By such infamous methods, the tyrant was 
 enabled to raise a large arm^', with which he penetrated 
 into Wales, to the foot of Snowdon ; and the Welsh 
 cliieftains, who were unable to meet him in the field, 
 made submission, and surrendered twenty-eight youths 
 
 if their best families, as hostages. These successes 
 however only embarrassed his affairs, by encouraging 
 uis arrogance and despotism, and upon the strength of 
 
 uch minor achievements he continued to levy unjust 
 caxes, and increase the severity of the forest laws, until 
 all the nobles were turned against him, while the whole 
 country cried out for deliverance. 
 
 The pope, who had waited in vain for the sub- 
 
 A. D. mission of his obstinate son, and saw that mat- 
 1213- ters had ripened for the infliction of the last 
 punishment of the church, now proceeded to the 
 deposition of John. The English were absolved from 
 their allegiance ; all Christian potentates were invited 
 make war upon the excommunicated and contumacious 
 !)_>•; and not only the remission of all sins was pro- 
 i=ed to those who embarked in such a holy war, but 
 the crown of England, forfeited by the crimes of its 
 wearer, was held out as the reward of the victor. Philip 
 A'igustus, who at least valued the temporal part of these 
 conditions, now stood forward as the prime champion of 
 tlie church, and about the middle of March he was pre- 
 pared to invade England with a fleet of 1,700 sail. But 
 although the English ships tiiumphantly swept the coasts 
 of Normandy, and confined the enemy to their harbours, 
 while 60,000 soldiers were mustered on Barham Downs, 
 to repel the invaders, the heart of John utterly failed him. 
 He knew that he had lost the afiections of his people, 
 so that he was as much afraid of his own soldiers as of 
 the enemy. Besides being both a boaster and a coward, 
 be was as abjectly superstitious as he was recklessly 
 yrofane ; and the prediction of a certain prophet, called 
 Peter of Pomfret, that he should lose his crown before 
 t je feast of Ascension was over, had utterly dismayed 
 •:v spirit that was wont to defy all higher sanctions. 
 locent had now brought the trembler to the yielding 
 lit, and nothing was necessary but negotiation; upon
 
 140 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 which Pandulph, one of the most able of the cardinals, 
 was sent to John with offers of accommodation. The 
 wily Italian so wrought upon his hopes and fears, by ter- 
 rible pictures of the French king's preparations ou the 
 one hand, and the representations of the clement spirit of 
 the church on the other, that John conceded every thing 
 which the most successful conqueror could have de- 
 manded. He consented to become the vassal of the pope, 
 and to hold England of him in fee, by the payment of 
 an annual tribute ; he also agreed to receive Langton as 
 archbishop of Canterbury, and make restitution to those 
 churchmen he had despoiled ; and in token of this sur- 
 render, he took the oath of papal allegiance upon his 
 knees, delivered up to Pandulph the crown of England, 
 and presented the first payment of the tribute-money, 
 upon which the cardinal scornfully .set his foot. The 
 Italian had now a more difficult pupil to manage in Philip 
 Augustus, who was to be taught that farther proceedings 
 were unnecessary, John having become a penitent son 
 of the church, and England itself a fief of the Holy 
 See. But the French king was indignant at this argu- 
 ment : he declared that he had undertaken all this toil 
 and expense at the command of the pontitV, and for the 
 welfare of his soul, and that he could not suspend his 
 operations when success was so completely within his 
 reach. He even continued his march to the coast, in 
 spite of the papal thunder that began to menace him as 
 fiercely as it had done his rival ; and perhaps he would 
 have embarked for the invasion of England, but for the 
 rebellion of Ferrand, earl of Flanders, one of his most 
 powerful vassals. John, who aided the earl on this 
 occasion, sent a powerful fleet against that of France ; 
 and the great battle of Damme followed, in which the 
 French navy was utterly annihilated by that of England. 
 The hostility of France was thus suspended for 
 A. u. a time; but John, no longer apprehensive of in- 
 1215. vasion, continued to make enemies among his 
 own subjects. He had so completely disgusted 
 the nobility, that they refused to follow his banner 
 into France, upon which he imported large hordes of 
 savage Brabanjons into the kingdom, with whom he 
 hoped to crush all opposition, and make himself absolute. 
 The nobles were thus compelled to strike for liberty in 
 self-defence ; and with archbishop Langton at their
 
 MAGNA CHARTA. 141 
 
 ad, they mustered their followers, swore to stand by 
 h other, aud agreed upon the chief terms of the 
 uarter, by which the power of the crown was to be 
 restricted, and the liberty of the subject ensured. In 
 consequence of this formidable coalition, John once 
 raore humbled himself before the church, and im- 
 plored its interference ; upon which the court of Rome, 
 that had formerly played off the barons ag-ainst the 
 king', now espoused his cause against the barons, and 
 commanded them to desist upon pain of spiritual cen- 
 sure. But the nobles, who were banded together in 
 a good cause, were not to be so easily humbled by 
 ecclesiastical terrors as their sovereign ; and they de- 
 termined that, unless the king complied with their 
 demand, they would withdraw their allegiance, and 
 proceed against him as a national enemy. John soon 
 found himself deserted, and he craved some delay that 
 he might deliberate upon their proposals ; but when the 
 appointed period of meeting arrived, he was startled 
 at the tremendous military apparition which his mis- 
 rule had conjured up. In Easter week, the great 
 barons of the realm, followed by 2,000 knights, and an 
 immense host of armed retainers, met at Stamford, and 
 proceeded to the neighbourhood of Oxford, where arch- 
 bishop Langton, and the earls of Pembroke and War- 
 renne, presented to the king a schedule, containing the 
 list of their demands. As soon as John glanced over the 
 parchment, he exclaimed, in a rage, ' Why do they not 
 demand my crown also? By God's teeth, I will not 
 i-ive them such grants as will make me nothing but a 
 slave !' Pandulph now interposed in behalf of John, 
 and proposed that Langton should excommunicate the 
 confederated nobles; but the heroic primate, instead of 
 complying, threatened to excommunicate John's mer- 
 cenaries unless they were dismissed the kingdom. The 
 kinjr's obstinacy occasioned another delay ; but during 
 the interval, the army of God and of Holy Church (for 
 such was the title which the confederates had adopted), 
 u as so powerfully reinforced by the burghers of Eng- 
 land, as to bear down and overwhelm all resistance. 
 John at last yielded, when his concession could no 
 longer claim any merit. On the loth of June, which 
 was the day appointed for the meeting between the 
 king and his subjects for ratifying the treaty, the parties
 
 142 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 assembled at Runnimede, John being attended only by 
 a few friends, while on the other side were assembled 
 the whole nobility of England ; and on the scroll being 
 presented, he signed, with a readiness that was truly 
 suspicious, the Magna Charta, or Great Charter, which 
 forms the boast and the safeguard of English liberty. 
 
 But promises and oaths cost the tyrant nothing ; and 
 scarcely was the ink. of his signature dry, when he 
 began to devise means to set the charter aside. He 
 sent therefore to the continent for fresh bands of foreign 
 adventurers, and to the pontiff for ecclesiastical aid 
 against his insurgent nobles. He also commanded such 
 of his creatures as he had invested with English pos- 
 sessions to draw their followers together, and prepare 
 their castles for defence. These were direct infringe- 
 ments of the fundamental principles of the charter, and 
 the alarmed barons proceeded to remonstrate ; but John, 
 assuming an air of frankness, pretended to laugh at 
 their suspicions as groundless, and gave them every 
 assurance they required. At length he was so strongly 
 reinforced by bands of mercenaries who daily thronged 
 to him from Poictou and Gascony, from Brabant and 
 Flanders, that he threw off the mask, attacked the 
 castle of Rochester, and after a siege of eight weeks 
 forced the garrison to capitulate, in spite of the barons 
 by whose forces it was protected. Upon this disaster, a 
 papal excommunication against the insurgents followed, 
 the pontiff declaring that the English barons were worse 
 than misbelieving Saracens for making war against so 
 religious a king. John followed up his success, by leav- 
 ing a strong detachment to menace the metropolis, and 
 marching towards Nottingham, marking his whole tract 
 by fire and slaughter. From Nottingham he proceeded 
 to Yorkshire, burning and slaying as he advanced ; so 
 that the miseries of the Norman conquests, or even a 
 Danish invasion, were outdone, John himself giving the 
 example to his followers, by setting fire, in the morning, 
 to the house in which he had stayed the previous night. 
 Wherever the Brabangons came, they inflicted the most 
 horrible tortures upon the English, to force them to 
 confess where they had concealed their monej' ; and 
 when the castle of a noble was taken, it was given to 
 the keeping of some needy, foreign mercenary. In the 
 mean time the barons, who had taken their station in
 
 DAUPHIN'S INVASION OF ENGLAND. 143 
 
 le metropolis, were confined within its walls by the 
 roe which John had left to overawe them, and they 
 x\v the land devastated, and their own possessions 
 )ilundered, without being- able to relieve or revenge the 
 <utierers. The cause of liberty was now desperate. 
 Jubn swept the northern counties with unsparing deso- 
 lation, while a powerful army ravaged at will in the 
 lieart of the kingdom ; and every day added to the mass 
 of evil by the arrival of fresh bands of military hire- 
 lings, who hurried to England like reapers to a harvest 
 held. 
 
 In this extremity, the barons had recourse to 
 
 A. D. the most perilous of all expedients for delivering 
 J 216- a country from bondage — that of calling in a 
 foreigner, and an enemy. They selected for this 
 purpose Louis, the dauphin of France, the son of Philip 
 Augustus, because he had married Blanche, the niece of 
 John : they also believed that his authority would suffice 
 to withdraw the mercenaries from the cause of the tyrant, 
 as they were the subjects of the French crown. Louis, 
 with all the enterprise of youth, was delighted at the 
 thought of annexing England to France, and on the 30th 
 of May he landed at Sandwich, with a powerful arma- 
 ment. John, who as usual lost heart when an enemy 
 drew nigh, fled from Dover, at which he had taken his 
 station, even before the French disembarked, while 
 Louis, after besieging and taking the castle of Rochester, 
 marched to London, where he was joyfully welcomed 
 
 IS a deliverer by all ranks of people. He received the 
 homage of the barons and citizens ; and after promising 
 to respect their rights, and restore order, he published 
 two proclamations, one of which induced most of the 
 nobles who still sided with John to desert his cause, and 
 the other most of the mercenaries, who either returned 
 home, or took service with their prince. John endea- 
 voured to show a hostile front with the men of Gascony 
 and Poictou, who still adhered to him ; but such was the 
 united force of the French and English opposed to him, 
 that instead of acting like a king, or the commander of 
 an army, engaged in a great national contest, his motions 
 were those of a leader of free companions, or a captain 
 of banditti, wholly intent upon a flying warfare of 
 plunder and revenge. 
 
 England was thus for the present in a pitiable dilem-
 
 144 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 ma, as she must either retvirn to the government of the 
 despot, or suhmit to become a province of France. But 
 this difficulty, which seemed too hard for human wis- 
 dom, was to be solved by events over which human 
 power had no control. Louis, instead of vigorously fol- 
 lowing up the war against John, by which he might 
 have secured a complete ascendancy, wasted away his 
 time in a fruitless siege of the castle of Dover ; and the 
 barons, who during the interval had time for reflection, 
 began to suspect the sincerity of their foreign ally. 
 Louis, without the talent, began already to tread in the 
 steps of William the Conqueror : he treated the natives 
 with contempt, and presumed already to bestow Eng- 
 lish titles and estates upon his French favourites. But 
 an incident occurred that completely separated the 
 English lords from the Dauphin. The count de Melun 
 being attacked by a mortal disease in London, sent for 
 such of the barons as were still in the city ; and amidst 
 the agonies and remorse of a death-bed, he disclosed to 
 them the full treachery of Louis. The prince he de- 
 clared had bound himself by a solemn oath, that as soon 
 as he should be crowned, he would banish the English 
 barons who had joined his standard, as traitors unworthy 
 of trust, and bestow their estates upon his own followers. 
 The words of the dying man were believed, and the ba- 
 rons were deliberating whether they ought not to adopt 
 the desperate alternative of returning to their allegiance, 
 when another change of events occurred in their favour. 
 John, after having been chased from place to place, had 
 at length made himself master of Lincoln, where he es- 
 tablished his head-quarters. After this, he marched 
 through Peterborough, Croyland, and Lynn, plundering 
 and destroying according to his wont, until he reached 
 the Cross Keys, on the southern side of the Wash, which 
 he resolved to cross by the sands. But this passage, 
 which was easy and safe for a single traveller, was peri- 
 lous to a numerous and encumbered army. The king 
 and most of his forces had reached the opposite shore 
 called the Fossdike, when a sudden rise of the tide, to 
 which the estuary is subject, took place ; the waves in- 
 creased with overwhelming violence ; and a crowding 
 multitude of men, carriages, and horses, with all the 
 royal treasure and baggage, were buried beneath the 
 water. John looked back in agony upon the wreck of
 
 DEATH OF JOHN. 145 
 
 his prospects, and, with deep curses upon the elements 
 and the disaster, pursued his journey to the abbey of 
 Swineshead. Here he rested for the night, and gorged 
 himself so plentifully with a supper of peaches and ale, 
 that a burning fever was the consequence. He still 
 however persevered in his march ; but with every mile 
 his agonies increased, so that when he reached the castle 
 of Newark on Trent, he made his will, and sent for a 
 confessor. At this moment there came messengers from 
 several of the barons who had forsaken Louis, and were 
 willing to return to him ; but the tidings came too late. 
 He expired on the 18th of October, in the forty-ninth 
 year of his age, and seventeenth of his reign, leaving 
 behind him the character of the weakest and worst sove- 
 reign that had ever disgraced the English throne. 
 
 Henry, the eldest son of John, was only ten years old 
 when his father died ; but his rights were ably supported 
 by the earl of Pembroke, who caused the young prince 
 to be crowned at Gloucester, on the 28th of October. 
 In the mean time the Dauphin, who was still occupied 
 in the siege of Dover, imagined that every obstacle to 
 his succession was removed by the death of John. But 
 as the garrison still continued to resist, he raised the 
 siege, and marched to London, after which he still far- 
 ther disgusted the country by insulting the nobles, and 
 oppressing the people. The young king therefore, to 
 whom the odium against his father had not descended, 
 became the rallying point of the national liberty, and 
 the cause of the foreigner was daily becoming more 
 hopeless. The earl of Pembroke took advantage of this 
 feeling to detach such of the English barons as still 
 continued with Louis from the French interests, while 
 in the field he was so successful, that the Dauphin was 
 cooped up within the walls of London. At last the great 
 naval victory oflf Dover, in which a French fleet carrying 
 reinforcements to Louis was destroyed, put an end to his 
 hopes of the English crown. He was fain to negotiate 
 for a safe return to France ; and he was so miserably 
 impoverished at this the end of his fruitless campaign, 
 that he was obliged to borrow money from the London 
 citizens, to defray the expenses of his journey home. 
 
 During the nonage of Henry, the affairs of England 
 were administered, first by the earl of Pembroke, and 
 afterwards by Hubert de Burgh, the hero of the sea- 
 H
 
 146 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 fight off Dover ; and as long as they continued in 
 office, the country was recovering from the effects of 
 those wars and civil dissensions with which it had been 
 agitated. But unfortunately both for king and nation, 
 de Burgh was displaced by the machinations of his rival, 
 Peter de Roches, a native of Poictou, who held the 
 bishopric of Winchester; and under the pernicious in- 
 fluence of this foreigner, the facile miud of Henry was 
 alienated from the native nobility, and inspired with 
 tyranny and mistrust. He therefore soon manifested 
 symptoms of setting aside the Great Charter, and, that 
 its defenders might be weakened, needy adventurers 
 from Poictou, Gascony, and other parts of France, were 
 invited into the kingdom, and liberally rewarded with 
 lordships, and the custody of fortresses. As if this national 
 insult too had not been sufficient, the Poictevin bishop 
 of Winchester had the arrogance to declare, that the 
 English barons were inferior to these foreign nobles, 
 and must not presume to put themselves upon the same 
 footing. But the evil was aggravated tenfold by the 
 marriage of Henry with Eleanor, the daughter of the 
 count of Provence, in 1236. In consequence of this 
 union, new swarms of Gascons and Provencals flocked 
 to England, where a royal welcome and court favour 
 awaited them. The king bestowed upon them every 
 acre of land, and every office of trust and profit, which 
 it was in his power to grant, and when his resources 
 were exhausted by the rapacity of these strangers, 
 he had then recourse to his nobility, for pecuniaj-y sup- 
 plies. They repeatedly voted him small subsidies, upon 
 the express condition that he should dismiss the fo- 
 reigners ; but Henry, who could promise almost as well 
 as his father, received the subsidies, and forgot his en- 
 gagemejits. By the Great Charter, a clause had been 
 provided for the summary banishment of unjust royal 
 favourites ; but when the foreigners were reminded of 
 this, they only laughed, and exclaimed, ' What are your 
 English laws to us V 
 
 In the mean time, as if to multiply his difficulties, and 
 increase his disgrace, Henry entered into a war with 
 France. The inglorious losses of the tyrant John upon 
 the continent sat lightly upon the English nobility 
 while they were engaged in the war of the Charter; 
 and they afterwards regarded the recovery of their lost
 
 UNSUCCESSFUL INVASI-ONS OF FRAxVCE. 147 
 
 footing there as an undesirable event, from the increase 
 of power with which it might invest the crown. Such 
 however was not likely to be the view of Henry, and thert- 
 fore, in 1229, he had listened to an invitation from the 
 nobles of the diflerent states once belonging to England, 
 and conducted an invasion to recover his hereditary pos- 
 sessions ; but after an inglorious campaign, he retui-ned 
 to England covered with disgrace, in 1242, he resolved 
 to repeat the experiment, and therefore applied to the 
 English parliament for money ; but they refused, upon 
 the plea that such an invasion would be a breach of the 
 truce that had been made with the king of France. But 
 Henry, still bent upon the war, contrived to procure 
 thirty hogsheads filled with silver ; and having set sail 
 ■with a chosen body of knights, he was joined, on his 
 landing in France, by about 20,000 auxiliaries from 
 those states that wished to be independent of the French 
 king. Louis IX. however was a very different sove- 
 reign from Henry III., and this campaign terminated 
 still more disastrously for the English than the foimer. 
 Louis, at the head of a superior force, encountered hia 
 antagonist at the river Charente, in Saintonge, and gave 
 him a decisive defeat. On the next day, another battle 
 was fought between them at the town of Saintes ; and 
 here Henry was routed so effectually, that his treasure, 
 baggage, and furniture, fell into the hands of the enemy. 
 His whole army, indeed, would have been cut off or cap- 
 tured, but for the moderation of Louis, and a dysentery 
 among the French soldiers, that prevented this success 
 from being prosecuted. Henry returned to England, 
 to demand more money for this hopeless war; but the 
 barons, in reply, upbraided him with his frequent 
 violations of the charter. To raise finances, he even 
 pretended that he would conduct an expedition to the 
 Holy Land ; but the nobles, who knew that he only 
 wanted money to squander upon his favourites, refused 
 to gratify his demands. At length, in 1253, Henry as- 
 sembled his parliament, for the purpose of solemnly rati- 
 fying the conditions of the Great Charter, without which 
 he well knew his subjects would make no pecuniary 
 concessions. Every thing upon this occasion conspired 
 to give religious solemnity to the proceeding. On the 
 3rd of May, Westminster Hall was crowded with the 
 barons, the prelates, and abbots of the kingdoms ; the
 
 148 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 archbishop of Canterbury denounced the curses of the 
 church against all who should, either directly or indi- 
 rectly, violate the conditions of the national charter; 
 and at the end of this impressive fulraination, the bishops 
 and abliots cast their burning tapers on the ground, 
 exclaiming with one voice, ' May the soul of every one 
 ■who incurs this sentence so stink, and be extinguished 
 in hell !' The king, who during the whole ceremony 
 stood with a devout look, holding his hand on his heart, 
 then raised his head, and exclaimed, ' So help me 
 God ! I will keep these charters inviolate, as 1 am a 
 man, as I am a Christian, as I am a knight, and as I 
 am a king crowned and anointed !' The confidence of 
 the nation was won by these solemn pledges, and money 
 ■was liberally granted ; but the old abuses were still left 
 unredressed, while the obnoxious foreigners continued 
 as high in the royal favour as ever. 
 
 National injuries such as these not only ripened a 
 spirit of general resistance, but called forth a leader to 
 direct it ; and the celebrated earl of Leicester stepped 
 forward, as the champion of the liberties of England. 
 This extraordinary person was himself a foreigner, being 
 the youngest son of the count de Montfort ; he succeeded 
 however to the earldom of Leicester, in right of his 
 mother Amicia, and arrived in England in 123S, where 
 he married a sister of the king. These circumstances 
 were little qualified, of themselves, to secure the popular 
 favour ; but he soon astonished the English by espousing 
 their rights against the foreigners, while he obtained an 
 ascendancy over the nobles by his wisdom, eloquence, 
 and martial capacity, and endeared himself to the clergy 
 by his learning and devotedness to religion. Lender 
 such a leader, the feelings of the nation were not likely 
 to expire in fruitless complaints, and a general famine 
 in the year 1258, brought on the crisis. The king called 
 a parliament at Westminster, on the 2d of May, which 
 the nobles were careful to attend, but it was in complete 
 armour; and when Henry entered the hall, he was asto- 
 nished by the universal glittering of mail, and the rat- 
 tling of heavy swords. ' Ha! what means this?' cried 
 the unwarlike sovereign ; ♦ am I then a prisoner V ' Not 
 so, sire,' exclaimed Roger Bigod ; ' but your foreign fa- 
 vourites, and your own profusion, have involved this 
 realm in sore calamity ; therefore we demand that the
 
 LEICESTER'S ASCENDANCY. I49 
 
 powers of govemnient may be made over to a comraittee 
 of bishops and barons, that they may root up abuses, 
 and enact g-ood laws.' Henry was now as helpless as 
 his father had been at Runnimede, and like him he 
 yielded to the stem requisitions of the armed nobility of 
 England. A parliament was appointed to be held on 
 an early day at Oxford, for the appointment of the 
 stipulated committee, and the reform of abuses. This 
 meetinii", contemptuously termed ' the mad parliament,' 
 assembled on the llth of June ; and to ensure the royal 
 compliance, the barons came attended by their military 
 retainers. Henry made litrle resistance to proposals 
 thus seconded, and a committee of twenty-four members 
 was chosen, twelve of whom were appointed by the 
 king, and the other twelve by the barons, while Leicester 
 was appointed head of the supreme council. This as- 
 sembly forthwith decreed that four knights should be 
 chosen in each county, by the votes of the freeholders, 
 to represent them in parliament ; that a new sheriff 
 should also be appointed by them in each county an- 
 nually ; and that three sessions should be held by par- 
 liament regularly, every year. The foreign party were 
 naturally indignant at these portentous changes, and 
 clamoured at the abridgement of the royal prerogative ; 
 but Leicester, who was now in effect invested with regal 
 authority, bore so hard upon them, that the king's fo- 
 reign relatives, and a throng of their friends and de- 
 pendants, were glad to fly the kingdom, to the great 
 delight of the English. 
 
 But the experiment of such a parliament, in which 
 the power of the people was acknowledged, and their 
 rights respected, was too much for the thirteenth cen- 
 tury : it anticipated too hastily the improvements of a 
 later pei-iod ; and the champions of liberty, after having 
 tasted of power, fell into the natural consequences of des- 
 potism and mutual rivalry. Leicester was envied, and 
 opposed by his colleagues, who set up against him the 
 earl of Gloucester ; and young prince Edward, who now 
 became a busy actor on the scene, increased their dis- 
 sensions by espousing the cause of the different parties, 
 in turn. In this situation the king, who had been closely 
 watched by Leicester, escaped from restraint in 1261, 
 and repaired to London, which he fortified against the 
 barons, and the great earl was obliged to fly to France.
 
 150 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 From this banishment however he was recalled by one 
 of those strange and sudden changes which characte- 
 rised the politics of this rude period. The earl of Glou- 
 cester died, and his son, instead of inheriting- his feelings 
 of rivalry, became the admirer and bosom friend of Lei- 
 cester. Tiie exile therefore returned in 1263, and through 
 the aid of his new ally he became more powerful than 
 ever. Henry yielded to the storm, and again promised 
 every thing, but with the resolution of breaking his pro- 
 mises with the first opportunity. Leicester, once more in 
 the ascendant, forgot his moderation ; he insisted that the 
 committee of government, appointed by the parliament of 
 Oxford for the regulation of state affairs, should con- 
 tinue their office not only during the life of the king, 
 but that of his successor ; and prince Edward, who had 
 latterly adhered to the barons, now finding his own in- 
 terests aimed at, forsook their cause, and devoted him- 
 self heart and soul to the defence of the royal preroga- 
 tives. A dreadful civil war was now inevitable, and 
 both parties prepared themselves for conflict by an atro- 
 city that commonly prefaced the great military move- 
 ments of the age. Loyalists and Leicesterites fell with 
 one consent upon the unhappy Jews, whom they mas- 
 sacred in cold blood, without distinction of age or sex ; 
 the former party alleging, that their victims were allied 
 with the barons ; and the latter, that they were in league 
 •with the king, and plotting to destroy the friends of 
 liberty. 
 
 In point of adherents and military resources, 
 A. D. the two parties seem to have been nearly equal. 
 1264. The nobles of the northern counties and the 
 western border followed the standard of the king, 
 while the midland counties, the south-east, the Cinque 
 ports, and the city of London, took the side of Leicester. 
 At the opening of the campaign, the cause of the king 
 appeared the most prosperous ; but as he advanced towards 
 the south-east, and endeavoured to withdraw the Cinque 
 ports from his antagonists, reverses began to follow. 
 Leicester, who in the mean time had been mustering his 
 forces in London, now marched out to settle the contest 
 by a decisive battle, and found the king disadvantage- 
 ously posted in a hollow at Lewes, in Sussex, but con- 
 fident in his superiority of numbers. The royal banner 
 was followed by all the foreigners that remained in
 
 BATTLE OF LEWES. 151 
 
 England; by the houses of Bigod, Bohun, and Percy; 
 and by Robert Bruce, John Comyn, and John Baliol, 
 from beyond the borders. On the other side were Derby, 
 Warrenne, Gloucester, the Despencers, William Marmion, 
 Robert de Roos, Richard Grey, John Fitz-John, Nicholas 
 Segrave, and many others of noble lineage, and large 
 estates. Leicester, who endeavoured to impart a sacred 
 character to his cause, recounted the many perjuries of 
 the king, and cheered his followers with the assurance 
 that Heaven was on their side ; he caused them to wear 
 white ci'osses on their breasts, as if they were engaged 
 in a crusade ; while the bishop of Chichester, walking 
 through the ranks, and seconding the assurances of their 
 leader, gave a general absolution to the army, and pro- 
 mised to all who fell, an entrance into paradise. 
 
 The battle was commenced on the part of the royalists 
 by the young Edward, at the head of a chosen body of 
 cavalry. Opposed to him was a strong force of the citi- 
 zens of London ; and the prince, burning with revenge 
 OQ account of the insults which they had heaped upon 
 his mother, attacked them with such impetuosity, that 
 they were broken almost in an instant, chased from the 
 field, and trampled down in heaps. The pursuit led him 
 far from the battle, so that the foot were left unprotected, 
 and Leicester profited by the opportunity to make a con- 
 centrated attack upon the main body of the royal army. 
 The king's forces, after a short and unequal struggle, were 
 completely beaten; the king himself, and his brother the 
 king of the Romans, were taken prisoners, with John 
 Comyn, and Robert Bruce ; and when Edward returned 
 from his rash pursuit, he found the field covered with 
 dead, and his father a captive. He h^d no time even to 
 deplore the effects of his impetuosity, for he was sud- 
 denly charged by a strong body of horse, and made pri- 
 soner. In this battle, which was fought on the 14th of 
 May, more than 5000 Englishmen fell. In the mean 
 time the queen, who had fled to the continent, gathered 
 a powerful army by the aid of different princes, who 
 regarded the cause of Henry as their own ; and she now 
 lay at Damme in Flanders, ready to cross the channel. 
 But Leicester, with great promptitude, ordered a muster 
 of his soldiers on Barham Downs, to be ready for the 
 enemy should they arrive ; he then stepped on board, 
 and took command of a fleet, to oppose the invaders by
 
 152 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 sea. His display so intimidated the queen's adherents, 
 that their land forces were disbanded, and their fleet 
 never ventured from the port. 
 
 1265. — These successes of Leicester had been tarnished 
 by no act of cruelty, and every step had only endeared 
 him the more highly to the people, so that, although the 
 pope had excommunicated him and his adherents, he 
 was lauded even by the clergy, in their sermons, as 
 the champion of the church, and saviour of the nation. 
 But this very popularity, which raised him so high 
 above others, led to his downfall. Presuming upon his 
 influence, he disgusted his enemies by farther curtail- 
 ments of the royal authority, while he displeased his 
 friends by an ungracious assumption of superiority. The 
 eai'l of Gloucester, therefore, by whose influence he had 
 been recalled from banishment, became his rival, and 
 planned the release of prince Edward, who escaped on 
 a fleet horse that had been provided for the purpose. 
 Edward immediately repaired to Gloucester, with whom 
 he concerted the plan of a new campaign ; and the 
 friends of the king, upon the news of this escape, mus- 
 tei'ed their followers, and repaired to the prince's stand- 
 ard. As Leicester's forces were divided, a part remain- 
 ing with himself at Hereford, while the remainder were 
 with his eldest son Simon de Montfort in Sussex, the 
 first object of Edward was to prevent their junction, and 
 confine the earl to the right bank of the Severn. For 
 this purpose, he destroyed all the bridges and boats on 
 the river, and secured the fords ; after which he marched 
 against the son, whose forces he surprised in a night 
 attack, near Kenilworth. Nearly the whole army of 
 Simon de Montfort were slain or taken prisoners on 
 this occasion, while Simon himself, almost naked and 
 alone, was obliged to flee to his father's castle of Kenil- 
 worth. 
 
 In the mean time the earl had made successful eflJ'orts 
 to extricate himself from the blockade on the banks of 
 the Severn ; he crossed the river after several skilful 
 manoeuvres, and advanced first to Worcester, and then 
 to Evesham, hourly expecting the arrival of his son with 
 reinforcements. On the morning of the 4th of August, 
 his hopes were gratified for a moment, for on looking in 
 the direction of Kenilworth, he saw a force descending 
 from the hills, bearing his own standards. But he soon
 
 BATTLK OF EVESHAM. 153 
 
 discovered that these were the captured banners of his 
 followers, under which the enemy had stolen upon him, 
 while almost immediately afterwards numerous troops 
 were seen advancing, and closing- upon his flanks and 
 rear, so that he was completely suiTounded. Astonished 
 at the precision and secrecy of this combined movement, 
 rlie earl, after a gloomy pause, exclaimed, ' They have 
 l-arned from me the art of war! May God have mercy 
 on our souls, for our bodies are the prince's.' He now 
 made every effort to array his soldiers as far as the time 
 would permit; after which he spent a short time in 
 prayer, and took the sacrament, as was his wont before 
 entering into battle. He first attempted to extricate 
 himself by forcing the road to Kenilworth, but was re- 
 pulsed ; he then formed his anny into a solid circle, on 
 the top of a hill, and thus successfully repelled several 
 attacks of the royalists, by whom be was completely sur- 
 rounded. But these assaults only became more furious; 
 and in one of them king Henry, whom Leicester had 
 led into the field, and whose features were concealed by 
 a helmet, was thrown to the ground, and in danger of 
 being despatched, when he shouted, ' Hold, I am Harry 
 of Winchester!' Prince Edward, who heard the cry, 
 spurred through the battle to his father's rescue, and 
 conducted the trembling old man to a place of safety. 
 In the mean time the small army of Leicester began to 
 waver beneath the repeated shocks of their opponents ; 
 a body of Welsh, who followed his standard, were 
 broken and dispersed ; and his horse fell with him 
 among the spears of the enemy, who still seemed to 
 multiply at every point. The earl rose, and fought gal- 
 lantly on foot ; but seeing all resistance hopeless, he 
 asked the royalists, if they gave quarter. ' No quarter 
 for traitors !' was the stern reply, upon which he con- 
 tinued to fight on with the energy of despair, till at last 
 he fell sword in hand amidst the bodies of his devoted 
 friends, and his gallant son Henry, who had died in his 
 defence. All the ferocity of a civil war was exhibited 
 by the king's party on this occasion ; no prisoners were 
 taken, and 180 barons and knights of Leicester's amiy 
 fell in this fatal conrtict of Evesham. The body of the 
 earl himself was dragged from amidst the slain, after 
 the battle, and mutilated in the most brutal fashion, 
 after which it was sent as a most gratifying present to 
 H 2
 
 13 t MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the lady of lord Mortimer, one of Leicester's greatest 
 enemies. — Such was the end of this early champion of 
 English freedom. His political errors indeed were 
 many, but they were inseparable fi-om the age, and his 
 position. Men who smarted under tyranny, understood 
 no freedom except that which implied an exemption 
 from all restraint ; and to Leicester belongs the merit 
 of having first discovered the happy medium afterwards 
 established in our constitution, by which the despotism 
 of kings was balanced by a parliament, where the rights 
 and privileges of the people were represented and pro- 
 tected. In personal character and talents he far sur- 
 passed his rude contemporaries, while he was so much 
 endeared to the people, that he was long after revered 
 as a national saint, under the title of * Simon the 
 Righteous.' 
 
 The cause for which Leicester fought and died was 
 not buried in his grave. However the nobles might 
 envy his superiority, they were not disposed to barter 
 their liberty as the price of revenge ; and therefore even 
 before they joined the cause of prince Edward, they 
 obliged him to swear that he would observe the charters, 
 govern according to law, and banish the foreign favour- 
 ites. After the victory of Evesham, also, Henry did not 
 dare to trespass, as he had so often done, against the 
 regulations of Magna Charta. But if this important 
 point was conceded, the private revenge of the more 
 devoted of the royalists was amply gratified by a merci- 
 less proscription of the family and partisans of Leicester, 
 upon whiih the latter took up arms in self-defence, so 
 that the war was resumed. It raged with full violence 
 for two years; and little could be accomplished until 
 the royal party relaxed, and admitted their opponents 
 to easy terms. The last of the Leicesterites who stood 
 out was the brave Adam Gourdon, who fortified himself 
 in the forests of Hampshire. But this warlike baron 
 was encountered by Edward, in a wood near Alton, and 
 in the conflict he and the prince met, and encoun- 
 tered furiously hand to hand. After a long combat 
 the baron was struck to the ground ; but the prince, 
 instead of despatching him, generously granted him his 
 life, and received him into the number of his friends. 
 This act of chivalrous clemency subdued all farther 
 opposition, and the adoption by the king a short time
 
 EDWARD I. 155 
 
 after of some of the best itniiroveinents in Leicester's 
 system conciliated all parties. The country was so com- 
 pletely tranquillized after this period that, in 1270, prince 
 Edward assumed the cross, and embarked as a crusader 
 tor the Holy Land. Nothing of importance occurred 
 during' the rest of Henry's reign, which terminated on 
 he 16th of November, 1272. He had lived 68 years, 
 ad reigned 56, having been remarkable during so long 
 ct period for nothing but imbecility and insincerity. 
 Before his body was lowered into the grave, the earl of 
 Gloucester, and the assembled nobles, put their naked 
 hands upon it, and swore allegiance to prince Edward, 
 who was still absent in the Holy Land. 
 
 EDWARD I. 
 
 SURN'AMED LOXGSHAXKS. 
 
 Edward 1. commonly sumamed Longshanks, from the 
 disproportionate length of his legs, was born at West- 
 minster, on the 2Cth of June, 1240. The manner in 
 which be was trained both to war and politics, amidst 
 the confusion and bloodshed that prevailed in England 
 during his early years, and the ability with which he 
 surmounted every difficulty, and restored peace to the 
 country, have been already mentioned. As soon as 
 every thing was tranquillized, he made preparations 
 for joining the crusade, in which Louis IX. (afterwards 
 called Saint Louis) had already embarked. Edward 
 set sail from England, accompanied by his beloved wife 
 Eleanor, and a choice band of gallant knights and 
 barons, with their military attendants, in July, 1270 ; 
 but to bis g-reat mortification he found that Louis, 
 instead of proceeding directly to Palestine, had made 
 war against Tunis, and perished before its walls, with 
 the greatest part of his army ; while those who sur- 
 vived, liaving made an advantageous peace with the 
 Bey, were little disposed to risk the dangers of a Syrian 
 campaign. Thus Edward was left to prosecute the arduous 
 undertaking with a force that was little more than a 
 military train, and his followers murmured at such a 
 perilous attempt ; but the prince silenced their com-
 
 156 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 plaints by declaring-, that he would proceed to Acre, 
 although he should be attended only by Fowen, his 
 groom. He landed with no more than 1,000 men ; but 
 the memory of Lion-hearted Richard was still fresh 
 among the Moslems, and in Edward they soon found a 
 hero almost equal to him in personal prowess, and 
 superior in military skill. The same love of bloodshed 
 distinguished the last, as it had done the first of the 
 crusaders, and the Mahomedans were slaughtered with- 
 out mercy whenever success gave the Christian soldiers 
 an opportunity. The limited resources of Edward were 
 insufficient for an aggressive warfare, having never 
 been able to gather from the wrecks of the former cru- 
 sades above 6 000 auxiliaries; but with this handful he 
 chased the sultan of Babylon from Acre, stormed the 
 city of Nazareth, and kept the Turks in perpetual alarm. 
 To rid themselves of so terrible an adversary, they had 
 recourse at last to the weapon of an assassin, who, 
 under pretence of carrying a message from the emir of 
 Jaffa, gained access to the prince's tent, and stabbed 
 him with a poisoned dagger, as he reposed unarmed, 
 and in a loose robe, upon a couch, about the hour of 
 respers. The wound itself was slight, and Edward 
 immediately starting up, dashed the miscreant to the 
 ground, and despatched him with his own weapon. 
 Apprehensions were entertained for the prince's life, as 
 the wound had been given with an envenomed weapon ; 
 but it was soon cured by certain rich balsams provided 
 by the Grand Master of the Templars, and the skill of 
 an English surgeon at Acre. The beautiful addition to 
 the story, of Eleanor having sucked the poison from the 
 ■wound, at the risk of her own life, must unfortunately 
 be classed among the fictions of the middle ages. 
 
 As nothing farther could be done for the recovery of 
 Jerusalem, Edward concluded a truce with the enemy, 
 that was to continue for ten years, after which he set sail 
 for Sicily, on his return to England. In Calabria he 
 received tidings of his father's death ; but so confident 
 was he of the tranquillity which now prevailed in Eng- 
 land, that instead of returning thither immediately, he 
 made a tour through Italy, and in every city he was 
 received with enthusiasm, as the great champion of 
 Christendom. Crossing the Alps, he proceeded to Paris, 
 and afterwards to Guienne ; and it was here that, in
 
 EDWARD I. 157 
 
 May, 1274, he met with an adventure illustrative of 
 the military character of the period. The count of 
 ChaloDs proclaimed a tournament, and invited Edward 
 to encounter him in all love and courtesy in the 
 lists ; and the king of Eng^land, who abounded in chi- 
 valrous politeness, accepted the invitation. He re- 
 paired to the appointed place with 1000 armed attend- 
 ants, but nearly 2000 accompanied the count, at which 
 disparity the English murmured, and suspected that 
 foul play was intended. In this state, a single spark 
 was sufficient to excite a conflagration, and the tourna- 
 ment gradually swelled into a real battle. The English 
 bowmen drove the French infantry from the field, 
 after which they mixed themselves among their own 
 cavalry, and dismounted several of the count's che- 
 valiers, by cutting their girths and stabbing their 
 horses. The count himself, a man of prodigious strength, 
 after encountering Edward with the lance in vain, at 
 length closed with him hand to hand, and endeavoured 
 to throw him to the giound ; but the king, clasping his 
 adversary by the waist, and spurring his horse at the 
 same instant, bore the count from his saddle with a 
 stunning shock. He was again remounted by his aids, 
 but Edward plied him with such a tempest of blows, that 
 he was fain to cry for quarter, while the king, indignant 
 at his treachery, instead of accepting his sword, made 
 him surrender it to an English foot-soldier. 
 
 Edward landed in England on the 2d of August (1274), 
 and on the 19th he was crowned in Westminster Abbey. 
 His whole ideas were of an ambitious and military cha- 
 racter ; but instead of thirsting for unprofitable foreign 
 acquisitions, his great aim was to reduce the whole 
 island of Britain into one compact monarchy. It was 
 for this purpose that he carefully husbanded all his great 
 resources ; and Wales was selected as the weakest point, 
 at which the great work of conquest should commence. 
 The primitive and gallant race of this little principality 
 had stubbornly resisted the Saxons of the Heptarchy, as 
 well as the English united under one king ; they had 
 also withstood the Anglo-Norman sovereigns for 200 
 years ; and although they were divided among them- 
 selves, and far inferior in numbers and weapons, they had 
 never been as yet subdued, although often vanquished. 
 The Anglo-Norman sovereigns, indeed, had frequently
 
 158 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 claimed and extoi'ted a feudal superiority over Wales ; 
 but the Welsh, who considered themselves as a free 
 people, resisted this encroachment upon their liberties 
 as often as an opportunity occurred. At this critical 
 period, however, when their utter subjugation was 
 planned, the curse of division prevailed among them, 
 so that Rees-ap- Meredith, the prince of South Wales, 
 became the ally of Edward, against Llewellyn, the chief 
 of the northern part of the principality, and the latter 
 was at the same time opposed by his brother David, who 
 also joined the English kin 5. 
 
 All being now in readiness for the invasion, Edward 
 sought, and soon found, a pretext of quarrel against 
 Llewellyn. The Welsh prince was summoned to the 
 English court, to do homage for his territories ; but as 
 such a journey would have been perilous without a safe 
 conduct, which was refused him, he preferred an abode 
 among the fastnesses of his own dominion. This con- 
 duct was termed an act of rebellion against his feudal 
 superior, and therefore a sentence of forfeiture was pro- 
 nounced against him by the English pai-liament, and 
 one of excommunication by the clergy, after which 
 Edward advanced with a mighty army to take posses- 
 sion. The Welsh resisted as long as brave men could 
 i"esist ; but the progress of the king was slow and sure. 
 Instead of tempting their despair in pitched battles, he 
 drove them back upon their barren mountains, and 
 cooped them up so closely, that they perished in 
 heaps, by famine and the severity of winter. Llewellyn 
 was at last obliged to capitulate, and upon terms that 
 scarcely left him the shadow of his former sovereignty. 
 By this treaty, which was dictated by Edward, at 
 Rhuddlan Castle, on the 10th of November (1277), 
 Llewellyn agreed to pay £'50,000, to give up his territory 
 as far as the river Conway, and do homage for the re- 
 mainder, while even this poor portion after his death 
 was to revert to the English crown. Such a peace 
 could not be lasting upon either side. Edward regarded 
 it as only a breathing interval to prepare for a more 
 complete conquest, while the barons and English land- 
 holders settled upon the ceded territory of North Wales, 
 insulted and oppressed the natives by every species 
 of aggression. While the Welsh were stung to madness 
 by these injuries, they were also elevated into hope by
 
 EDWARD I. 159 
 
 certain mystical prophecies, which foretold, that they 
 would again recover their ancient land and supremacy. 
 Prince David also, the brother of Llewellyn, who had 
 followed the banner of Edward, and been created an 
 Eng-li.sh earl, now repented of his base apostacy, and 
 forsook the conqueror, that he might triumph or die 
 with his own people. On the niuht of Palm Sunday, 
 the 2'2iid of xMarch, 12S1, the insurrection commenced by 
 the surprise of the strong castle of Hamardine, by 
 David ; after which, a torrent of armed men from the 
 mountains fell with irresistible force upon the castles of 
 their petty tyrants, many of which were razed to the 
 ground, while their defenders were either slaughtered 
 without mercy, or obliged to escape by a hurried flight 
 across the marches. 
 
 The king of England must have foreseen, and perhaps 
 he had deliberately planned, such a result, in the selec- 
 tion of those men whom he endowed with Welsh pos- 
 sessions ; and he had now what the woi'ld might accept 
 as an apology for a war of ruthless extirpation. He ad- 
 vanced with a strong army, in which were a thousand 
 pioneers, to level the forests and pierce the fastnesses 
 with roads, and a numerous reinforcement of Basques, 
 from the Pyrenees, who were accustomed to the waifare 
 of loftier mountains than those of Wales. The Welsh 
 were compelled to retire ; but they struggled for every 
 inch of ground, and frequently inflicted upon the pursuers 
 a severe retaliation. At length, Llewellyn was driven 
 back to the passes of Snowdon, and here Edward re- 
 solved to reduce the \^'elsh, as he had formerly done, by 
 famine. He, therefore, left the command of the army to 
 Roger Mortimer, and retired to the castle of Rhuddlan, 
 to wait the event. The blockade had not been long 
 commenced, when the Welsh, unfortunately for them- 
 selves, gained a decisive victory over a body of the 
 English who had invaded Anglesey ; and being inspired 
 with overweening confidence at this trivial success, they 
 left their strong fastnesses, and descended to engage the 
 enemy upon the plain. The consequence of this rash 
 step was, that they were routed with the slaughter of 
 2000 men, their heroic champion, Llewellyn, being 
 among the slain. This fatal blow to the independence 
 of Wales occurred on the lith of December, 1282. As for 
 prince David, the last of the W'elsh champions, he still
 
 160 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 continued to lurk among- the recesses of the country, in 
 the fond hope of reanimating the people to another 
 effort; but, after some months, he was betrayed into the 
 Lands of the English, and tried at Shrewsbury. The fatal 
 boon of an English earldom, which he had formerly ac- 
 cepted, procured his condemnation as a traitor to his 
 liege, and he was hanged, drawn, and quartered, with 
 every circumstance of revolting barbarity ; after which, 
 his head (with that of his brother Llewellyn) was ex- 
 posed on the walls of the Tower of London. The Welsh 
 submitted, for no alternative remained ; and Edward 
 perceiving- the reluctance with which they bore the yoke, 
 at last assured them that he would give them a prince 
 who should be their own countryman, and speak no 
 lang'uag'e but theirs. Accordingly, he sent his queen, 
 Eleanor, to Caernarvon, to be delivered of her second son, 
 Edward, who was proclaimed Prince of Wales ; and the 
 little Welshman was hailed with delight by the natives, 
 in spite of the royal quibble, from the fond hope that 
 their country would be established into an independent 
 principality, under the government of their titular sove- 
 reign. But before this delusion had passed away, the 
 English dominion was too powerfully established to be 
 shaken. Although the conduct of Edward during- the 
 conquest was sufficiently atrocious, several gratuitous 
 cruelties have been added to the account ; the chief of 
 which is, that he massacred all the Welsh bards, because 
 they kept alive, by their songs, the independent spirit of 
 the people. It is sufficiently probable that many of these 
 bards joined the ranks of their countrymen, and shared 
 in all the sufferings with which they were visited ; but 
 that the whole body was cut off is only a vague tradition, 
 unsupported by proper testimony. 
 
 After these events, a circumstance occurred that di- 
 rected Edward's hopes to the more important acquisition 
 of Scotland. Alexander III., king- of Scots, was killed 
 on the 19th of March, 1286, near Kinghorn, in Fifesliire, 
 by a fall from his horse, and left no successor but an 
 infant granddaughter, Margaret, the child of his daugh- 
 ter, the queen of Norway. The foreign infant, after his 
 death, was recognised by the Scottish nobles as their 
 undoubted sovereign, while a regency was appointed 
 during her absence. Edward now conceived the idea of 
 winning Scotland upon the easy terms of a marriage ;
 
 EDWARD I. 161 
 
 and he proposed to the Scottish parliament, in 1290, a 
 union between his eldest surviving son, Edward, and 
 tbeir young: queen, commonly called the Maid of Norway. 
 I'lie proposal pleased the Scottish parliament, on account 
 of the long peace and friendly intercourse that had pre- 
 vailed between the two kingdoms; but in the terms of 
 marriage which they stipulated, every precaution was 
 taken to secure the rights and independence of their 
 ciiuntry. Nothing now remained but to bring Margaret 
 from Norway ; but on her voyage to Scotland she sick- 
 ened, and died at Orkney, where she had landed. In 
 her perished, not only all the hopes of a lasting union 
 between England and Scotland, but all the direct heirs 
 to the Scottish crown ; and amidst the trying question 
 of the right of succession, which was now anxiously 
 agitated, twelve competitors started up, each being 
 more or less allied to the royal house. As no umpire 
 could be referred to but the powerful king of England, 
 Edward at oiice saw the advantages of his position, and 
 said to his counsellors — ' I will subdue Scotland to my 
 authority, as 1 have subdued Wales.' He assembled a 
 po%verful army upon the border, and then stated to the 
 Scots his rifjht to arbitrate in the question of succession, 
 as lord paramount of Scotland. The Scots at another 
 time would have indignantly spurned this assumption, 
 but they were now torn into factions, -«'hile the com- 
 petitors were each more ready than another to allow his 
 claim, in the hope of obtaining a favourable verdict for 
 himself. As Edward was thus entitled to bestow a crown, 
 it was natural that he should be invested with the means 
 of enforcing his decision : he, therefore, demanded that 
 the chief castles and strong-holds of Scotland should be 
 entrusted for the time to his keeping; and this demand, 
 apparently so reasonable, was complied with. The royal 
 gamester had now the command of the whole board, 
 and nothing remained but to elect some competitor who 
 would be willing to play into his hands. Ten of the 
 candidates were first rejected, because their descent from 
 the royal house was either remote or illegitimate, and 
 the choice at length remained between John Baliol, lord 
 of Galloway, and Robert Bruce, earl of Annandale — two 
 men descended, like most of the Scottish nobility, from 
 Norman families that had come into England with Wil- 
 liam the Conqueror, and afterwards settled in Scotland.
 
 1G2 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 The claims of these two great rivals were pretty nearly 
 equal ; but after a long hearing", during which Edward 
 was enabled to measure the character of both, he delivered 
 a verdict, at Berwick, on the 17th of November, 1292, in 
 favour of Baliol, because he was the most spiritless and 
 imbecile of the two, and therefore the better fitted for 
 his purpose. 
 
 Baliol thus became king of Scotland, and the castles 
 held in pledge were surrendered back into his hands by 
 the Eug:lish sovereign ; but he was soon fated to expe- 
 rience all those miseries that are reserved for a vassal- 
 king and political tool. Edward, after having made the 
 puppet-monarch swear allegiance to him, took every 
 opportunity of reminding Baliol of his vassalage, by 
 stirring up the subjects of the Scottish crown to carry 
 their complaints before the English throne, and then 
 citing the king to appear and reply in person. In this 
 ■way, the unfortunate Baliol, in the course of a single 
 year, received no less than six summonses to appear be- 
 fore the king of England, to answer the accusations of 
 private persons, upon the most trivial complaints. Even 
 Baliol would not submit to such indignities ; and at last, 
 while Edward was occupied with a war in France, he 
 made the desperate effort of an enraged imbecile to free 
 himself from bondage. He entered into an alliance with 
 Philip the Fair, the French king, and made every pre- 
 paration for resisting the king of England ; but the 
 nobles of Scotland, instead of entrusting Baliol with the 
 national defence, confined him in a sort of honourable 
 captivity, in a remote castle, and then mustered their 
 levies. When Edward found that Baliol did not obey 
 his last citation, and saw that he meant to throw off his 
 allegiance, he exclaimed — ' The foolish traitor ! what 
 madness has seized hira ? But since he will not come 
 to us, we will go to him !' 
 
 1296- — Upon the borders of England, Edward had 30,000 
 infantry, and 4000 horse : besides these, he was reinforced 
 by Anthony Beck, the warlike bishop of Durham, and 
 by Robert Bruce, who now hoped to become king of 
 Scotland instead of the obnoxious Baliol. At the head 
 of these united forces, Edward crossed the Tweed at 
 Coldstream, and took Berwick by stratagem, all the in- 
 habitants of which he put to the sword. Upwards of 
 17,000 of the helpless town's-people were slain in this
 
 EDWARD I. 1G3 
 
 massacre, and the town, which was wealthy, was given 
 up to plunder. The fate of thirty Flemish njerchants on 
 this occasion is worthy of notice. They held a strong 
 building in the town, called the Redhall, upon the te- 
 nure of defending it at all times against the English. 
 These votaries of traffic were summoned to surrender ; 
 but they ' could not find this in the bond,' and there- 
 fore they defended the building against the whole Eng- 
 lish army, with a mercantile heroism surpassing the 
 faith of kuighthood, until they perished to a man. Ed- 
 ward next advanced to the castle of Dunbar, which was 
 held out against him by the countess of March, while 
 her husband was arrayed among the ranks of the Eng- 
 lish ; and as this strong fortress was justly reckoned the 
 key of Scotland, every effort was made by the Scots 
 for its relief. A powerful army was therefore raised ; 
 but this force, instead of remaining in their favourable 
 position, rushed down to attack the English under the 
 earl of Warrenne upon the plain, and there found the 
 reward of their rashness in a terrible defeat, 10,000 of 
 their number being slain. After this, the strong castles 
 of Berwick, Jedburgh, Dunbarton, Edinburgh, and Stir- 
 ling, surrendered almost without resistance, and the 
 whole of the south of Scotland was laid prostrate before 
 the conqueror, while the feeble Baliol was obliged to 
 give back into the hands of Edward the crown he had 
 ■worn so ingloriously. Bruce imagined that the fa- 
 vourable opportunity for his own claims had arrived ; 
 and as he had fought with heart and hand against his 
 country, he ventured to express his hope that his claims 
 to the Scottish throne would now be favourably consi- 
 dered. But Edward, arching his eyebrows with an ex- 
 pression of insulting astonishment, exclaimed, ' \^'hat ! 
 have we no other business than to conquer kingdoms 
 for you?' At this stinging rebuff, Bruce abandoned the 
 standard of England, and appeared no more in the public 
 events of the period. 
 
 Edward having thus obtained possession of the greater 
 part of Scotland, proceeded to secure his conquest. For 
 this purpose he summoned a meeting of the Scottish 
 parliament at Berwick, on the 2Sth of August, 1296, at 
 which he exacted the oath of fealty from multitudes of 
 the Scottish clergy and laity ; he afterwards appointed 
 John de Warrenne, earl of Surrey, governor of Scotland,
 
 164 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Hugh de Cressingham, treasurer, and William Ormesby, 
 justiciary, while the priucipal castles and strong-holds 
 were garrisoned with English soldiers. To understand 
 the facility with which this conquest had been accom- 
 plished, we must recollect that the Norman nobility of 
 Scotland had not yet acquired very strong feelings of 
 exclusive patriotism for their adopted country, while 
 many of them, holding possessions in both kingdoms, 
 considered themselves as much the lieges of Edward as 
 of the Scottish crown. Besides this, there was a violent 
 scramble among the most distinguished of their body for 
 the vacant throne, and they could only accomplish their 
 selfish purposes by following the banner of Edward. It 
 ■was thus that a brave and patriotic people were sacri- 
 ficed by their leaders, until they saw there was no hope 
 of deliverance from their nobility. But in this dark 
 hour, a champion emerged from their own order, to 
 point the way to freedom, in the person of Sir William 
 Wallace. This great national hero and patriot was the 
 second son of Sir Malcolm Wallace, of Ellerslie, in Ren- 
 frewshire, and possessed all the great qualities that fitted 
 him to be a popular leader; such as a noble person, 
 gigantic strength, and undaunted valour, combined with 
 consummate skill and prompt decision in military affairs, 
 and a captivating eloquence that was suited to win and 
 persuade. Having slain the son of an English knight in 
 a scuffle, he was obliged to fly ; and, on being pro- 
 scribed, he gathered a small band of outlaws, animated 
 like himself by a strong love of liberty. They attacked 
 several parties of the English, and with such success, 
 that numbers of their countrymen joined their ranks, so 
 that the small handful swelled into a considerable force, 
 and advanced to bolder achievements. Wallace was soon 
 after joined by Sir William Douglas, and all his fol- 
 lowers, upon which the two chiefs marched against 
 Ormesby, who was now invested with the government 
 during the absence of earl Warrenne. Their assault 
 was so sudden and successful, that the justiciary only 
 saved himself by flight, while abundance of plunder 
 and captives rewarded the valour of the conquerors. 
 After this success, castle after castle was taken by Wal- 
 lace ; the English dominion was for the time overthrown, 
 and with greater rapidity than it had been established; 
 and many of the nobles of Scotland, ashamed of their
 
 EDWARD I. 165 
 
 late supineuess, repaired to the standard of this new 
 and prosperous leader. Edward, who was embarking for 
 Flanders at the commencement of the insurrection, 
 upon which he looked with contempt, sent 40,000 foot, 
 and 300 horse, to extinffuish the hopes of the insurgents. 
 In the mean time, the camp of Wallace was a scene 
 of dissension, the haughty nobles refusing to obey a 
 plebeian leader ; and when the formidable array of the 
 English was set in motion, they went over to the enemy, 
 and renewed their oaths of allegiance. Such indeed was 
 the unanimity of their desertion, that only one baron. Sir 
 Andrew Moray of Bothwell, remained stedfast to the 
 national cause. But the commons were not influenced 
 by the example of their superiors, and the force of Wal- 
 lace was still so strong that he continued to act upon the 
 ofi'ensive, and drove the English from the castles they 
 yet retained. At last he heard that an English army of 
 50,000 foot and 1000 horse were marching upon Stirling, 
 upon which he proceeded thither from Dundee with 
 great rapidity, at the head of 40,000 men. He reached 
 the banks of the Forth, and concealing the greater part 
 of his army behind the high grounds in the neighbour- 
 hood of the river, he waited the arrival of the English, 
 who soon appeared on the opposite side. The Forth at 
 this place could only be crossed by a narrow wooden 
 bridge ; and Surrey, the English commander, perceiving 
 the difficulty of the passage, would have preferred a 
 retreat. But he was overborne by the clamours of his 
 soldiers, who were eager to engage, and the remon- 
 strances of Cressingham the treasurer, who complained 
 of the expense of a protracted campaign ; and on the 
 morning of the 11th of September, 1297, the English were 
 wheeled into column to pass along the bridge — a march 
 to certain destruction. During this long process, Wallace 
 deliberately contemplated the coming of the successive 
 bands, until a sufficient number had passed over ; he 
 then sent a detachment to take possession of the bridge, 
 after which he rushed down with the rest of his forces 
 upon those of the enemy who had arrived, and were 
 just forming. The battle was only the sti-ife of a mo- 
 ment. The unprepared English were overwhelmed, cut 
 down, or drowned in the river in heaps, while Surrey, 
 on the farther side, beheld the ruin of the best part of 
 his army, without being able to relieve it. Only one
 
 166 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 knight, Sir Marmaduke Tweiige, escaped the carnag'e, 
 by cutting: his way through the detachment that guarded 
 the bridge. Cressiugham, who led the van, was among 
 the slain, and he was so odious to the Scots on account 
 of his cruelty, that they flayed his dead body to preserve 
 the skin, in token of their hatred. After this decijive 
 victory, the castles of Edinburgh, Dundee, Roxburgh, 
 and Berwick, surrendered to the victor ; and, in conse- 
 quence of a famine, as well as for the purpose of distress- 
 ing the enemy, Wallace assumed the aggressive, and 
 invaded Cumberland, where he subsisted his army till 
 the end of the year. After this successful measure, he 
 was elected governor, or guardian, of Scotland, by a 
 meeting of the principal nobility held at the Forest 
 Kirk, in Selkirkshire. 
 
 1298. — While Edward was thus losing the most import- 
 ant of his conquests, he was waging an unprofitable war 
 in Flanders against Philip the Fair, king of France, for the 
 recovery of Guienne. Having freed himself for the time 
 of continental quarrels, he returned to England about 
 the middle of March, breathing revenge against the re- 
 bellious Scots ; and having mustered the whole military 
 force of the kingdom at York, on the feast of Pente- 
 cost, he crossed the border, and penetrated into Scot- 
 land. The plan of Wallace was, to shun an engagement 
 with such an immense disparity of numbers, and hover 
 upon their flanks, to harass and cut them off in detail. 
 Edward therefore advanced without finding an enemy 
 to oppose him, but at every step his difficulties multiplied 
 from the impossibility of subsisting so large an army, and 
 hfc must have retreated with immense loss, after he had 
 penetrated as far as Templeliston (a small town between 
 Edinburgh and Linlithgow), when he learned that the 
 enemy was encasaped not far off", in the neighbourhood 
 of Falkirk. Edward, exulting at the tidings„determined 
 to march against them on the following morning. That 
 night as he slept on the ground in the midst of the 
 army, his horse that stood beside him broke two of his 
 ribs by a kick, and the whole bivouac resounded with 
 the cry of treachery ; but Edward, heedless of the 
 pain, commenced his journey by day break, and came in 
 sight of the Scottish army, drawn up on a gentle emi- 
 nence in the neighbourhood of the town of Falkirk. Al- 
 thaugh Wallace was governor of the Scottish forces, his
 
 EDWARD I. 1G7 
 
 antliority was envied, and his plan of defensiye war- 
 fare thwarted by the proud nobles who followed his 
 standard, so that he was compelled with such inferior 
 forces to abide the issue of a battle. In this case he di- 
 vided his infantry into four circular bodies, the lances 
 with which the soldiers were armed portending out- 
 wards, like the quills of a hedge-hog ; the intermediate 
 spaces were occupied by the Scottish archers, while 
 1000 horse, which composed his whole amount of ca- 
 valry, were posted as a reserve in the rear. The ca- 
 valry of England, that seemed of themselves sufficient 
 to trample down their opponents at the first onset, ad- 
 vanced confidently to the charge ; but the Scottish in- 
 fantry stood like immovable ramparts : again and again 
 the English returned to the attack, but as often they 
 were encountered and thrown back by the unwavering 
 phalanxes that opposed them. Thus far the defence of 
 the Scots was gallant and promising, when their horse, 
 either from fear or treachery, suddenly wheeled about, 
 and galloped off the field, leaving the rear undefended. 
 Upon this the charges of the English were multi- 
 plied with increasing violence at every point ; their 
 numerous bowmen thinned the sen'ied ranks of their 
 adversaries, and the Scots wei'e at last broken with great 
 slaughter. Wallace, even in this extremity, was enabled 
 to save the remains of his army, by a masterly retreat ; 
 and such were the good effects of his plan of resistance, 
 previous to the fatal conflict, that Edward, instead of 
 being able to follow up his victory, was obliged to sus- 
 pend operations, and retreat into England. But the 
 great loss which the Scots sustained by the battle of 
 Falkirk arose from Wallace resigning his authority, in 
 consequence of the jealousy of the nobles. But he did 
 not abandon the cause of liberty which he had so nobly 
 espoused, when all else had forsaken it ; and at the 
 head of small bands of devoted followers, he still conti- 
 nued to maintain the warfare with unshrinking perse- 
 verance. 
 
 A new claimant of the sovereignty of Scotland now ap- 
 peared in the person of the pontiff.. Boniface VIII. He 
 declared that the country was a fief of the Holy See, 
 because it had been converted to Christianity by the 
 relics of Saint Andrew ; and he commanded Edward to 
 feubmit his pretensions over it to the decision of the
 
 168 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 papal tribunal. But Edward was a match even for a 
 pope in sophistry; and on February the 12th, 1301, he 
 Bent his reply, in which he strung together every ran- 
 dom tradition, to show that the Scottish kings had done 
 homage to those of England, and ended with the history 
 of Brutus, the Trojan, who had reigned over the whole 
 island, and of whom he pretended to be the legitimate 
 successor. The barons of England at the same time 
 transmitted a unanimous declaration, that they would 
 not submit to the indignity of their king being obliged 
 to appeal to a foreign court. These were only the pre- 
 ludes of a new invasion in the spring of 1302, when Ed- 
 ward sent an army of 20,000 men into Scotland, under 
 the command of Sir John Seward, a commander of high 
 reputation. This leader advanced in three widely sepa- 
 rated divisions, to extend as much as possible the work 
 of destruction, and reached the neighbourhood of Roslin. 
 To oppose this force, the Scots had raised 8,000 men, 
 under the command of Sir John Comyn, guardian of the 
 kingdom, and Sir Simon Eraser, who, marching with 
 all diligence, encountered and routed the advanced 
 body of the English. The fugitives fell back upon the 
 second body, which immediately advanced to battle ; 
 upon this the Scots killed their prisoners, and then pre- 
 pared for a fresh conflict. They encountered the enemy, 
 and were again victorious. In the triumph of such suc- 
 cess, they determined to attack the third and last portion 
 of the English army, now greatly increased by the relics 
 of the two former ; and therefore they again slew their 
 prisoners, and then advanced in defiance of weariness 
 and wounds. A conflict more desperate than either of the 
 former now took place, but the exhausted Scots, deter- 
 mined to conquer or die, at length put the enemy to the 
 rout — thus gaining three successive victories in one day. 
 But an event like this, however glorious to the Scots, 
 instead of enfeebling, could only enrage their powerful 
 adversary, and having made peace with France, Ed- 
 ward was enabled to direct all his resources against 
 Scotland. The castle of Brechin first opposed his pro- 
 gress ; but its brave governor. Sir Thomas Maule, was 
 mortally wounded, and died with an exclamation of 
 rage, when his soldiers asked if it was now time to 
 surrender. Having taken this strong-hold, Edward 
 wintered at Dunfermline, and in the spring (1303) com-
 
 EDWARD I. 169 
 
 nieuced the siege of Stirling, the only royal fortress 
 that now held out. But the Scottish nobles again 
 truckled to the tyi-ant, and Edward punished those 
 who had been most forward against him, with confis- 
 cation or banishment. As for Sir William Wallace, he 
 thought as little of surrender as Edward did of mercy, 
 and, at the head of his handful of followers, he still con- 
 tinued to harass the English so successfully, as to make 
 it evident that Scotland could never be conquered so 
 long as he was alive. Edward therefore set a large 
 price upon his head, and employed every art to appre- 
 hend him, and the champion was at length betrayed 
 into the hands of the enemy. The king was delighted 
 with this opportunity of sealing the doom of Scotland, 
 and heaped upon the head of his noble adversary every 
 indignity that malice could invent. The Scottish patriot 
 was dragged to Westminster to a mock trial, crowned 
 with a garland of oak as a king of outlaws ; he was ac- 
 cused of treason against Edwai'd, to whom he had never 
 sworn allegiance, and of the murder of Englishmen 
 whom he had encountered in fair battle. Wallace 
 scornfully repelled these accusations, but it was before a 
 tribunal that had previously resolved his death, and oa 
 the 23d of August, 1305, he suflered the punishment of 
 a traitor on Tower-hill. His head was placed on a pin- 
 nacle on London Bridge, and his quarters were distri- 
 buted over the kingdom, after which Edward proceeded 
 to frame a constitution for Scotland, as if all his troubles 
 in that quarter were completely at an end. 
 
 Never was calculation more miserably deceived, for 
 a second Wallace had started from the ashes of the 
 first — one too who was not to labour under that obloquy 
 of inferior rank, which had so impeded the efforts of 
 the former. Robert Bruce, the grandson of the com- 
 petitor of Baliol, now a young man in his 23rd year, 
 had hitherto been distinguished only by reckless enter- 
 prise, and boyish levity ; and although he had twice 
 espoused the cause of Wallace, he had as often deserted 
 it, to follow the standard of Edward. This might per- 
 haps be accounted for by the circumstance, that Wallace 
 had always exercised his command in the name and on 
 the behalf of Baliol, as king of Scotland, for whose in- 
 terests the young Bruce could not be supposed to feel 
 much sympathy. But when he finally saw the ambition 
 I
 
 170 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 of Edward, and felt it in the distrust with which the king 
 regarded him, he resolved to make a steady and con- 
 sistent effort for the liberation of his country. He 
 opened his mind upon this subject to Comyn, earl of 
 Badenoch, who by marriage inherited all the claims of 
 the house of Baliol, and he made to him it is said this 
 amicable proposal : * Support my title to the throne of 
 Scotland, and I will surrender to you my patrimonial 
 estates ; or give me your family possessions, and I 
 will support your claim to the crown.' This peaceful 
 compromise seemed agreeable to Comyn, who at once 
 waived his own claims in favour of his rival, and en- 
 gaged to support him with all his adherents ; upon 
 which Bruce, depending upon this agreement, returned 
 to London. But Comyn betrayed the whole plan to king 
 Edward, who resolved immediately to apprehend the 
 Bruce ; and the latter would soon have found his hopes 
 extinguished within the walls of the Tower, but for the 
 friendly hint of the earl of Gloucester, who sent him a 
 purse of money and a pair of spurs, under pretence of 
 repaying a loan. Bruce knew that this was a signal to 
 mount and ride ; and without wasting a moment, he 
 was in the saddle, and on the way to Scotland. When 
 he came near the Solway Sands, it is said that he met a 
 messenger whom he knew to be a follower of Comyn, 
 bearing hasty expresses to the king of England; and 
 Bruce, whose suspicions were now awakened, slew the 
 courier, and opened the letters, in which he found that 
 his rival had betrayed the whole plot, and recom- 
 mended that he should be put to death. Bruce proceeded 
 to Dumfries, where the English were holding a high 
 court, and invited Comyn to an interview in the church 
 of the Friars Minorite. The traitor unsuspectingly came, 
 and there Bruce showed him the intercepted letters, and 
 upbraided him with his treachery. A furious quarrel 
 was the consequence, and when Comyn gave Bruce the 
 lie, the other answered with a stroke of his dagger, 
 and then hurried out of the sacred place. His friends, 
 Kirkpatrick and Lyndsay, who saw his pale counte- 
 nance, and bloody weapon, eagerly inquired what was 
 the matter ; to which Bruce falteriugly replied, ' I 
 doubt I have slain the red Comyn.' ' Do you only 
 doubt it V cried the fierce Kirkpatrick : • I mak sicker,' 
 (make secure :) upon which he rushed into the church
 
 EDWARD I. 171 
 
 and not only despatched the wounded man, but also 
 Robert Comyn, his uncle, who tried to defend him. 
 
 130(5. — If Bruce at this time required farther decision 
 of character, such an event was sufficient to make him 
 stedfast. By the death of Com^n he had hurled a mortal 
 defiance at the king of England, and provoked a deadly 
 feud with the whole rival family ; by despatching him 
 in a sacred place, he had provoked the whole power of 
 the church, and incurred the censure of excommunica- 
 tion. There was no alternative between a throne and 
 a scaflbld, and at the head of a few brave friends he 
 repaired to Scone, and was there crowned on the 27th 
 of March, with maimed and melancholy ceremonial. 
 The regalia of the kingdom having been carried ofl' by 
 Edward, a small circlet of gold was made for the occa- 
 sion, and this was placed upon the head of Bruce by 
 the countess of Buchan, because her brother, the earl 
 of Fife, the hereditary crowner of the kings of Scotland, 
 was on the side of the enemy. Even after this event only 
 a few warriors repaired to his standard, as his case was 
 considered desperate, and his first attempt against the 
 English was signally unsuccessful. The earl of Pem- 
 broke having thrown himself into Perth, and fortified 
 it, Bruce arrived before the town with an inferior force, 
 and in the fashion of chivalry challenged his foe to 
 come out, and fight him upon the plain. Pembroke 
 promised an open encounter on the following day, with 
 which Bruce was satisfied, and returned to the neigh- 
 bouring wood of Methven ; but the Englishman, in- 
 stead of waiting for the morrow, silently marched 
 his forces from the town, and made a furious night 
 attack upon the Scottish encampment. This event was 
 80 unexpected, that the Scots were defeated, and 
 Bruce, after having been thrice unhorsed, was 
 obliged to retreat with 400 of his followers to the wilds 
 of Athol. After this untoward event, the adventures 
 of Bmce and his little band resemble more the 
 wonders of a romance, than the incidents of sober his- 
 tory : they wandered among the highlands, or the 
 isles, exposed to all the sufferings that famine or their 
 enemies could inflict ; and Bruce himself was often 
 hunted for days with bloodhounds among the mountains, 
 and compelled alternately to struggle for life against 
 overwhelming multitudes in the field, and the weapon
 
 172 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 of the assassin in retirement. But it was by such events 
 that he was fitted for the high calling- of a national de- 
 liverer. The selfishness and impetuosity of liis youth 
 were extinguished ; his ambition was elevated ; and 
 the nobler elements of his character were called out, 
 and trained for those high achievements, that so com- 
 pletely rewarded his endurance. Nor was such a life of 
 suffering without its uses upon the minds of the people 
 at large, as they gx-oaned beneath the yoke of the op- 
 pressor. Town and tower, hut and castle, repeatedly 
 rang with the report of some gallant deed, or wonderful 
 escape of the heroic fugitive, by which desponding 
 hearts were raised, and the hope of liberty renewed ; 
 so that they only awaited the unfurling of his banner, 
 to send forth their hardy multitudes, and encounter new 
 wars and sufferings, in behalf of the good cause of 
 Scotland. 
 
 It was not till the beginning of the year 1307, that 
 Bruce was able to emerge from his concealment, and 
 resume the character of a national leader ; and at tliis 
 period no cause could be more desperate, according to 
 mere human calculation. He was a hunted and woe- 
 worn fugitive, finding an enemy wherever he turned ; 
 not only earth, but even heaven seemed to be closed 
 against him by the curse of the church ; and his three 
 brave brothers, Nigel, Thomas, and Alexander, his 
 brother-in-law Sir Christopher Seton, and his devoted 
 friends the earl of Athol, Sir Simon Fraser, and many 
 others, had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and 
 perished as traitors upon English scaiFolds. Nor had 
 even the female adherents of Scottish liberty escaped 
 the cruelty of the unchivalrous Edward. Bruce's queen, 
 his only daughter Margery, his two sisters, and the 
 countess of Buchan, who had placed the crown upon his 
 head, were all imprisoned, and treated with ignominious 
 severity. It was in this state of aff'airs that Bruce made 
 a descent on the isle of Arran, for the purpose of passing 
 over to the mainland, and his first success was the sur- 
 prisal of his own castle of Tumberry, which was held by 
 a numerous garrison of the English. After this, Sir 
 James Douglas, the brave adherent of Bruce, surprised 
 Douglas Castle, and completely destroyed it. Bruce 
 drove his old enemy, the earl of Pembroke, out of 
 Ayrshire. Then followed the battle of Loudon-hill, by
 
 EDWARD I. 173 
 
 express agreement between Bruce and Pembroke, in 
 •which the latter kept his appointment more punctually 
 than he had done at Methven ; and he was so completely 
 routed in return, that he only found safety in flight. A 
 few days after, Ralph de Monthenner, earl of Glouces- 
 ter, suffered a similar defeat, and fled to the castle of 
 Ayr, in which Pembroke had also taken refuge. These 
 and other successes so animated the hearts of the Scots, 
 that they flocked to the standard of their king, while 
 the English garrisons trembled within their walls, and 
 knew not upon what quarter the storm might first 
 alight. 
 
 This unexpected revolution in Scotland almost excited 
 Edward to madness. The conquest of that country had 
 been the great aim of his ambitious policy, and after 
 twenty years of labour, danger, and expenditure of blood 
 and treasure, his beloved object had seemed to be ac- 
 complished. To extinguish the last sparks of rebellion, 
 and ensure a complete conquest, he had had recourse, in 
 the previous year, to one of the most animating solemni- 
 ties of chivalry. On Whit Sunday he invested the prince 
 of Wales, and 300 of the young nobles, with the order of 
 knighthood ; after which two swans, adorned with trap- 
 pings and bells of gold, -were brought into the church, 
 and the king, the prince, and the young nobles, solemnly 
 swore, by the God of Heaven, and these swans, that they 
 would march into Scotland, and never return until they 
 had revenged the death of Comyn. The march was 
 then made in July, and as no enemy appeared against 
 a force whose numbers made it irresistible, the conquest 
 was deemed complete. But Bruce had started as if from 
 the dead, and the whole land had risen at his appear- 
 ance ; while Edward, now old and diseased, had the 
 feeling of his own losses and sufferings imbittered by a 
 sense of the folly, the unworthiness, and utter incapa- 
 city of his son and successor, the prince of Wales. The 
 king was still labouring under a wasting dysentery; but 
 rousing himself for the emergency, he commanded all 
 the forces of the kingdom to assemble, and although 
 he was now dying he proceeded to Carlisle, the mili- 
 tary rendezvous. Animated by the hope of vengeance 
 when the Scottish hills were in view, he hung up the 
 horse-litter in which he had travelled in the cathedral, 
 mounted his war-horse, and proceeded northward. But
 
 174 iMlLITARY HISTORY, 
 
 this v/as his last effort, for he had only reached Burgh 
 on Sands, when he expired in his tent on July 7 (I307j, 
 in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and thirty-fifth of his 
 reign. Among- his last charges to his son he ordered 
 that his heart should be sent to the Holy Land, for tho 
 deliverance of which he had fought; and that his ske- 
 leton, after his flesh had been boiled from the bones, 
 should be carried at the head of the army, until Scot- 
 land was completely subdued — all which the prince most 
 solemnly swore to perform. It was in the midst of 
 these strange and discordant sentiments that Edward 
 expired, leaving behind him a character for military 
 skill and political sagacity, as well as unscnipulous, 
 unsparing ambition, which no king of Eugand has ever 
 surpassed. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 From the Accession of Eduard IT. to the invasion of 
 France by Edward III. 
 
 Although Edward II. had so solemnly sworn to prose- 
 cute the war in Scotland, yet no sooner had his father 
 expired, than he showed his eagerness to escape from 
 the obligation. He therefore marched in mere military 
 pageantry as far as Cumnock, in Ayrshire, without 
 showing any anxiety to go in search of the Bruce ; and 
 after lingering there for a few days, he appointed the 
 earl of Pembroke guardian of Scotland, and then hur 
 ried back to London. As for his father's body, instead 
 of subjecting it to the singular process which had been 
 enjoined, he caused it to be interred in the abbey of 
 Westminster, after which he resigned himself wholly to 
 the government of Gaveston, his odious and unworthy 
 favourite. 
 
 The successes of Bruce, which would have required 
 the utmost talents, backed by the immense resources 
 of Edward I. even to have checked, were not likely to 
 he subverted by such a monarch as Edward II. The 
 extravagant fondness of the latter for his minion 
 Gaveston so disgusted the nobles, that they waxed won- 
 drously indifferent to the war in Scotland ; but when 
 the favourite himself proceeded to domineer over the 
 barons of England, murmuring and civil war were the
 
 SJCCESSES OF BRUCE. 175 
 
 inevitable consequences. At length a coalition of the 
 nobility waa formed ; they mustered their forces both 
 against the king aud Gaveston ; the latter was besieged 
 in the castle of Deddington, and being taken prisoner, 
 was beheaded without any formal trial, aud with every 
 circumstance of ignominy. These troubles in England 
 were golden opportunities to Bruce, and the adherents 
 of Scottish liberty, of which they were not slow to avail 
 themselves ; and castle after castle was won from the 
 Eu^liih by those heroic spirits, who now emulated each 
 other in warlike stratagem and open daring. Thus 
 Perth was gallantly stormed, the king himself being the 
 first man who plunged into the moat, and scaled the 
 walls. ' Oh heaven!' cried a French knight on the side 
 of Scotland ; ' what shall we say of our effeminate lords, 
 when we see such a gallant king so expose his person, 
 to win such a paltry town !' and with this exclamation, 
 he plunged after Bruce, and was among the foremost in 
 the capture. The brave Sir James Douglas took the 
 strong castle of Roxburgh, by the following singular 
 stratagem. Disguising himself and his few followers in 
 black cloaks, on Shi-ove Tuesday, when the garrison 
 were celebrating the anniversary with a copious revel, 
 and creeping along upon their hands and knees, they 
 appeared to the English a herd of stray cattle, and were 
 allowed to approach the walls without suspicion. The 
 error was only perceived when the ramparts were scaled, 
 and the castle gates in the possession of the Scots. 
 Randolph, to match this exploit, attempted the still 
 stronger castle of Edinburgh, and having learned from 
 one of his soldiers a passage up the rock by which a 
 daring man might climb if unmolested, he attempted 
 the perilous enterprise at the head of thirty chosen sol- 
 diers. While they were ascending the steep, a patrol 
 sbouted from the walls, ' I see you!' and threw down a 
 stone — but it proved to be merely some jest for his com- 
 panions, and the undaunted escaladers reached the bot- 
 tom of the wall, which was twelve feet high, and which 
 they surmounted by a ladder of ropes. The garrison 
 was so confounded to find the enemy among them, that 
 without waiting to discover the smallness of their force, 
 they surrendered. But gallant deeds were not confined 
 to knights and nobles, aud the peasantry emulated their 
 leaders in acts of equal daring. Thus a rustic, named
 
 176 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Binning, surprised a strong fort near Linlithgow, iu the 
 following manner. Having concealed eight armed com- 
 panions in his waggon, he covered them v.ith hay, and 
 advanced, as he had often done, to supply the garrison 
 with forage. The portcullis being drawn up for him to 
 enter, Binning, with a stroke of his axe, separated the 
 horses from the wain, so that the latter prevented the 
 portcullis from being let down, and then cutting down 
 the porter at the gate, and shouting the signal word, his 
 comrades took possession of the entrance, and kept it 
 until an ambush, concealed in the neighbourhood, 
 rushed to their support, and the castle was taken. 
 
 By such exploits, the English were so completely dis- 
 possessed of their fortresses in Scotland, that nothing 
 remained of their conquest but the strong castle of Stir- 
 ling, which Edward Bruce, the brother of Robert, had 
 besieged for a long time, but in vain. At length, he 
 entered into an agreement with Sir Philip de Moubray, 
 the English governor, that the castle should be surren- 
 dered, unless it was relieved by the English king before 
 the feast of St. John the Baptist, on the ensuing mid- 
 summer. The king of Scotland was displeased with this 
 arrangement. Four times already had Edward II. in- 
 vaded Scotland, and Bruce had as often foiled him, not 
 by engaging in pitched battles, but by distressing him 
 with desultory attacks, and cutting off his provisions, so 
 that he was compelled to retreat with loss. But now the 
 honour of England was pledged for the relief of Stirling, 
 and all the immense resources of Edward would be col- 
 lected for the occasion. These were the feelings of Bruce 
 as a leader and politician ; but he was also a good knight 
 and true, and therefore he determined to abide the un- 
 equal meeting. From the wars of Wallace, as well as his 
 own, he had learned that secret in warfare which was 
 just beginning to be discovered, or rather revived, in the 
 strategy of Europe — that a firm unflinching infantry can 
 easily abide the encounter of cavalry, in which force the 
 English excelled ; and for the rest, he trusted to his own 
 ready invention, and the tried valour of his soldiers, in 
 compensating for inferiority of numbers. He therefore 
 mustered his forces, laid his plans, and calmly waited 
 the event. In the meantime the articles of agreement, 
 which Sir Philip de Moubray carried to London, com- 
 posed every difference between the king and his nobles.
 
 BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN. 177 
 
 and all were eager to muster their military contingents, 
 for what they hoped would be a final conquest of Scot- 
 land. Berwick was appointed as the great rendezvous 
 of the forces, and on the Hth of June, 1314, there had 
 assembled at this place above 100,000 soldiers, the most 
 numerous and best-appointed army that had ever been 
 led against the Scots. Of these 40,000 were cavalry, 
 3000 of whom were armed from head to foot in plate and 
 mail ; and not only the native subjects of the king of 
 Enirland, but the vassal chieftains of Ireland and Wales, 
 with their wild and hardy followers, were collected un- 
 der the English standard. 
 
 As several of the remote districts of Scotland and 
 many of the Scottish nobility still professed allegiance 
 to Edward, Bruce could only muster in all about 30,000 
 men. But his soldiers were veterans, who had fought 
 under Wallace and himself, and had been accustomed to 
 victory even under the most desperate circumstances, 
 while such warriors as Edward Bruce, Douglas, Ran- 
 dolph, and Walter the Steward, by whom he was sup- 
 ported, would, in his absence, have been accounted the 
 first leaders of the age. He took his station at Ban- 
 nockburn, upon a piece of ground within four miles of 
 Stirling, which he carefully selected as fittest for tha 
 momentous trial. His front was in a great measure 
 protected by a bog ; his right wing was covered by the 
 precipitous banks of the Bannock ; and on his left, where 
 the ground was bare, and which would have been there- 
 fore most favourable for the English cavalry, he caused 
 pits three feet deep to be dug, in the form of quincunxes, 
 which were armed with pointed stakes, and slightly 
 but carefully covered with sods. He also scattered cal- 
 trops or crows-feet in diflFerent directions, to lame the 
 horses. Having thus made every preparation, he issued 
 a proclamation through the host, that all who were not 
 willing to conquer or die with him, had permission to 
 depart; but a joyous shout from the whole army was the 
 only reply. 
 
 1314- — When these preparations had been made, the 
 English army appeared on the 23rd of June, having 
 marched from Falkirk on the morning; and on approach- 
 ins: the town of Stirling, the English king detached Sir 
 Robert Cliffor% with 800 horse, to fetch a compass, and 
 throw himself into the town. The rear of the Scottish 
 I 2
 
 178 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 army would thus have been exposed ; but Bruce, whose 
 military eye detected the moveraeut, exclaimed to Ran- 
 dolph, hid nephew, who had charge of that quarter — 
 ' The enemy has passed your post! Ah, Randolph, a rose 
 has fallen from your chaplet !' 'I will recover it or die,' 
 cried the redoubted warrior, and with a few scores of 
 spearmen he placed himself by a rapid movement be- 
 tween Clifford's party and the town of Stirling. The 
 Eng-lish cavalry, thus interrupted, advanced with loose 
 rein, expecting to trample down their handful of ad- 
 Tersaries in a moment ; but Randolph threw his men 
 into a circle to receive the attack, the front rank, kneel- 
 ing, the second stooping, and the third standing upright, 
 while three rows of spears portended against the enemy 
 in every direction. Still it was a fearful spectacle to see 
 this small body surrounded and completely concealed 
 by the force that attacked it ; and Douglas, the noble 
 rival of the brave Randolph, exclaimed to the king — ' I 
 cannot stand still, and see my companion perish!— for 
 heaven's love let me go to the rescue, and bring him 
 off!' ' No,' cried Bruce, who at that moment thought 
 it unsafe to weaken his lines ; ' let Randolph pay the 
 penalty of his indiscretion : I may not disorder my plan 
 of battle for him.' ' Oh, noble king !' cried the Douglas 
 in agony — ' it irks my heart to see Randolph perish for 
 lack of aid : I cannot lag behind in such an extremity 1' 
 — and assuming the king's silence for consent, he imme- 
 diately spui-red off with a reinforcement to the rescue of 
 his comrade. But before he had reached the conflict, 
 the English cavalry were reeling in the shock ; their 
 lines were broken, and crowds of riderless horses were 
 galloping wildly over the field. ' Halt!' shouted Douglas 
 to his eager followers — * we are too late to aid them, 
 and therefore let us not lessen the glory of such a vic- 
 tory by our presence !' This beautiful touch of chival- 
 rous generosity -between two rivals in military renown, 
 showed what kind of pupils their master had trained for 
 the delivery of Scotland. Another event, which occurred 
 the same evening, inspired the Scottish army with full 
 confidence of success, notwithstanding the numbers of 
 the enemy. Bruce was mounted upon a slightly-mado 
 Scottish pony, and riding in front of his ranks, distin- 
 guished by a small golden coronet upon his helmet, 
 when Sir Henry Bohun, imagining that the war might
 
 BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN. 179 
 
 be terminated by a siugle blow, set spurs to his mighty 
 war-steed, and laid his lance in rest, expecting-, from his 
 superiority in horse and weapons, to bear the Scottish 
 kinp: to the earth in an instant. Bruce, who had no 
 weapon but a short battle-axe, allowed the enemy to 
 come on ; but just at the point of meeting, he swerved 
 from the shock, and rising in his stirrups, dealt such 
 a blow upon the crest of the Englishman, as at once 
 dashed his helmet and head to pieces. The deed was 
 performed in front of both armies, and the Scots exulted 
 in the valour of their sovereign, while the English were 
 proportionably depressed by the omen. No farther en- 
 counter took place that evening. The English, still con- 
 fident in the superiority of their numbers, spent the night 
 in military glee and revelling, as upon the fatal evening 
 before the battle of Hastings ; while the Scots, equally 
 fearless and elevated with hope, passed the interval in 
 devotion, and mutual exhortations to do manfully on the 
 morrow. 
 
 On the following morning, which was that of Saint 
 Barnaby the Bright (June 24th), Edward II. advanced 
 to the attack. As the English army slowly rolled on- 
 ward like an ocean-tide, the Scottish ranks knelt in 
 devotion, while the abbot of Inchaffray, bareheaded 
 and bare-footed, walked through the lines, giving the 
 soldiers his benediction. ' Ha,' cried the king of Eng- 
 land, ' the rebels kneel— they ask for pardon.' ' They 
 ask for pardon, indeed, but it is only from Heaven,' 
 replied Ingram Umfraville, a Scot, who was upon the 
 side of Edward — ' on that field they will win or die.' 
 The charge was sounded, and the English men-at-arms 
 rushed to the conflict. But there was some jealousy 
 between the earls of Gloucester and Hereford, by whom 
 the vanguard was commanded, and they hurried on 
 with such foolish emulation, that they joined battle out 
 of breath and disordered ; while, before they could come 
 to blows, the body of cavalry by whom they were sup- 
 ported were overthrown among the pitfalls, or by the 
 caltrops that had been laid for their destruction. The 
 Scots, who were drawn up in three divisions, now joined 
 battle M-ith the English infantry of the vanguard, and 
 these resisted with their native valour and obstinacy. 
 Then came onward the English archers, the pride of an 
 English army — men who seldom levelled an arrow
 
 180 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 against a Scottisb breast in vain ; and they might 
 here, as at Falkirk and other places, have decided 
 the battle, but for the foresight of the king- of Scot- 
 land. As these gallant bowyers were only formidable 
 at a distance, from their want of defensive weapons, 
 Bruce had reserved 400 horse armed in complete mail, 
 under Sir Robert Keith, the marshal of Scotland, to repel 
 them; and at a signal, they galloped among the archers 
 with such impetuosity, that they routed them in an instant, 
 and drove them backward pell-mell upon their main 
 body. Then came on the Scottish archery in their turn ; 
 men of inferior skill, but being freed from their deadly 
 autagoaists, they could send their arrows with fatal 
 effect among the English infantry, who were crowded 
 together from want of room. So encumbered indeed 
 was the English ai-my, in consequence of the ground 
 ■which Bruce had selected, that the cavalry were unable 
 to act, and the second and third divisions could not be 
 brought up. Bruce, who now saw that tlieir confusion 
 •was increasing, and that the advantage was his own, 
 prepared to secure it by leading on his reserves. He 
 made the attack at their head, and such was the vigour 
 of his onset with the men of the isles, and those of 
 Carrick, Argyle, and Cantire, that the English myriads 
 reeled, and were obliged to give ground. At this critical 
 moment, when the English might, perhaps, even yet 
 have secured at least a safe retreat, they saw the ap- 
 parition of a fresh army advancing at a rapid pace 
 from the neighbouring hills to attack them. This host 
 was composed of old men, women, and boys, the usual 
 followers of every camp, whom Bruce had furnished 
 with banners, and other ensigns, to appear like an 
 armed host, and who showed themselves at the critical 
 moment. The already dispirited English instantly took 
 to flight in good earnest, but their numbers so impeded 
 each other, that they were slaughtered or made pri- 
 soners in heaps. The whole ravine of Bannockbum, to 
 the south of the field, in which direction they fled, was 
 filled with dead bodies, and the river Forth itself was 
 choked with carcases. Twenty-seven of the noblest 
 barons of England were numbered among the dead ; 200 
 knights and 700 esquires also fell in this destructive 
 conflict, and 30,000 of the common soldiers. As for the 
 Scots, their loss was so trivial, that Sir William Vipont
 
 BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN. 181 
 
 and Sir Walter Ross were tlie only persons of account 
 wbo had fallen. An immense number of prisoners, who 
 were put to ransom, and a great quantity of plunder, 
 enriched the victors ; and such was the moral effect 
 of the battle of Banuockburn, that for years after, it 
 is said, a hundred Englishmen would have fied from 
 the border at the approach of three or four Scotchmen. 
 From this instance, also, the Scots learned never to 
 despair in the defence of their country, so that the 
 memory of this day, even under their heaviest defeats, 
 made them always confident of final success. Even to 
 England, too, this signal defeat was ultimately an in- 
 calculable gain. Had Scotland been united to the crown 
 of England by conquest, the royal prerogative would 
 have swelled into an intolerable despotism, while the 
 territorial acquisition, on the other hand, would have 
 been comparatively valueless. But from the stubborn- 
 ness of Scottish resistance, the English kings were con- 
 tinually obliged to apply to parliament, for money 
 to carry on their northern campaigns ; and thus they 
 acquired, in progress of time, a proper sense of their 
 own dependence upon their subjects, and were obliged 
 to concede to the people, in return, those grants that 
 prepared the way for a limited monarchy. And when 
 the fulness of time had arrived — when England and 
 Scotland had tried each other's valour, and could de- 
 pend upon each other's nobleness — it was then the wil- 
 ling union of two high-spirited, independent brethren, 
 rather than the forced and galling tie between the con- 
 queror and the conquered, between the master and the 
 slave. 
 
 As for Edward, who had shown no lack of mere 
 animal courage during the fight, as soon as he saw the 
 defeat of his splendid army, his judgment seemed 
 to forsake him. He galloped immediately to Stirling, 
 and demanded admittance ; but on Sir Philip Moubray 
 representing that the castle must be surrendered next 
 day, accoi-ding to agreement, the unfortunate king 
 turned his steed, and made a wide circuit, to avoid 
 the Scottish army. Douglas, who espied his retreat, 
 tcilloued closely on his track with sixty horse, which 
 ^^ as all he could muster ; and as the royal train was 
 tar too numerous to be attacked, the Scottish leader 
 hung upon bis i-ear, and cut oft" all the stragglers. At
 
 182 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 last Edward, hard-pressed and exhausted, reached the 
 castle of Dunbar, into which he was compassionately 
 received by the earl of March ; and from thence he 
 escaped almost alone to Berwick, in a fishing-boat. 
 
 After this victory, by which the authority of Bruce 
 was established, and the independence of Scotland se- 
 cured, the Scots were so elated with success, that they 
 resolved to harass their enemies in their own dominions. 
 Thrice, therefore, within the space of twelve months, they 
 broke through the English border, under the command of 
 Edward Bruce and Douglas, and wasted the open country 
 with fire and sword, so that the inhabitants who escaped 
 were obliged to flee to the fortresses. Negotiations for 
 peace followed ; but as the Scots insisted upon a full 
 recognition of their independence, while the English 
 would not, as yet, succumb to such terms, the war was 
 renewed on the part of Scotland, upon the borders, 
 with uninterrupted success. To add also to the miseries 
 of England, the country was exhausted by famine, as 
 well as ravaged by enemies. These successes of the 
 Scots had now become famous wherever deeds of valour 
 were mentioned, so that the Irish began to conceive 
 hopes of throwing off the English yoke, in the same 
 manner ; and, in 1316, a body of Irish chieftains sent an 
 invitation to Edward Bruce, to come to their aid, with 
 the offer of making him their king. Although Edward 
 wanted the coolness and sagacity of his brother, and 
 was rather a knight-errant than a general, yet his 
 reckless, overpowering valour had often turned the 
 scale of battle, under the careful management of Robert. 
 The present oft'er was too tempting to be neglected, and, 
 with a new field of adventures and a royal crown in 
 perspective, Edward landed near Carrickfergus, on the 
 26th of May, with a small army of 6,000 men. His 
 career afterwards resembled the achievements of a 
 romance. He threw himself upon the English wherever 
 they made a stand, and, in spite of their superior num- 
 bers, was victorious wherever he fought, so that he 
 soon became master of the province of Ulster, and was 
 crowned king of Ireland. Such victories however were 
 necessarily ruinous to his small force, and he was 
 obliged to send to his brother for aid. Robert accord- 
 ingly led reinforcements into Ireland, in the spring of 
 1317, and after a short stay in Ulster, where he saw the
 
 DEATH OP EDWARD BRUCE. 183 
 
 hopelessness of Edward's attempt, he returned to Scot- 
 land. Edward, however, resumed his career of victory, 
 which at last was niournfully terminated, on the 5th of 
 October, by the battle of Dundalk. Here, against the 
 advice of his officers, he encountered an army ten times 
 more numerous than his own, and, after a long and 
 desperate engagement, a gigantic English knight, of 
 the name of Maupas, singled him out, and encoun- 
 tered him hand to hand. At the close of the battle, 
 the two champions were found dead, their bodies ly- 
 ing stretched upon each other as they had fallen, and 
 the English ungenerously mangled that of Edward, to 
 show their hatred of a hero who had so often made them 
 tremble. Thus, in one day, the crown and conquest of 
 Ireland passed away, and the remnant of the Scottish 
 forces were led home with great difficulty and loss, by 
 John Thomson, one of their most skilful and distin- 
 guis) ed generals. 
 
 ijuring the absence of Robert Bruce, the English 
 attempted to invade Scotland, but the borders were 
 gallantly defended by Douglas, and Walter the Steward. 
 On one occasion, the earls of Arundel and Bretagne 
 advanced with 10,000 men fiom Northumberland, to 
 take Douglas by surprise at Lenthaughlee, near Jed- 
 burgh ; but the latter, who was so wary that it was 
 said of him he never slept, prepared to anticipate the 
 enemy. He seized a narrow passage through which 
 the English must march, and fortified the copse-wood 
 on either side with a stockade, behind which he placed 
 his archers in ambush. The English entered without 
 suspicion ; but in the narrowest part of the pass they 
 were suddenly greeted with a shower of arrows, and con- 
 founded by an impetuous charge of Scottish infantry, by 
 which their crowded ranks were thrown into confusion. 
 Douglas then burst into the thickest of the fight, singled 
 out and grappled with the earl of Bretagne, and stabbed 
 him to the heart with his dagger. A short time after- 
 wards a French knight, Edmund de Cailand, governor 
 of Berwick, swore he would drive a prey out of Scot- 
 liiud, and sallied forth with a strong band of French 
 to execute his threat; but he v.as met by Douglas, who 
 slew the Frenchman, and recovered the booty. His 
 followers fled into Berwick, with fearful tales of the 
 prowess of Douglas; upon which Sir Robert Neville, an
 
 184 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 English commander, declared he would g-ive battle to 
 that redoubted chief as soon as he could behold his 
 banner. Douglas was not a man to shun such appoint- 
 ments, and he made a dash into England, marking his 
 progress with fire and havoc, until he came to Berwick, 
 where his banner was displayed in triumph, upon 
 which Neville sallied forth, like a true knight, to make 
 his promise good. But in the encounter his forces were 
 defeated ; and when he attempted to engage hand to 
 hand with his antagonist, he fell beneath the sword of 
 the Scottish hero. Edward II. now endeavoured to re- 
 taliate the invasions of the Scots, by a counter-invasion. 
 He therefore sent a fleet into the Frith of Forth, and 
 disembarked a strong force at Dunibrissle, on the coast 
 of Fifeshire. Five hundred Scottish horse, who were 
 collected to oppose the landing, wei-e dismayed at the 
 enemy's superiority, and shamefully fled, upon which 
 a strong and valiant ecclesiastic, William Sinclair, 
 bishop of Dunkeld, seeing their cowardice, exclaimed, 
 
 * Fie on you, false knights ! you should have your spurs 
 hacked from your heels.' He then snatched a lance 
 from the nearest runaway, and exclaiming * Let all 
 who love Scotland follow me I- he charged among the 
 masses of the English, who had got on shore, but not 
 arranged their ranks. The fugitive Scots charged in 
 the rear of their spiritual leader, and with such unex- 
 pected fury, that the English fled to their ships in con- 
 fusion, and with great loss. Bruce, when he heard of 
 this gallant deed, was so delighted, that he cried out, 
 
 • Sinclair shall be my bishop,' — a circumstance from 
 which the bold prelate was ever afterwards designated 
 ' the king's bishop.' 
 
 Edward II., who had so often found arms unavail- 
 ing, now endeavoured to control the Scots with the 
 weapons of the church ; he therefore procured that the 
 pope, John XXII. should issue a bull, commanding a 
 two years' peace between England and Scotland. Two 
 cardinals, who were intrusted with this mission, had 
 also received privately from the pontiflT a full authority 
 to excommunicate the king of Scotland, and as many 
 of his ofiicers as they thought fit. But the two nuncios 
 whom the cardinals sent from England to Scotland, to 
 convey the apostolic mandate, were attacked near Dur- 
 ham by certain outlaws, and plundered to their skins.
 
 INTERFERENCE OF THE PONTIFF. 185 
 
 The holy men, however, made shift to get to Scotland, 
 lid present the pope's letters to the king; but as he 
 as addressed in these merely as ' Governor in Scot- 
 md,' he would not open them. ' These epistles,' lie 
 aid, ' I may not open nor read : many of my people 
 are of my own name, and some of them may have a 
 share in the grovernment. They cannot be for me, for 
 1 am king of Scotland.' He persevered in not opening 
 them, and the nuncios retunaed to England, upon which 
 the cardinals sent a priest to Scotland, to publish the 
 bulls and instruments. This divine, one Adam Newton, 
 entered Scotland with fear and trembling ; but no sooner 
 had he propounded the two years' truce, than the Scot- 
 tisli barons looked so grim, that he trembled for his life. 
 He was even refused a safe conduct home, and obliged 
 to return at his own risk ; but on the way he was 
 attacked by four outlaws, who tore his papers and cre- 
 dentials, plundered him of his bull, and then suffered 
 him to depart in peace. In this way Bruce eluded, by a 
 happy mixture of firmness and caution, an impertinent 
 attempt of the pontiff to infringe upon the liberties of 
 Scotland. 
 
 1319.— In the mean time, while the feuds between the 
 improvident king of England and his nobility were at the 
 height, Bruce was enabled to recover the town of Ber- 
 wick, the earliest of the Scottish conquests of Edward I. 
 after which he led a terrible invasion into the northern 
 English counties. So successful was he in this inroad, 
 that the Scots are described as driving their prisoners 
 homeward ' like flocks of sheep before them.' This in- 
 sult, and the loss of Berwick, so raised the spirit of Ed- 
 ward II. that he determined to recapture the town at 
 any price, and therefore he advanced against it with 
 a powerful army, and invested it on the 24th of July. 
 The town was attacked ny laud and sea at the same 
 instant ; but a ship, whose yards and rigging were 
 loaded with English soldiers, to be thrown upon the 
 walls, grounded on a shoal, and was instantly set on fire 
 by the Scots. The land attack was equally fruitless, and 
 crowds of the assailants perished. A military engine 
 called a sotv was then brought forward, a sort of testudo 
 formed of sloping planks, to shelter the miners, who 
 under protection of its covert advanced to the walls, and 
 proceeded to undermine them. The garrison had erected
 
 186 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 a catapult to demolish the sow, and having calculated 
 time and distance, they discharged at it an enormous 
 rock, by which the machine was shivered ; and as the 
 miners scampered from beneath the ruin, the Scots, 
 amidst roars of laughter, shouted to each other, ' The 
 English sow has farrowed!' Bruce now resolved to raise 
 the siege of Berwick by a movement into England, for 
 which purpose he sent Randolph and Douglas at the 
 head of 15,000 men to surprise the person of Isabella, the 
 English queen, at York. It would have been well for her 
 husband, if this ' she-wolf of France' had fallen into the 
 hands of the Scots, and remained in perpetual captivity; 
 but having received notice of their purpose, she secured 
 her escape only by a few hours. The Scots, however, 
 made wild havoc throughout the country, upon which 
 the archbishop of York gathered a large army of priests 
 and rustics, and endeavoured to oppose them at Mitton, 
 on the river Swale, on the 20th of September. The 
 primate's miscellaneous force however was ill qualified 
 to encounter such leaders and a veteran army, and it 
 was routed with such slaughter of the clergy, that 
 300 shaven crowns were found among the slain, while 
 the battle, on account of the death of so many priests, 
 was sportively recorded by the Scots under the title of 
 the ' Chapter of Mitton.' In consequence of this event, 
 Edward raised the siege of Berwick, and hurried with 
 all his forces to intercept the Scots ; but Randolph and 
 Douglas, who had only an army of light foragers, had 
 no purpose of withstanding a royal host. They therefore 
 fetched a compass, by which they eluded their heavy- 
 armed enemies, and returned to Scotland laden with plun- 
 der. Before this year closed, Douglas made another in- 
 cursion into England, where he destroyed the harvests, and 
 wrought fearful havoc amongst the villages. The name 
 of this chief was now so terrible, that English mothers 
 on the border were wont to still their crying children 
 with threats of the ' Black Douglas.' Again Edward, 
 when he found that force was unavailing, resolved to 
 stir up against his Scottish enemies the terrors of the 
 church; and having fee'd the representative of St. Peter, 
 the pope began to thunder an excommunication against 
 Bruce and Scotland, for which however the Scots cared 
 very little. On the contrary, they returned a spirited 
 reply, on the 6th of April 1320, in which, after showing
 
 REBELLION AGAINST EDWARD II. 187 
 
 their descent from the daughter of Pharaoh, and quot- 
 ing a tremendous bead-roll of independent kings, both 
 heathen and Christian, who had reigned over them, 
 they showed that they had been reduced to Egyptian 
 bondage by Edward I. until Bruce, like a second 
 Joshua or Judas Maccabaeus, had risen up to deliver 
 them. Such arguments were well matched with those 
 of Edward and the pope; hut to all this they added, that 
 if even Bruce himself should compromise their liberties, 
 they would dispossess him also of the Scottish throne ; 
 and that so long as a hundred Scots were left alive, 
 they would fight to the death for liberty. The pontiff 
 saw the danger of provoking so determined a people, and 
 soon lowered his tone. 
 
 While England was thus foiled at every point by an 
 inferior enemy, the national misery was imbittered by 
 tlie horrors of a civil war. Edward, who could not 
 live without a favourite, had elected Hugh Spenser 
 his chamberlain to that dangerous office, after the death 
 of Gaveston, and the new minion proceeded to tread 
 in the steps of his predecessor. Spenser and his father, 
 a\ ailing themselves of their influence, invaded the rights 
 and property of the barons, and the latter were not slow 
 in forming a coalition against the favourite, as they had 
 done in the case of Gaveston. The earl of Lancaster, 
 who was at the head of this coalition, even entered into 
 an agreement with the king of Scotland for aid, in re- 
 turn for which he promised his interest in procuring an 
 eqiiitable peace between the two kingdoms. But the 
 earl's impatience for revenge would not allow him to 
 wait the arrival of such a powerful auxiliary, and the 
 confederate nobles advanced to London, with their fol- 
 lowers, and took possession of the metropolis, as the 
 citizens favoured their cause. Edward summoned the 
 discontented peers to a parliament then assembled at 
 Winchester, to tenninate their differences in an amicable 
 manner ; but the nobles, instead of repairing thither in 
 peaceful fashion, attended with their armed followers, 
 and procured, or rather extorted, a sentence of banish- 
 ment against the two Speusers, and a plenary indemnity 
 for themselves. The Spensers, hearing of these circum- 
 stances, hurried to the king, and not only obtained from 
 him a reversion of the sentence, but excited him to re- 
 venge. The royal cause was at the same time embraced
 
 188 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 by a large portion of the English nobility, who were 
 indignant at the treaty between the confederates and 
 the Scots, so that Edward was soon at the head of a nu- 
 merous army. He now showed more vigour in protect- 
 ing his favourites than he had ever done in defence 
 of his kingdom, and the confederates were so closely 
 followed, that, after several unavailing attempts to 
 rally, they were obliged to fall back upon Scotland. As 
 Lancaster hurried northward he was encountered on 
 the 16th of March (1322) at Boroughbridge, by Sir An- 
 drew Harcla, warden of the western marches, and 
 Sir Simon Ward, shei-iff of Yorkshire, when the rebels 
 were totally discomfited, and the earl himself was taken 
 prisoner. As Lancaster had been the chief instru- 
 ment in the death of Gaveston some years before, this 
 circumstance was not forgotten : he was tried, and con- 
 demned to be hanged ; but the king substituted the axe 
 in place of the halter, and the sentence was executed 
 with every circumstance of ignominy. Edward was so 
 elated with this brief success, that he wrote to the pope 
 to give himself no farther trouble in procuring a truce 
 with the Scots, as he was now determined to reduce 
 them by force. 
 
 1322- — Edward, in consequence of this new fit of 
 courage, resolved to accomplish a fresh conquest of 
 Scotland, and his preparations were upon so great a 
 scale, that success seemed inevitable ; for, besides an 
 immense army of English warriors, he had hired power- 
 ful reinforcements from Aquitaine, and other parts of 
 the continent. But the Scots anticipated this invasion 
 by bursting across the English border, under the com- 
 mand of Douglas and Randolph, who swept the marches 
 of Lancashire, on the eastern side, while Bruce himself 
 assailed it on the west, after which they joined their 
 forces, wasted the vale of Furness, and returned home- 
 ward laden with plunder. At length Edward, having 
 completed his preparations, advanced in August, with 
 an army scarcely inferior to that which had fought 
 at Bannockburu. But Bruce, who had now no neces- 
 sity to encounter such a force, resolved to let it roll 
 onward and exhaust itself, for which purpose he laid 
 the whole borders waste as far as the Frith of Forth. The 
 English therefore plunged into a region of total famine, 
 and found nothing in their march to Edinburgh but a
 
 BATTLE NF.AR MALTON. 189 
 
 lame bull. ' By my faith !' cried the earl of Warrenne, 
 as he eyed this soiTy spoil, ' I never saw beef so dear !' 
 The English ships lay wind-bound in the Frith, and 
 could not come up with supplies, so that the famished 
 English were obliged to retreat, burning in their way 
 the monasteries of Dryburgh and Melrose, after they 
 had plundered the shrines, and slaughtered the de- 
 fenceless monks. But vengeance overtook the actors 
 of such cruelty, so that they suffered all the conse- 
 quences of the most ruinous defeat ; for, on entering 
 England, they indemnified themselves so ravenously for 
 their late abstinence, that 16,000 gallant soldiers died of 
 repletion. 
 
 It was now the turn of the king of Scotland to become 
 the invader, and he crossed the Tweed, and made an 
 unsuccessful attempt upon Norham castle. Having 
 learned, however, that Edward was collecting his forces 
 at Bilaud Abbey, near Malton, Bruce conceived the bold 
 idea of ending the war by capturing the person of the 
 king of England ; and having- mounted his infantry 
 upon hardy, light-footed Scotch ponies, he suddenly ap- 
 peared in front of the English army, after a very rapid 
 march. The enemy on this occasion were skilfully 
 posted on the ridge of a hill, and could only be ap- 
 proached by a narrow, steep pathway. But Bruce knew 
 better than any commander of the age how such difficul- 
 ties were to be encountered ; and while he sent Douglas 
 and Randolph to storm the pass, he turned the English 
 position by means of a body of Highlanders, who easily 
 scaL-d the mountain, and attacked the enemy in flank 
 and rear. The English army was soon routed ; Edward 
 himself escaped to Bridlington with great difficulty, leav- 
 ing all his baggage and treasure behind him ; while Walter 
 the Steward chased the fugitives as far as York, before 
 which city he halted till the evening, with only 500 
 men-at-arms, to see if the enemy would come out to the 
 encounter. The Scottish army returned home unmolested, 
 and laden with spoil. These losses, with the defection 
 of the English nobles in consequence of the arrogance 
 of the Spensers, at last made Edward desirous of peace ; 
 and a truce, which was to last for thirteen years, was 
 ifitified between the two kingdoms, at Berwick, on the 
 7th of June, 13*23. Bruce had now leisure to make peace 
 with the pontiff, which was successfully accomplished
 
 190 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 through the negotiations of Randolph, who had been sent 
 to Rome for this purpose. 
 
 While the cause of the king of Scotland was thus suc- 
 cessful, the affairs of Edward became daily more disas- 
 trous, and the Spensers at last became so odious to the 
 queen, that she resolved to escape to France. In 1325, 
 Edward and the French king were on the eve of a rap- 
 ture, about the possession of Guienne, and queen Isa- 
 bella, in furtherance of her purpose, represented that 
 she could procure a more amicable arrangement with 
 her royal brother, Charles the Fair, than a common am- 
 bassador; and, in consequence of her urgent request, she 
 ■was allowed, in a fatal hour for her husband, to visit the 
 French court. Having thus escaped from the control 
 of Edward and his parasite, her next aim was to de- 
 tach the young prince Edward from his father. It 
 was therefore proposed by Charles, that Guienne should 
 be added to England, provided the prince did homage 
 in person for the territory, upon* which young Edward 
 was sent to France without suspicion. It was now time 
 for the queen to be recalled ; but when the mandate to 
 that effect arrived, Isabella refused to return till the 
 younger Spenser was banished the kingdom. She per- 
 suaded the prince also to join in her refusal, and thus 
 she became the rallying point of the Lancastrian faction, 
 the chiefs of which were daily repairing to her court. At 
 last, by the aid of the count of Hainault, to whose second 
 daughter prince Edward was contracted, she procured 
 a small fleet and a few troops, and with this slight ar- 
 mament she arrived on the 24th of September (132G), at 
 Orewell Haven, in Suffolk. Even so paltry a force, for it 
 was scarcely above 3000 men, sufficed to overturn the 
 throne of the obnoxious Edward. The queen's mani- 
 festoes promised reforms of all kinds, and the people took 
 up arms in her cause, while Edward and Spenser re- 
 mained almost entirely deserted. The latter soon fell 
 into the hands of the enemy, and was hanged ; and the 
 king being summoned to a parliament which was held 
 at Westminster, on January the 7th (1327), was declared 
 incapable of reigning, and obliged to resign the crown 
 in favour of his son. After this, nothing remained for 
 Edward but the usual fate of deposed princes. He was 
 delivered to the custody of keepers, who endeavoured to 
 break his spirit by every act of cruelty and indignity ;
 
 DEATH OF EDWARD II. 191 
 
 but when they found that he survived their inflictions, 
 and mitrht yet excite the public sympathy to a reaction, 
 they resolved to make their work more sure. On the 
 iii^ht of the 21st of September, the cotta^rers in the 
 neig-hbourhood of Berkeley Castle were roused from sleep 
 by piercing shrieks of agony, that issued from those 
 gloomy towers, and they huiiiedly crossed themselves 
 at the alarm, not daring to utter their thoughts. In the 
 morning, it was given out that the king had died from 
 sudden illness in the night, while the body, on bein^ 
 exposed, exhibited no marks of Tiolence. But a red hot 
 iron had been introduced into his bowels, and thus, 
 though he had perished in excruciating torments, no 
 external sign of injury appeared. 
 
 1327 -—Although a truce of thirteen years had been 
 proclaimed between England and Scotland, yet Bruce 
 resolved to take advantage of these events, to procure 
 a more lasting and advantageous peace for his country. 
 He therefore complained that the English court had 
 continued to prejudice his interests with the pope, and 
 that English cruisers had interrupted the trade between 
 Scotland and Flanders. Prince Edward, though still a 
 bjy, was not less eager for war than his adversary ; for 
 notwithstanding his title of king, he was kept in leading 
 strings by his mother, and her profligate paramour, the 
 earl of Mortimer. While he hoped to be freed from 
 their thraldom by the protection of an army, they were no 
 less eager to expose him to all the hazards of a northern 
 campaign, and therefore they seconded his e.Torts so 
 effectually, that he was soon at the head of 60,000 men. 
 Bruce, undismayed by this formidable preparation, sent 
 a defiance to the young king, telling him that he would 
 come and work his pleasure upon the English border 
 with fire and sword ; but when all was ready for 
 the invasion, he was so sorely afflicted with leprosy, 
 occasioned by the toils and privations he had under- 
 gone, as to be unable to move. His place however 
 was ably supplied by Randolph and Douglas, who led 
 3000 men-at-arms, and about 10,000 light horsemen, 
 with their followers, across the borders. These ca- 
 valry surpassed all the soldiers in Europe for that 
 light predatory warfare in which they were engaged. 
 Their horses, although altogether unfitted for the shock 
 of battle, were so light, hardy, and active, as to bid
 
 192 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 defiance to pursuit; and their riders, at the approach 
 of an engagement, always alighted, and fought on foot. 
 The soldiers neither encumbered themselves with provi- 
 sions nor military stores : each man carried a small bag 
 of oatmeal behind his saddle, and a plate of iron to bake 
 it into cakes, while the fat beeves of England could sup- 
 ply the rest : their cloaks served for tent and covering, 
 and the ground was their bed. They crossed the bor- 
 der like a whirlwind, and Edward, who had marched 
 his unwieldy army into Northumberland, could only 
 track their course by burning villages. For tlnee days 
 the Scots thus plundered and wasted, within five miles 
 of the English, without being overtaken. At length, Ed- 
 ward resolved to throw himself between them and Scot- 
 land, to intercept them on their return. For this purpose 
 he halted ou the banks of the Tyne, midway between 
 Newcastle and Carlisle ; but here provisions and forage 
 were soon exhausted, and such deluges of rain fell, that, 
 after enduring famine and tempests for eight days, Ed- 
 ward resolved to go once more in quest of his invisible 
 enemy. But although he marched southward, and sent 
 his scouts in all directions, and although he promised a 
 reward of a hundred pounds a year, and the honour of 
 knighthood, to whoever could give intelligence where 
 the Scots were to be found, all was in vain — he pre- 
 sented the ludicrous spectacle of a king groping- in his 
 own dominions for an army of 20,000 enemies, the smoke 
 of whose devastations came hourly to his nostrils. At 
 last, on the 31st of July, Thomas de Rokeby brought 
 intelligence that the Scots were encamped not far oif ; 
 upon which, Edward marched under his guidance to the 
 place, with the whole army, in order of battle. But to 
 his chagrin he discovered, that the enemy were strongly 
 posted upon the summit of a steep hill, at the foot of 
 which ran the river Wear, so that they could not be at- 
 tacked without the greatest disadvantage. Edward, on 
 this, invited them to a pitched battle ou the plain, offer- 
 ing to give them an unmolested opportunity to cross the 
 river and form in order ; but Randolph and Douglas, 
 who knew the advantage of their position, replied, that 
 they had come without the king of England's leave, and 
 would stay as long as they pleased. ' If he dislikes our 
 presence,' they added, * let him cross the river, and pu- 
 nish us.' The armies lay facing each other for two or
 
 STRANGE WARFARE OF THE SCOTS. 193 
 
 three days, the Scots faring luxariously upon the fat 
 sheep and oxen, which they gathered from all quarters, 
 ■while the English were exhausted not only by want 
 of provisions, but the toil of watching, for they lay all 
 night upon the ground in their armour, holding the 
 bridles of their horses in their hands. Sleep too was 
 industriously driven from their eyes by the Scottish 
 military music, which consisted of the blowing of cows' 
 horns; and as such instruments were easily procured, 
 while able performers were not wanting, the Scottish 
 borderers trumpeted all night, mating a noise, says 
 Froissart, ' as if all the great devils in hell had been 
 there.' At last the English, on the third or fourth morn- 
 ing, found that their enemies had disappeared, but it 
 was only to withdraw to a still stronger position upon 
 the Wear. Edward marched after tliem, but was still 
 unable to give battle : the Scots were too strongly en- 
 trenched to be attacked, and they would not forego their 
 advantage to encounter* on the plain. 
 
 While the armies thus lay watching each other, the 
 chivalrous Douglas conceived the bold idea of surprising 
 the person of the young king of England. For this pur- 
 pose he had carefully studied the position of the English 
 encampment ; and on the second night he crossed the 
 Wear, at some distance, with 200 men-at-arms, and then 
 entered the enemy's posts, exclaiming, ' Ha ! Saint 
 George ! have we no watch here ?' as if he had been an 
 English officer going his rounds. He thus reached the 
 royal tent undetected, the cords of which he cut, and 
 then raising his war-cry, he rushed forward with his 
 followers. The young sovereign was almost within his 
 grasp, and would have been taken prisoner, but for the 
 fidelity of his chaplain and several of the royal house- 
 hold, who died to cover their master's retreat. The 
 whole camp was now in a state of alarm ; but Douglas 
 gallantly cut his way through the army, and brought 
 off his followers in safety. 
 
 On the second night after this strange onslaught, the 
 English were apprised by a captive, that the whole Scot- 
 tish army were ordered to hold themselves in readiness 
 to march under the Douglas banner that evening. Sup- 
 posing that this was for the purpose of some second sur- 
 prise, the English remained under arms the whole night. 
 But the Scots had far other purposes ; for on the morning 
 K
 
 194 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 it was found that they had decamped, and were already 
 on their way to Scotland. The English advanced to the 
 empty camp, and regarded it with astonishment. Four 
 hundred beeves lay slaughtered ready for immediate use, 
 and the skins of the animals, hanging loosely over the 
 fire, were to serve as cauldrons for boiling the flesh, while 
 hundreds of shoes, cut out of the same material, were 
 scattered in every direction. In the mean time, the 
 southern men-at-arms, and the chivalry of Hainault, 
 ■who had endeavoured to cope with such light-heeled ad 
 versaries, had lost their good war-horses and baggage, 
 and rendered their arms unserviceable, while thousands? 
 of the common soldiei's had perished without stroke of 
 sword. The future conqueror of Crecy, after such an ex. 
 pensive apprenticeship in the art of war, marched first to 
 Durham and then to York, where he dismissed his armj'. 
 These events, instead of discouraging the youthful 
 Edward, made him only the more eager to redeem his 
 reputation. But his wishes were adverse to those of hia 
 mother, and her paramour Mortimer, who now thought 
 that, by making peace with Bruce, they might enjoy hia 
 aid in the event of a reverse, as their power and popu- 
 larity began to totter. These inclinations were greatly 
 strengthened by the appearance of Bruce himself upon 
 the eastern frontier, where he ravaged the country so 
 effectually, that he hunted from one English park to 
 another unrestrained, as if he had been in his own do-" 
 minions. After several meetings of the commissioners 
 of both kingdoms, the terms of peace were finally rati- 
 fied in a parliament held at Northampton, on the 4th of 
 May, 1328. Here it was agreed, that neither country 
 should countenance or shelter the rebels of the other ; 
 that all claims of dominion on the part of England over 
 Scotland should be utterly renounced ; that all the Scot- 
 tish charters and documents, carried off by Edward 1. 
 should be restored ; and that the English king should 
 use his utmost interest with the court of Rome to have 
 the sentence of excommunication against Bruce re- 
 scinded. Bruce, in return for the havoc he had wrought 
 in England, agreed to pay the sum of £20,000. This 
 treaty was furthermore to he ratified by a marriage be- 
 tween David, the son of Robert, and Joanna the sister of 
 Edward, both being as yet infants, and the princess was 
 placed in the custody of Bruce, to be united to his son.
 
 DEATH OF BRUCE. 195 
 
 •when he arrived at maturity. By this treaty, which 
 the English indignantly granted, but which they were 
 scarcely able to refuse, Bruce completely annihilated the 
 labours and conquests of Edward I. and raised his 
 country to a state of celebrity which it had never before 
 attained among the civilized nations of Europe. The 
 hero seemed to have only waited for this glorious con- 
 summation of his labours to depart in peace. He had 
 been for some time afflicted with a cruel disease in his 
 blood, which has been called the leprosy, broui;ht on by 
 the toils and privations of his early life ; so that, not- 
 withstanding his iron frame and gigantic strength, he 
 was an exhausted and dying old man at the compara- 
 tively premature age of fifty-five. His death-bed was 
 surrounded by the companions of his toils, and sharers 
 in his victories; men whom the English stigmatized as 
 warriors insensible to pity, but who now wept, with all 
 the tenderness of womanhood, over the last hours of 
 their friend and sovereign. The military legacy which 
 he bequeathed to his country, in the form of a 
 dying admonition, would, if properly followed, have 
 saved it from many a foul and fatal defeat. He 
 advised the Scots to fight on foot ; to entrench them- 
 selves before battle on difficult gTound ; to lay waste 
 the country before the invaders, that they might be dri- 
 ven back by famine ; and while the enemy was en- 
 camped, to harass and exhaust them by continual night 
 alarms. Such alone was the way in which a poor king- 
 dom could hope to maintain itself against one so lich 
 and powerful as England, and his own successful career 
 had completely proved the efficacy of these precepts. As 
 a religious man, the thought that he was still excom- 
 municated by the church, weighed heavily upon his 
 soul; and therefore he did all that could be done in the 
 opinion of that age to make reparation : he commissioned 
 his friend Douglas to carry his heart to Palestine, and 
 bury it in the holy city. The ' good lord James,' aa 
 Douglas was affectionately called by his countrymen, 
 undertook that sacred office, and Bruce expired on the 
 7th of June, 1329. The chivalrous vow of Douglas was 
 attended with melancholy consequences to Scotland, and 
 himself. He departed for Palestine with a princely train ; 
 but on landing at Seville, on his voyage, he learned that 
 king Alphonso was warring against the Moors; and being
 
 196 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 eager to partalce in a holy war, his services were offered, 
 and eagerly accepted by the Spanish sovereign. Here 
 he fousiht against the infidels with his usual valour, and 
 when the battle was at the hottest, he released the casket 
 that contained the heart of Bruce from his neck, and 
 threw it among the ranks of the enemy, exclaiming, 
 • Forward, gallant heart, as thou wert wont ! Douglas will 
 rescue thee or die !' With only eight or ten attendants 
 he broke through the Moorish squadrons, and might 
 have even then returned in safety, had he not seen Sir 
 William Sinclair borne down by a multitude. He 
 spurred to the rescue of his comrade, but was overpowered 
 by numbers, and s,lain. The sacred relic of the Bruce, and 
 the body of its devoted champion, were recovered, and 
 brought home by the Scots, and both were buried with 
 mournful solemnity in the monastery of Melrose. 
 
 1332- — Notwithstanding the peace that had been esta- 
 blished between England and Scotland, the injuries on 
 either side were too deep to be easily forgotten. The Eng- 
 lish especially were indignant at the surrender which had 
 been extorted from them of all the fruits of their Scottish 
 victories ; and they were the more eager to renew hos- 
 tilities, as Bruce and his skilful captains were no longer 
 living to oppose them. In this state of things, an argu- 
 ment was soon found for renewing the contest. By an 
 article of the last treaty, some of those English nobles 
 who held lands in Scotland were to be restored to their 
 northern estates ; but the Scots refused to fulfil the 
 agreement with the lords Wake and Henry de Beaumont, 
 upon which these angry nobles resolved to revenge 
 themselves by restoring the family of Baliol. They ac- 
 cordingly mustered their vassals upon the borders, and 
 being joined by other nobles and some rebellious Scots, 
 they invited Edward Baliol, the son and heir of the 
 imbecile John, from Normandy. Edward III., who was 
 now king in reality, by the death of Mortimer, pretended 
 to discountenance these proceedings, out of regard for 
 his young sister, the queen of Scotland ; but as he 
 adopted no effectual measures of prevention, Baliol, 
 Wake, de Beaumont, and their friends, set sail with a 
 small army and fleet from Kavenspur, entered the Frith 
 of Forth, and landed at Kinghorn, in Fife, on the 6th 
 of August. Two large Scottish armies, the one com- 
 manded by the earl of Marr, who had succeeded Ran-
 
 EDWARD BALIOL INVADES SCOTLAND. 197 
 
 dolph as regent, and the other headed by the earl of 
 March, advanced to oppose the invaders. Jiut Baliol, 
 instead of shunning the unequal contest, threw himself 
 between both armies, and encamped at Forteviot, having 
 the river Earn between him and the regent. At mid- 
 night he crossed the river by a ford, and burst suddenly 
 upon the Scottish camp, which was buried in sleep, on 
 IJuplin moor. The surprised Scots, without having time 
 to arm, were slaughtei'ed in the dark iu multitudes. 
 Day dawned upon the scene of havoc, when Marr, en- 
 raged at the small force of the enemy, rashly advanced 
 to the conflict in a narrow pass, where his soldiers were 
 unable to fonn, so that they were miserably defeated 
 almost without resistance. Thirteen thousand Scots and 
 the regent himself lay dead on the field, while of the 
 army of Baliol, which did not exceed three thousand men, 
 very few perished. In the mean time, the earl of March 
 pressed forward ; but Baliol, instead of awaiting the en- 
 counter, withdrew by a rapid march to Perth, whither 
 he was closely pursued by his adversary. The English 
 fortified themselves in the town, and were powerfully 
 reinforced by the partisans of the house of Baliol; and 
 when the earl of March laid siege to Perth, there were 
 traitors in his camp, who betrayed his movements to the 
 enemy, while his fleet was destroyed by the English 
 .ships which Raliol sent round to the mouth of the Tay. 
 After he had thus baffled the patnotic party in Scotland, 
 Baliol proceeded to Scone, where he was crowned on 
 the 24th of September, having thus won a kingdom in 
 about eight weeks. But he lost the rich prize almost as 
 rapidly as lie gained it. The Scottish nobles who adhered 
 to the family of Bruce soon recovered from the stupe- 
 faction which their defeat had produced, and prepared 
 for action. In the mean time, Baliol, confident in his 
 late victories and the protection of Edward, to whom 
 he had done homnge for the crown of Scotland, re- 
 tired with a small force to Annan, in Dumfries, where 
 he proposed to hold his Christmas. Here he was sur- 
 prised on the night of the IGth of December by a body 
 of cavalry under the earl of Moray, Sir Archibald Doug- 
 las, and Sir Simon Fraser, and he had only time to throw 
 himself almost naked upon the bare back of a horse, and 
 hurry across the border. 
 
 1333.— Edward, who had hitherto ostensibly stood aloof,
 
 198 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 out of a pretended regard to the rights of David, his young 
 brother-in-law, now entered fully into the quarrel. He 
 found in Baliol a compliant tool, who would accept the 
 crown of Scotland upon any terms ; and, therefore, war 
 was proclaimed in due form, and Edward marched with 
 a powerful army to the border to reinstate his vassal on 
 the Scottish throne. His first operation was the siege of 
 Berwick, which town he invested so closely, that the 
 garrison agreed to surrender, provided they were not 
 relieved in four days. In consequence of this capitu- 
 lation, lord Archibald Douglas, the regent of Scotland, 
 collected a numerous army, and advanced to the re- 
 lief of the town. On the 19tb of July, about noon, he 
 found the English drawn up on Halidon Hill, about a 
 mile to the north-west of Berwick; upon which he 
 rashly advanced on the following morning to the en- 
 counter, without regarding the strong position which 
 they occupied. The Scots rushed across a swamp and 
 up the hill, in the face of a shower of arrows that made 
 fearful havoc among their ranks ; they then charged the 
 English with such violence, that the latter for a moment 
 seemed to be broken and defeated. But they soon ral- 
 lied, and turned upon the assailants, already half ex- 
 hausted by their previous efforts ; and the Scots, after 
 losing their leader, gave way and fled in confusion. The 
 English cavalry, and the wild Irish kerns under the 
 command of lord Darcy, pursued the scattered fugitives, 
 and slaughtered them without mercy. In this fatal 
 defeat, the greater part of the Scottish nobility who ad- 
 hered to the family of Bruce were slain or taken pri- 
 soners, while the English sustained very little loss. 
 After the battle, the town and castle of Berwick surren- 
 dered, according to agreement. 
 
 1334- — The cause of Scottish independence was thus 
 once more upon ti>e brink of ruin. Only four castles re- 
 mained in possession of the patriots ; and Baliol no longer 
 finding an enemy in the field, convoked a parliament at 
 Edinburgh, where he did homage to Edward for the 
 kingdom of Scotland, and surrendered the frontier pro- 
 vinces of Berwick, Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Dumfries, 
 and the district of Lothian. But although the country 
 was thus reduced, the national spirit was still nncon- 
 quered ; and several brave leaders, such as Sir Andrew 
 Moray of Bothwell, the steward of Scotland, and the
 
 FRUITLESS INVASION OF SCOTLAND. 199 
 young earl of Randolph, continued the contest by a par- 
 tisan warfare, in which they were so successful, that 
 Baliol, after witnessing^ the repeated defeats of his best 
 supporters, lost heart, and fled once more into England. 
 Edward again entered Scotland with a powerful army 
 to support him, and secure the provinces that had been 
 ceded to him by the late treaty ; but the Scots, warned 
 by their late misfortunes, avoided meeting him in the 
 field, so that after his troops had been severely annoyed 
 by famine, he was compelled to return to England. 
 
 Edward and Baliol made a fresh inroad into Scot- 
 land in the following year, with separate armies, and 
 ravaged the country with merciless severity. The Eng- 
 lish king finding no open resistance, thought the country 
 effectually subdued, and left Baliol with a body of troops 
 to receive the homage of the people ; but on the departure 
 of the former, the nobles of the Brucean party rushed 
 from their concealments, and attacked the partisans of 
 Baliol with their former success. Edward thus found 
 that the whole work must be done anew; and therefore 
 he again invaded Scotland, slaying and destroying till 
 he came to Inverness. Here, however, he was effectu- 
 ally matched by Sir Andrew Moray, the old friend and 
 follower of Wallace, who adopted the tactics of his heroic 
 teacher, and kept up a harassing warfare on the front, 
 flank, and rear of the English army, without coming to 
 an engagement. Wherever Edward advanced he found 
 the country laid waste before him by an enemy whom 
 he always felt, but could never overtake ; and at last he 
 was obliged, in consequence of want of provisions, to 
 retrace his way to England. 
 
 After Edward had been thus forced to retire, the Scots, 
 no longer awed by a superior army, were enabled to 
 resume that guerilla warfare in which they could best 
 hope for success ; and deeds of chivalry, rather than 
 pitched battles, once more effected the deliverance of 
 Scotland. The castle of Dunbar, which was besieged 
 by the earl of Montague, was gallantly defended by the 
 countess, commonly called the Black Agnes of Dunbar, 
 a daughter of the heroic Randolph, who seemed to 
 inherit her father's military skill. She baffled every 
 attempt of the assailants, like a good warrior ; and not 
 content with merely repelling them, she taunted them 
 bitterly, like a very woman, from the walls. On ono
 
 209 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 occasion, the English advanced that testudo called a 
 sew to the ramparts ; upon which the lady exclaimed, 
 in scoffing rhyme— 
 
 Beware, Montagow, 
 
 For larrow shall thv sow. 
 
 A huge rock was then discharged upon the engine, which 
 was crushed to pieces. The English in despair resolved to 
 convert the siege into a blockade, and reduce Dunbar by 
 famine ; but Sir Alexander Ramsay, in a dark night, 
 sent a small ship laden with provisions to the castle, and 
 Montague was obliged to retreat. The steward of Scot- 
 land, aided by a few troops from France, laid siege to 
 Perth, which was held for England; and here William 
 Bullock, a fighting priest, politician, and military en- 
 gineer, did good service to Scotland. J3uring an eclipse 
 of the sun, while all stood aghast in superstitious terror, 
 Bullock, who laughed at omens, availed himself of the 
 darkness to wheel his engines close to the walls; so that 
 when light returned, the besieged found themselves 
 overtopped, and were obliged to surrender. Douglas, the 
 knight of Liddisdale, commonly called, the Flower of 
 Chivalry, after giving several defeats to the English, 
 besieged the castle of Edinburgh, which at that time was 
 reckoned impregnable, and contrived to introduce within 
 the gateway a number of his soldiers, disguised like 
 English sailors, laden with wine aiid provisions. As 
 soon as they had mastered the sentinels, fhe knight of 
 Liddisdale and his followers rushed fi'om their ambush, 
 and made themselves masters of the castle. It was by 
 such achievements that the cause of the family of Bruce 
 and that of national independence were restored, so that 
 David, the young king, and his spouse, who had been sent 
 to France for safety during the ascendancy of the rival 
 house, were recalled to their kingdom in 1341. The 
 effects of these wars, however, were such as to make 
 humanity shudder at the narrative. Those persons who 
 were not so happy as to perish in the field of battle, were 
 assailed by all the miseries of disease and famine ; the 
 Avolves and the deer inhabited those wastes that had 
 lately been cultivated and populous plains ; and one in- 
 stance occurred, wherein a man and his wife were 
 detected in the monstrous crime of feeding upon children, 
 whom they caught in traps set for the purpose. In 
 consequence of these miseries, and a pestilence that
 
 EDWARD III. 201 
 
 s^vept the land, many fled to France and Flanders, in the 
 vain hope that such terrible calamities could be but 
 short in their duration. But feud and faction still re- 
 mained to waste those whom famine and the sword had 
 spared ; and few of those unhappy exiles lived to see the 
 anticipated period of tranquillity that was to restore 
 them to their native home. 
 
 EDWARD III. 
 
 We have already seen the particulars of the early 
 military life of this distinguished conqueror, and the 
 manner in which his youth was trained to warfare 
 against the followers of Wallace and Bruce. While the 
 cause of his vassal Baliol was falling to ruin in Scotland, 
 a more glorious conquest than that of the barren acres 
 of the north was unfolding to his view, so that the poor 
 pageant-king was left to struggle as he best could. This 
 was nothing less than his claim to the crown of France ; 
 a claim in which those terrible wars between France 
 and England originated that raged for centuries, and 
 entailed an inheritance of national hatred between the 
 two kingdoms that has not wholly ceased at the pre- 
 sent period. The Salic law, which had been established 
 in France from the earliest times, had been so strictly 
 observed, that for 900 years no female had been sove- 
 reign of the country. By proscription therefore as well 
 as statute, women were excluded from the throne, and 
 consequently those males also who claimed it through 
 their descent from a female line. The throne was now 
 vacant, and two candidates appeared for the succession : 
 these were Philip of Yalois, son to a brother of Philip 
 the Fair ; and Edward of England, who was son of 
 Isabel, the daughter of the same Philip. The canse of 
 the two parties was debated before an assembly of the 
 states of France ; and while the one pleaded the nearer 
 proximity of Edward to the royal line, the other 
 alleged the male descent of Philip. On this occasion 
 the arguments of the Salic law prevailed, and Philip of 
 Valois was elected to the throne of France, upon which 
 Edward, like other unsuccessful litigants, brooded over 
 the supposed injustice. But as he was powerful as well 
 as angTy, he resolved to reverse the decision by force of 
 K 2
 
 2f)2 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 arms. He was farther incited to this step by Robert 
 d'Artois, brother-in-law of Philip (a malcontent who had 
 taken refuge in England), and by the dissensions that 
 prevailed among the French seigniories ; and he had an 
 ostensible ground for quarrel, in the circumstance of 
 Philip having given aid to the Scots in their late suc- 
 cessful resistance. The preparations of Edward III. 
 were commensurate with the magnitude of the attempt. 
 Besides obtaining extensive grants from his parliament, 
 and mustering numerous troops and vessels, he subsi- 
 dized several princes of Germany and the continent, and 
 entered into an alliance with the democracy of Flanders, 
 and their celebrated leader, James Van Arteveldt, the 
 brewer of Ghent. At last, when all things were in 
 readines?, he set sail from Orewell, in Suffolk, on the 
 16th of July, 1338, at the head of a powerful armament. 
 But all these magnificent preparations for the campaign 
 ended in nothing. Edward's foreign allies, with the 
 exception of the Flemings, were averse to the conquest 
 of France by the English ; and after receiving their 
 share of subsidies, they only sat still and looked on, 
 while Philip, raising a numerous army and wisely 
 keeping on the defensive, at last obliged Edward to 
 retire into winter quarters without a battle. Edward 
 returned to London, and farther drained his kingdom 
 by fresh imposts, to renew the war, after which he set 
 sail with a large fleet, and obtained the fir.^t grand 
 naval victory of England over France, at Sluys, in 1340. 
 This exploit so raised the ardour of the English parlia- 
 ment, that they were eager for the prosecution of the 
 war, and Edward was soon at the head of 100,000 
 men, besides 40,000 Flemings. But the latter, who 
 were unaccustomed to warfare, were so dismayed by a 
 vigorous sally while they besieged St. Omer's, that they 
 broke and dispersed, and could not be rallied during 
 the campaign ; and Edward, after besieging Tournay 
 in vain, agreed to an accommodation, by which hosti- 
 lities were to be suspended for nine months. As Ed- 
 ward was greatly impoverished by these two campaigns, 
 without having advanced a step in the conquest of 
 France, he now lowered his demands, so that he was 
 ready to consent to a lasting peace, on being only exo- 
 nerated from doing homage for his Fiench possessions. 
 But Philip not only refused this concession, but de-
 
 EDWARD III. 203 
 
 inanded of his rival a total renunciation of all claim and 
 title to the crown of France^ — upon which the latter 
 broke off the negotiation. 
 
 The king of England had hitherto depended chiefly 
 upon his foreign allies, by whom he was impoverished 
 and betrayed ; but an auxiliary now appeared in the 
 person of a heroine, upon whom he could place greater 
 confidence. This was Jane, countess of Montfort, whose 
 husband was languishing in prison through the treachery 
 of the French king, who had passed upon him a sen- 
 tence of dispossession, and then trepanned his person. 
 The countess having received a promise of aid from the 
 king of England, resolved to hold out to the last against 
 the whole power of France, in defence of her husband's 
 territories. She, therefore, flew from town to town, and 
 harangued the inhabitants, holding the infant child of 
 their lord in her arms, by which touching exhibition 
 their sympathy was roused to the highest ; and after 
 this she shut herself up in the port of Hennebon, to 
 wait the arrival of the English succours. The French 
 forces hurried to the town, and endeavoured to take 
 it before the English arrived ; but the countess, who 
 showed the prowess of a warrior, and the skill of a 
 leader, routed them in several sallies, in which she 
 fought at the head of her troops armed like a knight, 
 and mounted on a war-horse. Even the women of the 
 place, inspired by her example, unpaved the streets, and 
 hurled the stones from the ramparts upon the heads of 
 the assailants. The siege, however, was pressed with 
 vigour, and the spirit of the townsmen began to waver ; 
 they even talked of making a separate peace with 
 the enemy, at the expense of their heroic mistress. At 
 this critical moment the countess, who was gazing wist- 
 fully sea-ward, from her castle, in quest of the promised 
 aid from England, beheld a fleet of tall ships in the 
 distance making for Hennebon. ' The English! the 
 English !* she exclaimed in rapture : • I see the aid I 
 have so long expected ! No talk of surrender now !' 
 It was, indeed, the English fleet, commanded by Sir 
 Walter Manny, that had been delayed by contrary 
 ■winds, and which soon entered the harbour amidst the 
 triumph of the town's-people. The lady received her 
 island champions joyfully, and led them to a rich ban- 
 quet; after which Sir Walter, who was the flower of
 
 204 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 English knighthood, looking out of the ball window at 
 the largest machine of the besiegers, invited his com- 
 panions to go out with him, and destroy it. No better 
 after-dinner pastime could have been proposed : the 
 knights buckled on their harness, and sallied stealthily 
 from one of the gates, accompanied by 300 English 
 archers. They assaulted the defenders of the engine, 
 who were levelled by the arrows of the yeomen, or the 
 swords and axes of the knights, almost in an instant : 
 the tents and huts were in a blaze, and the machine wad 
 broken in pieces, after which this small party retired. 
 It was only then that the French army recovered from 
 their stupor, and spurred after the English like mad- 
 men. The brave Sir Walter at this reined up in his re- 
 treat, and exclaiming, ' May I never be embraced by my 
 mistress and dear friend, if I enter castle or fort before 
 I have unhorsed one of these gallopers!' he dashed 
 among the pursuers, accompanied by his knights, and 
 emptied many a saddle of its rider. After this feat of 
 arms, the English returned in good order, and entered 
 the town under cover of a shower of arrows, that soof 
 checked the pursuit; while the countess of Montfort de« 
 scended from the castle, and kissed Sir Walter and his 
 brave companions, as they entered. On the following 
 day the French were glad to raise the siege of Hennebon, 
 amidst the hootings and insults of the townsmen. 
 
 Although the force under Sir Walter Manny was suf- 
 ficient to raise the siege, it was too small to encounter 
 the enemy in the field ; and Edward, at the earnest 
 solicitations of the countess, embarked at Sandwich, on 
 the 5th of October, 1342, with a large fleet and army. 
 But this third royal expedition came to nothing, like the 
 former, owing to the imprudence of the English king, 
 who divided his small army of 12,000 into three bodies, 
 to undertake the siege of Rennes, Nantz, and Vannes, at 
 the same instant. A three yeai-s' truce was the conse- 
 quence, iu which no advantage was conceded to Eng- 
 land, and the contending parties separated, only to 
 breathe themselves for fresh contests. Edward during 
 the interval strained every nerve for a greater and more 
 decisive invasion than ever, and was so successful in his 
 preparations, that by the 10th of July, 134G, he embarked 
 at St. Helen's with an army of 4,000 men-at-anns, 10,000 
 archers, and 18,000 foot. He now resolved to conduct
 
 EDWARD III. 205 
 
 the war at the head of his own subjects, instead of 
 foreign auxiliaries, and to invade Normandy, which was 
 defenceless, instead of landing in Guienne, where the 
 enemy were prepared to receive him. The wisdom 
 of these measures was shown in the sig-nal success 
 that followed. He pressed forward to Rouen, intending' 
 to attack that city ; but on being confronted by Philip, 
 at the head of the whole military array of France, he 
 marched alontj the banks of the Seine, and laid waste 
 the country to the very gates of Paris. He was then sur- 
 rounded by the enemy, while the bridg-es of the river were 
 broken down ; but he crossed the Seine by stratagem, and 
 marched towards Flanders, driving the country militia 
 before him. When Edward reached the Somme,he found 
 the bridges destroyed, while Philip, at the head of 100,000 
 men, was close upon his rear ; but having discovered a 
 ford, he resolved to cross it, although Godemar du Fay, 
 with a strong army, was drawn up on the opposite bank. 
 Edward ordered his marshals to dash into the water in 
 the name of God and St. George, upon which lords, 
 knights, and men-at-arms, plunged into the river, in 
 spite of the Genoese cross-bowmen in the French ser- 
 vice, who galled them as they advanced. On the other 
 hand, the KnglLsh archers covered the fording of their 
 leaders so successfully with showers of arrows, which 
 they di>char!:-ed among the French men-at-arms, that 
 at length the English gained a footing upon the opposite 
 bank, and put the enemy to flight. Edward then halted 
 at Crecy, where he determined to engage his pursuers, 
 as he could no longer retreat with safety on account of 
 their vast superiority in cavalry. He, therefore, selected 
 his ground with great judgment upon the gentle slope 
 of a hill, with a wood in his rear, and strengthened his 
 flanks with deep entrenchments. This ground, he said, 
 was part of the marriage-portion of his mother, which 
 had descended to him by inheritance, and therefore he 
 was determined to defend it against Philip of Valois. 
 
 In the mean time the French king, who was disap- 
 pointed of capturing the whole English army, on account 
 of their having forced the passage of the Somme, was 
 only anxious that they should not escape ; he therefore 
 hurried the march of his vast army to the conflict with 
 such pi'ecipitation, that the front, when it should have 
 halted, was driven forward by the rear, and all advanced
 
 235 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 in wild confusion till they carae in front of the English. 
 On the other side, every thing was perfect regularity, 
 the result of forethought, and calm, deliberate valour. 
 The English were drawn up in three lines. The first, 
 consisting of 800 men-at-arms, 4,000 archers, and 600 
 Welsh foot, was commanded by the Black Prince, now 
 only sixteen years old, assisted by the earls of Warwick 
 and Oxford. The second line, composed of 800 men-at- 
 arms, 4,000 billmen, and 2,400 archers, was led by 
 the earls of Northampton and Arundel ; while the third, 
 ■which was the body of reserve, consisted of 700 men-at- 
 arms, 5,300 billmen, and 6,000 archers, and occupied the 
 top of the hill, commanded by the king in person. As 
 the overwhelming masses of the French advanced, Ed- 
 ward rode along the lines with a cheerful countenance, 
 and addressed his soldiers with such words of encourage- 
 ment, that, instead of being dismayed, they were only 
 eager for the encounter. 
 
 In the mean time the king of France, assisted by his 
 allies, the kings of Bohemia and Majorca, and the lead- 
 ers of the army, endeavoured to restore something like 
 order among his troops, and drew them up into three 
 lines, the first of which was commanded by the king of 
 Bohemia, the second by the duke d'Alenfon, and the 
 third by himself ; but although each line greatly out- 
 numbered the whole English armj-, the confusion into 
 which they had thrown themselves was an unfortunate 
 presage. The French advanced first to the charge, 
 and the English, who were seated in their ranks, and 
 making a hearty meal according to the order of the 
 king, started up to receive them. Fifteen thousand 
 Genoese cross-bowmen in the pay of France were to 
 have commenced the battle ; but as they were weary with 
 their long march, and the weight of their weapons, they 
 advanced with reluctant steps. They raised a hideoua 
 shout as they came forward, to frighten the English, 
 ■who stood unmoved ; they raised another, and a third, 
 but with no better success — upon which they began in 
 earnest, by a discharge of their square iron bolts. The 
 English archers in return advanced a step, according to 
 their custom, and then let loose their arrows with such 
 rapidity that it seemed as if it snowed, while the Genoese, 
 ■who were pierced through their defensive armour, threw 
 down their cross-bows, and fell back upon the strong
 
 EDWARD III. 2C7 
 
 boJy of cavalry that had been drawn up to support 
 them. The king of France was enraged at the coward- 
 ice of these auxiliaries, and exclaimed, ' Kill me the 
 scoundrels, for they stop up our road without any 
 reason !' upon which the French men-at-arms begran to 
 clear the front of the battle by a furious massacre of the 
 runaways. The English bowmen still pressed onward, and 
 shot no strongly among the splendid cavalry of France, 
 that knights and squires were overthrown, while the 
 wounded horses plunged among the confused throng of 
 the Genoese; and then the light foot-soldiers of Wales 
 and Cornwall, armed with long knives, crept among the 
 enemy's ranks, and stabbed the dismounted chevaliers. 
 The front line was thus involved in confusion, and reel- 
 ing under the successful charges of the prince of Wales, 
 when its gallant leader, the king of Bohemia, made a 
 desperate effort to retrieve his portion of the battle. 
 Being blind, he requested his attendants to lead him 
 into the thickest of the fight, that he might strike at 
 least one good blow ; upon which his knights interlaced 
 bis horse's reins with their own, and charged with him 
 abreast upon the English ranks, where they all fell in 
 the same order. The second line of the French army 
 under Alenfon now advanced, broke through the array 
 of archers, and commenced an overwhelming hand to 
 hand conflict with the English men-at-arms, upon which 
 the earls of Northampton and Arundel advanced with 
 their second line, to sustain the prince of Wales. The 
 king of France would now have advanced with his 
 third line, by which the scale might still have been 
 turned against England ; but a formidable hedge of 
 archers lay before him, which he was unable to pass. 
 As it was, however, ihe prince of Wales was on the 
 eve of being overpowered, and the earl of Warwick sent 
 a knight, at full gallop, to the king for a reinforcement. 
 Edward, at this moment, was standing upon a mill, on 
 the hill-top, surveying the whole battle ; and he calmly 
 asked, ' Is my son dead, unhorsed, or so badly wounded 
 that he cannot support himself?' ' Nothing of the sort,' 
 replied the messenger, ' but he is in so hot an engage- 
 ment, that he has great need of your help.' ' Tell him,* 
 cried the heroic monarch, ' to expect no aid from me. 
 Let the boy win his spurs ; for I am determined, that, if 
 it please God, all the glory and honour of this day shall
 
 208 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 be given to him, and to those into whose care I have 
 intrusted him.' No military exhortation could have 
 been better timed, or more effective ; it was more than 
 reinforcements to the prince, and his companions ; and 
 the first and second lines of the French were attacked 
 with such renewed vigour, that in a short time they 
 were broken and put to flight. The reserve, commanded 
 by Philip in person, now advanced ; but it was over the 
 wrecks of two terrible defeats, and against an army high 
 in hope, and flushed with victory. This last part of the 
 battle was soon over : Philip himself, after fighting 
 gallantly, was unhorsed and wounded, while his forces 
 were so completely broken and scattered, that when he 
 fled from the field only sixty men accompanied his 
 flight. — Such was the battle of Crecy, gained by the 
 English, on the 26th of August (1346), over a well-ap- 
 pointed army eight times their number, and in which 
 the French lost the king of Bohemia, eleven princes, 
 eighty bannerets, 1,200 knights, 1,500 gentlemen, 4,000 
 men-at-arms, and 30,030 common soldiers. As soon as 
 the battle was ended, Edward caught the prince of 
 Wales in his arms, and exclaimed with paternal ex- 
 tacy — * Sweet son, you have this day shown yourself 
 worthy of your spurs, aud the crown for which you have 
 so nobly fought: God grant you good perseverance!' 
 The prince, as modest and gentle as he was brave, 
 knelt down with a blushing countenance, and begged 
 his father's blessing. 
 
 134G- — After this victory, Edward continued to prose- 
 cute the war with success, and the whole province of 
 Guienne fell into his hands. But while he was successful 
 abroad, a dangerous storm menaced him at home ; for the 
 Scots, encouraged by his absence, as well as instigated 
 by France, resolved to invade England. The youthful 
 Divid, son of Robert Bruce, accordingly mustered a 
 brave but tumultuary army of 50,000, and entered Eng- 
 land from the western frontier, inflicting fearful havoc 
 upon the country as far as the gates of Durham. The 
 Piercies and other great northern barons mustered 
 their numerous followers to oppose him ; 10,000 soldiers, 
 which were about to be transported to France, were de- 
 tained and incorporated with the national force ; and 
 thus, instead of wailing the coming of the king of 
 Scotland, they were able to go in quest of him. David's
 
 EDWARD III. 203 
 
 heroic father would have retired on sach an occasion, 
 or have shunned, at least, a pitched battle; but the 
 yoang kinc, who was personally brave, lacked the 
 hisrher qualities of his parent. On the 17th of October, 
 the Scots, who were encamped on a wretched piece 
 of ground intersected by enclosures, at Bear-park, near 
 Durham, were almost taken by surprise from the 
 sudden appearance of the English, and 10,000 archers 
 advanced to commence the battle. Sir John de Graeme 
 foresaw the deadly shower that was about to fall, and 
 entreated of David the command of only 100 horse, with 
 which he engaged to ride down, and disperse the 
 archers ; but he entreated in vain. With his own 
 small retinue of horsemen, however, this good knight 
 attempted the manoeuvre ; but he was beaten oiF. The 
 English archers now commenced with discharges of 
 arrows, that flew like sleet in a tempest, while their 
 men-at-arms and billmen rushed to close encounter. 
 The Scots, who were cooped up within their enclosures, 
 were struck down like deer without being able to make 
 resistance ; their right wing was charged, and routed 
 by the English cavalry, and the centre, which David 
 commanded, was at once attacked in front and flank. 
 The young king resisted desperately to the last, although 
 wounded in several places, and was taken prisoner by 
 one Copland, a knight of Northumberland. As soon a3 
 the royal banner fell, the steward of Scotland, and the 
 earl of March, rallied the remains of the army, and 
 retreated from the field in good order. — Such was the 
 battle of Nevill's Cross, in which 15,000 of the Scots fell, 
 while their king and chief nobility were made prison- 
 ers. It was thought that Scotland was now prostrated 
 beyond recovery, but the national spirit was as unbroken 
 as ever; and the Scots having raised the Steward to 
 the regency, exhibited every where an undaunted front 
 against their powerful enemy. 
 
 1347. — In the mean time Edward was following up the 
 victory of Crecy by the siege of Calais, the capture of 
 which was necessary, as it was the gate of France by 
 which the kingdom would be laid open to his future inva- 
 sions. Rut it was so strong, and so bravely defended, that 
 he had no hope of taking it by force, and he turned the 
 siege into a blockade, resolving to reduce the town by 
 famine. The townsfolks upon this dismissed all their
 
 210 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 unserviceable inhabitants, to the number of 1,700 aged 
 persons, women, and children, who were not only 
 allowed to pass freely through the English lines, but 
 were furnished by their generous enemies with a 
 dinner, and two-pence a-piece, to carry them on their 
 journey. The king of France made desperate efforts to 
 relieve Calais, and advanced against the English with 
 150,000 men ; but he found the town so closely invested 
 that he could throw in no succour, while the besiegers 
 were so strongly entrenched that he dared not attack 
 their lines. After remaining, therefore, in the neigh- 
 bourhood for a few days, and challenging his antagonist 
 with idle bravadoes, Philip withdrew his army without 
 striking a blow. The citizens were now reduced to de- 
 spair. They had resisted in spite of famine, until they 
 had eaten not only all their horses, but even their dogs, 
 and the vermin of their cellars ; but when they saw 
 that relief was hopeless, they called a parley, on the 
 day after the retreat of the French army. Edward, at 
 first, would consent to no terms, and required an uncon- 
 ditional surrender, but this the spirited citizens refused; 
 he then moderated his demands so far as to consent to 
 spare the inhabitants, on condition that six of their num- 
 ber should be delivered to him bareheaded, with ropes 
 about their necks, for execution. In this ungenerous 
 fashion he determined to take revenge upon the citizens 
 for the hatred they had long borne against the English, 
 and their obstinate resistance during the siege, which 
 had now lasted nearly a year. The governor, John de 
 Vienne, caused the bell to be rung for the town's- 
 people to assemble ; and, weeping bitterly, he laid be- 
 fore them these hard conditions. Scarcely, however, 
 had he ended, when six of the chief citizens started 
 up, and announced themselves as the cheerful victims 
 for the deliverance of the rest. They bared their heads, 
 and put ropes upon their necks, in which condition they 
 were delivered to Sir Walter Manny, who led them 
 towards Edward's tent. The whole English army was 
 in a tumult of wonderment at such heroism, and ran 
 from all quarters to gaze upon the captives, as they 
 passed ; and the barons, the knights, and squires, who 
 stood near Edward, could not refrain from tears. As 
 for the king, he only eyed his prisoners grimly, and 
 ordered their instant execution. The English nobles
 
 EDWARD III. 211 
 
 murmured, and the brave Sir Walter Manny entreated 
 his sovereign to bethink himself of the disgrace that 
 would stain him for such a cruel deed ; but he pleaded 
 in vain. A more powerful intercessor was fortunately 
 at hand, in the person of queen Philippa, already in the 
 family way, who, after the victory of Nevil's Cross, had 
 arrived at Calais, bring-ing powerful reinforcements to 
 her husband. She fell on her knees before him, and 
 exclaimed with tears — ' Ah, gentle sir, since I have 
 crossed the sea with great danger to visit you, I have 
 never asked you one favour : but now, I humbly crave 
 a boon for the sake of the Son of the Blessed Mary, 
 and for your own love to me. Be merciful to these six 
 men.' Edward was unable to refuse such a pleader, in 
 such circumstances, and he gruffly answered — ' Dame, 
 I wish you had been any where else than here. But you 
 have so entreated, that I can refuse you nothing. Take 
 them, and do with them what you please.' The gentle- 
 hearted queen conducted the six citizens to her apart- 
 ment, clothed them, and regaled them with a plentiful 
 dinner, after which she gave them six nobles each, and 
 caused them to be escorted to a place of safety. Edward, 
 on tlie surrender of Calais, turned out all the inhabit- 
 ants, and repeopled the town with English ; he also 
 entrusted the government of it to Sir Americ of Pavia, 
 a brave knight, who had won his confidence, after 
 which he embarked for England, where he landed on 
 the 12th of October, 134r. 
 
 Edward being bent upon the full conquest of France, 
 assembled his parliament to obtain the necessary sup- 
 plies ; but as his victones had been very expensive to 
 England, the commons showed such reluctance, that, 
 after long demurring, they consented to a grant of only 
 three-fifteenths, to be levied in three years, for the 
 prosecution of the war. But at this period he had 
 almost lost the fruits of his last campaign, through 
 the treachery of Sir Americ, the governor of Calais. 
 The French having tampered with this soldier of for- 
 tune, obtained of him a promise to deliver the town 
 into their hands for 20,000 crowns : but Edward, who 
 fortunately discovered the plot, resolved to turn the 
 treachery of the French upon themselves. He ordered 
 Sir Americ to go on with the bargain, as if nothing 
 had happened ; and this the unscrupulous Italian did
 
 212 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 accordingly. The French, under Sir Geoffry de Chamay, 
 were privately admitted into the castle ; but here, to 
 their astonishment, they found Sir Walter Manny, and 
 a strong body of English soldiers drawn up to receive 
 them. 'J'his force, which was sent from England for the 
 puipose, had been privately admitted into the fortress 
 a few hours before the French, and with it came also 
 Edward himself, who fought as an unknown knight, 
 under the banner of Sir Walter. The French, although 
 taken by surprise, made a brave resistance, but were 
 soon overpowered ; after which the English mounted 
 their horses, and spurred on by the road to Boulogne, 
 where the main body of the French army was waiting, 
 until their companions should secure their entrance 
 into Calais. In the desperate melie that ensued, Ed- 
 ■ward, who was incognito, singled out and encountered 
 Eustace de Ribeaumont, one of the bravest knights of 
 France, and both these redoubted champions fought so 
 long and so fiercely, that, says Froissart, ' it was a pleasure 
 to see them.' Twice was Edward struck down upon his 
 knees, but at length the stout Sir Eustace was compelled 
 to yield. After the battle, a kingly banquet was set out, 
 at which victors and vanquished sat down together ; and 
 here the French champion discovered, with military 
 satisfaction, tViat he had yielded to no meaner person 
 than the conqueror of Crecy. The king took from his 
 own head a rich chaplet, and placed it on that of Sir 
 Eustace, bidding him show it to ladies and damsels, 
 and tell them how it was won. He also set him at 
 liberty without ransom, and declared that he had never, 
 in all his battles, encountered so brave an antagonist.* 
 
 After this event, the war in France languished for 
 six years, and in 1353, Edward's views had become so 
 moderate, that he was willing to resign his title to that 
 kingdom for the unconditional sovereignty of Guienne 
 and Aquitaine, and the town and marshes of Calais. 
 But John, who had now succeeded Philip, would not 
 tolerate such a dangerous neighbour, and refused the 
 terms ; upon which an army was sent from England, 
 under the command of the Black Prince, whose splendid 
 career will be fully detailed in the following Chapter. 
 
 * In memory of this circumstance, thi' ficscendants of Sir Ribeau- 
 mont ever after bore tlirte ihaplets garnished witli pearls, for their 
 escutcheon.
 
 EDWARD III. 213 
 
 While Edward was thus occupied in his continental wars, 
 the Scots never ceased to strug-g-le for the recovery of 
 their lost territories, in which they were occasionally 
 assisted by France ; and they were so successful, that 
 Berwick, the last of the English conquests, fell into their 
 hands on the 23rd of November, 1355. This so kindled 
 the indig-nation of Edward, that he resolved to make a 
 final effort to subjugate Scotland : for this purpose he 
 purchased the sovereignty of that kingdom from Edward 
 Baliol, who was now a childless, doting- old man ; and 
 he obtained from parliament a grant of fifty shilling's on 
 every exported sack of wool for six years. Being: thus 
 furnished with money and title deeds, he entered Scot- 
 laud at the head of a large army, to take possession; but 
 the Scots on this occasion followed the prudent advice 
 of their heroic Bruce, and laid waste the country as he 
 advanced. The English found no enemy in their way 
 but famine, which wasted their ranks, however, as eftec- 
 tually as the sword ; and having retaken Berwick, they 
 burnt the towns of Haddington and Edinburgh, and fired 
 every church and building in their march, so that this 
 period (February, 135G) was long after remembered in 
 Scotland under the name of the ' burnt Candlemas.' 
 Hunger at last obliged the English to retreat, and then 
 came the moment of retaliation. The Scottish parties, 
 that had hung like dark clouds upon the front, flank, 
 and rear of the invaders, now showed themselves on 
 every quarter, and so effectually harassed their retreat, 
 that the English army was greatly thinned and ex- 
 hausted before it had crossed the border. Such was the 
 result of Edward's fifth expedition into Scotland, in 
 which he reaped neither fame nor advantage, except 
 the capture of Berwick, and in which, on one occasion, 
 he very narrow escaped being made prisoner by earl 
 Douglas.
 
 214 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE. 
 
 As the wars of the middle ages cannot be well under- 
 stood without a reference to the usages of chivalry, we 
 shall pause for a moment, to give a few brief notices of 
 this important military institution. Such a subject also 
 forms the best introduction to the history of the Black 
 Prince, during whose period chivalry had reached its 
 perfection in England, and whose actions constituted 
 the fair ideal of knightly bravery and nobleness. 
 
 As the prime qualities of a true knight consisted in 
 succouring the weak, and serving the gentler sex, such 
 an institution could only have originated among the 
 northern tribes, by whom women were regarded with a 
 deference almost amounting to religious worship. With 
 them, ' none but the brave deserved the fair,' so that the 
 young warrior was deemed unworthy of a mate until he 
 had proved his deserts by some gallant deed ; and thus 
 love and heroism were associated so closely in his mind, 
 as to be almost synonymous terms. We have seen, in 
 the life of Hereward le Wake, that the institution of 
 chivalry existed among the Anglo-Saxons ; but it was 
 not in so perfect a form among them as among the Nor- 
 mans, who introduced new military principles and modes 
 of warfare into England. The chivalrous code was sub- 
 sequently raised and amplified by the crusades, by the 
 deeds of Lion-hearted Richard, by the wars of the bai'ons 
 against John and Henry ill., and the contests between 
 Scotland and England, until it reached its greatest per- 
 fection under Edward III., the founder of the order of 
 the Garter, who recognised in knighthood not only a 
 • cheap defence of nations,' but the most available wea- 
 pon to accomplish his plans of foreign conquest and ag- 
 grandizement. 
 
 The knight was obliged to undergo a careful course of 
 education before he was thought worthy of that envied 
 title ; and therefore the sons of noble families were 
 generally placed in the household of some eminent chief, 
 that they might be trained under his inspection. The 
 youth thus domesticated, first olficiated as a page, during 
 which period he was taught to ride the great horse, to 
 wear armour, and handle weapons; to run, to wrestle,
 
 EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE. 215 
 
 and wield or throw heavy weights ; to carve at the 
 table, to dance gracefully, to hunt, and hawk, and play 
 upon some musical instrument ; to cultivate the virtues 
 of obedience, modesty, and gentleness, and to be punc- 
 tual in all the observances of religion. The house of 
 some approved noble was thus frequently a coUeyre of 
 chivalry, the pages of which consisted of members of the 
 noblest families of the country. When this state of pro- 
 bation ended, the page became a squire. He was now a 
 man, and could follow his master to the field, to carry 
 his shield, or hold his banner, and mingle in the aifray ; 
 and as his next step was to become a knight, it behoved 
 him in these services to exert to the uttermost his cou- 
 rage, address, and moral qualities. When this long 
 course of education ended, and the aspirant was deemed 
 worthy of knighthood, all the grandeur of chivalry and 
 all the solemnities of religion were united, to give im- 
 pressiveness to the ceremony. Before the appointed pe- 
 riod, the young squire spent the day in fasting, and the 
 night in prayer ; he bathed, confessed his sins, received 
 the eucharist, and wore white robes, as the emblem of 
 that knightly purity which he was thenceforth to culti- 
 vate. When all these preliminaries were finished, the 
 baronial chapel was arranged for the solemn ceremony, 
 and the young candidate approached his god-father, from 
 whose hands he was to receive the honour, and who ad- 
 ministered to him the oaths of knighthood. These were, 
 to defend the clergy, and the church ; to honour and 
 protect the ladies ; to succour the widow, the orphan, 
 and the oppressed ; to be courteous, gentle, kind, chaste, 
 and sober ; and in all dangers and difiiculties to be im- 
 pervious to mortal fear. When the oath was sworn, the 
 knights and ladies who stood by buckled on his spurs, be- 
 ginning with the left foot ; then the several pieces of his 
 armour, and finally his sword ; after which, as he still 
 knelt, his sponsor, by whom he was to be knighted, gave 
 him three gentle strokes with the flat of his sword upon 
 the shoulder, or three light slaps with his open palm 
 on the cheek, exclaiming, ' In the name of God, St. 
 Michael, and St. George, I dub thee a knight: be brave, 
 hardy, and loyal.' The war-horse of the new-made che- 
 valier was then brought, upon which he vaulted, all 
 armed as he was, without touching the stirrup ; and as 
 he galloped to and fro before the spectators, he bran-
 
 216 MILITARY FlISTORY. 
 
 dished his sword or Lis lance, to show his strength and 
 dexterity. The day was closed, in England at least, by 
 a huge banquet, which was thrown open to all comers, 
 when the large oaken table that stretched through tlie 
 "whole length of the hall groaned beneath masses of beef 
 and pork, that were hewu in pieces by the dag-gers of 
 the feasters; while ale, and wine, and merry minstrelsy, 
 did honour to the young knight, and heightened the fes- 
 tivity. 
 
 The physical part of a chivalrous education was of the 
 utmost importance in an age when mere strength and cou- 
 rage were the highest essentials of warfare, and when 
 both the offensive and defensive weapons of a knight 
 were of the most ponderous description. To fight for a 
 long summer day, and beneath a burning sun, while en- 
 cased in a heavy covering of steel ; or to wield with effect 
 the huge two-handed sword, or the ponderous mace that 
 sometimes weighed twenty-four pounds, required nerve 
 and muscle of no ordinary description. The page and 
 the squire were therefore subjected to those laborious 
 processes by which alone the necessary dexterity and 
 strength could be acquii-ed. They learned adroitness in 
 the tilt by practising daily at the quintain, where they ca- 
 reered with the point of their lances at some mark which 
 it was difficult to hit ; and they acquired proficiency in 
 dealing good blows by assailing the stump of a tree, or 
 hacking at a wooden figure that repi-esented a blasphem- 
 ing Saracen. But above all, the tournament was the 
 grand school in which a chivalrous education was 
 finished, because there the tyro found all the splendid 
 pageantry, as well as the downright blows and wounds, 
 of a real battle. These tournaments were gorgeous ex- 
 hibitions, that displayed all the wealth, the taste, and 
 the grandeur of a kingdom, while the best lances of Eu- 
 rope thronged from every country to take a share in the 
 competition. Thus the knight, when not engaged in 
 war, kept his armour from rusting by frequent practice 
 in the joust and tourney, and his limbs in full exercise 
 by the active field sports of hawking and hunting. 
 
 As to the moral part of a chivalrous education, it was 
 truly beautiful — at least in theory. But, unfortunately, 
 it seems to have been too refined for the practice of the 
 middle ages, and therefore the general character of the 
 knights fell far beneath their elevated standard. On
 
 EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE. 217 
 
 this account, their oaths of honestly redressing griev- 
 ances, and defending the weak, of being chaste and 
 courteous to females, and loyal to their feudal superior, 
 were often contrasted by their robberies on the high- 
 way, their oppression and violation of helpless women, 
 and their transference of allegiance as often as whim, or 
 profit, or pique, suggested. Gentleness and courtesy in- 
 deed they generally practised ; but this was only towards 
 bold and high-born knights like themselves, whom they 
 preferred to take alive in the field of battle, and spare, 
 for the sake of a rich ransom ; but as for the common 
 herd, whom they called the ' rascal multitude,' they cut 
 them down in siege or battle without the slightest com- 
 punction. Many indeed were undoubtedly elevated and 
 refined by their chivalrous education beyond what they 
 would have been under any other system ; but at the 
 same time we must always learn to distinguish between 
 the obligations of the knightly oath, and the manner in 
 which they were actually fulfilled. The noblest picture 
 of a knight of this, or any other age, perhaps, was Ed- 
 ward the Black Prince, unless we associate with him 
 the last and brightest of French chivalry, the gallant 
 Bayard, the knight ' without stain,' as well as • without 
 fear.' 
 
 Edward, called the Black Prince, on account of the 
 colour of his armour,* was born at Woodstock, on the 
 15th of June, 1330, while his father Edward III. was 
 still a minor, and under the control of the worthless 
 Mortimer. As we have seen, the young prince, when 
 only sixteen years old, was at the battle of Crecy, which 
 his valour mainly contributed to win ; he also accompa- 
 nied his father to Calais, when that town was about to 
 be betrayed into the hands of the French. His next as- 
 say in arms was in a sea-fight with a Spanish fleet off 
 Rye, in Sussex, in which he accompanied his royal fa- 
 ther, being now in his twentieth year, and, by their joint 
 exertions, the English seas were soon cleared of these 
 troublesome invaders. 
 
 It was in 1355, when the truce between England and 
 France had expired, that the military qualities of the 
 Black Prince were exhibited in a separate command. 
 
 » It has been sometimes thought also that the nara^ wa« derived 
 from the circumstaiic>- of the French calling him Le Noir, on account 
 of the gloom which bis deeds threw over their country. 
 L
 
 218 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 He was sent to invade France, with a considerable body 
 of troops, which sailed from Plymouth on the 10th of 
 September ; and being joined on his arrival at Bour- 
 deaux by reinforcements that swelled his army to 60,000 
 men, he swept through Languedoc without opposition, 
 being unable to bring the French to an engagement. 
 After a six weeks' flying campaign, he returned to 
 Guienne, to winter quarters, laden with booty and pri- 
 soners. In the following summer be again took the 
 field ; but this time it was with an army of not more 
 than 12,000 men, of whom only 4000 men were English. 
 At the head of this small force, he penetrated into the 
 heart of France, intending to unite his forces with those 
 of his brother John of Gaunt, who was employed in Nor- 
 mandy upon a similar expedition ; but the French had 
 broken down all the bridges upon the Loire, while John 
 the king of France was advancing against him with a 
 numerous army. The prince therefore resolved to fall 
 back upon his father's continental dominions ; but hav- 
 ing incautiously wasted several days in besieging the 
 castle of Remorentin, the French had time to advance, 
 so that the English were overtaken in the neighbour- 
 hood of Poictiers. A battle was now inevitable, wliile 
 the disparity of numbers was truly dismaying. Opposed 
 to the small army of England were 3000 knights, and 
 60,000 soldiers, mostly cavalry, commanded by the king 
 of France, and the chief princes of his dominions. 
 
 Tbe momentous battle of Poictiers was fought on the 
 19th of September, 1356. The French upon this occasion 
 not only outnumbered the English, as greatly as they 
 had done at Crecy, but they advanced in fresh condi- 
 tion, and were better marshalled than upon the former 
 occasion. The prince of Wales selected his position with 
 great judgment, upon a small plain surrounded by vine- 
 yards and enclosures, so that the French could only 
 attack him in front, and by a narrow lane that would 
 admit only four horsemen abreast. Behind the hedges of 
 this lane, he planted strong- bodies of archers, to gall the 
 enemy as they advanced. He also placed over-night 
 an ambush of 300 men-at-arms, and as many archers, 
 to fall upon the French flank during the engagement. 
 The battle commenced by king John ordering a strong 
 detachment to march through the lane, and close with 
 the English ; but no sooner had this force entered
 
 EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE. 219 
 
 than the archers, who were protected by the hedges, 
 took deliberate aim, and showered their anows with 
 such effect among the French cavalry, that their horses 
 plunged and fell back upon their own army, spreading 
 confusion wherever they came. At this critical moment, 
 also, the English ambush started from their conceal- 
 ment, and attacked in flank the battalion of the duke of 
 Normandy with such violence, that they chased it from 
 the field ; upon which the duke of Orleans, with his divi- 
 sion, imagining that all was lost, betook himself also to 
 flight. The prince of Wales, who now saw that the op- 
 portunity was his own, marched forward to attack the 
 king's division, already dispirited by the flight of their 
 companions ; and a more furious encounter now took 
 place than that which had raged at Crecy. But nothing 
 could resist the terrible charge of the English men-at- 
 arms, headed by their prince, and backed by the archers, 
 who emptied their quivers with such rapidity, that the 
 French fell in multitudes wherever they advanced. 
 John fought on this day with a valour that deserved a 
 better fate. His lanks were gradually broken and scat- 
 tered, but he continued to defend himself gallantly with 
 his battle-axe, while his faithful attendants were falling 
 around him. He only surrendered, when farther resist- 
 ance was useless, to a French knight in the service of 
 England. As for his splendid army, it was now a con- 
 fused crowd scattered far and wide over the country, 
 and so panic-struck, that five or six French warriors of- 
 ten surrendered to a single English archer. The Black 
 Prince, who during the whole fight had shown the ut- 
 most personal valour, and been present in every danger, 
 at last planted his banner on the top of a bush, to rally 
 his soldiers from the pursuit. In this battle the flower 
 of the French chivalry had fallen, including in all about 
 6000 men, while the prisoners doubled the number of the 
 whole English army. As it was thought dangerous to 
 retain them, they were ransomed on the spot, and thus 
 the English were suddenly enriched by the battle of 
 Poictiers. Even the spoils of the field were immense, as 
 the French had put on their richest armour and orna- 
 ments, in the confidence of being victorious. 
 
 It was not however by his conduct and bravery in the 
 battle that the prince of Wales earned his noblest dis- 
 tinction. A scene followed unprecedented in the conduct
 
 220 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 of youthful conquerors, and upon which historians have 
 delighted to expatiate. No sooner was the royal captive 
 John presented, than the prince endeavoured to soothe 
 his feelings of defeat by a modest, humble demeanour ; 
 and in the evening he made a rich banquet, at which 
 he treated the king" more as a feudal superior and guest, 
 than a captive, by serving him at table with his own 
 hands, and refusing to be seated, notwithstanding every 
 entreaty to the contrary. When he saw also that John 
 was sore at heart in consequence of his loss, he added, 
 with a noble air — ' Dear Sir, do not make a poor meal, 
 because the Almighty God has not fulfilled your wishes 
 in the events of this day ; for be assured, that my lord 
 and father will show you every honour and friendship 
 in his power, and arrange your ransom so reasonably, 
 that you will henceforsvard always remain friends. In 
 my opinion, you have cause to be glad that the success 
 of this battle did not turn out as you desired ; for you 
 have this day acquired such high renown for prowess, 
 that you have surpassed all the best knights on your 
 side. I do not, dear sir, say this to Hatter you ; for all 
 those of our side who have seen and observed the actions 
 of each party, have allowed this to be your due, and 
 decreed you the prize and garland.' This was unwonted 
 language in a victor, and the Fi-ench who were at table 
 burst forth into expressions of applause. The noble ex- 
 ample of the prince was immediately followed by his 
 English and Gascon knights, who treated their prisoners 
 with the utmost kindness and hospitality, and dismissed 
 them at a moderate ransom. 
 
 After this victory, Edward marched leisurely to Bour- 
 deaux, where he spent the winter ; and in the ensuing 
 summer he set sail for England, and landed at Sand- 
 wich on the 5th of May, after which he proceeded to 
 London. The citizens received the conqueror in triumph ; 
 but while the king of France, clothed in royal robes, and 
 mounted on a large white steed, seemed the master of 
 the procession, the prince rode by his side upon a little 
 black palfrey, and in this state they reached Westminster 
 Hall, where Edward III. was waiting to receive them. 
 John was courteously received by his rival, while the 
 prince was affectionately thanked for the services he had 
 done the kingdom. There were Jiow two royal captives 
 in England ; but David of Scotland obtained his liberty
 
 EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE. 221 
 
 on the 3rd of October, 1357, on condition of paying' a ran- 
 som of one hundred thousand marks. John was not so 
 fortunate, and died many years after, a prisoner in the 
 Savoy in London. 
 
 The pope now interfered as the common father of Chris- 
 tendom, to establish a peace between France and Eng- 
 land, and for this purpose a truce was first appointed, to 
 last for two years. But the terms of peace which Ed- 
 ward III. proposed were so exorbitant, and if granted 
 would have so completely dismembered France, that the 
 Dauphin, who was now regent of the kingdom, very pro- 
 perly refused his concurrence, upon which the king of 
 England made preparations for a fresh invasion. He 
 landed at Calais with an army of 100,000 men, on the 
 27th of October 1359, attended by the Black Prince, and 
 his three other sons ; and after sweeping through the 
 provinces of Artois and Picardy, he invested Rheims, for 
 the purpose of being crowned king of France in that 
 ancient city. But the townsfolk stood so bravely upon 
 their defence, that Edward, after having spent three 
 months before the place, was oldiged to raise the siege. 
 He then pressed forwards for Paris, before which he ar- 
 rived on the 31st of March ; but he found it so strongly 
 defended that, after vainly challenging the Dauphin to 
 come out of the city and join battle upon the plain, he 
 was obliged to draw off his army to Bretagne, to refresh 
 it after a winter campaign. The French plan of defence 
 on this occasion had been as judicious, as it was success- 
 ful. Instead of endeavouring to encounter the English 
 in the field, the Dauphin ganisoned the towns, and al- 
 lowed Edward to spend his fury on the open country. 
 The king of England after this designed to lay siege to 
 Chartres, notwithstanding earnest entreaties for peace 
 both from the pope and the duke of Lancaster ; but 
 just as he was about to resume hostilities, there com- 
 menced a terrible storm of thunder and lightning, ac- 
 companied with such a fall of large hail-stones, that 
 many of his tents were overthrown or shattered, and 
 several men and horses killed. Edward believed that 
 he saw in this the anger of heaven, and made a so- 
 lemn vow that he would immediately end the contest. 
 A peace soon followed, in which the French agreed to 
 give up certain districts to the king of England in full 
 sovereignty, and pay three millions of crowns for the
 
 222 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 ransom of their monarch ; while Edward renounced all 
 title to the crown and kingdom of France, as well as to 
 Normandy, Touraine, Anjou, Maine, Bretagne, and Flan- 
 ders. Edward returned to England on the 31st of Octo- 
 ber, 1360, where he was received by his people not with 
 the less joy that a war was ended, the expenses of which 
 they had found too burdensome. To reconcile the inha- 
 bitants of the ceded French territories to the sway of 
 England, Edward resolved to confer the sovereignty of 
 them upon the prince of Wales, who had lately married 
 his cousin, commonly called the Fair Maid of Kent. The 
 Black Prince (who was now created Prince of Aquitaine) 
 repaired to his new dominions with his beautiful partner, 
 and fixed his residence at Bourdeaux, where he esta- 
 blished a splendid court ; and his justice, humanity, and 
 engaging manners, soon reconciled his subjects to the 
 degradation of a foi'eign dominion. 
 
 Such was the renown which the Black Prince had 
 now acquii-ed, that he was reckoned by all men the 
 bravest warrior and best leader of the age ; and this 
 high reputation naturally attracted Don Pedro, the de- 
 posed king of Castile, who had been compelled by a 
 rebellion to fly from his kingdom. This sovereign, 
 whose deeds- procured for him the unenviable title of 
 the Cruel, had made himself so intolerable to his nobles, 
 and subjects in general, that Henry, count of Transta- 
 mare, his bastard brother, fled into France, to solicit aid 
 to dethrone the tyrant. This was a welcome request to 
 the Dauphin, as the French territories were now over- 
 run by those mercenary soldiers called Free Companions, 
 whom the late peace had thrown out of occupation. 
 These desperadoes, whose only trade was war and 
 plunder, had seized several towns and castles of France, 
 and commenced war upon their own account, in which 
 they made the throne tremble, as their forces amounted 
 to 50,000 skilful and well-trained veterans. Endeavours 
 were made to dislodge them, by finding occupation for 
 them elsewhere; and the pope would have tempted them 
 to a crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land, with pro- 
 mises of absolution for all their sins, and homes in para- 
 dise hereafter— but these ferocious worthies cared as 
 little for paradise as they did for the Holy Sepulchre. 
 The golden promises of Henry of Transtamare were of 
 a more persuasive character, and as Du Guesclin, the
 
 EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE. 223 
 
 best leader of France, engaged to head the expedition, 
 the Free Companions gladly followed bim to Spain, 
 where they soon drove Pedro from the throne, and 
 seated Henry in his room. Pedro the Cruel, abandoned 
 by all his subjects, fled with his family and treasures to 
 liourdeaux, to the court of tlie Black. Prince, to whom 
 he unfolded his melancholy history. His atrocities while 
 king of Castile seem to have been unknown in France 
 and in England ; and as Pedro possessed some plausible 
 qualities, the priuce resolved to aid him, as a sovereign 
 who had been unjustly dispossessed by traitors and a 
 usurper. No sooner was this purpose known, than the 
 military men of every country flocked to his standard, 
 and even the Free Companions in Spain deserted Henry 
 by thousands, and repaired to Bourdeaux, to put them- 
 selves under the command of the Black. Prince. He was 
 joined also by his brother, John of Gaunt, duke of Lan- 
 caster, with a powerful body of English, by which his 
 army amounted to 30,000 good soldiers ; and, attended by 
 the kings of Castile and Major a, and a train of English 
 and Gascon noblemen, he set out on his expedition at 
 Christmas (I3U6), and by easy journeys entered Castile, 
 in March, the following year. 
 
 13G7.— Henry of Transtamare, a prince worthy of the 
 crown to which the Castiliaus had called him, made 
 every preparation against his redoubted antagonist. His 
 forces consisted of 80,000 men, of whom 3,000 were armed 
 cap-a-pie, and moiiiited upon barbed horses (that is, 
 horses almost completely covered with armour), and 
 4,000 were men-at-arms, under the brave and skilful 
 Du Guesclin. The rest consisted of light infantry and 
 foot, chiefly armed with lances, darts, and swords. 
 The two armies met on the 3d of April, between 
 the towns of Najara and Navarete, and encountered 
 with such fury, that spears an i shields were locked 
 together, so that it was long before an opening could be 
 made on either side ; and at last they clutched together 
 in closer combat, with short swords and daggers. In 
 this battle the archery of England were almost matched 
 by the Spanish slingers, who hurled stones with such 
 force, that they shattered helmets and shields, and un- 
 horsed many of their opponents, while the shouts of 
 ' Castile for king- Henry!' were answered by the war- 
 cry of • St. George for Guieuue !' At length, the skilful
 
 224 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 arrangements of the Black Prince, the valour of the 
 English, and the veteran experience of the Free Com- 
 panions, made the Spaniards finally give way, after they 
 had been thrice rallied and led back to the charge, by 
 the heroic Don Henry. The Castilians fled to Najara, 
 and were pursued with such fury by the English and 
 Gascon cavaliers, that multitudes of the runaways 
 threw themselves into the river, and were drowned. 
 The pursuers entered the town pell-mell with the fugi- 
 tives, and pillaged it ; they also captured the rich plate 
 and jewels which Don Henry had deposited there before 
 the engagement. In this battle the Spaniards lost about 
 8,000 men, besides those who were drowned in the river ; 
 and among the prisoners, who were numerous, was the 
 brave Du Guesclin. The conduct of Don Pedro, after 
 this victory, displayed the abjectness and cruelty that 
 characterize a tyrant. He would have thrown himself 
 at the feet of the Black Prince, who blushed at his 
 meanness, and hastened to prevent him. ' Give your 
 thanks to God,' said the modest hero, ' for to him alone 
 belongs the praise ; the victory comes from him, and not 
 from me.' Pedro then proposed that the prisoners should 
 be instantly put to death, but the prince, abhorring such 
 cruelty, refused his consent. He advised, on the con- 
 trary, that a free pardon should be issued immediately 
 to all his rebellious subjects, as the best means of re- 
 calling them to their allegiance ; and Pedro, although 
 with a bad grace, assented to such a piece of clemency. 
 After this proclamation of amnesty, the tyrant was re- 
 stored to his throne without farther opposition ; but the 
 refusal he had so lately sustained from the prince 
 rankled in his malignant heart, and his recovered 
 crown seemed no longer of any value in his estimation, 
 because it had been purchased by such an act of for- 
 bearance. 
 
 The Black Prince now learned, when too late, the 
 character of the man he had replaced upon the 
 throne of Castile. As the expedition had drained him 
 of all his resources, he applied to Don Pedro for the 
 arrears of his soldiers, according to agreement ; but the 
 tyrant, who had no intention of repayment, put him off 
 with delays and frivolous excuses. The summer was 
 thus wasted in Spain, and, through despondency and the 
 beat of the climate, the Prince fell into that lingering
 
 EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE. 225 
 
 consumption which afterwards proved fatal. Finding-, 
 at length, that there was no hope from the Spanish 
 king-, while his soldiers were perishing from disease, he 
 foisook. Castile, and led his wasted army back to Bour- 
 deaux. The misfortunes of this unblest expedition still 
 continued to follow him after his return. Six thousand 
 of his army were Free Companions, who, in the absence 
 of pay, began to plunder the people of Aquitaine, until 
 the prince besought them to spare his subjects, and 
 evacuate his territories. Such was their veneration for 
 their leader, that they complied, and passed over into 
 the French territories. But still his debts were heavy, 
 and his creditors clamorous, and in an evil hour he was 
 persuaded to raise funds by increasing the taxes of his 
 French subjects, a remedy which only produced remon- 
 strances, and finally rebellion. 
 
 In the mean time, the strictest poetical justice visited 
 the infamous Don Pedro. Henry of Transtamare, who, 
 after the battle of Najara, fled to France, bad leisure, 
 during the detention of the Black Prince in Spain, to 
 gather friends, and mature his plans for afresh attempt 
 upon the Castilian throne. The able Du Guesclin, whom 
 the prince's necessities had compelled him to ransom, 
 became once more the life and soul of the confederacy ; 
 and even the Free Companions, who had been dismissed 
 by the prince for want of pay, gladly changed sides once 
 more, and thronged to Henry and Du Guesclin, for a 
 fresh inroad into Spain. Here was a rare combination 
 of circumstances, by which the traitor was to be en- 
 meshed, and strangled in his own web. Henry entered 
 Castile at the head of a small army of 9,000 men, and 
 such was the odium in which the tyrant was held, fhat 
 he was daily and hourly deserted by his adherents, who 
 fled to the camp of his brother. Pedro still contrived 
 to muster an army of 40,000 Moors, Jews, and Spaniards ; 
 but Henry and Du Guesclin, at the head of only 6,000 
 men, attacked, broke, and dispersed this large but ill- 
 assorted army with great slaughter, near Montiel, on 
 the 13th of August (1368). After the battle, Pedro him- 
 self fell into the hands of his rival, and in a furious 
 struggle which took place between them in the tent, 
 Henry despatched his tyrant brother with a stroke of his 
 dagger. 
 
 In the mean time France, which had rapidly reco- 
 L 2
 
 226 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 vered from its late disasters, began to assume a threat- 
 ening attitude, and the Gascon nobles, discontented with 
 the mild rule of the Black Prince, imbittered this hosti- 
 lity by repairing to the capital, and laying their imagi- 
 nary grievances before the French king ; upon which 
 Charles suraraoned the prince to appear on the 1st of 
 May (I3C9), before the Court of Peers at Paris, The 
 Black Prince was astounded at this assumption of 
 Charles, which was founded upon his feudal superiority 
 as lord of Guienne, althotigh that territory and its sove- 
 reignty had been ceded to the English by the late treaty; 
 and he sent answer that he would indeed appear at Pa- 
 ris, but with his helmet on his head, and 60,000 soldiers 
 at his back. But the cruel malady under which he lan- 
 guished retarded his operations ; his continental subjects 
 broke out into open revolt, and the king of France took 
 the field, at the head of a lai'ge army. The prince en- 
 deavoured to oppose him, but he was now so enfeebled 
 that he could not mount his war-horse. In consequence of 
 this, the French prevailed, and took several strong places, 
 among which was the city of Limoges, that was deli- 
 vered up to them by the treachery of the townsmen. 
 The prince, enraged at the conduct of the Limogeans, 
 who added defiance and insult to their abandonment of 
 allegiance, swore by the soul of his father that he would 
 retake the town, and make the inhabitants pay dearly 
 for their treachery. Although he was now so much ex- 
 hausted that he had to be carried in a litter, he took 
 the field, and commenced the siege of Limoges, the 
 strong walls of which he penetrated by countermining. 
 The English force rushed into the town through the 
 large breach that was made by the fallen ramparts, and 
 a fearful massacre of the inhabitants commenced, 3000 
 of whom, consisting of men, women, and children, were 
 butchered without remorse, even while they were throw- 
 ing themselves on their knees before the prince, and 
 imploring him to spare their lives. ' God have mercy on 
 their souls !' exclaims Froissart, pathetically, ' for they 
 were veritable martyrs.' This deed, so unlike the wonted 
 clemency of the prince, has left an indelible blot 
 upon his name; and although the provocation be had 
 received from the people, combined with the irritation 
 of disease, might palliate, yet it cannot excuse, an act 
 of such atrocity. A brave baud of French knight^, who
 
 EDWAPvD THE BLACK PRINCE. ^7 
 
 were in the town, resolved to sell their lives as dearly 
 as possible, for which purpose they drew up to the num- 
 ber of eiirhty, before an old wall, and displayed their 
 banners. In this place they gallantly resisted the whole 
 En<rli#h force, until all of them perished except three, 
 who still fiercely maintained the combat, with no pros- 
 pect but an honourable death. Happily for them, the 
 ]Mince was borne forward to the spot, in his litter, 
 during this unequal combat, and his heart softened at 
 the sight of their valour and hopeless condition, upon 
 which he received them to mercy. The town was pil- 
 laged, and utterly destroyed, after which the Black 
 Prince, finding his disease increasing, disbanded his 
 forces, and retired to Bourdeaux. He afterwards repaired 
 to England, in January 1371, in hopes that his native 
 climate would restore his exhausted constitution. But 
 his hopes were not realized ; and after languishing out 
 the remainder of his life, he expired in the palace of 
 A\'estminster on June the 8th, 1376, in the forty-sixth year 
 of his age. The whole land by this event was covered 
 with mourning, while foreign nations sympathised in 
 the death of one who was universally honoured as the 
 flower of chivalry. 
 
 All the liappiness and prosperity of Edward III. seemed 
 to have been buried in the grave of his noble son ; for 
 after this period, his short reign was nothing but a series 
 of disaster and disgrace. In the dotage of his old age, 
 he had become enamoured of Alice Ferrers, an infamous 
 woman, whose arrogance and extortions made him de- 
 .spised by the people : he had lost the fruits of his expen- 
 sive conquests in France and Scotland, having been able 
 to retain nothing but Calais in the former, and the town 
 of Berwick in the latter country; and while the French 
 were becoming stronger and more formidable than 
 ever, he saw that the throne must long remain vacant, 
 and be exposed to a thousand contingencies, on account 
 of the tender years of Richard, his grandson and suc- 
 cessor. With his last days imbittered by such painful 
 contemplations, he died at his palace of Sheen, on the 
 21st of June 1377, in the sixty fifth year of his age, and 
 fifty-first of his reign. His iniquitous mistress Alice, 
 who attended him in his last moments, would permit no 
 priest to approach his dying bed, to administer the con- 
 solations of religion; and when she perceived that he
 
 228 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 was expiring:, she plucked the rich rings from his fin- 
 gers, and immediately forsook him. A priest then en- 
 tered the desolate apartment, and found Edward still 
 sensible, though speechless ; and on holding up the cross 
 before him, the king kissed it, wept, and expired. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 From the Accession of Richard II. to the death of 
 Henry IV. 
 
 The reign of Richard II. commenced under the 
 happiest auspices. He was the son of the Black Prince, 
 whom the English remembered with enthusiasm ; he 
 was remarkable for the engaging beauty of his per- 
 son ; and although only eleven years old, the abilities of 
 his three uncles, to whom the direction of affairs was 
 committed, seemed to promise a full compensation Tor 
 the defects of a long minority. But the delusiveness of 
 these hopes was shown at the very commencement. The 
 war with France was resumed, but the expeditions that 
 were sent from England, at a great expense, produced 
 no results; while several inroads, which were made into 
 Scotland, either proved abortive, or were repelled with 
 disgrace. As the taxes which were levied for these ex- 
 peditions, also, were as heavy as any that had been in- 
 flicted by the most successful of the English sovereigns, 
 the people, already impoverished by the exactions of the 
 late king, murmured bitterly, especially when they 
 found that nothing but defeat and disaster followed. But 
 the poll tax of three groats upon every person in the king- 
 dom above fifteen years of age, which was decreed by 
 the parliament in 1380, set the commons in a flame. It 
 was not only felt to be a peculiar grievance, as falling 
 most heavily upon the poor, but an intolerable insult, on 
 account of the manner in which it was often collected. 
 When the feelings of the people were thus ripened for 
 rebellion, the tax-gatherers happened to enter the house 
 of Walter the Tyler, at Deptford, to demand the tax for 
 his daughter, who was under the stipulated age. This 
 fact was stated to the collectors ; but one of them, in at- 
 tempting a very brutal experiment, to show that the as- 
 sertion was false, had his brains knocked out by Walter,
 
 REBELLION OF WAT TVLER. 229 
 
 who at that moment entered the house armed with a 
 hammer, on being alarmed by his dauirhter's outcries. 
 The by-standers applauded the deed, and swore to de- 
 fend the homicide ; and in a short time the commons on 
 both sides of the Thames swelled the handful of insur- 
 gents into an immense army, and marched to London, 
 plundering the estates of the nobility and gentry, and 
 driving tbe privileged classes before them. At this cri- 
 tical juncture, Richard's three uncles were absent on 
 distant expeditions, and the young king was obliged to 
 repair to a conference with the leaders of the rebellion, 
 who were encamped at Mile-Eud, from which place they 
 had repeatedly attempted to set fire to the city of London. 
 The king promised every thing they required, upon 
 which the main body, to the number of 60,000 men, de- 
 parted to their homes, in full dependence upon the royal 
 word. But Wat Tyler, the chief ringleader, who was at 
 the head of 20,000 followers, was not to be so easily 
 answered ; and when the king entered Smithfield, to 
 parley with him, the demagogue not only rehearsed the 
 grievances of the people, and proposed high terms of 
 redress, but even brandished his sword in a menacing 
 manner, as if to enforce his proposals. Fired at the sight 
 of this insult, Walworth, tbe mayor of London, drew his 
 sword, and struck Walter from his hoi-se, who was in- 
 stantly despatched by the knights and attendants. The 
 commons were furious at the fall of their leader, and in 
 another moment a shower of arrows would have extir- 
 pated the king aud his little band, who were utterly 
 unfitted either for flight or resistance, had it not been 
 for the unexpected magnanimity of Richard, who was 
 only in his fifteenth year. Leaving his attendants, 
 he rode up to the angry multitude, and exclaimed, 
 ' Sirs, what aileth you I You shall have no captain but 
 me : I am, and will be, your king and captain : therefore 
 follow me.' The astonished and awe-struck multitudes 
 mechanically followed him into the open fields, while 
 the mayor, who had employed the interval in gathering 
 a powerful force, suddenly reappeared with several thou- 
 sand soldiers. This spectacle subdued the insurgents, al- 
 ready confounded by tbe loss of their leader ; they threw 
 away their %veapons, and submitted themselves to the 
 king, who dismissed them to their home.s with promises 
 of favour and redress. Thus promptly was a stonn
 
 230 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 quelled which threatened to subvert the government, 
 and overthi-ow the kingdom. 
 
 The military events that followed this great national 
 disturbance were of comparative iusiguificance, except 
 that they redounded to the disadvantage of England. 
 The bishop of Norwich, a fighting prelate of the old 
 Norman stamp, who, during the late insurrection, was 
 wont to shrive upon the scaffold those prisoners whom 
 he had captured in battle, resolved to carry on the war 
 against France, in person. He accordingly sailed with 
 a considerable force to Calais, in 1333, and as he could 
 promise many ghostly benefits, besides the carnal 
 advantages of glory and plunder, troops of partisans 
 flocked eagerly to the standard of such a pious and war- 
 like leader. But after captuiing Gravehnes, Dunkirk, 
 and many other towns of less importance, and routing 
 an army of 30,000 French and Flemings, his army sud- 
 denly ran away without orders, on hearing that the 
 king of France was marching against them, at the head 
 of the whole military array of the land ; and the unfor- 
 tunate bishop, on being hemmed in on all sides by the 
 enemy, was fain to compound for a safe return to Eng- 
 land. After this followed an invasion of Scotland, con- 
 ducted by John of Gaunt, duke of Laucastei', in 1384, 
 and another in the following year headed by Richard 
 in person. But although the army on each occasion was 
 very numerous, and attended by a powerful ileet, nothing 
 "was accomplished except the burning of a few miserable 
 towns and villages. The Scots on these occasions re- 
 membered the dying advice of Bruce, and instead of 
 lesistiug the invadeis in pitched battles, they broke into 
 England by some undefended quarter, and retaliated 
 tenfold the havoc inflicted upon their own country. On 
 these important occasions the king of France succoured 
 the Scots by sending them John de Vienne, his ad- 
 miral, with 1,000 knights and esquires, and 500 cross- 
 bows ; but the manners of these auxiliaries were so 
 displeasing to their entertainers, that little service was 
 done by their coming. The French cavaliers, who had 
 been accustomed to elegance and plenty in their own 
 country, were astonished at the coarse and meagre 
 fare of Scotland ; and when they accompanied the light 
 flying troops of the Scots, their gay equipage, and heavy 
 ai-mour, which was better fitted for the joust or the
 
 TilE SCOTS INVADE ENGLAND. 231 
 
 b>'atle-field tban the light-heeled warfare of mountuiiis 
 aiiil morasses, only encumbered tbeir movements, and 
 exposed them to loss and derision. Coming also from a 
 land of licentious gallantry, they could not exist with- 
 out occasional love intrigues ; but in this case they were 
 re pelled by the austerity of the northern dames, and the 
 drawn daggers of their kinsmen. Thus, after they had 
 expended their money, lost their horses, and quarrelled 
 v%ith their employers, whom they were unable to benefit, 
 and by whom they were mulcted to the last crown for 
 the expenses of their son"y entertainment, they re- 
 turned to France without fame, heartily cursing the day 
 and the hour that had trepanned them into a Scottish 
 campaign. 
 
 The wars between England and Scotland still con- 
 tinned, and at last the Scots determined to retort the 
 invasion of Richard, by an inroad into England. In the 
 year 13S8, they accordingly crossed the border with a 
 great army ; after which James, earl of Douglas, one of 
 the bravest who ever wore that formidable title, was 
 detached with about 3,000 men, to ravage the county of 
 Northumberland. This he accomplished by a skilful and 
 rapid march, wasting and plundering the country as far 
 as the city of York, after which, on his return, he halted 
 before the gates of Newcastle in military triumph. The 
 town was garrisoned by the brave Sir Henry Percy, 
 surnamed Hotspur, and his brother Sir Ralph, who were 
 not strong enough to meet their enemy in the field ; bKt 
 the English knights occasionally dashed out from their 
 defences to break a lance with the Scottish warriors, 
 and many deeds of chivalry were performed on both 
 sides. In one of these hostile meetings, Douglas and 
 Hotspur encountered hand to hand, and after a long 
 combat, the latter was discomfited, and his lance, with 
 the silken flag at the extremity, was taken. This pennon 
 the conqueror waved in triumph, and exclaimed, ' I will 
 carry it to Scotland, and place it on the highest tower 
 of my castle at Dalkeith, that it may be seen from afar.' 
 ' By heaven, earl of Douglas,' cried Percy, ' you shall 
 not bear it out of Northumberland : be assured, you shall 
 never have this pennon in Scotland to brag of.' ' Then 
 you must come this night, and seek for it,' replied 
 Douglas, ' for I shall fix it before my tent.' Such was 
 the defiance that led to the battle of Otterbourne, one of
 
 232 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the fiercest engagements that had yet taken place be- 
 tween the English and the Scots. 
 
 1388- — Douglas resumed his march up the river Tyne, 
 and encamped at night in expectation of bis adversary's 
 arrival ; but Hotspur, who thought that the main body 
 of the Scottish army was at hand, did not dare to follow. 
 At length, on the second day, he learned his error, and 
 after mustering between 10 and 12,000 men, he followed 
 in the track, of his enemy with furious speed, to recover 
 his pennon. He came up with the Scots at midnight, 
 but as the autumnal moon shone brightly, he gave the 
 signal for instant onset, instead of resting his weary 
 followers, and waiting for the dawn. The Scots were 
 very skilfully posted at the hamlet of Otterbourne, in 
 Redesdale, with one of their flanks protected by the 
 river Rede, and the other by hills and morasses, while 
 a vale in their rear gave assurance of a safe retreat. 
 Hotspur charged with great fury, and might have taken 
 his enemies by surprise ; but their right flank, which he 
 assailed, was defended by a strong barricade, and his 
 followers were entangled among the intricacies of the 
 camp, during which Douglas had time to draw out his 
 troops in order. And now commenced the fury of the 
 battle : the Euglish shouted, ' A Percy ! a Percy !' while 
 the Scots raised the war-cry of Douglas, and the soldiei-s 
 of both armies rushed at once to close encounter, and 
 fought man to man with axes, swords, and spears. At 
 length the numbers of the English threatened to bear 
 down their adversaries, when Douglas resolved, like his 
 ancestors, to turn the scale of battle by a desperate effort 
 of personal prowess. He grasped his heavy battle-axe 
 with both hands, shouted his war-cry, and plunged 
 amidst the throng, dealing such terrible blows, that 
 every thing fell before his impetuous onset. But the 
 English closed upon his rear, and separated him from 
 his followers, while three spears wounded and bore him 
 to the ground, in spite of the goodness of his armour. 
 The rescue, however, which his terrible onslaught had 
 produced, animated the Scots, who threw themselves 
 with fresh ardour upon the enemy, while the English, 
 in turn, began to reel and fall back, so that several 
 Scottish knights, as they fought onward, advanced to 
 the spot, where their brave leader lay dying. They 
 stooped over him, and asked him how he fared. • But
 
 BATTLE OF OTTERBOURNE. 233 
 
 indifferently,' he faintly answered ; ' life is ebbing fast. 
 There is a prophecy in our house, that a dead man shall 
 ^vin the field, and I think the time has come. Conceal 
 my death, raise my banner, shout my war-cry, and re- 
 venge my fall.' The knights, in obedience to his dying 
 order, charged among the English with impetuous fury, 
 shouting the war-cry of their chief, whose death was 
 still unknown to both armies ; and the English being 
 already dispirited, at last betook themselves to flight. 
 Nothing could exceed the desperation of this conflict, in 
 which family rivalry was added to national hatred, and 
 the English, although defeated, appear to have fought 
 bravely to the last. Both the Percies were taken pri- 
 soners, and many of their followers fell ; but when the 
 Scots discovered that tlieir brave young chief had also 
 fallen, their joy was turned into mourning. On the day 
 after the battle, the bishop of Durham aiTived at Otter- 
 bourne, with 7,000 soldiers, ready to renew the conflict. 
 But when he found that Hotspur himself had been 
 completely vanquished, he drew off" his forces without 
 striking a blow, while the Scots renewed their march 
 in a sort of melancholy procession, and joined the main 
 body of their countrymen. 
 
 In the mean time, as Richard attained the years of 
 manhood, his incapacity for government became daily 
 more apparent. His education had been neglected, and 
 his uncles sacrificed the interests of the kingdom to 
 their own selfish purposes ; and when he took the 
 reins into his own hand, he gave himself up, as his 
 great-grandfather (Edward II.) had done, to worthless 
 favourites, by whom the royal authority was engrossed, 
 and the land pillaged. A deposition similar to that of 
 his unfortunate ancestor was the result, the causes of 
 which we can only briefly enumerate. In a parliament 
 held at Shrewsbury, in 1398, a quarrel broke out between 
 the duke of Hereford (son of John of Gaunt, duke of 
 Lancaster) and the duke of Norfolk, in which the former 
 accused the latter of having uttered slanderous words 
 against the king. Norfolk gave Hereford the lie, and 
 offered to prove his innocence in single combat, upon 
 which a day was fixed for the decision of this quarrel in 
 the lists, according to the laws of chivalry. But when 
 the combatants had met at Coventry, on the I6th of 
 September, and had couched their lances for a mortal
 
 £34 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 career, in presence of the whole court, and a vast 
 assemblage of spectators, the kiii^ commanded the 
 champions to pause, and dismount from their war- 
 steeds. He then pronounced this sentence — That the 
 duke of Hereford should be banished for ten years from 
 England, and Norfolk for life, but that each should be 
 empowered, during his exile, to enjoy his paternal re- 
 venues. Thus the one was banished who had been 
 charged with no offence, and the other against whom 
 nothing had been proved. Norfolk submissively with- 
 drew, and went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land ; but 
 Hereford was not of so pliant a disposition. He went 
 no farther than the continent, where he brooded over 
 the injury, and meditated revenge. An event soon hap- 
 pened that seemed to justify his resentment. His father, 
 John of Gaunt, died in the following year, and Here- 
 ford, according to the king's letters patent, should have 
 been recognised as the heir. But Richard, who needed 
 money, and cared nothing for engagements, took arbi- 
 trary possession of the rich estates of the duke of Lan- 
 caster. This injury done to the exile was keenly felt by 
 many of the English nobilitys who were now weary of 
 Richard and his favourites, and they sent invitations to 
 Hereford to return to England, with promises to aid him 
 in recovering his inheritance. It was easy for so popular 
 a noble, thus strongly abetted, to confront even a better 
 king than Richard, and the time was particularly favour- 
 able for Hereford's return, as the king was employed iu 
 an expedition in Ireland. He, therefore, se^ sail for 
 England, with a small train of eighty armed followers, 
 and landed at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire, on the 4th of 
 July. He was immediately joined by the powerful earl 
 of Northumberland, and his son Hotspur, after which all 
 the northern barons flocked to his standard, so that he 
 soon found himself at the head of 60,000 men. Although 
 he declared, for the present, that he sought only to 
 recover his inheritance, it is probable that a brighter 
 prize animated his secret hopes. His modest pretence, 
 however, was so available, that the duke of York, his 
 uncle, who had been left regent of the kingdom, went 
 over to him with all his forces, so that Hereford found 
 nothing to oppose his career. He then captured and be- 
 headed the obnoxious favourites without trial, and by 
 this act he acquired additional popularity with all classes.
 
 DEPOSITION OF RICHARD II. 235 
 
 The king- returned in the following' month from Ireland, 
 but perceiving the hopelessness of resistance, he dis- 
 banded his forces, and took refuge in Conway castle. 
 The descent of a king can be nothing but a rapid down- 
 fal, and Richard's career was soon closed. He yielded 
 himself to the duke, and was imprisoned ; he was ac- 
 cused of incapacity, and obliged to resign the crown. 
 Hereford talked no longer of his duchy, but of the 
 vacant throne, to which he laid claim by a variety of 
 absurd pretences ; and as lie had power upon his side, 
 there was little inclination, for the present at least, to 
 investigate the correctness of his title. Thus Henry of 
 Lancaster, son of John of Gaunt, who was the fourth 
 ■< on of Edward III., stepped into the throne by the 
 title of Henry IV., while the earl of March, grand- 
 son of the duke of Clarence, who was the third son of 
 Edward III. was still alive. This usurpation took place 
 on the 30th of September, 1399, and soon after the de- 
 jiosed Richard was found dead in his prison of Ponte- 
 tract Castle, in Yorkshire. Whether he perished by 
 famine or violence has never been correctly ascertained. 
 Henry had scarcely ascended the throne when he ex- 
 perienced the usual annoyances of usurpers, in foreign 
 wars, as well as domestic commotions. About the be- 
 ginning of the year 1400, a dangerous conspiracy was 
 formed against him, among those nobles who still ad- 
 hered to the cause of Richard ; and they resolved to 
 assassinate him at a tournament to be held at Oxford. 
 But just the day before the appointed meeting, he ac- 
 cidentally received notice of their purpose, and sought 
 refuge in London. The conspirators then resolved to 
 effect by force what they could not by fraud, and having 
 dressed up and tutored a false Richard, they soon raised, 
 in his name, a considerable army. But when the king 
 marched against them at the head of 20,000 men, the 
 coalition was dissolved more speedily than it had been 
 formed. The people of Bourdeaux, by whom Richard was 
 beloved, as the son of the Black Prince, now threatened 
 to throw off their allegiance to England, to which they 
 were instigated by the French king ; but a continental 
 war was happily prevented, on this occasion, by the 
 firmness and prudence of Henry, so that the malecontents 
 returned to their duty. A war with Scotland after- 
 wards ensued, and Henry, who resolved to act upon the
 
 236 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 ag-gressive, summoned the whole military force of Eng- 
 land to meet him at York, and sent an imperious man- 
 date to the Scottish nobility, asserting the paramount 
 claims of the English crown over the whole island since 
 the days of Brutus the Trojan, and commanding them 
 to meet at Edinburgh, on the 23d of August, to do homage 
 to him as their lord. The Scots laughed at the message, 
 upon which Henry set his forces in motion, and pene- 
 trated as far as Edinburgh ; but the castle defied his 
 efforts, and after wasting time in a useless siege, he 
 was obliged to return to England. Scarcely, however, 
 had he returned, when a new enemy appeared in the 
 field, in the person of Owen Glendower, the celebrated 
 hero of Wales. 
 
 This distinguished partisan warrior, who was about 
 thirty years old when he assumed the office of a national 
 champion, was born in Merionethshire, and was de- 
 scended by his mother from Llewellyn, the last native 
 prince of Wales. In his early days he entered the Inns 
 of Court, in London, under his paternal nameof Vaughan, 
 and afterwards commenced public life as a barrister. 
 But finding, perhaps, the study of the law unsuited to 
 his active spirit, he threw aside his parchments, and 
 became a squire of the body to Richard II. whose for- 
 tunes he followed until that king was deposed, after 
 which he retired to his family estate in Wales. Here, 
 however, he was disturbed by the aggressions of his 
 powerful neighbour, Reginald, lord Grey, who unjustly 
 dispossessed him of a portion of his land, upon which 
 Glendower laid his case before the English parlia- 
 ment — but in vain. Lord Grey added to this injustice 
 repeated acts of oppression ; and the brave Welshman, 
 finding that no help was to be found in the laws, re- 
 solved to right himself by force of arms. His descent 
 from the ancient princes of the land, his scholarship, 
 which passed with the simple Welsh for profound ac- 
 quaintanceship with necromantic lore, and the impa- 
 tience of the natives under the dominion of England, 
 soon gathered multitudes to his banner, upon which he 
 proclaimed himself Prince of Wales, and renounced 
 allegiance to the English king. He then (a. d. 1400) 
 attacked the estates of lord Grey, of which he took 
 forcible possession, and was so successful in other daring 
 achievements, that Henry resolved, on his return from
 
 INSURRECTION OF GLENDOWER. 23T 
 Scotland, to march against him in person. But thia 
 expedition proved as fruitless as that which the king 
 had conducted against the Scots ; for Owen Glendower 
 fell back, and secured himself among the mountains in 
 the neighbourhood of Snowdon, where he could not be 
 assailed. As soon as Henry retired, the gallant Welsh- 
 man sallied from his fastnesses, and fell upon several 
 towns and castles belonging to the English in Mont- 
 gomery and Monmouthshire, which he took and de- 
 molished, after having inflicted great loss upon his 
 enemies ; and the king, alarmed at these events, con- 
 ducted another expedition into Wales, in the month of 
 June 1401. But Glendower again prudently retreated 
 before the advance of such superior numbers, and while 
 he avoided a regular engagement, he harassed the 
 English so incessantly in front, flank, and rear, that 
 their advance was attended with all the calamities of a 
 most signal defeat. In addition to these attacks of a 
 flying enemy, whom he could never reach or encounter, 
 Henry was assailed by the elements, that seemed to 
 fight for the Welsh, and by famine and disease that 
 wasted his troops, so that he began to believe, with 
 the multitude, that Glendower was in truth a potent 
 magician, as well as a stout warrior. As soon as the 
 king was obliged to retreat, the dauntless Owen was 
 again in the open field, at the head of his followers, and 
 ready for aggressive warfare. He attacked his old 
 adversary, lord Grey, at Ruthyn, took him prisoner, 
 and either compelled or persuaded him to marry his 
 daughter Jane, by which the Englishman was reduced 
 to a harmless neutralitj'. After this exploit, he turned 
 his arms against those Welsh districts that favoured 
 the cause of England, and inflicted upon them a severe 
 chastisement for their unpatriotic attachments. The 
 cause of Glendower was now at its height. The Welsh 
 students had abandoned the English universities, that 
 they might join their national hero, while the Welsh 
 labourers had forsaken their employers on the English 
 plains, and ranged themselves under his banner. Prophe- 
 cies, and portents also, were in abundance, to feed the 
 country with assurances of freedom, and point out the 
 descendant of Llewellyn as the promised deliverer. He 
 led his followers, inspired by these hopes, against Sir 
 Edmund Mortimer, and in a desperate engagement
 
 238 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 which took place at Pilleth Hill, near Knighton, in 
 Radnorshire, 1100 of the English fell; and Sir Edmund 
 himself, who was uncle to the young- earl of March, was 
 taken prisoner, and from an enemy was soon converted 
 into the friend and ally of Glendower. Henry, cursing 
 the necromantic spells and ingratiating arts of his 
 indomitable adversary, now planned a third Welsh in- 
 vasion, in which the country was to be attacked at 
 three different points at the same instant, by three 
 strong divisions. According to this arrangement, the 
 king was to muster the first division at Shrewsbury ; 
 Warwick, Staflford, and other nobles, were to assemble 
 the second at Hereford ; while the third was to be 
 raised at Chester, by young prince Henry, afterwards 
 the hero of Azincourt. But it was at this period that 
 more important events than a Welsh invasion suspended 
 the execution of the plan, and altered the whole cha- 
 racter of the war. 
 
 A short truce subsisting between England and Scot- 
 land had terminated a.d. 1402, upoTi which the earl of 
 Douglas embraced this opportunity for border warfare, 
 and made an inroad into England. His first attempt 
 was successful ; but in a second, he was surprised at 
 West Nisbet by an English army commanded by his 
 rival the earl of March, a Scottish nobleman in the ser- 
 vice of Henry, and defeated with great loss. Douglas, 
 enraged at this disaster, gathered an army of 10,000 men, 
 and plundered Northumberland to the gates of New- 
 castle, when he was encountered by a larger force, com- 
 manded by the earl of Northumberland, his son Hotspur, 
 and the eai-1 of March, at Homildon, within a mile of 
 Wooler. Douglas was strongly posted upon a hill, and 
 the fiery Hotspur was about to advance immediately to 
 the charge, in which case he might have fared as he had 
 done at Otterbourne, but his bridle was arrested by the 
 earl of March, who entreated him to begin the battle 
 with the cloth-yard shaft. The advice was taken ; 
 knights and men-at-arms halted while the archers 
 stepped forward, and as the Scots were drawn up on the 
 acclivity of the hill, every soldier stood as a fair mark, 
 so that scarcely an ai-row flew in vain. They were thus 
 falling in heaps, when Sir John Swinton, a brave old 
 Scottish knight, exclaimed impatiently, ' Why stand we 
 here, to be shot at like a herd of deer 1 Let us down
 
 BATTLE OF HOMILDON. 239 
 
 upon these English, and fight them hand to hand, and 
 die at least like men !' Only one Scottish kniuht. Sir 
 Adam Gordon, obeyed the appeal, and both chiefs, at- 
 tended by their respective followers, i-ushed down to close 
 encounter ; but they were soon overpowered, and slain. 
 Douglas now showed some inclination to descend the 
 hill, but the opportunity had passed ; his ranks were 
 broken, and they were soon put to flight, while himself, 
 after receiving: five wounds and losing an eye, was made 
 prisoner. With him were also taken Murdack, earl of 
 Fife, the earls of Murray and Angus, and about twenty 
 Scottish officers of distinction. 
 
 This victory, instead of establishing, soon threatened to 
 overturn, the throne of Henry, as well as the liberties of 
 the kingdom. By an established law of chivalry, every 
 victor was propiietor of his captive, whom he might ran- 
 som or detain at pleasure ; and as knights found greater 
 profit in capturing than slaying an enemy, the atrocities 
 of the wars of the middle ages were greatly softened by 
 this mercenary principle. The rich ransoms also of 
 knights and nobles were of immense importance in 
 maintaining that costly style of living, and open hospita- 
 lity, by which the power and popularity of every chief 
 was measured, and Hotspur might reasonably calculate 
 upon a princely amount, for the liberation of those whom 
 he had taken at Homildon. But Henry had designs 
 upon Scotland which the detention of the Scottish no- 
 blemen wotld greatly facilitate, and he commanded the 
 victor on no account to compound for their deliverance. 
 This command was felt by the Percies as the most sting- 
 ing of all insults, ^^'ben Henry landed at Ravenspur 
 with only eighty followers, they had joined the outcast, 
 and raised him to the throne ; and now, he refused them 
 a right which was conceded to the poorest knight or 
 yeoman ! To soften the injustice of this command, the 
 king, by letters patent, conferred upon Hotspur the 
 ■whole earldom and lands of Douglas; but as these were 
 still to be won, and could only be kept by the sword, the 
 grant might as well have extended to the whole of Scot- 
 land. Another ground of the resentment of the Percies 
 arose from the refusal of Henry to ransom Sir Edmund 
 Mortimer, their kinsman, from Glendower, because he 
 was jealous of the superior rights of the house of Mor- 
 timer. They now resolved to dethrone the ungrateful
 
 240 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 sovereign, and exalt in bis room the young earl of 
 March, and for this purpose they foi-med a coalition that 
 promised to be irresistible. They granted Douglas his 
 liberty, on condition that he should join them with all 
 his followers ; and they admitted Glendower into the 
 confederacy, who promised to aid them with 10,000 sol- 
 diers, as soon as they approached the borders of Wales. 
 So confident now were the conspirators of success, that 
 they divided England between them as if it had been 
 an escheated property. Mortimer, in behalf of his ne- 
 phew the earl of March, was to obtain all the country 
 from the Trent and the Severn to the southern and 
 eastern limits of the island ; the earl of Northumberland 
 was to have all the land north of the Trent ; while the 
 district to the north of the Severn was to belong to 
 Glendower. Except in the case of the latter chieftain, 
 we discover no particle of patriotism among the conspi- 
 rators : all was the very soul of grasping selfishness, ani- 
 mated by the desire of vengeance. 
 
 1403. — Fortunately for England, the talents and activity 
 of Henry were equal to the trial. He hurried to Shrews- 
 bury, and took the command of the forces which he had 
 prepared for the invasion of Wales ; and by his able dis- 
 positions he prevented Glendower and the Welsh from 
 joining the army of the Percies. In the mean time, 
 Hotspur and Douglas, who were marching towards the 
 border of Wales at the head of 14,000 men, in expecta- 
 tion of being joined by the Welsh anny, were con- 
 fronted by the king at Shrewsbury, at the head of an 
 equal force. It would have been the best policy of the 
 Percies, on this occasion, to defer the engagement, until 
 either Northumberland himself had arrived with the 
 main part of the army, or Glendower could have broken 
 through the obstacles by which he was shut out from 
 the confederates ; but Hotspur was not of a temper to 
 pause when an enemy was before him. He therefore 
 published a fierce manifesto against Henry, charging 
 him with treason, murder, and perjury, and renouncing 
 his allegiance ; and on the morning of the following 
 day (July 21st), the battle of Shrewsbury commeuced. 
 Douglas at the head of his northern followers fell furi- 
 ously upon the king's army, Hotspur advanced to sustain 
 him, and as these two champions were reckoned the 
 bravest soldiers of their respective countries, they were
 
 BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY. 241 
 
 eas-er to exceed each other on this occasion, in valour 
 and daring. They therefore couched their lances, and 
 drove abreast into the throng, unhorsing, throwing down, 
 and slaying, all who were opposed to them. Douglas 
 cuveted above all the honour of killing the king of Eng- 
 land with his own hand ; but as Henry had caused 
 several of his bravest knights to wear his arms and 
 cognizances, the bewildered Scot struck them down 
 v.herever they appeared, and shouted in wonderment, 
 ' 1 marvel to see so many kings rising again ! where 
 the devil do they come from "?' On the other side, the 
 king cheered his followers by word and example, while 
 his brave son Henry, although wounded in the face 
 by an arrow, continued to fight gallantly by his side. 
 But the splendid charge of Hotspur and Douglas, which 
 had almost decided the day, was too transcendent to be 
 equally seconded by their followers, so that these chiefa 
 v/ere at last entangled among their enemies ; Hotspur 
 fell in the throng, and his panic-sti-uck soldiers began to 
 give way, after a desperate contest of three hours, in 
 which victory had alternately inclined to either partj-. In 
 this battle the number of slain on each side was nearly 
 equal, but nothing could be more complete than the dis- 
 comfiture of the rebels. The earl of Northumberland, 
 who was or pretended to be sick, when the battle of 
 Shrewsbury was fought, advanced when it was too late 
 -('.ith a large body, to reinforce his son ; but on hearing 
 the disastrous issue, he made peace with Henry, pre- 
 tending that he had only armed for the purpose of me- 
 diating between the parties — an apology which the pru- 
 dent king saw fit for the present to receive. Several 
 other members of the conspiracy, who afterwards re- 
 newed the insurrection, were overcome, not by stroke of 
 sword, but by policy and craft; and the earl of Northum- 
 berland, who again took up arms, was so closely pressed 
 by the king, that he was fain to fly, and take refuge in 
 Scotland. 
 
 Henry had now the opportunity of directing the whole 
 brunt of his wrath against the obnoxious Glendower, 
 whom he had successfully shut out from the battle of 
 Shrewsbury ; and the young prince of Wales, although 
 only seventeen years old, was appointed to head the 
 expedition. But the Welsh chief entered into an al- 
 liauce with Charles VI. king of France, in 1404, by 
 M
 
 242 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 whom he was assisted with men and money ; and not- 
 withstanding the defeat of his English friends, he was 
 enabled to act upon the aggressive, and recover several 
 castles from the English. Young Henry's arrival, however, 
 changed the scene. Even already he manifested those 
 splendid talents for war which were afterwards so con- 
 spicuous in the conquest of France, and Glendower, after 
 suffering two defeats from his titular rival, the one at 
 Grosmont Castle in Monmouthshire, and the other at 
 Mynydd pwl Melyn in Brecknockshire, was obliged to 
 disband his few remaining forces, and become a solitary 
 fugitive among his native mountains. But his patriot 
 heart was still unconquered, and in consequence of the 
 arrival of 12,000 French auxiliaries at Milford Haven, he 
 ■was enabled once more to take the field as an open an- 
 tagonist of England. But the French auxiliaries were 
 soon weary of the war, in consequence of the vigorous 
 proceedings of the king of England, so that, after a few 
 skirmishes, they set sail from the principality, leaving 
 the Welsh to shift as they best could. The history of the 
 last and bravest of the Welsh princes, after this period, 
 was an unceasing struggle against overwhelming multi- 
 tudes, in which he might revenge his own wrongs with- 
 out delivering his country. But whether at the head of a 
 gallant band, or as a lonely wanderer among his native 
 fastnesses, he still maintained his independence, and 
 never ceased to be the enemy of the oppressors of his 
 countrymen. In this manner he continued his resistance 
 to the hour of his death, which took place at the house 
 of one of his daughters, on the 20th of September 1415, 
 during the succeeding reign, when he died with the 
 melancholy consolation that he was still a free man, 
 although his country was enslaved. The page is brief 
 which history has vouchsafed to this unsuccessful patriot 
 of a small principality; yet the record is precious, as 
 exhibiting how much may be done under the most ad- 
 verse circumstances by a single heart when it is animated 
 with the love of country and the hope of liberty. 
 
 While the war that was carying on against the Welsh 
 was at its height, the weak, vain, and unprincipled earl 
 of Northumberland, who had been alternately a fugitive 
 in Wales and Scotland, was enabled in the latter country 
 to gather a small force, with which he invaded North- 
 umberland in 1408, and recovered several of his cas-
 
 HENRY V. 243 
 
 ties. Encouraged by this transient success, he advanced 
 into Yorkshire, expecting to be joined by the whole force 
 of the county, and published a manifesto, in which 
 king Henry was stigmatized as a murderer and a 
 usurper. But all his motions were closely watched by 
 Sir Thomas Rokeby, the sheriff of York, who brought 
 the earl to an engagement at Bramham Moor, near Ha- 
 selwood, in which the rebels were routed, and Northum- 
 berland killed. The body of this ambitious intriguer 
 was dismembered, and the head and limbs were set up 
 at London, and other parts of the kingdom. The country 
 was thus reduced to comparative quiet, and France, the 
 enemy most to be dreaded, was so rent with civil com- 
 motions, that England had nothing to fear from her 
 hostility. But the troubled reign of Henry IV. had now 
 drawn to a close. The toils and anxieties of his usurped 
 authority had reduced his strong frame to a premature 
 decay, and he died at Westminster on the 20th of March, 
 1413, in the forty-sixth year of his age, and fourteenth of 
 his reign. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry V. 
 whose reign forms an important epoch in the military 
 history of England. 
 
 HENRY V. 
 
 This illustrious sovereign was twelve years old at the 
 period of his father's return from banishment ; and he 
 was distinguished by the early talents which he dis- 
 played for war, both at the battle of Shrewsbury, and in 
 the campaigns which he conducted against the Welsh. 
 But, as is often the case in courts, Henry IV. was jea- 
 lous of the abilities of his successor, and there were 
 pick-thank courtiers in abundance to widen the breach, 
 in consequence of which the young prince was displaced 
 from his seat in council, and forbade the court. By this 
 exclusion from his proper sphere, his active mind was 
 driven to low company and unworthy amusements, which 
 were carefully reported to his jealous parent, so that even 
 to the period of the king's death, young Henry was regard- 
 ed by his father with suspicion and dislike. His excesses, 
 however, have been magnified not only by courtiers and 
 dramatists, but by historians, who report that he v as 
 wont to repair to the highway with his dissolute compa-
 
 244 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 nions, and that he occasionally robbed the oflScers who 
 were carrying money to his father's treasury. In con- 
 sequence of these prevalent rumours, his accession to 
 the throne of England was regarded with mistrust ; but 
 his prudence soon dispelled the feeling. He instantly 
 dismissed his riotous associates, promoted and honoured 
 the prudent ministers of his father, and devoted his 
 whole care to public affairs and the welfare of his king- 
 dom. His superiority to every feeling of jealousy and 
 fear was also displayed in his magnanimous conduct 
 towards those who were his hereditary enemies. After 
 bestowing a royal funeral upon the remains of Richard II. 
 at which he attended as chief mourner, he freed the 
 earl of March from confinement, to which he had been 
 subjected during the late reign, and restored the family 
 of Northumberland to all those honours and estate." 
 which had been forfeited by their rebellion. These early 
 measures dispelled the misgivings of the nation, and all 
 parties united in applauding the virtues of their sove- 
 reign. 
 
 At this time the principles of WycklifF (or Lollardism), 
 which were similar to those of the Reformation, had 
 made great progress in England, to the dismay of the 
 prelates, who resolved to crush these opinions by perse- 
 cution : but as the known humanity of the young king 
 would have been averse to such a measure, they resolved 
 to occupy him so efFectually in foreign wars, that he 
 should have no leisure to interrupt their proceedings. 
 In this case, nothing was more easy than to revive the 
 old claims of England to the crown of France, which 
 had been so strenuously asserted by Edward III., whose 
 rights were now supposed to rest in Henry V. It might 
 even in this case have been alleged, that the claims 
 upon France which Edward deduced from his mother 
 Isabella were now vested in the earl of March, the lineal 
 descendant ; but the rights of the latter were for the 
 present in a state of abeyance. Henry was easily insti- 
 gated to the attempt of conquest, not only by the large 
 subsidies which the clergy agreed to furnish, but by the 
 state of France, which now lay prostrate beneath two fu- 
 rious factions, one headed by the duke of Burgundy, and 
 the other by the duke of Orleans, while their unfortu- 
 nate king, Charles VI., owing to mental derangement, 
 was un&t for government. The English king, although 

 
 HENRY V. 245 
 
 he saw his advantage, proceeded cautiously iu his mea- 
 sures, and, without auuouucing his purposes, made every 
 preparation for war. He even sought the French prin- 
 cess, Catherine, in marriage, as if his intentions had 
 been wholly pacific, and negotiated for a long peace or 
 truce ; but he took care that nothing should be concluded, 
 by always rising in his demands. At length, when all 
 was ready, he threw off disguise, by ending the negotia- 
 tion, and dismissing the French ambassadors. His pre- 
 parations were finished, and his troops in readiness to 
 embark, when he was startled by the tidings of a con- 
 spiracy that had been formed by several of the nobles, 
 among whom were some of his own friends and rela- 
 tions, who designed to assassinate him, and proclaim the 
 earl of March, king. The three ringleaders of the plot 
 were the earl of Cambridge, lord Scrope, and Sir Tho- 
 mas Grey, who were tried, condemned, and executed ; 
 after which Henry set sail from Southampton, on the I3th 
 of August, 1415, with 6000 men-at-arms and 24,000 
 archers, and landed on the following day near Harfleur, 
 which he immediately proceeded to invest. Even while 
 the king was thus thundering at the gates of France, the 
 French nobles were frittering away their opportunities 
 in factious debating, whether the duke of Orleans or 
 the duke of Burgundy should be made protector of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 1415.— The siege of Harfleur lasted five weeks ; and al- 
 though the town was taken, the price which the conqueror 
 paid for it was excessive, as it not only reduced his army 
 by sickness, but gave the French court time to recover from 
 its stupor ; for the duke of Orleans was chosen regent, 
 and an army of 100,000 men was collected, to intercept 
 the English on their march to Calais. In the mean time 
 Henry, who found his army so much reduced, resolved 
 to return to England by the way of Calais, instead of 
 embarking at Harfleur — a bold experiment, as he had 
 now only 10,000 soldiers, while a long tract of hostile 
 country was to be passed over. But the measure was 
 necessary, as any other mode of departure would have 
 seemed a flight, in which case his future attempts on 
 France would have suffered from such a charge. This 
 daring march of one hundred miles, through every spe- 
 cies of opposition and danger, commenced on the 8th of 
 October, the English army moving in three lines, with
 
 246 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 bodies of cavalry on the wings ; and during their route, 
 Henry never ceased to cheer them amidst their labours, 
 while he fared like the meanest soldier. After a few 
 skirmishes, in which the flying squadrons of the enemy 
 were defeated, the English reached Abbeville on the 
 13th, and prepared to pass the Somme, near the ford 
 which Edward III. had crossed before the battle of 
 Crecy ; but here they learned that all the bridges were 
 broken down, while the whole French army was drawn 
 up on the opposite side of the river. Henry was there- 
 fore obliged to march up the bank, and while thus em- 
 ployed, he learned from some prisoners, that the French 
 intended, on joining battle, to ride down and destroy the 
 English archers by successive charges of cavalry, which 
 were divided into squadrons for this purpose ; upon 
 which he ordered every archer to furnish himself with a 
 thick stake, six feet long, and sharpened at each end. A 
 ford was fortunately discovered, and crossed by the 
 whole army on the 19th ; after which they arrived at 
 the village of Azincourt on the 24th ; where they found 
 the whole French army drawn up to receive them. 
 
 Although the Somme had thus been crossed, the French 
 were confident of victory, and not without a show of 
 reason. They were not only ten times more numerous 
 than their antagonists, but they were fresh in health and 
 spirits, while the English were sick, and weakened by 
 diseases contracted at the siege of Harfleur, and by the 
 privations of their march. This feeling upon either side 
 was productive of most important consequences. The 
 French were so sure of success, that they took no pains 
 to secure it, while Henry, conscious of his weakness, 
 availed himself of every resource by which his little 
 army could be strengthened. He saw that an action 
 was inevitable, and while he prepared for the encounter, 
 his looks and words inspired resolution into the meanest 
 follower of the camp. Hearing one of his ofiicers ex- 
 pressing a wish that a few of those brave fellows who 
 were now idle in England were at hand to help them, 
 the king magnanimously exclaimed, ' No ; I would not 
 have one man more. If we are defeated, we are too 
 many ; but if God gives us the victory, we shall have 
 the more honour.' A similar burst of courage was exhi- 
 bited by David Gam, a Welsh captain, who was sent to 
 reconnoitre the enemy. On being asked, at his return.
 
 HENRY V. 247 
 
 what was the number of the French army, he replied, 
 ■ There are enough to be killed, enough to be taken pri- 
 soners, and enough to run away.' Even on the niirht 
 before the battle, the English soldiers, when they heard 
 the French shouting, and calling- upon each other, began 
 to mimic their outcries, till Henry was obliged to put a 
 stop to their military merriment. The French nobles in 
 the mean time were so certain of their prey, that they 
 spent the night in playing at dice for the ransoms of the 
 king of England and his nobles, who w-ere to be taken 
 prisoners on the morrow. As for the common soldiers, 
 these were all to be put to the sword without mercy. 
 
 1415- — On the morning of Friday, the 25th of October, 
 being the day of Crispin and Crispianus, the two armies 
 were drawn out for battle. The van of the French, con- 
 sisting of 8000 knights and squires, 4000 archers, and 
 15,000 cross-bows, accompanied by the princes of Orleans 
 and Bourbon, and the chief nobility of France, was led 
 by D'Albret the Constable, who commanded the whole 
 army ; the dukes of Alenjon, Brabant, and Bar, con- 
 ducted the second line, while the third was drawn up 
 under several approved chiefs, as a rear-guard to sup- 
 port the other two. Henry, who resolved that his army 
 should fight on foot, drew up his troops into a compact 
 mass. His archers he placed at intervals, on every point 
 of attack, having previously taught them to plant one 
 end of their stakes firmly in the ground, with the point 
 inclining outwards, to receive the French cavalry. Hia 
 rear was protected by a village, and his flanks by briars 
 and hedges. He had chosen his position so skilfully, 
 that the enemy's numerous van could not come into ac- 
 tion until it was drawn up thirty men deep, by which 
 the greater part was rendered unserviceable. The 
 French, hitherto so confident, were daunted at the skil- 
 ful position and bold front of the English, and re- 
 mained stationary; so that the king, fearing they would 
 refuse battle, resolved to become the assailant. At ten 
 o'clock he ordered the signal to sound, upon which the 
 first line of the English knelt down, and kissed the 
 ground : then starting to their feet, they discharged a 
 shower of arrows. D'Albret answered this defiance, by 
 a tremendous onset upon the dift'ereut points at the same 
 instant, by the weight of which charge the English reeled, 
 and were borne backwards two or three paces. At this
 
 248 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 spectacle the English chaplains, who were stationed in 
 the rear, fell upon their faces, and sent loud orisons to 
 heaven for the deliverance of their countrymen. But 
 the lost ground was soon recovered, and the archers, 
 darting out in detachments from the main body, and 
 having stripped themselves of their upper garments that 
 they might act the moi-e freely, discharged their arrows 
 so rapidly, and with such force, that plate and mail were 
 piercedasif they had been cloth, while men and horses fell 
 in heaps. In tliis manner those detachments of French 
 cavalry that had been designed to disperse the archers 
 were destroyed, after they had spurred up again and again 
 to the formidable palisade of stakes, which they were 
 unable to penetrate. The hardy archery plucked up their 
 stakes, and planted them once more in advance, while the 
 French soldiers and men-at-arms fell or fled before their 
 missiles ; after which they rushed upon the enemy with 
 their hatchets, swords, and mallets. This forward move- 
 ment brought the English in contact with the ene- 
 my's main body ; and here the conflict was so terrible, 
 that the crowded masses of the French fell in heaps, 
 some of these frightful piles reaching to the height of a 
 man, from the top or the sides of which the two parties 
 alternately fought, as if these mounds of carnage had 
 been common ramparts. Henry, who during the whole 
 conflict had fought on foot, was conspicuous both by his 
 Talour and a coronet set with sparkling stones, which he 
 wore on his helmet ; and on attacking the second line 
 of the French, commanded by the duke d'Alenjon, where 
 the main struggle commenced, he was exposed to the 
 utmost danger. The duke of Gloucester, his younger bro- 
 ther, was thrown to the ground, and the king beat off 
 the assailants until the duke was removed to a place of 
 safety. Eighteen French knights, who had resolved to 
 slay the sovereign of England, or perish in the attempt, 
 fought their way to the place where he stood, and one of 
 them struck him so fiercely on the helmet that the blow 
 brought him to his knees ; but in a few moments this 
 devoted party perished to a man. The duke d'Alengon, 
 animated by the fury of despair, struck down the duke 
 of York with his battle-axe, and as Henry hastened to 
 the rescue of his kinsman, he received a blow from the 
 same weapon which hewed off" a portion of his coronet. 
 But Alenfou was immediately slain ; and such was the 

 
 HENRY V. 249 
 
 confusion of his dense but recoiling ranks, that no effort 
 of valour or military skill could have saved them : they 
 were driven backwards heaps upon heaps, and slaught- 
 ered almost without resistance. In this manner the se- 
 cond line of the French army was defeated, and the third 
 fled without striking a blow. Even yet, however, the 
 victory seemed in suspense : a noise of assault was heard 
 in the rear of the English army, and Henry, apprehend- 
 ing that the enemy had rallied, gave hasty orders to his 
 soldiers to kill all their prisoners, who were alieady 
 more numerous than his whole army. But on learning 
 that the attack was made by a mere mob of peasants for 
 the pui-pose of plundering his baggage, he stopped the 
 carnage before it was completed. Nothing could be more 
 singular than the result of this terrible engagement. The 
 English men-at-arms were so weakened by disease that 
 many fought in their jackets, unable to bear the weight of 
 their armour : many actually engaged without their lower 
 garments, and not a few were hatless, and barefooted ; 
 and yet, after a three hours' conflict, their loss of men 
 was as trivial, as if they had been engaged in a paltry 
 skirmish. But of the French 10,000 had fallen, of whom 
 more than 8000 were gentlemen, including a long array 
 of princely and noble personages, almost equal in number 
 to the whole nobility of England. It was no wonder that 
 Henry, after the battle, declared to the French heralds, 
 that the sins of France and not his soldiers had wrought 
 their defeat, and that he ordered ' Non nobi^ Domhie* 
 to be chanted by the whole army. 
 
 The English continued their march to Calais in tri- 
 umph and unmolested, and embarked for England on 
 the 16th of November. On their landing, the same even- 
 ing, the people of Dover and the neighbouring country 
 lined the shores, and even plunged into the sea to wel- 
 come the hero of Azincourt. When he reached London, 
 the whole metropolis rang with triumphant jubilee, and 
 all the splendour which the wealth and taste of the age 
 could furnish was expended in pageants, to grace his 
 entrance. But the modesty and piety of Henry on this 
 occasion were again conspicuous : he marched immedi- 
 ately to St. Paul's, to return thanks to Heaven for his 
 success ; and he refused to allow his bruised and broken 
 helmet to be exhibited, as a trophy of his valour. After 
 this, instead of returning to France, he remained iu 
 M -2
 
 250 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Englaud for tv/o years ; but during this interval, the 
 contentions of the French nobles weakened their country 
 more effectually than any hostile invasion. Party feel- 
 ing and disorder still raged as furiously in that country 
 as if there had been no enemy to dread ; and on the count 
 d'Armagnac being invested with the direction of affairs, 
 the duke of Burgundy, his unsuccessful rival, threw him- 
 self into the arms of Henry, and engaged to support his 
 claims with all his forces. Being strengthened by the 
 alliance of such a powerful prince, the king again left 
 England, and landed in Normandy on the 1st of August, 
 1417, with an army of 25,000 men. In the mean time, 
 the French court were so much occupied in resisting the 
 duke of Burgundy, that they had no troops to oppose the 
 English, so that Henry took in rapid succession the 
 towns of Caen, Bayeux, Mantes, Alenfon, and Falaise ; 
 and he blockaded Rouen, which was too strongly forti 
 fied and garrisoned to be taken by siege. No event of 
 the war was of a more melancholy character than the 
 blockade of this ancient and populous capital of Nor- 
 mandy. As the city was pressed by famine, all the un- 
 serviceable hands, to the number of 12,000, were driven 
 cut, most of whom, after wandering about, perished mi- 
 serably in the fields and ditches, after which the inha- 
 bitants subsisted about three months chiefly on horses, 
 dogs, cats, mice, and rats, until 50,000 had died of hun- 
 ger. After seven mouths of resistance, the wasted garri- 
 son sullenly opened their gates to the conqueror on the 
 19th of January, 1420. Thirty-five towns and castles, 
 dismayed by this terrible example, yielded to Henry 
 without a blow, and thus all Normandy was reduced to 
 submission. He commenced his rule over the province 
 by abolishing the heavy taxes that had been imposed by 
 the French government, and causing his soldiers to treat 
 the inhabitants with justice and humanity, so that the 
 people were soon won by the popularity of his manners, 
 and the gentleness of his government. 
 
 While the king of England was thus successful, one 
 half of France was busily destroying the other. The 
 party of the duke of Burgundy having become masters 
 of Paris, massacred the Constable and 2,000 of his ad- 
 herents ; and on the subsequent entrance of the queen 
 and duke into the capital, 14,000 more, of whom 5,000 
 were women, were butchered, so that the streets ran
 
 HENRY V. 251 
 
 with blood in torrents. A frenzy seemed to have per- 
 vaded all classes, that blinded them to every feeling but 
 the desire of vengeance, and the national madness was 
 at last crowned by the assassination of the duke of Bur- 
 gundy, who was murdered by the Armagnacs, with the 
 young dauphin at their head. This last stroke sealed 
 the fate of France, by converting the Burgundians and 
 their young duke into unscrupulous allies of the Eng- 
 lish, so that Henry, who had only 25,000 men to preserve 
 his conquest of Normandy, was able to enforce his own 
 terms with the French court. At length a treaty v.-as 
 settled at Arras, by the ministers of France and Eng- 
 land, on the id of December 1419, of which the chief 
 conditions were, — that Charles should enjoy the crown 
 during life, but that Henry should be regent of the 
 kingdom, and succeed to the throne on the demise of the 
 French king ; also, that he should espouse the princess 
 Catherine, without expense to her father or the kingdom. 
 In the May of the following year, the treaty was de- 
 finitively confirmed, and the nuptials of Henry with the 
 princess of France were solemnized. Being thus vir- 
 tually the sovereijin of France, he proceeded to repress 
 the factions by which it had been torn in pieces ; and 
 this he performed so successfully, that the Armagnacs 
 were deprived of their strong places, and their leader 
 the dauphin was declared guilty of high treason, and 
 incapable of the royal succession. Being thus every 
 where successful, and having restored France to a state 
 of comparative quiet, he left his brother the duke of 
 Clarence lieutenant in his absence, and returned to 
 England, where his queen was crowned on the 22d of 
 February 1421, with great splendour and rejoicing. 
 
 The case of the dauphin now seemed hopeless, when a 
 gallant reinforcement arrived in France, to retrieve his 
 ruined affairs. This was a body of 5 or 6,000 Scots, under 
 the command of the earl of Buchan, and containing many 
 adventurous nobles and knights, who were eager to 
 serve under so distinguished a warrior. They were en- 
 camped at Bauge, a village in Anjou, accompanied by a 
 small body of Frenchmen, when the duke of Clarence, who 
 was invading that province, soon learned that he was 
 in the neighbourhood of these bold auxiliaries. The fiery 
 prince was at table when the intelligence reached him, 
 upon which he immediately started to his feet, with the
 
 252 MILHAHY HlSTOliY. 
 
 exclaiuation, ' Upon them, gentlemen ! Let the men-at- 
 arms mount, and follow me !' He made a rapid march, 
 hoping to surprise the Scots ; but a band of Frenchmen, 
 ■who garrisoned the church of Baugfc, resisted his pro- 
 gress until their allies had time to form, which they 
 effectually did on the opposite bank of the river Coesnon. 
 Clarence, however, was eager to engage, and spurred 
 forward to possess the bridge, while the Scottish knights 
 came down with equal speed to defend the passage. It 
 was then that a terrible encounter ensued between the 
 two armies, which, although small in numbers, were 
 distinguished by national I'ivalry, and the highest mili- 
 tary reputation in Europe. In the shock of battle, tlie 
 English prince, who was conspicuous by a sparkling- 
 coronet of precious stones upon his helmet, was singled 
 out by Sir William Swinton, who wounded and un- 
 horsed him ; and as he strove to remount his steed, the 
 earl of Buchan struck him dead with a blow of his mace. 
 With him perished many brave English knights, and 
 1400 men-at-arms, besides the earl of Kent, and the 
 lords Grey and Ross. Nothing could be more welcome 
 to the dauphin than this bright gleam of success ; and 
 Buchan was invested with the high office of Constable 
 of France, while Stewart of Darnley, his companion in 
 arms, was rewarded with the lordship of Aubigny. 
 
 Henry, on receiving the tidings of this disaster, hur- 
 ried to London, and assembled a parliament, fiom which 
 he obtained a grant of subsidies to renew the war ; after 
 which he embarked his army, and landed at Calais 
 on the 10th of June. Having entered Normandy, he 
 hastened to the relief of Chartres, which was besieged 
 by the dauphin, who retired at his approach. He then 
 reduced Dreux, and several other places of streng'th, that 
 still adhered to his rival. The dauphin took post at 
 Beaugency, on the Loire, and there screwed up his 
 courage for a manly effort ; but on the rapid approach of 
 Henry he again fled, while his army dispersed. In the 
 mean time, the English troops suffered so much from 
 sickness, that they required some respite ; but after a 
 rest of four weeks, the indefatigable Henry was again 
 in the field, and employed in the siege of Meaux, oi e of 
 the strongest towns in France. The garrison was com- 
 manded by a miscreant, called the Bastard of Vaurus, 
 w tio had ravaged the .<5urrounding country, and haiged
 
 HKNRY V. 253 
 
 every Englishman who fell into his hands upon a certain 
 tree, which wjis distinguished by the title of the oak of 
 Vturus. Henry pressed the siege with the most deter- 
 mined valour, and no quarter was given on either side. 
 The town was taken, but the garrison held out in a 
 quarter called the market-place, which was so strong jv* 
 to be deemed impregnable ; but after a stubborn resist- 
 ance, it was obliged to sun*ender on the 10th of May 
 1422. On this occasion poetical justice was rendered to 
 Vaurus, who was hanged upon his own oak. During 
 the sieg-e, the king was gratified by the tidings of his 
 queen having been delivered of a son at Windsor, ou 
 the 6th of December 1421, and afterwards by the arrival 
 of Catherine herself, who joined him in his camp before 
 ^leaux. 
 
 The dauphin, whose cause was thus baffled at every 
 point, again collected an army which, with his auxiliaries 
 from Scotland and Castile, amounted to 20,000, com- 
 manded by the earl of Buchan.now Constable of France ; 
 iind with these he took La Charitft, and then laid siege 
 to Cosue, a town on the Loire, belonging to the duke of 
 Burgundy. The garrison agreed to surrender if not re- 
 lieved by a certain day, upon which the duke collected 
 his forces to relieve the town, and sent to the king of 
 England for a reinforcement. Henry declared, in reply, 
 that he would march in person at the head of his troops, 
 to share in tlie glory of the exploit,— but he was uncon- 
 scious that his wars were ended. He had for some time 
 been afflicted with fistula, which the medical skill of the 
 age was unable to cure ; and having proceeded with his 
 army as far a» Senlis, he became so feverish that he 
 was obliged to pause, and send the troops forward under 
 the command of his brother, the duke of Bedford. On 
 the junction of the English and Burgundian armies, the 
 Dauphin was unwilling to risk a battle, in which defeat 
 would have been the ruin of his cause ; he, therefore, 
 broke up the siege of Cosne, upon which the duke of 
 Bedford and the earl of Warwick hurned back to the 
 sickbed of their beloved sovereign, and found him 
 dying. He was still young, and a conqueror ; it was but 
 lately that he had become a husband, and a father, and 
 in a few months more the declining health of Charles 
 would have seated him upon the throne of France. But 
 these enjoyments and those prospects were equally to
 
 254 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 be relinquisiied, while the successor to bis throne and 
 ccTiqussts was only a helpless infant. All this was an 
 amoant of bitterness such as few could experience, or 
 even ur-derstand ; but his pious and heroic spirit con- 
 templated it without murmuring-. After thanking his 
 brother and friends for their affection and faithful ser- 
 vices, he entreated them to serve his son with the same 
 fidelity. The unsettled state of France chiefly claimed 
 his anxiety, and, therefore, he entreated them to culti- 
 vate carefully the friendship of the duke of Burgundy, 
 upon whose good offices their hold upon the French 
 kingdom must depend, and to offer him the regency ; but 
 if he refused that office, it was to be held by the duke 
 of Bedford, while the duke of Gloucester was to be Pro- 
 tector of England. After exhorting them to concord and 
 unanimity among themselves, he charged them not to 
 liberate the duke of Orleans, and other noble prisoners 
 whom he had taken at Azincourt, so long as his son was 
 a minor; and to make no peace with France without 
 obtaining Normandy in full sovereignty. He then dis- 
 missed all secular cares, that he might attend to the 
 welfare of his soul ; he ordered his chaplain to recite 
 the seven penitential psalms ; and when that verse was 
 read which prays for the building up of the walls of 
 Jerusalem, the king eagerly interrupted him with the 
 declaration, that he had intended, after becoming king 
 of France, to deliver and rebuild the Holy City. A few 
 moments after, he expired. Tiiis mournful event occurred 
 on the 31st of August 1422, in the 34th year of his age, 
 after a reign of nine years, five mouths, and fourteen 
 days. 
 
 Such was the brief but glorious career of Henry V., 
 one of the gentlest of sovereigns, and bravest of con- 
 querors. However we may condemn his aggi'ession 
 upon France, we must recollect his peculiar situation. 
 While he firmly believed that the rights of Edward III. 
 were his own, and that they had been set aside by an 
 unjust decision, the example of that monarch and his 
 heroic son, the Black Prince, fired him with emulation, 
 as well as showed the facility with which France might 
 be won. The distracted state of that kingdom was also 
 peculiarly tempting, and such was the enormous wicked- 
 ness of its nobility, coupled with the wretchedness of 
 the people, that he seems to have regarded himself as
 
 HENRY V. 255 
 
 an instrument in the divine hand, to punish the guilty 
 and relieve the miserable. Such also were his gentleness 
 and love of justice, that France was more effectually 
 conquered by these, than by the force of his arms. As if 
 to complete the picture, we are informed, that he was 
 learned for the period, and a lover of music ; of a beau- 
 tiful countenance, and noble form ; unmatched in every 
 military and manly exercise, and so swift of foot, that 
 he ran down a doe at the top of its speed. It was per- 
 haps, however, as fortunate for England as for France, 
 that his triumphant course was so quickly terminated. 
 Both kingdoms could not have remained free under one 
 government, and the weaker must have finally become a 
 province of the stronger. England, relieved from the 
 danger of such a union, has attained an elevation of na- 
 tional glory and prosperity, that might satisfy the most 
 ambitious. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Ffom the accessio7i of Henri/ VJ. to the expulsion of 
 the English from France. 
 
 At the demise of the hero of Azincourt, his son, the 
 unfortunate Henry YI. was not nine months old. The 
 duke of Bedford was appointed regent of France, and 
 Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, protector of England, 
 with a council of the nobles, by which his authority was 
 limited ; the earl of Warwick, a brave and chivalrous 
 nobleman, was tutor to the infant sovereign by the will 
 of the late king. 
 
 Henry V. had not long been dead when he was fol- 
 lowed by his father-in-law, .Charles VI. ; and at his 
 funeral the infant son of the former was proclaimed king 
 of France and England by universal acclamation. But 
 the death of Charles, instead of strengthening, only 
 weakened, the claims of the English; for those who 
 would not support the dauphin during the life of his fa- 
 ther, were now willing to recognise him as the legiti- 
 mate sovereign of France. He was therefore proclaimed 
 king, at Poictiers, by his followers ; but the solemnity 
 wa3 sad and imperfect, while the character of the youth, 
 as yet only twenty years old, was ill qualified for a na- 
 tional hero and deliverer. His chiefs and councillorti
 
 256 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 also were eminent neither for virtne nor talent ; his re- 
 sources were scanty ; and against him was opposed the 
 whole power of England and Burgundy, headed by the 
 duke of Bedford, a leader little inferior to Henry him- 
 self. Besides this, his capital and two-thirds of his king- 
 dom were in possession of the English, while his only 
 foreign allies were the Scots. The measures of the duke 
 of Bedford still farther strengthened the ascendancy of 
 England. He fixed the powerful duke of Bretagne in 
 his interests, and drew closer the bond of alliance with 
 the duke of Burgundy by man-ying his youngest sister. 
 He then took the field, aud a number of skirmishes fol- 
 lowed, in which the cause of the dauphin was reduced 
 to the lowest ebb. At last the battle of Crevant, which 
 occurred in July 1423, seemed to render the circum- 
 stances of young Charles utterly hopeless. While em- 
 ployed in the siege of Crevant, he was attacked by the 
 earl of Salisbury, at the head of an army of English and 
 Burgundians, and totally defeated. The loss fell chiefly 
 upon his Scottish allies, who were basely deserted by the 
 French ; 3000 of their number fell in the field of battle, 
 and by this defeat Charles had lost the only army he 
 could then assemble. He fled into obscurity, and alter- 
 nately resigned himself to dissipation and despair, till 
 he was again dragged into the field by the heroic re- 
 monstrances of his wife and his mistress, who seem to 
 have been equally patriotic in the deliverance of their 
 country. He was reinforced at the same time by the 
 earl of Buchan, constable of France, who returned from 
 Scotland with .5000 men, accompanied by the earl of 
 Douglas, whom we have formerly seen at Homildon and 
 Shrewsbury. This arrival was so seasonable, that Charles 
 created Douglas ' duke of Touraine,' and entrusted the 
 guard of his person to a body of Scottish soldiers. After 
 several military movements of trivial importance, theEng 
 lish, under the earl of Salisbury, laid siege to Ivry, which 
 was agreed to be surrendered if not relieved before the 
 1.5th of August, 1424. The dauphin, who, by reinforce- 
 ments from Milan and Scotland, was at the head of 
 18,000 men, advanced to raise the siege ; but on finding 
 the duke of Bedford himself with his whole army strongly 
 posted to receive him, he retired, and invested Verneuil, 
 in Perche. Bedford, on the fall of Ivry, hurried to the 
 relief of Verneuil ; and having selected ground favour-
 
 BArrLE OF VERNELIL. 257 
 
 able for a battle, he sent a message to Douglas, telling 
 him that he was conaing- to drink wine and revel with 
 him ; to which the earl replied, that the duke would be 
 most welcome, as he had come all the way from Scot- 
 land to join him in a carouse. Such were the sportive 
 preludes to the battle of Verneuil, which proved the 
 fiercest engagement since the days of Azincourt. But 
 the valour of the Scots was neutralized on this occasion 
 by the jealousy of the French nobles towards Douglas, 
 and the headlong impetuosity of their soldiers, who 
 rushed on without orders, or regard to the unfavourable 
 nature of the ground. The English archers planted their 
 stakes, and discharged their arrows — upon which the 
 Italians, who were first in the onset, fled in an instant ; 
 the French and Scots fought gallantly for three hours, 
 but at length were driven from the field ; and the earls 
 of Buchan and Douglas, the greater part of the Scottish 
 officers, and many of the French nobility, were slain. The 
 loss of the English was also heavy, as 2000 of their 
 bravest fell. This battle was fought on the 17th of Au- 
 gust, 1424, and Charles, who was again without an army, 
 hurried into his former concealment, and congenial dis- 
 sipation. 
 
 The fate of France and its native sovereign seemed 
 now to be reduced to the lowest point ; but here, as fre- 
 quently happens in common life, the period of reaction 
 commenced. The conquerors, when there were none to 
 oppose them, quarrelled among themselves, and negatived 
 their successes by a series of irretrievable blunders. 
 The members of the English council were at variance 
 with each other, and contended, when they should have 
 been unanimous in sending supplies to the duke of Bed- 
 ford ; so that this brave leader was never able to follow 
 up his victories from want of men and money. The rash 
 but amiable duke of Gloucester also embroiled the con- 
 fusion, by marrying Jacqueline, countess of the fertile 
 provinces of Haiuault, Holland, Zealand, and Friesland, 
 to the sore displeasure of her suzerain the duke of Bur- 
 gundy, and levying an English army to reinstate her in 
 her forfeited inheritance. Burgundy, although the ef- 
 fective ally of England, was by no means desirous to see 
 these rich provinces of his dominions under the rule of 
 an English prince, and therefore he naturally recalled 
 his forces from the main army, to oppose the claims of
 
 258 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 the intruder. The powerful chiefs of Richmond and Bre- 
 tagne were also persuaded to forsake the interests of 
 England, and espouse the cause of Charles. On account 
 of these difficulties, the duke of Bedford could make no 
 progress, and the war languished for nearly live years. 
 But while these circumstances could only partially aid, 
 without accomplishing, the deliverance of France, that 
 great object was ensured by a stupendous miracle in the 
 history of nations — by the appearance and supernatural 
 career of Joan of Arc, the celebrated maid of Orleans. 
 
 This wonderful creature was born at Domreny, a small 
 hamlet in Champagne, in 1411 or 1412. Her parents were 
 bumble cottagers, and her early youth was remarkable 
 among her neighbours for modesty, gentleness, and 
 kindness, and above all for amiable, devoted piety. At 
 the age of thirteen, instead of joining in the Tillage 
 dances and songs, like the other young maidens of the 
 country, she withdrew to the church, while her favoujite 
 theme among her companions was the character of the 
 Deity, and the history of the Mother of our Saviour, of 
 whom she spoke with affecting enthusiasm. Her prin- 
 cipal occupations were the tending of sheep, and the 
 usual work of her father's little farm, all which she 
 performed with active care and cheerfulness. But even 
 amidst these lowly occupations her mind was gradually 
 visited by loftier impulses. The village in which she 
 lived bordered upon the territories of Burgundy, so that 
 she beheld at an early period the calamities of civil war, 
 and she often heard the dauphin described as an amiable 
 prince, only a little older than herself, excluded from his 
 paternal throne, and obliged to become a helpless wan- 
 derer in his own country, exposed to the treachery of 
 false friends, and the persecution of foreigners. As she 
 brooded from month to month over these melancholy 
 reflections, and contemplated the growing miseries of 
 her country, her enthusiasm gradually underwent a 
 change. She was now persuaded that France was to 
 be delivered, and that Heaven had designed her for the 
 work. This she was assured of by her sleeping dreams 
 and waking impulses, as well as by the voices of invisi- 
 ble saints and angels, who often enlivened her solitude 
 with accents that transcended the sweetest of earthly 
 music, so that when they left her she wept, and wished 
 they had taken her with them. It was also stated after-
 
 SIEGE OF ORLEANS. 259 
 
 wards by her contemporaries, that she was distinguisihed 
 for strength and activity, as well as great still and 
 courage in horsemanship, from her practice of riding 
 horses to water, and that she often tilted with a long 
 stick, which she wielded like a lance. Was it a special 
 divine impulse rather than natural enthusiasm, that 
 directed her to these exercises, which were to be at- 
 tended by such results ? She frequently also alluded to 
 a mysterious prophecy which, at this time, floated among 
 the common people — that France having been destroyed 
 by a married woman (the Queen of Charles VI.) was to 
 be re-established by a virgin. 
 
 At length the extreme hour of the jeopardy of France 
 brought forward the deliverer. The duke of Bedford had 
 reconciled the dissentients, after which he directed his 
 whole force to the siege of Orleans, the great bulwark 
 of Charles's cause. The fall of this city would have in- 
 volved the final ruin of the dauphin, as it was his last 
 place of strength, and, therefore, while the English 
 attacked, the French defended it with equal courage and 
 desperation. Many heroic deeds of chivalry were per- 
 formed on either side, but the English finding that they 
 could not take Orleans by force, resolved to depend upon 
 the slow though sure operations of a blockade. The place, 
 therefore, was closely invested, and seemed to be upon 
 the point of falling, while Charles was about to with- 
 draw in despair to Sj)ain or Scotland, when the public 
 mission of Joan of Arc commenced. The heavenly voices 
 had become more importunate and persuasive, and they 
 commanded her to apply to Baudricourt, the lord of 
 Vaucouleurs, for means of conveyance to the presence of 
 the dauphin; but the astounded nobleman, when applied 
 to, thought that she was mad, and refused her message 
 with contempt. But Joan was not thus to be daunted 
 at the outset. She continued her importunities, until 
 Baudricourt was either persuaded of her divine mission, 
 or stunned into compliance, so that he gave her a sword, 
 a steed, and a small escort. When she was told of the 
 dangers of the journey, she boldly replied, ' I fear not 
 men-at-arms, and I am born for my enterprise.' 
 
 The small band of impoverished and despairing fol- 
 lowers who now constituted the court of Charles, were 
 living at Chinon ; and on the arrival of Joan at that 
 town, they deliberated whether she ought to be received
 
 260 MILITARY HISTORY 
 
 or not. There were few of them who would not have 
 sneered at the idea of such a divine commission as that 
 to which she laid claim ; but their afTairs were now so 
 desperate, that nothing could injure them farther, while 
 amidst the thousand chances of political events, the 
 present might be successful. It was decided that she 
 should have a hearing : but to test her prophetic skill, 
 the dauphin stepped aside, while his knights, richly 
 attired, occupied the front of the hall. The youthful 
 shepherdess entered, and immediately selecting the 
 dauphin from the gay throng, she knelt down and em- 
 braced his knees. Before the by-standers recovered from 
 their astonishment, she said, ' Gentle dauphin, my name 
 is Joan, the maiden, and the King of Heaven informs 
 you, through me, that you will be crowned in the city 
 of Rheims. You will be the lieutenant of the King of 
 Heaven, who is the king of France.' The dauphin still 
 appeared to hold out, and led her aside for a private 
 conference, when he soon returned in visible perturba- 
 tion, assuring the courtiers she had told him a secret 
 known only to God and himself. The court soon was, 
 or appeared to be persuaded, but it was necessary that 
 the impression should be general, and, therefore, Joan 
 was submitted to the rigid examination of lordly pre- 
 lates and learned doctors, from the fear that she might 
 prove an impostor, or even a sorceress ; but she answered 
 their arguments and removed their scruples so effec- 
 tually, that they proclaimed their conviction that she 
 was a saint and a prophetess. These wonderful tales in 
 the mean time had gone forth, and as it was the interest 
 of the people to believe that they would be delivered, they 
 therefore believed readily, more especially when their 
 deliverance was to be wrought by a miracle. Nothing now 
 remained but to show her abroad ; a suit of armour was, 
 therefore, expressly forged fur her ; she girded to her 
 side a miraculous sword that had lain buried behind 
 the altar of St. Catherine, but which her voices had 
 revealed to her, and she appeared before the multitude 
 mounted upon a war-steed. Although as yet only in her 
 eighteenth year, she managed her horse, and brandished 
 her sword and lance, with all the gracefulness and ease 
 of the most practised chevalier; while the expressiveness 
 of her countenance, and beauty of her form, gave an ad- 
 ditional charm to the display. The people were now as
 
 JOAN OF ARC. 2G1 
 
 elated with hope, as they had been formerly depressed 
 with despair, and as the raising of the siege of Orleans 
 was the first step of Joan's miraculous commission, they 
 clamoured impatiently to be led against the English, 
 over whom they were now confident of success. 
 
 1429. — The chiefs on the side of Charles were willing 
 to avail themselves of this hopeful enthusiasm, and 7,000 
 men, headed by the Maid, and marshalled by the two 
 celebrated captains, Dunois and La Hire, commenced 
 their march to Orleans, which was now closely girdled 
 with hostile fortresses, and reduced to the last extremity. 
 The English had not been deaf to the strange tales that 
 had lately been bruited abroad, but although they pre- 
 tended to laugh at the French for resting their last hopes 
 upon a silly peasant girl, they still felt a strange mis- 
 giving at heart, which all their philosophy could not 
 banish, and wondered where the matter would end. 
 Upon this point, at least, they were not kept long in 
 suspense. The French army appeared in sight, full of 
 courage, in a sort of half-military, half religious pro- 
 cession, and at its head rode the Maid of Orleans, in 
 complete armour, bearing aloft a white banner impressed 
 with the picture of the Saviour, and the inscription — 
 ' Jhesu Maria.' Joan commanded that the convoy should 
 cross the Loire at once, and advance on the right bank 
 on which the city stood, but Dunois, who judged this 
 scheme unmilitary, as it would lead them between the 
 two strongest forts of the English, attempted another 
 safer mode of relief, — which, however, failed. He 
 returned, therefore, to her proposal, and every thing 
 seemed unexpectedly to contribute to its success. The 
 wind changed, and bore the vessels laden with pro- 
 visions into the city ; a sally of the garrison distracted 
 the attention of the besiegers, and Joan, at the head of 
 a party, entered the city gates at twilight. On her 
 arrival in the town, which occurred on the 30th of 
 April, the delighted citizens crowded round to touch 
 the hem of her garment, or even see her at a dis- 
 tance, while all received her as an angel sent from 
 Heaven. But Joan modestly shunned their acclamations, 
 and retired to the principal church to perform her 
 devotions, after which she refused the rich supper that 
 was provided for her, and contented herself with a few 
 morsels of bread dipped in wine, and retired to rest. On
 
 262 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the following day she ascended the ramparts, and sum- 
 moned the English to surrender, or raise the siege, but 
 they abused her so coarsely in reply, that she shed 
 womanly tears of virtuous indignation. The convoy 
 was now to be introduced within the walls, upon which 
 Dunois went out to meet it, while Joan, with a party, 
 stationed herself between the walls and the besiegers, 
 to protect its arrival ; but not a cannon was fired, not 
 an arrow discharged. The French reinforcements ap- 
 proached, headed by the priests of St. Blois chanting 
 litanies and hymns of triumph, while the English 
 gazed from their posts, shuddering with religious dread, 
 and undetermined whether Heaven or hell was arrayed 
 against them. The convoy thus proceeded, and, amidst 
 the acclamations of friends and the deep silence of 
 enemies, entered Orleans unmolested. 
 
 The contending parties seemed now to have exchanged 
 characters — on the one. side there was nothing but eager- 
 ness and hope, while on the other all was despondency 
 or despair. The English, indeed, still fought with their 
 native hardihood ; but even this could not long avail 
 against that reaction of enthusiasm by which the French 
 were inspired, so that they invariably quailed before the 
 white banner of the Maid, and the onset of her eager 
 followers. The premonitions of Joan in her prophetic 
 character also seemed miraculous, and of this an in- 
 stance was given in her first conflict with the besiegers. 
 A part of the garrison, kindled by their new enthusiasm, 
 had devoted themselves, unknown to the governor, to the 
 capture of the English bastile, or fort, called St. Loup, 
 which was one of the nearest to the city. They assailed, 
 and possessed themselves of the redoubt, but were driven 
 back, and on the point of being overwhelmed by num- 
 bers. At this moment Joan, starting from sleep, ex- 
 claimed, with a wild cry, • My voices have told me that 
 I must attack the English— the blood of our countrymen 
 is running like water— my horse, and my arms !' She 
 spurred through the streets to which the wounded were 
 returning, and hurried to the place of attack. The 
 French rallied at the sight of her banner, and for three 
 hours a desperate conflict raged, during which she was 
 foremost in every danger, until at length the English 
 were driven from their post, and the fort was taken. In 
 an assault upon another fort, which was considered so
 
 SIEGE OF ORLEANS RAISED. 2G3 
 
 strong as to be impregnable, the French rushed on with 
 a fervour of inspiration onlj- to be paralleled in the early 
 wars of the Moslem, with the Maid at their head, alter- 
 nately lighting and exhorting, when, in attempting to be 
 foremost to scale the rampart, she was wounded in the 
 neck by an arrow, and fell to the ground. She was res- 
 cued by her friends, and withdrawn from the tumult ; 
 and then for a moment she was overcome with pain, and 
 burst into tears. But again the sweet voices, which were 
 like music to her heart, came to comfort and restore her, 
 and causing the wound to be hastily dressed, she agaiu 
 rushed to the fight. Her fall had so dispirited the French, 
 that Dunois, and the other chiefs, sounded a retreat, 
 and were returning to Orleans, when Joan suddenly re- 
 appeared, as if she had risen from the dead. She coun- 
 termanded the order, and the battle was renewed. The 
 English, confounded by her unexpected appearance, and 
 the fresh onset, knew not whether they fought with men 
 or spirits ; and they soon saw the Maiden herself upon 
 the battlements waving her flag, and commanding them 
 to surrender. The fortress was won, and after these 
 conflicts, in which the English had lost about 8,000 men, 
 they were compelled to raise the siege of Orleans. Thus, 
 only five days after Joan's arrival this, the first promise 
 she had made, and which had seemed to be an impossi- 
 bility, was triumphantly fulfilled ; and the second, which 
 was the crowning of Charles at Rheims, without which she 
 could never consider him as full king of France, was now 
 a necessary consequence. Her mission had inflicted a 
 deadly blow upon the moral energies of the invaders, 
 that was soon to be felt even to the remotest hamlets of 
 England, so that the hardy yeomen refused to enrol 
 themselves for the wars of France, ' from fear of the 
 Maid.' It is worthy of remark, also, that during these 
 events before Orleans, Joan's measures, although de- 
 cried as opposite to all military rule, and chiefly forced 
 upon the officers by her popular ascendancy, were inva- 
 riably attended with success. Without being conscious 
 that she had adopted a system of strategy, she acted 
 upon the same plan adopted by her great countryman of 
 modem times, and which excited equal wonder among 
 thorough-paced martinets— that of bringing the greatest 
 force upon a single point, and destroying an enemy in 
 detail. The English endeavoured to comfort themselves
 
 264 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 in the thought, that Joan, instead of heing commissioned 
 by Heaven, was a child of the devil : but this argument 
 brought slender consolation, for the devil, who had al- 
 ready expelled them from Orleans, might also drive them 
 out of France. 
 
 The Maid was now impatient to commence the march 
 to Rheims, where her mission was to be accomplished ; 
 but in this movement she was obliged to overcome the 
 timidity of the dauphin, and the military scruples of his 
 officers, who thought of nothing farther at present than 
 the reconquest of Normandy. Her enthusiasm and re- 
 monstrances overpowered their scruples, and a small 
 army of 10,000 men, under the duke d'Alenjon, was set 
 in motion, to second her wishes. Jargeau, which was 
 defended by a powerful garrison under the earl of Suf- 
 folk, was first invested, and, after some skirmishing, she 
 ordered the trumpets to sound for a general assault. 
 Alengon declared that it was not yet time, to which she 
 answered, ' It is time when it pleases God.' Seeing 
 him still hesitate, she added, * Ah, gentle duke, are you 
 afraid ? Did I not promise your wife to bring you back 
 safe and sound V She immediately flew to the breach, 
 and was followed by the whole army : she planted a 
 ladder amidst a shower of missiles, and ascended, but 
 was struck down by a heavy stone that lighted upon her 
 helmet. The English shouted ' Victory !' but she in- 
 stantly sprang to her feet, and calling out, ' Frenchmen, 
 take courage ; our God has condemned them !' she re- 
 turned to the assault, and the place was taken. 
 
 The strong mind of the duke of Bedford was per- 
 plexed amidst these emergencies, so new in the annals 
 of warfare ; and he wrote home a mournful account of 
 the war, in which he described his new antagonist 
 under the terms of ' a disciple and limb of the Fiend, 
 called the Pucelle, that used false enchantments and 
 -sorceries.' All that he could do was to collect 4000 men 
 under Sir John Fastolfe, and send them to reinforce the 
 remains of the English army under lord Talbot. A few 
 weeks before, the French would have fled at the bare 
 report of such a force ; but now they went in search of 
 it. At their council of war, Joan exclaimed to the offi- 
 cers, ' In the name of God, let us fight the English though 
 they were suspended in the clouds.' * But where shall 
 we find them V said the commanders. • Forward, for-
 
 SUCCESSES OF JOAN OF ARC. 265 
 
 ward,' cried the Maid, ' and God will guide you !' They 
 found the English on the 18th of June, posted at the vil- 
 lage of Patay, near Anvile. But they were no longer an 
 army of conquerors, but a confused and panic-struck 
 crowd, some insisting that they should fight on horse- 
 back, and others that they should give battle on foot. 
 They at last advanced in good order to engage, and 
 the duke d'Alenfon asked the Maid what was now to 
 be done. ' Have you good spurs, my lord V she ex- 
 claimed with promptitude. ' Are we to fly then V asked 
 the duke. * No,' cried the heroine ; • it is the English 
 who must fly, and you will need your spurs to overtake 
 them.' The French advanced, and the English at the 
 sight of Joan's standard fled like a flock of deer, and 
 were chased with great slaughter, 1800 being killed in 
 the pursuit, while lords Talbot, Scales, and Hungerford, 
 and a hundred gentlemen, were taken prisoners. 
 
 These successes so revived the courage of the French, 
 tliat numerous reinforcements joined the army, and 
 Charles no longer hesitated to commence his march to 
 Kheims. It was more like a triumphal procession than 
 a hostile expedition ; the gates of towns and fortresses 
 flew open to welcome his coming, or if they were 
 shut, it was only till Joan advanced with her sacred 
 standard, and summoned them to surrender. At last the 
 lity of Rheinis was reached, and here Charles hesitated, 
 !ur the city was garrisoned by a strong English force, 
 and he had neither cannon nor machines. Had he paused 
 in his career, a reaction might have followed ; but the 
 enthusiasm of the Maid bore him onward without the 
 power of resistance, and the dismayed garrison, instead 
 f manning the walls, only consulted their own safety. 
 Thus, only eighteen days after his march commenced, 
 Charles was master of that city which had long enjoyed 
 a peculiar sanctity from being the place of the coro- 
 nation of the kings of France. This august ceremony 
 was now performed, Joan standing by the side of the 
 king with her white banner in her hand ; and when all 
 was done, she threw herself at his feet, clasped his 
 knees, and shed tears of delight. She declared that her 
 mission was ended, and begged permission to return to her 
 former humble condition , but Charles thought that she 
 might still be useful to the cause of France, and by 
 earnest representations he persuaded her to remain. 
 N
 
 266 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 The crowning of Charles at Rheims was by no means 
 an idle pageant. On the contrary, it was the symbol of 
 his legitimate authority, and a proof of his real power, 
 so that even those Frenchmen who were under the do- 
 minion of England, now recognised him as the lawful 
 king of the realm ; and many places of strength that had 
 hitherto stood out against him, expelled their English or 
 Purgundian garrisons, and returned to their rightful so- 
 vereign. The English power was thus so much weak- 
 ened, that the duke of Bedford was reduced to the me- 
 lancholy condition of standing on the defensive, while 
 hostile armies were in the field, and towns daily revolt- 
 ing to the new king ; and as Charles was tampering 
 "With the duke of Burgundy, he was obliged to make 
 large concessions to that powerful prince, to retain him 
 in the English interest. In order also to counteract the 
 coronation at Rheims, he resolved to crown young Henry 
 at Paris ; but England was so much exhausted by the 
 expenses of the war, that six months were spent in rais- 
 ing money to defray the expense of sending the royal 
 hoy to France, for the purpose. He came to Calais at- 
 tended by a considerable number of English troops ; but 
 most of these deserted, and returned home, dismayed by 
 the tales that were told them about the Maid of Orleans. 
 Henry was conducted to Rouen, where he stayed for 
 eighteen months, because the events of the war were such 
 that it was questionable whether he could be crowned at 
 Paris or not, while the English finances were so low, 
 that it would be some time before they could endure the 
 cost of a coronation. At last, this ceremony was per- 
 formed, December 17, a. d. 1431, but the speculation was 
 too late to be profitable ; and to understand this we must 
 now resume the narrative of Joan of Arc, during the last 
 stages of her heroic career. 
 
 The duke of Bedford had succeeded in fixing the duke 
 of Burgundy in the English interests, by whom he was 
 strongly reinforced ; and an army of 5000 English, which 
 had landed at Calais under the cardinal of Winchester, 
 and which was designed for a crusade against the re- 
 formers of Bohemia, was incorporated with his troops, 
 so that he was once more able to appear in the field. 
 Joan, also, who had hitherto been so successful, was en- 
 Tied by the French leaders, who had become weary even 
 of her successes, because all were attributed to her
 
 JOAN TAKEN PRISONER. 2(37 
 
 cuiJance ; and she was disliked by multitudes of the sol- 
 diers, on account of her strict piety, and the rigid seve- 
 rity with which she banished all military licence from 
 the camp. Even so trivial an event, also, as the break- 
 ing of her sword, while striking with the flat of it 
 certain lewd women, and their companions, who had 
 intruded into the encampment, aided in destroying the 
 opinion of her invincibility. It was the weapon which 
 had been found behind the altar of St. Catherine, and 
 which she had worn in all her victories. The siege of Pa- 
 ris, which was the first repulse she had sustained, and in 
 which she was severely wounded, still farther shook her 
 credit with the French soldiery ; and although she af- 
 terwards took St. Pierre le Monstra, she was baffled in 
 an attack upon Charite-sur-Loire. In May, 1430, she 
 defeated after a desperate resistance a strong force of 
 English and Burgundians near Lagny, but %vas unsuc- 
 cessful in relieving Choisi, which was besieged by the. 
 duke of Burgundy. As Compeigne was next besieged, 
 she generously threw herself into that town, and endea- 
 voured to defend it. But her heavenly voices, which had 
 so often counselled her in danger, and led her to victory, 
 bad for some time sadly warned her that she would fall 
 into the hands of the enemy, and all she had asked in 
 return was, that she might die speedily, without being 
 long a captive. On the afternoon of the 23rd of May, 
 the day on which she had entered Compeigne, she made 
 a sally at the head of 600 men to beat up the camp of 
 the confederates ; and although they were routed three 
 times by her bold attacks, they as often rallied, and 
 drove back her little party. At last, her followers re- 
 treated towards the town, while she took her post in the 
 rear, to cover their retreat ; and as she was known by 
 her dress and armour, and her white banner, the whole 
 force of the Burgundians was directed against her, so 
 that in a short time she was left alone. She still grasped 
 her beloved standard, and wielded her sword, with which 
 she beat off her assailants, and had already gained the 
 city bridge, when the barriers were suddenly closed, so 
 that she was shut out among the enemy. She then at- 
 tempted to cut her way through them, and make for the 
 tields ; but a strong soldier grasped her tunic, and dragged 
 her from her horse, and a throng rushing in, she was
 
 2G8 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 instantly overpowered and secured. All was now wild 
 jubilee in the camp of the besiegei-s, and among: the 
 English party at Paris, by whom Te Deums were sung-, 
 and bonfires kindled, as if the conquest of France 
 had been sealed by the event. She was regarded as a 
 witch forsaken of her familiar, and the desire of ven- 
 geance as well as feelings of superstition made her ene- 
 mies clamorous for her condemnation. Witchcraft in 
 those ages was a crime for which there was no mercy, 
 and after a long imprisonment, during the latter part of 
 which she was heavily loaded with irons, as she had 
 twice attempted to escape, she was brought to trial in 
 January, 1431. Nothing could be more piteous than the 
 condition of the forlorn enthusiast. Her clerical judges 
 were in the English interest, and eager to condemn her; 
 the French king whom she had seated on the throne, 
 and his nobles whom she had raised from dastardly de- 
 spair and led to victory, were willing to forget her ser- 
 vices, and left her to her fate ; and she was fifteen times 
 brought before the merciless inquisitors, who racked 
 her innocence and inexperience with ensnaring ques- 
 tions, that she might be led to criminate herself, and 
 aftbrd a plea for their cruelty. But to the last she re- 
 pelled their odious charges, and believed that God had 
 raised her for the deliverance of her beloved country. 
 She was sentenced to be buined alive on the 30th of 
 May, and on the morning of that day she was led to the 
 marketplace of Rouen, for execution. Her mind, ex- 
 hausted by long confinement and suffering, underwent 
 a momentary faintness at the sight of the dreadful ap- 
 paratus, and she wept bitterly : but those duties of reli- 
 gion, which she had never forgotten dtiring her heroic 
 career, came to her aid, while the fervour of her devo- 
 tion made the most obdurate of her enemies shed tears. 
 She caused a cross to be held before her while the pile 
 was kindled, and upon this she looked, calling upon the 
 name of Jesus to the last. — Such was the end of Joan 
 of Arc, the purest, the gentlest, and the best, of all those 
 characters that have ever been engaged in the noblest 
 of earthly undertakings — the deliverance of a country 
 from bondage. A woman, she freed a land that above 
 all others professes a chivalrous devotedness to women ; 
 and yet, strange to tell ! her country has preserved the
 
 SUCCESSES OF THE FRENCH. 2G9 
 
 same apathy towards her memory that was manifested 
 at her death, while the only monument which Frencli 
 genius has erected to her, is a ribald poem designed to 
 blast her with infamy. But her motives transcended 
 those of mere earthly renown, and her reward was more 
 substantial than that of eulogies and monuments. 
 
 Although the duke of Bedford had exerted himself to 
 the utmost in procuring the condemnation of Joan of Arc, 
 yet the event brought him no nearer to the conquest 
 of France ; the tide had now set against him so strongly, 
 that it rolled on independently of the cause that first pro- 
 duced the reflux. The siege of Compeigne was raised 
 after it had continued six months, and several other 
 places were besieged by the English in vain, while 
 the French leaders reduced many towns and castles to 
 the dominion of Charles. At length the death of the 
 duchess of Bedford, who was sister to the duke of Bur- 
 gundy, snapped asunder the strongest tie between these 
 ill-assorted confedei-ates, and the latter was obviously 
 waiting for a favourable opportunity to return to his 
 legitimate sovereign ; while the people of England, being 
 no longer regaled with victories, refused to furnish sup- 
 plies for the prosecution of the war. These circumstances 
 led to proposals of accommodation, but while the Eng- 
 lish demanded too much, the French conceded too little. 
 At length a solemn congress for the purpose was held at 
 Arras, in 1431, and such was the importance attached by 
 the whole of Europe to this meeting, that ambassadors 
 from almost every court attended as mediators. The 
 deputies of Charles proposed to cede the provinces of 
 Normandy and Guienne to the king of England, to be 
 held by homage to the French crown, provided Henry 
 relinquished all title and claim to the throne of France, 
 and resigned all his places which he held in that country ; 
 but at the bare mention of this proposal, the English 
 commissioners thought themselves insulted, and left Arreis 
 in disgust. But the duke of Burgundy, who had now 
 exacted full vengeance for his father's assassination, on 
 seeing the pride of the English, resolved to form a sepa- 
 rate peace for himself, which he was the more inclined 
 to do, as every reasonable demand he could make would 
 be conceded; and a solema treaty was, therefore, sworn 
 between him and Charles, on the 6th of September. The 
 hopelessness of the re-conquest of France after this re-
 
 270 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 conciliation was farther confirmed by the death of the 
 
 duke of Bedford, who expired at Rouen, on the 14th of 
 
 the same month, worn out by past toils and melancholy 
 
 anticipations. 
 
 Weary as England had now become of the unprofitable 
 war, she would not yet relinquish her French possessions 
 ■without a struggle, and after some delay the duke of 
 Y'ork was sent into France, as successor to the duke of 
 Bedford. But before his arrival the French took Meulan, 
 Pontoise, and other places on the Seine ; Dieppe was 
 surprised, and the province of Normandy was stirred up 
 to revolt. But the most important acquisition of Charles 
 was the city of Paris, which, in April 1436, opened its 
 gates to L'l^le Adam, while the feeble English garrison 
 that held it was forced to capitulate. The arrival of 
 York, as Regent, with a reinforcement of 7 or 8,000 men, 
 checked this career of success, and, chiefly owing to the 
 exertions of the renowned Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury, 
 several places of strength were recovered in France and 
 Normandy. But the war had now lost its historical in- 
 terest, having dwindled into a series of small aggressions 
 and repulses, and while the English resisted chiefly 
 through national pride and stubbornness, and to protract 
 the period of their expulsion from the country, the French 
 chiefs, relieved from their greatest danger, began to 
 break into factions, as they had done before the Eng- 
 lish invasion. It would be tedious therefore to enu- 
 merate the marchings and counter-marchings, the cap- 
 tures and recaptures, that followed each other in rapid 
 succession : it is enough to state, that the English still 
 maintained their national reputation for valour, while 
 their French possessions were yearly converging within 
 a narrower circle. In 1437, the duke of York was recalled, 
 and his command given to the earl of Warwick; but the 
 earl died in two years, and York was reappointed ; after 
 which there was a pause to the warfare in consequence 
 of plague and famine, that ravaged England and France 
 simultaneously. When the war was resumed, the heroic 
 old Talbot performed exploits that were worthy of the 
 brightest days of Crecy and Azincourt. In 1440, he in- 
 vested Harfleur, the first conquest of Henry V., and 
 took it after a brave defence. In the following year 
 Pontoise was invested by the French king, with an 
 army of 12,000 men ; but the duke of York, at the head
 
 MARRIAGE OF HENRY VI. 271 
 
 of 8,000, advanced, upon which Charles fled without 
 risking an action. In 1442, Charles raised the siege of 
 Tartas, took several towns, suppressed a rebellion com- 
 menced by the count d'Armagnac, and by the end of 
 the year raised the siege of Dieppe, which had been 
 blockaded by Talbot. Even yet the contending parties 
 were not ripe for a lasting peace, although a meeting 
 of the commissioners of France and England assembled 
 at Tours for that purpose, and, therefore, nothing more 
 than a truce was settled, which lasted from a. d. 1444 
 to A. D. 1450. 
 
 During the course of this protracted war, the English 
 council at home had been rent into two factions, one of 
 which was headed by the duke of Gloucester, protector 
 of the kingdom, and the other by the wealthy and am- 
 bitious Beaufort, cardinal of Winchester, a natural sou 
 of John of Gaunt. These two parties were more in- 
 dustrious in traversing each other's measures than pro- 
 secuting the war in France, and hence the inefficiency 
 of those supplies, both of men and money, which were 
 sent to the continent. Henry VI. also, as he grew to 
 manhood, exhibited a character completely the reverse 
 of that of his illustrious father, being so imbecile as to 
 be scarcely removed one step from positive idiotcy. It 
 was conceived, in this case, that his lack of energy 
 might be supplied by a talented high-spirited queen, 
 and the honour of furnishing the state with such a 
 mistress was eagerly contested by both parties. The 
 cardinal, however, prevailed as usual, and the bride 
 selected for the unfortunate Henry was the able, 
 haughty, and unscrupulous Margaret, daughter to Rene, 
 count of Anjou, and titular king of Sicily, Naples, and 
 Jerusalem. But the evil of such an uncongenial union 
 of tempers was not the worst. Margaret was naturally 
 devoted to the French interests, having been brought 
 up at the court of her uncle, Charles ; and Rene, whose 
 chief wealth consisted of high-sounding titles, instead 
 of being able to bestow a dowry with his daughter, re- 
 quired and obtained one from the marriage con- 
 tractors. With a flourish of the pen they restored to 
 him the territories of Anjou and Maine, which were the 
 keys of Normandy, and thus they virtually abandoned 
 their hold upon France, after so many ^ ictories and sa- 
 crifices. The duke of Gloucester vehemently remon-
 
 2T2 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 strated, and the people at large clamoured against a 
 French marriage ; but the inftuence of the cardinal was 
 irresistible, and the union took place, at Southwich, in 
 Hampshire, in April, 1445. After this followed the arrest 
 and naurder of Humphrey, endearingly called by the 
 people the * good duke of Gloucester,' who was assassi- 
 nated by the contrivance of the queen, the cardinal, and 
 the duke of Suffolk. 
 
 The chief obstacle to an inglorious peace with France 
 was now removed by the death of the protector, and a. d. 
 1448, Charles proceeded to take possession of Anjou and 
 Alaiue, according to stipulation. But the English garri- 
 sons were so indignant at the treaty, that several refused 
 to evacuate their places of strength until they wei"e dis- 
 possessed by force ; and about 2,500 of these ejected troops, 
 under the command of Sir Francis Surienne, a soldier of 
 fortune, finding that they could obtain no settlement iu 
 Normandy, indemnified themselves by taking possession 
 of the town of Fogeres, in Bretague, and plundering the 
 surrounding country. The duke of Bretagne complained 
 to his sovereign, the king of France, who demanded 
 satisfaction of the duke of Somerset, the English com- 
 mander, but he rated the damages at so enormous an 
 amount, as showed that he only sought a pretext for 
 quarrel ; and on Somerset rejecting the terms, Charles 
 invaded Normandy in 1449, with fovir different armies. 
 The English garrisons were small, and their fortresses 
 in a state of disrepair ; and such was the consequent 
 success of the French, that in less than four months they 
 were masters of the greater part of Upper and Lower 
 Normandy. Rouen, the capital of the province, was then 
 besieged, and the townsmen compelled the English gar- 
 rison, and its commander Somerset, to consent to a 
 most dishonourable capitulation, in which not only Rouen, 
 but several towns were surrendered, as the price of a 
 safe retreat. In August, a. d. 1450, the English were 
 driven out of every part of Normandy : afterwards the 
 province of Aquitaine was overrun by the French in a 
 similar manner ; and in August 1451, Bayonne fell into 
 their hands, so that England had no longer a possession 
 in France, except Calais, the conquest of Edward HI. 
 
 1
 
 POPULARITY OF THE DIKE OF YORK. 273 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 j From the commencement of the civil war between the 
 [ Houses of York and Lancaster to the accession of 
 
 Henry VII. 
 
 As France had been reduced to the brink of ruin 
 under an imbecile king and a factious nobility, the 
 same causes were now to produce the same effects in 
 England, and the atrocities of the rival parties of Ar- 
 magnac and Burgundy, that deluged the former kingdom, 
 were now to be paralleled in the latter, by the dreadful 
 contentions of the houses of York and Lancaster. 
 
 The commanding abilities of Henry IV. and the splen- 
 ilid conquests of his heroic son, had endeared the family 
 of Gaunt to the English nation, so that their usurpation 
 was forgotten, and the son of the latter was regarded as 
 a legitimate sovereign. But this national feeling was 
 gradually cooled by the reverses on the continent, and 
 in consequence of the shameful treaties that followed, 
 and the inglorious expulsion in which they ended, it 
 changed into rage and hatred. In addition to these cir- 
 cumstances, the people were indignant at the assassina- 
 tion of their favourite, the duke good Humphrey, and 
 the arrogance with which the queen and her favourites 
 ruled, after they had engrossed the whole authority of 
 the state ; while the land was oppressed beneath a load 
 of taxes that had been levied for the maintenance of 
 wars which had terminated so unprofitably and disas- 
 trously. No condition could be more unfavourable for 
 a usurped authority, and those who were impatient 
 under the national disasters naturally turned to the 
 long-forgotten claims of the elder branch of the Plan- 
 tagenets. These were now concentrated in the person 
 of the able and popular duke of York, who was the 
 lineal descendant of Lionel, duke of Clarence, the third 
 son of Edward III. while Henry VI. only claimed the 
 throne from John of Gaunt, who Wcis the fourth ; and 
 besides his superior right, he was endeared to the people 
 by the bravery and prudence he had shown, while he 
 held the chief command in France, and afterwards in 
 Ireland. The duke was also cautious, and before he 
 N 2
 
 274 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 proceeded to an open attack on the crown, he resolved 
 to sound the affections of the people towards his family ; 
 for which purpose John Cade, one of his emissaries, 
 assumed the name of Mortimer, pretending to be de- 
 scended from the royal house. The people immediately 
 flocked to the standard of this demagogue, so that he 
 was enabled to encamp on Blackheath, on June the 1st, 
 1450, from whence he sent manifestoes to the king, repre- 
 senting the grievances of the commons, and demanding 
 redress ; and on being attacked at Seveuoaks, by an 
 army of 15,000, commanded by Sir Humphrey Stafford, 
 he defeated the royal troops, and slew their commander. 
 After this Cade was allowed to enter London with his 
 tumultuous forces, where for several days they behaved 
 with great forbearance. But at last the rich shops were 
 too tempting, and they began to plunder, upon which 
 the citizens rose against them, and drove them from the 
 city. On a royal pardon being afterwards proclaimed, 
 the insurgents dispersed to their own homes ; and Cade, 
 after skulking about Sussex, was discovered and slain 
 in a garden by a Kentish gentleman. 
 
 This experiment had fully answered the purpose, and 
 the duke of York, who at the time was ably quelling the 
 disturbances in Ireland, i-eturned from that country, and 
 levied an army in Wales, among the adherents of the 
 family of Mortimer, with which he marched towards 
 London, professing that his only purpose in arming was 
 to procure the redress of grievances, and bring the duke 
 of Somerset to justice as a traitor. An army was raised 
 by the queen and her minion Somerset to oppose him, 
 and the rival forces encamped over-against each other 
 on Blackheath. On a promise being given that Somerset 
 should be confined, the duke of York dismissed his army, 
 and repaired frankly to the royal tent ; but here he was 
 confounded to find his enemy at large, and standing in 
 the king's presence. York, however, unawed by this 
 circumstance, and that of his own helplessness, im- 
 peached the duke of high treason, who retorted with 
 equal bitterness, but greater effect, for the trepanned 
 prince had no sooner left the tent than he was arrested, 
 and hurried off to London, to be tried for treason. But 
 a report having started up that the young earl of March, 
 York's eldest son, was proceeding to London at the 
 head of an army to rescue his father, the dismayed cour-
 
 BATTLE OF ST. ALBAN'S. 2?5 
 
 tiers were obliged to relinquish their prey. But before 
 they dismissed him, they led him in solemn procession 
 to St. Paul's, and there compelled him to swear upon 
 the cross never to take up arms against the king ; after 
 which he was allowed to depart to his castle of Wig- 
 more in Herefordshire, where he waited the opportunity 
 of revenge. 
 
 And this was not long in coming. The king fell into 
 such a state of mental imbecility as totally unfitted him 
 for even the show of business, upon which the duke of 
 York, accompanied by the earls of Salisbury and War- 
 wick, repaired to London, where his authority became 
 so paramount that, on the 3rd of April, 1454, he was ap- 
 pointed protector of the kingdom, and afterwards in- 
 vested with the government of Calais for seven years. 
 Henry, however, recovered from his sickness as if 
 he had awoke from a dream, and at the queen's 
 instigation displaced York, both from the protectorship 
 and his government of Calais ; upon which the indig- 
 nant duke retired to Wales, and began to muster his 
 retainers. Supported by several powerful nobles, and 
 about 3000 armed followers, he marched towards Lon- 
 don. But the nobles on the side of Henry had been 
 equally alert : they assembled a force of about 2000 men, 
 and advanced to St. Alban's; and such was their hatred 
 of the duke of York, and eagerness for battle, that they 
 concealed from Henry those conciliatory letters which 
 the duke had sent, proposing terms of accommoda- 
 tion. The armies indeed on both sides were small, be- 
 ing chiefly composed of the high-bom squires of knights 
 and nobles ; but the conflict of such parties could not 
 fail to involve the whole nation in the struggle. The 
 battle commenced on the 22d of May, by a desperate at- 
 tempt of the Yorkists to dislodge their rivals from the 
 town of St. Alban's. They attacked it in three places ; 
 but the Lancasterians, headed by lord Clifford, stood so 
 resolutely on their defence, as to baflSe every assault. At 
 last the earl of Warwick moved to the garden side of the 
 town, and forced his way into HolyWell-street, while his 
 followers shouted his war-cry so lustily that their ene- 
 mies gave back in alarm. The whole throng of Yorkists 
 then rushed into the town, and a desperate hand-to- 
 hand encounter took place in the streets between men 
 of high lineage, who were too proud to yield, and whose
 
 276 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 love of combat was whetted by personal and party ran- 
 cour. At length the followers of Henry were obliged to 
 give way ; his bravest sxipporters, the duke of Somerset, 
 the earls of Stafford and Northumberland, lord Clifford, 
 and several others, were killed, and the duke of Buck- 
 ingham, the earl of Dorset, and lord Sudley, were 
 wounded. The king himself was also wounded and 
 made prisoner, but was treated by the victor with the 
 greatest courtesy. The duke of York conducted his royal 
 captive to London, and on a parliament being assembled, 
 he was appointed protector of the kingdom, until prince 
 Edward, the son of Henry, should be of age. His friend 
 Warwick was made governor of Calais, and lord Bour- 
 chier, treasurer of England. 
 
 Hitherto the duke of York had made no direct attempt 
 upon the crown ; and had he been allowed to remain 
 quietly in the protectorate, the claims of his family 
 might have slept till another generation. But the vio- 
 lence of the queen soon drove him from his moderation, 
 and obliged him to assert his rights in self-defence. 
 He had only held his ofhce three mouths, when Mar- 
 garet and her party regained their sway over the facile • 
 mind of Henry, and at their instigation the duke was 
 abruptly dismissed from the protectorship. He indig- 
 nantly retired into Yorkshire with his friends Salisbury 
 and Warwick, to meditate plans of vengeance ; but the 
 queen, who was apprehensive of their frequent meetings, 
 endeavoured to entrap them, by carrying the king to 
 Coventry, and inviting these nobles to meet him. They 
 came without suspicion ; but on receiving a hint of their 
 danger, they fled from the town, Yoik and Salisbury 
 taking refuge in their strong castles, while Warwick es- 
 caped to his government of Calais. It was now the turn 
 of France to triumph over the court dissensions of Eng- 
 land, and two descents were accordingly made upon the 
 English coast, which, although trivial in themselves, 
 were of consequence, as they showed the extent of the 
 national weakness and degradation. The hearts of the 
 wise and the good iia England now ached for peace, and 
 with the archbishop of Canterbury at their head, they 
 laboured earnestly with both parties to abandon their 
 feud. All the principal leaders therefore were summoned 
 by the king's letters to repair to London, in the begin- 
 ning of A. D. 1458, for the purpose of being reconciled to 
 
 I
 
 BATTLE OF BLORE-HEATH. 277 
 
 each other, and they came at the suramons ; but it was 
 with such multitudes of armed retaiaers, as showed that 
 peace and unity were little in their thoug^hts. Then suc- 
 ceeded a pageant of reconciliation, in which the rival 
 nobles walked hand in hand iu procession to St. Paul's, 
 with the king at their head — and not long afterwards 
 there followed an affray between the king's servants 
 and those of Warwick, in which the earl very narrowly 
 escaped being killed. The earl believing that this was 
 a design laid by the queen for his assassination, departed 
 to Calais ; while the duke of York, finding himself no 
 longer safe from her malignity, resolved to secure his 
 own safety by the assertion of his royal claims, and the 
 destruction of his antagonists. 
 
 14-59 — War being now inevitable, the duke, Salisbury, 
 and Warwick, agreed to muster their forces, and unite 
 thera at Kenilworth for a combined attack upon the 
 king's party. But in this they were anticipated by their 
 rivals, who marched against the earl of Salisbury be- 
 fore the junction could be effected. The two armies met 
 at Blore-heath, on the 23rd of September. The royalists 
 mustered 10,000 soldiers, while the earl of Salisbury had 
 only 5000. But he resolved to counterbalance his defi- 
 ciency by stratagem, and as the armies were encamped 
 on the opposite banks of a narrow but deep and rapid ri- 
 vulet, he ordered his soldiers to shoot their arrows across 
 the stream and then retire as if in disorder. The Lan- 
 casterians thinking that their enemies had taken to 
 flight, immediately plunged into the stream, and reached 
 the opposite bank, when Salisbury, who watched their 
 movements, and saw that enough had crossed for his 
 purpose, suddenly wheeled about, attacked them with 
 great fury, and routed them before their companions 
 could come to their aid. The other half of the Lancas- 
 terian army was then attacked and discomfited with 
 ease, after which the victorious Salisbury joined his 
 forces to those of the duke of York at Ludeford, near 
 Ludlow, who was also reinforced by the earl of Warwick 
 from Calais. But the royal army, still eager for the en- 
 counter, advanced to Ludeford by forced marches, and 
 on the I3th of October encamped opposite the Yorkists, 
 so that a battle was anticipated on the following morn- 
 ing. Unfortunately, however, for the duke of York, he 
 had, up to the present period, concealed his designs upou
 
 278 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the crown, so that they were ouly known to a few of his 
 chosen friends, while in all his manifestoes he had pro- 
 fessed the utmost duty to Henry, and only demanded a 
 reform of abuses. On the present occasion, the secret 
 was communicated to Sir Andrew Trollop, who was 
 faithfully attached to the house of Lancaster, upon which 
 this skilful commander deserted with all his veteran 
 forces to the king. The duke of York was confounded 
 by an event that turned against him the best part of his 
 army, and not knowing whom to trust, he and the chiefs 
 of his party tied from the field. The fugitive lords were 
 proclaimed traitors, and their estates were confiscated, 
 while the queen and her party triumphed in the hope 
 that the adverse cause was annihilated. But their tri- 
 umph was of short duration. Those Yorkists who had 
 fled to Calais returned with 1500 followers ; and their 
 little army swelled so rapidly as they marched, that at 
 last they entered London at the head of 40,000 men. 
 
 14G0 — The queen and her adherents, who had gathered 
 an army at Coventry, now marched towards London, to 
 give battle to the returned insurgents ; but instead of wait- 
 ing her arrival, the earl of Warwick departed from the 
 metropolis, to encounter her, at the head of 25,000 men. 
 On the 10th of July, the two armies met near North- 
 ampton. The queen's army was strongly fortified with 
 high banks and deep ditches, on the new fields between 
 Harryngton and Sandyford, and was attacked by the 
 Yorkists marshalled in three divisions. The height and 
 elope of the ramparts at first repelled them, but those to 
 whom their defence was intrusted, instead of offering 
 resistance, extended their hands, and drew up the as- 
 sailants. A furious conflict for two hours followed, iu 
 which the king's party were defeated ; and whole troops 
 were driven headlong into the stream below, where they 
 were drowned. Henry was found by the conquerors 
 sitting in his tent, and was courteously led away. Mar- 
 garet, and her little boy the prince of Wales, fled from 
 the town, in which they were nearly taken prisoners ; 
 they were attacked and plundered on their way by rob- 
 bers, and at last they succeeded in reaching Scotland. 
 The cause of York was now so triumphant, that he might 
 at once have stepped into the throne, which was vir- 
 tually vacant — but the greatness of his claims and the 
 hazard of the attempt seem to have confounded him.
 
 BATTLE OF WAKEFIELD. 279 
 
 Having returned from Ireland, to which he had fled af- 
 ter the desertion of his partisans at Ludlow, he repaired 
 to the House of Peers ; and standing under the royal ca- 
 nopy, he laid his right band on tlie cushion, expecting 
 that the House would invite him to seat himself upon the 
 throne. But he should have first sat down, and the in- 
 vitation would have followed. As it was, the lords were 
 not hound to show greater decision than himself, and 
 they maintained a dead silence ; and when afterwards 
 the archbishop of Canterbury rose, and asked York if he 
 would accompany him to wait upon the king, the duke 
 answered that he knew no person to whom he owed 
 such a mark of respect, and immediately quitted the 
 house in great confusion. Having thus committed him- 
 self, he presented to the chancellor, in writing, his claim 
 to the crown, on account of his descent from Lionel, 
 duke of Clarence, the elder brother of the duke of Lan- 
 caster ; and after several days of parliamentary debate 
 upon the question, it was settled that Henry should en- 
 joy the crown during life, and that at his death it should 
 descend to the duke of York, or his heir. 
 
 In the mean time, Margaret of Anjou bad not been 
 idle in Scotland, where she allured several bold warriors 
 to her standard ; and being joined by the dukes of 
 Somerset and Exeter, she marched into England, where 
 she was reinforced by the earls of Northumberland and 
 Westmoreland, and the hardy soldiers of the northern 
 counties, who swelled her small force to 20,000 men. As 
 for the duke of York, he had divided his army, and with 
 only 6000 men he took post in his castle at Sendal. The 
 duke of Somerset advanced at the head of 18,000 soldiers, 
 to besiege him, but York, instead of sheltering his small 
 force within the ramparts, imprudently marched out to 
 give battle. He took his station near the city of Wake- 
 field ; and still observant of the extravagancies of chi- 
 valry, be challenged the queen's army to appoint a day 
 for the conflict. The day was fixed ; but the Lancaste- 
 rians perceiving that the Yorkists were careless in their 
 discipline, resolved to make a sudden attack, without 
 waiting for the stipulated period. On the 30th of De- 
 cember, 1460, they came on in three divisions, two 
 of which were directed to out-flank the Yorkists as 
 soon as the battle joined. The issue of such a conflict 
 could not be long doubtful, and after an unavailing 
 resistance of half an hour, the Yorkists were broken
 
 280 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 and routed with the loss of nearly half their number, 
 while the duke himself was taken prisoner. And 
 now followed some of those hateful atrocities which 
 can only be exhibited in civil war. The eari of Rutland, 
 son to the duke of York, a boy of only twelve years old, 
 and remarkable for personal beauty, was flying from the 
 field to the town, accompanied by his tutor, when lord 
 Clifford pursued and overtook him on the bridge. He 
 asked to whom the boy belonged, and on understand- 
 ing that he was one of the sons of the duke, the savage 
 shouted in a fury, ' Thy father slew mine, and so will I 
 thee, and all thy kin ;' and immediately stabbed him to 
 the heart with his dagger. As for York, his insulting 
 captors placed him upon a mole-hill to ridicule his claims 
 to the throne, and wove a crown of grass, which they 
 placed with mock ceremony upon his head, bending 
 their knees, and crying ' Hail, king without a kingdom !' 
 They then struck off his head, stuck it upon a pole, and 
 presented it to the queen as an acceptable offering. As 
 her army consisted of borderers from both sides of the 
 Tweed, who had been allured to her standard by a pro- 
 i»ise of the plunder of the country beyond the Trent, 
 they now exercised their licence to the full, so that mo- 
 nasteries, churches, and private dwellings, were plun- 
 dered or destroyed without mercy. She now marched 
 towards London, to rescue her husband from the keeping 
 ot Warwick ; but that chief, instead of waiting her ar- 
 rival, advanced to St. Alban's to anticipate her purpose, 
 with Henry in his company. The queen's borderers made 
 a furious assault, but were driven from the great cross 
 of the city by Warwick's archers ; they rallied, however, 
 and fought their way into St. Peter's-street, while other 
 portions of the two ai-mies maintained a desperate and 
 equal conflict upon the heath, at the north end of St. Al- 
 ban's. But the treachery or cowardice of lord Lovelace, 
 the commander of the Kentish men, who suddenly fled 
 while the battle was still in suspense, made the whole 
 army of Warwick give way, and the queen was once 
 more victorious. Henry, who during the engagement 
 looked coolly on, was found by the queen's party after 
 the battle, standing quietly among the slain, without 
 guard or attendant, and was immediately led to his wife 
 and son. The queen's military banditti again demanded 
 and obtained their commission of spoil and havoc, and 
 exercised it so unmercifully, and with so little discrimi-
 
 BATTLE OF TOW TON. 281 
 
 nation between friend and enemy, that the royal cause 
 was injured beyond recovery. 
 
 1461- — During the course of these events, the cause 
 of the Yorkists was succeeding prosperously in Wales, 
 under Edward, earl of March, the eldest son of the 
 duke of York. Although this prince was not fully 
 nineteen years old at the period of his father's death, 
 he had already distinguished himself by great military 
 talents, and as soon as he heard of that melancholy 
 event, he marched to Shrewsbury at the head of 20,000 
 men, to give battle to the queen. There he learned 
 that a mixed force of Welsh and Irish, under the 
 command of Jasper, earl of Pembroke, Owen Tudor, 
 and the earl of Wilts, were in pursuit of him, upon 
 which he turned back and encountered them at Mor- 
 timer's Cross, near Hereford, ou the 1st of February, 
 and obtained a complete victory. The earls escaped 
 from the field, but 3,800 of their followers were killed, 
 and Owen Tudor, (grandfather of Henry YII.) with 
 several knights and gentlemen who were taken pri- 
 soners, was beheaded after the battle, — a custom 
 which was now prevalent with both parties. Edward 
 now continued his march to London, which he reached 
 eight days after the disaster of his friends at St. Alban's. 
 His bravery, his youth, and remarkable personal beauty, 
 stirred up the whole metropolis in his favour; his claims 
 to the throne were canvassed and acknowledged, while 
 the behaviour of the queen's followers had made the 
 cause of Henry obnoxious to all who loved peace and 
 regularity. The universal exclamation, therefore, was, 
 that Edward should be king, and as he had more de- 
 cision than his father, he boldly assumed the dangerous 
 crown and sceptre, on the 4th of March, under the title 
 of Edward IV. 
 
 The young king was not disposed to slumber upon his 
 title, as the queen was still in the field, at the head of 
 the largest army which had been raised since the com- 
 mencement of the civil war. Without waiting, there- 
 fore, for the ceremony of a coronation, he sent the earl 
 of Warwick forward with the first division of his amiy 
 on the 8th of March, and followed with the rest of his 
 forces on the 12th. The two armies met at Towton : 
 that of Edward numbered 48,660 men, while tliat of 
 Henry amouuted to 60,000, commanded by the duke of
 
 282 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Somerset, the earl of Northumberland, lord Clifford, 
 and Sir Andrew Trollop. Edward before the battle 
 commanded his soldiers to take no prisoners, and 
 give no quarter; and on the mcr-jing of March 28, the 
 action commenced in the midst of a snow-storm that 
 drifted in the faces of the Lancasterians. Lord Fal- 
 conbridge, who commenced the onset on the part of 
 Edward, promptly availed himself of this circum- 
 stance : he ordered his soldiers to discharge their 
 lightest flight-arrows, and then fall back ; upon which 
 their blinded antagonists supposing that the Yorkists 
 were within reach, began to empty their quivers at a 
 miscalculated distance, so that every arrow fell short of 
 the proper mark. As soon as they had thus disarmed 
 themselves, their opponents came forward, and made 
 wild havoc among their ranks, shooting not only their 
 own shafts, but those they had gathered from the field ; 
 upon which Northumberland and Trollop impatiently 
 advanced with the main body of the Lancasterians to 
 close combat. A fearful scene of struggle and butchery 
 ensued between two such numerous armies, equally 
 brave, and inspired by the utmost of personal rancour, 
 and several hours elapsed without bringing any advan- 
 tage to either side. At last the duke of Norfolk arrived 
 with a reinforcement to the Yorkists, and the other 
 party gave way, and fled. In this sanguinary engage- 
 ment no quarter was given, and nearly 40,000 persons 
 lay dead on the field, among whom were the principal 
 nobles who adhered to the cause of Henry. The king, 
 queen, and prince, who had been left at York, fled to 
 Scotland as soon as they heard of the discomfiture at 
 Towton. After the battle, Edward, with whom mercy 
 was not a cardinal virtue, caused the earls of Wiltshire 
 and Devon, and several noble gentlemen, to be beheaded ; 
 and after repressing the distui-bances of the northern 
 counties, he entered London in triumph, on the 26th of 
 June, and had the ceremony of his coronation performed 
 on the 29th. Henry was consequently pronounced a 
 usurper, and his principal adherents were attainted. 
 Edward farther confirmed his power by liberally re- 
 warding his friends, punishing his enemies, and forming 
 alliances with France and Scotland, so that the indefa- 
 tigable Margaret, after applying at the courts of both 
 countries, was unable to procure effective aid. At last,
 
 SUCCESSES OF THE YORKISTS. 283 
 
 after much exertion, she contrived to muster, in 14G4, 
 a considerable army, composed of her English ad- 
 herents, and several troops of French and Scottish 
 soldiers, whom she attracted with promises of plunder; 
 and with these she broke into Northumberland about 
 the middle of April, and was at first successful, taking 
 several castles, as well as receiving considerable rein- 
 forcements. But the energies of Edward soon triumphed 
 over this momentary reaction. Lord Montague, brother 
 to the earl of Warwick, was immediately sent with a 
 part of the forces against the queen's army, a large 
 division of which, under lord Huugerford, he attacked 
 and routed at Hedgley Moor. He then pressed forward, 
 and gave battle to the main army, which was collected 
 at Hexham. Here he was again victorious, and Henry, 
 who was present at the battle, made his escape from the 
 carnage with great difficulty, and fled into Lancashire, 
 where he was concealed for a time by his partisans. As 
 for the queen, she escaped once more from the kingdom, 
 with her young son Edward, and sought refuge at the 
 humble court of her father Rene, duke of Anjou. Nothing 
 could equal the misery of the fugitive Lancasterian 
 nobles after this last defeat. They wandered in foreign 
 countries, poverty-stricken and helpless, and one of them, 
 the princely duke of Exeter, was seen in a town on the 
 continent, barefoot and bare-legged, begging his bread 
 from door to door. At last the duke of Burgundy took, 
 compassion upon the exiles, and allowed them a pittance 
 for their support. And the fate of their sovereign, for 
 whom they endured so much, was scarcely more en- 
 viable. Henry was at last betrayed (a. d. 1465), by a 
 monk, and taken prisoner as he sat at dinner. On being 
 brought to London, he was met at Islington by the earl 
 of Warwick, w^ho bound his legs to his stiiTups with 
 leather straps, and paraded him through the streets, 
 causing him to ride three times round the pillory, after 
 which he was imprisoned in the Tower, where he re- 
 mained five years. Edward, who had shed such torrents 
 of blood on the field and the scaflbld, would have sealed 
 his doom without mercy ; but Henry was an enemy 
 whom none could fear, while his temper was so amiable, 
 that all parties would have cried out against such a 
 needless atrocity. 
 Richard Nevile, earl of Warwick, who had hitherto
 
 2S4 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 been the great chaiupiou of the house of York, was one 
 of the most remarkable characters of that age. He was 
 ambitious, brave, and skilful in war ; and the popularity 
 which he enjoyed in England was such as to ensure 
 success to whatever cause he espoused. This popularity, 
 however, he seems to have owed as much to his extraor- 
 dinary hospitality as to his personal qualities ; for 30,000 
 persons were regularly maintained in his numerous 
 castles, while every London tavern was full of his meat ; 
 and any man might walk into his kitchen at pleasure, 
 and take away as much beef or mutton as he could 
 carry upon his dagger. Edward, when he was esta- 
 blished upon the throne, evinced his gratitude to the 
 powerful earl by heaping upon him new estates and 
 dignities, and making the whole family of the Neviles 
 share in the royal bounty. Thus John, lord Montague, 
 the second brother of the earl, was endowed with the 
 large estates of the earl of Northumberland, while 
 George, the youngest of the family, was made arch- 
 bishop of York, and chancellor of the kingdom. But a 
 worm was already at the root of this palmy prosperity, and 
 the tree that overshadowed while it protected the throne, 
 was soon to wither and pass away. Edward, who was 
 young and amorous, fell in love with and married Eliza- 
 beth VVoodville, widow of Sir John Grey, in May, 14C3 ; 
 and as the new queen had numerous relatives, it was 
 deemed necessary by their royal kinsman that they 
 should assume a high place at court. Landless or un- 
 titled men, therefore, who rejoiced in the names of Grey 
 and Woodville, had dignities and estates heaped upon 
 them, or were married to the rich wards of the crown ; 
 and thus a new nobility stai-ted up in England, to the 
 great resentment, as well as surprise, of the whole nation. 
 It was natural that the proud and ancient blood of the 
 Neviles should be indignant at this intrusion, more 
 especially as it bore hard upon the ascendancy they had 
 acquired as their well-earned meed, and removed the 
 king himself beyond the sphere of their influence. It 
 may be, also, that Warwick was the more indignant at 
 the king's marriage with the widow of an humble knight, 
 as he might think that his own daughter would have 
 been a more eligible choice. At all events, he allied this 
 daughter to the throne, by marrying her to George, 
 duke of Clarence, second brother to the king ; and as
 
 REBELLION OF WARWICK. 285 
 
 Edward expressed high resentment at this union, the 
 breach between him and his powerful subject was 
 widened, while Clarence himself was also converted into 
 a malcontent. Edward, after this, proceeded to show his 
 distrust of the Neviles, by employing the queen's kindred 
 iu suppressing a popular commotion, and by resuming 
 several of the liberal grants which he had bestowed 
 upon the overgrown Nevile family — circumstances which 
 the earl of Warwick was not likely to contemplate with- 
 out alarm and resentment. This part of English history 
 is obscure and contradictory that relates to the motives 
 of the earl of Warwick's rebellion against the sovereign 
 he had set up ; bat the foregoing causes were of them- 
 selves sufficient, at such a period, to ripen into a civil war. 
 The earl and his son-in-law Clarence secretly fomented 
 a rebellion against the king in 1-170, but it exploded 
 prematurely, and the insurgents were defeated, upon 
 which these nobles fled to Calais, of which town War- 
 wick was governor, and afterwards to the court of 
 France. Louis XL who was at this time king, had long 
 been apprehensive of an English invasion headed by the 
 warlike Edward IV. ; and to counteract it, he resohed to 
 reconcile the earl and queen Margaret, who at this 
 time was also in France, against their common enemy. 
 It was with difficulty that the high-spirited queen could 
 be prevailed upon even to li.sten to such a proposal, for it 
 was chiefly through Warwick that she had become an 
 exile, and her husband a prisoner. But the nece.ssity of 
 her aflTairs conquered her pride, and she gave a reluc- 
 tant assent to the measure, which was confirmed by a 
 contract of marriage between her son Edward and War- 
 v,ick's second daughter Ann. Upon this alliance Wai*- 
 wick, who had previously designed the throne of Eng- 
 land for Clarence, changed his purposes in behalf of the 
 house of Lancaster, and shifted the succession to his 
 second son in-law. That he could easily dethrone king 
 Edward, he never for a moment doubted ; he knew his 
 popularity and power in England, and the dislike of the 
 ancient nobility against the newly created courtiers. 
 These consultations did not escape the observation of the 
 duke of Bursrundy, who sent to his brother-in-law the 
 king of England a full account of Warwick's intended 
 invasion, and the very port at which he would land. 
 But the fearless Edward, who had no idea of loving war
 
 286 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 for its own sake, was now immersed in the pleasures of 
 lore and revelry ; and he only admonished the duke in 
 reply, to keep a sharp look out at sea, to intercept his 
 enemy's retreat, after he should have heaten him on 
 land. He evinced still greater rashness in depending 
 upon Montague, and the adherents of the Neviles, 
 ■whom he continued in their offices, and entrusted with 
 military commissions. Warwick landed with a small 
 force at Dartmouth, on the 13th of September, and his 
 arrival was a signal to the discontented, who soon 
 swelled his force to a numerous army. Edward, who was 
 at Nottingham, ordered the marquis of Montague, in 
 whom he so greatly confided, to bring up his forces to 
 meet the invaders, and was seated with a few friends at 
 dinner in a fortified house, while his troops were quar- 
 tered in the neighbouring villages, when all at once he 
 was startled with acclamations of ' God bless king Henry !' 
 The cry was raised by the soldiers of Montague, who 
 was pressing forward with headlong speed to take Ed- 
 ward pi'isoner. The king sprang upon his horse, and gal- 
 loped off, leaving his followers to shift for themselves, 
 and reached Lynn with a few attendants, where he set 
 sail, without having so much money as to pay for his 
 passage. — Siich was a revolution that resembled more 
 the sudden shifting of a pageant, than the reality of a 
 great national event. The course of AVarwick was now 
 an unresisted march : he entered London on the 5th of 
 October; and on the day after, he freed king Henry 
 from the Tower, paraded him in triumph through the 
 streets, and proclaimed him the lawful king. The whole 
 royal power however was engrossed by the earl of War- 
 wick and the duke of Clarence, who turned out the ad- 
 herents of Edward from office, and filled every place 
 with their own supporters. Warwick himself was ad- 
 miral of England ; Clarence was made lieutenant of 
 Ireland, beside receiving a grant of all the estates of the 
 family of York ; Montague was warden of the marches ; 
 and the crown was to devolve upon Edward, prince of 
 Wales, and his offspring, or, failing therein, upon the 
 duke of Clarence and his issue. 
 
 3471. — In the mean time the duke of Burgundy, to whose 
 dominions Edward fled for refuge, was sorely disquieted at 
 the arrival of his royal brother-in-law. To reject so near 
 a kinsman under such distressful circumstances would
 
 EDWARD IV. RETURNS TO ENGLAND. 287 
 
 have appeared infamous in the eyes of the world, while 
 to give him aid would provoke the united vengeance of 
 France and England. He adopted a middle course, and 
 while he openly refused an interview with the fugitive 
 king, he privately assisted him with a few ships, and a 
 small sum of money. Edward, who was as brave and 
 prompt in decision when danger was at hand, as he was 
 indolent in peace, fearlessly set sail with 2000 men to 
 recover his lost kingdom, and arrived at Ravenspur on 
 the 14th of March. All men were astonished at the 
 tementy of the attempt, more especially as few repaired 
 at first to his standard ; but Edward had calculated his 
 resources, and he knew upon whom he could depend. 
 As he marched through those parts of the country that 
 were most opposed to his claims, he pretended that he 
 sought nothing more than his patrimonial dukedom ; he 
 even caused his followers to shout for king Henry 
 wherever they came ; and the city of York, deceived by 
 this show of moderation, received him within its gates. 
 As he continued to march southward, several of his old 
 partisans flocked to his standard, so that he was soon at 
 the head of a considerable army, upon which he threw 
 off the mask, and resumed the title of king. The earls 
 of Warwick and Oxford were now at the head of an 
 army, with which they marched from the south against 
 Edward, and had they been joined as they expected by 
 the duke of Clarence with his force, they would have 
 been strong enough to have crushed the invasion by a 
 .single onset. But Clarence had been tampered with be- 
 fore the landing of the king ; and it was found that he 
 was not only discontented at being set aside in the suc- 
 cession in favour of prince Edward, but unwilling to see 
 his father's house supplanted for the sake of that of Lan- 
 caster. He therefore purposely delayed his arrival, so 
 that the two earls were not in sufficient force to give 
 battle without him. At length he reached Coventry, 
 where the two parties confronted each other ; and here 
 he embraced the opportunity of declaring himself, by 
 marching over to his brother's camp, with all his forces, 
 Edward was thus enabled to proceed triumphantly to 
 London, where his winning appearance and popular 
 manners made the citizens forget the flesh-pots of the 
 earl of Warwick, so that Henry was removed with- 
 out ceremony from the throne to his old lodgings in the
 
 288 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Tower. Warwick being joined in the mean time bv his 
 brother the marquis of Montau:ue, took his station at 
 Barnet, to decide the contest by a battle, and Edward 
 was not slow to meet him. The earl's army considerably 
 outnumbered the other, but Edward had never yet 
 fought a battle which he did not win. 
 
 It was ou the 14th of April, that the decisive en- 
 eragement of Barnet was fouirht. The gloom of the 
 whole night had been illuminated by Warwick's artil- 
 lery, that cannonaded the spot on which Edward's left 
 •wing was supposed to be posted ; but as its position had 
 been previously altered by a fortunate mistake, the shot 
 did no harm. Between four and five in the morning, 
 both armies prepared for battle, although they were 
 shrouded in a heavy mist that almost wholly concealed 
 each other's military cognizances. A few shots only were 
 discharged on each side before they rushed impatiently to 
 close combat ; and here the mistake which had been so 
 fortunate for Edward during the night, had almost lost 
 him the battle. His left wing, from the post it occupied, 
 was completely outnumbered and outflanked by the earl 
 of Oxford, who attacked, broke it, and chased it off the 
 field. This event however remained unknown on either 
 side, and Edward who led the centre made a desperate 
 attack on that of Warwick, and bore it backward by 
 the violence of his onset, while Gloucester, who com- 
 manded the right wing, outflanked the left of the Lan- 
 casterians, where Warwick himself was posted. The earl's 
 situation became more and more desperate ; defeat was 
 inevitable, unless the victorious Oxford returned in time 
 to his assistance. And Oxford at last returned, but it 
 was only to accelerate the evil. The cognizance of Ed- 
 ward's party was a sun, and that of the other a star 
 with rays ; but in the heavy mist these emblems were 
 so equivocal, that Oxford's followers on coming up to aid 
 their friends were mistaken for Yorkists, and received 
 with a shower of arrows, upon which they cried out 
 * treachery,' and fled from the field. Warwick, who 
 fought on foot, perceiving that all was on the brink of 
 ruin, rushed desperately among the enemy, either to re- 
 trieve the day or find a soldier's death, and fell covered 
 with wounds; his brother Montague, who made in to his 
 rescue, also perished ; and 7000 Lancasterians lay dead 
 on the field, while the whole amount of their enemies
 
 BATTLE OF TEVv'KESBURY. 289 
 
 had not exceeded 9000 men. After this victory, Edward 
 returned to London, where those who had hitherto kept 
 aloof from his doubtful fortunes embraced his cause with 
 alacrity. 
 
 An enemy as formidable as even the king-making 
 Warwick still remained, in Margaret of Anjou, to dis- 
 pute the throne of England with Edward. That proud 
 and resentful, but heroic and high-minded woman, had 
 been detained during the winter on the continent; and 
 when she embarked with her son prince Edward, she 
 was tossed about for three weeks in the Channel by con- 
 trary winds, so that she did not land till the evening of 
 the day on which the battle of Barnet was fought. Un- 
 aware of this melancholy reverse, she imagined that 
 nothing farther remained for her than to march to Lon- 
 don, and ascend the throne ; but when she heard of the 
 defeat of her partisans, and the death of Warwick, her 
 wonted courage forsook, her, and she gave way for a few 
 moments to a passion of tears. She soon, however, took, 
 courage, on being persuaded by her friends that her cause, 
 instead of being weakened, had only become stronger by 
 the death of the overbearing and seltish king-maker, as 
 those adherents of Lancaster would gladly join her who 
 were unwilling to co-operate with Warwick. The sound- 
 ness cf their advice was manifested in the fact, that in a 
 few days she was at the head of 40,000 men. But Ed- 
 ward, who was terrible by his activity and decision, was 
 upon her track, and anxious for an engagement, so 
 that her leaders, who dreaded the issue, endeavoured 
 to procrastinate the war until they had become still 
 stronger. They therefore proposed a march into Wales 
 and Cheshire, to gain reinforcements of archers; but Ed- 
 ward followed and overtook them at Tewkesbury, where 
 they were encamped, on the banks of the Severn. They 
 were strongly pasted with the town in their rear, while 
 their front and flanks were defended by muddy lanes, 
 ditches, and hedges, as well as by hills and valleys. Ed- 
 ward, after carefully surveying their position, advanced to 
 the attack on the morning of the 4th of May. His brother 
 Gloucester began the battle, but was soon so impeded 
 among the obstacles of the ground, that he could not 
 break through thern to join in close encounter ; he there- 
 fore ordered heavy discharges of cannon and archery to 
 commence, in order to provoke the Lancasterians from 
 O
 
 290 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 their defeuces. This plan was successful. The duke of 
 Somerset, who commanded the queen's forces, at last 
 rushed out, and attacked the centre of the Yorkists with 
 such violence, that he drove it backwards to the foot of 
 a neighbouring hill ; he then charged and staggered the 
 duke of Gloucester's division, and would have beaten it, 
 in which case his victory was certain, but for an ambush 
 which Edward had placed in a wood that the Lan- 
 casteriaiis neglected to occupy. This reserve sallied out, 
 and attacked Somerset in flank so opportunely, that 
 Edward had time to rally and return to the charge. 
 The Lancasterians were now pressed in turn with such 
 unexpected vigour, that they were driven back pell-mell 
 into their entrenchments, where they were followed by 
 their pursuers ; and Somerset, grown almost frantic at this 
 reverse, turned upon lord Wenlock, the commander of 
 the centre division, who had remained inactive during 
 the conflict, and dashed out his brains with his battle- 
 axe. The victorious Yorkists pursued their success so 
 closely, that their opponents were broken and scattered 
 in all directions; and as no quarter was given, the run- 
 aways were massacred in multitudes. The fate of prince 
 Edward, now only seventeen years old, set the seal upon 
 this fearful scene of carnage. Being taken prisonei', he 
 was brought after the battle into the tent of the victor, who 
 tauntingly asked him, why he had dared to come into 
 England in hostile fashion ? ' I came,' replied the gal- 
 lant boy, ' to recover my father's kingdom, and to punish 
 his enemies.' Edward, at this magnanimous answer, 
 struck the prince on the face with his gauntlet, and the 
 royal attendants taking this as a signal of execution, 
 rushed upon him with their daggers, and stabbed him to 
 the heart. As for the unfortunate Margaret, who had 
 retired into a religious house before the battle com- 
 menced, she was taken from that sanctuary and com- 
 mitted to the Tower. — The battle of Tewkesbury was the 
 twelfth that had taken place between the rival houses 
 of York and Lancaster ; and in these engagements, or 
 upon the scaflold, sixty princes of the royal family, and 
 half of the nobility and gentry of England, besides 
 100,000 of the commons, had fallen. And all this blood- 
 shed had accomplished nothing more than a change 
 of the sceptre from Henry YI. to Edward IV.— from 
 an amiable but imbecile sovereign, to an able, but
 
 EDWARD IV. IxNVADES FRANCE. 291 
 
 profligrate and saimuinary tyrant. National evils were 
 still unmitigated, and national abuses unredressed. Every 
 man found himself in the same situation as forraerl}', 
 except that he had the death of some dear friend or 
 kinsman to deplore. 
 
 Edward had now obtained an alarming character for 
 invincibility, as he bad fought nine pitched battles, in 
 every one of which he had been successful. When he 
 ■was, therefore, settled upon tb.e throne of England with- 
 out a rival, it was thought that he would commence 
 some splendid career of foreign conquest, and men 
 anxiously wondered to what quarter his military enter- 
 prise would next direct him. France was selected by 
 Edward as the victim — a selecti'^n which was dictated 
 by a very obvious policy, for the love which the English 
 bore to the house of Lancaster was based upon the con- 
 quest of that kingdom by Henry V. But Edward, al- 
 though perhaps as brave and skilful, lacked all the 
 higher qualities of the hero of Azincourt, and Louis XL 
 was a very different sovereign from Charles VL As the 
 reconquest of France was always a popular argument in 
 En>:land, Edward was soon at the head of a more gal- 
 lant army than had ever yet crossed the Channel. The 
 flower of the English nobility and knighthood attended 
 him to the number of 1500 persons, iu complete armour, 
 each having a retinue of several armed horsemen ; 
 1.5,000 aichers on horseback, and a great force of in- 
 fantry and artillery, composed the body of his army ; 
 while his brother-in-law, Charles the Bold, duke of 
 Burgundy, whose power and dominions were at least 
 equal to those of the French king, was to join him on 
 landing with all his forces. Thus the destruction of 
 France .seemed to be inevitable, and minstrels and glee- 
 singers had strung their harps to celebrate greater ex- 
 ploits than had yet been achieved by Englishmen, when 
 the very commencement of the campaign made their 
 tongues cleave to the roof of their mouths. Edward 
 passed over to Calais in June 1475 ; but he of Burgundy, 
 instead of being ready according to appointment, had 
 entangled himself in a war with the Germans, from 
 whom he received nothing but defeats ; and when at 
 last he repaired to the English camp, it was with a small 
 train of well-beaten soldiers, rather than a powerful 
 army. Edward, however, sent a thundering detiance to
 
 292 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Louis, commauding hira either to come forth and fi^rht 
 for his crown, or resign it ; but this most astute of 
 monarchs, who laughed at chivalry as a freak of fools 
 or madmen, instead of starting to arms at the message, 
 overwhelmed the astonished herald with soft words and 
 kingly presents. He even prevailed upon this officer, 
 whose function was to threaten and defy, to labour in 
 bringing about a peace between the two countries, and 
 the purchased herald was transformed into a gentle 
 mediator. But, when Louis followed the application by 
 privily showering gold into the craving pockets of the 
 already half-beggared English nobles, a wonderful change 
 in their belligerent propensities ensued, so that they now 
 became eloquent advocates for the propriety of establish- 
 ing a league of Christian amity with the moderate and 
 gentle Louis. As for the Entilish common soldiers, they, 
 too, were not neglected, the French king sending to their 
 camp, which was in the neighbourhood of Amiens, 300 
 cart-loads of wine ; and of this they made such use, that 
 they reeled about fiora morning to night in a state of 
 drunken jollity. Louis, however, was very anxious to 
 remove such dangerous neighbours, and therefore he 
 carried on the negotiation so promptly, that on the 29th 
 of August a truce for seven years was concluded, the 
 terms of which were — that he should pay to Edward 
 75,000 crowns within fifteen days — that he should pay 
 him 50,010 crowns a year during their joint lives — that 
 the dauphin of France should marry the princess Eliza- 
 beth of England— and that Edward should evacuate 
 France as soon as the 75,000 crowns had been paid. In 
 addition to all this, Louis agreed to pay 50,000 crowns 
 for the ransom of Margaret of Anjou. Besides these 
 various disbursementj?, he bound the principal English 
 lords to his service, not only by liberal gifts in money 
 and plate, but by secret pensions, which he settled upon 
 them to the amount of lfi,000 crowns a year. Louis 
 might well laugh, as he often did among his confidants, 
 during the progress of the negotiation, at the manner 
 in which he outwitted the bull-headed islanders and 
 their luxurious sovereign. His only aim was now to 
 rid France of their presence, and therefore he paid 
 the crowns within the stipulated time; and Edward 
 arrived in England, with his whole army, on the 2Sth 
 of September, amidst the amazement of all his brother
 
 CLOUCESTERS INTRIGUES. 2<)3 
 
 kings of Europe, wlio could not comprehend by what 
 mysterious jug-y,lery the French sovereign had annihi- 
 lated such a formidable danger. 
 
 After this period, the history of Edward IV. may be 
 dismissed in a few words. As no warrior had ever been 
 more successful in battle, so no warrior was ever more 
 eager to doff his harness when the hour of exertion was 
 past ; and therefore, when he returned from his inglorious 
 expedition, he plunged into every species of dissipation, 
 by which his health was gradually undermined, and that 
 boasted beauty in which he excelled all his contemporaries 
 was exchanged for bloatedness and obesity. The quar- 
 rels also between his brothers and the family of his 
 queen jarred amidst his hours of intemperance ; and 
 after a series of dark manoeuvres, which it is impossible 
 fully to comprehend, he was persuaded to sign the 
 death-warrant of his brother Clarence, who was privately 
 executed in the Tower, a.d. 1478. Edward died at West- 
 minster, not through disease, but exhausted by a course 
 of profligacy, on the 9ih of April, 1483, in the forty-first 
 year of his age, and twenty-third of his reign. 
 
 On the death of Edward IV., his son, prince Edward, 
 was proclaimed king; and, as the young sovereign was 
 only thirteen years old, a fierce conflict commenced be- 
 tween the duke of Gloucester, aided by the ancient 
 nobility, on the one side, and the queen and her kindred 
 on the other, about the management of aflTairs during 
 the minority. But the Woodviles, the Greys, and their 
 adherents, being no longer upheld by the authority of 
 the late king, were no match for the dark, and powerful 
 Richard of Gloucester, backed as he was by the soldiery, 
 with whom his bravery had made him a general fa- 
 vourite. He caused the nearest relations of the queen 
 to be arrested and imprisoned in Pomfret Castle, and 
 thus he got the person of young Edward into his own 
 keeping; after which, a great national council was held 
 at London, where he was chosen Protector of England. 
 He then seemingly prepared for the coronation of his 
 nephew Edward, which was to be performed with great 
 splendour on the 22nd of June, the young kiiig being 
 in the mean time lodged in the Tower, the place from 
 which the English sovereigns were wont to ride in state 
 to their coronation at Westminster. But fearful tragedies 
 occurred during the short period that elapsed before the
 
 294 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 above-mentioned date. On the 13th, the protector held 
 a council in the Tower, in the midst of which he caused 
 lord Hastings, the chief friend of the late king and his 
 family, to be arrested upon the most frivolous pretences, 
 and beheaded immediately upon the premises; while, 
 on the same day, the kinsmen and friends of the queen, 
 ■whom he had thrown into prison, were beheaded by his 
 orders without any trial. The queen had fled, on the 
 first alarm, into the sanctuary at Westminster, with her 
 son, the duke of York, and her live daughters; but it 
 ■was now necessary for the protector's purposes that 
 York should be under his control, as well as young king 
 Edward ; upon which he convoked another council on 
 the 16th, where he represented the disgrace of allowing 
 the boy to remain in sanctuary among thieves and 
 murderers, at the approach of his brother's coronation. 
 Upon this remonstrance a deputation was sent, by whom 
 York was brought and delivered to Richard, ■who placed 
 him also in the Tower. The winding-up of this terrible 
 drama was now rapidly accelerated. It was given out 
 that the young princes were illegitimate, for that their 
 father had privately married lady Eleanor Butler before 
 he was united to lady Grey, so that his last union was 
 illegal ; and that, as the children of Clarence could not 
 succeed, on account of the attainder of their father, 
 therefore the duke of Gloucester, who stood next in suc- 
 cession, ought to inherit the crown of England. To 
 this representation, even darker and fouler hints were 
 added by the partisans of the wily protector, viz. that 
 even Edward IV. and the duke of Clarence were be- 
 gotten in adultery, and that Richard alone was the true 
 son of the duke of York. These iniquities were preached 
 in a sermon at Paul's Cross, on the 22nd of this month, 
 by Dr. Ralph Shaw, a popular divine, and brother to the 
 lord mayor of London. The public mind being thus pre- 
 pared for something wonderful, the duke of Buckingham, 
 ■who had been the chief actor in Richard's late tyran- 
 nical proceedings, made an harangue to the mayor, alder- 
 men, and chief citizens of London, in Guildhall, on the 
 24th, where he enforced the arguments about the ille- 
 gitimacy of the late king's children ; and as a few caps 
 were tossed up, with the feeble cry of ' Long live king 
 Richard!' Buckingham pretended to take this faint 
 acclamation as the voice of the whole people. On the
 
 RICHARD III. CROWNED. 295 
 
 following day, therefore, he repaired with a few nobles, 
 and the obsequious town council at his heels, to Baynard's 
 Castle, where the protector lodged — and here commenced 
 a scene unparalleled in the annals of political hypocrisy 
 and grimacing. Buckingham made an eloquent sermon 
 on the iniquities of the late reign and the illegitimacy 
 of Edward's children, and requested Richard to assume 
 the crown, as his undoubted right; but the protector, 
 wrapped up in his integrity, deprecated the temptation 
 like another Caesar, and declared that his love for his 
 brother's children was more to him than a crown. The 
 duke then waxed warm, and declared that England 
 would none of Edward's spurious brood ; but still Glou- 
 cester demurred and hesitated. At last Buckingham 
 roundly told him, that unless he consented to be king, 
 some other person would be found who would not refuse 
 the oifer ; and here the protector seemed to be staggered. 
 He begged some little time for consideration, and sent 
 away the deputies not wholly in despair. On the suc- 
 ceeding day they returned to the charge ; and upon their 
 urgent petition, fairly written, signed, and sealed, the 
 protector, with a sigh, undertook the toils of royalty, and 
 was forthwith acclaimed by the title of Richard III. 
 In addition to those 'most sweet voices' which thus 
 called him to the throne, he had a strong military force 
 in London to confirm the wavering or persuade the dis- 
 contented. His coronation followed on the 27th, in the 
 thirty-first year of his age. Soon after, the young 
 princes in the Tower ceased to exist; and when it was 
 remembered whose interest was most promoted by their 
 untimely and obscure death, the general report was, that 
 they had been assassinated by the command of their un- 
 scrupulous uncle. 
 
 Although Richard had thus burdened his soul with an 
 inheritance of remorse to ascend the throne of England, 
 he soon found that it was not to be enjoyed in security. 
 The princes, indeed, were dead, but a more formidable 
 rival still lived in Henry, earl of Richmond, who was 
 now in the full vigour of manhood. This nobleman 
 was descended, by his mother, from an illegitimate 
 son of John of Gaunt, by Catherine Swiueford, whose 
 family, although it had been legitimated by act of par- 
 liament, had been expressly precluded from all right 
 to the royal succession. But, notwithstanding this dis-
 
 29G MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 qualification, the Lancasterians, after the death of He))ry 
 and his son Edward, regarded Richmond as the repre- 
 sentative of their cause, a feeling that became more 
 general on account of the atrocities of Richard's acces- 
 sion. Edward IV. had long regarded this scion of the 
 rival house with an evil eye, and plotted to entrap him ; 
 but Henry, whose youth was spent in exile and amidst 
 such perilous intrigues, was continually upon his guard. 
 Not only the Lancasterian party, but many of the dis- 
 contented Yorkists also, were anxious that the earl 
 should now set himself up as the rival of the usurper; 
 and to strengthen his defective title, as well as to unite 
 the claims of the two contending houses, it was pro- 
 posed that he should marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter 
 of Edward IV. This plot was farther thickened by 
 the duke of Buckingham, who having quarrelled with 
 Eichard, whom he had made king, was now anxious to 
 unravel his whole work, and transfer the crown to the 
 earl of Richmond. The duke was joined in his scheme 
 by several of the English nobility who hated the tyrant, 
 and they agreed to proclaim Richmond in several places 
 at once, to distract the attention of their opponents. 
 But want of decision was no fault of Richard, and he 
 was soon at the head of an army ready to act wherever 
 his presence might be required. In the mean time, 
 Buckingham had raised forces in Wales, with which he 
 attempted to pass the Severn and join the confederates ; 
 hut the river had so greatly overflowed its banks, that it 
 was impassable : the Welsh, in consequence, forsook hini, 
 and after wandering about the counti-y in concealment, 
 he was betrayed by a perfidious servant, and executed 
 at Salisbury without trial. In consequence of the faihire 
 of this principal member of the conspiracy, the rest fled 
 to the continent, or sought refuge in sanctuaries and 
 concealments. Richmond had been very active in mus- 
 tering a small army, with which he embarked for Eng- 
 land to join his partisans ; but his fleet was dispersed 
 and driven back by a violent storm, and on returning 
 home, it was only to hear that his friends in England 
 were dead or dispersed, and that the conspiracy had 
 come to nothing. 
 
 Richard, notwithstanding this signal success, con- 
 tinued to be more and more miserable ; he had lost not 
 only the afl'ectiou of the nobles, but he was soon be- 
 
 1
 
 BAITLE OF BOSWORTH. 297 
 
 leaved by death of his only son, in whom he liad lioped 
 that his royal Hue would be perpetuated ; and then fol- 
 lowed the demise of his queen, that daughter of the earl 
 of Warwick who had been betrothed to Edward, the son 
 of Henry VI. When he recovered from these stun- 
 ning- blows, he began to weave his ambitious web of 
 policy anew, by soliciting in marriage Elizabeth, his 
 own niece, by which union he hoped to traverse the 
 matrimonial designs of Richmond. The weak and worth- 
 less queen-dowager, whose sons, brothers, and friends, 
 Richard had murdered, was eager for this measure, by 
 which she hoped to regain something of her former con- 
 sequence in society, and even Elizabeth herself was well 
 inclined towards this unnatural union. It therefore be- 
 hoved Richmond to hasten his preparations before the 
 crown should be secured beyond bis reach, and his policy 
 and ambition were equally alert at the tidings. The 
 English exiles on the continent were gathered to his 
 standard, and these, with 2000 French adventurers, com- 
 posed a force of 3000 men, with which he set sail, and 
 arrived at Milford Haven on the 7th of August, 1485. 
 Although this army was so small, Richmond did not 
 undertake the measure in a spirit of desperate adven- 
 ture. Richard was ignorant in what quarter a landing 
 would be made; his coffers were impoverished; he knew 
 not which of his nobles to trust, while he was aware 
 that several were ready to betray him to his rival. As 
 soon as he heard of the landing, he ordered certain 
 chiefs to muster their troops and give battle to the 
 invader; but instead of this, they joined their re- 
 tainers to those of Richmond, whose army swelled as it 
 advanced ; and lord Stanley, who had raised 5000 men, 
 although he followed the king's banner, agreed to desert 
 to Richmond with all his forces as soon as the battle 
 joined. Under these different auspices, the two armies 
 approached each other. The forces of Richard trebled 
 those that were arrayed against him, while the earl 
 had never yet fought a battle ; but they were an army 
 wholly composed of lukewarm indifference or meditated 
 treachery and desertion. 
 
 It was on the 23rd of August that the battle of Bos- 
 worth was fought— that conflict which closed the san- 
 guinary tragedy of the contentions between the houses 
 of York and Lancaster. Richard, with a royal crown 
 2
 
 298 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 upon his helmet, niarshalled his troops ; and after ex» 
 horting them to do their duty bravely, the battle joined. 
 But scarcely had the first shock of onset been g^iven, 
 when it was shown how little dependence could be 
 placed upon the fidelity of the tyrant's forces. The 
 largest part of them did not strike one stroke ; the earl 
 of Northumberland withdrew his men, and looked on, 
 as if he had been contemplating a holiday spectacle — and 
 Stanley, who had hovered at a distance with his numer- 
 ous forces, to the great perplexity of both armies, all at 
 once turned the beam by throwing himself into the scale 
 of Richmond. All that mortal skill and bravery could 
 now accomplish on the part of Richard was unavailing: 
 he saw that his last hour was come, and he rallied all 
 his energies for a home blow of vengeance, if not of vic- 
 tory. Laying his lance in the rest, and shouting ' Trea- 
 son, treason !' he dashed amidst his adversaries, and at 
 the first charge transfixed Sir William Brandon, Rich- 
 mond's standard-bearer, so that man and banner rolled in 
 the dust. He then unhorsed Sir John Cheyny, a knight 
 of gigantic stature and strength, and seeing Richmond 
 himself at no great distance, he drew his sword, and 
 fought his way through the press, in the hope of grap- 
 pling with his rival. But Stanley interposed, and sur- 
 rounded him with all his forces, and Richard perished, 
 desperately fighting to the last, and looking terrible even 
 in death. His lifeless body after the battle was dragged 
 from amidst a heap of slain, and the battered coronet 
 was torn from his temples, and placed upon the head 
 of the earl of Richmond, who was instantly saluted king. 
 In consequence of the apathy or desertion of Richard's 
 followers, this contest was short, and attended with less 
 bloodshed than most of those engagements that have 
 changed a royal dynasty, as the slain upon both sides 
 scarcely amounted to 1500. The nation was now so weary 
 of that dreadful civil contention by which it had been 
 toin in pieces, that it gladlv recognised the claim of the 
 successful competitor, notwithstanding the defective na- 
 ture of his title, and the smallness of his army, so that 
 after the victory of Bosworth, Henry proceeded to ex- 
 ercise the royal authority without opposition. He was 
 crowned on the 20th of October, and on the beginning 
 of the following year (1486), he married the princess 
 Elizabeth, by which the contending claims of the rival 
 houses were united in his own person.
 
 299 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 From the accession of Henry VII. to the death of 
 Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 Although Henry VII. endeavoured to reconcile the 
 Yorkists to his accession by marrying the daughter of 
 Edward IV., the violence of party feeling-, which had 
 ruled for so long a period, could not so suddenly subside. 
 The adherents of the house of York, who were still very 
 numerous, looked with a jealous eye upon the king be- 
 cause he was a Lancasterian ; and they hated him for 
 the reservedness of his manners, and the severity with 
 which he watched every movement of the old friends of 
 Richard and Edward. Their chief object therefore was to 
 set up some person of the former ro3al line under whom 
 the claims of their faction might be revived ; and for this 
 purpose they pitched upon the name of the young eail 
 of Warwick, son of the duke of Clarence. The earl him- 
 self had been a prisoner in the Tower from infancy, and 
 was therefore inaccessible to the Yorkists ; but as it was 
 easy to find some one to personate him, a youth named 
 Lambert Simnel, the natural son of a baker, was selected 
 for the purpose. Him they carefully trained in the de- 
 ceit, and then they sent him to Ireland, where the people 
 were ignorant of the person of the earl of Warwick. 
 Simnel assumed the title, and played his part to admira- 
 tion. The Irish were charmed with his beauty and af- 
 fable manners, and as they had been always devoted to 
 the house of York, they soon mustered a foi-midable army 
 for the invasion of England. The duchess of Burgundy, 
 also, who, as sister of Edward IV., hated the whole 
 race of Lancaster, lent herself to the deceit, and sent 
 2000 Gennan soldiers to Ireland, to aid the insursents. 
 All being now in readiness, the army, to the number of 
 8000 men, embarked for England, and landed in Lan- 
 cashire, on the 4th of June, 1487. Henry rapidly assem- 
 bled his forces, and met the invaders at Stoke, near 
 Newark, on the 16th. A desperate conflict ensued, ia 
 which the valour of the rebels, who expected no mercy 
 if they were defeated, and the veteran skill of Martin 
 Swartz, who commanded the German auxiliaries, kept 
 the victory in suspense for three hours. It was even
 
 300 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 thought at one period., that the cause of Henry was on 
 the brink of ruin, for his soldiers began to give way. 
 But the Irish kerns, who had no defensive armour, fell 
 in heaps before the English archers, and were at last 
 put to flight. The earl of Sincoln, lords Level and Ge- 
 rardine, Martin Swartz, and sir Thomas Broughton, fell, 
 with 4000 of their followers, while the loss of the king 
 was about 2000. As for Lambert Simnel, who had been 
 crowned in the cathedral of Dublin with a diadem taken 
 from the head of the Virgin, he was made prisoner ; and 
 Henry — as if to illustrate the shortness of the step from 
 the sublime to the ridiculous, sent the lad to the royal 
 kitchen, where he was usefully employed as a turnspit, 
 from which office be was afterwards promoted to that of 
 falconer. 
 
 The faction opposed to the king were not to be daunted 
 by the failure of one conspiracy, and a new impostor 
 was brought forward to personate the duke of York, 
 youngest son to Edward IV. who had been smothered in 
 the 'i'ower by command of Richard III. This was Per- 
 kin Waibeck, a native of Tourney, who, personating the 
 young prince, recited a plausible tale of his escape from 
 the Tower, and his subsequent wanderings and hardships, 
 while he astonished even the most sceptical by his vivid 
 recollections of the court and person of Edward IV. The 
 duchess of Burgundy received the youth with rapture as 
 her long-lost nephew, and after furnishing him with mo- 
 ney, she sent him to Ireland, to restore the ruined line 
 of Plantagenet. But the Irish, who still smarted under 
 the defeat at Stoke, wisely kept aloof on this occasion, 
 upon which Warbeck repaired to Paris, where he was 
 at first received by the French king with royal honours, 
 but soon dismissed without ceremony, when peace was 
 about to be proclaimed between France and England. 
 The youthful vagabond then took refuge in the court of 
 Burgundy, whither the malcontent Yorkists repaired, to 
 do homage to their royal chieftain. When the plot had 
 ripened for action, Warbeck, through the aid of the 
 duchess, mustered a considerable force of desperate men 
 belonging to different nations, and landed in Kent, near 
 Sandwich, on the 3rd of July, 1495. But the inhabitants 
 were so dismayed at the sight of his motley array, that 
 instead of joining him, they took 150 of his men pri- 
 soners, who were all hanged by the king's orders, for
 
 BATTLE OF BLACKHEATH. 301 
 
 an example. He then tried Ireland once more, but with 
 no better fortune than at first ; upon which he repaired 
 to the court of Scotland, where he was njore successful ; 
 James IV. being completely cajoled by the nielaucholy 
 tale and engaging manners of the pretended prince, to 
 whom he gave in marriage his own kinswoman, lady 
 Catherine Gordon, daughter of the earl of Huntley, one 
 of the most beautiful and accomplished ladies in Scot- 
 laud. James now raised a powerful army, and marched 
 into England in October, 1496, accompanied by Warbeck, 
 who published a manifesto to his loving English sub- 
 jects, stating his claims to their allegiance. But the 
 craft and cruelty of Henry were now so well known and 
 dreaded, that the summons was ineffectual ; and James, 
 on finding the people so lukewarm, began to suspect that 
 he had been deceived, and therefore marched home with 
 the adventurer in his company. 
 
 As the Scots had wrought great havoc upon the Eng- 
 lish borders during their expedition, Henry applied to 
 parliament for money to carry on a war of retaliation, 
 upon which £120,000 was granted, to be levied under 
 certain restrictions. But the king, in whom avarice 
 was a predominant passion, began to collect the money 
 with the severity of a usurer, and the semi-barbarous 
 people of Cornwall bi-oke out into open rebellion. A 
 large multitude armed with miscellaneous weapons 
 marched through the counties of Devon and Somerset, 
 and being joined by lord Audley, who became their 
 leader, they advanced within sight of the capital, and 
 encamped on Blackheath. In this emergency, Henry re- 
 called lord Daubeny and his troops from the north, and 
 was so superior in numbers, that he divided his army 
 into three squadrons, to enclose the insurgents on every 
 side. On the •22nd. of June (1495), the men of Cornwall 
 were attacked by the royal troops, and so completely 
 routed after a brave but unavailing resistance, that 2000 
 were killed, and almost all who survived were taken 
 prisoners. The ringleaders only were sent to execution, 
 while the king allowed his soldiers to ransom their cap- 
 tives at two or three shillings a head. During this com- 
 motion, England was again invaded by the Scots, who 
 besieged Norham castle, and plundered the neighbour- 
 hood ; but on hearing that the earl of Surrey was ap- 
 proaching at the head of 20,000 soldiers, they retreated
 
 302 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 into Scotland. Surrey then marched a few miles across 
 the border, where he demolished the paltry castle of Ay- 
 ton, and then returned to Berwick, It was contrary to 
 the interests of Henry to prosecute this war while he 
 was disturbed by the machinations of the Yorkists : he 
 therefore entered into a treaty of peace with the Scottish 
 king', in consequence of which Warbeck was gently in- 
 formed that he must seek an asylum elsewhere. The 
 fugitive then repaired to Ireland with his amiable wife, 
 and about 120 followers ; but finding himself neglected, 
 he resolved to try the affection of the people of Corn- 
 wall, who, notwithstanding their late defeat and pardon, 
 were still ready for insurrection. He lauded at Whit- 
 sand Bay on the 7th of September, 1493, and was joined 
 by 30no of the discontented, upon which he laid siege to 
 Exeter ; but he soon showed that he was as until for ac- 
 tion, as he was unable to be at rest. The men of Exeter 
 made a stout defence, and compelled him to raise the 
 siege; and on hearing that the royal forces v/ere march- 
 ing against him, he completely lost heart, and fled from 
 his faithful followers, to take sanctuary in the monastery 
 of Bewly, upon which the insurgents submitted to the 
 king. As for Warbeck, who had shown such a lack of 
 royal spirit, he was paraded through the streets of Lou- 
 don by the king's orders, amidst the hootings and taunts 
 of the populace ; he was obliged to give a full confession 
 of his false pretences and imposture, and after this expo- 
 sure he was committed to the Tower. He then attempted 
 to escape from prison, but was discovered, tried, con- 
 demned, and executed ; and the unfortunate earl of 
 Warwick, who had been entangled by him in the same 
 design, was beheaded a few days after. Thus perished 
 the last hopes of the Y'orkists to shake the throne of 
 Henry, whose subsequent reign was one of uninter- 
 rujited peace, and in which his sole occupation was to 
 extort and hoard up money. He died at Richmond on 
 the 2lst of April, 1509, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, 
 and twenty-fourth of his reign. 
 
 lu the course of our history, we have deemed it un- 
 necessary to allude to a powerful agent occasionally 
 used in the conflicts of the middle ages, and which was 
 now beginning to change the whole character of warfare. 
 'This was gunpowder, which seems to have been used by 
 the English in the reign of Edward III. when that mo-
 
 INTRODUCTION OF GUNPOWDER. 303 
 
 narcb made a campaign against tiie Scots a. d. 1327. On 
 that occasion Barbour, the rhyming historian of Robert 
 Bruce, mentions cannon, which he calls ' crackys of 
 war.' These instruments were also used at the battle of 
 Crecy, where four pieces were planted on a little hill; 
 a:id although they do not appear to have done much 
 execution, they astonished the French soldiers with their 
 alarming- noise. As we proceed in the history of Eng- 
 land, we find more frequent allusions to gunpowder, and 
 its uses, which were yearly becoming more prevalent ; 
 but the application of such a tremendous power was 
 still so imperfect, that it had little effect upon the 
 fate of a battle. The first weapon of fire-arms was the 
 cannon, or as it was then called the bombard, which 
 was wholly made of iiou bars, or pieces of iron fitted to- 
 gether lengthways, and hooped with iron rings, and the 
 cannon balls were made of stone. These engines, how- 
 ever, were so clumsily fabricated, that they were almost 
 as dangerous to friends as enemies, being liable to burst ; 
 and from an accident of this nature, James II. of Scot- 
 land was killed by one of his own cannon at the siege of 
 Roxburgh, a. u. 1459. About the middle of the fifteenth 
 century, cannon began to be cast in one piece, and were 
 formed of a mixed metal instead of iron. These pieces 
 went under several names according to their calibre, 
 such as cannon, culverines, falcons, serpentines, &c. and 
 as the process of pointing and discharging them was 
 both slow and uncertain, they were more depended upon 
 in the operations of a siege, than the more rapid emer- 
 gencies of a field engagement. 
 
 The first attempt to use hand artillery was made at the 
 end of the fourteenth century, and the contrivance was 
 of the rudest description. A portable piece called a hand- 
 cannon was contrived, which was carried by two men, and 
 fired from a rest fixed in the ground. At this period of our 
 history, (Henry VII.) the musket had been invented, and 
 introduced into armies ; but it was so clumsy, that it had 
 to be laid on a rest before it could be discharged ; and 
 although the bullet could break through every kind of 
 defensive armour, yet the piece was so long in loading, 
 and the match with which it was fired was liable to so 
 many accidents, that the long-bow still continued to be 
 the favourite and eflfective artillery of England. In spite 
 therefore of the irresistible powers of gunpowder, knights
 
 304 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 and men-at-arms still retained the heavy panoply, and 
 cultivated the usages, of the early chivalrous ages. 
 
 The accession of Henry VI 1 1, was marked by such fa- 
 vourable circumstances as few of his predecessors had 
 enjoyed. He was in his eighteenth year, handsome, 
 learned, and accomplished. With an overflowing trea- 
 sury, he possessed the love of his subjects ; there was 
 no competitor to the throne, and the nation was at 
 peace with Europe. But Europe itself was up in arms, 
 through the plots of Ferdinand of Spain and pope Ju- 
 lius II. against France; and it was deemed of high im- 
 portance that the young, wealthy, and powerful king of 
 Ei ^l.md should be included in the league against 
 Louis XII. Ferdinand, who was Henry's father-in-law, 
 undertook a negotiation for this purpose, and succeeded. 
 Henry was delighted with the flatteries of the pontiff, 
 and the prospect of the title of Most Christian King, 
 which Louis was declared to have forfeited ; and he be- 
 gan to prepare for war with great activity, while the 
 nation was equally gratified with the prospect of new 
 victories and conquests in France. An army of 10,000 
 men, chiefly archers, was raised, and embarked at South- 
 ampton on the 16th of May, 1512, under the command of 
 the marquis of Dorset ; but on arriving at Guipiscoa, no 
 traces of that Spanish army was to be found which was 
 to have joined the English on their lauding. Ferdinand, 
 who had brought matters to this point, had purposes in 
 view to which his allies were to be passively and uncon- 
 sciously subsei-vient. Instead therefore of joining them 
 with his forces for the conquest of Guienne, according to 
 agreement, he fell upon the kingdom of Navarre, and 
 conquered it in a few months. In the mean time the 
 English, who could not proceed without their ally, re- 
 mained impatient and inactive in their camp at Foute- 
 rabia, until Guienne was fortified, and the opportunity 
 lost. Thus the selfish Ferdinand had merely used them 
 to keep the French in check until his conquest of Na- 
 varre was completed, after which their presence was of 
 no farther service; and they returned home in Decem- 
 ber discontented, and diminished in numbers, amidst the 
 indignant murmurs of the whole country. 
 
 Henry, equally undaunted and untaught by this ex- 
 ample, resolved to prosecute the war with France t)y 
 land and sea, and his continental allies agreed to second
 
 B.Vn Lli OF FLODDEN FIELD. 305 
 
 (lis measures with all their forces; but in this they only 
 designed, like Ferdinand, to use hiui for their tool. He 
 also endeavoured to prevail upon his brother-in-law, 
 James IV. of Scotland, to enter into his measures, but 
 the Scottish king preferred the ancient alliance with 
 Fiance — upon which Henry added James to the list of 
 his enemies. England was now prejiarins at one and 
 tlie same time for an ofFerrsive war with France, and a 
 defensive one with Scotland, so that while the wardens 
 were assembling- their forces upon the borders, fleets were 
 preparing and troops were mustering at the sea-ports. 
 On June 30th, Henry set sail from Dover with a strong 
 reinforcement to his army before Terouenne, and upon 
 his absence the storm burst from Scotland upon the Eng- 
 lish border. The king- of France had been soliciting the 
 Scottish monarch to make a diversion in. his behalf, and 
 James had listened and deliberated ; but when the French 
 qtieen also joined in the request, his chivalrous feelings 
 overcame his political calculations. She sent him a ring 
 from her own finger, conjuring him, as her knight, to 
 lisk. one day's maich into England for her sake ; and 
 lest want of funds should interfere with such a deed, she 
 accompanied the gem with 14,000 golden crowns. James 
 therefore sent a fierce defiance to Henry in his camp of 
 Terouenne, and then prepared for war upon an exten- 
 sive scale, by summoning the whole military array of 
 the kingdom to meet him at Edinburgh, with provisions 
 for forty days. He entered England with one of the best 
 armies that had ever followed a Scottish king, and took 
 several border castles, among which was that of Ford ; 
 but in this last place was a fair syren, the wife of the 
 castellan, whose blandishments delayed his proceedings, 
 so that his army, from want of provisions, began to melt 
 away. In the mean time the earl of Surrey, who had 
 mustered a numerous array, advanced to defend the Eng- 
 lish frontiers, and sent a challenge to the Scottish king 
 to abide his coming in the open field ; but James, who 
 should have retired before such a force, end-ed as he 
 had commenced, in the spirit of a knight errant. He 
 accepted the challenge against the remonstrances of his 
 best counsellors, and proceeded, with the infatuation of 
 a man doomed to ruin, to prepare for the conflict. The 
 only evidence he gave of reflection was, to take up a 
 strong position ou the bill of Flodden, where his flanks
 
 308 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 were inaccessible, and bis front defended by the river 
 Till ; so that when Surrey advanced, he found an attack 
 impossible, and would soon have been compelled to re- 
 treat from want of provisions, had James but exercised 
 a little patience. But Surrey determined to bring- on an 
 action under less formidable obstacles, by turning the 
 flank of the Scots, and placin<j himself between them 
 and their own country ; and James, who might have at- 
 tacked and routed the English during this dangerous 
 manoeuvre, looked on like an unconcerned spectator. 
 The earl was allowed to execute his plan, so that he con- 
 fronted the rear of the Scottish army, while only a gentle 
 slope intervened; and then, when it was too late, James 
 set fire to his tents, and advanced to battle amidst thick 
 clouds of smoke. The English were divided into two 
 battles, each of which had two wings ; the Scots into five 
 battles drawn up in line, about a bow-shot from each 
 other. The engagement began at four in the afternoon, 
 (September 9th, 1513), by a desperate attack of Huntley 
 and Home upon a part of the English van, which they 
 routed, and chased from the field. But the cavalry under 
 lozd Dacires advancing to the rescue, checked the victo- 
 rious progress of the two earls, of whom, Huntley's fol- 
 lowers were at last defeated, while those of Home, being 
 chiefly borderers, had thrown themselves upon the spoil. 
 The centre of both armies, headed by the king and the 
 earl of Surrey, now joined battle ; but James, instead of 
 keeping aloof, and watching the changes of the combat, 
 rushed into the fore-front of the conflict, like a common 
 man-at-arms eager to display his personal prowess, while 
 his nobles, ashamed to forsake him, were obliged to fol- 
 low his example. The Highland divisions of the right 
 wing of the Scots now rushed down to the melee, headed 
 by the earls of Lennox and Argyle, but were met with 
 such a terrible shower of arrows, against which they 
 had no defence, that they were eager to come to blows 
 with their axes and broad swords. They therefore hur- 
 ried forward like madmen, and threw themselves in a 
 mass upon the enemy. The shock for a moment was tre- 
 mendous, but the English squares recovered, and stood 
 lirm ; they then attacked in turn with such uniform vigour, 
 that the undisciplined half-armed Gael were soon trampled 
 down in heaps, or scattered over the field. Sir Edward 
 Stanley after this success immediately wheeled, and at-
 
 BATTLE OF FLODDEN FIELD. 307 
 
 tacked the Scottish vanguard in the rear, while it was 
 eiiijaired with Surrey in front. The situation of James 
 was now desperate, his thinned and exhausted ranks 
 ■were completely surrounded ; but in that trying moment 
 there was no thouijht of fear, or word of surrender — the 
 nobles, who fortrot his rashness, and thought only of his 
 amiable qualities, fought by his side, and fell at his feet. 
 Amidst this confusiou, the darkness of night at last 
 gathered over the field, and the combatants separated ; 
 the English remaining under arms during the night, 
 uncertain as yet on what side the victory had fallen. 
 But this was too sadly known to the Scots, who stole 
 homeward during the darkness in confused groups with- 
 out a chief to head them. Ten thousand men had fallen 
 on each side ; but the defeat and loss were wholly on 
 that of Scotland, for not only her king had perished, but 
 her chief nobility, so that every house of name deplored 
 the death of a relative, while some were wholly extir- 
 pated. Although the body of James, in a frightfully 
 mangled condition, was dragged from amidst a heap of 
 slain, and afterwards interred by the English at Rich- 
 mond, the Scots still persisted in believing that he had 
 escaped from the carnage, and that he would return to 
 their aid in the hour of extremity. They showed how- 
 ever their superiority to despair more wisely, by adopt- 
 ing energetic measures for the national defence, and 
 every citizen of Edinburgh was ready to muster at the 
 sound of the bell : but Suriey, instead of intending an 
 invasion, had only contemplated the defence of the bor- 
 ders, which was now effectually secured. 
 
 in the mean time, Henry, who had commenced the 
 siege of Terouenne, notwithstanding the secession of his 
 allies, was interrupted in his proceedings by the arrival 
 of a French army to relieve the town. Every preparation 
 was made for battle ; but the French cavalry, after a 
 biilliant charge, in which they succeeded in throwing 
 some gunpowder within reach of the besieged, wheeled 
 round to regain their main body. They were pursued how- 
 ever so closely by the English mounted archers and se- 
 veral squadrons of German horse, that their retreat was 
 soon changed into a headlong flight, while their bravest 
 commanders, among whom was the chevalier Bayard, 
 disdaining to fly, were made prisoners. Henry congratu- 
 lated his illustrious captives on the activity of their sol-
 
 308 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 diers, at which the light-hearted Frenchmen laughed, 
 declaring that the whole affair had been only a battle of 
 spurs — by which name the engagement has been ever 
 since distinguished. But the king was not skilful enough 
 to avail himself of this panic; and he showed still 
 greater fatuity in wasting time upon the siege of such a 
 paltry town as Terouenne, instead of marching forward 
 to co-operate with 20,000 Swiss, whom he had hired to 
 aid him, and who were now besieging Dijon, the capital 
 of Burgundy. Terouenne surrendered ; but Henry, in- 
 stead of pursuing his success by more important achieve- 
 ments, laid siege to Tourney, at the suggestion of Maxi- 
 milian the emperor, who was now moving the king of 
 England for his own ends as successfully as Ferdinand 
 had done in the previous campaign. In a few days, this 
 town also surrendered; but the Swiss, who were dis- 
 gusted with such dilatory and inconclusive proceedings, 
 concluded a separate peace with the king of France, 
 and abandoned their capricious ally. Nothing farther 
 could be done, as the season for action had expired ; and 
 therefore Henry, after a few tournaments and military 
 pageants, which were more to liis taste than real war- 
 fare, returned to England on the 22d of October. Even 
 had he been now inclined to follow up the victory of 
 Flodden by an invasion of Scotland, he would have 
 found the attempt impracticable, as the Scots had reco- 
 vered from the blow, while his funds were exhausted by 
 his late frivolous campaign. 
 
 1544- — It would neither be instructive nor yet amusing 
 to trace the progress of Henry Vlll. during a course of 
 years, in which he was alternately the ally of Fiancis I. 
 and Charles V. During the fierce wars between these 
 great potentates, he might have become the successful 
 umpire, and given peace to Europe ; but, instead of this, 
 he was alternately the dupe of either, according as his 
 passions or his counsellor Wolsey suggested. Thus, from 
 being one of the richest, he became one of the poorest 
 monarchs of Christendom, and yet, with a body un- 
 wieliiy from corpulence and disease, and an empty ex- 
 chequer, his voice was still for war. He entered this 
 year into an agreement with Charles V. for the com- 
 plete conquest and partition of France ; and although 
 two or three similar plans had already failed, yet by tiiis 
 one, which was to be infallible, Charles was to penetrate
 
 SIEGE OF BOULOGNE. 300 
 
 the country by Champagne, and Henry by Picardy, 
 ^vhile no pause was to be made on either side until they 
 had fouuht their way into Paris, where tliey were to 
 dispose of the French monarchy according to their own 
 good pleasure. But, after Henry had mustered 30,000 
 soldiers, by imposts under which the land groaned, and 
 been reinforced by 15,000 auxiliaries from the emperor, 
 he blundered upon the very threshold, by laying siege 
 to the town of Boulogne, notwithstanding the impatient 
 remonstrances of his ally. This paltry affair detained 
 him for two mouths, during which the opportunity of 
 action was lost; and the emperor, in despair of such an 
 associate, at last made a separate peace for himself, and 
 left Henry to shift as he could. Henry, therefore, after 
 having won the town of Boulogne at an expense of 
 400,000 pounds of English money, found himself for- 
 saken and incapable of any farther enterprise ; upon 
 which he returned to England greatly impoverished, and 
 complaining of the emperor's perfidiousness. 
 
 While France had been the prize of Henry's ambition, 
 his view had been directed with equal cupidity towards 
 Scotland, the discontented nobles of which he allured to 
 his cause by weighty bribes and pensions. In this man- 
 ner he had sown dissensions in the court of James V,, 
 and on the death of that unfortunate, broken-hearted 
 monarch, he hoped to unite Scotland to England by a 
 marriage between Mary, the infant daughter of James, 
 and his son Edwaid. But this wise scheme was defeated 
 by the impetuous, arbitrary manner in which he prose- 
 cuted it, so that the proud-spirited Scots were alarmed at 
 his boisterous style of courtship, and naturally stood upon 
 their defence. When he left England on his blundering 
 expedition to Boulogne, he had given a commission to 
 his lieutenants to insade Scotland both by land and sea; 
 and this was done accordingly, so that both the coast 
 and inland country were wasted with fire and sword. 
 But this kind of warfare only made the Scots more 
 unanimous in their resistance, and even those nobles 
 who had been enriched with English pensions took up 
 arms against the invaders. Of this description was the 
 earl of Angus, now the head of the Douglases, who, by 
 his marriage with the widow of James IV., was brother- 
 in-law to the king of England. Henry had granted 
 most of the lands of this powerful nobleman to Sir Ralph
 
 310 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Evre, if Vie could win them ; upon which, Ang'iis swore 
 tliat he would write Sir Ralph a seisin upon his skin 
 with sViarp pens and in bloody characters. Evre had 
 laid waste the border, and advanced to Meh-ose, the 
 beautiful abbey of which he defaced, and made wild 
 havoc amonir the tombs of the Douglases ; and Angus, 
 burning with raire, mustered a tew followers, with whom 
 he followed the route of the English to Ancrum Moor, 
 on the Teviot. As the latter amounted to 6000 men, 
 among whom were included about 600 Scottish bor- 
 derers, Angus, whose force was not a third of that 
 number, did not venture an attack until he was joined 
 by Sir Walter Scott, the veteran chief of Buccleuch, 
 with 1200 spearmen. His forces were still greatly in- 
 ferior to the English, and by the advice of Sir Walter 
 he repaired his defect in numbers by an ingenious 
 manoeuvre. A part of his troops was dismounted and 
 placed in concealment, while a troop of camp boys were 
 set upon the horses, and posted on the summit of the hill, 
 to look like a second army. The English advanced to 
 the attack on horseback, expecting to ride down what 
 seemed a feeble array at a single charge; but before they 
 could ascend the hill, they found themselves in the midst 
 of a phalanx of Scottish spearmen, who started from their 
 ambush, and closed upon the front and wings of the 
 assailants. The dense array of their ranks, and the 
 superior length of their weapons, were a complete over- 
 match on this occasion for the English, who gave way 
 after a short conflict ; and in the rout which followed, 
 not only the peasantry, but even the women and children, 
 rose upon the fugitives, and slaughtered them without 
 pity, on account of the atrocities with which this in- 
 vasion had been accompanied. In this engagement, 800 
 of the English were killed, among whom were the two 
 commanders. Sir Ralph Evre and Sir Brian Latoun, and 
 1000 were taken prisoners. 
 
 On the death of Henry VIII., which occurred on the 
 2Sth of January, 1547, his favourite scheme of obtaining- 
 possession of Scotland by a matrimonial alliance was 
 not abandoned ; and the duke of Somerset, who was 
 appointed to the protectorship of England during the 
 minority of Edward VI., urged the proposal of marriage 
 between his young sovereign and Mary Stuart with 
 great ardour. But while the duke was at the head of
 
 BATTLE OF riNKIC. 311 
 
 the Reformation in En.u;land, the cause of Rome still 
 predominated in Scotland, and accordingly the Scottish 
 nobles were induced to refuse the ap].Hcation. Upon 
 thi.s, the protector resolved to accomplish the measure by 
 force of arms, and collected an army of 20,000 men and 
 a fleet of sixty-five vessels, with which he invaded Scof 
 land at the end of August. The land forces, after 
 ravaging the country as they advanced, encamped in the 
 neighbourhood of Preston Pans, where a communication 
 was kept up with their fleet, which had entered the 
 Frith of Forth, and anchored over-against Leith. A 
 Scottish army, equal in number to that of England, had 
 been assembled for the defence of Edinburgh, and lay 
 encamped within two miles of the invaders ; and after a 
 few preliminary skirmishes, both parties prepared for 
 battle on Saturday, the 10th of September — a day long 
 remembered in Scotland under the title of ' Black Satur- 
 day.' The Scots, who were fired with religious as well 
 as national hatred against their enemies, were only eager 
 that they should not escape, on which account they 
 rashly abandoned their strong position, and advanced to 
 the attack. Before they came to close combat, they were 
 staggered by the artillery of the English, and by a 
 flanking fire from the admiral's galley, that threw them 
 into considerable disorder; but they still pressed impa- 
 tiently forward, brandishing their long spears, and cry- 
 ing out, 'Come on, English heretics!' Such was the 
 force of their onset, that for a few moments the victory 
 seemed to be their own. The cavalry, in which kind of 
 force the English were strongest, began to fly, while 
 their leader, lord Grey, was severely wounded ; and 
 Somerset himself had some thoughts of sounding a re- 
 treat, but on this occasion the earl of Warwick succeeded 
 in restoring the confidence both of leader and soldiers. 
 The English were rallied, and became assailants in turn ; 
 their artillery, which was admirably pointed and served, 
 made fearful gaps among the Scottish ranks ; and their 
 cavalry, burning with revenge on account of their tem- 
 porary defeat, seconded the eff'ects of the cannon by an 
 impetuous onset. The Scots at first slowly gave back ; 
 but on being vigorously followed, their retreat was turned 
 into a perfect rout. The country far and wide was 
 thronged with fugitives flying to Leith, to Edinburgh, or 
 Dalkeith : while the fields were bestrewn with their wea-
 
 312 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 pons, which they threw away to expedite their escape, 
 and with the bodies of those who were overtaken and 
 trampled down by the English cavalry. Thirteen thou- 
 sand Scots are said to have perished in the flight and 
 pursuit, while only 1500 were taken prisoners — a circum- 
 stance which shows the intensity of hatred with which 
 the English were animated on the occasion. This engage- 
 ment has been commonly called the battle of Pinkie, 
 from the mansion of that name which stood in the 
 neighbourhood. It was now expected that Somerset 
 would follow up his success, and for a short time he 
 seemed inclined to undertake the sieges both of Leith 
 and Edinburgh. But the spirit of the Scots was not to 
 be subdued by even a deadlier defeat than that of 
 Pinkie ; and they prepared themselves, as they had 
 done after the battle of Flodden, for a stubborn and 
 unanimous resistance. The protector, therefore, instead 
 of advancing, commenced his march for England, and 
 crossed the Tweed on the 29th. His victory, also, so far 
 from having accomplished the matrimonial union of the 
 two crowns, extinguished every prospect of such an 
 event; for on a proposal being made by the French court 
 to unite the infant queen of Scotland in marriage with 
 the dauphin, the measure was gladly assented to by the 
 Scottish nobles, in consequence of which a powerful 
 French force was sent to their aid; and Mary Stuart, 
 now in her sixth year, was sent to the court of France; 
 to be educated as its future queen. Somerset, in conse- 
 quence of this disappointment, was eager for revenge, 
 and repeatedly sent troops into Scotland; but the courage 
 of the people had now recovered so completely, and 
 the aid of the French veterans was so effective, that 
 these invasions, which were conducted upon a small 
 scale, were wholly abortive, and in most cases attended 
 with signal defeat. 
 
 No English military movement of importance occurred 
 during the rest of the short life of Edward VI. or the reign 
 of his sister Mary. The chief contention that now raged 
 was a war of religious opinions, in the intensity of which 
 the grounds of political strife were leduced to mere se- 
 condary importance. An event which accelerated the 
 final downfall of popery in England, was the taking of 
 Calais by the French. This town, the chief acquisition 
 of Edward III., had since that early period remained in 
 
 t
 
 LOSS OF CALAIS. 313 
 
 possession of the English, and although it was compara- 
 tively valueless, it had continued to be held at a great 
 expense as a trophy of the former conquest of France. 
 From an idea that it was impregnable during the winter 
 season, the garrison at that time was always greatly re- 
 duced, a circumstance that did not escape the attention 
 of the active and enterprising duke of Guise, who unex- 
 pectedly appeared before the walls with a large army 
 on the 1st of January, 1558. The defenders were so few 
 that they could offer no eflectual resistance, and in 
 eight days their enemies were masters of a town which 
 had been in possession of England for 211 years. The 
 triumph of the French on this occasion could only be 
 equalled by the grief and rage of the English. But the 
 latter might have consoled themselves with the thought, 
 that by such an event a most pernicious reign was drawn 
 more speedily to a close. Towards the end of the year 
 Mary sickened and died, declaring to her attendants 
 with her last breath, that when she was opened they 
 would lind Calais lying in her heart. 
 
 On the succession of the sagacious and lion-hearted 
 ■ Elizabeth, A. D. 1558, the situation of England was cri- 
 tical in the extreme. The piinciples of the Reformation 
 had now made such progress, that they were entertained 
 by the majority of the people ; but still so large a por- 
 tion of the ancient aiistocracy, as well as the commons, 
 adhered to the church of Rome, that a civil war seemed 
 to be at hand. Had the queen in this case possessed the 
 temper of her headstrong father, or her bigotted sister, 
 such a result would have been inevitable, and the atro- 
 cities of the religious wars of France would have been 
 repeated in England. But fortunately for the country, 
 Elizabeth was so temperate, or rather so cool upon the 
 subject, that her adherence to the Reformation was at 
 first only suspected, rather than ascertained ; and her 
 measures were so prudent, that the hopes and fears of 
 both parties were held in suspense, whilst she laid the 
 foundations of Protestantism, and silently raised the su- 
 perstructure. Thus when the ancient institutions of the 
 national faith had been stealthily sapped, and were about 
 to fall, its adherents awoke as from a dream, only to dis- 
 cover that their opportunity had elapsed, and that all 
 resistance must be hopeless. Such was the general na- 
 ture of the wars of Elizabeth. The land was daily in- 
 P
 
 314 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 creasing in resources, and assuming a higher importance 
 among the nations of Europe — but it was not amidst tlie 
 clash of arms, and the blaze of military triumphs. The 
 mighty fabric, under her politic administration, rose in 
 silence like the temple of Solomon, where the sound of 
 the axe and hammer was unheard. Another circum- 
 stance which divested her reign of great and striking 
 niilitai-y events was, the existence of a new aggressive 
 power, which was now to constitute the right arm of 
 British warfare. This was the navy, which she sum- 
 moned from the comparative obscurity in which it had 
 hitherto languished, and to which she owed her greatest 
 safety and success ; and therefore the chief exploits of 
 her long reign are of a naval character, and were achieved 
 by the Howards, the Drakes, the Kaleighs, and the For- 
 bishers, whose abilities she so ably discovered and em- 
 ployed.* 
 
 When Elizabeth had composed the dissensions of Eng- 
 land, and found herself firmly established upon the throne, 
 she naturally turned her attention to Scotland, where 
 the war of religious opinion was at its height. In this 
 country, also, the Roman Catholic party would now have 
 formed a considerable minority, but for the countenance 
 of Mary of Guise, widow of James V. and regent of the 
 kingdom, and the aid of France, which of all nations had 
 now become the most zealous of propagandists ; and al- 
 though the protestant nobles and their followers were 
 numerous and brave, they were no match for Mary in 
 diplomacy, or for her French veterans in military sci- 
 ence. The latter had fortified themselves so strongly 
 in Leith, that all the eflbrts of the Scottish lords could 
 not dislodge them ; and in this emergency they ap- 
 plied for aid to the powerful and protestant queen of 
 England. Elizabeth at first was cautious in committing 
 
 * As the present work is designed to serve as an accompiniment to 
 the British Naval Biography, this circumstance will account for the 
 transitory notice or total omission of naval affairs durinar the progress 
 of our military narrative. As the rise also of our maritime frreatness 
 may be dated irora the destruction of the Spanish Arm ida, it will be 
 seen why so large a portion of Military Biosr.iphy should precede 
 that most important epoch. After the reign ot queen Elizabeth, the 
 history of our country is chiefly a naval history, and from tiiat period 
 therefore our Naval Biography commences its chief details. It is thus 
 hoped thit the two vohnnes wi I be found to supply and illustrate each 
 other, and comprise a complete account of the rise anM progress of 
 British dominion both by land and sta, from the invasion of Julius 
 Cuesar to the present pe'riod.
 
 SIEGE OF LEITH. 315 
 
 herself, as open measures would have embroiled her 
 with France ; she however supplied the applicants in se- 
 cret with many encouragements and some money, by 
 which they were enabled to persevere. At last, when so 
 open a measure could be hazarded with safety, GOOO 
 English soldiers were sent to Scotland, in April 1560, to 
 co-operate with the army of the protestaut lords, while an 
 English fleet blockaded the port of Leith to prevent the 
 arrival of succours from France. But although the French 
 garrison, which amounted to no more than 3000 men, 
 was thus cooped up by land and sea, it gallantly main- 
 tained the town, and inflicted severe losses upon the 
 numerous assailants. The English and Scots, indeed, 
 showed no lack, of their ancient courage and hardihood, 
 and on this occasion they fought for the first time side 
 by side, inspired by national emulation as well as reli- 
 gious zeal ; but during a long interval of comparative 
 peace their discipline had been neglected, while their 
 French antagonists had been perfected in military sci- 
 ence in the great wars of the continent. The only hope 
 of the besiegers therefore was to reduce the garrison by 
 famine, and as Elizabeth continued to send more troops 
 and money, they were enabled to persevere, notwith- 
 standing the terrible losses which they sustained in every 
 sortie. At last, after a resistance had been made the 
 gallantry of which was famed throughout Europe, and 
 when all their provisions were consumed, the garrison 
 reluctantly surrendered upon honourable terms, on the 
 7th of July. The governor d'Oisel, as soon as the con- 
 ditions were settled, politely invited the Scotch and Eng- 
 lish captains to a banquet ; and there, to their astonish- 
 ment, they were regaled with a rich variety of thirty or 
 forty dishes. But all this display of luxury was produced 
 from the flesh of a powdered horse, and a few herbs 
 gathered from the trenches, or the tops of the old walls. 
 It was no wonder that brave warriors, so skilled alike ia 
 cookery and fortification, were able to maintain them- 
 selves against the forces of two kingdoms, and at last 
 obtain a free passage to France in English vessels. One 
 circumstance that accelerated the surrender was, the 
 death of Mary of Guise, who died in Edinburgh castle 
 on the 10th of June. Elizabeth was by no means dis- 
 interested in thus sending aid to the protestant Scots 
 against their foreign enemies and domestic oppressors.
 
 316 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 On the contrary, it gave her a claim in the manage- 
 ment of Scottish affairs, which she took care to use for 
 her own interests ; and hy successfully fomenting: the 
 quarrels of different parties, she was enabled, under the 
 character of a mediator, to reduce all to her arbitration. 
 In this manner she contrived, during the several re- 
 gencies and afterwards in the reign of James VI., to 
 establish a more complete ascendancy over Scotland than 
 had ever been effected by the bravest and most success- 
 ful of her predecessors. 
 
 The great talents cf Elizabeth, and the wise ministers 
 by whom she was surrounded, not only sufficed to keep 
 the two rival kingdoms in a state of peace, but pre- 
 vented those numerous wars with continental powers in 
 which her position would otherwise have involved her. 
 Her brave admirals and well-manned ships kept foreign 
 enemies aloof, and inspired a dread of English prowess, 
 especially after the destruction of the Spanish Armada, 
 which had been hitherto unfelt among the nations of 
 Europe. Indeed, it was only when she remembered her 
 sex too well, and acted like a very woman, that she 
 tarnished the glory of her reign and detracted from the 
 merits of her own character. Such was the case in her 
 hostility to the unfortunate Mary Stuart, whom she 
 persecuted to the death for her superior beauty and ac- 
 complishments ; and such was also the case when she 
 translated her carpet-knight the earl of Leicester into a 
 general, and sent him to the aid of the United Provinces, 
 at the end of the year 1585. This gay courtier, who was 
 pitted against the duke of Parma, one of the best gene- 
 rals of Spain, squandered away the chances of the cam- 
 paign in a series of irretrievable blunders; but it is 
 questionable if even success itself would have atoned for 
 the loss of the brave and accomplished Sir Philip Sidney, 
 the ornament of the court, and pride of the nation, who 
 prematurely fell in a hopeless engagement before the 
 walls of Zutphen. After a long and glorious adminis- 
 tration, Elizabeth died on the 24th of March, 1603, in the 
 seventieth year of her age, and forty-fifth of her reign. 
 
 1
 
 317 
 
 SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. 
 
 This gallant officer, who was the son of Sir Henry 
 Sidney, by Mary, the eldest daug'hter of John Dudley, 
 duke of Northumberland, distiiigruished himself very 
 early at the court of Elizabeth ; for, after having made 
 the tour of Europe, he was esteemed such an accom- 
 plished young: gentleman, that in the year 1576, when he 
 was but in the twenty-second year of his age, he was 
 sent by the queen to congratulate Rodolph II., emperor 
 of Germany, on his accession to the imperial throne ; 
 and in his way home he visited don John of Austria, 
 STovernor of the Low Countries, a most haughty prince, 
 accustomed to treat all foreigners with insolent con- 
 tempt. Sir Philip Sidney, therefore, met with a very 
 cool reception ; but afterwards, upon the report of his 
 courtiers, that he was a gentleman of great learning 
 and knowledge of the world, though so young, the go- 
 vernor condescended to converse with him, and from that 
 time he showed him every possible mark of respect and 
 esteem. 
 
 Sir Philip possessed the ancient spirit of British free- 
 dom, which he exerted manfully upon all occasions, par- 
 ticularly when a quarrel happened between him and the 
 earl of Oxford at the royal tennis court, which was 
 carried to such lengths that the queen interposed, and 
 told Sidney ' to consider the difference in degree between 
 earls and gentlemen ; adding, that princes were under 
 a necessity to support the privileges of those on whom 
 they conferred titles and dignities ; and that, if gentle- 
 men contemned the nobility, it would teach peasants to 
 insult both.' To which he made the following reply, 
 with due reverence : ' That rank was never intended for 
 privilege to wrong; witness her majesty herself, who, 
 how sovereign soever she were by throne, birth, edu- 
 cation, and nature, yet was she content to cast her own 
 affections into the same moulds with her subjects, and 
 govern all her prerogatives by their laws; and he be- 
 sought her majesty to consider, that although the earl of 
 Oxford were a great lord by birth, alliance, and favour, 
 yet he was no lord over hhn ; and therefore, the differ-
 
 318 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 ence in degrees between free men could challenge no 
 other homage but precedency.' 
 
 With the same independent spirit he wrote an elegant 
 Latin letter to the queen, containing the soundest argu- 
 ments, founded on the principles of general policy, and 
 the constitution of the kingdom, dissuading her from the 
 marriage then nearly concluded between her majesty 
 and the duke of Anjou ; which letter was well received, 
 and is preserved in the British Museum. 
 
 But his natural fire and vivacity made him scorn the 
 idle life of a courtier, and led him on to the field of 
 military glory ; the queen, therefore, by the recom- 
 mendation of Walsingham, whose daughter he had mar- 
 ried, and of his uncle, the earl of Leicester, appointed 
 him governor of Flushing, and lieutenant-general of the 
 horse. Being arrived in Zealand, he formed a close 
 friendship and intimacy with Maurice, son of the prince 
 of Orange, and in conjunction with him entered Flanders^ 
 and took Axel by surprise. Though the prince is named 
 in this enterprise, yet the honour of the contrivance and 
 the execution of it is generally ascribed to Sidney, who 
 revived the ancient discipline of silent order on the 
 march: and by this conduct his soldiers were enabled to 
 scale the walls in the dead of night, when no enemy 
 was expected. Having succeeded so far, a chosen band 
 made directly to the guard chamber on the market place, 
 took the officers prisoners, and thus became masters of 
 the place before the commandant, who had the keys of 
 the town in his bed-chamber, had the least notice of the 
 surprise. 
 
 Encouraged by this success, he made an attempt upon 
 Gravelines; but the design proved abortive, through the 
 treachery of La Motte, the commanding officer. His 
 next and last service was at the siege of Zutphen. Here 
 he was constantly engaged in the heat of the action, 
 and signalized himself by prodigies of valour. He had 
 two horses killed under him, and was mounting a third, 
 when he was wounded by a musket-shot from the 
 trenches, which broke the bone of one of his thighs ; 
 and being then unable to manage his horse, the faithful 
 steed bore him from the field, • the noblest bier to carry 
 a martial commander to his grave.' In this agonizing 
 situation be rode to the camp, nearly a mile and a half
 
 PERROT. 319 
 
 distant, and passing by the rest of the army, faint with 
 the loss of blood, he called for drink ; but when it was 
 brought to him, as he was putting the bottle to his mouth, 
 he saw a poor soldier carried along more dangerously 
 wounded than himself, who cast a longing eye towards 
 the bottle. The generous, heroic Sidney observing this, 
 gave it to the soldier before he had tasted, saying — 
 ' Thy necessity is yet greater than mine.' He did not 
 drink until the soldier had been satisfied, and he was then 
 carried to Arnheim, where the principal surgeons were 
 stationed. During sixteen days they entertained hopes 
 of his recovery ; but at last, finding that they were not 
 able to extract the ball, and a mortification ensuing, 
 this brave man prepared to meet death with a pious 
 fortitude and resignation, correspondent to the great 
 actions of his life. He expired in the arms of his bro- 
 ther, Sir Robert Sidney, on the 17th of October, 1586, in 
 the thirty-second year of his age. 
 
 The states of Zealand requested of the queen that they 
 might have the honour of burjing him ; but this was 
 refused : and her majesty, in consideration of his un- 
 common merit, ordered the body to be embarked for 
 England, which was accordingly done, with the usual 
 military honours. It was received in the same manner at 
 the Tower ; and after lying in state several days, was 
 interred with great pomp in St. Paul's cathedral. But, 
 besides his military fame, he left an unfading memorial 
 of his fine genius, in his celebrated romance, entitled 
 'Arcadia.' 
 
 SIR JOHN PERROT. 
 
 Sir John Perbot was the reputed son of Thomas 
 Perrot, Esq. of South Wales, by Mary, the daughter and 
 heiress of James Berkeley, Esq. second son to the lord 
 Berkeley; but it was generally believed that he was the 
 natural son of Henry VIII., whom he greatly resembled 
 both in person and disposition. At the age of eighteen 
 he was received into the house of the marquis of Win- 
 chester, lord high treasurer, to complete his education. 
 His reputation for personal valour, strength, and dex- 
 terity in martial exercises, which had been his chief
 
 320 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 rural sports, reached London before hira, and it sev\:ed 
 to introduce an extraordinary scene in lord Winchester's 
 house on his arrival, which at once discovered the cast 
 of his disposition. One of the young noblemen, the lord 
 of Abergavenny, was so iierce and hasty, that no servant 
 or gentleman in the family could continue quiet for him ; 
 but when young Perrot came, his lordship was told 
 there was now a youth arrived who would be more than 
 a match for him. ' Is there such a one V said he ; ' let 
 me see hira.' Upon which, being brought where Perrot 
 was, for the first salutation he asked him, ' What, sir, 
 are you the kill-cow that must match me?' ' No,' said 
 Mr. Perrot, ' I am no butcher; but, if you use me no 
 better, you shall find I can give you a butcher's blow.' 
 ' Can you so?' said he ; 'I will see that.' And so, being 
 both angry, they fell to blows, till lord Abergavenny 
 found himself overmatched, and was willing to be parted 
 from him ; after which, the serving men and others, 
 when they found the young lord unruly, would threaten 
 him with Mr. Perrot. 
 
 But this trial of their skill produced for a time a re- 
 spectful behaviour to each other, which ripened into a 
 short-lived friendship : being founded, however, only on 
 a forced restraint of their fiery tempers, it was not likely 
 to be permanent. Accordingly, having agreed to make 
 a joint entertainment for their common acquaintance, 
 on the day appointed they quarrelled, upon what subject 
 is not known, and repairing to the buffet, wherein they 
 had provided good store of glasses, before their guests 
 came, they broke them all about each other's ears; so 
 that when they arrived, instead of wine, they found 
 blood spilled in the chamber, and the reproaches of their 
 mutual friends only served to widen the breach between 
 them. 
 
 Shortly after, it was Mr. Perrot's fortune to go into 
 Southwark (as it was supposed to a house of pleasure), 
 taking only a page with him, where he fell out with two 
 of the king's yeomen. They both drew on him ; but he 
 defended himself so valiantly, that the king, being then 
 at Winchester House, near the place, was told how 
 lustily a young gentleman had fought with two of his 
 majesty's servants. Henry being desirous to see hira, 
 sent for him, and demanded his name, country, and 
 kindred. This being boldly related, it pleased the king
 
 PERROT. 321 
 
 very highly to see so much valour and audacity in so 
 young a man; and therefore he desired him to repair to 
 the court, where he would bestow preferment on him. 
 It is hii-'hly probable that Perrot took this opportunity of 
 giving the king some intimation of his affinity to him. 
 Henry died soon after this interview, and it is beyond a 
 doubt, by the early notice taken of him at the court of 
 Edward VI., that he left some private instructions con- 
 cerning this youth : for, at the coronation, he was made 
 a knight of the Bath ; and soon after, when the marquis 
 of Southampton went into France to treat of a marriage 
 betwixt king Edward and the French king's daughter. 
 Sir John Perrot accompanied him. 
 
 The marquis being a nobleman who delighted much 
 in all feats of activity, keeping the most expert men 
 that could be found for most kinds of sport, the king of 
 France understanding this, engaged him to hunt the wild 
 boar; and, in the chase, it fell out that a gentleman 
 charging the boar did not hit right, so that the beast was 
 ready to run in upon him ; upon which, Sir John Perrot, 
 perceiving him to be in danger, came in to his rescue, 
 and, with a broad sword, gave the boar such a blow as 
 almost parted the head from the shoulders. The king 
 of France, who saw this, came presently to him, took 
 him about the middle, and, embracing him, called him 
 Beau-J'eile. Our English knight, thinking the king 
 came to try his strength, took his majesty also about the 
 middle, and lifted him up from the ground ; with which 
 the king was so far from being displeased, that he 
 offered him a good pension to serve him. To this com- 
 pliment Sir John Perrot nobly replied, ' That he humbly 
 thanked his majesty, but he was a gentleman that had 
 means of his own ; or, if not, he knew he served a gra- 
 cious prince, who would not see him want, and to whom 
 he had vowed his service during life.' 
 
 During the reign of queen Mary, Sir John Perrot was 
 regarded with an unfavourable eye, as a friend of the 
 Reformation, so that his life was chiefly passed in retire- 
 ment in the country. But his ambition and his hopes 
 revived on the accession of queen Elizabeth, from whom 
 he met with a most gracious reception, and he had the 
 honour to assist at her coronation, being one of the 
 knights who supported her canopy of state in the pro- 
 cession. From this time to the year 1572 nothing memo- 
 P 2
 
 822 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Table is related concerning Perrot ; but in that year his 
 valour and activity were employed in the service of his 
 country, and he was appointed lord president of the 
 province of Munster, in Ireland. This province was in 
 a desolate condition, having been laid waste by the earl 
 of Desmond and his accomplices, who were in actual 
 rebellion against the queen ; but chiefly by one Fitz- 
 morris, the earl of Desmond's lieutenant. Sir John 
 landed at Waterford on the 1st of March, 1572 ; and three 
 days after, the rebel Fitzmonis, by way of defiance, 
 burned the town of Kyllmalog, hanged the chief magis- 
 trate and others of the townsmen, and carried off all the 
 plate and wealth of the town; upon which, our new 
 president hastened to Dublin to take his oath before the 
 lord deputy, Sir Henry Sidney, to qualify himself to 
 proceed without delay against this cruel and arrogant 
 rebel. Upon his return to Cork, about the 10th of April 
 following, he instantly marched with his forces to Kyll- 
 malog, where he took up his quarters in a house that 
 had been partly burnt down, and then issued a pro- 
 clamation, inviting all the inhabitants who had fled to 
 return to their homes, which they did accordingly, and 
 began to build their gates, repair the town walls, and 
 rebuild their houses. After he had properly fortified 
 this place and restored tranquillity, he pursued the 
 rebels from place to place with such diligence, that they 
 never chose to come to a regular battle, only hazarding 
 slight skirmishes where they had the advantage of 
 situation ; which Sir John Perrot observing, he pursued 
 them night and day without remission, even in the midst 
 of winter, and lay out many nights in the field both in 
 frost and snow, enduring such hardships as would hardly 
 have been believed, if two of his followers, men of great 
 credit, had not related them. In less than the space of a 
 year, by continual pursuits, by harassing the rebel army, 
 and by cutting off" their communications, he entirely dis- 
 persed the power of Fitzmorris, and made him glad to 
 sue for pardon, off"ering to submit himself to the queen's 
 mercy; which Sir John Perrot consented to grant, but 
 in the following humiliating manner. Fitzmorris came 
 to Kyllmalog, where, in the church, the lord president 
 caused him to lie prostrate, putting the point of his sword 
 to his heart, in token that he had received his life at 
 the queen's hands. Then he took a solemn oath to con-
 
 PERROT. 323 
 
 tinue a true subject to the crown of Englatid, whereby 
 the province of iMunster was restored to as good a btate 
 of peace and obedience as any part of Ireland. 
 
 The severity Sir John Perrot had exercised in the 
 course of his campaigns, in order to put an end to the 
 rebellion, particularly his hanging up some merchants 
 ■who supplied the rebel forces with provisions and brandy, 
 and his obliging the earl of Thomond, with other Irish 
 noblemen, whom he suspected to be secret favourers of 
 the rebellion, to follow his camp, occasioned some heavy 
 complaints to be sent home against him, accusing him 
 of abuse of authority. His temper took fire upon the 
 first reproofs transmitted to him from the ministry of 
 England, and without waiting for leave of absence, he 
 suddenly embarked for England, in March 1.573. When 
 he came to court, it was thought that the queen would 
 have been highly offended at his coming over without 
 licence. Yet as soon as he appeared before her, and had 
 related the state of Ireland, the particulars of his ser- 
 vices, and the cause of his coming over, her majesty 
 commended his conduct, and desired him to return 
 speedily to his charge, lest in his absence some disturb- 
 ance might arise : to which Sir John answered, that for 
 the general state of the province, it was so well settled 
 that no new commotion on a sudden need to be feared ; 
 yet there were many particulars which might be amended 
 ■without any great difficulty, which being allowed by her 
 highness, he was ready to serve her there, whensoever 
 it should please her to appoint him ; and that the same 
 might be the better understood, he presented a plan to 
 the queen, to be considered by her majesty and her privy 
 council. In general, it contained many excellent regu- 
 lations; but the carrying some of them into execution 
 was likely to be attended with greater inconveniences 
 than those he intended to remove, and he himself 
 owned the difficulty of accomplishing some points. The 
 fact is, he was a better soldier than a statesman; but 
 being unable to brook opposition, on the council reject- 
 ing his plan, he desired leave to retire for his health to 
 his estate in Wales. 
 
 Sir John Perrot had enjoyed his retirement but a few 
 years, when, upon intelligence that Fitzmorris, since his 
 submission, had been in Spain, and piocured the promise 
 of ships and men to invade Ireland, the queen sent for
 
 324 JIILITARV HISTORY. 
 
 him to take the command of such ships as should be 
 ready, to intercept the Spanish armament. Sir John 
 made such speed that he came from Pembrokeshire to 
 Greenwich in less than three days. The queen, when 
 she saw him, told him, she thought he had not heard 
 from her so soon : ' Yes, madam,' answered he, ' and 
 Lave made as much haste as I might to come unto your 
 majesty.' ' So methinks,' said the queen, ' hut how 
 have you done to settle your affairs in the country?' 
 • May it please your Majesty,' said Sir John, ' I have 
 taken this care for all ; that setting private business 
 aside, in respect of your majesty's service, I have ap- 
 pointed the white sheep to keep the black : for I may 
 ■well enough venture them, when I am willing to ven- 
 ture my life in your majesty's service.' With which 
 answer the queen was Mell pleased, and she conferred 
 •with him privately for some time; then dismissed him, 
 and appointed him to receive farther directions for that 
 service from the lords of her privy council. 
 
 After this interview with the queen, he prepared 
 for his expedition with all speed ; and the fleet being 
 ready. Sir John left London about August, 1578, and 
 "went from thence in his barge, accompanied by several 
 noblemen and gentlemen. As they lay against Green- 
 wich, where the queen kept her court, Sir John sent 
 one of his gentlemen on shore, with a diamond, as a 
 token to Mrs. Blanch Parry, willing him to tell her, 
 that a diamond coming unlooked for did always bring 
 good luck with it : which the queen hearing, sent Sir 
 John a fair jewel hung by a white cypress ; signifying, 
 that as long as he wore that for her sake, she believed, 
 ■with God's help, he should have no harm. The message 
 and jewel Sir John received joyfully, and he returned 
 answer to the queen, ' That he would wear that for his 
 sovereign's sake, and doubted not, with God's favour, 
 to return her ships in safety, and either to bring the 
 Spaniards (if they came in his way) as prisoners, or else 
 to sink them in the seas.' As Sir John passed by in his 
 barge, the queen looking out at the window shook her 
 fan, and put out her hand towards him, upon which he 
 made a low obeisance, while he put the scarf and jewel 
 about his neck ; and then repaired to his squadron, 
 which was riding at anchor off Gillingham, and con- 
 sisted of three ships of the line and three pinnaces. He
 
 PERROT. 32.7 
 
 sailed from thence to the Downs, and passing by Fal- 
 mouth and Plymouth put to sea for Ireland, and arrived 
 at Baltimoi-e, a sea-port town in the province of Munster. 
 The people, in grateful remembrance of his former go- 
 vernment, appeared in great numbers upon the shore 
 upon his landing, some embracing his legs, and others 
 pressing to touch their deliverer from the cruelties of 
 Desmond and Fitz-Morris : but these marks of their af- 
 fection had nearly produced fatal consequences ; for the 
 vice admiral, mistaking them for some hostile intention, 
 had pointed his guns to fire upon them, which Sir John 
 perceiving, instantly sent oflf a boat with proper signals, 
 to invite him on shore. 
 
 'J'he squadron remained on the coast till the season 
 was far advanced, and ijitelligence was received that 
 the Spaniards had laid aside their design for that year, 
 when it was ordered home. Sir John on his return was 
 graciously received at court, and permitted to retire to 
 his estate in Wales ; but the affairs of Ireland still re- 
 mained in an unsettled state. Rebellion and lawless 
 licentiousness destroyed all order, and rendered private 
 property, as well as the lives of the inhabitants, inse- 
 cure. In this situation of things, as no commander 
 could be found of equal intrepidity and capacity for the 
 service, Sir John Perrot, by the advice of Walsinghara, 
 was appointed lord deputy of Ii-eland, in 1583. 
 
 Before his departure, he drew up a plan for the go- 
 rernraent of the country, which was approved by the 
 queen and council ; and as if there had been magic in 
 his very name, his landing in Ireland struck the rebels 
 of every faction with a panic ; so that when it was known 
 that he proposed to make a progress through the country, 
 many considerable parties came to Dublin, and made 
 their submission. But O'Neale, O'Donnel, Connaught, 
 and several other considerable Irish chiefs, still re- 
 mained in arms, and were supported from Rome by the 
 pope with money, while the Spaniards occasionally 
 landed small detachments of men, hea-.ed by veteran 
 officers, to discipline the raw Irish rebels. A resolution, 
 therefore, which had been taken in England to proceed 
 in a summary way with the Irish, was carried into exe- 
 cution with great rigour ; and as many innocent persons 
 suflered with the guilty, this raised a great clamour 
 against the lord deputy, who was charged with exceed-
 
 325 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 iiig" bis commission. His commission empowered him to 
 execute the rebels as traitors by martial law, when found 
 in arms, and to sell their estates on the spot to any ad- 
 venturers, at easy rates, who would undertake to culti- 
 vate and improve the land. This brought over many 
 persons from England, often of bad characters, but pos- 
 sessed of money, to buy the forfeited estates; and the 
 lord deputy was accused of favouring the rapacity of 
 these purchasers, and of hanging some considerable 
 men, v/hose guilt was not very apparent, that he might 
 put an end to the rebellion on their extensive estates, 
 by the sale of the lands. The charges however, though 
 vague and ill-supported, were founded upon the abuses 
 of the purchasers. Whole baronies were exposed to sale, 
 and the new proprietors turned the innocent Irish as 
 well as the guilty out of their possessions. Yet this mea- 
 sure was politic ; for the chiefs, seeing that they should 
 not only ruin themselves, but their posterity, by conti- 
 nuing in arms against the queen, came in bodies to the 
 lord deputy on his progress, to surrender in time, parti- 
 cularly O'Neale and all his adherents, and the lords of 
 Ulster, who swore fidelity to the queen, and gave hos- 
 tages, that they would raise troops for her service against 
 the other rebels. 
 
 But Sir John Perrot's temper was suited only to the 
 field. His impatience of control in the council made 
 him unfit for the milder duties of civil government ; and, 
 therefore, every remonstrance from the queen and her 
 ministry, founded on complaints sent home against him, 
 exasperated him beyond measure ; and upon these occa- 
 sions he would vent his wrath in the most disrespectful 
 and indecent terms against the queen. 
 
 At length, he displeased the English as well as the 
 Irish ; for the queen having sent over a proclamation to 
 repress the rapacity of the foi-mer, in the purchases of 
 the forfeited estates, he executed it with such rigour, 
 that the country reaped the benefit, many of the natives 
 being reinstated. But it made the English outrageous 
 against him; and as to the Irish nobility, their nearest 
 relations having been either executed by him, or de- 
 prived of their estates, they secretly sought his ruin. At 
 length, the discontent against him ran so high in Ire- 
 land, and the queen was so displeased with his rude be- 
 haviour towards herself, that she recalled him in 1588.
 
 PEKROT. 327 
 
 And this led him into another error, the consequence of 
 his proud spirit ; for instead of embarking for London, 
 and making use of his remaining interest at court, he 
 set sail from Dublin for his castle of Carew in Pem- 
 brokeshire, and an'ived there with a numerous and 
 splendid retinue. Such a step could not fail of alarming 
 the queen, especially as it was now reported, and after- 
 wards made an article of his impeachment, that he held 
 a secret correspondence with the duke of Parma and 
 the queen's foreign enemies. After four years of delay, 
 during which the resentment of his adversaries had not 
 slept, he was brought to trial, on the 2rth of April, 1592, 
 in Westminster-hall, a special commission being granted 
 for that purpose to the lord chancellor and the two chief 
 justices. 
 
 The only charge proved against him was, his having 
 treated the person and character of the queen contume- 
 liously ; but by the artful management of Popham, the 
 attorney-general, he was convicted upon the other a'.ti- 
 cles of the accusation, which were, that he had relieved 
 Popish priests, that he held a secret correspondence with 
 the queen's foreign enemies, and that he had fostered 
 the commotions in Ireland. Nothing could be more ab- 
 surd than the last article, since it was evident, on the 
 contrary, that Ireland had never been in such a state of 
 tranquillity as when he presided over it. But the true 
 motive of his condemnation was, his own imprudent 
 boastings, that he was the queen's brother, that she 
 knew his value too well to let him fall a sacrifice to his 
 ' frisking adversaries;' and that whenever the Spaniards 
 landed a force in Ireland to join the disaffected there, 
 he should then be cherished again, and be, once more, 
 one of her White Boys. In a word, finding he had 
 deceived himself by an ill-grounded confidence in the 
 secret of his birth and his great military services, his 
 violent passions, after sentence of death was passed on 
 him, preyed on his constitution, and in September he 
 died in the Tower, leaving it doubtful whether Elizabeth 
 intended to have pardoned him.
 
 828 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 From the Accession of James I. to the death of 
 Charles I. 
 
 That great national event, the union of the English and 
 Scottish crowns, which had occasioned so many wars, 
 and cost so much bloodshed, was peaceably accomplished 
 by the accession of James VI. of Scotland to the English 
 throne. It might have been expected that national pride 
 and resentment would have imposed insuperable, or at 
 least serious difficulties to such a measure ; but from the 
 wars of the houses of York and Lancaster, the English 
 had sufficiently learned the evils of a contested succes- 
 sion. James was therefore received with all the cordial 
 welcome of a native sovereign. 
 
 Although the reign of James I. of England was so 
 pacific as to furnish no events for the military annalist, 
 those causes that produced the subsequent civil war by 
 which the monarchy was overturned, were mainly in- 
 debted for their origin to his political mismanagement. 
 The new king's ideas of the royal prerogative were 
 so high, that they would only have suited an eastern 
 despot, or the darkest period of the middle ages, while, 
 on the other hand, the principles of liberty were now 
 too well understood by the nation to allow such assump- 
 tions to be tolerated. James, a very pedant in theology, 
 would first settle the fomi and spirit of the Anglican 
 church ; and this he did in so despotic a manner, that 
 he gave mortal offence to the puritan party, who com- 
 posed a large part of the nation. He was also devoted 
 as much as ever king had been to worthless favourites, 
 to enrich whom he was obliged to apply frequently to 
 his parliament for money. But the House of Commons 
 now possessed many enlightened, high-spirited, and in- 
 dependent members, who refused such claims, while they 
 expressed their indignation at the arrogance with which 
 they were urged. As if it had not been enough also to 
 kindle such a spirit in England, he repeated the blunder 
 in Scotland, where he endeavoured to overturn the pres- 
 byterian system, and introduce his favourite episcopacy 
 in its stead. But the Scots, who were devoted to their 
 national church, as well as jealous of their civil rights, 
 arose as one man against the innovation. Well has it
 
 ARBITRARY RULE OF CHARLES L 329 
 
 been observed, that James was one of those kings whom 
 God seems to send for the express purpose of hastening 
 revolutions. 
 
 James died on the 27th of March, 1625, after a reign 
 of twenty-two years over England, during which period 
 his administration filled all parties with indignation or 
 contempt. None but a sovereign of the highest talents, 
 and one conformable to the advanced spirit of the age, 
 would have been suited for such a crisis ; but Charles I. 
 the unfortunate successor of James, was not such a sove- 
 reign. He had been educated in all the arbitrary no- 
 tions of his father, so that he imagined his will alone 
 should be the sole dictator of church and state, and with 
 archbishop Laud for his spiritual counsellor, and lord 
 Strafford for his superintendent in political matters, the 
 revolutionary spirit of the nation reached its crisis. All 
 liberty of opinion was stifled by the remorseless punish- 
 ments of the Star Chamber, and the prisons were filled 
 with those unfortunate victims who had expressed their 
 aversion to the prevailing tyranny. But it was in this 
 dark hour that a champion arose to give fearless utter- 
 ance to the feelings of the nation. This was the illus- 
 trious John Hampden. The king had for some years 
 levied the tax of tonnage and poundage, not only with- 
 out the authority of parliament, but in an oppressive 
 manner, and Hampden being called on for his share, 
 refused compliance. His estate in Buckinghamshire was 
 assessed in the sum of twenty shillings, but notwith- 
 standing the smallness of the sum, he resolved to risk 
 the hazard of an opposition to the royal authority, and 
 the expenses of a trial ; and accordingly the case was 
 solemnly argued for twelve days in the Exchequer 
 Chamber. The arguments in favour of Hampden's cause 
 could not be rebutted by the royal advocates, and of 
 the twelve judges only seven voted against him. But 
 although he thus lost his cause, and exposed himself to 
 royal persecution, this small majority was justly con- 
 sidered as a triumph rather than a defeat by the friends 
 of Hampden and national freedom. 
 
 It was from Scotland, however, that the first ominous 
 trumpet-blast of onset was sounded. The opposition 
 which the king met with in England, in his endeavours 
 to establish uniformity of worship, might have checked 
 his impatience to introduce the same innovations in the
 
 330 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 church of Scotland ; but he persisted in this measure, 
 and excited such a spirit of opposition in the Scotch, 
 that they entered into a covenant to suppress the bishops, 
 and resist the royal authority. This was considered as 
 an open declaration of war, and Charles summoned the 
 nobility of England, who held lands of the crown, to 
 fnrnish troops to suppress the confederacy. In 1 039, the 
 covenanters prepared in earnest for war. Many of their 
 officers had acquired reputation in the German cam- 
 paigns, particularly under Gustavus Adolphus; and tliey 
 were invited over to assist their country in the present 
 crisis. The command was entrusted to Lesley, a soldier 
 of experience and ability. Forces were regularly en- 
 listed and disciplined, and arms were imported from fo- 
 reign countries. A few castles which belonged to the 
 king, being unprovided with victuals, ammunition, and 
 garrisons, were soon seized ; and nearly the whole 
 country being in the covenanters' hands, was soon put 
 into a tolerable posture of defence. Charles, on the other 
 hand, was not deficient in his endeavours to oppose this 
 formidable combination. His fleet was formidable and 
 •well supplied; and having put 5000 land-forces on board, 
 he entrusted it to the marquis of Hamilton, who had or- 
 ders to sail to the Frith of Forth, and cause a diversion 
 in the forces of the malcontents. An anny was levied of 
 nearly 20,000 foot and 3000 horse, and put under the com- 
 mand of the earl of Arundel ; the king himself joined 
 the army, and summoned all the peers of England to at- 
 tend him. The whole had the appearance of a splendid 
 court rather than a military armament, and in this situ- 
 ation the camp arrived at Berwick. The Scottish army 
 was as numerous as that of the king, but inferior in 
 cavalry. The officers had more experience ; and the 
 soldiers, though ill disciplined and armed, were ani- 
 mated by that religious enthusiasm which occasioned the 
 war. They punctually observed the king's proclamation, 
 not to approach within ten miles of the borders, till the 
 earl of Holland marched into Scotland by the way of 
 Kelso, with 3000 foot and 1000 horse, and then Lesley, 
 the Scotch general, sent a body of forces to oppose his 
 march ; upon which the earl thought fit at last to retire. 
 The Scots now thought they should be justified in ap- 
 proaching the borders, and Lesley marched towards 
 Kelso with 12^000 men ; upon which the king saw his
 
 RESISTANCE OF THE COVENANTERS. 331 
 
 mistake, in thinking their obedience to his proclamation 
 was the effect of fear. He had still a farther reason to 
 diilike the expedition, when his generals advised him, 
 upon the approach of the Scots, not to give battle, though 
 he was superior to them in numbers. In consequence of 
 this mutual forbearance, a treaty was entered into, on 
 June 17, in which it was stipulated, that the king should 
 withdraw his fleet and army ; that within forty-eight 
 hours the Scots should dismiss their forces ; that the 
 king's forts should be restored to him ; his authority be 
 acknowledged ; and a general assembly and parliament 
 be immediately summoned, in order to compose all dif- 
 ferences. 
 
 This peace was not of long duration. Charles could 
 not prevail on himself to abandon the cause of episco- 
 pacy, and secretly intended to seize every favourable 
 opportunity to recover the ground he had lost. But no 
 sooner had he concluded the peace, than he was obliged 
 to disband his army, from want of money ; while the co- 
 venanters, in dismissing their troops, had been careful 
 to preserve nothing but the appearance of a pacification. 
 In 1610, however, he contrived to draw an army toge- 
 ther; but, finding himself unable to support it, he was 
 obliged to call a parliament, after an intermission of 
 about eleven years. As the sole design of the king was 
 to obtain a supply, and the only reason the members 
 had for attending was to procure a redress of grievances, 
 it is not to be supposed there could be any harmony 
 between them. The king accordingly insisted on money, 
 and the parliament on their grievances, till a disso- 
 lution ensued. Money, however, was partly solicited 
 and partly wrung from other sources, which enabled the 
 king, though with great difficulty, to march his army, 
 consisting of 19,000 foot and 2000 horse. The Scots, 
 though somewhat superior, were sooner ready than the 
 king, and marched to the borders of England. Not- 
 withstanding their warlike preparations and hostile 
 attempts, the covenanters still preserved the most sub- 
 missive language, and entered England with no other 
 design, they said, than to obtain access to the king-'s 
 presence, and lay their humble petition at his feet. At 
 Newburn upon Tyne they were opposed by a detach- 
 ment of 4500 men under Conway, who seemed resolute 
 to dispute with them the passage of the river. The Scots
 
 332 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 first entreated them, with great civility, not to stop them 
 in their march to their gracious sovereign; and then 
 attacked them with gi-eat bravery, killed several, and 
 chased the rest from their ground. Such a panic seized 
 the whole English army, that the forces at Newcastle 
 fled immediately to Durham : and, not yet thinking 
 themselves safe, they deserted that town and retreated 
 into Yorkshire. 
 
 The Scots now continued to advance, and despatched 
 messengers to the king, who was arrived at York. They 
 took care, after the advantage they had gained, to re- 
 double their expressions of loyalty, and they even made 
 apologies full of contrition for their late victory. But 
 Charles was in a very distressed condition; as he was 
 obliged to subsist the Scottish army as well as his own 
 to save the northern counties from spoliation. He was 
 obliged therefore to call together that parliament by 
 whose doom his ruin was afterwards sealed, and lay be- 
 fore them an account of his necessities, with urgent re- 
 quests for money. They answered by impeaching his 
 chief minister, the earl of Strafford, to whose evil counsel 
 they attributed the chief evils of this reign, and after a 
 long trial he was proclaimed guilty of high treason, and 
 subsequently brought to the block. 
 
 This successful example of the Scots was not lost upon 
 the leaders of the English parliament, and after a suc- 
 cessful impeachment both of Laud and Strafford, they 
 proceeded to more vigorous measures. Tonnage and 
 poundage were declared to be illegal, and those officers 
 who had levied it even by the king's authority were 
 condemned, and heavily fined. The sentences of the 
 Star Chamber were condemned or reversed, and the 
 judges who had given sentence against Hampden were 
 impeached, and obliged to give security for their ap- 
 pearance. In consequence of the Irish rebellion the 
 parliament levied money, ostensibly for the purpose of 
 suppressing it ; but having thus strengthened themselves 
 with the means of resistance, they stored it up for the 
 conflict which now inevitably impended. And Charles 
 himself, still untaught by the signs of the times, acce- 
 lerated that fatal crisis by an act of almost incredible 
 infatuation. Having given orders to the attorney-general 
 to enter an accusation of high treason against lord Kim- 
 bolton. Sir Arthur Hazelrig, Hollis, Hampden, Pym, and
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF THE CIVIL WAR. 333 
 Strode, whom the parliament refused to deliver up to 
 his messeng-ers, he followed up the rash deed by repair- 
 ing' to the House of Commons attended by a few guards, 
 with the purpose of seizing the persons of the accused, 
 but who in consequence of a friendly warning had left 
 the hall a few moments before he an-ived. This flagrant 
 violation of the national rights closed the door upon far- 
 ther reconciliation, and both parties began to prepare for 
 war, while each was anxious to avoid the blame of hav- 
 ing commenced it. This however was at last incuned by 
 the king. ' His towns,' he said, ' were taken from him ; 
 his ships, his army, and his money: but there still re- 
 mained to him a good cause, and the hearts of his 
 loyal subjects; which, with God's blessing, he doubted 
 not would recover all the rest.' Collecting therefore 
 some forces, he advanced southwards, and erected his 
 royal standard at Nottingham, on the 25th of August, 
 1C42. 
 
 The ting found himself supported in the civil war by 
 the nobility and more considerable gentry. On the other 
 hand, the city of London, and most of the great corpora- 
 tions, took part with the parliament. At first every ad- 
 vantage seemed to lie against the royal cause. The king 
 was totally destitute of money. London, and all the 
 sea-ports except Newcastle, being in the hands of parlia- 
 ment, they were secure of a considerable revenue ; and, 
 the seamen naturally following the disposition of the 
 ports to which they belonged, the parliament had the 
 entire dominion of the sea. The nature and qualities 
 of his adherents alone gave the king some compensation 
 for all the advantages possessed by his adversaries. Had 
 the parliamentary forces, however, exerted themselves 
 at first, they might have easily dissipated the small 
 number which the king had been able to collect, and 
 which amounted to no more than 800 horse and 300 foot; 
 while his enemies were within a few days' march of 
 him with 6000 men. In a short time the parliamentary 
 army was ordered to march to Northampton ; and the 
 earl of Essex, who had joined it, found the whole to 
 amount to 15,000. The king's army too was soon rein- 
 forced from all quarters ; but still, having no force 
 capable of coping with the parliamentary army, he 
 thought it prudent to retire to Derby, and from thence 
 to Shrewsbury.
 
 334 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 While Charles lay at Shrewsbury, he received the news 
 of an action, the first that had happened in this war, 
 and in which his party was victorious. On the appear- 
 ance of commotions in England, the princes Rupert and 
 Maurice, sons of his unfortunate brother-in-law the 
 elector palatine, had offered their services to the king ; 
 and the former at that time commanded a body of horse 
 which had been sent to Worcester in order to watch the 
 motions of Essex, who was marching towards that city. 
 No sooner had the prince arrived, than he saw some 
 cavalry of the enemy approaching the gates. Without 
 delay he briskly attacked them, as they were defiling 
 from a lane, and forming themselves : colonel Sandys 
 their commander was killed, and the whole party was 
 routed, and pursued above a mile. 
 
 On the 23d of October, 1642, a great battle was fought 
 between the two armies, at Keynton, or Edge-hill, in 
 Warwickshire. The king's troops at first had the ad- 
 vantage ; but prince Rupert pursuing Essex's routed 
 cavalry too far, the foot of the royal army were so pressed 
 by the parliamentarians that they were in danger of 
 being totally defeated. Sir William Balfour, who com- 
 manded a body of reserve under lord Essex, even took 
 the royal standard; but it was afterwards recovered. 
 Both sides claimed the victory, and both sides sustained 
 very great loss, the number of the slain being about 5000. 
 The next day they faced one another from morning till 
 evening, without either desiring to renew the fight. The 
 king took Banbury Castle two or three days after, and 
 then retired to Oxford. The king's friends in the city 
 and parliament now pressed for peace ; and as the par- 
 liament could not properly refuse such a proposal, they 
 sent to desire a safe conduct for a committee, which the 
 king granted. In the mean time he began to march 
 towards London, either with a design to surprise the 
 city, or raise such commotions thei'e as might turn to 
 his advantage. But he was followed closely by the earl 
 of Essex, who an-ived with his army near London about 
 the same time that the king reached Colnbrook. Here 
 Charles received the parliament's petition, to which 
 he returned a gracious answer ; so that they sent orders 
 to their forces to forbear all acts of hostility. But in a 
 few hours after the king marched towards Brentford, 
 where some of the parliament's troops were quartered.
 
 PROGRESS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 335 
 
 As soon as he airived (November 12,) he attacked the 
 lown, and, after a smai-t action, ■nherein many of the 
 parliament's soldiers were slain, and others driven into 
 the river, he became master of the place. The earl 
 of Essex immediately posted to his army, which the 
 parliament took such expeditions measures to strengthen, 
 by the city trained-bands, that the king thinking not 
 fit to hazard a battle, withdrew to Kingston, and from 
 thence again to Oxford. There was a sharp fight at 
 Salt-heath, near Stafford, on the 19th of March, 1643, 
 which lasted four hours, till the earl of Northampton 
 being slain, the parliament's troops got the victory. The 
 same day Sir William Waller fell upon the lord Herbert, 
 as he was besieging Gloucester, killed 500 of his men, 
 and took 1000 prisoners. And about the same time, Sir 
 Ralph Hopton defeated a party of parliamentarians at 
 Bradockdown, in Cornwall, slew abundance of them, 
 and took 1200 prisoners. 
 
 In 1C43, the treaty for peace was carried on, but with- 
 out any cessation of hostilities ; and on the 27th of April, 
 Reading surrendered to the parliamentary forces under 
 the earl of Essex. The earl of Northumberland united 
 in a league for the king the counties of Northumberland, 
 Cumberland, Westmoreland, and the bishopric; and en- 
 gaged some time after other counties in the same as- 
 sociation. The same nobleman also took possession of 
 York, and dislodged the forces of the parliament at Tad- 
 caster. The earl of Stamford, the parliament's general 
 in the West, was defeated by Sir Ralph Hopton, in the 
 battle of Stratton. On the 18th of June, there was a fight 
 in Chaldgrave-field, in which the famous Mr. Hampden, 
 the great champion of English liberty, was slain. 
 
 The queen now joined her royal consort at Oxford, 
 with a good body of troops, and a considerable quantity 
 of artillery and ammunition, which she brought over 
 from Holland ; and on the 5th of July was fought the 
 battle of Lansdown, in which, though the marquis of 
 Hertford, who commanded for the king-, lost almost all 
 his horse, yet Sir William Waller was at last compelled 
 to quit the field. Sir William met with a woi'se fate on 
 the I3th, when at Roundway-down, in Wiltshire, he was 
 entirely defeated, 5 or 6000 of his men being killed, and 
 900 made prisoners. Then followed the siege of Bristol, 
 which surrendered to prince Rupert on the 25th of the
 
 S36 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 same month. Such a continued run of misfortune greatly 
 dispirited the parliamentarians; and such confusion now 
 prevailed in London, that some proposed to the king to 
 march directly to the metropolis ; but it was resolved 
 first to reduce Gloucester, in consequence of which he 
 would have the whole course of the Severn under his 
 command. 
 
 The siege of this city commenced on the 10th of Au- 
 gust ; hut being defended by Massey, a resolute governor, 
 and well garrisoned, it made a vigorous defence. At 
 length, however, it was reduced to the utmost ex- 
 tremity ; and the parliament, as their last resource, de- 
 spatched Essex with an army of 14,000 men, in order to 
 raise the siege. This he accomplished ; and when he 
 entered the city, he found only one barrel of gunpowder 
 left, and other provisions in the same proportion. The 
 earl, in his departure from Gloucester, made himself 
 master of Cirencester. 
 
 On the 20th of September, a long and bloody battle 
 was fought at Newbury. It continued from morning till 
 late at night, when the ting retired with his army, hav- 
 ing lost above twenty officers of note. Though the victory 
 was left undecided, Essex next morning proceeded on 
 his march, and reached London in safety, where he re- 
 ceived the applause for his conduct which he deserved. 
 The king followed him on his march ; and, having taken 
 possession of Reading after the earl left it, he there 
 established a garrison, and straitened by that means 
 London and the quarters of the enemy. On the 25th, 
 prince Maurice, brother to prince Rupert, took Exeter 
 for the king. 
 
 These however were but trivial skirmishes compared 
 •with those which followed when Fairfax, and especially 
 Cromwell, became the leading heroes of the war. Vic- 
 tory then settled upon the banner of the parliament, and 
 the royal cause was reduced to the lowest ebb by a series 
 of disastrous defeats. But it was while the king's affairs 
 thus went to decay in England, that they seemed to re- 
 vive a little in Scotland, through the conduct and valour 
 of the earl of Montrose. He had been introduced to the 
 king; but, not meeting with an agreeable reception, had 
 gone over to the covenantei's, and been active in for- 
 warding all their measures. Being commissioned, how- 
 ever, by the covenanting authorities to wait upon the
 
 SUCCESS OF MONTROSE. S37 
 
 king while the army lay at Berwick, he waa so gjiiutd 
 by the civilities and caresses of that monarcli, tlj;it he 
 theuceforth devoted himself entirely, thouuh secretly, to 
 his service. For attempting to form an association in 
 favour of the royal cause, Montrose was quickly thrown 
 into prison ; but, being again released, he found the 
 king ready to give ear to his counsels, which were of the 
 boldest and most daring kind. Though the whole of 
 Scotland was occupied by the covenanters, while great 
 armies were kept on foot, and every place guarded by a 
 vigilant administration, he undertook by his own credit 
 to raise such commotions, as would soon oblige those 
 Scottish forces to be recalled, which had so sensibly 
 turned the balance in favour of parliament. The defeat 
 at Marston-moor had left him no hope of succour from 
 England; he was therefore obliged to apply to the earl 
 of Antrim, a nobleman of Ireland, for some supply of 
 men from that country. After having used various dis- 
 guises and passed through many dangers, he arrived in 
 Scotland, and lay for some time concealed in the borders 
 of the Highlands. 
 
 The Irish did not exceed 1100 foot, very ill armed ; 
 but Montrose immediately put himself at their head ; 
 and, being joined by 1300 Highlanders, he attacked lord 
 Elcho, who lay at Perth with 6000 men, utterly defeated 
 him, and killed 2000 of the covenanters. He next 
 marched northwards, in order to rouse anew the mar- 
 quis of Huntly and the Gordons, who had formerly 
 taken arms, but been suppressed by the covenanters. 
 At Aberdeen, he attacked and entirely defeated lord 
 Burley, who commanded 2500 men. Montrose, however, 
 by this victory, did not obtain the end he proposed, for 
 the marquis of Huntly showed no inclination to join an 
 army where he was so much eclipsed by the general. 
 
 Montrose was now in a vei'y dangerous situation. Ar- 
 gyle, reinforced by the earl of Lothian, was behind him 
 with a great army : the militia of the northern counties, 
 to the number of 5000, opposed him in front, and guarded 
 the banks of the Spey. To save his t)oops, he turned 
 aside to the hills, and after some marches and counter- 
 marches, Argyle came up with him at Faivy castle ; and 
 here, after some skirmishes, in which he was always 
 victorious, Montrose got clear of a superior army, 
 and by a quick march through these almost inac- 
 
 Q
 
 338 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 cessible mountains put himself absolutely beyond their 
 power. 
 
 It was the misfortune of this general, that very good 
 or very ill fortune was equally destructive of his army. 
 After every victory, his Scottish soldiers went home to 
 enjoy the spoil, and, had his army been composed of 
 these only, he must have soon been abandoned alto- 
 gether: but his Irishmen, having noplace to which they 
 could retire, adhered to him in every change. With 
 these, therefore, and some reinforcements of the Athol- 
 men and Macdonalds, Montrose fell suddenly upon 
 Argyle's country, and let loose upon it all the horrors of 
 war. Argyle, collecting 3000 men, marched in quest of 
 the enemy, who had retired with their plunder ; and he 
 lay at Inverlochy, supposing himself to be still at a good 
 distance from them ; while the earl of Seaforth, at the 
 head of the garrison of Inverness, and a body of 5000 
 new-levied troops, pressed the royalists on the other side, 
 and threatened them with total destruction. But by a 
 sudden march Montrose hastened to Inverlochy, and 
 presented himself in order of battle before the cove- 
 nanters. Argyle alone, seized with a panic, deserted 
 his army ; but although deprived of their chief, they 
 made a vigorous resistance, and were at last defeated 
 and pursued with great slaughter. After this Montrose 
 was joined by a great number of Highlanders ; Sea- 
 forth's army dispersed of itself; and the lord Gordon, 
 eldest son to the marquis of Huntly, having escaped from 
 his uncle Argyle, who had hitherto detained him, now 
 joined Montrose with a considerable number of his fol- 
 lowers. 
 
 The council at Edinburgh, alarmed at these victories, 
 sent for Baillie, an officer of reputation, from England; 
 and, joining him in command with Urrey, sent them with 
 a considerable army against the royalists. Montrose, 
 with a detachment of 800 men, had attacked Dundee, 
 and, having carried it by assault, had given it up to be 
 plundered ; when Baillie and Urrey came suddenly upon 
 him. He instantly called oif his soldiers from plunder, 
 put them in order, and secured his retreat by the most 
 skilful dispositions ; and having marched sixty miles in 
 the face of an enemy much superior, without stopping, 
 or allowing his soldiers the least sleep or refreshment, 
 he at last secured himself in the mountains. His anta-
 
 DEFEAT OF MONTROSE. 339 
 
 gonists now imprudently divided their forces, to multiply 
 their chances of success. Urrey met him with 4000 
 men, at Alderne, near Inverness; and, trusting: to his 
 superiority in numbers (for Montrose had only 2000 men), 
 attacked him in the post which he had chosen. Mont- 
 rose, having placed his right wing in strong ground, 
 drew the best of his forces to the other, and left no main 
 body between them ; a detect which he artfully concealed 
 by showing a few men through trees and bushes with 
 ■which that ground was covered ; and that Urrey might 
 have no leisure to percei^e the stratagem, he instantly 
 led his left wing to the charge, made a furious attack on 
 the covenanters, drove them oflF the field, and obtained 
 a complete victory. Baillie now advanced, to re^ enge 
 Urrey's defeat ; but he also met with a similar fate at 
 Alford. Montrose, being weak in cavalry, lined his 
 troops of horse with infantry ; and, after putting the 
 enemy's horse to the rout, he fell wiih united force upon 
 their foot, which were entirely cut in pieces. Having 
 thus prevailed in so many battles, he prepared for 
 marching into the southern provinces, to put an end to 
 the power of the covenanters, and dissolve the parlia- 
 ment, which had been ordered to meet at St. Johnstone. 
 Nothing could be more welcome to the desponding 
 royalists in England than this unexpected success of 
 their cause in Scotland ; and had Charles but succeeded 
 in his march northward, so as to have united his forces 
 with those of Montrose, the civil war and its miseries 
 might have been fearfully protracted. But while the 
 king was fully occupied with Fairfax and Cromwell, the 
 covenanters in Scotland recovered from their temporary 
 panic, and recalled the skilful Leslie from the parlia- 
 mentary army to their defence. The tumultuary soldiers 
 of Montrose also, according to their usual custom, retired 
 in great numbers after their last victory to secure the 
 spoil ; and this successful chief, instead of being able to 
 occupy a single place of strength, was obliged to elude 
 his enemies by continual marches and countermarches. 
 In the mean time Leslie, who had ai-rived in Scotland 
 •with all his cavalry, followed the track of his opponent 
 so rapidly, that he came up with him near the village 
 of Philiphaugh, and joined battle without a moment's 
 delay. Montrose, who had so often surprised his enemies, 
 was now taken by surprise in turn ; his army was over-
 
 340 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 whelmed and annihilated ; and he himself escaped from 
 the field almost alone, and took refuge among- the fast- 
 nesses of the Highlands. 
 
 As the events of the life of Charles after the dis- 
 comfiture of Montrose are of a civil nature, as well as 
 universally known, they may be summed up in a few 
 words. After every place of refuge in England had suc- 
 cessively failed, he resolved to take refuge with the 
 Scottish army at Newcastle, from whom he hoped for 
 protection in extremity. But the Scots had already beet, 
 too deeply injured to be so easily reconciled, and it could 
 scarcely be expected that they would have opposed their 
 friends of the south, and renewed the war between the 
 two nations in behalf of one whose sincerity they had 
 cause to suspect. In this mood, they were sufficiently 
 ready to listen to the proposals of the English parlia- 
 ment ; and after a negotiation of four months, they con- 
 sented to deliver up the king on condition of being- paid 
 the long pending arrears that were due for the services 
 of their army. The stipulated sum was raised from the 
 sale of the bishops' lands, as the parliament had abolished 
 episcopacy in England, and the soldiers of the cove- 
 nant returned to their homes rejoicing in having thus 
 despoiled the ' priests of Baal.' And now the question 
 in England was, to which party of the state should the 
 keeping of the royal captive belong? But the Indepen- 
 dents, of whom the bulk of the army consisted, were 
 soon an overmatch for the Presbyterian parliament : 
 they possessed themselves of the royal person, and soon 
 quashed the negotiations which their rivals had been for 
 some time conducting with the king. The Presbyterians, 
 whose favourite theory of government was a limited 
 monarchy, had aimed in all their efibrts merely to re- 
 strain the absolutism of the king, and guard the liberty 
 of the subject; but the Independents, who were devoted 
 to republicanism, would be satisfied with nothing short 
 of the abolition of monarchy, and the erection of a Com- 
 monwealth upon its ruins. 
 
 A new exhibition was now afforded in the history of 
 civil government— a nation sitting in judgment upon 
 their sovereign, as a magistrate wlio had betrayed his 
 trust. Such was the end of those towering sentiments 
 respecting the divinity of kings, in which Charles 1. and 
 his more culpable father had so fondly put their trust.
 
 DECAPITATION OF CHARLES I. 341 
 
 In tbe beginning of 1649, all was ready for this unpre- 
 cedented trial, and Charles Stuart, king of England, was 
 formally impeached of high treason. The House of Lords 
 had refused to concur in this measure, and therefore 
 they were set aside, the Commons declaring that those who 
 were chosen by the people as their representatives were 
 the supreme authority in the state and the source of all 
 law. They erected therefore their high court of justice, 
 and before it their royal prisoner was summoned to an- 
 swer for his long course of mal-administration, and the 
 bloodshed he had occasioned during the civil war. 
 Charles, as might be expected, refused to recognise the 
 authority of this court, and objected to its proceedings 
 as informal ; but all his arguments were overruled. The 
 result is too well known to be repeated here. He was 
 sentenced to die the death of a traitor ; and while the 
 world looked on in perplexity and doubt, scarcely ima- 
 gining that such an event could be, the sentence was 
 carried into effect on the .30th of January, 1649. 
 
 From the beginning of these ominous conflicts, the 
 downfall of the royal cause could scarcely be doubtful. 
 To Charles, that singular compound of irresolution and 
 obstinacy, of religious bigotry and political insincerity, 
 were opposed the matchless perspicacity, energy, deci- 
 sion, and military skill, of Oliver Cromwell ; and to the 
 frivolous courtiers by whose counsels Charles was influ- 
 enced, there were such antagonists as Hampden, Pym, 
 and Vane, men who singly would have influenced 
 society in any nation or age. The disparity also was 
 almost as great in the military resources of the two par- 
 ties. The cavaliers were men of chivalrous courage, but 
 unsteady principle ; men who were terrible in the first 
 brunt of an onset, but who, when opposed and broken, 
 could never again be led back to the charge; while the 
 republican soldiers, to their natural courage and hardi- 
 hood, added a strength of religious enthusiasm that ne- 
 ver permitted them to doubt of the final success of the 
 ' good cause,' and made them ready at all times to die 
 in its defence. Men who were thus prompt to dare or 
 endure the uttermost, could not in the nature of things 
 be otherwise than successful ; and they only laid down 
 their swords when they had accomplished the destruction 
 of the royal power, and the establislimeut of a republic 
 in its stead.
 
 a.l2 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 
 
 Oliver Cromwell was born at Huntingdou in the 
 year 1599, and was descended from an ancient family of 
 Welsh extraction, originally of the name of Williams; 
 but one of his ancestors marrying the sister of Thomas 
 Cromwell, earl of Essex, a son by that marriage as- 
 sumed his mother's maiden name, and transmitted it to 
 his son Sir Henry Cromwell of Hinchinbrooke, grand- 
 father to Oliver. Mr. Robert Cromwell, his father, was 
 the second son of Sir Henry; and his mother was a 
 daughter of Sir Richard Stewart, of the isle of Ely. At 
 about the age of seventeen, Cromwell was sent to Sidney- 
 college in Cambridge, to pursue his studies; but without 
 reference to any particular profession. His father being 
 a younger brother, the scanty income of his estate was 
 not sufficient for the decent support of his family, con- 
 sisting of a son and four daughters, on which account 
 his mother engaged in some branch of the brewing 
 trade, without the participation of her husband, applying 
 the profits to raising portions for her daughters, whom 
 she married into good families. This was the situation 
 of the family, when Mr. Cromwell the father died, about 
 two years after his son had been at the university, and, 
 upon this event, he was called home by his mother; but 
 the irregularity of his conduct giving her great uneasi- 
 ness, she was advised to bring him up to the law, and, 
 in consequence, she sent him to Lincoln's Inn. How 
 ever, as she continued her business, this short residence 
 at home furnished an opportunity to the cavaliers to 
 style him contemptuously a brewer, and the son of a 
 brewer. 
 
 A fortunate incident soon took Oliver Cromwell from 
 the study of the law. Sir Richard Stewart, his maternal 
 uncle, bequeathed him an estate worth five hundred 
 pounds per annum: and, having now seen the folly of 
 dissipation, he retired into the country, and became as 
 sober and religious as he had formerly been extravagant. 
 For some time after he was a devout member of the 
 church of England ; but, upon paying his addresses to 
 Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir James Bouchier, of Essex, 
 whom he afterwards married he became acquainted
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 343 
 
 witb some eminent puritan ministers and gentlemen. 
 His wife being of that persuasion, be was soon prevailed 
 upon to adhere to their party, now growing very power- 
 ful ; and, by their interest, he was elected to serve in the 
 third parliament of Charles I. which met on the 17th 
 day of March, 1628, 
 
 When the king had dissolved this parliament, and 
 resolved to act upon his own responsibility, Cromwell 
 conducted himself with great prudence and caution. He 
 passed his time quietly in the isle of Ely, and devoted 
 himself to religious rather than political studies, fre- 
 quenting the meetings of the non-conformists, and dis- 
 tinguishing himself by his gifts of praying, preaching, 
 and expounding. But when the misguided monarch 
 had exhausted every expedient for levying money on his 
 subjects without the consent of parliament, and felt the 
 necessity of calling one, Cromwell ingratiated himself 
 with a leading man in Cambridge, and was chosen to 
 represent that city, in the parliament which was sum- 
 moned to meet on the "list of April, 1640. This, how- 
 ever, was dissolved by the king, when he found that it 
 would grant no money to prosecute a war against Scot- 
 land. But the unsettled state of the kingdom occasioned 
 petitions from the city of London, and other corporations, 
 for a new parliament; to which the king consented; 
 and the memorable long parliament met on the 3d of 
 November, when Oliver Cromwell was again chosen for 
 Cambridge. His attendance in parliament now became 
 very close, his speeches were frequent, and his warmth 
 and activity in opposition to the measures of the court 
 were remarkably conspicuous. Nor was he less zealous 
 in promoting petitions against the bishops, for their 
 severe prosecutions and inhuman punishments in the 
 ecclesiastical courts. He had likewise a principal share 
 in the remonstrance upon the state of the nation, in 
 which the enormities of the king's government were 
 strongly pointed out. This remonstrance was carried 
 after very warm debates, and ordered to be printed on 
 the 15th of "December, 1641. 
 
 At length, when the dissensions between the king and 
 the parliament came to an open rupture, Cromwell ex- 
 hibited a new character; for having obtained a captain's 
 commission from the Commons, he imm.ediately raised a 
 troop of horse in the country ; and, both in the choice of
 
 344 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 his men, and his manner in disciplining them, he dis- 
 played uncommon military genius. His men were re- 
 markable for their sobriety, industry, and bravery; they 
 were most of them the sons of freeholders, who were 
 taught to believe that they were fighting for the defence of 
 their own property ; and being religiously disposed, they 
 acted upon principles of conscience. Such soldiers could 
 not fail of subduing common mercenaries, who fight 
 only for pay — and therefore, whenever they engaged 
 them, they were victorious. 
 
 Cromwell's first military exploit of any consequence, 
 was his securing the town of Cambridge for the parlia- 
 ment, and stopping the university plate, ready packed 
 up to be sent to the king. Not long after, he seized Sir 
 Thomas Connesby, high-sheriff of Hertfordshire, on the 
 road to St. Alban's, where he was going to proclaim the 
 parliament officers tiaitors. For these services he re- 
 ceived the thanks of the house, and was promoted to the 
 rank of colonel. He then enlarged his plan of opera- 
 tions, and, by the strength of his increasing interest, 
 soon raised a regiment of 1000 horse, with which he 
 prevented the exertions of recruiting parties of the royal- 
 ists in several counties ; and, by his activity and suc- 
 cess, recommended himself to farther promotion. He 
 was next appointed lieutenant-general under the earl of 
 Manchester ; and, having raised a greater force of such 
 as came freely to him, he marched towards Lincolnshire, 
 with a resolution to assist those forces which lay about 
 Newark, one of the strongest garrisons then held for 
 the king. In his march through Huntingdonshire, he 
 disarmed many that were ill-affected to the parliament. 
 He was now above 2000 strong, and received an addi- 
 tion of horse from captain Hotham. At his first approach 
 before Newark he performed a good piece of service : 
 for captain Wray, with his Lincolnshire horse, too rashly 
 quartering near the town, was in the night set upon by 
 the garrison, which made a sally, and took all his men. 
 But the alarm coming to Cromwell, he advanced, and 
 at ten o'clock at night fell upon the Newarkers, and res- 
 cued captain Wray's troop, with the slaughter of many 
 of his opponents. After this, sitting down before the 
 town, he took many men and colours at several times ; 
 and soon after, meeting with twenty-four troops of the 
 king's horse and dragoons near Grantham, he encoun-
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 345 
 
 tered theui with such resolution, that, though he had 
 but seven troops with him, he entirely routed them. 
 
 The earl of Newcastle, being informed that the lord 
 Willoughby of Parham had got possession of the town 
 of Gainsborough for the parliament, sent his brother 
 colonel Cavendish, lieutenant-general of his army, with 
 a great party of horse and dragoons, to summon it, him- 
 self marching after with the foot. Upon this Cromwell 
 resolved to attempt the relief of that place, and with 
 twelve troops of horse and dragoons he marched thither, 
 where he found the royalists, who were drawn up near 
 the town, to be more than thrice his number, and no 
 way to attack them, but through a gate and up hill ; he 
 undauntedly fell upon them notwithstanding, and en- 
 tirely defeated them, killing many of their officers, and 
 among others lieutenant-general Cavendish. 
 
 Thus was Gainsborough relieved ; but the victors had 
 but a short time of rejoicing, for within two or three 
 hours the routed army rallied, and joining with the 
 rest of Newcastle's army, marched against them ; where- 
 upon they retreated to Lincoln that night in good order. 
 Lincoln not being defensible, Cromwell marched the 
 next day to Boston, to join the earl of Manchester, who, 
 with his new-raised forces, had reduced Lynn under the 
 power of the parliament. To prevent this junction, the 
 earl of Newcastle advanced with his army, and de- 
 tached a strong party of horse and dragoons towards 
 Boston, commanded by Sir John Henderson, an old sol- 
 dier, who, understanding that Cromwell was drawn out 
 before him with the horse and dragoons, made haste to 
 engage, before the earl of Manchester, with the foot, 
 could march up. A furious battle accordingly ensued, 
 at a place called Winsby field, near Homcastle. In the 
 first shock Cromwell's horse was killed and fell upon 
 him, and as he rose he was again knocked down by the 
 gentleman that charged him. He never was in more 
 danger in his life ; but with difficulty he got remounted 
 on a poor horse by a soldier, when he charged the enemy 
 with great resolution. The encounter was very .<*harp, 
 but lasted not an hour before the royalists were entirely 
 routed by Manchester's troops, about 1500 of them being 
 killed, among whom were lord Widdrington, Sir Ingram 
 Hopton, and other persons of quality. Very few were 
 killed on the parliament side. The routed forces were 
 
 y 2
 
 a46 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 pui-sued by the parliamentarians almost as far as Lin- 
 coln ; several of them were killed and taken prisoners, 
 and many horses and arms taken. After this victory, 
 the earl of Manchester marched directly to Lincoln, sat 
 down before it, and afterwards took it by storm, with 
 very inconsiderable loss. 
 
 Manchester having taken Lincoln, a. d. 1644, united 
 his army to that of Leven and Fairfax ; and York was 
 closely besieg^ed by their numerous forces. That town, 
 though vigorously defended by the maiquis of Newcastle, 
 was reduced to the last extremity, when prince Rupert, 
 having joined Sir Charles Lucas, who commanded New- 
 castle's horse, hastened to its relief with an army of 
 18,000 men. The Scots and parliamentary generals 
 raised the siege, and drawing up on Marston-moor, pro- 
 posed to give battle to the royalists. Prince Rupert 
 approached the town by another quarter, and inter- 
 posing the river Ouse between him and the enemy, 
 safely joined his forces to those of Newcastle. The 
 marquis endeavoured to persuade him, that having so 
 successfully effected his purpose, he ought to be con- 
 tented with his present advantage ; but the prince, 
 hurried on by his natural impetuosity, pretended positive 
 orders from the king ; and without condescending to 
 consult with Newcastle, immediately issued orders for 
 battle, and on the 7th of July drew up his army ou 
 Marston-moor. The prince's army now consisted of 
 14,000 foot, and 9000 horse ; its main body was com- 
 manded by the generals Goring, Porter, and Tellier ; 
 the prince headed the rii;ht wing, and Sir Charles Lucas 
 and colonel HuiTy the left. The main body of the par- 
 liament anny, which was at least equal to the prince's 
 in number, was commanded by the earl of Manchester, 
 the earl of Leven, and lord Fairfax ; the right wing was 
 headed by Sir Thomas Fairfax, and the left by Oliver 
 Cromwell. The charge was begun with such courage 
 and intrepidity by the left wing of the parliament's 
 army, that prince Rupert, contrary to his usual fortune, 
 v/as put to flight. Newcastle's regiment alone, resolute 
 to conquer or perish, obstinately kept their ground. In 
 th-^ other wing. Sir Thomas Fairfax and colonel Lambert 
 broke through the royalists, and, transported with the 
 a-dour of pursuit, soon reached their victorious friends. 
 Alter this tempest, Lucas, who commanded the royalists
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 347 
 
 iu the left wing', reducing his broken forces to order, 
 attacked the parliamentary cavalry, threw them into 
 confusion, and pushed them upon their own infantry in 
 great disorder. But just when he was ready to seize 
 their carriages and baggage, he perceived Cromwell 
 returning from the pursuit ; and both were sui-prised to 
 find that they must again renew the combat. This 
 second battle was as furious as the first: but the victory 
 was obtained by Cromwell. Four thousand of the royal- 
 ists were slain, and 1,500 taken prisoners ; while the loss 
 on the side of the parliament is said to have amounted 
 only to 300 soldiers. 
 
 Cromwell's military reputation was established in such 
 a manner that he was dreaded by the royalists after he 
 had so eminently signalized himself at the battle of 
 Slarston-moor. He now therefore became the general 
 subject of conversation, and the eyes of all men were 
 fixed upon him ; but he was greatly envied by his 
 brother officers, and the earls of Essex and Manchester 
 were his most powerful adversaries, the latter having 
 even vowed his destruction for having accused him of 
 cowardice. Yet such was the general good opinion con- 
 ceived of Cromwell by the parliament and the people, 
 that he soon perceived his own strength, and retaliated 
 upon his opponents by complaining of the misconduct of 
 the war, which he imputed to the venality of the com- 
 manders, who wanted to protract it for their own interest. 
 In consequence of this, it was resolved to new-model the 
 army, and pass an ordinance called 'the self-denying 
 ordinance,' by which all members of parliament were 
 excluded from civil or military employments, and the 
 earls of Essex and Manchester, with several other gene- 
 ral officers, were thereby dismissed. 
 
 Sir Thomas Fairfax was now appointed commander- 
 in-chief of all the parliament's forces ; and, by a strange 
 evasion of their own law, Oliver Cromwell's service in 
 the house was dispensed with, that he might act under 
 Fairfax, to whom he was appointed lieutenant-general of 
 the horse. Cromwell did not remain a single day in- 
 active, but, in his way to the main army, defeated the 
 earl of Northampton and lord Goring, made himself 
 master of Bletchington House, and then joined geneial 
 Fairfax at Gilsborough. It is observed by all the his- 
 torians of the civil war, that though Fairfax had the
 
 348 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 chief command in title and appearance, Cromwell had 
 such an ascendancy over him, that he was, in fact, the 
 acting commander. Fairfax had great personal valour 
 and was indefatigably diligent, but he wanted genius 
 and foresight ; he could execute without thought, but he 
 could not form regular plans of operation : nothing, there- 
 fore, could be more fortunate for the parliament than the 
 strict union and friendship which subsisted between 
 these great men ; and so sensible were the royalists of 
 their combined abilities, that they made several attempts 
 to create a misunderstanding and to divide them, but in 
 •vain. 
 
 Cromwell had not long joined the main army before 
 the decisive battle of Naseby was fought, on the 14th of 
 June, 1645. At ten in the morning the battle began, the 
 royalists shouting ' God and queen Mary,' and the others 
 • God with us.' Prince Rupert gave the first charge, 
 and engaged the parliament's left wing with such impe- 
 tuosity, that he broke the ranks, and chased them off 
 the field. But here, his long stay so far from the main 
 body was injurious to the king's army ; for Cromwell, 
 in the mean time, charged furiously on the king's left 
 wing and drove them back, and, prosecuting the ad- 
 vantage, quite broke them and their reserve ; after which, 
 joining with Fairfax, he charged the king's foot, who 
 had beaten that of the parliament, and got possession 
 of their ordnance ; these being now in confusion, and 
 having no horse to support them, were easily overborne 
 by Fairfax and Cromwell. By this time the king was 
 joined by prince Rupert, returned from his fatal suc- 
 cess ; but, with all their eft'orts, they could not rally 
 their broken troops, so that they were forced at last to 
 quit the field, leaving a complete victoi"y to the parlia- 
 ment. — Such was the famous battle of Naseby, in which 
 the wonderful success of the parliament was chiefly 
 owing to Cromwell's valour and good conduct, who 
 flew like lightning from one part of the army to the 
 other, and broke through the royalist squadrons with 
 such rapidity that nothing could resist him. From this 
 period the king's affairs became desperate, and his whole 
 party began to moulder away. 
 
 After these events, Ci-omwell effectually suppressed an 
 insurrection of t!ie peasantry in the west of England, 
 uiul then joined Fairfax before Bristol, which he advised
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 349 
 
 him to attempt by storm- Accordingly, a general assault 
 was made in so furious a manner, that prince Rupert, 
 dreading a second, surrendered ; for which he was dis- 
 missed the king's service, and ordered to leave the 
 kingdom. This important place being made the head- 
 quarters of the general, Cromwell, with a detachment of 
 four regiments, made himself master of the strong castle 
 at Devizes, of the city of Winchester, and of several 
 other places of inferior note, taking prisoners the mar- 
 quis of Winchester and other persons of distinction. He 
 then rejoined Fairfax, and assisted him in taking Dart- 
 mouth by storm ; after which, he defeated lord Hopton 
 at Torrington, and then went in pursuit of the prince of 
 Wales, who was at the head of about 5000 horse and 1000 
 foot in Cornwall ; but the prince, unable to give him battle, 
 fled to the isle of Scilly. Exeter surrendered soon after; 
 and the we^t of England being thus entirely subjected 
 to the parliament, Cromwell went to London in Decem- 
 ber 1G16, took his seat in parliament, and received the 
 thanks of the house for his many and signal services. 
 At the same time the king, then at Oxford, sent no less 
 than ten messages offering to disband his forces, provided 
 his followers might return home, and remain unques- 
 tioned ; but no direct answer was given till the 30th of 
 Rlarch, when a message was sent to bis majesty, that it 
 would be unsafe for him to return to Westminster till he 
 had consented to the propositions they were then fram- 
 ing ; and to prevent his coming without their consent, the 
 house voted that if the king should come, or attempt to 
 come, within the lines of communication, the committee 
 of the militia of London should have power to apprehend 
 such as should come with him, and to secure his person. 
 The moderate members opposed this message and vote ; 
 but the celebrated patriots, Pym and Hampden, both 
 dying in 1643, the interest of the Presbyterians had in- 
 sensibly declined, and that of the Independents, of which 
 faction Cromwell had made himself chief, had acquired 
 the preponderance. All men saw that he aimed at the 
 generalship, but none yet fathomed the deeper design of 
 getting the king into his power. By his correspondence 
 with Fairfax he knew that the royal cause was almost 
 ruined, and he was unwilling that the king should enter 
 into a personal treaty with a parliament in which he had
 
 350 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 still many friends who opposed his maladministration', 
 but had no evil designs against his person. 
 
 During these transactions at London general Fairfax 
 •was marching with a powerful army to lay siege to Ox- 
 ford, which was unable to hold out against him ; and in 
 this unhappy situation of afi'airs the king unfortunately 
 listened to the advice of Montreuil, the French ambas- 
 sador, and privately repaired to the Scotch army, which 
 then lay before Newark. This unexpected measure 
 greatly afflicted his remaining friends in England, and 
 threw the parliament into the utmost consternation ; and 
 now the dissensions between the Presbyterians and the 
 Independents increased, the former being jealous of the 
 growing power of Cromwell. The king gave orders to 
 all his garrisons to surrender ; upon which Oxford took 
 the lead, and the civil war being thus in a great measure 
 tei-minated, general Fairfax entered London in triumph, 
 and received the thanks of the parliament. This business 
 ■was no sooner over, than a scheme was concerted by the 
 Presbyterian party to disband part of the army, particu- 
 larly some of the Independent regiments, and to send 
 others over to Ireland. But Cromwell having obtained 
 timely notice of their design, sent colonel Ireton, his son- 
 in-law, to insinuate to the whole ai-my that the parlia- 
 ment intended to disband them without paying their 
 arrears, or else to consume them in Ireland with sickness 
 and famine. This so exasperated the soldiers, that when 
 the orders arrived for disbanding some and transporting 
 others, they refused to obey ; and calling in question the 
 authority of parliament, they, set up a claim to a share 
 in the government, made choice of a number of officers 
 to be a standing council to their general, and selected 
 three or four corporals or Serjeants out of each regiment 
 as representatives of the private soldiers, under the title of 
 agitators. The council and the agitators met separately; 
 but communicating their resolves to each other, they 
 •were in the end unanimous in declaring, ' That they 
 •would not be disbanded till their full arrears were paid, 
 and till full provision was made for liberty of conscience, 
 ■which had been hitherto little secured.' They added, 
 • That as they had voluntarily taken up arms for the 
 liberty and defence of the nation, of which they were a 
 part, before they laid down those arms they would see
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 35J 
 
 all those euds provided for.' This declaration ^^a3 de- 
 livered at tbe bar of the house by a committee of the 
 army council. And it is generally allowed that this 
 timely political manoeuvre not only saved Cromwell from 
 an intended impeachment by Denzil lord Holies, but 
 laid the foundation of his future power. 
 
 Cromwell had such an influence over Fairfax, that 
 though he was a Presbyterian, he eng:aged him to write 
 a letter to the parliament in support of a petition from the 
 army; and this had such an effect on the House of Com- 
 mons, that in the end the army carried their point. 
 After this, having intelligence of the private meetings of 
 his enemies, he resolved to purge the house of all mem- 
 bers obnoxious to him ; and a very important event soon 
 furnished him with the means of carrying this scheme 
 into execution. In the beginning of the year 1047, the 
 Scots, in consideration of the sura of £400,000, which was 
 due to their army for arrears, delivered up the king to 
 the English parliament. Cromwell (it has been sup- 
 posed) now resolved to hazard one bold stroke to secure 
 his fortune beyond the probability of a reversal. He 
 plainly perceived a growing inclination in the parlia- 
 ment to treat with the king, and therefore he was de- 
 termined to circumvent them, by engaging the army to 
 present a dutiful address to his majesty, and by entering 
 into a personal treaty with him to replace him on the 
 throne. Unhappily the king confided in the party he 
 thought the most formidable, and as if this was not 
 sufficient, he sealed his own ruin by his insincerity in 
 his negotiation with Cromwell. However, to facilitate 
 this negotiation, Cromwell sent colonel Joyce to seize the 
 person of the king at Holmby-house, in Northampton- 
 shire ; and though the formality of taking him prisoner 
 wears the appearance of violence, yet there is great rea- 
 son to suspect, from the good understanding that had 
 subsisted between the king and the army, that his 
 majesty secretly connived at this plot to deliver him from 
 the power of the parliament. Cromwell now threw off 
 the mask, set the House of Commons at defiance, and 
 boasted among his friends, • That by having the king in 
 his hands, he had the parliament in his pocket.' His 
 majesty was removed to his palace at Newmarket, 
 where he continued to be treated with all due honour and 
 respect.
 
 352 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 The parliament now perceived that their power was 
 on the decline, and they began when too late to show a 
 resolute and active conduct. The city of London was put 
 in a posture of defence, and it was voted that the army 
 should remove forty miles from London. It was likewise 
 resolved to send dutiful addresses to the ting, and pro- 
 positions for a reconciliation ; but the army, instead of 
 obeying the vote respecting their removal, delivered a 
 representation to the House of Commons, desiring that 
 it might be purged of seditious members, and that a 
 period might be fixed for the dissolution of the parlia- 
 ment, complaining that it had sat too long, contrary to 
 the spirit of the constitution. This representation pro- 
 ducing no effect, they impeached Denzil lord Holies, 
 Sir Edward William Waller, and nine other members, 
 who had always opposed their proceedings : and then, to 
 convince the parliament of the little interest it had in 
 the city of London, they excited an insun'ection of the 
 citizens, who tumultuously resorted to Westminster, and 
 demanded that the king should be brought to London, 
 and that they should put an end to their sitting. This 
 commotion struck the Presbyterian party with such a 
 panic, that both houses adjourned in great confusion ; 
 and the speakers, Lenthal and the earl of Manchester, 
 with about fifty members, tied to the army for protec- 
 tion. Cromwell, who had raised this storm, secretly en- 
 joyed it ; and the king being now at Hampton Court, he 
 openly resorted to him, and so fully convinced him of 
 his power over the army, and of his attachment to him, 
 that when Fairfax tendered his services, his majesty 
 indiscreetly replied, ' Sir, I have as good interest in the 
 army as you ;' which the general took very ill, and from 
 that time gave himself no concern about the designs of 
 the ting's enemies. 
 
 The parliament, in their treaty with the king, among 
 other articles had stipulated, that Cromwell should be 
 raised to the peerage, only with the title of baron ; but 
 the king, in his private negotiation with Cromwell and 
 the army, had promised to create him earl of Essex, to 
 make him a knight of the garter, and to advance his 
 son Richard and his son-in-law Ireton to posts of great 
 honour and emolument. But when this compact was on 
 the point of taking place, one of their spies, who was of 
 the king's bed-chamber, informed them, that their final
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 3.33 
 
 doom was that day fixed, for that a letter was gone to 
 the queen, then in France, sewed up in the skirt of a 
 saddle, the bearer of which would he with the saddle 
 upon his head at the Blue Boar inn, in Holborn, the 
 foUowiug nig^ht, to take horse for Dover. Upon this in- 
 telligence, thej- dressed themselves in troopers' uniforms, 
 and repaired to the inn, where they seized oa the man, 
 searched the saddle, and took out the letter, by which 
 they found, that the king gave it as his opinion, that he 
 .'■hould close sooner with the Scotch Presbyterians, who 
 in conjunction with the parliament had courted him, 
 than with the army, in which case it would be easier to 
 take off Cromwell, than now that he was at the head of 
 the army. From the period of this discovery, Cromwell's 
 ambition took a larger scope, and, aided by personal 
 resentment, he now resolved to attempt the king's 
 destruction, and his own advancement to supreme 
 power. 
 
 In the mean time the remains of the parliament re- 
 covered from their consternation, and met at Westmin- 
 ster, where they resolved to levy troops to oppose the 
 army ; but upon its approach before Southwark it was 
 readily admitted by those who were placed there for the 
 defence of the borough. The parliament was now new- 
 modelled ; and the king on being informed of the disco- 
 very made by Cromwell, and the triumphant entry of 
 the army into London, suspected that his life was in 
 danger, and privately withdrew from Hampton-court to 
 Tichfield, from whence he was unfortunately persuaded 
 to go to the Isle of Wight, and put himself under the 
 protection of Hammond, the governor, nephew to Dr. 
 Hammond, the king's favourite chaplain. But it was 
 strangely forgotten, that the governor had married a 
 daughter of the famous John Hampden, and by this 
 oversight, instead of an asylum, the unfortunate mo- 
 narch found a prison; for Hammond was devoted to 
 Cromwell, and immediately sent advice to him of the 
 king's arrival, who thereupon summoned a council of 
 general officers to meet him at Windsor, where it was 
 debated, what should now be done with the king; and 
 it was resolved, that he should be prosecuted for his life 
 as a traitor to his country. The first step Oliver's party 
 took with this view in parliament was, to procure an 
 order to Hammond to confine the king in Carisbrook-
 
 354 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 castle, and not to sufler any of his friends or adherents 
 to remain on the island. 
 
 A second civil war broke out in the year 164S. Those 
 of the nation who disapproved of the measures against 
 the king, rose in different parts of England ; and the 
 Welsh appeared with a foi-midable hody acting by com- 
 mission from the prince of Wales. The example once 
 set, associations in support of the royal cause were 
 formed in almost every county, which put the parlia- 
 ment upon vigorous measures, and Cromwell was sent 
 into Wales, where he subdued the Welsh forces, and 
 took their commanders prisoners ; and the town of Col- 
 chester, where the strongest body of the royalists was 
 shut up, being obliged to surrender, this struck such a 
 damp on the minds of the rest, that most of the insur- 
 rections were soon quelled, and the associations dis- 
 solved. The Scots, however, threatened to give the 
 parliament more trouble ; for they asserted, that the 
 latter had violated the condition on which they deli- 
 vered up the king, and they endeavoured to retrieve 
 their national honour, by sending duke Hamilton into 
 England, at the head of a powerful army, to reinstate 
 him ; but their efforts only served to hasten his fate, 
 from an apprehension that every day would produce 
 fresh disturbances in his favour. Cromwell, by his ge- 
 nius and valour, put a stop to this incursion, and to the 
 oppressions which the inhabitants of the north of Eng- 
 land laboured under from the rapine of the Scotch army ; 
 having totally routed all their forces, and taken duke 
 Hamilton prisoner. He also reduced Carlisle and Ber- 
 wick, which had revolted from the English, and then 
 entering Scotland in triumph, he caused a proclamation 
 to be made at the head of every regiment in his army, 
 prohibiting, upon pain of death, the seizure of any goods 
 or chattels belonging to the Scots. At the same time he 
 declared to the people of Scotland, that he came there 
 only to set their kingdom free from the faction of the 
 Hamiltons, and without any intention to invade their 
 liberties. Agreeably to this, he marched to Edinburgh, 
 where he was received with great solemnity by the 
 marquis of Argyle and the magistracy ; and having dis- 
 missed the Hamilton party from all offices, he returned 
 to England with every mark of honour and esteem on 
 the part of the Scots. Upon his arrival in London, he
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 355 
 
 received the thanks of the house for this signal service, 
 which was the last he performed ia his military capa- 
 city till after the king's execution. 
 
 On the death of the king, tliat inconsiderable part of 
 the House of Commons which continued sitting, assumed 
 the reins of government under the denomination of a 
 Commonwealth ; and .sure of the support of the army, 
 they voted the kingly office unnecessary and burthen- 
 some, and the House of Peers dangerous and useless, 
 and therefore to be laid aside. But the peers were 
 declared capable of being elected into the House of 
 Coniraous ; which degradation was submitted to only by 
 the earls of Pembroke and Salisbury, and lord Howard 
 of Escrick : the rest entered upon their Journals a pro- 
 testation, in the name of all the peers of -the realm, 
 against all acts, votes, and orders of parliament, that 
 should be made during their exclusion. The parliament 
 likewise declared it high-treason to acknowledge Charles 
 Stuart, commonly called the prince of Wales, or any 
 other person, king of England ; and such members as 
 had given their vote for accepting the concessions of 
 the late king for a peace, were excluded from the house. 
 This vote reduced the remainder to less than one 
 hundred ; and these being considered by the cavaliers 
 (so the friends of Charles IL were denominated) as the 
 dregs of the long parliament, were called by them in deri- 
 sion, ' Tlie Rump.' The next act of the new govern- 
 ment was to nominate a council of state, consisting of 
 forty persons, Cromwell being one, in whom was vested 
 the executive authority ; and from this time all writs, 
 formerly running in the king's name, were issued in 
 the names of 'the keepers of the liberty of England ;' 
 the old great seal was broken, and a new one made, 
 having on one side a red cross and a harp, quartered as 
 the arms of England and Ireland, with this inscription, 
 •The great seal of England;' and, on the reverse, a 
 representation of the House of Commons assembled, 
 ■with this legend, ' In the first year of Freedom, by God's 
 grace restored, 1649.' Instead of a head, the same arms 
 •were impressed on the coin, with tliis device, ' God with 
 us.' A new oath was likewise administered to all per- 
 sons in office, to be true and faithful to the government 
 established, without king or House of Peers. But as the 
 existence of this new government depended upon the
 
 356 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 principal officers of the army, and on Cromwell more 
 than all therest, it was declared to be high-treason forany 
 soldier of the anuy to contrive the death of the general 
 or lieutenant-general ; and Oliver Cromwell, being now 
 provided with a security to his person, abolished the 
 council of agitators, and caused two soldiers of his own 
 regiment of infantry to be shot by two of their com- 
 rades, in sight of the whole army, for mutiny upon this 
 occasion. 
 
 The army now implicitly obeyed the orders of this 
 enterprising man, and no person was thought so proper 
 to reduce Ireland to submission, as the expedition was 
 both difficult and dangerous. Accordingly he was ap- 
 pointed lord governor of that kingdom for three years ; 
 and all his forces being in readiness for embarkation at 
 Milford Haven, he set out from London on the 10th of 
 July, with great solemnity and splendour, in a coach 
 with six horses, attended by several members of parlia- 
 ment and of the council of state. 
 
 Most of the fortified towns of Ireland being in the 
 hands of the royalists, and well garrisoned, Cromwell, 
 with his usual intrepidity, resolved upon an exploit 
 which should astonish the Irish, and occasion such a 
 general dread of his arms, that, after having given one 
 example of severity, he might have little or no trouble in 
 completing his conquests. With this view he marched 
 to Drogheda, or Tredagh, a very strong place, garrisoned 
 by the flower of the royal army, under the command of 
 Sir Arthur Afton, an old experienced officer. Having 
 blocked up the town by land, and ordered admiral Ays- 
 cough to cut off all communication by sea, he summoned 
 the governor to surrender, and upon refusal hung out 
 the red or bloody ensign, denoting that no quarter was 
 to be expected. After a warm opposition he took the 
 place by storm, entering the town in person by the 
 breaches he had made, and a dreadful slaughter ensued, 
 all who bore arms being put to the sword, for which 
 inhumanity he was severely censured; but he justi- 
 fied himself by alleging that they had imbrued their 
 hands in the blood of innocent Englishmen, at the mas- 
 sacre of the protestants in 1641, and that it was the 
 only way to prevent the farther effusion of blood, as other 
 places would be discouraged from sustaining a siege. 
 Hut he was obliged to act the same tragedy again at
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 357 
 
 \\\^xford ; after which, the dread of the same fate affected 
 all the towus and forts along the coast as far as Dublin, 
 and they quietly surrendered one after the other. In 
 short, in about nine months this victorious general, se- 
 conded by his son-in-law Ireton, obliged the whole king- 
 dom to submit to the new government ; and then he was 
 recalled. 
 
 Cromwell's return to England was hastened by the 
 conduct of the Scots, who had acknowledged Charles II, 
 for their sovereign ; and this being considered by the 
 Commonwealth of England as a declaration of war, pre- 
 parations for hostilities were now carried on in both 
 kjugdoras with great vigour. But when it was proposed 
 by the council of state in England to anticipate the 
 Scots, by carrying the war into their country, Fairfax 
 declined the command of the expedition, upon which 
 Cromwell was ordered home. On his approach to Lon- 
 don, he was met by a prodigious concourse of people ; 
 and being come to Tyburn, where a great crowd of 
 spectators were assembled to see him enter, a certain 
 flatterer, pointing to the multitude, exclaimed, * Good 
 God, Sir! what a number of people are come hither to 
 welcome you home !' to which he replied with a smile, 
 ' But how many more do you think would flock to the 
 same place to see me hainged V As it was found imprac- 
 ticable to prevail on general Fairfax to commence 
 hostilities, who declared that his conscience was not 
 satisfied as to the justice of the intended war, his offer 
 to lay down his commission was readily accepted ; and 
 the parliament soon passed an act unanimously appoint- 
 ing Oliver Cromwell, Esq. to be captain general-inchief 
 of all the forces within the Commonwealth of England. 
 
 The new general was as successful in Scotland as he 
 had been in Ireland. It even seemed as if the very 
 name of Oliver Cromwell struck a panic wherever he 
 appeared ; for the Scots fled before him as he ap- 
 proached, and when at length their army was drawn 
 into a general engagement at Dunbar, he totally de- 
 feated them, though their numbers more than doubled 
 the English. His signal successes in Scotland deter- 
 mined Charles II. to march with another army into 
 England, to which he was more contiguous, after the 
 battle of Dunbar, than Cromwell. Accordingly he en- 
 tered by Carlisle, and meeting with little or no opposi
 
 3:-8 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 tioii, except from major-general Lambert at Warrington- 
 bridge, he advanced to Worcester, where he resolved to 
 remain and wait the approach of the enemy. Cromwell 
 was not long after him ; on the 3d of September, 1651, 
 was fought the battle of Worcester between Charles and 
 Cromwell, when a complete victory was gained by the 
 latter ; and the king was obliged to wander about in 
 different parts of the kingdom in disguise, till he found 
 an opportunity to escape to France. 
 
 Cromwell now enjoyed a power and state nearly equal 
 to royalty ; for, on his return from Worcester, he was 
 met beyond Aylesbury by four commissioners from the 
 parliament, who were instructed to show him all pos- 
 sible marks of respect ; and, at Acton, he was met by the 
 speaker, the president of the council, the lord-mayor, 
 aldermen, and sheriffs of London, and a great number 
 of persons of distinction. A state coach was likewise 
 provided for him to make his entrj' into London, where 
 he was received with loud acclamations; and the parlia- 
 ment settled lands upon him and his heirs of the yearly 
 Talue of £4000. But all the honours conferred upon him 
 by this unstable government he knew to be precarious ; 
 and, therefore, he began to take measures for assuming 
 a supreme authority over that very body from which he 
 had derived his present greatness. 
 
 A war broke out with the Dutch in 1652, and some of 
 the leading men of the republican party had it in 
 agitation to augment the navy and reduce the army, 
 under the pretext that the latter in such a crisis was 
 unnecessary and expensive. Cromwell saw into this 
 scheme to lessen his influence, and, without loss of time, 
 made it answer his own purpose. For, repairing to the 
 army, he excited the principal officers to draw up a 
 petition demanding the payment of their arrears, and 
 affirming, that the public revenues, if honestly and 
 wisely managed, would be sufficient for the regular sub- 
 sistence of the present land army, notwithstanding any 
 proposed augmentation of the navy. This petition pro- 
 duced a warm debate, and the parliament voted that 
 the officers should be reprimanded for their insolence. 
 This step increased the mutiny, and a remonstrance was 
 now delivered on the part of the array, complaining: that 
 the parliament had not performed its promise to dissolve 
 itself, agreeably to a former petition presented by their
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 3.5P 
 
 body ; they therefore desired that they would now put 
 an end to their administration ; that there ini^ht be a 
 reg-ular succession of parliaments ; and that they would 
 appoint a council of state, to take charge of the public 
 affairs, till a new parliament was convoked. This pro- 
 posal was refused with indignation, and Cromwell well 
 knowing that a motion for disbanding great part of the 
 army would soon be made, found that he had no time to 
 lose. He resolved therefore upon a measure which for 
 decision and daring threw all his former exploits into 
 the shade. 
 
 On the 20th of April, 1653, while the house was actu- 
 ally debating on a motion for continuing the parliament 
 above a year and a half longer, he entered it, accompa- 
 nied by a number of officers, who were most devoted to 
 him, leaving in Westminster hall, upon the stairs, and 
 in the lobby, a chosen detachment of soldiers, to the 
 amount of 300 men. After attending quietly in his place 
 for some time to the debates, he whispered major- 
 general Harrison, that he now thought the parliament 
 ripe for a dissolution ; but the general requested him to 
 think seriously, before he undertook so dangerous an 
 action. ' You say well,' replied Cromwell, and sat still 
 about a quarter of an hour, when, the debates being 
 ended, and the speaker preparing to put the question, 
 he said to Harrison, ' This is the time I must do it;' and 
 so, standing up on a sudden, he bade the speaker leave 
 the chair, and told the house that they had sat long 
 enough, unless they had done more good. Then charg- 
 ing several individuals with their private vices, he told 
 them in general, that they had not a heart to do any 
 thing for the public good, but only an intention to per- 
 petuate themselves in power. And when some of them 
 began to speak, he stepped into the midst of the house, 
 and said, ' Come, come, I will put an end to your 
 prating.' Then, walking up and down, he cried out, 
 ' You are no parliament, I say you are no parlia- 
 ment;' and, stamping with his feet, he bade them be- 
 gone, and give place to honester men; for the Lord had 
 done with them, and had made choice of other instru- 
 ments. The stamping on the floor being the signal, the 
 soldiers entered, and he said to one of them, ' Take 
 away that fool's bauble, the mace ;' and tlie speaker still 
 keeping the chair, Harrison rudely pulled him out by 
 the arm. After this, Cromwell told the members they
 
 360 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 had forced him to this ; then seizing all the papers upon 
 the table, he ordered the soldiers to clear the house ; 
 and this being done, he locked the doors, put the keys 
 into his pocket, and returned to Whitehall v.ith his 
 retinue. 
 
 He acted the same part by the council of state in the 
 afternoon. On entering the chamber at Whitehall, where 
 they were assembled, he spoke thus to them : • Gentle- 
 men, if you are met here as private persons, you shall 
 not be disturbed; but if as a council of state, this is no 
 place for you ; and since you cannot but know what was 
 done at the house in the morning, so take notice, that 
 the parliament which appointed you is dissolved.' Brad- 
 shaw, the president, boldly answered, ' Sir, we have 
 heard what you did at the house in the morning ; and, 
 before many hours, all England will hear of it; but, sir, 
 you are mistaken to think that the parliament is dis- 
 solved ; for no power under heaven can dissolve them 
 but themselves ; therefore take you notice of that.' But 
 the council finding themselves under the same military 
 force, quietly departed. The government, such as it 
 had been since the execution of the king, was now 
 effectually dissolved, and, in the general consternation 
 into which the whole nation was thrown, any constitu- 
 tion whatever would have been acceptable. 
 
 Cromwell now nominated a new council of state, con- 
 sisting chiefly of officers of the army, and these pre- 
 pared a form of summons to be issued to 140 persons 
 selected by the council to represent the whole kingdom in 
 parliament. Some of those members were taken from the 
 lowest classes of the people; and a leather-seller in Fleet- 
 street, named Praise-God Barebones, being an active 
 man, and a great speaker in this assembly, it was called 
 in derision, Barebones's parliament. This miscellaneous 
 assemblage, however, soon found themselves unfit for the 
 management of afl["airs, and were glad to resign their 
 charge into the hands from which they had derived it; 
 and the officers by their own authority declared Crom- 
 well Protector of the Commonwealth of England. 
 
 In this strange and circuitous manner, and through 
 the force of circumstances, a man neither distinguished 
 by birth nor external advantages, and at a compara- 
 tively late period in life, was invested with that king- 
 like authority, to abolish which the nation had endured 
 8) many .suffevings. But it was the natural consequence
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 3GI 
 
 of such a national revolution, in which the cViief arbi- 
 trator was the sword : he who had wielded it most etfec- 
 tively became the final dictator. But notwithstanding 
 the unconstitutional character of such authority, and the 
 means by which it had been attained, Cromwell was 
 no mean and selfish usurper. The power which he had 
 acquired, he used for the welfare and aggrandisement 
 of his country alone, and at no period had England ever 
 assumed such a commanding position among the nations 
 as during the Protectorate. One author thus reckons up 
 the benefits of his administration : ' 1. By Blake he more 
 humbled and subdued the Algerine, Ti-ipoli, and Tunis 
 pirates, than ever any before or since did. 2. West- 
 minster-hall was never replenished with more learned 
 and upright judges than by him ; nor was justice, either 
 in law or equity, in civil cases, more equally distributed. 
 3. When the Norway traders represented to him the 
 mischief and inconveniences of the act of navigation, 
 he, during his time, dispensed with it, and permitted the 
 English to trade to Norway for timber, masts, pitch, tar, 
 and iron, as before the act: and, by a law made in his 
 third parliament, license is given to transport fish in 
 foreign bottoms. 4. Though he was rjish in making war 
 with Spain, and peace with France, yet he made a 
 more advantageous treaty of commerce for the English 
 to France than before they had. 5. Though he joined 
 forces with the French against the Spaniards, yet he 
 reserved the sea-towns conquered from the Spaniards to 
 himself, and so had Dunkirk and Mardyke delivered up 
 to him, and would have had Ostend, if the garrison had 
 not cheated both Mazarine and him ; thereby to be arbi- 
 trator over the French, as well as Spaniards, when he 
 pleased. 6. Cromwell outvied the best of our kings, in 
 rendering our laws to the subject into the English tongue : 
 for though Edward I. permitted pleading in the English 
 language, yet he went no farther; whereas Cromwell ren- 
 dered not only the pleadings, but practice, and laws 
 themselves, into English.' In short, he applied himself 
 so industriously to the business of the commonwealth, 
 and discovered such abilities for managing it, that his 
 greatest enemies acknowledged he was not unworthy 
 of the government, if his way to it had been just and 
 legitimate. And he showed his good understanding in 
 nothing more than in seeking out capable and worthy 
 R
 
 3G2 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 ruen for all employmeuts, but more particularly for the 
 courts of law, which gave general satisfaction. 
 
 His maintaining the honour of the nation in all foreign 
 parts gratified the temper which is very natural to 
 Englishmen. Of this he was so careful, that, though he 
 was not a crowned head, yet his ambassadors had all 
 the distinctions paid them which, our kings' ambassadors 
 ever had. He would say, ' That the dignity of the crown 
 was upon the account of the nation, of which the king 
 was only the representative head ; and therefore, the 
 nation being still the same, he would have the same re- 
 spect paid to his ministers.' And it is observable, that 
 Lockhart, Cromwell's ambassador in France, told bishop 
 Burnet, ' That, when he was sent afterwards ambassador 
 by king Charles, he found he had nothing of that re- 
 gard that was paid to him in Cromwell's time.' 
 
 Cromwell's influence was so great in France, that 
 cardinal Mazarine durst not deny him any thing. He 
 one day made a visit to madame Turenne, and, when 
 he took his leave of her, sTie, as she was wont to do, 
 besought him to continue gracious to the churches. 
 Upon which Mazarine told hei", ' That he knew not how 
 to behave himself. If he advised the king to punish and 
 suppress their insolence, Cromwell threatened to join 
 with the Spaniards ; and if he showed any favour to 
 them, at Rome they counted him a heretic' It was 
 said, that the cardinal would change countenance 
 when he heard Cromwell named; so that it passed into 
 a proverb in France, ' That he was not so much afraid 
 of the devil as of Oliver Cromwell.' Spain dreaded him, 
 and courted his friendship, as much as France, though 
 the latter prevailed. When the Spanish ambassador was 
 informed, that the fleet under Fenn and Venables weis 
 gone towards the West Indies, and that the storm was 
 likely to fall upon some of his master's territories, he 
 applied himself to the Protector, to know whether he 
 had any just ground of complaint against the king his 
 master; if so, he was ready to give him all possible 
 satisfaction. The Protector demanded a liberty to trade 
 to the Spanish West Indies, and the repeal of the laws 
 of the Inquisition : to which the ambassador replied, 
 ' That his master had but two eyes, and that he would 
 have him put them both out at once.' The states of 
 Holland so dreaded him, that they were very careful to
 
 OLIVER CROMWELL. 203 
 
 give him no manner of umbrage : and when at any time 
 Charles IL or his brothers came to see their sister, the 
 princess of Orange, within a day or two they used to 
 send a deputation to acquaint the refugees that Crom- 
 well had obliged them to give them no harbour. Even 
 the Turks stood in awe of Cromwell, and dared not 
 oflFend him. And all Italy trembled at his name, and 
 seemed under a panic-fear as long as he lived. When 
 admiral Blake sailed into the Mediterranean, the city of 
 Rome and all the pope's territories were greatly alarmed ; 
 and the terror of the people was such, that public pro- 
 cessions were made, and the host was exposed forty 
 hours, to avert the wrath of heaven, and prevent Blake's 
 attacking the dominions of the church. And indeed we 
 are told that Cromwell used to say, ' That his ships in 
 the Mediterranean should visit Civita Vecchia, and the 
 sound of his cannon should be heard in Rome.' 
 
 At length, towards the close of his remarkable career, 
 a reaction began to take place among the different par- 
 ties, so that of his old friends and adherents many 
 hated him for having destroyed their beloved equality, 
 while others envied his superiority and success. The 
 intrigues of the royalists, not only against his authority 
 but his life, were resumed ; while his old enemies the 
 Presbyterians assailed him on one side, and the most 
 enthusiastic Independents on the other. In the midst of 
 these distresses, his favourite daughter, lady Claypole, 
 died under the most melancholy circumstances, and few- 
 fathers were so ardently devoted to their children as 
 the strong-souled but tender-hearted Oliver Cromwell. 
 Assailed by these political annoyances and domestic afflic- 
 tions, the iron frame of the Protector, which had for 
 some time been shaken with an ague, sank into utter 
 helplessness, and on the 2nd of September, 165S, he found 
 himself dying. It was then that the nation felt the 
 magnitude of their approaching loss, and supplications 
 were addressed to heaven from every quarter for his re- 
 covery, while his enemies rejoiced at the prospect of his 
 dissolution. In allusion to these contrary feelings, he 
 was overheard praying alone, upon his death-bed, in 
 these affecting words : ' Lord, I am a poor, foolish crea- 
 ture ; this people would have me live; they think it will 
 be best for them, and that it will redound much to thy 
 glory. All the stir is about this. Others would fain
 
 3G4 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 have me die. Lord, pardon them, and pardon thy foolish 
 people ; forgive them their sins, and do not forsake them ; 
 but love and bless them, and give them rest; and bring' 
 them to a consistency, and give me rest.' During the 
 night he declared his eldest son Richard his successor. 
 On the following day, between three and four o'clock in 
 the afternoon of the 3rd of September, that day of the 
 anniversary of the victories of Worcester and Dunbar, 
 which he always accounted the most fortunate of his 
 life, he expired, in the sixtieth year ot his age, having 
 been Protector nearly six years. 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 From the death of Oliver Cromwell to the accession 
 of George J 1 1. 
 
 The death of Cromwell was the signal for intrigue 
 and dissension; and those parties whom his energetic 
 sway, during the latter part of his administration, had 
 been hardly sufficient to coerce, were not likely to be 
 reduced to obedience under his feeble successor, Richard. 
 Those military officers who had hoped to succeed to the 
 management of affairs upon the death of Oliver, soon 
 compelled the new Protector to abdicate, after which 
 they recalled the Rump Parliament that had been so 
 unceremoniously dismissed by Cromwell ; but when they 
 found that this meeting refused to sanction their usur- 
 pations, they dissolved it almost as soon as it had been 
 assembled. They then usurped the whole power of the 
 state by establishing a military government, over which 
 presided a committee of twenty-three persons. But this 
 mere phantom of dominion was fated to be as short- 
 lived as the parliament which so lately had been dis- 
 solved. Geneial Monk, who was in Scotland at the head 
 of 8000 veterans, conceived the idea of supplanting this 
 militar-y oligarchy in turn, without perhaps precisely 
 determining what should be substituted in its stead, or 
 seeking any thing beyond his own aggrandisement. But 
 in this mood he was persuaded that nothing would be 
 better than to restore the monarchy; and he pursued 
 this measure with a policy and craft that have seldom 
 been equalled. He was aided in this work by the feel- 
 ings of the greater part of the nation, already weary of 
 the anarchy to which they were exposed, and the spirit
 
 RESTORATION OF CHARLES II. 3C5 
 
 of division that prevailed among' those who were 
 opposed to his views. With the military power he pos- 
 sessed, it was easy under such circumstances to accom- 
 plish the restoration of the royal family ; and Charles II. 
 came from Breda to London, which he entered on the 
 29th of May, 1660. Nothing could exceed the welcome 
 with which he was received by all classes of people ; and 
 as for Monk, he was gratified to the full for his impor- 
 tant services by pensions, offices, and titles. 
 
 It was unfortunate for the nation that this return to a 
 settled state of government was unaccompanied with that 
 caution which such a crisis demanded. The minds of all 
 parties vrere literally so drunt with exultation, that they 
 threw away in an instant all for which they had so pain- 
 fully fought and suffered ; and Charles, with little am- 
 bition, and less political capacity, was enabled without 
 resistance to become one of the most despotic sovereigns 
 of the age. But fortunately for England he cared little 
 for power, except so far as it contributed to his pleasures, 
 and provided he was supplied by the parliament with 
 money to squander upon sensual indulgences, be was in- 
 different to the rest. It was this spirit, however, that 
 made his reign one of the most contemptible that can be 
 found in history, more especially when contrasted with 
 the vigorous and splendid administration of Oliver Crom- 
 well. The wars during his reign were against the Dutch, 
 and wholly conducted by sea, with the exception of an 
 insurrectionary movement in Scotland, which was sup- 
 pressed by a victory over the covenanters at Bothwell 
 Bridge. He died little regretted by any party on the 
 6th of February, 1685, and, as he had no legitimate chil- 
 dren, he was succeeded by his brother, James II. 
 
 Although Charles II. could not be said to have much 
 religion of any kind, yet the little he possessed was de- 
 cidedly of the church of Rome, a circumstance, however, 
 which he concealed to the very hour of his death, and 
 which was therefore not generally suspected. But the 
 new monarch was a person of a different stamp. He was 
 not only wholly, but openly and avowedly, a papist ; 
 and not content with this he was resolved that the whole 
 nation should be led back to the fold of Rome. Such an 
 experiment, which might have suited the age of Henry 
 Vill., was absurd and hopeless towards the end of the 
 seventeenth century, and therefore the church, the
 
 366 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 army, and the nation at large, rose up in indignation 
 against his measures, and repelled every attempt to 
 restore the popish ascendancy. Such a kind of warfare 
 could not long continue, or terminate in a peaceful com- 
 promisement, and therefore the whole nation turned 
 their eyes to William, prince of Orange, the son-in-law 
 of James II. This distinguished warrior, in consequence 
 of the numerous invitations which he received from all 
 parties, set sail for England, with a large fleet and amiy, 
 and landed at Torbay on the 5th of November, 1688. His 
 arrival was the signal for general desertion, and the des- 
 potic priest-ridden James was soon forsaken even by 
 those in whom he had placed the greatest confidence. 
 All that he could do was to fly from the country which 
 he had so grossly misgoverned ; and as the friends of 
 William were eager to be rid of his presence, an open 
 door was left for his retreat. On the 25th of December 
 he landed in France, and hastened to the court of Louis 
 XIV., by whom he was received with sympathy and 
 respect, while William and Mary were conjointly invited 
 to assume the sovereign authority, the administration of 
 government being placed in the hands of the former. In 
 this way, the overthrow of a dynasty and the revolution 
 of three kingdoms were accomplished, without a single 
 skirmish. 
 
 In the mean time, the viscount of Dundee, who had 
 made his name terrible to the covenanters of Scotland 
 as Graham of Claverhouse, and who was the finnest 
 adherent of the house of Stuart, after having vainly 
 attempted to dissuade James from his ill-advised flight, 
 retired to Scotland, in the hope of creating a diversion 
 in favour of the fugitive sovereign. For this purpose he 
 set up the royal standard, and was joined by a small 
 body of Highlanders ; but as the Scottish convention was 
 aware of his restless activity, enterprise, and courage, 
 such a powerful force was sent against him that, instead 
 of being able to attempt any thing of consequence, he 
 was obliged to fall back upon the passes and fastnesses 
 of the Highlands. After having been closely followed by 
 a very superior army under the command of general 
 Mackay, an ofiicer of approved skill, Dundee, whose 
 whole force did not exceed 2500 men, resolved to give 
 battle to the pursuers in the pass of Killikrankie. The 
 soldiers of Mackay entered the dark and dismal gorge
 
 SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY. 367 
 
 with awe on the 17th of July, 1689, and found the High- 
 landers drawn up upon a hill to await them; but both 
 parties continued to stand at gaze without coming to 
 action. At length, Dundee, who had purposely delayed 
 till sunset, gave the signal for battle, and in an instant 
 the Highland clans rushed down upon their enemies 
 iik.e a torrent. The charge was irresistible : the foot 
 'vere broken and routed almost in an instant, and the 
 ". hule pass was filled with the fragments of troops and 
 regiments flying from the impetuous onset of the High- 
 laud broad-sword; while nearly 2000 of their comrades 
 Were killed in the attack or the pursuit. Indeed, not a 
 soldier of Mackay would have escaped but for the death 
 of Dundee himself, who fell by a bullet that pierced him 
 uuder the right arm in a part undefended by the cuirass, 
 while he was cheering on his troops to the onset. By 
 this fall of the leader of the Stuart cause, the hopes of 
 James were frustrated in Scotland ; and the splendid 
 victory of Killikrankie was only a signal for the High- 
 landers to disband and return to their homes. 
 
 The conflict on behalf of the deposed sovereign was 
 now shifted from Scotland to Ireland. As the greater 
 part of the population in the latter country was Roman 
 Catholic, and therefore friendly to the religious politics 
 of James, while the whole military force stationed in that 
 kingdom to keep it in check amounted barely to 4000 
 men, he embarked at Brest with a small force, and 
 landed at Rinsale on the 12th of Jlarch, 1689, hoping 
 that he would be joined by the bulk of the Irish 
 people. But in this he was only too successful, as he was 
 encumbered with whole myriads of uncouth recruits, 
 whom he could neither arm nor discipline. His first 
 attempt was the siege of Londonderry ; but the towns- 
 folk, although only defended by a wretched mud wall, 
 and headed by a clergyman (their governor having de- 
 serted them), made such a splendid defence that they 
 held out for three months, until their last meal was con- 
 sumed, when they were happily relieved, on the 28th of 
 July, by seven ships laden with provisions. James was 
 on this account obliged to raise the siege, after having 
 sustained great loss. After this event, several indecisive 
 engagements followed; but William, resolving to bring 
 the war to a termination, crossed over to Ireland, and 
 took the command of those forces which he had pre-
 
 368 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 viously sent under the duke of Schomberg. On this 
 occasion the battle of the Boyne was fought — an event 
 that crushed the hopes of the Stuart party in Ireland. 
 This important event took place on the 30th of June, 
 1690. The army of William, composed of English, Dutch, 
 and Germans, amounted to 30,000 men ; while that of 
 James was not only inferior in numbers, but also in arras 
 and discipline. Although the crossing of the river was 
 difficult, and the Irish were strongly posted on the oppo- 
 site bank, William resolved to become the assailant : he 
 ordered the river to be forded in three different places, 
 and a simultaneous attack to be made from as many 
 points, which was done with great intrepidity and com- 
 paratively little loss. The Irish fought bravely, but it 
 was the character of the two leaders that mainly decided 
 the conflict. While William charged at the head of his 
 troops and superintended every movement, James, even 
 while the battle was yet undecided, rode off from the 
 field, and thus his faithful followers were thrown into 
 dismay. This contrast was bitterly expressed by a Jaco- 
 bite officer after the defeat. • Let us but exchange our 
 commanders,' he said to the opposite party, ' and we will 
 fight the battle over again.' The war in Ireland con- 
 tinued after this period, but so unsuccessfully for the 
 interests of the fallen king, that a peace was established 
 on the 1st of October, which put an end to his hopes in 
 that quarter. James returned to his old lodgings in St. 
 Germain, and there devised plots for the assassination 
 of William, after having vainly tried to overcome him 
 in open warfare. 
 
 The great aim of William, both while prince of Orange 
 and king of Great Britain, was the overthrow of Louis 
 XIV., whose vast plans of ambition, aided by his im- 
 mense resources, had long menaced the liberties of 
 Europe. But England on this point showed such a won- 
 derful indifference to the wishes of her sovereign, as 
 made William sometimes regret that he had undertaken 
 the government of such a refractory monarchy. At last, 
 however, he had in some measure roused the spirit of 
 England to the encounter, and a new war with France 
 was about to be commenced, when William's heroic 
 career was terminated by an unexpected accident. His 
 health had been greatly impaired, a circumstance which 
 he endeavoured to conceal by frequent exercise on horse-
 
 PARTY DISSENSIONS. 3G9 
 
 back. ; but while he was riding from Kensington to 
 Hampton Court, his horse stumbled, and fell under him, 
 by which his collar-bone was fractured. This accident, 
 augravated by a feeble constitution, was incurable, and 
 he died on the 8th of March, 1702, in the fifty-third year 
 of his age, having reigned in England thirteen years. 
 Ttie humiliation of France, which was the prevailing 
 desire of his heart even in his last moments, descended 
 like a sacred duty to him who was best able to discharge 
 it— to the illustrious duke of Marlborough. 
 
 This distinguished hero, of whom it is enough to say in 
 this place, that during ten campaigns which he conducted 
 against the French, he never laid siege to a town with- 
 out taking it, nor fought a battle without being victorious, 
 raised the military character of England during the reign 
 of queen Anne to the highest pitch of greatness, and but 
 for the envy or treachery of the British cabinet, by which 
 he was at last superseded, be would in all probability 
 have broken, the power of France for centuries. 
 Anne died of apoplexy on the 1st of August, iri4, and 
 according to the appointed rule of succession, George, 
 elector of Hanover, was called to the throne of Britain. 
 But on his accession he found that the Tories, in conse- 
 quence of their obstinate belief in the divine hereditary 
 right of kings, were wholly for the exiled house of Stu- 
 art, upon which he threw himself among the Whigs, who 
 were thus enabled to triumph over their political rivals. 
 The Tories were thus rendered more irreconcileable than 
 ever against the house of Hanover ; and in consequence 
 of the fierce aversion of the Scots to the Union, which 
 had been accomplished in the preceding reign, the earl 
 of Mar raised the standard of rebellion in 1715, and pro- 
 claimed the Pretender in the highlands. This insur- 
 rection, however, which was so formidable in its appear- 
 ance, and which might have been attended with such 
 fatal results to the liberty and religion of Britain, was 
 thwarted in all its steps by the iujudiciousness of its 
 friends, and finally extinguished by the valour and pru- 
 dence of the duke of Argyle. After this defeat of his 
 hopes, the Pretender's cause was espoused by Spain, and 
 an armament was despatched to Britain on his behalf; 
 but the ships were dispersed by a storm oflF Cape Finis- 
 terre. These and other failures to reinstate the family 
 of Stuart humbled the Tories, and established the house 
 R 2
 
 370 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 of Brunswick so effectually, that on the death of George 
 I., which happened at Osnaburgh on the 11th of June, 
 1727, George II. ascended the throne with all the national 
 acquiescence of an incontestible succession. 
 
 The reign of this sovereign was distinguished both by 
 foreign and civil wars, the former arising from the Prag- 
 matic Treaty, and the latter from attempts to restore the 
 house of Stuart. On the death of the emperor of Ger- 
 many, his daughter the queen of Hungary should have 
 succeeded, according to the guarantee of the chief Euro- 
 pean powers ; but France, regardless of her share in the 
 treaty, set up the duke of Bavaria as a rival to the claims 
 of the queen, while her dominions were attacked in other 
 quarters by Prussia, Saxony, and Bavaria. Britain in 
 this case, as usual, espoused the weaker side ; and after 
 a series of conflicts, in which her powerful aid was most 
 sensibly felt by her ally, the battle of Dettingen was 
 fought, in which the British troops materially contributed 
 to obtain a glorious victory — but this was in some mea- 
 sure balanced by the untoward offset of Fontenoy. France 
 now endeavoured to divide the efforts of the British by 
 transferring part of the war to their own doors, and for 
 this purpose Charles Edward, son of the Pretender, and 
 grandson of James II., was furnished with a small sum 
 of money, and an immense amount of promises, that he 
 might be induced to make a landing in Scotland, where 
 a hankering for the old Scottish race of Stuart was in- 
 vigorated by a hatred of the Union. In full reliance 
 upon these promises of co-operation, Charles Edward, or, 
 as he is more generally called, the Young Chevalier, 
 landed in Lochabar with only seven officers, in 1745. The 
 hardy Highlanders flocked to his standard, and for a time 
 every obstacle yielded to their valour. At the battle of 
 Preston Pans they routed a superior army of the royalists, 
 and made themselves masters of Edinburgh ; and hav- 
 ing received a considerable augmentation of force, they 
 commenced their march southward, and advanced within 
 a hundred miles of London. But this was the termi- 
 nation of their romantic career. The duke of Cumber- 
 laud, who had been recalled from the continent, took the 
 command of the royal army, closely followed the retreat 
 of the insurgents, and ended the rebellion by a total de- 
 feat of the army of the Young Chevalier at Culloden. 
 After this period, the war upon the continent was chiefly
 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 371 
 
 maiutained by our navy, and in rapid succession the 
 fleets and colonies of the enemy fell into our hands. Of 
 these the most interesting was the capture of Quebec, 
 which yielded to the gallant Wolfe, who fell in the arms 
 of victory. It was in the midst of these operations that 
 George II. died, a. d. 1760, and was succeeded by George 
 III., a name with which the feelings of the present 
 generation are closely connected. 
 
 JOHN CHURCHILL, 
 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 
 
 John Churchill, who, according to the prediction of 
 the prince de Vaudemout, lived to attain the highest 
 pitch of glory, was the second son of Sir Winston 
 Churchill, of Dorsetshire, a gentleman who suffered 
 greatly during the civil wars for his loyalty to Charles I. 
 He was born at Ashe, in Devonshire, on the 24th of June, 
 1650 ; and introduced early to court, where he was par- 
 ticularly favoured by James, duke of York, who made 
 him his page of honour when he was no more than 
 twelve years of age. He had a pair of colours given 
 him in the guards during the first Dutch war, about the 
 year 1666 ; and afterwards obtained leave to go over to 
 Tangier, then in the possession of England, and besieged 
 by the Moors. Here he resided for some time, cultivating 
 attentively the science of war, and was personally en- 
 gaged in several skirmishes with the Moors. Upon his 
 return to England he attended constantly at court, and 
 ■was greatly respected both by the king and the duke. 
 
 In 16**2, the duke of Monmouth commanding a body 
 of English auxiliaries in the service of France, Mr. 
 Churchill attended him, and was soon after made a cap- 
 tain of grenadiers in the duke's own regiment. He had 
 a share in all the actions of that famous campaign against 
 the Dutch ; and at the siege of Nimegaen he distinguished 
 himself so much, that he was particularly taken notice 
 of by the celebrated Turenne, who bestowed on him the 
 name of ' the handsome Englishman.' One circum- 
 stance rendered this a title of honour. A French lieu-
 
 372 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 tenant colonel having; deserteil a pass upon the approach 
 of a Dutch detachment, marshal Turenne, who com- 
 manded the French, laid a wager that, difficult and 
 dangei-ous as the enterprise was, this ' handsome Enulish- 
 man' should retake the pass with half the number of 
 men with which the other had lost it; and this, young' 
 Churchill successfully effected. 
 
 The next jear he so signalized himself by his intre- 
 pidity at the reduction of Maestricht, that the French 
 king thanked him for his behaviour at the head of the 
 line; and assured him that he would acquaint his sove- 
 reign with it; which he did: and Monmouth, on his 
 return to England, told the king how much he had been 
 indebted to the bravery of captain Churchill. His repu- 
 tation in France procured him preferment at home : the 
 king promoted him to the rank of lieutenant-colonel ; and 
 the duke of York made him gentleman of his bed- 
 chamber, and soon after master of the robes. In the be- 
 ginning of the year 1679, when the duke was constrained 
 to retire from England, colonel Churchill attended him 
 till he was suffered to reside again in London. While he 
 waited upon the duke in Scotland, he had a regiment of 
 dragoons given him ; and in 1681 he married Mrs. Sarah 
 Jennings, daughter of Richard Jennings, Esq. of Sand- 
 ridge, in Herefordshire, one of the most handsome and 
 accomplished ladies of the court. In the spring of the 
 following year, the duke of York returning to London, 
 resolved to fetch his family from Scotland by sea. For 
 this purpose he embarked on the 2nd of May, but un- 
 luckily ran upon the Lemon Oar, a dangerous sand that 
 lies about sixteen leagues from the mouth of the Huraber ; 
 where his ship was lost, and several persons of quality, 
 besides upwards of 120 private gentlemen and seamen. 
 The duke was particularly careful of colonel Churchill's 
 safety, and took him into the boat in which himself 
 escaped. 
 
 The first work of his royal highness, after his return 
 to court, was to obtain a title for Viis favourite, who, by 
 letters patent, was created baron Churchill of Aymouth, 
 in Scotland, and colonel of the third troop of guards. He 
 was continued in all his posts by James II., who sent 
 him also as his ambassador to France to notify his ac- 
 cession. On his return he assisted at the coronation on 
 tlie 23rd of April, 1085 ; and in May following was created
 
 DI^KE OF MARLnOROUGil. 373 
 
 a peer of England by the title of baron Churchill, of 
 Sandridge, in tlie county of Hereford. 
 
 In June lord Churchill was ordered into the west to 
 suppress the duke of Monmouth's rebellion, which he did 
 in a month with an inconsiderable body of horse, and 
 took the duke himself prisoner. He was very favourably 
 received by the king at his return ; but he soon dis- 
 covered the bad effects which this victory had produced, 
 by confirming the king in au opinion, that by a standing 
 army the religion and government of England might 
 easily be changed. How far lord Churchill concurred 
 with or opposed this project, cannot well be ascertained. 
 Bishop Burnet tells us, that ' he very prudently declined 
 meddling much in business, spoke little, except when 
 his advice was asked, and then always recommended 
 moderate measures.' It is said that he declared very 
 early to lord Galway, that if his master attempted to over- 
 turn the established religion, he would leave him; and 
 that he signed the memorial transmitted to the prince 
 and princess of Orange, by which they were invited to 
 rescue this nation from popery and slavery. It is cer- 
 tain, however, that he remained with James after the 
 prince of Orange had landed on the 5th of Nov. 1688, 
 and had the command of a brigade of 5000 men; yet the 
 earl of Feversham, the king's general, suspecting his 
 inclinations, advised the king to seize him. But the 
 king's affection was so great, that he could not be pre- 
 vailed upon to do it; and this left him at liberty to go 
 over to the prince ; which he accordingly did, but with- 
 out carrying off any troops. The military trimmer (for 
 such in this case he certainly was) was graciously re- 
 ceived by the prince of Orange ; and in consequence of 
 his solicitations prince George of Denmark went over 
 to William, as did his consort, the princess Anne, soon 
 after, by the advice of lady Chuixhill. He was entrusted, 
 in that critical conjuncture, by the prince of Orange, 
 first to re-assemble his troop of guards at London, and 
 afterwards to reduce some lately-raised regiments, and 
 new-model the army; for which purpose he was invested 
 with the rank of lieutenant general. He was one of the 
 peers who voted that the throne was vacant ; and the 
 prince and princess of Orange being detdared king and 
 queen of England upon the 6th of February, 1639, he
 
 374 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 was, on the 14th, sworn of their privy council, and one 
 of the gentlemen of the bedchamber to the king; and 
 on the 9th of April following he was raised to the 
 dignity of earl of Marlborough, in the coimty of Wilts, 
 and was soon after made commander-in-chief of the 
 English forces sent over to Holland. He commanded at 
 the battle of Walcourt, in the province of Namur, which 
 was fought upon the 15th of August, 1689, and gave such 
 extraordinary proofs of his skill, that prince Waldeck, 
 speaking in his commendation to king William, declared 
 * that he saw more into the art of war in a day than 
 some generals in many years.' 
 
 It is to be observed that king William commanded this 
 year in Ireland ; which was the reason of the earl of 
 Marlborough's being at the head of the English troops 
 in Holland, where he laid the foundation of that fame 
 among foreigners, which he afterwards extended all 
 over Europe. The following year king James having 
 withdrawn from Ireland, the earl, who would never 
 appear in the field against that monarch, accepted the 
 command of a body of English forces to act in con- 
 junction with the German and Dutch auxiliaries in re- 
 ducing Cork and some other places of importance ; in 
 which he showed such uncommon abilities, that on his 
 first appearance at court after his return, king William 
 was pleased to say, ' that he knew no man so fit for a 
 general, who had seen so few campaigns.' Yet all these 
 services did not prevent his being disgraced in a very 
 sudden manner, in 1691. The cause of this is supposed 
 to have proceeded from his too close attachment to the 
 interest of the princess Anne. 
 
 After queen Mary's death, William thought fit to re- 
 call the earl of Marlborough to his privy council ; and 
 in June, 169S, he appointed him governor to the duke of 
 Gloucester, with this extraordinary compliment, ' Make 
 him but what you are, and my nephew will be all I 
 wish to see him.' 
 
 Soon after the death of the duke of Gloucester, which 
 occurred a. d. 1700, the king made Marlborough com- 
 mander-in-chief of the British forces in Holland, and 
 ambassador extraordinary to the States General ; and 
 this was one of the last marks of honour the earl re- 
 ceived from William, except the recommendation of his
 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 375 
 
 lordship to the princess Anne, a little before his death, 
 as the most proper person to command the army which 
 was to protect the liberty of Europe. 
 
 In March, 1702, about a week after the king's death, 
 he was elected knight of the most noble order of the 
 {garter; and soon after declared captain-general of all her 
 majesty's forces in England and abroad: upon which he 
 was immediately sent over to the Hague with the same 
 character which he had held the year before. The States 
 concun-ed with him in all his proposals, and made him 
 captain-general of their forces, with an appointment 
 of 100,000 florins per annum. On his return to England 
 he found the queen's council already divided : some were 
 for carrying on the war as auxiliaries only; others for 
 declaring against France and Spain immediately, and so 
 becoming principals at once. Marlborough joined with 
 the latter ; and as these carried their point, war was de- 
 clared upon the 4th of May, 1702, and afterwards ap- 
 proved by parliament, though the Dutch at that time had 
 not declared. The earl took the command on the 20th of 
 June; and finding that the States were uneasy at the 
 places which the enemy held on the frontiers, he began 
 with attacking and reducing them. Accordingly, in this 
 single campaign, he made himself master of the castles 
 of Gravenbroeck and Waerts ; the towns of Venlo, Rure- 
 mond, and Stevenswaert, together with the city and 
 citadel of Liege, which last was taken sword in hand. 
 
 These advantages were considerable, and acknow- 
 ledged as such by the States ; but they were likely to 
 be of a very short date ; for the army separating in the 
 neighbourhood of Liege on the 3d of November, the earl 
 was taken the next day, in his passage by water, by a 
 small party of thirty men from the garrison at Gueldres. 
 But it was towards night ; and the earl with great com- 
 posure presenting to the commanding officer of the de- 
 tachment an old pass which had been given to his bro- 
 ther, general Churchill, but which was now out of date, 
 he was sulfered to proceed, so that he arrived safe at the 
 Hague, where they were in the utmost consternation at 
 the accident which had befallen him. Towards winter the 
 earl embarked for England, and arrived in London on 
 the 28th of November. The queen had been compli- 
 mented some time before, by both houses of parliament, 
 on the success of her arms in Flanders ; in consequence
 
 376 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 of which there had been a public thanksgiving on the 
 4th of November, when her majesty went in great state 
 to St. Paul's, Soon after the triumphant earl was created 
 a duke, by the title of marquis of Blandford and duke of 
 Marlborough. The queen likewise added a pension of 
 five thousand pounds per annum out of the post-office 
 during her own life ; and sent a message to the House of 
 Commons, signifying her desire that they would extend 
 the pension by act of parliament, in the same manner as 
 she had done the title, to him and his heirs male ; but 
 with this the house would not comply, contenting them- 
 selves, in their address to the queen, with applauding 
 her manner of rewarding public services, but declaring 
 their inability to make such a precedent for alienating 
 the revenue of the crown. He was on the point of re- 
 turning to Holland, when, on the 20th of February, 1703, 
 his only son, the marquis of Blandford, died at Cambridge 
 at the age of eighteen. This afflicting accident did not, 
 however, long retard his grace ; for he passed over to 
 Holland, and arrived at the Hague on the 17th of March. 
 
 The French bad a great army this year in Flanders, 
 in the Low Countries, and in that part of Germany which 
 the elector of Cologne had put into their hands ; and pro- 
 digious preparations were made under the most experi- 
 enced commanders : but the vigilance and activity of 
 the duke baffled them all. When the campaig-n was 
 over, he went to Dusseldorp to have an interview with 
 the archduke Charles, who had just taken the title of 
 Charles III., king of Spain; he made him a present of 
 a rich sword from his side, at the same time highly com- 
 plimenting him on his great military reputation. The 
 duke then accompanied the Spanish monarch to the 
 Hague, and after a very short stay came over to Eng- 
 land. 
 
 In the beginning of January, 1704, the States-General 
 desired leave of her majesty for the duke of Marlborough 
 to come to the Hague ; which being granted, he em- 
 barked on the 15th, and passed over to Rotterdam. He 
 repaired immediately to the Hague, where he commu- 
 nicated to the pensionary the necessity of attempting 
 something the next campaign for the relief of the 
 emperor of Germany, Charles VI., whose affairs at this 
 time were in the utmost distress, having the Bavarians 
 on one side, and the Hungarian malcontents on the
 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 377 
 
 nfhcr, who were making incursions to the very gates 
 of Vienna, while his whole force scarcely enabled him 
 to maintain a defensive war. This scheme being ap- 
 proved, and the plan adjusted, the duke began his march 
 towards the heart of Germany, and after a conference 
 held with prince Eugene of Savoy and prince Lewis of 
 Baden, he arrived before the strong entrenchments of 
 the enemy at Schellenbnrg, very unexpectedly, on the 
 21st of June ; and after an obstinate and sanguinary 
 battle he entirely routed them. It was on this occasion 
 that the emperor wrote the duke a letter with his own 
 hand, acknowledging his great services, and offei-Ing' 
 him the title of a prince of the empire, which he mo- 
 destly declined, till the queen afterwards commanded 
 him to accept it. The duke now advanced within a 
 league of Augsburg, where the elector of Bavaria was 
 securely encamped under the cannon of that city, but 
 Marlborough so effecttiallj' cut off his communication 
 with his electoral dominions, that seeing his subjects 
 left to the mercy of the confederates, he had actually 
 agreed to abandon the French interests, when he re- 
 ceived the news that marshal Tallard, who commanded 
 the French army, was on the point of joining him, which 
 he soon after did. 
 
 The French army, including Bavarians, consisted of 
 nearly 00,000 men ; Marlborough was at the head of 
 about 52,000. Though the allies possessed the banks of 
 the Danube, they were unable to draw sufficient sup- 
 plies from their magazines, or to penetrate into Bavaria ; 
 so that they earnestly sought a general engagement, for 
 which purpose they watched every motion of the enemy. 
 The evil destiny of France, the haughtiness of her gene- 
 rals, Tallard and Marsin, and the Aehemence of the 
 elector himself, at length presented the wished-for op- 
 portunity. As this engagement, called the battle of 
 Blenheim, or Hockstet, both from the talents of the 
 generals, the improvements in the art of war, the num- 
 ber and discipline of the troops, and the greatness of the 
 contending powers, is reckoned the most remarkable of 
 this century, it demands a particular detail. 
 
 On the 1 3th of August, at break of day, the whole 
 army put itself in full march in eight columns, the im- 
 perialists in the right, the English and Dutch in the 
 left. A ninth column was soon after formed, consisting
 
 378 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 of two brigades which had been posted at Tiffingen, and 
 fifteen squadrons which took the left of the whole. They 
 continued their march in this order till they reached the 
 village of Sweiniugen, where they made a halt, and 
 here the duke of Marlborough and prince Eugene as- 
 sembled the general officers to receive the necessary 
 orders. It was by this time six o'clock in the morning, 
 and as yet the enemy had no thoughts of battle ; for on 
 sight of the allies they fired two pieces of cannon to recall 
 their foragers, and ran to their arms in a hurry. While 
 they were thus forming, the allies were crossing the 
 plain, and having behind them the villages of Wolper- 
 stelde, Schweinebach and Achberg, they stretched their 
 left to the morass near Greinheim, and pushed their 
 right on the other side of the plain, as far as they could 
 extend it. The right, composed of imperial troops, had 
 prince Eugene at their head ; the English and Dutch 
 formed the left wing, under the command of the duke of 
 Marlborough, who had iinder him for generals the here- 
 ditary prince of Hesse and general Churchill. The 
 enemy were also drawn up in two lines on the bank of a 
 rivulet, which separated them from the allies, the right 
 wing commanded by the marshal Tallard, and the left 
 by the elector of Bavaria and marshal Marsin. 
 
 By eight o'clock in the morning the two armies fronted 
 each other within cannon-shot, and separated only by 
 the rivulet. The French were possessed of four villages, 
 well fortified and full of men : Blenheim, situated at the 
 extremity of the right upon the Danube; Lutzingen, at the 
 extremity of their left towards the wood; Oberklau, in the 
 very centre of their army ; and Onderklau, on the other 
 side of the rivulet, almost at an equal distance from the 
 two first-mentioned places. Two mills standing on the 
 same rivulet pretty near its mouth defended the passage 
 on that side, and served as redoubts to the village of 
 Blenheim. The first thing to be done in clearing away 
 these obstacles, was to throw bridges over this rivulet ; 
 and the English established five, and afterwards a sixth, 
 notwithstanding the enemy's incessant cannonade, which 
 continued till twelve, when orders were given for a 
 general attack. At one o'clock the attack was begun 
 by the English upon the two mills on the rivulet, which 
 were soon cai-ried, for the enemy did not think fit to 
 garrison them; they even abandoned the village of On-
 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 379 
 
 derklau, after having set it on fire, and the English 
 immediately occupied it. These advantages favoured the 
 passage of the left over the rivulet, but did not leave it 
 entirely free, as this wing was obliged to sustain a very 
 long and brisk fire. The Danes, the English, and the 
 Hanoverians, posted on the right of the left, having passed 
 the rivulet at Onderklau, were charged so warmly by 
 the enemy, that they were forced to recross it ; they re- 
 turned supported by a good body of infantry, but were 
 obliged a second time to retreat. The third time they 
 kept their ground, and the prince of Holsteiubeck ad- 
 vanced as far as the village of Oberklau, in pursuit of 
 the enemy, but his bravery had not the success it de- 
 served. Eight or nine battalions environed and put to 
 the sword three or four Dutch regiments which he led, 
 amongst others that of Goor, of which there did not 
 escape sixty men ; the prince himself received several 
 wounds, and was taken prisoner, but the captors after- 
 wards left him because they could not carry him off. 
 
 The imperialists found no less difliculty on the right 
 than the English and Dutch on the left. The ground on 
 that side was embarrassed with brambles, hedges, and 
 other incumbrances ; there was no marching by columns, 
 so they advanced as they best could to the rivulet, and 
 passed it ; the enemy making no motion to oppose them. 
 They were ranged in order of battle on the eminence 
 upon which the village of Lutzingeu is situated ; they 
 were still possessed of the village, and a great battery 
 which commanded all the country before it, and there- 
 fore there was a necessity of attacking them in this 
 advantageous post. The infantry, composed of seven 
 Danish battalions and eleven battalions of Prussians, 
 marched to the fight with all the alacrity imaginable ; 
 the cavalry also charged with great vigour, but without 
 success ; they were repulsed, and the Prussian battalions 
 were thereby left uncovered, so that the enemy took 
 them in flank, and put them into great disorder, es- 
 pecially the two battalions which were most exposed. 
 It was not, however, till after a long resistance that they 
 were entirely broken, which obliged the rest to retire 
 towards the wood from whence they came, where they 
 endeavoured to form. The cavalry in the mean time 
 rallied and returned to the charge, and made iu their
 
 380 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 turn such an impression on the enemy's horse, that, it 
 the infantry had been able to second them, the victory 
 had not long been doubtful ; but they were all in confu- 
 sion, and it was above an hour before they could be 
 restored to order. By that time the cavalry were again 
 repulsed, and all advantages were evidently on the side 
 of the French. The presence of the elector of Bavaria 
 contributed very much to this ; but the principal cause 
 of the enemy's superiority was their number : for they 
 had thirty battalions in their left, whereas the allies 
 had but eighteen in their right. Their cavalry was also 
 more numerous, and their situation extremely advan- 
 tageous. Besides this, the village of Oberklau favoured 
 them exceedingly. It was seated in the very centre of 
 their army, and flanked equally their right and their 
 left. If the French or Bavarian squadrons were at any 
 time pressed, they found here an easy retreat ; but if the 
 imperialists or English gave way in the least, they were 
 immediately followed by a shower of bullets, for the 
 infantry posted there acted like an ambuscade. A se- 
 cond attack of the English and Dutch, supported by a 
 reserve of the imperial cavalry, succeeded better ; and 
 although they did not gain the post they kept those 
 within it besieged, so that their own troops could now 
 march before it and attack the cavalry of the enemy 
 with greater liberty. They pushed them so briskly and 
 so far that, in spite of a second rivulet, called the Meul- 
 weyr, the village of Blenheim was entirely cut off from 
 the enemy's army. Upon this the duke of Marlborough 
 caused it to be invested and attacked on the one side by 
 general Churchill, and on the other by lord Cutts and 
 major-general Wilks. 
 
 In the mean time prince Eugene made a third charge, 
 more vigorous than either of the former; and though the 
 cavaly were repulsed again, the infantry met with less 
 resistance ; the Bavarians gave way, and by little and 
 little lost ground, fighting still as they retired ; they 
 lost also their cannon, and were very near being sur- 
 rounded in the village of Lutzingen. The elector now 
 fearing the loss of every thing, caused this village and 
 that of Oberklau to be set on fire, and then retired with 
 his troops ; his infantry threw themselves into a wood, 
 and his cavalry retired by Monchelingen behind a third
 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 381 
 
 rivulet, the sides of which were marshy. The imperial- 
 ists having rallied followed them closely, fighting and 
 killing a great number in this retreat, but they were 
 not able to break these troops, so that the elector saved 
 his wing from total destruction. But consternation had 
 now seized the French troops. On the right they were 
 not only paralyzed, but they grew incapable of direc- 
 tion ; and giving themselves up for lost, they suffered 
 the English to drive them about like flocks of sheep. 
 An entire body ol 4000 cavalry, which had the high- 
 est reputation for courage, carried oft' marshal Tal- 
 lard in their flight, and without considering what they 
 did, they threw themselves by whole squadrons head- 
 long into the Danube. Some got over, but by far the 
 greater part were drowned : and the marshal, finding it 
 impossible to stop this frantic career, yielded himself 
 prisoner with some other general officers who were about 
 him. The other troops on the right were in like manner 
 broken and routed by the English and Dutch, but they 
 rallied behind the village of Monchelingen, joined the 
 Bavarians, and depending on the support of the cavalry 
 on their flanks, they engaged the allies once more. But 
 their horse abandoned them ; they then made an effort 
 to join the troops in the village of Blenheim, but they 
 were charged in their passage, and almost all put to the 
 sword. The allies, now masters of the field, surrounded 
 the village of Blenheim, where a body of 13,000 men 
 had been posted in the beginning of the action, and 
 still kept their ground. These troops, seeing themselves 
 cut off" from all communication with the rest of the 
 army, threw down their arms, and surrendered them- 
 selves prisoners of war. Such was one of the most com- 
 plete victories that was ever obtained : — 12,000 French 
 and Bavarians were slain on the field, or drowned in the 
 Danube, and 13,000 were made prisoners of war. Of the 
 allies about 3000 were killed, and 8000 wounded or taken. 
 The loss of the battle is imputed to two capital errors 
 committed by marshal Tallard ; first, his weakening the 
 centre, by detaching such a number of troops to the vil- 
 lage of Blenheim, and then suff'ering the confederates to 
 pass the rivulet, and form unmolested. When the duke 
 of Marlborough, the nest day, visited his prisoner, the 
 marshal paid him the compliment of having overcome 
 the best troops in the world. ' I hope, sii- / replied the
 
 382 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 duke, * you will except those by whom they were con- 
 quered.' 
 
 After this glorious action, by which the empire was 
 saved, and the whole electorate of Bavaria conquered, 
 the duke continued his pursuit till he forced the French to 
 repass the Rhine. Prince Lewis of Baden then laid siege 
 to Landau, while the duke and prince Eugene covered it ; 
 but it was not taken till the 12th of November. The 
 duke made a tour also to Berlin ; and by a short negoti- 
 ation, suspended the disputes between the king of Prussia 
 and the Dutch, by which he gained the good-will of both 
 parties. When the campaign was over, he returned to 
 Holland, and on the 14th of December arrived in Eng- 
 land. He brought over with him marshal Tallard, and 
 twenty-six other officers of distinction, and the colours, 
 which, by her majesty's order, were put up in West- 
 minster hall. He was received by the queen with the 
 highest marks of esteem, and besides the solemn thanks 
 of both houses of Parliament, the Commons addressed 
 her majesty to perpetuate the memory of this victory ; 
 which she did, by granting Woodstock, with the hun- 
 dred of Wotton, to him and his heiis for ever. The 
 comptroller of the queen's works was also ordered to 
 build a magnificent palace for the duke in Woodstock- 
 park, which was called Blenheim House, and is now a 
 standing memorial of the general's and the nation's 
 glory, acquired by one of the most celebrated victories 
 in the annals of Europe. 
 
 The next year (1705) the duke went over to Holland in 
 March, with a design to execute some great schemes, 
 which he had been projecting in the winter. The cam- 
 paign was attended with some successes, which would 
 have made a considerable figure in a campaign under 
 any other general, but are scarcely worth mentioning 
 where the duke of Marlborough commanded. He could 
 not carry into execution his main project, on account of 
 the impediments he encountered from the allies, and in 
 this respect he was greatly disappointed. The season for 
 action being over, he made a tour to the courts of Vi- 
 enna, Berlin, and Hanover. At the first of these, he 
 acquired the entire confidence of the new emperor, Jo- 
 seph I., who presented him with the principality of 
 Mindelheim ; at the second, he renewed the contract for 
 the Prussian forces ; and at the third he restored per-
 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 383 
 
 feet harmony, and adjusted every thing to the elector's 
 satisfaction. After this he returned to the Hague, and 
 towards the close of the year arrived in England. 
 
 The duke commenced the campaign of 1706 in Flan- 
 ders, with an army of 80,000 men, and expected rein- 
 forcements from Denmark and Prussia ; but the court 
 of France resohed to attack him before this junction, 
 and Villeroy, who commanded an army of 80,000 men, 
 near Tirlemont, had orders to engage. This brought on 
 the famous battle, called from the village near which it 
 ■was fought, the battle of Ramillies, which happened on 
 WhitsHDday, the 23rd of May. The two armies were in 
 sight by eight o'clock in the morning, with nothing be- 
 tween them but a rivulet, which was almost dry. As fast 
 as the troops of the allies arrived between Merdorp and 
 Boneff, the duke of Marlborough and M. Auverquerque 
 drew them up in order of battle, the right near Folz on 
 the Yause, with a little morass before it, the left to- 
 wards the Mehaigne, near Brancha : behind the centre 
 was Jandrouille, where they posted a body of reserve 
 consisting of their best troops, which were afterwards of 
 great service. Between eleven and twelve o'clock the 
 armies fronted each other ; the cannonading was begun 
 at half-past one ; and at half-past two the action com- 
 menced on the left, between the household troops of 
 France and the Dutch horse, commanded by count de 
 Tilly. The engagement was long and obstinate, the 
 Dutch being twice repulsed, and the French as often. 
 The duke of Marlborough, apprehensive of the danger to 
 which the Dutch troops were exposed, galloped from the 
 right to the left, and on the way ordered the infantry in 
 the centre to engage, which was the grand attack. It 
 was made on the village of Ramillies, full of the enemy's 
 infantry, and where they had a great part of their can- 
 non. The duke ordered 24 pieces of cannon and 12 
 battalions to advance against it from the centre, which 
 was done, and the troops engaged with great spirit, being 
 sustained by the whole first line of infantry. His grace 
 had recourse on this occasion to a feint, which com- 
 pletely succeeded. He ordered the English foot to defile 
 towards the left of the enemy, as if they intended to 
 attack the village of Oft'er, which covered them on that 
 side ; and this so imposed upon the French, that they 
 immediately sent their best troops thither, which greatly
 
 384 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 weakened their centre, where the battle continued how- 
 ever for an hour and a half, with much obstinacy and 
 bloodshed. In the duke's passage from the right to the 
 left, when he went to succour the Dutch horse, he had 
 two narrow escapes ; for in attempting to leap a ditch 
 his horse threw him, and he was immediately surrounded 
 by the enemy's dragoons. But an English squadron 
 disengaged him ; and as his aide-de-camp, colonel Bring- 
 field, held the stirrup for him to mount another horse, 
 the colonel had his head shot off by a cannon ball, which 
 at the same time stunned the duke. As soon, however, 
 as he recovered, he continued his march to the left 
 with eighteen squadrons, to sustain the Dutch cavalry, 
 while his reserves marched in one column to take the 
 troops of the household in flank. The allied squadrons, 
 which were in close order, took advantage of the spaces 
 between those of the enemy to penetrate their line, 
 and attack them in flank, and the corps de reserve 
 having in the mean time beaten some squadrons of dra- 
 goons, which were forming in the valley of Tavieres, 
 came up so opportunely that the French were effectually 
 surrounded. Upon this they began to give way, and 
 fled soon after in the greatest disorder, because the 
 second line, behind which they might have rallied, had 
 already retired to the left. The allies much about the 
 same time drove the enemy out of the village of Ra- 
 millies, and took from them ten pieces of cannon ; and 
 shortly after they quitted the village, entirely broke 
 their infantry, and put them to flight. 
 
 Upon this the whole army of the enemy retired be- 
 hind some thickets and a hollow road, where it again 
 formed, while the allies advanced between the Yause 
 and the Mehaigne, so that it was five o'clock before they 
 were drawn up in the plain. The duke of Marlborough 
 and the veldt-marshal would have led them on against 
 the enemy a second time, had not their right retired, 
 and their left begun to withdraw before they could be 
 reached. About this time the French king's own regi- 
 ment of foot, consisting of four battalions, retiring into 
 the plain between Ramillies and Judoigne, where they 
 had left their knapsacks, broke their ranks that they 
 might the better take them up. A body of English horse 
 observing this fell upon them so seasonably, that this 
 line regiment surrendered to Hay's dragoons, a very few 

 
 DUKE OF JIARLBOROUGH. 385 
 
 having time enough to retreat into the wood that was 
 before them. 
 
 While the French continned their retreat, an accident 
 befell them which augmented the victory of the allies. 
 Some carriages belonging to the vanguard breaking 
 down, stopped the baggage and artillery, which pre- 
 vented the ti-oops from defiling in order, and as they 
 were apprehensive that our horse were just at their 
 heels, they quitted their ranks and threw down their 
 arms, that they might the more readily escape. The 
 loss of the enemy amounted to 5000 killed and wounded, 
 and 6000 prisoners ; about 200 officers were also taken, 
 among whom were a lieutenant-general, two marshals- 
 de-camp, the son of the marshal 'J'allard, the marquesses 
 of Mezieres and Entragues, and the count de Mont- 
 morency, nephew to the duke of Luxemburg. The ad- 
 vantages gained by this victory were so far improved by 
 the vigilance and wisdom of the duke of Marlborough, 
 that Louvain, Brussels, Mechlin, and even Ghent and 
 Bruges, submitted to Charles III. of Spain without a 
 stroke ; and Oudenard suiTendered upon the first sum- 
 mons. The city of Antwerp followed this example. And 
 thus, in the short space of a fortnight, the duke i-educed 
 all Brabant, and the marquisate of the holy empire, to 
 the obedience of king Chai'les. He afterwards took the 
 towns of Ostend, Menin, Dendermoude, and Aeth. 
 
 The forces of the allies, after this glorious campaign, 
 being about to separate, his grace, on the 17th of Octo- 
 ber, went to the Hague. Here the proposals which 
 France had made for peace, contained in a letter from 
 the elector of Bavaria to the duke of Marlborough, were 
 communicated to the ministers of the allies; after which 
 his grace embarked for England. He arrived in London 
 on the ISth of November ; and though at this time there 
 was a party formed against him at court, yet the great 
 services he had done the nation, and the personal esteem 
 of the queen, procured him a popular reception. The 
 commons, in their address to her majesty, spoke of the 
 success of the campaign in the strongest terms, and 
 the day after unanimously voted him their thanks, in 
 which they were followed by the lords. They went 
 still farther ; for on the 17th of December, they ad- 
 dressed the queen for leave to bring in a bill, to settle 
 the duke's honours upon the male and female issue 
 S
 
 386 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 of his daughters. This was granted ; and Blenheim- 
 house, with the manor of Woo 'stock, was, after the de- 
 cease of the duchess, upon whom they were settled in 
 jointure, entailed in the same manner with the honours. 
 Two days after this, the standards and colours taken at 
 Ramillies being carried in state through the city, in 
 order to be hung up in Guildhall, his grace of Marl- 
 borough was invited to dine with the lord mayor, which 
 he accordingly did. The last day of the year was ap- 
 pointed for a general thanksgiving ; and her majesty 
 went in state to St. Paul's ; in which there was this 
 singularity observed, that it was the second thanksgiv- 
 ing within the year. 
 
 The campaign of 1707 proved the most barren one he 
 ever made. This circumstance was chiefly owing to the 
 allies, who began to fail in supporting the common 
 cause. Nor did things succeed more to his satisfaction 
 at home ; for upon his return to England, at the close 
 of the campaig-n, he found that the flame which he 
 suspected the year before, had broke out in his absence ; 
 that the queen had a female favourite, who was in a fair 
 way of supplanting the duchess; and that she listened 
 to the insinuations of a statesman, who was no friend to 
 him. He is said to have borne all this with firmness and 
 patience, though he easily saw whither it tended. 
 
 In the spring of 1708, the duke of Marlborough again 
 repaired to the continent, and arrived at the Hague, 
 March 19. This campaign opened with a fairer prospect, 
 and proved more successful than the preceding one. 
 The prince Eugene also took the field to act in concert 
 with his friend ; and in Apnl, these two distinguished 
 generals met at the Hague, when it was resolved that 
 the greatest eff'orts of this campaign should be made in 
 Flanders. A body of the French troops found means to 
 pass the allied army undiscovered in the night, and took 
 possession of the two cities, Ghent and Bruges (the 
 Flemings being aff"ected towards the French); they also 
 marched their whole army into Dutch Flanders, which 
 they laid under contribution. At the same time, the 
 dukes of Burgundy and Barre joined the duke de 
 Vendome, and the enemy had so great a superiority of 
 force before the Germans took the field, that they ven- 
 tured to lay siege to Oudenarde, to secure their former 
 conquests. But prince Eugene having joined the con-
 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 387 
 
 federates, tbey made a long- aud rapid march to the 
 relief of that place, upon which the enemy raised the 
 siege, and a fierce battle ensued. The allied army 
 charging- first with their bayonets only, drove them from 
 one hedge to another; but afterwards the action became 
 general between the foot. The horse, who by reason of 
 the broken ground could not act, were detached to the 
 right and left wings, and advanced so far, that they 
 attacked the enemy in flank and rear : this onset drove 
 the French into the utmost confusion ; part of them re- 
 tired in the night with their baggage and artillery 
 towards Ghent, another part towards Courtray, while the 
 diike gave orders to his troops to cease firing, and let 
 the routed enemy escape, the night being so far ad- 
 vanced that it was impossible to distinguish friends from 
 foes. The number of prisoners taken in this action 
 amounted to about 7000 men, two lieutenant-generals, 
 two major-generals, five brigadiers, thirty colonels, above 
 100 officers of the state major, and about 400 subalterns, 
 together with between seventy and eighty standards and 
 4o0n horses, besides a great variety of articles belonging 
 to the camp. In this engagement, the electoral prince 
 of Hanover (afterwards George II.), who had joined 
 t!ie army on the 2-2d of June, gave distinguished proofs 
 of his early courage : he charged, sword in hand, at the 
 head of a squadron of Bulau's dragoons; his horse wa3 
 shot under him; and colonel Luschky, who commanded 
 the squadron, was killed by his side. 
 
 The duke now attempted the recovery of Lisle, in 
 which the enemy had a garrison of twenty-one battalions, 
 commanded by marshal Bonders. The trenches were 
 opened on the 2-2nd of August, but being a strongly forti- 
 fied place, it could not be reduced before the 23rd of 
 October, when the town capitulated ; the garrison, how- 
 ever, marched into the castle, and continued to make a 
 vigorous defence until the 8th of December, when they 
 beat a parley, and were allowed to march out with 
 the honours of war. On the 18th of December the duke 
 invested Ghent, where the count de la Motte commanded 
 a garrison of thirty battalions, and was expected to make 
 a vigorous defence ; but after twelve days, to the great 
 surprise of the allies, he surrendered. On the 2d of 
 January, 1709, the magistrates of the city of Bruges
 
 388 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 came out aud made their submission to the duke of 
 Marlborough ; and acquainted hira that the French, 
 hearing of his approach, had abandoned the place the 
 day before and retreated to their own country. 
 
 Thus ended the campaign which had continued longer 
 than any other, and had been attended with more signal 
 victories, if we compare the number of the opposing 
 forces; and the success of the allies induced the Frencli 
 king, in the spring of 1709, to open a negotiation for 
 peace. The House of Commons during this year gave 
 an uncommon testimony of their respect for the vic- 
 torious Marlborough ; for besides addressing- the queen, 
 they, on Jan. 22, unanimously voted him thanks, and 
 ordered them to be transmitted to him abroad by the 
 speaker. He returned to England on the 25th of Fe- 
 bruary, and on liis first appearance in the House of 
 Lords he received the thanks of that august assemblj-. 
 His stay was so very short, that we need not dwell upon 
 what passed in the interim. It is sufficient to say, that 
 they who feared the dangerous effects of those artful 
 proposals which France had been making for the con- 
 clusion of a general peace, were also of opinion that 
 nobody was so capable of setting their datiger in a true 
 light in Holland as Marlborough. Tbis induced the 
 queen to send liim thither, at the end of Match, with the 
 character of her plenipotentiary, which contributed not 
 a little to the enemy's disappointment, by defeating all 
 their projects. Marshal Villars commanded the French 
 army in the campaign of 1709 ; and Louis XIV. expressed 
 no small hopes of liira iu saying-, a little before the 
 opening of it, that ' Villars was never beaten.' But the 
 siege of Tournay and the battle of Malplaquet convinced 
 that monarch that Villars was not invincible. The 
 French placed great dependence on the strength of the 
 fortifications of Tournay, which they believed to be im- 
 pregnable, and the garrison consisted of twelve battalions 
 and five regiments of dragoons. There were also mines 
 made under the fortifications, so that our genei-al was 
 aware there w-ould be great occasion for sapping, and 
 accordingly provided miners for that purpose. On the 
 7th of July the trenches were opened, and carried on 
 by three attacks, and the town was taken. On its sur- 
 render the garrison retired into the citadel, where they
 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 3S9 
 
 endeavoured to defend themselves resolutely, but were 
 soon obliged to suiTcnder, on condition of marching out 
 ■with their swords and baggage, but leaving their arms 
 and colours. 
 
 The duke next proposed to besiege Alons ; but marshal 
 Villars having possessed himself of Malplaquet, it was 
 necessary to withdraw him first from that strong post. 
 His grace, therefore, detemiiued to bring him to action ; 
 and on the 10th of September both armies were drawn 
 up in order of battle. The French had intrenched them- 
 selves in the woods of Sart and Sansart, where they had 
 cut down trees, and erected batteries to make their camp 
 (naturally strong) still more impregnable. The duke of 
 Marlborough commanded the right wing, consisting of 
 the English, which engaged that wing of the enem^-, 
 commanded by marshal Bouflers ; prince Eugene, at the 
 head of 50,000 men, attacked marshal Villars. At day- 
 break, on the 11th, the infantry in three lines, and the 
 cavalry in two columns, marched towards the enemy, 
 •whose left v%ing was covered by the wood of Sart, where 
 they had cast up many intrenchments and posted their 
 infantry. Their right was covered by another wood 
 and a thick hedge which ran along it like a chain : they 
 had also cast up three principal intrenchments, and had 
 a marshy ground before them, which rendered any 
 access vei-y difficult. Their centre was in a small plain, 
 where thsy had several intrenchments one behind 
 another, all defended at convenient distances with a good 
 train of artillery. They had also cut down the hedges 
 behind their lines for the more easy marching of their 
 cavalry to support the foot, if requisite. The duke of 
 Argjil was ordered to dislodge the enemy from the wood 
 of Sart, which he executed with incredible bravery, and 
 gained a very important post, notwithstanding the barri- 
 cadoes of trees. General Withers, with nineteen bat- 
 talions, attacked them behind the woods with great vigour. 
 The prince of Orange, with thirty-six Dutch battalions, 
 advanced against the enemy's right, covered with three 
 intrenchments, and here the battle raged with great 
 fury ; he drove them from their first intrenchment, but 
 was repulsed from the second with great slaughter; he 
 however rallied, and made a second effort, in which he 
 was successful, and forced their second and third in- 
 trenchments, although he had two horses killed under
 
 390 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 biin, and the greater part of his officers liad fallen. In 
 the mean time the duke of Marlborough pressed forwards 
 with such foj-ce, that the enemy were compelled to retire 
 before him. Wlien he perceived them drawing oft' their 
 cannon, he ordered the earl of Orkney, with fifteen bat- 
 talions, to attack and force their intrenchments in the 
 plain, in which he happily succeeded. The troops of the 
 French king's household at first valiantly oppo.=ed the 
 duke ; but his attack quickly put them into disorder. In 
 this obstinate battle some battalions having expended 
 their ammunition and lost their bayonets, fouiiht several 
 minutes with t)ie butts of their mupkets. A furious 
 fight of five hours was maintained with the greatest 
 bravery at the head of the intrenchments, in which 
 both French and imperialists were victorious by turns. 
 At length victory declared for the latter, but not till al- 
 most all their infantry were cut to pieces, when the 
 cavalry came up and decided the contest about four 
 o'clock in the afteraoou. This victory, though a very 
 glorious one, cost the allies a great number of men, 
 generally computed at 1S,350. The loss of the Fj-ench 
 was about 15,000. Several general officers were wounded : 
 prince Eugene was slightly wounded in the head, and 
 the duke of Ai-gyll had several musket -balls passed 
 through his clothes, hat, and perriwig. It is not to be 
 ■wondered at that the loss of the allies exceeded that of 
 the enemy, as they had to force a camp that had more 
 the strength of a citadel than a field fortification, in 
 which were a well-furnished enemy, equal in number to 
 the allies. Upon the news of this glorious victory, and 
 the capture of Tonrnay, the c-Jy of London renewed their 
 congratulatory addresses to the queen ; and her majesty 
 in council ordered a proclamation for a general thanks- 
 giving. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1710 the French opened 
 a new negotiation for peace, which was commonly dis- 
 tinguished by the title of the treaty of Gertruydenburgh. 
 The States-General upon this having shown an incli- 
 nation to enter into conferences with the French pleni- 
 potentiaries, the House of Commons addressed the queen 
 to send the duke of iMarlborough over to the Hague; 
 with which she complied ; and towards the end of Febru- 
 ary he repaired thither, where he met prince Eugene, 
 pnd soon after set out with him for the army, which
 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 391 
 
 was assembled in the neidibourhood of Touruay. This 
 campaign was very successful, many towns being taken 
 and forti-esses reduced : notwithstanding which, when 
 the duke came over to England, about the middle 
 of December, he found his interest declining and his 
 services depreciated. The negotiations for peace were 
 carried on during a gTeat part of the summer; but in 
 July the French and the Dutch ministry broke oS' the 
 treaty : all the other preliminaries had been settled, when 
 the Dutch insisted that the French king should compel 
 his grandson Philip to cede the throne of Spain to 
 Charles III., and not leave the allies engaged in a war 
 with Spain. This the French would not agree to, and 
 thus the negotiations came to nothing. 
 
 In the month of August the queen began the great 
 change in her ministi-j-, by removing the earl of Sunder- 
 land from being secretary of state : the lord-treasurer 
 Godolphin was likewise removed. Upon the meeting of 
 the parliameat no notice was taken in the addresses of 
 the duke of Marlborough's success; an attempt, indeed, 
 was made to procure him the thanks of the House of 
 Peers, but this was eagerly opposed by the duke of 
 Argyll. His grace was kindly received by the queen, 
 who seemed desirous to have him live upon good terms 
 with her new ministry; bat tlii3 was impracticable; and 
 it was expected that he would lay down his commission. 
 He did not do this ; but he carried the golden key, the 
 ensign of the duchess of Marlborough's office, on the 9th 
 of January, 1711, to the queen, and resigned all her em- 
 ployments. With the same firmness and composure he 
 coasuited the necessary measures for the next campaign, 
 and treated all parties with candour and respect. There 
 is no doubt that the duke felt some inward disquiet, 
 though he showed no outward concern, at least for him- 
 self: but when the earl of Galway was indecently treated 
 in the House of Lords, the duke of Marlborough could 
 not help saying, ' it was somewhat strange that gene- 
 rals who had acted according to the best of their under- 
 standings, and had lost their limbs in the service, should 
 be examined like offenders, about insignificant things.' 
 
 The semblance of a good understanding being esta- 
 blished between the duke and the new ministry, the 
 duke went over to the Hague to prepare for the next 
 campaign, which at the same time he knew would be
 
 392 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 his last. He exerted himself in an uncommon manner, 
 and it was attended with the usual success. There was 
 in this campaign a continued trial of skill between the 
 duke of Marlborough and marshal Yillars ; and notvvith- 
 standing- the g-reat talents of the latter, he was completely 
 foiled. The duke embarked for England when the cam- 
 paign was over, and waited on the queen at Hampton 
 Court, who received him graciously. He also exchanged 
 visits with the ministers, but did not go to council, be- 
 cause a negotiation for peace was then on hand, upon a 
 basis which he did by no means approve. The conqueror 
 of Blenheim was fi-om this time exposed to a most painful 
 persecution. On the one hand, he was attacked by the 
 clamours of the populace, and by the hireling writers of 
 the ministry ; and on the other, a prosecution was com- 
 menced against him by the attorney-general for apply- 
 ing public money to his private use ; and the workmen 
 employed in building Blenheim House, though set at 
 work by the crown, were encouraged to sue his grace for 
 the money that was due to them. All his actions were 
 also shamefully misrepresented. These uneasinesses, 
 joined to his grief for the death of the earl of Godolphin, 
 inclined him to gratify his enemies by a voluntary 
 exile. Accordingly he embarked at Dover upon the 14th 
 of November, 1712; and landing at Ostend, went from 
 thence to Antwerp, and so on to Aix-la-Chapelle, being 
 every where received with the honours due to his high 
 rank and merit. The duchess of Marlborough also at- 
 tended her lord in all his journeys, and particularly in 
 his visit to the principality of Mindelheim, which was 
 given him by the emperor, and exchanged for another 
 at the peace, which was settled while the duke was 
 abroad. 
 
 The conclusion of that peace was so far from restoring 
 harmony among the several parties of Great Britain, 
 that it only widened their diff'ereiices ; so that the lead- 
 ers, despairing of safety in the present state of things, 
 are said to have secretly invited t!ie duke of Marlborough 
 back to England. Be that as it may, it is very certain 
 that he took a resolution of returning a little before 
 the queen's death ; and he came to London upon the 4th 
 of August, 1714, where he was received with every mark 
 of joy by those who (upon the demise of the queen, 
 which happened upon the 1st of that month) were
 
 EARL OF PETERBOROUGH. 393 
 
 er.trusted with the government. Upon the an-ival of 
 George I. the duke was particularly distinguished by 
 acts of rojal favour ; for he was again declared captain- 
 general and commander-in-chief of all his majesty's 
 land-forces, colonel of the first regiment of foot-guards, 
 and master of the ordnance. His advice was of great 
 use in concerting those measures by which the rebellion 
 in the year 1715 was crushed, and this was his last effort 
 in public affairs ; for his infirmities increasing with his 
 years, he retired from public life, and spent the greatest 
 part of his time during the remainder of his days at one 
 or other of his country-houses. His death happened on 
 the IGth of June, 1722, at Windsor lodge ; and his corpse, 
 upon the 9th of August following, was interred with the 
 highest solemnity in Westminster abbey. Besides the 
 marquess of Blandford, whom we hare already men- 
 tioned, his grace had four daughters, who married into 
 the best families of the kingdom. 
 
 CHARLES MORDAUNT, 
 
 EARL OF PETERBOROUGH. 
 
 Charles Mordaunt, earl of Peterborough, was born 
 at Reigate, in Surrey, a. d. 1658, aud was the son of John 
 lord Mordaunt, by Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Carey, 
 second son of Robert earl of Monmouth. His public 
 career was commenced in the naval service, which he 
 entered at a very early age ; but this was soon exchanged 
 for the army, and we find him serving at the siege of 
 Tangier, in 1780. Being disgusted with the arbitrary 
 aud biirotted administration of James II., he was the first 
 of the English nobility who repaired to the prince of 
 Orange, whom he instigated to the invasion of England. 
 William, when this great event was successfully accom- 
 plished, rewarded the zeal of lord Mordaunt on the 8th of 
 April, 1689, by appointing him lord of the bedchamber, and 
 first commissioner of the treasury, and on the following 
 day his lordship was created earl of Monmouth. But not- 
 withstanding this sudden outburst of royal favour, the 
 tempers of the fiery earl aud the phlegmatic monarch 
 S -i
 
 394 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 vvei'e too discordant to I'emain long- in union, and in the 
 following- year the earl of Monmouth was abruptly dis- 
 missed from his majesty's councils. For several years 
 after this event there is considerable obscurity over his 
 lordship's history, except that we find him engaged in 
 the war of the continent in IG9-2, as commander of the 
 royal regiment of horse-guards, and at other times mixed 
 up in the fierce political discussions of the day. In 1696 
 we find him suddenly deprived of all his offices, and com- 
 mitted to the Tower, but of the causes of this disgrace we 
 are also ignorant. His confinement was very brief, and 
 in June, 1097, upon the death of his nephew Henry, 
 second earl of Peterborough, Monmouth succeeded to 
 that title, by which he is best known in history. 
 
 The court intrigues of this period, turbulent though they 
 were, could not satisfy the restless spirit of the earl, and 
 after repeated applications for military employment, his 
 wish was gratified, chiefly through the kind mediation of 
 the duke of Marlborough. As England was interested in 
 the claims of Cbarles of Austria to the Spanish throne, it 
 was resolved in the spring of 1705 to send an expedition in 
 his favour, commanded by the earl of Peterborough, from 
 whose military skill and enterprise the gi-eatest hopes 
 were entertained. The cause of Charles, indeed, had been 
 reduced to a low ebb, and his rival Philip, of the house 
 of Bourbon, had been enabled to triumph chiefly through 
 the high abilities of the duke of Berwick, natural son of 
 James II. But it was hoped that the inhabitants of the 
 province of Arragon would co-operate with the English 
 in behalf of Charles ; and in the instructions which were 
 given to the earl previous to his departure, he was left 
 in a great measure to his own discretion, being required 
 at all events to 'make a vigorous push in Spain.' No 
 commission could have been more grateful to such a ro- 
 mantic and adventurous spirit. Towards the end of May, 
 1705, the earl of Peterborough set sail with a force of 
 0000 men, one third of which was Dutch, and all arrived 
 in safety at Lisbon on the 20th of June. He was after- 
 wards joined by the archduke Charles and the prince of 
 Hesse ; and as the latter had been viceroy of Catalonia, 
 and much endeared to the people, it was hoped, from 
 this circumstance, that the Catalonians would co-operate 
 in the cause, and thus effect one important object of the 
 expedition.
 
 EARL OF PETERBOROUGH. 305 
 
 The 'vigorous push' was now to be made, and Peter- 
 borough was not a man to Jiesitate. Having- set sail, and 
 entered the mouth of the Guadalquiver, he secured it by 
 capturing and occupying the castle of Denia. He then 
 resolved upon the bold attempt of capturing the strong- 
 city of Valencia, by which the way would be opened to 
 make a dash u"f'7i Madrid itself. But the archduke was 
 startled at the beidness of this plan, and insisted upon 
 adhering to their original purpose of reducing Barcelona ; 
 and as the council of war coincided in this opinion, the 
 earl of Peterborough was obliged to direct his course to 
 the bay of Barcelona, where he anchored on the 15th of 
 August. This city was not only of great strength and 
 well fortified, but possessed a garrison nearly equal to 
 the whole English army; and no sooner were these diifi- 
 culties perceived than those who had been the most averse 
 to the siege of Valencia, on account of its boldness, 
 wavered in their purposes, some demanding an instant 
 abandonment of Barcelona, while others were eager for 
 an immediate siege. Of the latter were the archduke 
 Charles and the prince of Hesse ; but the earl was not so 
 headstrong as to hazard with only 6000 men an attempt 
 for which 30,000 would have been necessary. Three 
 months, therefore, were spent in unprofitable debate, iu 
 which the spirit of the English commander was embit- 
 tered by the perversity of his allies : but it was necessary 
 for his credit to do something ; and he conceived the 
 desperate idea of surprising Monjuick, a fortress of 
 immense strength, built upon a hill, within little more 
 than a mile from the town, and by which the inland 
 approach of Barcelona was defended. The very circum- 
 stance of the apparent hopelessness of assailing it, as it 
 was by far the strongest of all the defences, made suc- 
 cess only the more probable, because its governor and 
 garrison were living in a state of comfortable security. 
 His lordship ascertained these facts by reconnoitring it 
 in person, attended only by a single aide-de-camp. But 
 his only hope of success depended upon the most pro- 
 found secrecy; and therefore, instead of giving the 
 slightest hint of his purpose even to his colleagues, he 
 apparently complied with the council of war, and with- 
 drew part of his artillery to re-embark. But on the night 
 hefore that morning which had been appointed for the 
 army to quit the lines, and while all was glee and public
 
 398 MILITAUY HISTORY. 
 
 rejoicing in Barcelona at the thought that tlie siege was 
 raised, the earl privately commenced a march in the dark 
 with 1800 soldiers towards Monjuick, and calling by the 
 way at the door of the prince of Hesse, v.'ho for some time 
 had been estranged from him, he told that officer that he 
 was going to make an attempt at last, in which it would 
 be shown whether he and his troops deserved the charges 
 of lukewarmuess that had been thrown upon them. The 
 prince was amazed at the hardihood of the attempt; but 
 he instantly called for his horse, and joined the expe- 
 dition. 
 
 It was still dark when the detachment reached Mon- 
 juick, after a circuitous march of two hours, but instead 
 of commencing the assault immediately, the earl resolved 
 to paralyze the enemy by attacking them in open light. 
 When the morning, therefore, had completely dawned, 
 the signal was given, and the assailants, divided into 
 three columns, rushed to the onset, received the enemy's 
 fire without answering it, and having surmounted the 
 fosse, they began to scale bastion and rampart with the 
 utmost impetuosity. The outworks were thus secured, 
 and their defenders swept away ; but the advantage was 
 almost lost as suddenly by one of those panics which so 
 frequently control the fate of daring military exploits. 
 Astonished at the dangers they had already surmounted, 
 and hearing that a force was on the way from Barcelona 
 to attack them, the victors were in the act of leaviTig the 
 captured bastions, when Peterborough, who had rode 
 forward to reconnoitre, but returned at the critical mo- 
 ment, threw himself from his horse, seized a standard, 
 and calling to his soldiers that they had mistaken the 
 way, he led them back to their posts. In the mean time 
 the commander of the castle of Monjuick, on learning 
 that Peterborough himself headed this onset, imagined, 
 that the whole British army was at hand, and being, 
 therefore, apprehensive that his own retreat would be cut 
 oft", he hurriedly withdrew his forces from the castle, 
 and retired to the town. 
 
 Thus the gi*eat land approach and principal defence of 
 Barcelona was won ; the next step was an attack upon 
 the town itself, which was commenced by the v/hole 
 army, now full of alacrity and hope. The ground between 
 Monjuick and the town was occupied and planted with 
 batteries, and after a furious bombardment of three days
 
 EARL OF PETERBOROUGH. 397 
 
 one of the fortresses was won and occupied by the Eng- 
 lish. In a few days more a practicable breach was made 
 iu the walls, and preparations were made for storming', 
 when the governor of the town, dismayed by the loss 
 that had already been sustained, proposed a capitulation, 
 and gave possession of one of the gates as a proof of his 
 sincerity. But this honourable confidence had almost 
 cost him dear. Attached to the British service there were 
 certain irregular troops called Miquelets, natives of Cata- 
 lonia, and adherents of Charles, who, besides being na- 
 turally fierce and pitiless, were inspired with all the 
 rancour of civil war, and intense hatred of don Velasco, 
 the governor of Barcelona. These Miquelets seizing the 
 opportunity stole into the town, and immediately com- 
 menced the work of havoc and massacre. When the 
 earl of Peterborough heard of this violation of the agree- 
 ment, he instantly galloped up to the nearest gate, and 
 commanded the keepers to open it. They passively obeyed, 
 upon which he spurred into the streets unattended, and, 
 at the hazard of his life, compelled the ruffians to abandon 
 their prey. Velasco was so struck at this act of gene- 
 rosity', that instead of delaying for nine days, which he 
 might have done by the articles of capitulation, he sur- 
 rendered the town immediately. In consequence of this 
 splendid acquisition, most of the strong towns of Cata- 
 lonia acknowledged the authority of Charles, while 
 •whole battalions deserted from his rival, and joined his 
 standard. 
 
 The earl of Peterborough was now eager to pursue this 
 success while the dismay which it had occasioned was 
 still predominant; but Charles and his officers, who now 
 began to feel jealous of the earl's superiority , thought that 
 enough had been done for one campaign, and therefore 
 agreed that the army should retire into winter quarters. 
 In consequence of this resolution, Philip, the rival claim- 
 ant, unexpectedly obtained a breathing time, which he 
 was resolved to turn to advantage by recovering his lost 
 footing in Catalonia and Valencia. He therefore caused 
 San Mateo to be invested, and as this place was garri- 
 soned by only 500 Miquelets, it would have soon fallen into 
 his hands. The governor of San Mateo sent urgent ex- 
 presses to the court of Charles at Barcelona for aid, upon 
 which Charles despatched orders to the earl of Peter- 
 borough to relieve the town, which he represented as
 
 3D8 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 besieg-ed by only 2000 men, while above 16,000 armed 
 peasants had surrounded thera, and only required the 
 co-operation of a small regular force. The earl, relying- 
 upon these royal representations, repaired with his forces 
 to the scene of action ; but on arriving, he was con- 
 founded to find that the besieg'ers were 7000 strong", 
 while the armed peasants by whom they were about to 
 be swallowed up had no existence except in his majesty's 
 brain. This was an unwelcome discovery to one at the 
 head of no more than 1200 men, but he resolved to sup- 
 ply his deficiency in force by conduct and stratagem. He 
 marched against the enemy as if he were only anxious 
 that they should not escape ; and he sent a letter to tlie 
 governor of San Mateo, informing him of his coming at 
 the head of a very superior force to the relief of the 
 town. But with the bearer of the letter he sent a spy, 
 who was to betray the former into the hands of the 
 enemy, which was accordingly done ; and Las Torres, 
 the commander of the besiegers, had scaixely digested 
 these unwelcome tidings which the letter contained, 
 when he was convinced of their truth by seeing at day- 
 break the forces of Peterborough on the distant heights, 
 so disposed among the coppice and brush-wood as to 
 look like a considerable army. Upon this Las Tories 
 broke up the siege immediately, and made a hasty re- 
 treat, while the British entered San Mateo amidst the 
 loud applauses of the garrison. 
 
 The earl, not content with having accomplished this 
 measure, only looked upon it as the commencement of 
 greater achievements; and having disposed of his in- 
 fantry for the protection cf Catalonia, according to the 
 urgent desire of Charles, he resolved to go in pursuit of 
 Las Torres at the head of 200 weary horsemen, although 
 in cavalry alone the latter was 3000 strong. He accord- 
 ingly pursued the enemy with incredible speed ; hung 
 upon their front, flank, and rear, and cut off their strag- 
 glers and patrols so successfully, that the retreating 
 army were fully convinced that the English were in as 
 great force as had been reported. This impression the 
 earl also contrived to establish wherever he went ; his 
 handful of followers was invariably mistaken for his 
 body guard in advance of the main army, and thus 
 towns and whole districts were kept in subjection by the 
 mere terror of his pi'esence. His method of creating
 
 EARL OF PETERBOROUGFI. 399 
 
 ■^oUliers foi- tiiis efTective kind of flying warfare was 
 t qually wonderful. He sent for a regiment of foot soldiers 
 to reinforce his small band of troopers. He bad previ- 
 ously purchased 800 horses, and caused saddles and 
 accoutrements to be transported to him by sea, and on 
 t}ie arrival of the reinforcement he immediately mounted 
 tlie whole party on horseback, and thus in ten minutes 
 transformed a regiment of foot into one of showy and 
 most eificient cavalry. By a similar species of magic he 
 obtained a respectable infantry from the provincial mi- 
 litia, and being thus provided with both horse and foot, 
 he advanced to the desperate service of relieving Va- 
 lencia, which was besieged by a strong force under the 
 duke of Arcos. The earl was again successful by one of 
 those singular stratagems with which he was accustomed 
 to overcome every difficulty. He first entrenched his 
 forces so ingeniously as to give them the appearance of a 
 large army; he then entered into a negotiation with the 
 enemy, during the course of which he contrived to make 
 general Mahony, the superintendent of the siege, to be 
 suspected of treason, both by the Spanish soldiers and 
 the duke of Arcos. The steps by which this was accom- 
 plished were not strictly consistent either with the rules 
 of racral obligation, or perhaps the more lax principles 
 of military honesty ; but they were so effective, that dis- 
 trust and confusion were sown among the enemy. Arcos 
 placed Mahony in arrest, and then hurried away to se- 
 cure his own safety ; the corps of Mahony disbanded 
 themselves, and the earl of Peterborough, finding the way 
 completely open, entered Valencia without opposition. 
 
 Philip of Anjou being alarmed at these successes of 
 the English, afterwards replaced Las ToiTes in the com- 
 mand, and sent 4000 soldiers to reinforce his army, while 
 he embarked at Alicant a quantity of heavy cannon to 
 resume the siege of Valencia. But the earl of Peter- 
 borough, who had intelligence of these measures, was 
 prepared to counteract them. He taught three cruisers 
 to watch the coming convoy so warily that the whole 
 was captured; he then sent 1200 horse and foot to cap- 
 ture the reinforcement, which was now on its way to 
 join the army of the marquis de las Torres. This small 
 force, obeying his instructions, fell upon the enemy so 
 opportunely, that they routed them with great slaughter, 
 and then returned in safety to Valencia. In conse-
 
 493 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 quence of these events, Las Torres relinquished all 
 thoughts of besieging- the town, and the earl of Peter- 
 borough employed the interval in putting the province 
 in a state of defence. 
 
 1708. — It was the misfortune of the earl to be engaged 
 in the service of one who could neither appreciate the 
 grandeur of his views nor the heartiness of his zeal, so 
 that the phlegmatic cautiousness of the archduke Charles 
 was a very nightmai'e upon his spirit of enterprise. 
 Such was the case upon the present occasion. The earl 
 of Peterborough advised that Charles, instead of remain- 
 ing in Barcelona, should penetrate into Portugal, where 
 the earl of Galway was at the head of 25,000 men, by 
 whose aid he might command the road to Madrid, while 
 he engaged with his own foixes to keep secure both 
 Valencia and Catalonia. But such bold measures were 
 too much for the archduke and his counsellors, who 
 scarcely listened to a plan by which the war might have 
 been probably ended at once. They therefore remained 
 inactive, and gave their enemies time to rally ; which 
 was done so effectually, that one of the largest armies 
 which Philip had yet been able to muster marched into 
 Catalonia, and on the 2d of April made its appearance 
 before Barcelona. It was then that many a hurried 
 post was despatched to Peterborough for aid ; upon which 
 he generously repaired to the scene of action by rapid 
 marches, at the head of 2G00 men. His numbers were 
 too few to attack the besiegers, and he contented him- 
 self, therefore, with hovering upon the neighbouring 
 heights, and keeping them in a state of constant alarm. 
 But the siege still continued to be closely pressed by 
 marshal Thesse, who took the fort of Monjuick ; after 
 which, the wall of Barcelona was breached by an in- 
 cessant cannonade. The assault, which Avould have 
 crushed Charles and his feeble court, was now expected 
 to be made, when Peterborough, who had been inces- 
 santly employed night and day in retarding the fall of 
 the town, effectually relieved it by an unexpected 
 manoeuvre. 
 
 An English fleet under admiral Leake had carried 
 some land forces under general Stanhope to the relief of 
 the archduke ; but, even when they had arrived off the 
 coast, Leake refused to approach the town until he 
 should be joined by a squadron under Byng, as a for-
 
 EARL OF PETERBOROUGH. 401 
 
 niidable French fleet of twenty-seven sail lay off Barce- 
 lona. Peterborouijh upon this inarched Lis little army 
 by night to the fishing-town of Segette, where l>e ga- 
 thered all the fishing-boats and feluccas that could be 
 found in the neighbourhood, and ordered the soldiers, as 
 soon as the British fleet appeared in sight, to embark 
 in these, and sail directly for Barcelona. He then threv/ 
 himself on board a fishing-boat, and sailed by night to 
 the British squadron, which he ordered immediately to 
 advance — for his commission gave him authority by sea 
 as well as land. This movement v.'a3 made accoidingly, 
 and at sight of it the French cut their cables, and fled 
 in confusion. The coast being thus cleared, his infantry 
 on shore, according to his orders, embarked in their 
 crazy skiffs, and sailed into Barcelona, which they reached 
 in safety. The whole town was in a frenzy of delight at 
 this unexpected arrival. All hope of taking Barcelona 
 was now extinguished, and the enemy immediately 
 broke up the siege in the greatest confusion. 
 
 While the influence of Peterborough was thus at the 
 height, he took care to press his favourite project of an 
 advance upon Madrid through Valencia — a measure of 
 easy accomplishment, as the Spanish capital was defended 
 by a gari-ison of not more than 500 men, while the army 
 of the duke of Berv%'ick was in full retreat before lord 
 Galway. The plan was this time adopted by the council 
 of war on the ISth of ^!ay, and it was agreed that the 
 earl should proceed with 6000 infantry by sea to Valencia, 
 while the cavalry under Charles should await his move- 
 ments, until the passage by land was cleared ; after 
 which, they shor.ld all join with the forces of lord Galway, 
 and drive the Bourbons out of Spain by a united onset. 
 But the demon of jealousy, which had hitherto swayed 
 the feelings of Charles and his Spaniards against the 
 brave and successful, but arrogant and impetuous earl, 
 again entered to overthrow these wise resolutions ; and, 
 therefore, instead of the 6000 men which had been pro- 
 mised him, the earl received only 4000, and these, too, 
 as miserably unprovided as if Sir John Falstaff himself 
 had presided over the commissariat. Lord Peterborough, 
 however, did what he could by purchasing stores and 
 converting foot soldiers into cavalry; but after this had 
 been done, and when he was ready to take the field, he 
 found that the king, instead of moving, was still deter-
 
 402 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 mined to take his ease at Barcelona. The earl, tliere- 
 fore, being- unable to march upon Madrid, was obliged 
 to confine himself to a useless and flying warfare, by 
 reducing a few places along the coast. At last, Charies 
 roused himself to exertion ; but, instead of marching to 
 the capital, at the head of the English and Spanish 
 forces combined, according to the original plan, and by 
 which he might in all probability have entered Madrid 
 in triumph, he set ofF with the purpose of reaching it by 
 a very circuitous route, and accompanied only by a small 
 military escort. He got, however, no farther than 
 Saragoza, from which all the urgent entreaties of lord 
 Peterborough could not draw him. His lordship being 
 thus disappointed in all his plans, and having a morbid 
 eagerness for distinction that would not allow him to 
 remain inactive, endeavoured to signalize himself by 
 other achievements. He sent out expeditions against 
 Alicant and Carthagena, both of which places were 
 taken ; but while time; the most precious of all military 
 resources, had been squandered upon these fruitless dis- 
 sensions and exploits, the power of Philip, although 
 shaken by previous defeats, had become more formidable 
 than ever. The duke of Berwick, as able a champion of 
 the Bourbon as Peterborough was of the Austrian dynasty, 
 took the field, and so successfully checked the advance 
 of lord Galway, that the fortune of the war was visibly 
 changed. Galway, indeed, might have made head 
 against his antagonist successfully, had he been joined 
 by the earl of Peterborough for that purpose ; but the 
 latter was, unfortuTiately, too proud either to act a sub- 
 ordinate part, or to share his reputation with another, 
 and therefore, instead of combining with his countryman 
 in a common effort, he preferred a fruitless war of sieges 
 and skirmishes of which the whole glory should be his 
 own. 
 
 At last, when it was too late to be effectual, the jarring 
 commanders united their forces, and were joined by 
 Charles, who endeavoured, but in vain, to reconcile these 
 leaders, who were now hotly contending upon the ques- 
 tion of precedence. Several proposals were made ; but, 
 as neither nobleman would submit to act a part sub- 
 ordinate to the other, the royal peace maker's efforts 
 were frustrated. Lord Peterborough proposed that the 
 forces should be divided into three or four separate corps,
 
 EARL OF PETERBOROUGH. 403 
 
 but without sui-cess; he then offered to attempt the 
 recovery of Madrid with 5000 men, but this was also re- 
 jected. Indeed; during the day of success the earl had 
 by no means been in the habit of bearing his honours 
 meekly, and all his dictatorial and offensive conduct was 
 now remembered against him. He, therefore, found 
 that a longer stay with the Spanish army would be fruit- 
 less, and he proposed to repair, in obedience to his 
 original instructions, to the aid of the duke of Savoy, 
 whose capital was closely invested. This proposal was 
 received by Charles without a moment's hesitation ; 
 indeed, the poor monarch was glad to be delivered from 
 tbe control of so severe a schoolmaster. His affairs, 
 however, by no means prospered by the riddance ; the 
 cause of his rival, delivered from its chief antagonist, 
 was every where successful, until at last it was com- 
 pletely triumphant upon the bloody field of Almauza. 
 
 It is at this point tbat the history of the military career 
 of the earl of Peterborough properly terminates; for 
 although he afterwards enjoyed a long and a busy life, 
 it was chiefly in the bustle of politics and among court 
 intrigues, in which he accomplished nothing and lost 
 the confidence of all parties. As a soldier, his genius 
 for war perhaps approached nearest to that of the illus- 
 trious Marlborough of any man of the age; but he had 
 neither the discretion, the patience, nor the suavity, of 
 his illustrious contemporary, so that, instead of pioducing 
 great and pei-maneut effects, adequate to the extent of 
 his capabilities, he only blazed and astonished until his 
 meteoric course was finished, after which he was equally 
 forgotten by friend and enemy. He died as he had 
 lived, in the hurry of travel, being on a voyage to Lisbon 
 for the recovery of his health. This event occurred on 
 the 2'jth of October, 1735, in the seventy-eighth year of 
 bis age.
 
 4)4 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 JOHN CAMPBELL, 
 
 DUKE OF ARGYLL. 
 
 John Campbell, duke of Argyll and Greenwich, was 
 the son of John Campbell, first duke of Argyll, and was 
 born on the 10th of October, 1678. Very early in life 
 he formed a resolution of entering into the military 
 service ; and, therefore, though he had a solid penetrating 
 judgment and ready wit, he did not so assiduously 
 devote himself to study as his family expected or 
 desired. 
 
 The first time we meet with him in a public capacity 
 is in the year IC94, when king William gave him the 
 command of a regiment, though not quite seventeen 
 years of age. His father, the first duke of Argyll, dying 
 in 1703, his grace was soon after sworn of his majesty's 
 privy council, appointed captain of the Scotch horse 
 guards, and one of the extraordinary lords of session of 
 Scotland. In 1704, he was installed one of the knights 
 of the Thistle ; and, in 1705, he was made a peer of 
 England by tlie title of baron of Chatham and earl of 
 Greenwich, and appointed her majesty's high commis- 
 sioner to the Scotch parliament. At the battle of 
 Ramillies, in 170i3, he acted as a brigadier general ; and, 
 though but a young man, gave signal proofs of his valour 
 and conduct. He also commanded at the siege of Ostend 
 as brigadier-general, and in the same station at that of 
 Menin, and was in the action of Oudenarde in 1708. At 
 the siege of Ghent, in the same year, he commanded as 
 major-general, and took possession of the town. In 
 1709, at the siege of Tournay, which was carried on by 
 three attacks, he commanded one of them in quality of 
 lieutenant general, to which rank he had been raised a 
 few months before. At the bloody battle of Malplaquet, 
 the same year, the duke of Argyll was ordered to dis- 
 lodge the enemy from the wood of Sart, which he exe- 
 cuted with great bravery and lesolution : he pierced 
 through it, and gained a considerable post, but narrowly 
 escaped, having several musket balls shot through his 
 clothes, hat, and wig. In 1711, he was appointed am- 
 bassador-extraordinary to king- Charles HI. of Spain,
 
 UUKE OF ARGYLL. 405 
 
 and generalissimo of the British forces in that kingdom 
 On the Sth of September, 1712, the cessation of arms 
 between Great Britain and France was notified to the 
 Imperial general, upon which the dute of Argyll sailed 
 with the English troops to Port Mahon ; -where, when 
 be arrived, he caused the emperor's colours to be taken 
 down, and the British to be hoisted on the several 
 castles of that island. 
 
 After his grace's return to England, he did not re- 
 main long in the favour of the ministry-; for he heartily 
 joined in opposing all secret intrigues against the 
 piotestai.t succession, which was in imminent danger. 
 When the question was put in the House of Peers, 
 ' Whether the protestant succession was in danger or 
 not?' the duke delivered himself to the following ef- 
 fect : ' That he had lately crossed the kingdom of 
 France, both in going to and returning from Minorca. 
 That it was indeed one of the finest countries in the 
 universe; but that there were marks of a general deso- 
 lation in all the places through which he passed. That 
 he had rode forty miles together without meeting a man 
 fit to carry arms. That the rest of the people were in 
 the utmost misery and want; and, therefore, he did not 
 apprehend what necessity there was to conclude a peace 
 so precipitately with a prince whose dominions were so 
 exhausted of men, money, and provisions. As to the 
 question now under debate, he said that he firmly be- 
 lieved the succession in the electoral house of Hanover 
 to be in danger from the jiresent ministers, whom he 
 durst charge with maladministration both within these 
 walls and without. That he knew, and offered to prove, 
 that the treasurer had yearly remitted £4000. to the 
 Highland chiefs of Scotland, who were known to be en- 
 tirely devoted to the Pretender, in order to keep them 
 under military discipline and ready for any attempt. 
 That, on the other hand, the new-modelling of the army, 
 by disbanding some regiments out of their turn, and by 
 removing from their employments a vast number of 
 officers, merely on account of their known affection to 
 the house of Hanover, were clear indications of the 
 designs in hand ; adding, that it was a disgrace to the 
 nation to see men who had never looked an enemy in 
 the face advanced to the places of several brave officers, 
 who, after they had often exposed their lives for their
 
 43o MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 country, were now starving' in prison, for debt contracted 
 for want of pay.' 
 
 Upon the accession of George I., the duke was imme- 
 diately taken into favour at court, and made general and 
 commander-in-chief of the king's forces in Scotland. In 
 consequence of this commission, he commanded the army 
 when the rebellion broke out in Scotland in 1715 ; and 
 having received his instructions, he went to Edinburgh, 
 where he published a proclamation for increasing the 
 forces. He then marched to Leith, and summoned the 
 citadel, into which brigadier M'Intosh, one of the Pre- 
 tender's generals, had retired; but, upon M'Intosh an- 
 swering that he was determined to hold out, and neither 
 give nor take quarter, the duke thought proper to retire, 
 and return to Edinburgh. The earl of Mar being now 
 joined by the earl of Seaforth and general Gordon, 
 thought himself strong enough to execute his grand 
 desii^n of passing the Forth, joining his southern friends, 
 and marching into England. Accordingly he left Perth 
 on the 10th of November for Auchterardar ; and the 
 duke of Argyll Laving intelligence of this movement, 
 was at no uncertainty what to do. He knew that if he 
 was to dispute their passage over the Foith, at the heads 
 of that river, his horse would be of no service in these 
 grounds; and, therefore, he chose to fight the earl on the 
 grounds about Dumblain, where he might avail himself of 
 all his forces. He therefore ordered his whole army to pass 
 the river at the bridge of Stirling, and encamped with 
 his left at Dumblain and his right towards Sheriffmuir ; 
 and the enemy advanced the same night within two 
 miles of the royal armj-, and stood under arms till breaft 
 of day. 
 
 On the 13th, in the morning, both armies were in 
 motion ; and the duke of Argyll advanced to a rising 
 ground to take a survey of the rebel armj', which he could 
 easily discern in full march towards him ; but another 
 hill on his left intercepted his view, so that it was 
 impossible for him to guess at the true extent of their 
 line, or how far they outflanked him. His army, amount- 
 ing to 3500 men, of which 1200 were dragoons, was 
 drawn up on the heights above Dumblain, to the north- 
 east of that place, which lay about a mile and a half 
 from his left, and a wet boggy mire or morass called 
 SherifF-muir on his right. The earl of Mar, who knew
 
 DUKE OF ARGYLL. 4(yr 
 
 that his numbers greatly exceeded the duke's, extended 
 his lines as far as possible, with a design to take his op- 
 ponent in flank, and marched up to him in this dis- 
 position. Argryll, who till now supposed that the morass 
 of SheriflF-muir was impassable, saw that the two or 
 three nights' frost had made it capable of bearing', and 
 that the rebels were coming down the moor with an 
 intent to flank him, having their right much extended 
 beyond the point of his left. Hearing their bagpipes at 
 a great distance, he found himself obliged to alter the 
 disposition of his front to prevent his being sxirrounded, 
 which was not to be done so expeditiously as to be all 
 formed again before the rebels began the attack. The 
 left wing of the duke's small ai*my fell in with the centre 
 of their opponents, which consisted of the flower of the 
 rebel army ; and the clans, animated by the presence of 
 their chiefs, commenced the attack with uncommon 
 bravery. They began by a general discharge of fire- 
 arms, and received the volley of the royal troops 
 without shrinking; but at the first fire the captain of 
 Clanronald, who led them on, was killed, which had 
 like to have struck a damp upon them, as their love for 
 that chief fell little short of adoration ; but Glengar^-, 
 starting from the lines, waved his bonnet, and cried 
 three or four times, ' Revenge !' which so animated the 
 men, that they followed him like furies close up to the 
 muzzles of the muskets, pushed by the bayonets with 
 their targets, and with their broad swords spread death 
 and terror wherever they came. The three battalions of 
 foot on the left of the duke's centre behaved gallantly; 
 but being unacquainted with this way of fighting, against 
 which the rules of modern war had made no provision, 
 they were forced to give way in confusion. A total rout 
 of that wing of the royal army ensued, and general 
 Witham, with some horse, riding full gallop to Stirling, 
 gave out there that all was lost : but upon the right wing 
 of the royal army the duke of Argyll commanded in 
 person, and he charged at the head of Stair and Evans's 
 dragoons with such intrepidity, that although the rebels 
 made a gallant and obstinate resistance, they were 
 obliged to give way. The duke pursued them towards 
 the river Allan, and though the distance is not above 
 two miles, yet in that space they attempted to rally 
 nearly a dozen times. The duke, who had now entirely
 
 408 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 broken theii* left, and pushed them over the river Allan, 
 returned to the field, and took possession of some en- 
 closures and mud walls, which would serve for a breast- 
 work in the event of a fresh attack. In this posture 
 both parties stood at gaze, but neither caring to en- 
 gage ; wheii towards evening the duke drew off towards 
 Dumblain, and the enemy towards Ardoch, without 
 molesting one another. Whichever side might claim 
 the triumph, it must be owned that all the honour 
 and all the advantages of the day belonged only to 
 Argyll. It was sufficient for him to have interrupted 
 the enemy's progress ; and delay was to them a de- 
 feat. The earl of Mar, therefore, soon found his dis- 
 appointments and losses increase. The castle of Inver- 
 ness, of which he was in possession, was delivered up to 
 the king by lord Lovat, who had hitherto appeared in 
 the interest of the Pretender. The marquess of Tulli- 
 bardine left the earl to defend his own country, and 
 many of the clans, seeing no likelihood of coming soon 
 to a second engagement, returned home; for an irregular 
 army is much easier led to battle than induced to bear 
 the fatigues of a campaign. 
 
 The Pretender mi^ht now be convinced of the vanity 
 of his expectations, in imagining that the whole country 
 would rise up in his cause. His affairs were actually- 
 desperate; yet, with the usual infatuation of the family, 
 he resolved to hazard his person among his friends in 
 Scotland at a time when such a measure was totally 
 useless. Passing, therefore, through France in disguise, 
 and embarking in a small vessel at Dunkirk, he arrived 
 on the 2'2d of December on the coast of Scotland, with 
 only six gentlemen in his retinue. Upon his arrival in 
 Aberdeen, he was solemnly proclaimed; and soon after he 
 made his public entry into Dundee. In two days more 
 he came to Scone, where he intended to have the cere- 
 mony of his coronation performed. He ordered thanks- 
 givings for his safe arrival ; enjoined the ministers to 
 pray for him in the churches; and, without the smallest 
 share of power, went through all the ceremonies of 
 royalty, which were at such a juncture perfectly ridi- 
 culous. After this unimportant parade, he resolved to 
 abandon the enterprise with the same levity with which 
 it had been undertaken, and he embarked again for 
 France, with the earl of Mar and some others, in a
 
 DUKE OF ARGYLL. 409 
 
 small ship that lay iu the harbour of Montrose, and in 
 iive days an-ived at Gravelin. General Gordon, who 
 was left commander-in-chief of the forces, with the 
 assistance of the earl-marshal, proceeded with them to 
 Aberdeen, where he secured three vessels to sail north- 
 ward, which took on board the persons who intended to 
 make their escape to the continent. In this manner 
 the rebellion was suppressed ; but the fury of the victors 
 did not seem in the least to abate with success. The 
 law was put in force with all its terrors ; and the 
 prisons of London were crowded with those deluded 
 wretches whom the ministry showed no disposition to 
 spare. The Commons, in their address to the crown, de- 
 clared they would prosecute, in the most vigorous 
 manner, the authors of the rebellion ; and their reso- 
 lutions were as speedy as their measures were vin- 
 dictive. The earls of Derwentwater, Nithsdale, Carn- 
 wath, and Wintown, and the lords Widrington, Kenmuir, 
 and Nairn, were impeached. The Habeas Corpus Act 
 ■was suspended; and the rebel lords, upon pleading 
 gnilty, received sentence of death. Nothing could soften 
 the privy council ; the House of Lords even presented 
 an address to the throne for mercy, but without effect. 
 Orders were despatched for executing the earls of Der- 
 wentwater and Nithsdale and viscount Kenmuir imme- 
 diately ; the others were respited for three weeks longer. 
 Nithsdale, however, escaped in women's clothes, which 
 were brought him by his mother the night before his 
 intended execution. Derwentwater and Kenmuir were 
 brought to the scaffold on Tower-hill at the hour ap- 
 pointed. Both underwent their sentence with calmness 
 and intrepidity, pitied by all, seemingly less moved 
 themselves than the spectators. 
 
 After having- put the army into winter quarters, the 
 duke of Argyll returned to London, and was most gra- 
 ciously received by his majesty ; but in a few months, to 
 the surprise of all mankind, he was turned out of all his 
 places. The duke's patriotic conduct in parliament was 
 the cause of this political disgrace. He joined with 
 those humane persons who recommended it to the 
 ministry, in vain, to be more merciful to the delinquents, 
 after the rebellion was suppressed. In June, 1715, when 
 the famous Schism Bill was brought into the House of 
 Lords, he opposed it with great zeal and strength of 
 T^
 
 410 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 argument ; and iu the debate on the Mutiny Bill, he 
 opposed any extension of the military power, and urged 
 the necessity of a reduction of the standing army — a step 
 ■which was by no means agreeable to the court. In the 
 beginning of the year 1719, the duke was again admitted 
 into his majesty's favour, who was pleased to appoint 
 him lord-steward of his household, and to create him 
 duke of Greenwich ; and, in 1726, he was appointed 
 colonel of the prince of Wales's regiment of horse. But, 
 notwithstanding these promotions, the duke, with pa- 
 triotic zeal for his native country, warmly opposed the 
 extension of the malt tax this year to Scotland. 
 
 From this time we have no memoirs in the life of the 
 duke of Argyll deserving public notice till the year 1737, 
 when a bill was brought into parliament for punishing 
 the lord provost of Edinburgh for abolishing the city 
 guard, and for depriving the corporation of several an- 
 cient privileges on account of the insurrection in 1736, 
 when the mob broke into the prison and hanged captain 
 Porteus. The duke opposed this bill with great warmth 
 in the House of Lords, as an act of unjust severity, and 
 his opposition highly displeased the ministry ; but they 
 did not think proper to show any public marks of resent- 
 ment at that time. In 1739, when the convention with 
 Spain was brought before the house for their approbation, 
 he spoke with warmth against it; and, in the same 
 session, his grace opposed a vote of credit, as there was 
 no sum limited in the message sent by his majesty. On 
 the 15th of April, 1740, the house took into consideration 
 the state of the army, upon which occasion he made an 
 eloquent speech ; wherein he set forth, with great 
 strength of argument, the misconduct of the ministry, 
 showing a tender regard for the person of his sovei-eigu, 
 while he exerted an unfeigned zeal for the good of the 
 community. Sir Robert Walpole being exasperated at 
 this step, his grace was soon after dismissed from all his 
 employments. 
 
 Upon the election of a new parliament in 1741, on the 
 application of the city of Edinburgh and several cor- 
 porations, he pointed out to them men of steady, honest, 
 and loyal principles, and independent fortunes ; and, 
 where he had any interest, he endeavoured to prevail 
 with the electors to choose such men. When the parlia- 
 ment was opened, the minister found he had not iuflu-
 
 DUKE OF ARGYLL. 411 
 
 ence to njaiutuiu his gi-ound ; and a parliamentary in- 
 quiry into his conduct being set on foot, he was dis- 
 charged from his post, and created a peer, with the title 
 of earl of Orford. The duke, in consequence of this 
 change, became the darling of the people, and he seemed 
 likewise to be perfectly restored to favour at court; for 
 he was made master-general of the ordnance, colonel of 
 his majesty's royal regiment of horse guards, and field- 
 marshal and commander-in-chief of all the forces in 
 South Britain. But, in a few months, perceiving 
 that a change of men produced little or no change of 
 measures, he resigned all his posts, and from this time 
 retired from public business, ever after courting privacy 
 and living in retirement. 
 
 The duke had been for some years labouring under a 
 paralytic disorder, which put a period to his life in the 
 year 1743. He married, when young, Mary, daughter of 
 John Brown, Esq., and niece of Sir Charles Duncomb, 
 lord-mayor of London ; but she dying in 1708, without 
 issue, he married Jane, daughter of Thomas Warburton, 
 Esq., of Winnington, in Cheshire. By her he had four 
 daughters : the eldest of whom married the earl of Dal- 
 keith, son and heir-apparent of the duke of Buccleuch; 
 and the second, the earl of Strafford ; both in his life- 
 time. The duke, in his private character, was a tender 
 father and an indulgent master : he was delicate in the 
 choice of his friends; but, when chosen, very constant 
 to them : he was slow of promising favours ; but, when 
 promised, the performance was sure ; though he often 
 chose rather to purchase preferment for his relations 
 than to beg it. He was naturally compassionate to all 
 mankind ; and, when he met with merit in want, his 
 bounty was very extensive ; nor would he keep the man 
 he was either unable or unwilling to serve in suspense. 
 He preserved a dignity in his behaviour which was often 
 mistaken for pride ; but he was naturally facetious 
 amongst his select friends. A superb monument was 
 erected in Westminster Abbey to his memory — Sir Wil- 
 liam Fermor, while his grace was living, having left 
 £500. to defray the expense of it, out of rei;ard to the 
 great merit of his grace, both as a general and a patriot.
 
 412 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 JAMES WOLFE. 
 
 No era of the British history exhibits hrig-hter ex- 
 amples of military glory than that in which the immortal 
 Wolfe stood forth to rival the greatest characters of an- 
 tiquity. In his time an animated love of country pre- 
 vailed amongst the land and sea officers, which com- 
 municated the influence of example to the piivate men, 
 and produced such a series of rapid and sisrnal successes 
 as can scarcely be paralleled in the annals of any 
 nation. 
 
 James Wolfe was the son of lieutenant-seneral Edward 
 Wolfe, an officer of distinguished worth, who served 
 under the duke of Marlborough, and was born at Wester- 
 hara, in the county of Kent, on the 6th of November, 
 J726. It is to be lamented that we have no memoirs of 
 his juvenile years. It would appear, however, that he 
 had been educated for the army almost from his infancy, 
 since he entered the military service at the early age of 
 fouiteen. The gradations of his rise are not ascer- 
 tained ; we are only informed that, during the whole 
 war, he continued improving his military talents, that 
 he was present at every engagement, and never passed 
 undistinguished. His promotion, therefore, must have 
 been as rapid as his merit was great, for we find him 
 holding the rank of lieutenant colonel of Kingsley's regi- 
 ment soon after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748. 
 In this station, during the peace, he continually studied 
 the science of war, and introduced the most exact disci- 
 pline and regular behaviour into his corps without exer- 
 cising any severity; the love his soldiers bore him being 
 manifested in their readiness to obey his orders. 
 
 In 1754 a fresh rupture with France seemed inevitable, 
 from the evasive answers given by that court to the re- 
 peated remonstrances of the British ambassador against 
 the depredations and encroachments of French subjects 
 at the back of the British settlements along the banks of 
 the river (ihio, in North America ; they even went so 
 far as to build forts within 225 miles of Philadelphia. 
 Hostilities commenced on both sides in consequence of 
 this violation of the treaty ; but war was not formally 
 declared till 1756. For a short time nothing but losses 
 attended the British arms, till Mr. Pitt, afterwards earl
 
 WOLFE. 413 
 
 of Chatham, was firmly seated at the head of the admi- 
 nistration. Here he gave striking proofs of his superior 
 abilities for conducting an extensive war, by seeking- for 
 and employing in the land and sea service men of the 
 most enterprising and active genius; and of this number 
 was colonel Wolfe, who was raised to the rank of briga- 
 dier-general, and sent out under major-general Amherst 
 upon the grand expedition against Louisbourg, the capital 
 of the island of Cape Breton. At the siege of this im- 
 portant place he was the first general otficer who landed 
 the left division of the army, amidst the strong and con- 
 tinued fire of the enemy from their batteries on the 
 shore ; and notwithstanding an impetuous surf, which 
 overset some of the boats, he made good his descent and 
 maintained his post, till he had covered the debarkatiou 
 of the middle and the right divisions of the land forces, 
 commanded by brigadiers Whitmore and Lawrence. He 
 then marched with a strong detachment round the north- 
 east part of the harbour, and took possession of the light- 
 house point, where he erected several batteries against 
 the ships and the island fortification ; by which dexterous 
 manoeuvre the success of the whole eutei-prise was in a 
 great measure secured. The regular approaches to the 
 town were now conducted by the engineers, under the 
 immediate command of general Amherst; but still the 
 indefatigable Wolfe, with his detached party, raised 
 several batteries wherever he found a proper situation 
 for annoying the enemy ; and these did great execution 
 both within the town and upon the shipping in the har- 
 bour. On the 27th of July, 1758, Louisbourg surren- 
 dered ; and captain Amherst, brother to the general, was 
 despatched to bear the joyful news to England, with 
 eleven pair of colours taken at the siege, which were 
 carried in great triumph from the palace at Kensington 
 to St. Paul's. 
 
 The share which Wolfe had in this important conques- 
 iiidnced Mr. Pitt to make choice of him to command a 
 .still more important expedition the ensuing campaign; 
 with which view he was promoted to the rank of major- 
 general. It was resolved that Wolfe, as soon as the 
 .'ieason of the year would adaaif, should sail up the river 
 St. Lawrence with 8000 men, aided by a considerable 
 squadron of ships, to undertake the siege of Quebec; 
 that general Amherst, the commander-in-chief, should,
 
 414 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 with anotber army of about 12,000 men, reduce Ticon- 
 deroga and Crown Point, cross the lake Champlain, pro- 
 ceed along the river Richlieu to the banks of St. Lawrence, 
 and join general Wolfe in the siege of Quebec. General 
 Amherst, however, though he succeeded in reducing 
 Ticonderoga and Crown Point, afterwards found himself 
 under a necessity to support the attack upon Niagara. 
 He therefore sent a large detachment from his army, 
 under brigadier Gage, and Niagara surrendered after a 
 victory gained over the French on the '24th of July, 1759. 
 Thus two parts in three of the plan of operations were 
 happily executed ; but the time necessarily employed in 
 these services made it impossible to comply with the 
 g-eneral instructions to assist Wolfe in the siege of Que- 
 bec. The fleets from England destined for that expe- 
 dition, under the command of the admirals Saunders and 
 Holmes, arrived at Louisbourg in May, and took on board 
 the 8000 land forces, which were landed in two divisions 
 upon the isle of Orleans, a little below Quebec. 
 
 General Wolfe, upon landing, offered every indulgence 
 to the inhabitants if they would remain neuter. He 
 represented to them, in the strongest terms, the folly of 
 resistance, as the English fleet were masters of the river 
 St. Lawrence, so as to intercept all succours from En- 
 rope ; and he informed them that the cruelties exercised 
 by the French upon British subjects in America might 
 justify the most severe reprisals, but that Britons had 
 too much generosity to follow such examples. But this 
 humane declaration had no immediate effect ; and it was 
 not long before the influence of the priests stimulated the 
 Canadians to join the scalping parties of the Indians, 
 and to sally from the woods upon some unguarded 
 stragglers of the British army, whom they slaughtered 
 with circumstances of most inliuman barbarity. Wolfe 
 then wrote a polite remonstrance to ?>I. de Montcalm, the 
 French general, desiring him to exert his authority over 
 the French and the Indians, to prevent such enormi- 
 ties, but the French general's authority was not sufficient 
 to curb them ; so that Wolfe foiind it necessary, in order 
 to put a stop to these outrages, to suffer our people to 
 retaliate upon some of their prisoners, which had the 
 desired effect. 
 
 Montcalm, though superior in numbers to the English, 
 chose to depend upon the natural strength of the country.
 
 WOLFE. 415 
 
 rather than risk an engagement in the field. The 
 city of Quebec was skilfully fortified, defended by a 
 numerous garrison, and plentifully supplied with pro- 
 Tisions and ammunition. Montcalm had reinforced the 
 troops of the colony with five regular battalions, formed 
 of the choicest citizens, and had completely disciplined 
 all the Canadians of the neighbourhood capable of bear- 
 ing arms, with several tribes of savages. With this 
 army he had taken post in a very advantageous situa- 
 tion along the shore, every accessible part of his camp 
 being deeply intrenched. To undertake the siege of 
 Quebec, against such advantages aud superior numbers, 
 was a deviation from the established rules of war; but 
 no prospect of danger could restrain the ardour of Wolfe, 
 and at this time he entertained strong hopes of being 
 joined by general Amherst. The necessary works for 
 the security of the hospital and stores on the island of 
 Orleans being completed in July, the British forces 
 crossed the north channel in boats, and encamped on 
 the banks of the river Montmorenci, which separated 
 them from the left division of the enemy's camp. The 
 general now wrote to Mr. Pitt, describing his situation, 
 and assigning most excellent reasons for the choice of 
 his ground ; amongst others, that there was a ford below 
 the falls of Montmorenci, passable for some hours at the 
 ebb of the tide ; and he hoped, by means of this passage, 
 to find an opportunity of engaging Montcalm upon more 
 advantageous terms than directly to attack his intrench- 
 ments. In this position the British army remained a 
 considerable time, expecting news every day from gene- 
 ral Amherst, and constantly employed in some enterprise 
 against the enemy, to facilitate the final attack on 
 Quebec. At length dispositions were made for attack- 
 ing their intrenchments, to bring on a general engage- 
 ment ; and, on the last day of July, it was resolved to 
 storm a redoubt built close to the water's edge, and 
 within gun-shot of the intrenchments; but, instead of 
 defending it, which must have produced the effect Wolfe 
 expected, the French abandoned it; and thirteen com- 
 panies of our grenadiers, animated by the confusion of 
 the French, from the hot fire kept up by the Centurion, 
 inconsiderately rushed on, without waiting for the dis- 
 embarkation of the rest of the army. This ill-timed 
 impetuosity, and another accident of some boats getting
 
 416 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 aijround off Point Levi, disconcerted the whole plan ; 
 for the grenadiers were repulsed, the French had time 
 to recover from their surprise at this bold attempt, and 
 intelligence was now received, from some prisoners, that 
 general Amherst had taken Niagara and Crown Point, 
 but was obliged to employ all his forces against M. de 
 Burlemaque, who was posted with a strong corps at the 
 lile aus Noix. 
 
 Thus deprived of all hopes of reinforcement from that 
 quarter, Wolfe returned to his old camp on the other 
 side of the river ; and here disappointment and fatigue 
 threw him into a fever and flux, which reduced him 
 very low. And in this unhappy state of mind and body 
 he despatched an express to England, with an account 
 of his proceedings, but written in the style of a despond- 
 ing man, to which, perhaps, the success of the generals 
 in other parts of America contributed ; as he might think 
 the same good news would be expected from him by the 
 public at home, who had been accustomed to hear of 
 nothing but his conquests. Yet such was the perspi- 
 cuity and accuracy of his justification, that the despatch 
 was received with applause, though the expedition had 
 not been successful. 
 
 As soon as the general recovered a little strength, be 
 went on board the admiral's ship ; and these two command- 
 ers, with a proper armament, went up the river, passed 
 the town unmolested, and reconnoitred it, in order to j udge 
 if an assault was practicable. Their opinion concurred 
 with that of the chief engineer: they all agreed that 
 such an attack could not be hazarded with any prospect 
 of success; and the next measure taken was, to break 
 up the camp at Montmorenci, as no possibility appeared 
 of attacking the enemy above the town. A resolution 
 was now formed to change the plan of operations; and 
 the three brigadiers advised the general to transport tlie 
 troops in the night, and land them within a league of 
 Cape Diamond, below the town, in hopes of ascending 
 the heights of Abraham, which rise abruptly with a 
 steep ascent from the banks of the river, that they might 
 gain possession of the plain at the back of the city — on 
 that side but weakly fortified. The dangers and difficul- 
 ties of this attempt were so great, that none but such an 
 enterprising general, who was well assured of the affec- 
 tions of his soldiers, would have ventured to propose it to
 
 WOLFE. 417 
 
 tliem. The veterans of ancient Rome often mutinied 
 upon less hazardous undertakings ; but Wolfe animated 
 his troops by leading them on in person, enfeebled as he 
 was by his distemper. Preparations being made, and 
 the time fixed for this most astonishing attempt, admiral 
 Holmes, with a view of decei\ing the enemy, moved 
 with his squadron higher up the river than the old 
 camp; and this had the desired effect, for his motions 
 were watched till night by a detachmeut of the French, 
 who lined that part of the shore. But in the night, the 
 admiral, pursuant to his instructions, fell down the 
 river to cover the landing of the troops. About one in 
 the morning of the r2th of September, the first embarka- 
 tion, consisting of four complete regiments, the light 
 infantry, commanded by colonel Howe, a detachment of 
 Highlanders, and the American grenadiers, fell gently 
 down the river in flat-bottom boats, under the conduct of 
 brigadiers Monckton and Murray ; but general Wolfe 
 accompanied them, and was among the first who landed. 
 No accident happened, except their over-shooting the in- 
 tended place of landing, owing to the rapidity of the tide. 
 As these troops landed, the boats were sent back for the 
 second embarkation, which was superintended by briga- 
 dier Townshend. In the mean time, colonel Howe, with 
 the light infantry and the Highlanders, ascended the 
 woody precipices with admirable courage and activity ; 
 and dislodged a captain's guard, who defended a small 
 intrenched narrow path, by which alone the other forces 
 could reach the summit. They then mounted without 
 farther molestation ; and general Wolfe drew them up 
 in order of battle as they arrived. 
 
 The marquis de Montcalm was thunderstruck at the 
 intelligence, that the English had gained the heights of 
 Abraham ; and knowing the weakness of the city on that 
 side, he was at no loss to determine upon a general en- 
 gagement. Advancing therefore with his whole force, 
 in such order of battle as showed a design to flank the 
 English forces on the left, brigadier Townshend, with 
 the regiment of Amherst, was sent to prevent it, by 
 forming his corps en potence, presenting a double front 
 to the enemy. The French were most advantageously 
 posted, with bushes and corn-fields in their front, lined 
 with 1500 of their best marksmen, who began the action 
 ■with an irregular galling fire ; which proved fatal to 
 T 2
 
 418 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 many of our brave officers. At about nine in the morn- 
 ing, the enemy advanced to the charge with great order 
 and resolution, but their fire was irregular and ineffec- 
 tual. On the contrary, the British forces reserved their 
 shot until the French had approached within forty yards 
 of their line; then they poured in a terrible discharge, 
 and continued the fire with the greatest activity and 
 success. The gallant Wolfe was stationed on the right, 
 at the head of Bragg's regiment and the Louisbourg 
 grenadiers, the post of honour, for here the attack was 
 most warm. As he stood conspicuous in the front of the 
 line, he had been aimed at by the enemy's marksmen, 
 and received a shot in the wrist ; but neither pain nor 
 danger could make him retire from his station. Having 
 wrapped a handkerchief round his wrist, he continued 
 giving his orders without emotion, and advanced at the 
 head of the grenadiers, with their bayonets fixed, when 
 another ball pierced his breast, just as the enemy gave 
 way. The wounded general was carried off to a small 
 distance in the rear, where, roused from fainting fits, in 
 the agonies of death, by the loud cry of 'They run ! they 
 run!' he with great eagerness inquired, 'Who run?' 
 and being told the French, and that they were defeated, 
 he added in a faltering voice, ' Then I thank God, I die 
 contented!' and almost instantly expired. Never was a 
 battle fought which did more honour to the officers, and 
 even to the private soldiers of both sides than this. 
 The highest encomiums were bestowed on the marquis 
 de Montcalm, the French general, who was mortally 
 wounded, and who distinguished himself in his last 
 moments by an affectionate regard for his countrymen, 
 in writing a letter to general Townshend, to recommend 
 the French prisoners 'to that generous humanity, by 
 which the British nation has been always distinguished.' 
 His death, which was an irreparable loss to France in 
 America, threw the Canadians into the utmost conster- 
 nation : confusion prevailed in the councils held at 
 Quebec ; and seeing themselves invested by the British 
 fleet, which, after the victory, sailed up in a disposition 
 to attack the lower town, while the upper should be as- 
 saulted by general Townshend, they gave up all for lost, 
 and sent out a flag of truce, with proposals of capitula- 
 tion, which were accepted. 
 It is difficult to describe the emotions of the people
 
 WOLFE. 419 
 
 when the news of this astonishing success in Canada 
 arrived in England. The melancholy despatch which 
 Wolfe had sent after his disappointment at the falls of 
 Montmorenci, owing to contrary winds, was not received, 
 or at least not made known to the public, till two days 
 before the joyful news of the victory, and the surrender 
 of Quebec, to which was added the mournful sequel of 
 the death of the conqueror of Canada. A mixture of 
 affliction attended the national triumph, and was strongly 
 expressed in the congratulatory addresses, presented by 
 all the corporate bodies and public societies of the three 
 kingdoms to George II. A day of solemn thanksgiving 
 was appointed, and when the parliament assembled, Mr. 
 Pitt, in the House of Commons, made a motion to pre- 
 sent an address, desiring his majesty to order a monu- 
 ment to be erected in Westminster-abbey, to the memory 
 of major-general Wolfe, to which the House agreed 
 unanimously. At the same time, they passed another 
 resolution ; that the thanks of the house should be given 
 to the surviving generals and admirals, employed in the 
 glorious and successful expedition to Quebec. 
 
 lu his private character, Wolfe, with an unusual live- 
 liness, almost to impetuosity of temper, was not subject 
 to p£usion : with the greatest independency of spirit, he 
 was free from pride. Generous almost to profusion, he 
 contemned every little art for the acquisition of wealth, 
 whilst he searched after objects for his charity and be- 
 neficence : the deserving soldier never went unrewarded, 
 and the needy inferior officers often tasted of his bounty. 
 Constant and discerning in his attachments ; manly and 
 unreserved, yet gentle, kind, and conciliating in his 
 manners ; he enjoyed a large share of the friendship, 
 and almost the universal goodwill, of maiikind ; and, to 
 crown all, sincerity and candour, a true sense of honour, 
 justice, and public liberty, seemed the inherent principles 
 of his nature, and were the uniform rules of his conduct.
 
 420 MILITARY HIS TORY 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 Frovt the accession of George J 1 1, to the peace of 1813. 
 
 The accession of George III. to the crown of Britain 
 ■was accoiupanied by the most favourable auspices. He 
 raiiie to a throne that was encircled with a halo of 
 victory and conquest; his youth and amiableness of 
 character endeared him to the afl'cctions of his subjects; 
 and the Stuart cause, which had occasioned such dis- 
 comfort to his predecessors, was humbled beyond the 
 power of recovery. The war still continued in the East 
 and West Indies, but with such success to the Briti.-:h 
 arms, that one foreign possession after another was 
 wrested from the crowns of France and Spain, and 
 added to the number of our colonies. But a melancholy 
 counterpoise occurred in the midst of these successes 
 abroad that was almost tantamount to a national dis- 
 memberment. This was the revolt of our American 
 colonies, and their establishment into an independent 
 state, an event in our modern military history demand- 
 ing particular attention. 
 
 For some time a spirit of impatience and indignation 
 had been exhibited by the Americans on account of the 
 taxes inflicted on them by the British parliament. 
 These were not only sufficiently heavy in themselves, 
 but oppressively levied by our naval officers, who had 
 been converted for the occasion into excisemen. In 
 consequence of these severities, the colonists, who saw 
 their trade diminishing under such pernicious restric- 
 tions, first began to remonstrate ; and when their appeals 
 were disregarded, they then proceeded to agitate the 
 question, whether the British parliament had actiially 
 the right to tax unrepresented communities like them- 
 selves. The stamp-act, which formed the heaviest griev- 
 ance of the Americans, was indeed repealed in 17G5, and 
 nothing remained but a trifling tax on tea ; bnt it was 
 the principle of taxation to which they were opposed, 
 and not a mere question of pence and farthings. In 
 such a state the slightest spark was sufficient to kindle 
 the beacon of national contention. A cargo of tea had 
 entered" the harbour of Boston in 1774, and was ready to 
 be landed ; but the ships were boarded unexpectedly by
 
 AMERICAN WAR. 421 
 
 a niultitude of persons whose appearance and behaviour 
 were much superior to those of a conimon mob, and the tea 
 wa.s thrown without ceremony into the sea, after which 
 tlie insurgents retired without farther violence. The same 
 proceeding was adopted in other places, and the tidin^a 
 reached England with many exaggerations. In a rash 
 hour the ministry determined to compel the refractory 
 colonists to submission, and four regiments, under the 
 command of general Gage, were ordered to Boston, \ipou 
 which the Americans prepared themselves to repel force 
 with force Not only did they do this, but they pro- 
 ceeded to more decisive measures. Finding that the 
 mother country would be satisfied with nothing short 
 of absolute submission, they bound themselves by a 
 covenant to abstain from all commerce with Britain, and 
 then proceeded to form a general congress, by which 
 their new form of government should be organized, and 
 their resistance conducted. 
 
 In the beginning of the following year, hostilities were 
 commenced by general Gage, who, on hearing that some 
 military stores were collected at the town of Concord, 
 sent a large body of troops to destroy them. This attempt 
 the country militia opposed, and a skirmish ensued in 
 which they were repulsed. But a more serious en- 
 counter afterwards took place at Lexington, where the 
 king's troops were worsted with some loss. War now 
 commenced in melancholy earnest, and, as is common 
 in such cases, the feeling of hostility was only embit- 
 tered by the relationship that existed between the con- 
 tending parties. The battle of Bunker's Hill followed, 
 in which 2000 British troops were defeated, and would 
 have been destroyed, but for the opportune arrival of 
 general Clinton. The thirteen colonies of America were 
 now united by a federal bond, and the celebrated 
 Washington, a man worth whole armies, was appointed 
 commander in-chief of all the American forces ; after 
 which, instead of remaining on the defensive, they pro- 
 ceeded to aggressive measures by an invasion of Canada. 
 Although this attempt was unsuccessful, the Americans 
 impressed their antagonists, during their advance and 
 retreat, with an alarming conviction of their valour and 
 perseverance. But during the campaigns of 1776 and 
 J777, the situation of the colonists was truly critical. 
 I'heir troops were a raw militia, raised for temporary
 
 422 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 service, and unaccustomed to the hardships of regular 
 •warfare, and being dispirited by the unforeseen diffi- 
 culties of their new situation, they often left the army 
 in multitudes, so that sometimes not more than 10,000 
 could be mustered at one time. But on the other hand, 
 the veteran legions of Britain, that had been sent to 
 stibdue their brethren of the colonies, were largely rein- 
 forced both by English I'egiments and German auxili- 
 aries. It was in the midst of these trying difficulties 
 that the high moral energy and commanding talents of 
 Washington were conspicuous. He ably concealed the 
 deficiency of his forces, and confined himself to a war of 
 posts, marches, and surprises, in which he was almost 
 invariably successful. One specimen of his consummate 
 generalship in this kind of warfare it would be ungene- 
 rous to omit. New York being menaced by a British 
 army of 30,000 men, Washington resolved to defend it 
 with little more than half that number of irregulars, 
 most of whom were posted upon Long Island. The 
 approach of the British obliged him to remove these 
 forces to the town, across the East river, at that place 
 above a mile in breadth. Nine thousand men, therefore, 
 with all their baggage and ammunition, were conveyed 
 over the river to New York, in less than thirteen hours, 
 while the British army, which was not a quarter of a 
 mile distant, was kept in utter ignorance of the move- 
 ment. 
 
 While the American Fabius was thus keeping the 
 British at bay, and successfully procrastinating the war, 
 which of itself was equal to victory, the northern army, 
 consisting of 7000 British and German troops, several 
 swarms of North American savages, and an immense 
 quantity of artillery, was appointed to form a line of 
 communication between New York and Canada. The 
 whole were placed for this important purpose under the 
 command of general Burgoyne ; but that able writer of 
 comedies conducted the aifair to a most tragical con- 
 clusion. After a series of successes at the opening of 
 the drama, his good fortune failed him ; a train of dis- 
 asters followed, and at last he was obliged to capitulate 
 at Saratoga, where his whole army surrendered their 
 arms to the Americans under general Gates. While the 
 colonists were full of triumph at this important conquest, 
 another event occuiTed by which their hopes of success
 
 AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. 423 
 
 were increased : tliis was a treaty of amity with France, 
 in wliich the latter kingdom engaged to assist America 
 with her ships and soldiers, in cousequence of which 
 a fleet of twelve sail of the line and four frigates was 
 diispatched from Toulon under admiral d'Estaign. These 
 entered the Delaware in the beginning of July (1778), 
 but the campaigns of this and the two following years, 
 in spite of such assistance, were rather in favour of 
 the British. The spirit of the Americans, however, still 
 showed how the contest would ultimately terminate : 
 not one state, not a town, not even a village, thought for 
 a moment of accepting those conciliatory terms which 
 were held out by the British commissioners. And their 
 magnanimity and perseverance were at last rewarded. 
 In 17S1 the campaign was commenced by an attempt 
 of lord Comwallis,at the head of a strong force, to pene- 
 trate North Carolina, where he hoped to attract the 
 colonists to the royal standard. But instead of allies, 
 he found an armed militia, who encountered him on 
 several occasions, and frequently with success. At length 
 his whole army was completely blocked up in York- 
 town by general Washington, at the head of a com- 
 bined force of Americans and French, and on the ISth 
 of October Cornwallis was obliged to surrender himself 
 and his whole army, to the number of 7000 soldier?. 
 Nothing could exceed the triumph of the Americans on 
 this occasion, except the rage and mortification of the 
 British public, when the tidings arrived in England. It 
 was now perceived that America could not be conquered, 
 while all parties complained with justice of the expense 
 of the war. At the general peace, therefore, which took 
 place between Britain and her various antagonists in 1783, 
 a treaty was entered into with the United States,by which 
 they were recognised as free, sovereign, and indepen- 
 dent. This was an humbling termination for the mother- 
 country, after so much expense of blood and treasure ; 
 but two sources of consolation still remained. If Britain 
 had lost such valuable colonies in the West, she had 
 acquired an empire in the East, superior in wealth and 
 extent to the dominion of Rome in the highest days of 
 her prosperity ; and if our arms had been baffled, it 
 was no foreign enemy, but men of our own blood and 
 spirit, that could boast of the achievement. 
 This general peace was not fated to be lasting. The
 
 424 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 French Revolution occurred, and at the shock of such 
 an earthquake Britain started in dismay ; but instead of 
 looking oil from her sea-girt bulwark in calm neutrality, 
 as she had done at the partition of Poland, she caught 
 the general panic and rushed headlong into the encoun- 
 ter. On the llth of February, 1793, war with France 
 ■was declared by a royal message to the two houses of 
 parliament, and the duke of York was sent with a British 
 army to join the general continental alliance, which 
 consisted of Austria, Prussia, Holland, Spain, Sardinia, 
 and the Sicilies. Britain, however, had no great cause 
 to exult in her share of this wholesale warfare. The 
 duke of York, whose army was joined by the Hano- 
 verian, Dutch, and Hessian forces, commenced the siege 
 of Dunkirk on the 24th of August; but he was defeated 
 in two engagements by the garrison, and compelled to 
 raise the siege so precipitately, as to leave his heavy 
 artillery behind. Toulon, which held out for the royal 
 cause, was invested by the republicans, and notwith- 
 standing the resistance of its English garrison had at 
 last to be evacuated. Matters were still worse during 
 the subsequent campaigns, in which the British troops 
 largely shared in those disasters and defeats that suc- 
 cessively befell every member of the coalition. It was 
 only upon the sea that our arms were successful, and 
 the exertions of our fleets were crowned with a rich 
 harvest of victories and colonial conquests. At length, by 
 the treaty of Campo Formio, the great alliance against 
 France was broken, and Britain was left to maintain 
 the contest single-handed. Bonaparte, who was now the 
 great hero of the war, having successfully disengaged 
 himself from his baffled antagonists, announced his 
 favourite project of invading Britain in turn, and nume- 
 rous forces were assembled upon the French coast, under 
 the title of the ' army of England.' But it was soon found 
 that all these preparations were designed for the inva- 
 sion of Britain in India, as a preliminary to -which, the 
 army was suddenly embarked for the conquest of Egypt. 
 The great battle, therefore, between France and Eng- 
 land, was fought on the plains of the Pharaohs and Pto- 
 lemys, and victory crowned the heroic efforts of Nelson, 
 Sir Sidney Smith, Abercromby, and Hutchinson. Bona- 
 parte, however, on his return from Egypt, soon placed 
 France in a more formidable position than ever, and 

 
 WAR WITH FRANCE. 425 
 
 haviuj ajaiii beaten the different powers by which it 
 had been assailed during his absence, he dictated to 
 them the terras of peace. After this followed the treaty 
 of Amiens, on March 2rth, 1S02, by which peace was 
 established between France and England, upon the lat- 
 ter foregoing all the colonies which she had taken during 
 the war. It has been complacently observed by a class 
 of British writers upon this subject, that no honour was 
 lost to our country by this treaty ; but it seems equally 
 certain that none was gained by it. But be that as it 
 may, the peace of Amiens proved scarcely a breathing 
 truce, and the occupation of Malta soon furnished a new 
 argument for contest. The British were bound by the 
 treaty to evacuate it, after which it was to be held by a 
 Neapolitan garrison, until the Maltese knights were 
 strong enough to occupy and defend it; but Bonaparte, 
 it has been alleged, was desii'ous of securing this island 
 to himself as a stepping-stone to the reconquest of Egypt. 
 War with France was accordingly proclaimed by George 
 III., on the 18th of May, 1S03, and a contest commenced, 
 which the generations of Europe yet unborn will have 
 cause to execrate and deplore. 
 
 As two such powers as France and England cannot 
 join in conflict alone, on account of the derangement 
 produced in the balance of Europe by the shock of such 
 an encounter, a third coalition of the European powers 
 against France was formed in 1S05. In the mean time 
 Bonaparte had resumed his measures for the invasion of 
 England, and assembled the flower of his troops upon 
 the coast, while an immense flotilla lay at Boulogne 
 ready to waft them over. But, as in the case of Egypt, 
 his army was suddenly called away to a diSerent desti- 
 nation. He collected his troops and rushed to the 
 Danube, gained the battle of Austerlitz, and thus laid 
 Austria prostrate, and reduced Prussia and Russia to a 
 state of helplessness. He then, by treaty with the em- 
 peror of Germany, became the master of all Italy, except 
 the Neapolitan dominions, which, however, soon shared 
 the fate of the rest. But amidst all this triumph and 
 success he was compelled to feel that a power was 
 arrayed against him, before which his victories stood 
 rebuked. This was the British navy, which still con- 
 tinued its career of conquest, and the battle of Trafalgar 
 was a blow, from which the French marine, even under
 
 426 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 the administration of Bonaparte, was uerer able to re- 
 cover. 
 
 In this hasty summary we must now pass over the 
 remainder of the long war, the principal events of which, 
 however, will be found in the lives of those distinguished 
 individuals by whom it was so nobly conducted on the 
 part of Britain. The battle of Waterloo was the last 
 stake of the great Napoleon, and after this had failed, 
 nothing remained for him but flight or surrender. But 
 the coast was so closely watched by the British cruizers, 
 that the first alternative was denied, and after having 
 vainly lingered for a short time at Rochefoit in the hope 
 of escaping to America, he resolved to throw himself upon 
 the generosity and protection of Britain. la what man- 
 ner this confidence was rewarded is an event too univer- 
 sally and permanently chronicled to require repetition 
 here. With the departure of Bonaparte, all grounds of 
 contention between France and Europe disappeared, and 
 therefore, after a war unexampled perhaps in the history 
 of the world for magnitude and importance, treaties and 
 conventions of peace between the different powei's were 
 signed at Paris, on the 20th of November, 1815. 
 
 When the combined nations had thus overpowered 
 and disarmed their dreaded enemy, they retired, like 
 men who had been exhausted by a struggle in which 
 existence itself rather than victory has been at stake. 
 They had hied in every vein, and many a deep wound 
 bad to be healed before they could resume their weapons 
 for fresh rivalries and aggressions. A war of diplomacy 
 has therefore succeeded that of force, and protocols have 
 become the ' cheap defence ' of those nations w hich pre- 
 vious exertions have reduced to a state of bankruptcy. 
 But will this unprecedented tranquillity be lasting 1 
 Such a desirable consummation is not yet to be expected. 
 Society as yet has not been so taught and purified by 
 past sufferings, as to be convinced of the injustice of 
 aggression, and of the worthlessness of mere military 
 glory, and therefore the nations that begin to recover 
 from their exhaustion have also resumed that spirit in 
 which wars invariably originate. The grasping and 
 absorbing policy of Russia — the French aims of occupa- 
 tion in Africa — the wrongs of unhappy Poland still 
 unredressed, but awaiting in hope the moment of their 
 retribution— the nightmare despotism of Austria— the
 
 CLH E. 427 
 
 sreneral jealousy entertained ag-aiust Britain, and the 
 f Jieign fleets that are mustering to dispute with her the 
 empire of the ocean — these are ominous sig-ns of the times 
 ■which the most careless eye can read. And more than all 
 these causes combined, is that universal impatience of 
 coercion, that open antagonism between the ruled and 
 their rulers, so prevalent a characteristic of the present 
 age, and by which all Europe has been rent into two 
 rival and hostile factions, armed and ready for the con- 
 flict. The roots of the felled upas tree have shot forth 
 bj-anches to overshadow the vine and the olive which 
 the present generation has cultivated, and thus we may 
 be yet fated to gather in sorrow what we have planted 
 in hope. And when then shall peace become triumph- 
 ant on earth ? It is only when national ambition and 
 selfishness, the oppression of tyrants and the dishonesty 
 of statesmen, are no longer tolerated, that war will be- 
 come unpopular ; and men vnl\ cease to be warriors, 
 when they cease to be unjust. 
 
 ROBERT CLIVE, 
 
 BARON OF PLASSEr. 
 
 Robert Clive was bom at Styche, in the parish of 
 Moreton-Say, near Market Drayton, in Shropshire, ou 
 the 29th of September, 1725. His father, Richard Clive, 
 inherited the estate of Styche, the ancient possession of 
 his family ; but thinking the income, which scarcely ex- 
 ceeded £'500. a year, too small a provision, he followed 
 the business of the law. In his early youth, Robert 
 Clive was sent to a private school, which was kept by 
 Dr. Eaton, of Lostock, in Cheshire. The doctor observed 
 that, in courage and sagacity, he far surpassed his fel- 
 lows, and discerned in the schoolboy the character of 
 the future hero. ' If,' said he, ' that lad should live to 
 be a man, and an opportunity be given for the exertion 
 of his talents, few names will be greater than his.' 
 From this school, at the age of eleven, he was removed 
 ta another at .Market Drayton. In that town stands, on
 
 428 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the edge of a high hill, an ancient gothic church, from 
 the lofty steeple of which, at the distance of a few feet 
 from the top, projects an old stone spout, in the form of 
 a dragon's head. On this head he once seated himself, 
 to the great astonishment and terror of his school- 
 fellows who were gazing from below. 
 
 In 1743, Clive was appointed a writer in the ser- 
 vice of the East India company, and arrived at Madras 
 in the following year. The same dislike to the drudgery 
 of the desk, the same impatience of control, which 
 distinguished him at school, still marked his character, 
 and rendered his appointment as troublesome to his 
 superiors, as it was irksome to himself. On one occa- 
 sion, his conduct to the secretary, under whom the 
 writers are placed, was so inconsistent with proper sub- 
 ordination, that the governor commanded him to ask 
 the secretary's pardon. The submission was made in 
 terms of extreme contempt ; but the secretary received 
 it graciously, and invited bim to dinner. • No, sir,' 
 replied Clive, * the governor did not command me to 
 dine with you.' 
 
 On the surrender of Madras to the French admiral, 
 M. de la Bourdonnais, in September, 1746, the com- 
 pany's servants became prisoners on parole. But as 
 M. Dupleix, who was commander-in-chief of the French 
 forces in India, refused to ratify the treaty, and made 
 the English prisoners to the town, the English, on their 
 part, considered their engagement to Boui-dounais as 
 broken, and thought themselves at liberty to make 
 their escape. Accordingly, Clive, disguised as a Moor, 
 and a few others, escaped to St. David's, which lies on 
 the same coast, at the distance of twenty-one miles to 
 the south. Soon after his arrival, he happened to be 
 engaged in a party at cards, with two ensigns, who 
 were detected in cheating the rest of the company. 
 The ensigns had won large sums, which the losers re- 
 fused to pay ; but the threats of the two gamblers soon 
 intimidated all but Clive, who still persisted in his 
 refusal. A challenge followed, and Clive delivered his 
 fire ; but his antagonist reserved his, and, quitting 
 bis ground, presented the pistol at Olive's head, and 
 bade him ask his life. After some hesitation, Clive 
 complied ; but his antagonist telling him he must also 
 recant the expressions he had used, and promise pay-
 
 CLIVE. 429 
 
 ment of the money, otherwise he would fire — ' Fire, and 
 
 be d d,' said Clive ; ' I said you cheated ; I say so 
 
 still, nor will I ever pay you.' The ensign, finding that 
 all remonstrances were vain, called him a madman, and 
 threw away the pistol. When Clive was complimented by 
 his friends upon his behaviour on this occasion, he made 
 the following remark : 'The man has given me my life, 
 and I have no right in future to mention his behaviour 
 at the card table, although I will never pay him, nor 
 ever keep him company.' In other contests with some 
 of his brother officers, Clive also displayed the same in- 
 trepidity. 
 
 In 1747, being disgusted with his former situation 
 at Madras, and weary of an idle life at St. David's, 
 Clive solicited and obtained a commission in the mili- 
 tary service. The events of the years 1747 and 1748 
 gave him few opportunities of exerting his talents; yet 
 even in those few he exhibited such proofs of an ardent, 
 iuflexible mind, as raised the admiration of the tioops. 
 The season for military operations being over, the army 
 remained inactive at St. David's; and the treaty of Aix- 
 la-Chapelle being afterwards concluded, lieutenant Clive 
 returned to the civil establishment, and was admitted to 
 the same rank as that which he would have held if he 
 had never quitted the civil service. 
 
 The state of the company's affairs now urgently re- 
 quiring it, Clive resumed the military character. Hav- 
 ing obtained a captain's commission, he undertook to 
 conduct a detachment into the province of Arcot ; and 
 accordingly began his march at the head of 210 Euro- 
 peans, with 500 sepoys. Such was the resolution, 
 secrecy, and despatch, with which captain Clive con- 
 ducted this enterprise, that the enemy knew nothing of 
 his motions until he was in possession of the capital, 
 which he took without opposition. The inhabitants, ex- 
 pecting to be plundered, offered him a large sum to spare 
 their city; but they knew not the generosity and discre- 
 tion of the conqueror. He refused the proffered ransom, 
 and proclaimed that those who were willing to remain 
 should be protected from insult and injury, and the rest 
 have leave to retire with all their effects, except pro- 
 visions, for which he promised to pay the full value. 
 By this conduct he so conciliated the affectious of the
 
 430 MILITARY HISTORY 
 
 people, that even those who quitted the place supplied 
 him with exact iutelligence of the enemy's desijrus. 
 The town was in a little time invested by Raja Saib, 
 son of Chunda Saib, at the head of a numerous army ; 
 and the operations of the siege were conducted by 
 European engineers. Though their approaches were re- 
 tarded by tlie resolute sallies of the English, they at 
 length effected two breaches, supposed to be practicable ; 
 and on the 14th of October, 1751, they gave a general 
 assault. Clive having received intimation of their de- 
 sign, made such preparations that they were repulsed 
 in every quarter with great loss, and obliged to raise the 
 siege. Not contented, however, with this noble defence, 
 he was no sooner reinforced than he marched in pursuit 
 of the enemy, whom he overtook, in the plains of Aranie. 
 There, on the 3rd of December, he attacked them with 
 irresistible impetuosity; and, after an obstinate dispute, 
 obtained a complete victory. The forts of Timery, Cau- 
 jeveram, and Aranie, surrendered to the terror of his 
 name, and he returned to fort St. David in triumph. 
 
 He had enjoyed a very few weeks of repose, when 
 he was summoned to the field by fresh incursions of 
 the enemy. In the beginning of 1752, therefore, he 
 marched with a small detachment to Madras, where 
 he was joined by a reinforcement from Bengal, the 
 ■whole number not exceeding 300 Europeans, and a body 
 of the natives. With these he proceeded to Koveripauk, 
 about tifteen miles from Arcot, where he found the 
 French and Indians, consisting of 1500 sepoys, 1700 horse, 
 a reinforcement of natives, and 150 Europeans, with 
 eight pieces of cannon. Though they were advantage- 
 ously posted and entrenched, and the day was already 
 far advanced, Clive advanced against them with his 
 usual intrepidity; but the victory remained some tiine 
 in suspense. It was now dark and the battle was still 
 doubtful, when Clive sent round a detachment to fall on 
 the rear of the French battery. This attack was ex- 
 ecuted with great resolution, while the English in front 
 entered the entrenchments with fixed bayonets. This 
 double onset so disconcerted the enemy that they soon 
 gave way, and a considerable carnage ensued ; but the 
 greater part saved themselves by flight under cover 
 of the darkness. The French, to a man, threw down
 
 CLIVE. 431 
 
 their arms, and surrendered tliemselves prisoners of 
 war ; and all the cannon and baggage fell into the 
 hands of the victor. 
 
 The province of Arcot being thus cleared, Clive 
 returned to fort St. David, where he found major 
 Laurence just anived from England, to take upon him 
 the command of the company's troops. On the 18tb of 
 March, this officer, accompanied by Clive, took the field, 
 and was joined by captain Gingen, at Trichinopoly. 
 From hence he detached Clive, with 400 European sol- 
 diers, a few Mahratta horse, and a body of sepoys, to 
 cut ofl' the enemy's retreat to PondicheiTy. In the 
 course of this expedition he dislodged a strong body of 
 the foe posted at Samiaveram, and obliged Chunda Saib 
 to throw a body of troops into a strongly fortified pagoda 
 upon the river Koleroon, which was immediately in- 
 Tested. The commanding officer in attempting to escape 
 was slain with some others, and the rest sun-eudered at 
 discretion. They" were still in possession of another 
 fortified temple, which he also besieged in form, and 
 reduced by capitulation. Having subdued these forts, 
 he marched directly to Volconda, whither he understood 
 the French commander D'Auteuil had retired. He found 
 that officer entrenched in a village, from whence he 
 drove him with precipitation, and made himself master 
 of the French cannon. The enemy attempted to save 
 themselves in a neighbouring fort; but the gates being 
 shut against them by the governor, who was apprehen- 
 sive that they would be followed pell-mell by the Eng- 
 lish, captain Clive attacked them with great fury, and 
 made a considerable slaughter; but his humanity being 
 shocked at this carnage, he sent a flag of truce to the 
 vanquished, with terms of capitulation, which were 
 readily embraced. These articles imported that D'Au- 
 teuil and three other officers should remain prisoners 
 on parole for one year ; that the garrison should be ex- 
 changed, and the money and stores be delivered to the 
 nabob whom the English supported. 
 
 After these services, captain Clive returned to England, 
 where he was solicited by the directors of the East India 
 Company to accept the appointment of go\ernor of fort 
 St. David, with a right of succession to the government 
 of Madras ; and as he expressed his willingness to serve 
 them, they procured for him the commission of lieu-
 
 432 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 tenant-colonel in the royal service, with the cominand 
 of three companies of the royal artillery, and some 
 hundreds of the kinii's troops. With this force he was 
 ordered to join the Mahrattas on the coast of Hindostan, 
 and attack the French, whose power was at that time 
 extremely formidable to the Eng^lish East India Com- 
 pany'. He found on his arrival at Bombay, that hostilities 
 had ended between the English and French in India, 
 upon which he formed a scheme of employing- the English 
 forces, in conjunction with the Mahrattas, against Angria, 
 a very foi-midable neighbouring pirate, whose frequent 
 depredations were iiijurious to the English settlements. 
 Having communicated his plan to admiral Watson, that 
 officer readily concurred in it ; and accordingly, on the 
 7th of February, 1756, he proceeded with a division of 
 ships, having on board a body of troops commanded by 
 colonel Clive, to Geriah, the capital of Angria's domi- 
 nions. They found in the neighbourhood of Geriah the 
 Mahratta fleet, consisting of four grabs, and forty smaller 
 Tessels called gallivats, lying to the northward of the 
 place, in a creek called Rajiporc, and a land army of 
 horse and foot amounting to 7000 or 8000 men, the 
 whole commanded by Rhamagee Punt, who had already 
 taken one small fort, and was actually treating about 
 the surrender of Geriah. Angria himself had quitted 
 the place, but his wife and family remained under the pro- 
 tection of his brother-in-law ; who, on being summoned 
 to surrender, replied, that he would defend the place 
 to the last extremity. The whole English fleet, therefore, 
 sailed into the harbour and sustained a warm lire, which, 
 however, was soon silenced after the ships were brought 
 to their stations. A shell being thrown into one of An- 
 gria's armed vessels set her on fire ; the flames commu- 
 nicating to the rest, they were all destroyed : between 
 six and seven, the fort was set on fire by another shell, 
 and soon after the firing ceased on both sides. The ad- 
 miral suspecting that the governor would surrender it 
 to the Mahrattas rather than to the English, disembarked 
 all the troops under Clive, that he might be at hand 
 to take possession. In the mean time the fort was bom- 
 barded, the line of battle ships were warped near enough 
 to batter in breach, and then the admiral sent a flag of 
 truce to the governor, requiring him to sunender ; but 
 his proposal being again rejected, the English ships
 
 CLIVE. 433 
 
 renewed their fire next day with redoubled vigonr. 
 About one o'clock the magazine of the foit blew up ; 
 and at four the garrison huug out a white flag for capi- 
 tulation. The parley that ensued proved ineffectual ; 
 the engagement began again, and continued till fifteen 
 minutes after five, when the white flag was once more 
 displayed, and now the governor submitted to the terms 
 •which were imposed. Angria's flag was immediately 
 hauled down, and two English captains, taking possession 
 of the fort with a detachment, forthwith hoisted the 
 British ensign. To these captains, whose names were 
 Buchanan and Forbes, the Mahrattas offered a bribe of 
 50,000 rupees if they would allow them to pass their 
 guard, that they might take possession of the fort for 
 themselves ; but this offer was rejected with disdain, 
 and immediately disclosed to colonel Clive, who took 
 effectual measures to frustrate their design. In this 
 place, which was reduced with very inconsiderable loss, 
 the cont^uerors found above 200 cannon, six brass mor- 
 tars, a large quantity of ammunition, and money and 
 effects to the value of £130,000. The fleet which was 
 destroyed consisted of eight grabs, one ship finished, 
 two upon the stocks, and a good number of gallivats. 
 Among the prisoners, the admiral found Angria's wife, 
 children, and mother, towards whom he demeaned him- 
 self with great humanity. Three hundred European sol- 
 diers and as many sepoys were left to guard the fort ; 
 and four of the company's armed vessels remained in 
 the harbour for the defence of the place, which was 
 admirably situated for commerce. 
 
 After this, colonel Clive sailed for fort St. David, but 
 his stay there was short ; for Calcutta being taken by 
 the nabob of Bengal, he was summoned to Madras, 
 where he was appointed to the command of the troops 
 which were sent to the relief of the English in Bengal. 
 He embarked on board admiral Watson's squadron, 
 having with him 1200 sepoys and 750 Europeans, 250 of 
 whom were in the king's service. They arrived in 
 Ballasor road on the 2.3th of December ; and the next 
 day Clive landed, and in twenty-four hours made him- 
 self master of Bulbudgia, a place of great strength. 
 On the 1st of January, the admiral with two ships ap- 
 peared before Calcutta, and was received by a brisk fire 
 from the batteries ; but their guns were soon silenced, 
 U
 
 4ai MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 and in less than two hours the place and fort were 
 abandoned. Colonel Clive, on the other side, had in- 
 vested the town, and made his attack, with that vigour 
 and intrepidity peculiar to himself, which greatly con- 
 tributed to the sudden reduction of the settlement. As 
 soon as the fort was surrendered, the brave captain 
 Coote took possession, and found niuety-one pieces of 
 cannon, four mortars, abundance of ammunition, stores, 
 and provisions, and every requisite for sustaining a long 
 siege. Thus the English were re-established in the two 
 strongest fortresses on the Ganges, with the inconsider- 
 able loss of nine seamen and three soldiers. A few days 
 after, Hoogly, a city of great trade, situated higher up 
 the river, was reduced with as little difficulty, but 
 infinitely greater prejudice to the nabob, as here his 
 storehouses of salt, and vast granaries for the support of 
 his army, were destroyed. Incensed at the almost in- 
 stantaneous loss of all his conquests, and demolition of 
 the city of Hoogly, the viceroy discouraged all ad- 
 vances to an accommodation ; he assembled an army of 
 20,000 horse and 15,000 foot, fully resolved to expel the 
 English out of his dominions, and was seen marching 
 by the English camp in his way to Calcutta on the 2d 
 of February, where he encamped about a mile from the 
 town. Colonel Clive immediately applied to the admiral 
 for a reinforcement ; and COO men were drafted from 
 the different ships, and sent to assist his little army. 
 Clive drew out his forces, advanced in three columns 
 towards the enemy, and began the attack so vigorously 
 that the viceroy retreated, after a feeble resistance, with 
 the loss of 1000 men and four elephants. Though this 
 advantage was less decisive than could be wished, yet 
 admiral Watson gave the nabob to understand that this 
 was uo more than a specimen of what the British arms, 
 when provoked, could perform. A treaty highly advan- 
 tageous to the English honour and interests was the 
 consequence, in which the nabob made every reparation 
 for past injuries, and agreed to respect the rights and 
 privileges of the company. 
 
 The admiral and Clive afterwards resolved to avail 
 themselves of their armament in attacking the French 
 settlements in Bengal. Their chief object was the re- 
 duction of Chandernagore, situated higher up the river 
 than Calcutta, and of considerable strength, Clive
 
 CLIVE. 43.5 
 
 being reinforced from Bombay, began his march to 
 Chaudernagore, at the head of 700 Europeans and 1600 
 Indians, where, on his first arrival, he took posjiession of 
 all the outposts, except one redoubt, mounted with eight 
 pieces of cannon, which he left to be silenced by the 
 admiral. On the 18th of March, the admirals Watson 
 and Pococke arrived within two miles of the French 
 settlement with three men of war, and found their pas- 
 sage obstructed by booms laid across the river, and se- 
 veral vessels sunk in the channel. These difficulties 
 being removed, they advanced early on the 24th, and 
 drew up in a line before the fort, which they battered 
 with great fury for three hours, while colonel Clive was 
 making his approaches on the land side, and playing 
 vigorously from the batteries he had raised. Their 
 united efforts soon obliged the enemy to submission. A 
 flag of truce was waved over the walls, and the place 
 surrendered by capitulation. Thus the reduction of a 
 .strong fortress, garrisoned by 500 Europeans and 1200 
 Indians, defended by 123 pieces of cannon and three 
 mortars, well provided with all kinds of stores and ne- 
 cessaries, and of very great importance to the enemy's 
 commerce in India, was accomplished with a loss not 
 exceeding forty men on the side of the conquerors. By 
 the capitulation, the director, coun^e^o^s, and inferior 
 servants of the settlement, were allowed to depart with 
 their wearing apparel : the Jesuits were permitted to 
 take away their church ornaments, and the natives to 
 remain in the full enjoyment of their liberties ; but the 
 garrison were to continue prisoners of war. The goods 
 and money found in the place were considerable ; but 
 the principal advantages arose from the ruin of the 
 head settlement of the enemy on the Gauges, -which 
 could not but interfere with the English commerce in 
 that quarter. 
 
 Success had hitherto attended the operations of the 
 British commanders, because they were concerted with 
 foresight and unanimity, and executed with vigour. 
 They reduced the Yiabob to reasonable terms of accom- 
 modation before they alarmed the French ; and now 
 that the power of the latter was destroyed, they resolved 
 to compel the former to a sti'ict performance of the treaty 
 he had so lately signed. However specious his promises 
 were, they found him extremely dilatory in the execu-
 
 436 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 tion of several articles, so that the English commerce 
 Buffered as if no treaty had been concluded. In fact, he 
 discovered all along a manifest partiality to the French, 
 whose emissaries cajoled him with promises that he 
 should he joined by such a body of their European troops, 
 under M. de Bussy, as would enable him to crush the 
 power of the English, whom they had taught him to 
 fear and to hate. As recommencing hostilities against 
 so powerful a prince was in itself dangerous, and, if pos- 
 sible, to be avoided, the affair was laid before the council 
 of Calcutta, and canvassed with all the circumspection a 
 measure required, on which depended the fate of the 
 whole trade of Bengal. During these deliberations a 
 most fortunate incident occurred, that soon determined 
 the council to come to an open rupture. The leading 
 persons in the viceroy's court found themselves oppressed 
 by his haughtiness, and their discontent was shared by 
 the principal officers of his army, who were sensible that 
 the peace of the country could never be restored, unless 
 either the English were expelled, or the nabob deposed. 
 A plan was therefore concerted for divesting him of all 
 his power ; and the conspiracy was conducted by Jaflier 
 Ali Khan, his prime minister and chief commander, a 
 nobleman of great influence and authority in tlie pro- 
 vince. The project was communicated by Ali to Mr. 
 Watts, the English resident at the nabob's court, and so 
 improved by the address of that gentleman as to ensure 
 success. A treaty was actually conchided between Jaflier 
 Ali and the English company ; and a plan concerted 
 with him and the other malcontents for their defection 
 from the viceroy. These previous measures being taken, 
 colonel Clive was ordered to take the field with his little 
 army. Admiral Watson undertook the defence of Chan- 
 dernagore ; and the garrison was detached to reinforce 
 the colonel, together with fifty seamen to be employed 
 as gunners, and in directing the artillery. Then Mr. 
 Watts, deceiving the suba's spies, by whom he was sur- 
 rounded, withdrew himself from Muxadavad, and reached 
 the English camp in safety. On the 19th of June a de- 
 tachment was sent to attack Cutwa fort and town, situ- 
 ated on that branch of the river forming the island 
 Cassimbuzar. This place surrendered at the first sum- 
 mons ; and here the colonel halted with the army for 
 three days, expecting advices from Ali Khan. Disap-
 
 CLIVE. 437 
 
 pointed in this he crossed the river and marched to 
 Plassey, where he encamped. On the 23rd, at daybreak, 
 the suba advanced to attack him, at the head of 15,000 
 horse, and nearly 30,000 infantry, with about forty pieces 
 of heavy cannon, conducted and managed by French 
 gunners, on whose courage and dexterity he placed 
 great dependance. They began to cannonade the Eng- 
 lish camp about six in the morning, but a severe shower 
 falling at noon they withdrew their artillery. Colonel 
 Clive seized this opportunity to take possession of a tank 
 and two other posts of consequence, which they in Tain 
 endeavoured to recapture. Then he stormed an angle of 
 their camp, covered with a double breastwork, together 
 with an eminence which they occupied. At the begin- 
 ning of this attack, some of their chiefs being slain, the 
 men were so dispirited that they soon gave way ; but 
 still Jaffier Ali, who commanded their left wing, for- 
 bore to declare himself. After a short contest the enemy 
 were put to flight, the nabob's camp, baggage, and fifty 
 pieces of cannon, were taken, and a most complete vic- 
 tory obtained. The colonel pursuing his advantage, 
 marched to Muxadavad, the capital of the province, and 
 ■was there joined by Ali Khan and the malcontents. It 
 was before concerted that this nobleman should be in- 
 vested with the dignity of nabob; accordingly the colonel 
 proceeded solemnly to depose Surajah Dowlat, and, with 
 the same ceremony, to substitute Ali Khau in his room, 
 who was publicly acknowledged by the people as suba, 
 or viceroy, of the provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orixa. 
 Soon after the late viceroy was taken and put to death 
 by his successor, who readily complied with all the con- 
 ditions of his elevation. He conferred on his allies very 
 liberal rewards, and granted the company such extraor- 
 dinary privileges as fully demonstrated how highly he 
 valued their assistance. By this alliance, and the re- 
 duction of Chandernagore, the French were entirely 
 excluded from the commerce of Bengal and its depen- 
 dencies ; the trade of the English company was restored, 
 and increased beyond their most sanguine hopes ; a new 
 ally was acquired, whose interest obliged him to remain 
 firm to his engagements ; a vast sum was paid to the 
 company and the sufferers at Calcutta, to indemnify 
 them for their losses ; the soldiers and seamen were 
 gratified with £600,000. as a reward for their courage
 
 458 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 and intrepidity ; and a variety of other advantages 
 gained, which it -would be unnecessary to enumerate. 
 In a word, in the space of fourteen days a great revolu- 
 tion was eflfected, and the government of a vast country, 
 superior in wealth, fertility, extent, and number of in- 
 habitants, to most European kingdoms, was transferred 
 by a handful of troops, conducted by an officer untutored 
 in the art of war, a general rather by intuition tbau 
 instruction and experience. The immense acquisition of 
 territory which was made by the English East India 
 Company, was chiefly owing to the courage and conduct 
 of Clive ; but the means employed to acquire it we shall 
 not attempt to vindicate. It has been observed, that 
 * whoever contemplates the forlorn situation of the com- 
 pany when Clive first arrived at Calcutta, in the year 
 1756, and then considers the degree of opulence and 
 power they possessed when he finally left that place, 
 will be convinced that the history of the world has sel- 
 dom afforded an instance of so rapid and improbable a 
 change. At the first period, they were merely an asso- 
 ciation of merchants, struggling for existence. One of 
 their factories was in ruins, their agents were murdered, 
 and an army of 50,000 men, to which they had nothing 
 to oppose, threatened the immediate destruction of their 
 principal settlement. At the last period, distant from 
 the first but ten years, they were become powerful 
 princes, possessed of vast revenues, and ruling over 
 15,000,000 of people.' 
 
 It appears that the nabob Meer Jaffier, after the former 
 nabob had been deposed, made Clive a present of £210,000. 
 He also prevailed on the great mogul (who at that time 
 was a prisoner of state in Delhi, but who was still con- 
 sidered as the fountain of honours) to confer on Clive the 
 dignity of Omrah, or noble of the empire ; and the grant 
 of a revenue of £28,000 per annum. Clive returned to 
 England in 1760, where his conduct and exploits received 
 the warmest commendations from the East India Com- 
 pany ; and in the following year the king conferred on 
 him the title of baron in the kingdom of Ireland, by the 
 title of Lord Clive, baron Plassey, in the county of Clare. 
 
 Some time after the return of Clive to England, the 
 English deposed the nabob Meer Jaffier, and transferred 
 the government to his son-in-law, Cossim Ali Khan. But 
 the new nabob making some opposition to the various
 
 CLIVE. 439 
 
 kinds of injustice and oppression practised by the servants 
 of the English East India Company, they deposed Cossim 
 Ali Khan, and reinstated Meer Jaffier in the nabobship. 
 The misconduct of the Company's servants at length 
 occasioned such disorders, that lord Clive and four of his 
 friends were commissioned to go to India to adjust all 
 disputes with the country powers, and reform the pre- 
 vailing abuses. They arrived at Calcutta in May, 1765, 
 ■where they made a treaty with the native princes, and 
 established some regulations beneficial to the East India 
 Company; bat the natives still suffered great injustice 
 and oppression from its servants. Lord Clive returned 
 to England in July, 1767, and was made a knight of the 
 Bath in 1769. It should also be observed that he repre- 
 sented in parliament, from the year 1760 to the time of 
 his decease, the borough of Shrewsbury, the principal 
 town of the county in which he was bom. But on the 
 2lst of February, 1773, a motion was made in the House 
 of Commons, to resolve, ' That, in the acquisition of his 
 ■wealth, lord Clive had abused the powers with which he 
 was intrusted.' He defended himself, if not satisfac- 
 torily, at least with great ability ; and the House of 
 Commons rejected the motion, and resolved, * That lord 
 Clive had rendered great and meritorious services to his 
 country.' 
 
 His lordship was a striking instance of the inefficacy of 
 honours and wealth to confer happiness. After his re- 
 turn to England, though possessed of a splendid fortune 
 and high reputation, he often discovered great uneasi- 
 ness of mind, and could not endure to be alone. His 
 friends represented this as the result of a depression of 
 spirits, occasioned by a nervous fever ; but by others it 
 was attributed to causes of a very different kind. He put 
 an end to his own life on the 2-2d of November, 1774, 
 when he was not quite fifty years of age. He was inteiTed 
 at Moretou-Say, the parish in which he vvas born. He 
 'eft two sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Ed- 
 ward, succeeded him in his title and estate. It is said 
 that lord Clive gave away much money in acts of bene- 
 volence ; and he made, at one time, a present of £70,000, 
 as a provision for the invalids of the servants of the East 
 India Company.
 
 440 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 GEORGE AUGUSTUS ELLIOTT, 
 
 LORD HEATHFIELD. 
 
 This distinguished officer was the youngest of the nine 
 sons of Sir Gilbert Elliott, of Stobbs, in Roxburghshire ; 
 and was born in the year 1718. He received the first 
 rudiments of his education under a private tutor re- 
 tained at the family seat. At an early age he was sent 
 to the university of Leyden, where he made a rapid 
 progress in classical learning, and spoke with elegance 
 and fluency the German and French languages. Being 
 designed for a military life, he was sent from thence to 
 the celebrated Ecole Royale du genie militairc, at La 
 Fere in Picardy. This school was rendered the most 
 famous in Europe by means of the great Vauban, under 
 whom it was conducted. Here it was that the founda- 
 tion was laid of that knowledge of tactics in all its 
 branches, and particularly in the arts of engineering 
 and fortification, which so greatly distinguished this 
 officer. He completed his military course on the con- 
 tinent by a tour, for the purpose of seeing in practice 
 ■what he had been studying in theory. Prussia was the 
 model for discipline, and he continued for some time as 
 a volunteer in this service. Such were the steps taken 
 by the young men of fashion in that day to accomplish 
 themselves for the service of their country. Many of 
 his contemporaries were then similarly engaged, nobly 
 abandoning the enjoyment of ease and luxury at home 
 for the opportunity of seeing actual service. 
 
 iSIr. Elliott returned in his seventeenth year to his 
 native country, Scotland, and was in the same year 
 (1735) introduced by his father. Sir Gilbert, to lieutenant- 
 colonel Peers, of the 23d regiment of foot, or royal 
 Welsh fuzileers, then lying in Edinburgh. Sir Gilbert 
 presented him as a youth anxious to bear arms for 
 his king and country. He was accordingly entered as 
 a volunteer in that regiment, where he continued for 
 a twelvemonth. From the 23d he went into the en- 
 gineer corps at Woolwich, and made great progress 
 in military science, until his uncle, colonel Elliott, 
 brought him in as adjutant of the 2d troop of horse
 
 ELLIOTT. 441 
 
 grenadiers. In this situation he conducted himself with 
 the most exemplary attention, and laid the foundation 
 of that discipline which rendered those two troops the 
 finest corps of heavy cavalry in Europe. With these 
 troops he went upon service to Germany, where he 
 was with them in a variety of actions, and at the 
 battle of Dettin^en he was wounded. In this regiment 
 he first bought the rank of captain and major ; and 
 afterwards purchased the lieutenant-colonelcy from 
 colonel Brewerton, who succeeded to his uncle. Oa 
 arriving at this rank he resigned his commission as 
 an engineer, which he had hitherto enjoyed, and in 
 which service he had been actively employed very 
 much to the advantage of his country. He had re- 
 ceived the instructions of the famous engineer Bellidor, 
 and made himself completely master of the science 
 of gixnnery. Had he not so disinterestedly resigned 
 his rank in the engineer department, he would soon, by 
 regular progression, have been at the head of that corps. 
 Soon after this he was appointed aide-de camp to George 
 II. ; and was already distinguished for his military skill 
 and discipline. In the year 1759 he quitted the 2d 
 troop of horse grenadier guards, being selected to raise, 
 form, and discipline, the first regiment of light-horse, 
 called after him, Elliott's. As soon as they were raised 
 and formed, he was appointed to the command of the 
 cavalry in the expedition to the coast of France, with 
 the rank of bi-igadier-general ; and after this he passed 
 into Germany, where he was employed on the staff, 
 and greatly distinguished himself in a variety of move- 
 ments, while his regiment displayed a strictness of dis- 
 cipline, an activity, and enterprise, which gained them 
 signal honour. 
 
 From Germany he was recalled for the purpose of 
 being employed as second in command of the me- 
 morable expedition against the Havannah. It was pos- 
 sible to find an officer in the sunshine of the court, to 
 whom, under the patronage of a prince, the trappings of 
 the chief command might be given ; but an Elliott was 
 wanted to act as well as an Albemarle to shine; and 
 for him they must go to the dusty plains of Germany. 
 The circumstances of that conquest are well known. It 
 seems as if our brave veteran had always in his eye the 
 gallant Lewis de Velasco, who maintained his static 
 U 2
 
 442 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 to the last extremity, and when his garrison were flying 
 from his side, or falling at his feet, disdained to retire 
 or call for quarter, but fell gloriously, wielding his 
 sword against his conquerors. 
 
 On the peace, in 1763, his gallant regiment was re- 
 Tie wed by his majesty, in Hyde Park, when they pre- 
 sented to the king the standards which they had taken 
 from the enemy. The king, pleased with their high 
 character, asked general Elliott what mark of favour he 
 could bestow on his regiment equal to their merit. He 
 answered, that his regiment would be proud if his 
 majesty should think that by their services they were 
 entitled to the distinction of ' Royals.' It was accord- 
 ingly made a royal regiment with this flattering title, 
 'The 15th, or king's royal regiment of light dragoons.' 
 At the same time the king expressed a desire to confer 
 a mark of his favour on the brave general ; but he de- 
 clared that the honour and satisfaction of his majesty's 
 approbation of his services was his best reward. 
 
 During the peace, Elliott was not idle. His great 
 talents in the curious branches of military science gave 
 him ample employment ; and in the year 1775, he was 
 appointed to succeed general A'Court, as commander in- 
 chief of the forces in Ireland. But he did not continue 
 long in this station ; not even long enough to unpack 
 all his trunks ; for finding that interferences were made 
 by petty authority derogatory of his own, he resisted 
 the practice with becoming spirit; and not choosing to 
 disturb the government of the sister kingdom on a per- 
 sonal affair, he solicited to be recalled, which was granted, 
 and he was appointed to the command of Gibraltar, in a 
 fortunate hour for the safety of that important fortress. 
 The habits of his life, as well as his education, peculi- 
 arly qualified him for this trust. His singular tem- 
 perance and manners were thus described by one of his 
 contemporaries: — 'He is perhaps the most abstemious 
 man of the age. His food is vegetables, and his drink 
 water; he neither indulges himself in animal food, nor 
 wine ; he never sleeps more than four hours at a time ; 
 80 that he is up later and earlier than most other men : 
 he has so inured himself to habits of hardiness, that 
 things which are difficult and painful to other men, are 
 to him his daily practice, and are rendered pleasant by 
 use.' It could not be easy to starve such a man into a sur-
 
 ELLIOTT. 443 
 
 render, nor easy to surprise him. His wants were easily 
 supplied, and his watchfulness was beyond precedent. 
 The example of the commander-in-chief in a besieged 
 garrison has a most persuasive efficacy in forming the 
 manners of the soldiery. Like him his brave followers 
 came to regulate their lives by the most strict rules of 
 discipline, before there arose a necessity for so doing ; 
 and severe exercise with short diet became habitual to 
 them by their own choice. The military system of dis- 
 cipline which he introduced, and the preparations which 
 he made for defence, were contrived with so much judg- 
 ment, and executed with so much address, that he was 
 able with a handful of men to preserve his post against 
 an attack, the constancy of which, even without the vi- 
 gour, would have been sufficient to exhaust any common 
 set of men. Collected within himself, he in no instance 
 destroyed by premature attacks the labours which had 
 cost the enemy time, patience, and expense, to complete ; 
 he deliberately observed their approaches, and seized on 
 the proper moment with the keenest perception in which 
 to make his attack with success. He never spent his 
 ammunition in useless parade, or in unimportant annoy- 
 ances. He never relaxed from his discipline by the 
 appearance of security, or hazarded the lives of the gar- 
 rison by wild experiments. But by a cool and temperate 
 demeanour he maintained his station for three years 
 of constant investment, in which all the powers of Spain 
 were employed. The eyes of all Europe were at that 
 time fixed upon his gan-ison, and his conduct in his able 
 defence of Gibraltar justly exalted him to a most ele- 
 vated place in the military annals of the age. 
 
 A few particulars in the history of this memorable 
 siege are worthy of commemoration. At the end of 
 the year 1781, it was judged expedient to carry into ex- 
 ecution an attempt to storm and destroy the whole of 
 the enemy's advanced works, which had been perfected 
 at immense expense and labour. For this purpose a 
 considerable detachment was formed in three columns, 
 and marched from the garrison, upon the setting of the 
 moon, on the 27 th of November, at three o'clock in the 
 morning. The columns were severally composed of an 
 advanced corps, a body of pioneers, artillery-men 
 carrying combustibles, and a sustaining corps, with a 
 reserve in the rear. The pioneers of the left column
 
 444 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 were seamen. The vigorous efforts of these troops, on 
 every part of the exterior front, were irresistible ; and 
 the enemy, after a scattering fire of short duration, gave 
 way on all sides, and abandoned their stupendous works 
 with precipitation. The pioneers and artillery-men 
 spread their fire with such rapidity, that, in half an 
 hour, two mortar batteries of ten thirteen-inch mortars, 
 and three batteries of six guns each, with all the lines 
 of approach, communication, and traverse, were in 
 flames, and soon reduced to ashes. The mortars and 
 cannon were spiked, and their beds, carriages, and plat- 
 forms destroyed. Their magazines blew up, one after 
 another, as the fire approached them. The enemy, see- 
 ing all opposition ineffectual, offered no other resistance 
 than an ill-directed fire of round and grape shot, from 
 tlie forts of St. Barbara and St. Phillipe, and the bat- 
 teries on the lines ; and remained in their camps, spec- 
 tators of the conflagration. The whole detachment, 
 whose loss had been very inconsiderable, was in the 
 garrison again by five, just before break of day. An 
 enterprise so admirably contrived, and so successfully 
 executed, could not fail to give the Spaniards an exalted 
 idea of the wisdom of general Elliott, and the courage of 
 his troops, who to these virtues joined the tenderest 
 regard to the duties of humanity, by their kind treatment 
 of the prisoners, many of whom they rescued from de- 
 struction. The value of the works destroyed by this sally, 
 was estimated at nearly £3,000,000. 
 
 In the following year, the defence of Gibraltar still 
 continued to attract the eyes of Europe, as to a scene 
 of uncommon bravery and success. Elliott, according to 
 his custom, allowed the Spaniards to bring their works 
 nearly to perfection, and then almost totally demolished 
 them. On the 8th of September, at seven in the morn- 
 ing, a heavy fire commenced from the English batteries, 
 with carcases, hot shot, and shells, upon the Spanish 
 advanced works and batteries, and before ten two of 
 their principal batteries were completely destroyed. The 
 attack made by the Spaniards on the 13th of this month, 
 requires a more particular description. It was made 
 with ten battering ships, under the command of admiral 
 Moreno. These ships were of different sizes, from 1400 
 to (300 tons burden. Their guns, which in all amounted 
 to 212, were brass twenty-six pounders, all entirely new.
 
 ELLIOTT. 445 
 
 The number of men on board these ships, including' 
 officers, amounted to nearly 8000. The Spaniards had 
 also collected from different ports about 300 large boats, 
 which \rere to carry their troops. At ten in the morn- 
 ing, don Moi-eno's ship was placed about 1000 yards 
 from the king's bastion, and began firing ; the others, 
 posted to the north and south at small distances asun- 
 der, likewise discharged their cannon. The fire was 
 heavy on both sides, the English opening their batteries 
 as the enemy came before them. Red-hot shot was sent 
 with such precision from the garrison, that in the after- 
 noon the smoke was seen to issue from the upper part of 
 the Spanish admiral's, and from another ship, and men 
 were seen labouring to extinguish the fire by engines. 
 Theireiforts, however, were ineffectual ; for, by one in the 
 morning, the Spanish admiral and several others were 
 in flames. The confusion of the Spaniards was now 
 sufficiently manifest, and the numerous rockets thrown 
 up, from each of their ships, showed the greatness of 
 their distress. Their signals were immediately answered 
 from the Spanish fleet, and attempts were made to bring 
 away the men, it being impossible to remove the ships. 
 Twelve English gun boats, each carrying a twenty-four 
 or eighteen pounder, under the command of captain 
 Roger Curtis, then advanced, and were so drawn up as 
 to flank the line of the Spanish battering ships, while 
 they were also extremely annoyed by an excessive heavy 
 and well-directed fire from the garrison. The fire from 
 the English gun boats was kept up with such vigour 
 and effect, that the Spanish boats did not venture to 
 approach ; on the contrary, they abandoned their ships, 
 and the men left in them, to the mercy of the English. 
 The scene was now truly dreadful ; great numbers of 
 men were seen amid the flames, some upon pieces of 
 wood in the water, others appearing in the ships where 
 the fire had as yet made but little progress, all express- 
 ing by speech and gesture the deepest distress, and all 
 imploring assistance. The English made every exertion 
 to relieve them, but the blowing up of the Spanish ships, 
 as the fire got to the magazines, and the firing of some of 
 their cannon as the metal became heated by the flames, 
 rendered this a very perilous employment. In conse- 
 quence, however, of their intrepid exertions, thirteen 
 Spanish ofBcers and 3-14 men were saved. Their loss
 
 446 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 must have been immense. After this memorable victory, 
 lord Howe succeeded in relieving the garrison. 
 
 On the return of Elliott to England, the gratitude of the 
 British senate was as forwaid as the public voice in giving 
 him that distinguished approbation his merit deserved, to 
 which his majesty was pleased to add that of knight of 
 the Bath, and an elevation to the peerage, by the title of 
 Lord Heathfield, baron of Heathfield, on June 14, 1787, 
 and permitting him to take also the arms of the fortjess 
 he had so bravely defended, to perpetuate the memory of 
 his noble conduct. His lordship closed a life of military 
 renown at the most critical season for his reputation. 
 He had acquired the brightest honours of a soldier, and 
 the love and reverence of his country ; and he fell, in an 
 exertion beyond his strength, from an anxiety to close 
 his life on the rock where he had established his fame. 
 He died in the seventy-third year of his age, on the 6th 
 of July, 1790, at his chateau at Aix la-Chapelle, of a second 
 stroke of the palsy, after having enjoyed for some weeks 
 past a tolerably good share of health and an unusual flow 
 of spiiits. Two days before his death he dined with his 
 friend, Mr. Barclay, and was in a few days to have set out 
 with that gentleman for Leghorn, on his way to Gibral- 
 tar. His remains were brought to Dover, in the race- 
 horse packet; whence they were conveyed to Heathfield, 
 in Sussex, and there deposited in a vault, built for that 
 purpose, over which a handsome monument is erected. 
 
 SIR RALPH ABERCROMBY, K. B. 
 
 This veteran hero of Aboukir was born at Menstiie, 
 in the parish of Logie, in Scotland, on the 7th of October, 
 1733, and was the eldest son of George Abercromby, Esq. 
 of Tullibody. Having received in his boyish days the 
 usual education of a Scottish parochial school, he was 
 sent first to the university of Edinburgh, and subse- 
 quently to that of Gottingen. He entered the army 
 in the year 175G, and had a comet's commission in the 
 3d dragoon guards. On the 12th of February, 17G0, he
 
 ABERCROMBY. 4i7 
 
 obtained a lieutenancy in the same regiment, and con- 
 tinued in this corps till the 24th of April, 17G2, when 
 he obtained a company in the 3d regiment of horse. 
 In this regiment he rose to the rank of major on the 
 6th of June, 1770, and on the 19th of May, 1773, he 
 was promoted to that of lieutenant-colonel. In No- 
 vember, 17S0, we find him a brevet-colonel, and on 
 the 3d of November, 17S1, he was made colonel of the 
 103d regiment. On the 2Sth of September, 1787, he was 
 promoted to the rank of major-general, and on the 25th 
 of April, 1793, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant- 
 general, in which station he served under his royal high- 
 ness the duke of York, on the continent, and by his mili- 
 tary skill and exertions acquired not only the esteem, 
 but also the confidence of that general, who in his de- 
 spatches relative to the action on the heights of Cateau, 
 April 16, 1794, where Sir Ralph commanded the advanced 
 guard, remarks, ' I have obligations to lieutenant-general 
 Sir William Erskine, as well as to lieutenant-general 
 Abercromby.' In the despatches of the 19th of May his 
 royal highness farther says, • The ability and coolness 
 with which lieutenant-general Abercromby and major- 
 general Fox conducted their different corp* under these 
 trying circumstances, require that I should particularly 
 notice them.' On the 27th of October following he was 
 wounded at Nimeguen ; from which, however, he soon 
 recovered. The succeeding winter, when the British 
 army retreated into Holland, Sir Ralph Abercromby had 
 consigned to his care the sick and wounded, an office in 
 which his sensibility and humanity shone conspicuous. 
 Early in 1795 the success of the enemy in the West 
 Indies claimed the attention of government. They had 
 repossessed themselves of Guadaloupe and St. Lucia; 
 effected several landings in Martiuico ; and displayed 
 the tri-coloured flag on many of the forts of the islands 
 of St. Vincent, Grenada, and Maria Galante. To stop 
 their ravages, a fleet was fitted out in the latter end 
 of the summer, and a military force, the charge of 
 which was given to Sir Ralph Abercromby, who was 
 also appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in the 
 West Indies. On his arrival at Grenada, a plan was 
 immediately formed for the operation of the army, and 
 the success with which it was attended attested his 
 high military talents and capacity for command. It was
 
 448 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 particularly fortunate also that, anions: those brave and 
 able officers by whom his arrangements were executed, 
 he could number Sir John Moore, who at this time held 
 the rank of brigadier-general. Port-Royal was attacked 
 in March, and carried after an obstinate resistance, and 
 Demerara and Essequibo were afterwards taken with 
 ease. An armament was then sent against St. Lucia, 
 where the troops were landed almost without opposition ; 
 and every place of strength which the French possessed 
 was taken in rapid succession, so that in the space of a 
 month the whole island surrendered by capitulation. 
 The fall of St. Vincent followed in June, under similar 
 circumstances, and in the same month Grenada was con- 
 quered, although Fedan, the insurgent chief, defended it 
 with the most obstinate valour. The last conquest in the 
 West Indies performed under the auspices of general 
 Abercromby, was that of Trinidad from the Spaniards, 
 which was accomplished in February, 1797, and with 
 such facility, that only one British officer, a lieutenant, 
 fell in the capture. 
 
 On the 2d of November, 1796, Sir Ralph (who had now 
 received the honour of knighthood) was appointed to the 
 command of the 2d or North British dragoons, commonly 
 called the Scotch Greys ; and in the same year was made 
 lieut.-goveruor of the isle of Wight, and afrerwards far- 
 ther rewarded with the government of forts George and 
 Augustus. Upon his return home from the West Indies he 
 was fixed upon, both on account of his military skill and 
 tempered zeal, as a proper person to allay the discontents 
 which prevailed in Ireland. In this important duty he 
 paid the strictest attention to the discipline of his array, 
 and was anxious to restore to his soldiers their repu- 
 tation, which they had lost by repeated acts of licen- 
 tiousness ; for it was his frequent declaration, ' that their 
 irregularity and insubordination had rendered them 
 more formidable to their friends than to their enemies.' 
 It was deemed necessary to unite the civil and military 
 power in that kingdom in one person : Sir Ralph was 
 therefore called home, and succeeded by the marquis 
 Cornwallis. 
 
 On leaving Ireland he was appointed to the command 
 of his majesty's forces in North Britain, and shortly 
 after employed again, under the duke of York, in the 
 great enterprise against Holland, designed to reduce the
 
 ABERCROMBY. 449 
 
 Dutch to their allegiance to the prince of Orange. To 
 him was the execution of the plan consigned, and under 
 his immediate eye took place the debarkation of 12,000 
 troops on the 27th of August, 1799, at the Helder. The 
 fatal issue of that event is too well known ; but it was 
 universally confessed by Dutch, French, and British offi- 
 cers, that tlie most decisive victory could not have dis- 
 played the zeal, courage, magnanimity, and fortitude, of 
 this gallant commander more than his conduct in that 
 arduous struggle against the difficulties of the ground, 
 the inclemency of the season, inconvenient yet unavoid- 
 able delays, the disorderly movement of the Russians, 
 and the timid duplicity of the Dutch. 
 
 The success obtained over the enemy by the British 
 troops on the 2d of October following, and in which our 
 general bore a distinguished part, compensated for the 
 losses of the last battle. The combined armies employed 
 on this occasion were divided into four principal columns. 
 Sir Ralph Abercromby commanding the first column on 
 the right. The battle lasted from six in the morning till 
 six in the evening, during all which time he gave the 
 greatest proofs of his professional abilities ; and displayed 
 the most active exertions. The danger of his post may 
 be conceived from his having two horses shot under him. 
 The force of the enemy was computed at 25,000 men, of 
 which the greater part were French. In the despatches 
 of his royal highness the duke of York on this occasion, 
 he bestows on him the followingjustly merited panegyric : 
 ' The points where this well-fought battle was princi- 
 pally contested were from the sea-shore in the front of 
 Egmont, extending along the sandy desert or hills, to the 
 heights above Bergen ; and it was sustained by the Bri- 
 tish columns under those highly distinguished officers 
 Sir Ralph Abercromby and lieutenant-general Dundas, 
 -whose exertions, as well as the gallantry of the brave 
 troops they led, cannot have been surpassed by any former 
 instance of British valour.' 
 
 The last military service in which this noble veteran 
 was engaged was that of landing the British troops iu 
 Egypt; and as it was in this expedition that he fell, 
 it is but justice to his memory briefly to recapitulate 
 the memorable transactions of the day so marked in 
 the English annals, by his fall. The troops destined 
 for this expedition consisted of the flower of the British
 
 450 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 array. They, however, Lad been long at sea, and were 
 disheartened by an uninterrupted succession of bad 
 weather for some time : but they cheerfully embarked, 
 and on the 3d of November, 1800, part of the fleet sailed 
 for Minorca; the remainder, with Sir Ralph Abercromby 
 on board, proceeded directly to Malta, where it arrived 
 on the 30th of the same month, and was joined on the 
 I4th of December by lord Keith, with the division of 
 marines. At this place Sir Ralph Abercromby disem- 
 barked his troops for the purpose of inspecting them, 
 after which they took their departure for Marmorice, 
 taking with them 300 Maltese recruits to act as pioneers. 
 On the 28th of December the first division arrived at 
 Marmorice Bay, and the second on the 1st of January ; 
 where the sick were landed, the ships cleaned, and the 
 whole army trained to the exercise of landing, which 
 they were soon to perform in the face of an enemy. 
 On the 16th of February general Moore, who had been 
 despatched to Jaffa, returned, confirming what had been 
 before reported of the grand vizier's army, namely, that 
 it was weak in number, without discipline, and infected 
 with the plague. The appointed time for the Pacha and 
 gun-boats to join the British being elapsed, made it 
 evident that the attack must still be deferred. Every 
 moment of delay now became important, for news had 
 arrived of the escape of two French frigates into Alex- 
 andria, while the English cruisers stationed there were 
 watering at Cyprus ; and the French force in Egypt was 
 much greater than government had expected. Of the 
 many inconveniences the commander-in-chief laboured 
 under, was the want of good maps : not a single one 
 which he could procure could be confided in. This want 
 was the more to be deplored, as the Egyptian pilots were 
 so timid as to declare it unsafe in the extreme to attempt 
 to land at Aboukir bay : but they were perfectly asto- 
 nished when they saw the whole army embark on the 20th 
 of February, though the fleet could not weigh anchor till 
 the 23d, when the whole squadron, consisting of 175 sail, 
 cleared the harbour, with a fine breeze. The British 
 army, exclusive of officers, consisted of 15,330 men, in- 
 cluding 999 sick, 500 Maltese, and various other descrip- 
 tions of people attached to a camp ; so that the eff'ective 
 force could not be estimated at more than 12,000 strong. 
 On the 1st of March the leading frigate made a signal
 
 ABERCROMBY. 451 
 
 for land, which was the coast near the Arab's tower; and 
 on the 8th of March, at two o'clock in the morning, the 
 reserve under major-general Moore, the brigade of guards 
 under major-general Ludlow, and part of the first brigade, 
 amounting in the whole to nearly 5500 men, assembled 
 in the boats, under the command of major-general Coote. 
 The remainder of the first and second brigades were put in 
 Bhips close to the shore, so as to aiford ready succour after 
 the first landing was effected ; and about three o'clock 
 the signal was given for all the vessels to collect round 
 the Moudovi, which anchored nearly a gun-shot from 
 shore ; but this could not be effected till near one o'clock. 
 About nine o'clock the signal was made for the boats to 
 advance, when the whole mass became all animation. 
 The enemy was seen to the number of 2000 posted on the 
 summit of the sand hills, with a front extending about a 
 mile, forming the concave arch of a circle. In their centre 
 was a height about sixty yards, nearly perpendicular, 
 and apparently inaccessible. Nothing could exceed their 
 astonishment when they saw the British troops attempt 
 a landing ; and seeing the boats moving rapidly to the 
 shore, and the armed vessels opening their guns, they 
 began firing with all their artillery from the heights, 
 assisted by the castle of Aboukir. The quantity of shot 
 and shells commanded the surface of the water, and 
 seemed to render it impossible for any vessel to live, or 
 even an individual to escape; and for a moment it com- 
 pelled some of the boats to lie close upon the left; several 
 of them were sunk, and the others were impeded in sav- 
 ing the men. This obstruction was, however, but mo- 
 mentary ; the troops of the reserve leaped on shore, and 
 formed as they advanced ; the 23d and 40th ascended the 
 heights with uncommon alacrity, and without firing a 
 shot charged the two battalions on the summit with the 
 bayonet, breaking and pursuing the enemy till they car- 
 ried the two mole hills in the rear, which commanded 
 the plain on the left. The 42d regiment in the mean 
 time landed, and formed with as much unconcern as on 
 parade : then mounting the position in the face of two 
 pieces of cannon and the fire of a battalion of infantry, 
 they repulsed 200 French dragoons who attempted to 
 charge them. The 54ch and the royals did not land so 
 soon as the others, but fortunately attained the shore 
 just at the moment that a column of 600 infantry was
 
 452 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 advancing with fixed bayonets a^iainst the left flank of 
 the guards, through a hollow. On seeing the royals the 
 enemy retreated, after firing one volley. The British 
 were now in possession of the heights ; and the French 
 seeing general Coote advancing with the guards and his 
 own brigade, they ran from all the points of their po- 
 sitions. They, however, supported a scattered fire about 
 an hour and a half, when they retreated with the loss of 
 300 men, eight pieces of cannon, and a number of horses. 
 The boats now put off to land the remainder of the army, 
 which was completed by the evening. 
 
 On the 13th the army marched to attack the French 
 on the heights, whose whole force was now about 6000 
 men, having just before received a reinforcement. They 
 were posted on a high commanding ground, the approach 
 to which formed a fine glacis for the whole range of fire 
 from their numerous artillery. When the British army 
 advanced opposite Mandora, the enemy left the heights 
 upon which they had formed, and moved down by their 
 right, commencing a heavy fire of musketry, supported 
 by all their cannon, on the 9'2d regiment, which formed 
 the advanced guard of the British left. The French 
 general Bron's cavalry at the same time charged down a 
 height upon the 90th regiment, forming the advanced 
 guard of the left column : but this regiment prudently 
 permitted the cavalry to approach before they fired, which 
 entirely altered their direction, forced them to skirt along 
 the line, and lastly to make a precipitate retreat, and the 
 few of their dragoons that reached the British ranks 
 were bayoneted. After this, the enemy no longer op- 
 posed in line, but kept up an unremitting fire of cannon 
 and small arms, and were at length compelled to quit 
 their position, and retreat over the plains into their lines 
 before Alexandria. But before they could reach this 
 place, Dillon's regiment charged with the bayonet, seized 
 upon two guns placed on the canals, and immediately 
 turned them upon the enemy. Sir Ralph wished to 
 follow up his success, and advanced across the plain, 
 while general Hutchinson moved forward with the 
 second line to the left, to secure a rising ground. The 
 French now began to fire from their artillery and field 
 pieces, and while Sir Ralph Abercromby reconnoitred, 
 his whole army continued under the most terrible and 
 destructive discharges to which troops were ever ex-
 
 ABERCROMBY. 453 
 
 posed. Never was desolation spread with more despatch ; 
 the enemy, now under their works, had only to load and 
 fire, and it was impossible for their balls to fail of exe- 
 cution : yet the British endured the havoc with the 
 greatest firmness for several hours. They felt but one 
 wish, which was, to be led on to the assault : this the 
 general, however, deemed improper for the present, and 
 at sunset, therefore, the army was withdrawn, but still 
 marching on as if on the parade, and under orders to 
 occupy that position, which was soon to be a new theatre 
 of glory. 
 
 We have now arrived at that memorable day, the 
 21st of March, 1801, which crowned the British arms 
 with success, and at once finished the labours and im- 
 mortalized the fame of our gallant veteran. The par- 
 ticulars of that desperate conflict are thus related by a 
 distinguished officer in the action, whose minute and 
 graphic account we quote entire, in preference to any 
 description of our own. 
 
 ' On the memorable 21st of March the army, as usual, 
 was under arms at three o'clock in the morning : all was 
 quiet till half-past three, when the report of a musket 
 was heard at the extremity of the left ; instantly after- 
 wards a cannon fired; scattered musketry followed, and 
 then two more guns. All were now convinced that a 
 general attack was commencing, and general Moore, who 
 was officer of the night, on the first alarm proceeded to 
 the left, but was so impressed with the idea that it was 
 too far distant, that he turned back to the right. A 
 solemn stillness now succeeded, but it was only of a 
 short duration ; every ear was all attention, and every 
 eye directed towards the eastern sky, when on a sudden 
 loud acclamations were heard on the right, to which a 
 roar of musketry instantly sticceeded, and the enemy's 
 attack in that quarter was now no longer doubtful. The 
 enemy advanced upon, and continued to push in, all the 
 videts and piquets upon the main body, but colonel 
 Housten, of the 58th, faintly perceiving a French column 
 advancing upon him, and dreading lest the English 
 piquets should be between them and his men, suffered it 
 to come so near him, that he could plainly see the ene- 
 my's glazed hats, before he ordered his grenadiers to fire. 
 Their discharge was now followed by that of the whole 
 regiment, and being rapidly repeated, soon made the
 
 454 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 French retire to a hollow at some distance in their rear. 
 Soon after they wheeled to the riijht, and attempted to 
 pass a redoubt opposite to its left, in conjunction with 
 another column, but the 28th regiment seeing: them ap- 
 proach the battery, with a heavy fire checked those who 
 attempted to storm the redoubt where they were sta- 
 tioned. Rut now the main body of the two columns 
 joined a third, and forced in behind the redoubt, while 
 others were to attack it in front ; when colonel Crowdjye, 
 commanding the left of the 58th, wheeled back two com- 
 panies, and, after firing two or three rounds, ordered a 
 charure with the bayonet, and being at this instant joined 
 by the 23d, while the 42d were also advancing, the 
 French troops that had entered the rear of the redoubt, 
 after sustaining a very severe loss, were obliged to sur- 
 render. Here both the 59th and 28th had been attacked 
 in front, flank, and rear. It is allowed that the 28th ex- 
 perienced a momentary relief from the advance of the 
 42d, but during the time they were engaged, the first 
 line of the enemy's cavalry, passing the left of the re- 
 doubt, attacked, and charging in a mass, for a while 
 overwhelmed that gallant corps, but which, though 
 broken, was not defeated. In fact, such was the dilemma 
 in which they were placed during this contest, that 
 colonel Spencer, with a part of the 40th, having taken a 
 station in the avenues of the ruins, was for some mo- 
 ments afraid to tire, lest they should destroy the 42d, 
 then intermingled with the enemy. But even when 
 he began to fire, which in some measure checked the 
 progress of the French cavalry, he must certainly have 
 been overpowered, if general Stuart had not advanced 
 with the foreign brigade ; these poured in such a close and 
 heavy succession of volleys, that such of the cavalry as 
 escaped destruction, only found safety in a hurried flight. 
 ' In this ftirious charge of cavalry, general Abercromby 
 received his mortal wound. He was alone, near the 
 redoubts just mentioned, when some French dragoons 
 penetrating to the spot, he was thrown from his horse. 
 From the tassel of his sword, the man who rode at 
 him, and endeavoured to cut him down, must have been 
 an officer. This sword, however, the veteran general 
 seized and wrested from him before he could effect his 
 destruction ; and at the same instant, this daring assail- 
 ant was bayoneted by a private of the 42d. Sir Ralph
 
 ABERCROMBY. 455 
 
 only complained of a contusion in his breast, supposed 
 to hare been given in the scuffle, by the hilt of the 
 sword, but was entirely ignorant of the moment he 
 received the wound in the thigh, which occasioned his 
 death. After this wound Sir Sidney Smith was the first 
 officer that came to the general, and from him received 
 that sword which the latter had so gloriously acquired 
 from the French officer. The cause of this present was 
 the general's observation, that Sir Sidney's sword had 
 been broken. As soon as the French cavalry were 
 driven out of the camp. Sir Ralph walked to a redoubt, 
 where he could take a view of the whole field of battle. 
 Then to the right it appeared, the reserve of the French 
 cavalry had attempted another charge against the 
 foreign brigade, without success. After this their in- 
 fantry, one battalion excepted, no longer acting in a 
 body, fired only in scattered parties. As the ammunition 
 of the British was exhausted, several of the regiments of 
 the reserve not only remained some time without a shot, 
 but even the guns in the battery had but one cartridge 
 left. But while this was the state of affairs on the right, 
 it was found that the centre had been attacked. At 
 daybreak, a body of French grenadiers had advanced 
 upon it, supported by a heavy line of infantry. The 
 gTiards were posted there, and at first threw out their 
 flankers to oppose the enemy ; but these being driven in, 
 and as the enemy's columns had approached very close, 
 general Ludlow ordering the brigade to fire, they did 
 so with the utmost precision ; and after some local 
 manoeuvring, the advance of general Coote with his 
 brigade determined the enemy to retire, and separate 
 themselves as sharp-shooters ; and thus, while the French 
 cannon played without intermission, the former kept up 
 a very destructive fire. Thus the left of the British was 
 never engaged any farther than being exposed to a 
 distant cannonade, and a partial discharge of musketry. 
 During the interval the British were without ammu- 
 nition ; the French on the right advancing close to the 
 redoubt, were pelted with stones by the '28th ; and re 
 turning the same measures of offence, they killed a 
 Serjeant of that regiment, by beating in his forehead. 
 But as these troops, as well as the British, were without 
 ammunition, they were very easily driven away by the 
 grenadiers, who moved out after them ; and soon after.
 
 456 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the whole of the enemy's force moved off the ground. 
 Thus, unable to make the expected impression upon the 
 British lines, general Menou made a retreat in very 
 good order, but this was principally owing to the want 
 of ammunition among the British ; otherwise the bat- 
 teries, as well as the cannon on the left, and the king's 
 cutters on the right, must have done great execution. 
 
 ' About ten in the forenoon the action had every where 
 terminated, while Sir Ralph never quitted the bat- 
 tery to which he retired ; but as he continued walking 
 about, many officers had no suspicion of his being 
 wounded, but from the blood trickling down his clothes. 
 At length getting faint, he was put into a hammock, 
 and conveyed to a boat, which carried him on board 
 lord Keith's ship, being accompanied by his friend Sir 
 Thomas Dwyer. — The battle was fought by the right of 
 the English army alone. The French army was 9700 
 strong, including 1500 cavalry, with forty-six pieces of 
 cannon. The whole British army, reduced by the actions 
 on the 8th and 13th, by the men left in care of the 
 wounded, the absence of the 92d regiment, the ma- 
 rines and dismounted dragoons, did not yield an effec- 
 tive force of 10,000 men, including 300 cavalry; yet 
 it must be remembered that it was only the half of this 
 number that contested with the whole united force of 
 the enemy. The field of battle in front of the British 
 works being very contracted, the killed and wounded 
 presented a distressing spectacle. Nearly 1700 French 
 and 400 horses were found on the field. On the part of 
 the British, there were sixty officers and 233 men killed, 
 and sixteen officers and 1190 men wounded.' 
 
 'J'hough this battle neither decided the fate of Egypt 
 nor gained any ground, yet it answered many important 
 purposes, principally that of securing the position to our 
 array, and the impression it made on the Bedouin Arabs 
 of British valour : in consequence of which a commu- 
 nication was opened with the interior of the country, and 
 the market supplied with every commodity. For thou- 
 sands of these people came to be eye-witnesses of the 
 contest, and declared it to be such a one as their fathers 
 never recorded. On the 28th of March the brave Aber- 
 cromby breathed his last. His death was first made 
 known to the army the next morning. For his cure 
 he had undergone the most painful operations with
 
 CORN\yALLIS. 457 
 
 great firmness ; but as the ball could not be extracted, 
 a mortification ensued, which soon terminated his suf- 
 ferings. — This eminent man also served his country 
 in a legislative capacity. la the year 1774 he was elected 
 to represent the county of Kinross in parliament, and he 
 continued a member of the House of Commons until the 
 next annual election in 1780. His chief talents, how- 
 ever, were of the martial kind. In his military character 
 he was strictly uniform and regular, and preserved the best 
 order and discipline throughout all ranks of those under 
 his command. In action he possessed that intrepidity, 
 coolness, and presence of mind, so characteristic of the 
 British nation. In his private character he was mo- 
 dest and unassuming; in all his transactions disinte- 
 rested and upright. The remains of this brave general 
 were deposited under the castle of St. Elmo, in La Ya- 
 letta, in the island of Malta, facing the entrance of the 
 harbour, and over the grave was erected a handsome 
 but plain black marble slab, with an inscription record- 
 ing his worth, and his country's regret. In grateful 
 remembrance also of the distinguished services of Sir 
 Ralph, his eldest son was raised to the peerage, in 1801, 
 by the title of Baron Abercromby, of Aboukir and Tulli- 
 body : his other son, the late Speaker of the House of 
 Commons, has also been raised to the peerage, by the 
 title of Lord Dunfermline. 
 
 CHARLES CORNWALLIS, 
 
 MARQUIS CORSWALLIS. 
 
 Charles Corxwallis, viscount Brome, was the eldest 
 son of Charles earl Cornwallis, and was born at Brome, 
 in Suffolk, on the 31st of December, 1737. He was sent 
 to Eton school during boyhood, after which he went to 
 the military academy at Turin, as he had chosen the 
 profession of arms. He became an ensign in the foot 
 guards on the 8th of December, 1756, and afterwards 
 saw active service, as a captain, in the S.5th regiment, 
 in Germany, under lord Granby. His rise in the army 
 X
 
 458 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 was more i-apid than that of ofRcers who do not possess 
 the advantages of wealth or connexions, for in 17G1 he 
 was a lieutenant-colonel, by purchase, being as yet only 
 in his twenty-third year. He succeeded to his father's 
 title in the year following, after which his career was 
 of a political rather than a military character, till the 
 breaking out of the American war. In the House of 
 Peers he had alwa5"S strenuously deprecated a rupture 
 with our North American colonies ; but when this melan- 
 choly event occurred, he was as ready to suppress the 
 rebellion, as he had been eager to prevent it. 
 
 Although our ministers had talked high before the 
 war commenced, and insisted upon nothing less than 
 absolute submission to their decrees, yet as soon as re- 
 course was had to arms, their indecision and imbecility 
 were equal to their arrogance. Instead of adopting such 
 measures as would have suppressed the insurrection at 
 once, they tampered with the war, and dealt out their 
 resources so sparingly, that the colonists had time to arm 
 themselves for the contest ; and in the movements that 
 followed, they were every where enabled to choose their 
 ground, and show a strong and decided front. They 
 were even so successful on most occasions that the Bri- 
 tish officers were dispirited, so that instead of acting 
 upon the aggressive, they were contented with a defen- 
 sive war, in which they were generally placed in a 
 state of blockade. At last, the ministry discovered that 
 America was not to be conquered by such negative pro- 
 ceedings, and it was resolved to transport an anny of 
 3">,000 men, and a formidable fleet, to put an end to the 
 war at once. Forces, however, had to be raised for the 
 purpose ; but as the war was the reverse of being popular 
 with the nation, the recruiting drum went among our 
 towns and villages in vain. It was therefore resolved 
 to apply for soldiers to the petty soveieigns of Germany, 
 and as these august personages were wholesale traffickers 
 in a commodity which they regarded as merely ' food 
 for powder,' 17,000 Germans were soon purchased at an 
 enormous expense, to swell the defective contingents of 
 the British army. In 1775, lord Cornwallis, who had now 
 attained the rank of major-general, was commanded to 
 liold himself in readiness for active service in the colo- 
 nies, and in December he embarked at Portsmouth.
 
 CORNWALLIS. 459 
 
 Having veceivei reinforcements in Ireland he left Cork, 
 and after a tedious and stormy Yoyage, arrived at 
 America in May the following- year. 
 
 The instnictions given by the ministry to earl Corn- 
 vallis required him to form a junction with Sir Henry 
 Clinton, who commanded the war in the south, and 
 co-operate with him in the recoTery of North Carolina, 
 the people of which were supposed to be generally well- 
 aiTected to the mother country ; but when the armament 
 under Clinton arrived on the coast of that province, they 
 found that it had been wholly reduced under the govern- 
 ment of Congress. It was then resolved by Sir Henry 
 to shift the attempt to South Carolina ; but this province 
 was so ably defended by the American general, Lee, 
 that the British shipping was roughly handled and re- 
 pulsed, while the land forces never came into action. 
 This expedition having so signally failed, the naval and 
 land forces were withdrawn, to join the main armament 
 under general Howe, who was attempting the reduction 
 of New York. But the dilatoriness of our commanders 
 during this war had almost become proverbial, and while 
 Howe was pondering upon the attempt, Washington had 
 so strongly fortified New York as to make its capture 
 hopeless. The troops were disembarked on Staten Island, 
 Cornwallis was appointed to command the reserve, and 
 hostilities were commenced with an attempt to reduce 
 Long Island. Here the earl signalized himself by the able 
 and successful manner in which he led his brigade to 
 the attack, as well as the subsequent successes that 
 crowned this expedition, by which the Jerseys were 
 reduced to the British dominion. 
 
 After these events, lord Cornwallis had prepared to 
 return to England upon his private affairs; but before 
 he could set sail, he learned that Washington had ral- 
 lied, and was successfully cutting off the British forces 
 in detail. The earl therefore hurried back to head-qnar- 
 ters, and having mustered three brigades with several 
 pieces of artillery, he resolved to encounter a strong 
 force of the Americans posted at Trenton. He pressed 
 forward therefore with great rapidity, although obliged 
 to skirmish at every step, and having reached the main 
 body of the enemy, on the afternoon of January 2d 
 (\T7T), he endeavoured to draw them into a general ac- 
 tion. But Washington, instead of accepting the chal-
 
 4G0 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 lenge, withdrew his forces across the Asumpinek, and ap- 
 parently posted himself for the evening; and Cornwallis, 
 deceived by this appearance, followed the example, ex- 
 pecting an engagement on the succeeding day. The earl, 
 however, had not yet fully fathomed the tactics of Wash- 
 ington. That calculating sagacious leader had resolved 
 to surprise Princetown, and subsequently Brunswick 
 also, by an unexpected manoeuvre ; and therefore 
 silently withdrew his forces at midnight, and march- 
 ing by a circuitous route to avoid observation, reached 
 the neighbourhood of Princetown at sunrise, where he 
 found three British regiments on their way to join Corn- 
 wallis. These he immediately attacked with such vigour 
 that he broke them asunder, after which he took posses- 
 sion of Princetown. But here his career of success was 
 interrupted by the activity of his opponent. As soon as 
 Cornwallis discovered the absence of the enemy, he de- 
 tected their purpose ; and pushing forward for Bruns- 
 wick, he reached Princetown so rapidly as almost to 
 overtake the rear of the Americans in the act of quitting 
 it. Washington, therefore, finding his purpose frustrated, 
 was obliged to turn aside on the road to Brunswick, and 
 retire to Pluckemin. 
 
 As Washington kept so obstinately on the defensive, 
 that all the arts of the British commanders could not 
 draw him into an engagement, it was resolved to at- 
 tempt an expedition for the capture of Philadelphia, and 
 thus transfer the war to the south. Sixteen thousand 
 soldiers were therefore embarked for this purpose, who 
 landed in the bay of Chesapeake on the 25th of August, 
 after which they commenced a dilatory march towards 
 the scene of action, while Washington, at the head of 
 15,000, passed through Philadelphia to encounter them. 
 The consequence of this, after several skirmishes, was 
 the battle of Brandy wine, in which the able dispositions 
 of Cornwallis, who served iinder general Howe, chiefly 
 contributed to gain the victory. After havimr thus 
 cleared the way to Philadeljihia, Howe sent lord Corn- 
 wallis forward with the reserves, to take possession of the 
 town, which was accomplished on the 2Gth of Septem- 
 ber. Here he remained as commandant of Philadelphia 
 until the defeat of colonel Donop by the Americana 
 at Redbank, upon which lord Cornwallis placed himself 
 at the head of a division of the army, and siicceeded in
 
 CORNWALLIS. 451 
 
 driviug back the enemy. After this, the war again 
 dwindled into skirmishes, which continued during the 
 greater part of the campaign of 1778. But although the 
 military talents of his lordship were ably displayed in 
 all these and the subsequent movements of our armies, 
 it is unnecessary to particularise them, as in these he 
 only held a secondary command. It was not until 1780 
 that he was commissioned to act upon his own respon- 
 sibility, by being appointed to the command and defence 
 of Georgia and South Carolina, which had just fallen 
 into the possession of the British. 
 
 The chief eflForts of the Americans were now directed 
 to the recovery of these two provinces, and general Gates 
 arrived for that purpose with a strong detachment from 
 the main army. The difficulty of his lordship's position 
 was now trying, not only from the comparative small- 
 ness of his force, but the hostility of the provincials, in 
 the hope of whose co-operation he had been greatly- 
 disappointed. Nevertheless, he resolved to assume the 
 aggressive, and after having made every prudent ar- 
 rangement for the internal tranquillity of his govern- 
 ment, he marched his small army of 2000 to give battle 
 to the enemy. The Americans, to the number of 6000, 
 were encamped at Rugely's Mills, in the neighbourhood 
 of Camden. On the 15th of August (1780) the engage- 
 ment commenced a little after dawn, by a furious attack 
 of the British upon the iiregulars, who had been incor- 
 rectly placed on the left of the American army, and who 
 were in the act of attempting to change their position 
 for one more favourable when the assault began. The 
 consequences of this unmilitary movement were such as 
 might have been expected. They were taken in a con- 
 fused and unprovided state, and after having received a 
 single volley, they fled with precipitation. On the right, 
 the Americans gallantly kept their ground ; but the 
 right wing of the British, after the flight of the irregu- 
 lars, instead of pursuing, wheeled round upon the flank 
 of the enemy, and poured in such a close and heavy fire 
 as soon dispersed them. Gates, as a last and desperate 
 resource, brought up his reserves, that made a splendid 
 charge, but in vain ; they were met, broken, and tram- 
 pled down, by the Biitish cavalry. The Americans nov/ 
 fled in every direction, after leaving seventy officers and 
 2000 men dead on the field, or prisoners, while the loss
 
 462 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 of the victoi's ouly amounted to about 220 officers and 
 soldiers. 
 
 This success would have been of high importance if 
 Georgia and South Carolina bad fulfilled those promises 
 of loyalty which originally occasioueJ the transference 
 of the seat of war; but the royalist party in these quar- 
 ters had risen prematurely, and been easily suppressed, 
 while the public hatred against the British government 
 was both deep and general. Instead therefore of fiiuling 
 allies and co-operation, lord Cornwallis discovered that 
 he had carried a dangerous warfare into the heart of 
 an enemy's country. Towards the middle of September, 
 therefore, he commenced his march, intending to enter 
 North Carolina, and advanced to Charlotte-town, which 
 he rashly fixed upon as the centre of his operations. 
 Here, however, he found himself in the midst of a 
 hostile population, by whom his foragers and small 
 parties were cut oil', so that he was obliged to remove 
 from the dangerous neighboui-hood, and occupy Wynnes- 
 borough, where he was more secure. Having now 
 learned that general Leslie had been sent with 3G00 
 men from New York to effect a diversion in his favour, 
 lord Cornwallis was of opinion that nothing of import- 
 ance could be done but by a junction of the two armies, 
 upon which he ordered Leslie to proceed to Charleston, 
 and there join him with all his forces, a measure that 
 was accomplished by the end of December. 
 
 The unfortunate campaign of the following year was 
 commenced under circumstances of favourable omen to 
 the British arms. Although general Greene had ad- 
 vanced to the relief of the province, and been reinforced 
 as he marched along so as greatly to outnumber the 
 troops of Cornwallis, yet the latter assumed the aggres- 
 sive, by going in search of his enemy, and in the con- 
 flicts th-,it followed he was generally successful. But the 
 spirit of the Americans was not to be daunted by such 
 untoward cii'cumstances, and while they acquired addi- 
 tional skill by every fresh repulse, their ranks were so 
 speedily repaired by recruits from the province that their 
 losses were unfelt. The consequences of these heroic 
 feelings were such as miglit have been expected: they 
 began to be successful in turn, and lord Cornwallis, 
 after several failures, began to lose somewhat of that 
 mural energy for which he had been conspicuous during
 
 CORNWALLIS. 463 
 
 the course of the war. Indeed, by the beginning of 
 August, his condition was such as might have well dis- 
 pirited the ablest leader. He occupied the double post 
 of York, and Gloucester, situated on either side of the 
 York river, at a point where the rapid current is only 
 about a mile in breadth, and this position, naturally ad- 
 mirable for defence, was farther strengthened by re- 
 doubts, batteries, and other resources of fortification, 
 that seemed to make it unassailable. But here he was 
 soon blocked up both by land and water, by the united 
 forces of France and America ; and when he might have 
 successfully burst forth and resumed the ofiensive, he 
 hesitated, in consequence of promises of reinforcements 
 which had been transmitted to him from head-quarters. 
 Thus the favourable opportunity was allowed to escape, 
 and all farther chance of even a safe retreat was ren- 
 dered hopeless by the arrival of Washington himself to 
 the scene of action. Lord Cornwallis now resolved to 
 husband his resources by evacuating one of his posts, 
 and he therefore withdrew his forces from the Glouces- 
 ter line, on the 30th of September, and concentrated his 
 whole army at York. Town. But the French and Ame- 
 ricans commenced the siege of York Town in form, and 
 with such success, that on the 14tli of October, they 
 assailed the British outworks, and carried two of them 
 by storm. Retreat was now impossible, and lord Corn- 
 wallis was obliged to surrender by capitulation, on the 
 18th of October ; and thus 7000 British soldiers, who had 
 often triumphed in the field of battle when supei'ior 
 forces were arrayed against them, were obliged to lay 
 down their arms, being the second British army which 
 had been compelled to surrender since the commence- 
 ment of this unhappy war. 
 
 In the spring of 1732, lord Cornwallis set sail for Eng- 
 land, to vindicate his conduct during the unfortunate 
 campaign, the outcry against which, as might be ex- 
 pected, was both loud and popular. It was easy, indeed, 
 for those home-bred warriors who sketch plans of battle 
 upon the dining table, and overrun provinces in their 
 easy chairs, to point out the errors of his proceedings ; 
 but after all the angry pamphlets that were written upon 
 the subject, his lordship was still accounted one of the 
 best and bravest of our commanders, and as such he was 
 appointed to the high and responsible office of governor-
 
 4G4 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 general of Beugal, in the beginning of 1786. He 
 arrived there in September, and conducted the ne- 
 gotiations tliat had been opened with the native princes 
 with such effect, that the promise of a general tranquillity 
 prevailed, when the whole prospect was overcast by the 
 hostility of the celebrated Tippoo Saib, the sovereign of 
 Mysore. This brave barbarian monarch was not only 
 offended at his name having been omitted in the list of 
 the company's allies, but he also coveted the possession of 
 Travancore, a small state in alliance with the British ; 
 and having found, as he conceived, a favourable oppor- 
 tunity in 1790, he made an irruption into the province, 
 which at first proved successful. The government in 
 consequence declared war against Tippoo, in which they 
 were joined by their allies, and the nizam of Deccan ; 
 but in the campaign of this year Tippoo was generally 
 successful, so that lord Cornwallis resolved to conduct 
 the war against him in person. He therefore set sail 
 from Calcutta, and arrived at Madras on the 27th of 
 January, 1791, after which he joined the army that had 
 hitherto been under the command of general Meadows, 
 the governor of Madras. The plan of this commander 
 he was obliged to reverse, by proceeding to Seringapatam, 
 the capital of Tippoo, by the shortest and most difficult 
 route, instead of following the easier but more dilatory, 
 as had been originally intended. In pursuance of this 
 design, he advanced upon the great road towards Vel- 
 lore, on the 8th of February, and, except in the case of a 
 few skirmishes with the advanced patrols of the enemy, 
 he found nothing to oppose his progress. To reach Se- 
 ringapatam, it was necessary first to capture the strong 
 city of Bangalore, and to frustrate this measure Tippoo 
 had concentrated his forces in its neighbourhood, where 
 he was strongly fortified among ravines, and other na- 
 tural impediments. No sooner, therefore, did the British 
 troops reach this place, than they experienced a most 
 formidable resistance, and in one engagement their co- 
 vering party sustained a severe defeat from their eastern 
 adversaries. But in spite of tliese obstacles, lord Corn- 
 wallis pressed the siege so vigorously, that on the 20th 
 a breach was made, and on the night of the following 
 day the fort of Bangalore was carried. 
 
 The forward movement for the Mysore capital was 
 now resumed, and with every anticipation of success.
 
 CORiVWALLIS. 4(j5 
 
 for it was hoped that during the course of a rapid inarch 
 the artnj' would be able to find subsistence by the way. 
 But hereTippoo had providently destroyed such a contin- 
 gency by laying waste the whole country in front and 
 flank of his enemies for several miles ; and the British, 
 as they advanced, found their distresses multiplied at 
 every step. At last, on the 14th of May, they came within 
 sight of Seringapatam ; but between them and its proud 
 towers and battlements was drawn up the army of My- 
 sore, on the bank of the river Cavery, ready for the 
 engagement in defence of their capital. The British 
 and their native allies, although exhausted with fatigue 
 and famine, did not decline the combat, and a furious 
 engagement commenced, in which Tippoo and his fol- 
 lowers exhibited both skill and daring. Every one of his 
 positions was selected with judgment, and maintained 
 with obstinacy ; his cavalry made brilliant charges, 
 while his infantry sustained and returned the close, 
 heavy fire of the British. But the gallant resistance of 
 the Mysoreans was unavailing, and they were obliged to 
 retire behind the river, after having sustained great loss. 
 This victory, however, was attended with no advantage, 
 for the British troops were so much exhausted with 
 their privations, owing to the judicious precautions of 
 Tippoo, that laying siege to Seringapatam was wholly out 
 of the question. The conquerors were obliged to retreat, 
 after destroying their battering train and military stores, 
 and the army during the retrograde march might have 
 perished from famine, had it not been for the scanty 
 supplies which were brought in by the Mahrattas, and 
 sold at the most exorbitant prices. 
 
 In spite of these untoward results, a new campaign 
 was resolved on by lord Cornwallis, more especially as 
 the same distresses that had visited his army were felt 
 in an equal or still higher degree among the soldiers of 
 Tippoo. He therefore strained every nerve to recruit 
 his forces and repair his losses, which was done so effec- 
 tually, that in September, 1791, he was again in the 
 field. He cleared his line of march by the capture of 
 several hill-forts and strong posts that would have in- 
 terrupted his communications, and in the beginning 
 of January, 1792, he reached Bangalore. After resting 
 his army for a few weeks, and making necessary pre- 
 parations, the march was resumed, and the banks of 
 X 2
 
 4G6 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the Cavery were again reached almost without even a 
 demonstration of resistance on the part of the enemy. 
 But Seringapatam itself, which is situated on an island 
 in the Cavery, was not only garrisoned by 45,000 sol- 
 diers, but defended by entrenchments which had been con- 
 structed under the direction of French engineers, so that 
 a sanguinary resistance was to be anticipated. Lord Corn- 
 wallis, after surveying carefully the dispositions of the 
 enemy, resolved to carry the lines of Tippoo Sultan by a 
 night attack. These lines, which constituted the outer 
 defence of Seringapatam, extended about four miles in 
 length, and besides being fortified with ditches and 
 other entrenchments, they had forts bristled with can- 
 non, and were protected in the rear by the river. Or- 
 ders were issued through the British army, that the 
 troops should hold themselves in readiness for action 
 at nine o'clock on the evening of the Gth of February, in 
 perfect silence, without striking their tents or moving 
 their cannon — a command that was obeyed to the letter ; 
 and at the hour of midnight, by the light of a bright 
 moon, evei^y brigade and regiment silently moved to its 
 separate point of attack — a unanimity arising from the 
 distinctness of those orders which Cornwallis had deli- 
 vered to his different officers. The lines were thus pene- 
 trated by one party undetected, the camp was entered, 
 and the pavilion of the sultan reached before a single 
 shot was fired ; while another body of men crossed the 
 river, and took possession of one of the city redoubts. 
 The conflict now became desperate, as troop after troop 
 advanced, and one fortification after another fell into 
 the hands of the British. On the morning, they found 
 themselves masters of the field forts that covered the 
 flanks of the enemy's encampment, and one of their 
 lines that stretched completely across the island ; and 
 here they maintained themselves during the following 
 day in spite of the desperate and multiplied attacks of 
 Tippoo to regain his position. His loss in these conflicts 
 amounted to 14,000 men. Fascines were now constructed, 
 and every preparation made for a siege, and Tippoo soon 
 found himself so closely invested that he saw no alter- 
 native but to yield or perish. He submitted to the des- 
 perate necessity, and entered into treaty with the con- 
 queror. The terms were sufficiently humbling to a 
 haughty spirit, but he was obliged to acquiesce in them ;
 
 CORNWALLIS. 407 
 
 and at the price of half his dominions, besides being 
 obliged to deliver his sons as hostages into the hands of 
 lord Cornwallis, he was allowed to remain a sovereign, 
 although with enfeebled resources and a diminished 
 lustre. 
 
 By this humiliation of such a formidable adversary 
 the influence of France in India was broken, and peace 
 was restored to the different nations, as well as security 
 to the British dominion. Having thus worthily dis- 
 charged his commission, his lordship departed for Eng- 
 land, followed by the prayers and tears of those who had 
 experienced the blessing of his administration. On his 
 arrival in 1/93 he was elevated by his sovereign to the 
 rank of a marquis of Great Britain and Ireland, after 
 which he enjoyed several years of tranquillity. But in 
 1798 he was again called from retirement by the critical 
 situation of Ireland, which was torn by internal anarchy 
 and faction, as well as menaced by an invasion from 
 France. The high military and political talents of mar- 
 quis Cornwallis pointed him out as the most fitting 
 person to preside in this trying crisis. He accepted with 
 cheerfulness the unenviable office of lord-lieutenant, 
 and an-ived in Dublin on the 15th of June. 
 
 The marquis on his arrival first endeavoured to com- 
 pose the internal dissensions of the country, in which he 
 was successful; he then prepared for the French inva- 
 sion, which was daily expected. He had not to wait 
 long, for 1260 French soldiers and a considerable number 
 of officers under general Humbert, landed at Killala-bay 
 on the 22d of August, expecting to be joined by the dis- 
 contented Irish, among whom they hoped to organize a 
 gi-eat national insurrection. Happily, however, they 
 had landed in the wrong district for their purpose, as 
 few joined them, and the marquis had time to establish 
 military posts to overawe the discontented, and assemble 
 a force to act against the enemy before they had ga- 
 thered to a head. The first troops whom he sent against 
 the French allowed themselves to be shamefully beaten 
 at Castlebar on the 27th, and several of the militia, as 
 well as a body of the country people, went over to the 
 ranks of general Humbert, upon which lord Cornwallis 
 resolved to march against him in person. He therefore 
 despatched general Lake to hang upon the enemy's rear, 
 while he himself menaced them with a strong force in
 
 468 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 front, and after several dexterous marchings and coun- 
 ter-marchings, Humbert was obliged to give battle at 
 Ballinamuck, where he was overtaken by Lake. The 
 Irish rebels were soon dispersed, and the French being 
 thus forsaken were obliged to surrender. By these 
 prompt measures, an invasion which, if tampered with, 
 might have set the whole kingdom in a flame, was 
 brought to nothing. Three years of comparative peace 
 succeeded, during which the administration of lord 
 Cornwallis was marked by an equal mixture of gentle- 
 ness and vigour, so that when be retired from office in 
 1801, he carried with him the affections of all who were 
 devoted to the tranquillity and prosperity of Ireland. 
 
 As the marquis had now grown grey in the service of 
 his country, he might have hoped that he would be 
 permitted to retire into honourable tranquillity. But 
 his services could not yet be dispensed with ; and on 
 being sent as ambassador to Paris in 1801, to negotiate 
 on the part of Britain upon that general peace which 
 was now desired by all parties, he was engaged in the 
 numerous discussions that preceded the peace of Amiens. 
 He returned to England in the following year, beginning 
 to be worn out rather with long and anxious service 
 than old age, when disturbances in India required his 
 mediation, and he was sent thither as the only person 
 •who could reconcile the contending parties. He arrived 
 at Calcutta on the 2Sth of June, 1805, and addressed 
 himself to the laborious task, but it was too oppressive 
 for his exhausted constitution. He died as he had lived, 
 at his post. After having endeavoured, but in vain, 
 to reconcile the Mahrattas to the British government, 
 the noble veteran took the field, but on his way to join 
 the army he sickened at Gazeepore, in the neighbour- 
 hood of Benares, and died on the 5th of October, 180.'5, 
 after an illness of a few days, in the sixty-seventh year 
 of his age. His lordship was married in 1763, and had 
 one son and one daughter, the former of whom succeeded 
 to the marquisate, but as he left no heirs male, the title 
 after his death became extinct.
 
 RIGHT HON. GEORGE LORD HARRIS. 
 
 This disting-uished personage in the list of our eastern 
 conquerors was born on March 18, 1746, and was the son 
 of the Rev. George Harris, of Brasted in Kent, Dy Sarah, 
 daughter of George Twentyman, Esq. of Braintree in 
 Cumberland. He entered the military service as a cadet 
 in the royal artillery in 1759, and was appointed fire- 
 worker in June, 1762; but in the following month he 
 was transferred to an ensigncy in the 5th foot, promoted 
 to be lieutenant in 1765, adjutant in 1767, and captain in 
 1771. 
 
 In May, 1774, he embarked for America, and was en- 
 gaged in the skirmish of Lexington, and in the battle of 
 Bunker's Hill. In the latter he was severely wounded in 
 the head, and in consequence was trepanned, and came 
 home ; but he returaed in time to take the field previous 
 to the landing of the army in Long Island, in July, 1776. 
 Captain Harris was present at the aflair of Flat Bush ; 
 in the skirmishes on York Island ; in the engagement at 
 White Plains ; at Iron Hill (where he was shot through 
 the leg), and in every action up to the 3d of November, 
 1778, except that of German Town. In the latter year 
 be was appointed to a majority in his regiment, and in 
 November he embarked with it for the West Indies, 
 with the force under major-general Grant, by whom he 
 was appointed to command the battalion of grenadiers, 
 and landed with the reserve of the army under brigadier- 
 general Meadows at St. Lucie, on the ioth of December. 
 After the taking of ?vIoi-ne Fortunee, major Harris was 
 second in command under brijradier-general Meadows at 
 the Vigie, where the French were repulsed in their 
 repeated attacks on the British post, and in consequence 
 of these failures they retreated from the island. In 1779 
 he embarked with his regunent, where his soldiers 
 served as marines, and was present in the engagement 
 off Grenada under admiral Byron ; and in 1780 he 
 returned to England. 
 
 In the December of that year he succeeded to a lieu- 
 tenant-colonelcy in the 5th foot, from which he ex- 
 changed into the 76th, and accompanied, as secretary, to 
 the East Indies, Sir William Meadows, who was ap-
 
 470 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 pointed governor and commander-in-chief of Madras. 
 He was in the campaigns of 1790 and 1791, against Tippoo 
 Sultan ; and in the action of the 15th of May, 1791, was 
 appointed by lord Cornwallis to command the second 
 line ; he was also personally engaged in the attack, of the 
 sultan's camp and island of Seringapatam, on the night 
 of the 6th of February, 1792, the success of which termi- 
 nated the war. Peace being re-established, lieutenant- 
 colonel Harris returned with Sir W. Meadows to England. 
 His merits having been now so often and so severely 
 tested, his promotion was certain, and in reward for his 
 services, he was appointed colonel by brevet, November 
 18, 1792. The 3d of October 1794, he was appointed to 
 the rank of major-general, when he re-embarked for 
 India, and was placed on the Bengal staff'. The 3d of 
 May, 179G, he received the local rank of lieutenant- 
 general, and was appointed commander-in-chief under 
 the presidency of fort St. George ; and in February, 
 1798, he succeeded to the military and civil government 
 of the troops and territories of Madras. 
 
 In December, 179S, the distinguished military talents 
 of lieutenant-general Harris pointed him out to the dis- 
 criminating eye of the marquis Wellesley, then earl of 
 Mornington, as the fittest person to command the army 
 against the formidable power of Tippoo Sultan, and an 
 army was placed under his command that exceeded 
 rather than fell short of 50,000. Against this over- 
 whelming force the sultan adopted every plan of defence, 
 but in vain. He first attempted to give battle to general 
 Harris, and for this purpose he attacked the British 
 army to the westward of Malvilly, on the ground where 
 it intended to encamp ; but his splendid cavalry could 
 make no impression upon the close, firm ranks of his 
 opponents, and after the loss of 1000 men he was obliged 
 to retire. He then thought to throw himself in the 
 rear of the British army, and destroy its means of sub- 
 sistence, so as to force it to retreat, with which view he 
 occupied and laid waste the district through which 
 Cornwallis had marched in 1791. But general Harris 
 made this precaution useless by selecting a new and 
 unexpected route : he crossed the Cavery at Sosilla, 
 about fifteen miles to the east of Seringapatam ; so that 
 Tippoo's destructive measures only fell upon his own 
 subjects. The baffled and disappointed sultan now began
 
 HARRIS. 471 
 
 to perceive that his end drew nigh ; and having gloomily 
 assembled his principal officers, he said, ' We have now- 
 arrived at our last stage, and I wish to learn what is 
 your determination V — • To die along with you,' was the 
 nniversal reply. He took up his post before the walls of 
 Seringapatam, and endeavoured there to hinder the 
 progress of the assailants. But his efforts were in vain : 
 European science and discipline were superior to the 
 desultory valour of his followers, and the British bat- 
 teries were successively formed and ready to play upon 
 the ramparts. Indeed, these rapid and determined mea- 
 sures were not more than necessary on the part of 
 general Harris. He had been startled with the infor- 
 mation, that either through waste or fraud the rice, which 
 was to victual the army, was so much diminished, that 
 only eighteen days' provision remained for the soldiers 
 at half allowance. This unwelcome discovery was made 
 on the 16::h of April (U9D), and therefore, although 
 Tippoo endeavoured to negotiate, yet Harris would not 
 delay the siege for an instant. By the 26th, therefore, 
 the guns of the besieged were almost wholly silenced, 
 and on the evening their trenches were carried after an 
 obstinate resistance. On the 30th, the walls began to 
 give way under the discharges of the British artillery; 
 and five days after the capital was won, chiefly owing 
 to the intrepid exertions of major-general Baird, who 
 put himself at the head of the assault, and carried the 
 city by storm. The sultan himself, who might have es- 
 caped even at the final assault, disdained to survive the 
 loss of his capital, and after fighting desperately like a 
 common soldier against the assailants, he fell under a 
 gate-way, covered with wounds. Thus the British power 
 in India was delivered from the most formidable of its 
 adversaries, and after this event it was established on a 
 basis which none of the native powers were strong 
 enough to shake. Many absurd rumours were dissemi- 
 nated in England of the enormous wealth of Tippoo, 
 and of the rich plunder that must have been secreted 
 by the captors. But the truth is, that in the whole 
 treasury of the sultan there were not found above 
 £300,000. in money, and about as much in jewels, which 
 were very properly distributed among the officers and 
 soldiers. 
 The following is the short and simple account written
 
 472 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 by general Harris of the capture of the capital of My- 
 sore to the gorernorgeneral of India : — 
 
 'Seringapatam, May 7, 1799. 
 
 * My Lord, — On the 4th instant I had the honour to 
 address to your lordship a hasty note, containing: in a 
 few words the sum of our success, which I have now to 
 report more in detail. 
 
 * The fire of our batteries, which began to batter in 
 breach on the 30th of April, had on the evening of the 
 3rd inst. so much destroyed the walls against which 
 it was directed, that the arrangement was then made 
 for assaulting the place on the following day, when the 
 breach was reported practicable. 
 
 'The troops intended to be employed were stationed in 
 the trenches early in the morning of the 4th, that no 
 extraordinary movement might lead the enemy to ex- 
 pect the assault, which I had determined to make in 
 the heat of the day, as the best time calculated to ensure 
 success, as the troops would then be least prepared to 
 oppose us. 
 
 * Ten flank companies of Europeans, taken from those 
 regiments necessarily left to guard our camps and our 
 outposts, followed by the 12th, 33rd, 73rd, and 74th regi- 
 ments, and three corps of grenadier sepoys, taken from 
 the troops of the three presidencies, with 200 of his 
 highness the Nizam's troops, formed the party for the 
 assault, accompanied by 100 of the artillery and the corps 
 of pioneers, and supported in the trenches by the bat- 
 talion companies of the regiment de Meuron and four 
 battalions of Madras sepoys. Colonel Sherbrooke, and 
 lieutenant-colonels Dunlop, Dalrymple, Gardiner, and 
 Mignan, commanded the several flank corps, and major- 
 general Baird was entrusted with the direction of this 
 important service. 
 
 ' At one o'clock the troops moved from the trenches, 
 crossed the rocky bed of the Cavery under an extremely 
 heavy fire, passed the glaciers and ditch, and ascended 
 the breaches in the fausse braye and rampart of the 
 fort, surmounting, in the most gallant manner, every 
 obstacle which the difficulty of the passage and the re- 
 sistance of the enemy presented to oppose their progress. 
 Major-general Baird had divided his force for the pur- 
 pose of clearing the ramparts to the right and left. One
 
 HARRIS. 473 
 
 division was commanded by colonel Sbeibrooke, the 
 other by lieutenant-colonel Dunlop : the latter was dis- 
 abled in the breach, but both corps, although strong-ly 
 opposed, were completely successful. Resistance con- 
 tinued to be made from the palace of Tippoo for some 
 time after all firing had ceased from the works : two of 
 his sons v.-ere there, who, on assurance of safety, sur- 
 rendered to the troops surrounding them ; and guards 
 were placed for the protection of the family, most of 
 whom were in the palace. 
 
 ' It was soon after reported that Tippoo Sultan had 
 fallen : Syed Scheb, Meer Saduf, Syed Gofa, and many 
 other of his chiefs, were also slain. Measures were im- 
 mediately adopted to stop the confusion, at first unavoid- 
 able, in a city strongly garrisoned, crowded with in- 
 habitants and their property, in ruins from the fire of a 
 numerous artillery, and taken by assault. The princes 
 were removed to camp. It appeared to major-general 
 Eaird so important to ascertain the fate of the sultan, 
 that he caused immediate search to be made for his 
 body, which, after much difficulty, was found, late in the 
 evening, in one of the gates, under a heap of slain, and 
 soon after placed in the palace. The corpse was the next 
 day recognised by the family, and interred, with the 
 honours due to his rank, in the mausoleum of his father. 
 
 ' The strength of the fort is such, both from its natural 
 position and the stupendous works by which it is sur- 
 rounded, that all the exertions of the brave troops who 
 attacked it, in whose praise it is impossible to say too 
 much, were required to place it in our hands. Of the 
 merits of the army I have expressed ray opinion in 
 orders, a copy of which I have the honour to enclose ; 
 and I trust your lordship will point out their services to 
 the favourable notice of their king and country. 
 
 ' I am soiTy to add, that on collecting the returns of 
 our loss, it is found to have been much heavier than I at 
 first imagined. 
 
 ' On the 5th instant, Ardul Chali'i, the elder of the 
 princes formerly hostages with lord Cornwallis, surren- 
 dered himself at our outposts, demanding protection, 
 Kermin Saheb, the brother of Tippoo, had before sought 
 refuge with Meer Allum Behander. A cowl-namah was 
 yesterday despatched to Futteh Hyder, the eldest son of 
 Tippoo, inviting him to join his brothers. Perneah and
 
 474 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Meer Kummer Odeen Khan have also been summoned 
 to Seriugapatam : no answers have been received ; but 
 I expect them shortly, as their families are in the fort. 
 
 • This moment Ali Reza, formerly one of the vakeels 
 from Tippoo Sultan to lord Cornwallis, has arrived from 
 Meer Kummer Odeen Khan, to ask my orders for 4000 
 horse now under his command. Ali Reza was commis- 
 sioned to declare that Meer Kummer Odeen would 
 make no conditions, but rely on the generosity of the 
 English. 
 
 'Monsieur Chapue and most of the French are prison- 
 ers : they have commissions from the French govern- 
 ment.—! have the honour to be, &c. 
 
 < George Harris.' 
 
 The following letter from the East India government 
 •was addressed to the Keutenant-general on the occa- 
 sion : — 
 
 ' Fort St, George, August 7, 1799. 
 
 ' The governor-general in council now directs me to 
 signify his particular sense of the fnmness, constancy, 
 and perseverance, with which you subdued the difficulties 
 opposed to the progress of the army through the enemy's 
 country ; of the zeal and unanimity with which you 
 inspired all the great departments of your army ; of the 
 judgment displayed in the whole conduct of the cam- 
 paign, especially in the passage of the Cavery, and in 
 the position taken up before Seringapatam ; and the 
 vigour and skill with which the siege was conducted. 
 This great achievement entitles you to the gratitude and 
 respect of the company, of your king, and of your coun- 
 try ; and the governor-general has already discharged, 
 with particular satisfaction, the grateful duty of stating 
 to the honourable Court of Directors, and to his majesty's 
 ministers, your eminent services, in a manner adequate 
 to the honour and advantage which the British empire 
 in India is likely to derive from the splendid victories 
 obtained by the army under your command.' 
 
 The successful general was promoted to the colonelcy 
 of the 73rd foot, February 14, ISOO ; to the rank of lieu- 
 tenant-general, January 1, 1801 ; and general, January 1, 
 1812. He was raised to the peerage by the title of lord 
 Harris, of Seringapatam and Mysore in the East Indies, 
 and of Belmont in Kent, August U, 1815 ; and was ap-
 
 HARRIS, 47.5 
 
 pointed a grand cross of the Batli, May 27, 1820. His 
 lordship succeeded general Francis Dundas as g^overnor 
 of Durubartou castle in January, 1S24. 
 
 During the latter years of his life, lord Harris lived ia 
 dig-nitied retirement at his seat in Kent, beloved and 
 respected by all around him. He was remarkable for 
 his clear understanding', his unaffected bravery, his kind 
 disposition, and his simple manners. His death took 
 place at Belmont, in Kent, in May, 1S29. 
 
 One amiable trait in the private character of lord 
 Harris reminds us rather of the simplicity of an an- 
 cient Roman, than the loftiness and luxury of what is 
 called modern refinement. He was in the frequent 
 habit of boasting that he had been the architect of his 
 own fortune. This he preserved to the hour of his 
 death, and one of the clauses of his will runs thus : — ' To 
 my estimable and much-loved daughter, Anne Lush- 
 ington, and to her worthy husband and my highly 
 esteemed friend, I leave £'200. each for a ring, or any 
 memento they may choose of our mutual regard ; and to 
 each of their children who may be living at the time of 
 my decease I leave them mourning rings, ia the hope 
 they may at odd times bring their grandfather to me- 
 mory, and recollect that, under Providence, he imputes 
 his rise from nothing to his affluent fortune, to his 
 economy and willing privation from self-indulgence 
 through a long life.' In another part of this will, he 
 thus disposes of the splendid jewels which fell to his lot 
 in the distribution of the Seringapatam prizes : — ' The 
 jewels received by me, as part of the Seringapatam 
 prize, I wish to entail as a memorial in the family of 
 what Providence has done for it ; and to that intent I 
 bequeath the same to my said trustees. Upon the same 
 trusts, the gold medal sent to Tippoo Sultan by Louis 
 XVI. of France, bearing very strong likenesses of him 
 and his queen Antoinette, and which being found among 
 Tippoo's treasure by the prize-agents (chosen by the 
 army not only to take charge and to dispose of the booty 
 taken, but to decide on the share each individual was 
 entitled to), was by them, in the name of that army, 
 sent to me, requesting my acceptance of it.'
 
 476 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 GEN. SIR DAVID BAIRD, G.C.B., K.C. 
 
 This distinguished and experienced officer was de- 
 scended from a junioi* branch of the Bairds, of Auch- 
 medden, in Banflfshire. He was the fifth (but second 
 surviving:) son of William Baird, Esq., heir, by settlement, 
 of his second cousin Sir John Baird, of Newbyth, Bart. 
 
 by Alicia, fourth daughter of Johnstone, Esq. of 
 
 Hilltown, county of Berwick. Being destined to a mili- 
 tary life, he was sent for a few mouths to an academy 
 at Chelsea, famed as a school of military discipline, 
 where the following characteristic anecdote was related 
 of him. According to the routine of the academy, Baird 
 was mounted one evening as sentinel, when a biizger 
 boy, a schoolfellow, endeavoured to pass contrary to 
 rule. The young sentry stood firm at his post, so that 
 the other exhausted all his rhetoric in vain. ' I cannot 
 let you go,' cried Baird with energy, 'but if you please, 
 you may knock me down, and walk over my body.' 
 
 He entered the army as an ensign in the 2d regiment 
 of foot, the Itith of December, 1772; joined the regiment 
 at Gibraltar in April, 1773, and returned to England in 
 1776. In 1778 he obtained his lieutenancy ; and on 
 the 24th of September, 1778, the grenadier company 
 of a regiment then raised by lord Macleod, named the 
 73rd : this corps he joined at Elgin, from whence he 
 marched to Fort George, and embarked for Guernsey. 
 In 1779, he embarked for the East Indies, and arrived at 
 Madras in January, 1780. 
 
 A cursory view of the state of affairs in India at that 
 period may not be irrelevant. Of all the powers then 
 in India the principal was that of the Mysore, go- 
 verned by Hyder Ally; a man who, from a soldier of 
 fortune, had become a sovereign prince ; and who, to 
 military skill, united an active ambition and a refined 
 policy, which have been po.ssessed by few European 
 princes. As the neighbourhood of such a monarch ren- 
 dered him formidable to the English establishments, 
 it certainly would have been their most reasonable 
 policy, either to conciliate his friendship, or to form
 
 BAIRD. 477 
 
 such defensive alliances as might restrain his am- 
 bition. But instead of this, they contrived at the same 
 time to provoke Hyder Ally and all the other native 
 powers. In the year UGS, they rashly commenced a 
 war, which Hyder most successfully terminated by dic- 
 tating a treaty at the very g-ates of Madras. This treaty 
 was altogether as moderate as the circumstances under 
 which it was concluded wei-e absolute and decisive. The 
 fact was, that Hyder Ally, being justly fearful of the 
 Mahrattas, was desirous of aid from the English, and 
 hoped to conciliate them by his moderation. The treaty, 
 therefore, although it might have commanded every thing, 
 took, nothing; containing, instead of concessions, a stipu- 
 lation, that the contracting parties should mutually assist 
 each other against any enemy. It was scarcely con- 
 cluded, before Hyder, with his wonted sagacity, resolved 
 to ascertain the faith and friendship of his new ally. 
 Accordingly, on the commencement of the war with 
 the Mahrattas, which immediately after broke out, he 
 wrote a letter to the governor of Madras, requesting him, 
 as a token of his friendship and regard, and for mere 
 form's sake, to send an officer and 500 sepoys to his 
 assistance ; but the government of Madras. evaded a com- 
 pliance. In the following year, (1770), the Mahrattas 
 having reduced Hyder to great distress, he made a 
 second application, and appealed to the express stipula- 
 tions of the treaty ; but the government of Madras again 
 evaded his requisition. The ^lahrattas, continuing their 
 hostility, so totally overpowered him, that his ruiu 
 seemed inevitable. They became masters of all his open 
 country, and his strongest fortresses were barely capable 
 of affording him refug-e and protection. In this neces- 
 sity, Hyder yet again applied to his new allies, stating 
 the advantages they would gain by assisting him against 
 a power, the overwhehning predominance of which 
 already threatened the independence of the peninsula. 
 These applications produced no more effect at Madras 
 than the former. The company most shamefully eluded 
 the treaty, whilst in their very evasion they acknow- 
 ledged its obligations. 
 
 The fortune of Hyder at length triumphed over all his 
 enemies ; and, without the intervention of any, he pro- 
 cured, in 1772, an honourable peace. The subsequent 
 dissensions of the Mahrattas, and more particularly the
 
 478 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 eg^regrious folly of the presidency of Boinbay, enabled 
 liim not only to recover all he had lost, but greatly to 
 increase his dominions. After the direct breach of faith 
 which, in his hour of peril, he had experienced from 
 the government of Madras, it was not to be expected 
 that he could again regard it with cordiality ; but he 
 was too good a statesman to disclose his sentiments, 
 and therefore he still preserved a civil intercourse. In 
 this state of things he naturally fell into the hands of 
 France, by which he was liberally supplied with artil- 
 lery, and all other military necessaries. That politic 
 nation saw the advantage to be derived from his friend- 
 ship, in their future designs on the Carnatic; and their 
 officers were permitted to enter into his service, and 
 train his armies upon the European model. In this 
 manner Hyder Ally prepared for the gratification of bis 
 ambition and revenge. He hated the English with all 
 his soul, and certainly not without cause ; and the com- 
 pany, upon their part, blindly seconded all his efforts, 
 and provoked every power of India into a confederacy 
 against them. Availing himself of these opportunities, 
 he concluded a secret treaty with the Mahrattas and 
 the Nizam of the Deccan, to expel the English from 
 the peninsula. Every thing was ripe for the purpose, 
 and the English Company slept in a state of stupid se- 
 curity, when, about the 20th of July, 1780, Hyder forced 
 his way through the gauts, and burst, like a mountain 
 torrent, into the Carnatic. No care had been taken to 
 guard these defiles, nor did he meet with any other 
 obstruction than what arose from the difficulty of the 
 ground. 
 
 Such was the nature of the war npon which the 73rd 
 had to enter immediately upon their arrival in India. 
 In fact, they had scarcely landed, before they were or- 
 dered to prepare for immediate battle. Hyder's army 
 exceeded 80,003 men, a force that was rendered still 
 more formidable by the aid of Lally's troops, and a great 
 number of French officers ; the English did not consist 
 of more than 6000, commanded by Sir Hector Monroe. 
 They were stationed at the Mount, in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of Madras, and here they were joined by 
 the 73rd, who were marched to the camp on the same 
 day that they landed from the ships. Hyder, after a 
 march across the country, which he marked by fire and
 
 BAIRD. 479 
 
 ?word, suddenly turned upon Arcot ; and on the 2lst of 
 August 17S0, he sat down before that city, as the first 
 operation of the war. Colonel Baillie, with a very con- 
 siderable body of troops, -was in the northern circars ; 
 and Hyder, by besieging Arcot, had interposed himself 
 between this detachment and the main English army. 
 Orders were accordingly immediately sent to colonel 
 Bailiie to hasten to the Mount to join the main army; 
 but Hyder effectually prevented this junction, by throw- 
 ing his forces across the only road by which Baillie 
 could reach it. After several movements on the part 
 of the colonel, which were counteracted by his wary 
 antagonist, an engagement followed at a place called 
 Perimbancum, where Baillie gained as complete a 
 victory as a total want of cavalry and the smallness of 
 his numbers could admit. Even this victory, however, 
 by diminishing his force, only added to his distress. 
 The English camp was within a few miles, but Hyder's 
 army lay full in his way, and he was moreover in the 
 greatest want of provisions. Under these circumstances, 
 the colonel despatched a messenger to Sir Hector .Mon- 
 roe, with an account of his situation, stating that he had 
 sustained a loss which rendered him incapable of ad- 
 vancing, whilst his total want of provisions rendered it 
 equally impossible for him to remain where he was. It 
 ^▼a3 resolved in this emergency to send such a reinforce- 
 ment to colonel Baillie as would enable him to push 
 forward in despite of the enemy ; and colonel Fletcher, 
 captain Baird, and some other officers of distinguished 
 name, were accordingly despatched with a strong de- 
 tachment for this purpose. The main force in this detach- 
 ment consisted of the grenadier and infantry companies 
 of lord Macleod's regiment, commanded by captain 
 Baird — a new and untried force, and a new and untried 
 officer. There were two other companies of European 
 grenadiers, one company of sepoy marksmen, and ten 
 companies of sepoy grenadiers ; in all, about 1000 men. 
 As their security depended upon the difficulty of their 
 way, as well as the secrecy of their march, colonel 
 Fletcher refused four six-pounders which were offered, 
 and set out from the camp at nine o'clock at night. 
 An idea of the distress of colonel Baillie and his detach- 
 ment may be formed from one circumstance ; every man 
 of colonel Fletcher's detachment carried with him two
 
 480 MILITIRY HISTORY. 
 
 days' rice, with some biscuit and arrack, for the relief of 
 
 his friends at Perimbancura. 
 
 Hyder had such excellent intelligence of the English 
 camp, that he obtained exact knowledge, not only of 
 the design, but of all the circumstances relative to this 
 detachment. He accordingly sent off a strong body to 
 cut it off on its way, but colonel Fletcher and captain 
 Baird having conceived some suspicion of their guides, 
 suddenly changed the line of their route; and, by a 
 wide circuitous sweep, through rice-fields and swamps to 
 the right, added to the friendly cover of the night, had 
 the good fortune to evade this danger, and, before morn- 
 ing, to effect the desired junction. Hyder, however, was 
 determined that they should not return so safely, and 
 with consummate ability he prepared the trap for their 
 ruin. The most difficult ground on the road which they 
 were to pass was enfiladed by batteries of cannon ; and, 
 as the time and circumstances of their march were 
 known, large bodies of the best foot in Hyder's army 
 lay in ambuscade on each side ; he himself, with almost 
 bis whole force, being in readiness to support the attack. 
 Whilst these real dispositions were making, a cloud of 
 irregular cavalry were employed in various motions on 
 the side of Conjeveram, in order to divert the attention 
 of the English camp. In this manner arrived the morn- 
 ing of the day (September 10th) appointed for the march 
 of the united detachment; and daylight had scarcely 
 broken, when the silent and expectant enemy perceived 
 our unfortunate detachment advancing into the very 
 centre of the toils which were laid for them. The 
 enemy in ambuscade reserved their fire with admirable 
 coolness and self-command till the unhappy English 
 were in the midst of them. On a sudden, whilst march- 
 ing in column, in a narrow defile, a battery of twelve 
 guns opened upon them, and poured in upon their right 
 flank. The English faced about; another battery im- 
 mediately opened on their rear. They had no resource 
 but to advance; but here other batteries met them, and 
 in less than half an hour fifty-seven pieces of cannon 
 were brought so as to bear upon every part of the British 
 line. By seven o'clock in the morning the enemy poured 
 down upon them in thousands, and every Englishman in 
 the army was engaged. Captain Baird and his grena- 
 diers fought with the greatest heroism. Surrounded
 
 BAIRD. 481 
 
 and attacked on all sides by 25,000 cavalry, by thirty 
 raiments of sepoy infantry, besides Hyder's European 
 corps, and a numerous artillery playing upon them from 
 all quarters within grape-shot distance, yet this heroic 
 column stood firm and undaunted, alternately facing 
 their enemies on every side. The French officers in 
 Hyder's camp beheld the scene with astonishment, 
 •which was increased when, in the midst of all this 
 tumult and extreme peril, they saw the British grena- 
 diers performing their evolutions with as much pre- 
 cision, coolness, and steadiness, as if under the eye of a 
 commander on a parade. Our soldiers had only tea 
 pieces of cannon, but these were so excellently served, 
 that they made great havoc among the enemy. At 
 length, after a dubious contest of three hours — from six 
 in the morning till nine — victory began to declare for 
 the English ; the flower of the Mysore cavalry, after 
 many bloody repulses, were at length entirely defeated, 
 and the right wing, composed of Hyder's best forces, 
 was thrown into disorder and began to give way. 
 Hyder himself was about to give the orders for reti-eat, 
 and the French officer who directed the artillery already 
 began to draw it off, when one of those unforeseen mis- 
 fortunes occurred which totally change the fortune of a 
 day. By some most miserable accident, the tumbrils, 
 which contained the ammunition, suddenly blew up 
 with two dreadful explosions in the centre of the British 
 lines. One whole face of their column was thus entirely 
 laid open, and their artillery overturned and destroyed. 
 The destruction of men was great, but the total loss of 
 their ammunition was still more fatal to the survivors. 
 Tippoo Saib, a worthy son of his martial father, instantly 
 saw and seized the moment of advantage, and, without 
 waiting for orders, fell with the utmost rapidity, at the 
 head of the Mogul and Carnatic horse, into the broken 
 square, which had not yet time to recover its form and 
 order. This attack by the enemy's cavalry being immedi- 
 ately seconded by the French corps, and by the first line 
 of infantry, determined at once the fate of our unfortu- 
 nate army. After successive prodigies of valour, the brave 
 sepoys were almost to a man cut to pieces. The British 
 officers made one more desperate effort: they rallied the 
 Europeans, and, under the fire of the whole artillery of 
 the enemy, gained a little eminence, and formed them- 
 Y
 
 482 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 selves into a new square. In this form, though totally 
 •without ammunition, the ofiicers fighting only with their 
 swords, and the soldiers with their bayonets, they resisted 
 and repulsed the myriads of the enemy, in thirteen 
 different attacks; until at length, incapable of witlj- 
 standiug the successive torrents of fresh troops, they 
 were fairly borne down and trampled upon, many of 
 them still continuing to fight under the very legs of the 
 horses and elephants. 
 
 The loss of the English in this engagement amounted 
 to 4000 sepoys and about 600 Europeans. Colonel Fletcher 
 was among the slain ; colonel Baillie, captain Baird, after 
 being severely wounded in four places, and 200 Euro- 
 peans, were made prisoners. They were carried into 
 the presence of Hyder, who received them with most 
 insolent triumph, which the English officers retorted 
 by an indignant coolness: — ' Your son will inform you,' 
 said colonel Baillie, appealing to Tippoo, who was pre- 
 sent, ' that you owe the victory to our disaster, rather 
 than to our defeat.' Hyder angrily ordered them from 
 his presence, and commanded them instantly to prison. 
 He had purchased this victory at a very dear rate, for 
 the slaughter fell almost entirely on his best troops, and 
 the number is believed to have nearly trebled that of the 
 whole of Baillie's army. Tbis loss is stated to have 
 augmented the natural ferocity of Hyder's temper, and 
 may be reasonably assigned as a cause of his cruel 
 treatment of his prisoners. 
 
 On the unhappy morning of this battle. Sir Hector 
 Monroe, with the main army, had advanced along the 
 Trepassore road, to meet the expected detachment. He 
 heard the firing on his left, but was at too great a dis- 
 tance to come up before it had ceased. It would seem, 
 indeed, that no notion was entertained of Hyder's being 
 engaged with the whole army in the action, and the 
 firing was considered as proceeding only from the de- 
 sultory attacks of his cavalry. At length, however, the 
 repeated discharges of the appointed number of signal 
 cannon, without any return being made, and the dead 
 stillness which prevailed, began to excite some melan- 
 choly presages of what happened. The successive arrival 
 of two or three wounded sepoys— for not a British 
 soldier moved— who had the fortune to escape singly 
 from the carnage, confirmed these apprehensions, and
 
 BAIRD. 483 
 
 compelled tlie main army to think of their own safety. 
 When the whole affair was known a council of war was 
 held, and it was unanimously agreed that the only mea- 
 sure of safety was an immediate retreat to Madras, 
 which was accordingly executed. 
 
 In the mean time colonel Baillie, captain Baird, and 
 the other British prisoners, were marched to one of 
 Hyder's nearest forts, and there subjected to an im- 
 prisonment, of which confinement in a horrible dun- 
 geon was the least cii-cumstauce. Captain Baird, in 
 particular, was chained by the leg to another prisoner, 
 as much of the slaughter in Hyder's army was imputed 
 to the English grenadiers. He remained a prisoner at 
 Seringapatam three years and a half. In March, 1*34, 
 he was released, and in July joined his regiment at 
 Arcot. In 1783, the regiment changed its number to the 
 71st. In 1787, he embarked with it for Bombay, and 
 returned to Madras in 1788. The 5th of June, 1789, 
 he received the majority of the 71st; and in October 
 obtained leave of absence, and came to Britain. The 
 8th of December, 1790, he obtained the lieutenant- 
 colonelcy of the 71st; and in 1791 he returned to India, 
 and joined the army under marquis Cornwallis. He 
 commanded a brigade of sepoys, and was present at the 
 attack of a number of droogs, or hill forts, and at the 
 siege of Seringapatam in 1791 and 1792 ; and likewise at 
 the storming of Tippoo Sultan's lines and camps on the 
 island of Seringapatam. In 1793, he commanded a bri- 
 gade of Europeans, and was present at the siege of 
 Pondicherry. The 21st of August, 1795, he was appointed 
 lieutenant-colonel. In October, 1797, he embarked at 
 Madras with his regiment for Europe : in December he 
 arrived at the Cape of Good Hope ; when he was ap- 
 pointed brigadier-general, and placed on that staff in 
 command of a brigade. The ISth of June, 1793, he was 
 appointed major-general, and removed to the staff in 
 India. He sailed from the Cape for Madras in command 
 of two regiments of foot and the drafts of the 28th dra- 
 goons, and arrived in January, 1799. The 1st of February 
 he joined the army forming at Velore for the attack of 
 Seringapatam, and commanded a brigade of Europeans. 
 He earnestly sought and obtained permission to head 
 the storming party in this perilous achievement, and his 
 request was granted. Every arrangement being com-
 
 484 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 pleted on the 4th of May, 1799, it was resolved to com- 
 mence the attack at one o'clock, as the British knew 
 that at this hour the natives were accustomed to betake 
 themselves to repose on account of the heat. A few 
 minutes before that hour Baird went among' his party 
 to see that every man was in readiness, after which 
 he advanced to the ramparts, and ascended the parapet 
 of the trenches, waving his sword, and cheerinij on 
 his soldiers to the encounter. His bold bearing upon 
 the occasion was that of a knight of romance, and such 
 was its effect upon his followers that they scaled every 
 obstacle, and burst through the enemy's defences like a 
 torrent. In seven minutes the British flag waved upon 
 the outer bastion, and before night Seringapatam itself 
 had changed masters. He was now a conqueror in that 
 perfidious city where he had fonnerly endured such 
 nnmerited suffering ; but notwithstanding the flush of 
 opposition, and the pride of victory, every feeling of re- 
 sentment was abandoned. When the enemy had ceased 
 to resist, his humanity in checking the excesses of his 
 infuriated soldiers was equal to the gallantry with which 
 he had led them on, and his captives as well as the 
 whole city were loud in their praises of his clemency. 
 According to established usage, general Baird conceived 
 himself entitled to assume the governorship of the town 
 he had taken, and under this impression he took up his 
 abode in the palace of Tippoo ; but lord Mornington 
 (afterwards marquis Wellesley) had nominated his bro- 
 ther to this charge, and thus he was superseded on 
 the following day by colonel Arthur Wellesley, who com- 
 manded a corps of reserve, but had not been actively 
 employed in the capture. * And thus,' said Baird, * be- 
 fore the sweat was dry on ray brow, I was superseded 
 by an inferior ofiicer.' He could little foresee that this 
 ' inferior officer' was to become the first captain of the 
 age! In consequence of his distinguished valour in this 
 important capture, Baird was presented by the army, 
 through lieutenant-general Harris, commander-in-chief, 
 with Tippoo Sultan's state sword, and a dress sword 
 from the field ofiicers serving under his immediate com- 
 mand at the assault. 
 
 In 1801, general Baird was appointed to command an 
 intended expedition against Batavia, but which was 
 sent to Egypt. He landed at Cossier in June with the
 
 BAIRD. 485 
 
 army, crossed the desert, and joined lieutenant-general 
 Sir John Hutchinson's army a few days before the sur- 
 render of Alexandria. In May, 1801, he was appointed 
 colonel of the 54th regiment; and in 1802, he returned 
 across the desert to India, in command of the Egyptian 
 Indian army. He was removed to the Madras staff in 
 1803, and commanded a large division of the army form- 
 ing against the Mahrattas. He marched into the Mysore 
 country, where the commander-in-chief, lieutenant- 
 general Stuart, joined him, and afterwards arrived on 
 the banks of the river Jambudra, in command of the line. 
 Major-general Wellesley being appointed to the com- 
 mand of the greater part of the army. Sir David found 
 that his services could be of no farther use, and being 
 chagrined with the injustice and neglect he had ex- 
 perienced, he obtained permission to return to Britain. 
 He sailed in March with his staff from Madras, and was 
 taken pi-isoner by a French privateer ; but in October 
 he was re-taken as the ship was sailing into Corunna. 
 He arrived in England on the 3rd of November, having 
 given his parole that he should consider himself a pri- 
 soner of war; but shortly after he and his staff were 
 exchanged for the French general Morgan. 
 
 Sir David Baird received the royal permission to wear 
 the Turkish order of the crescent, December 31, 1803; 
 he was knighted by patent dated June 19, 1804 ; and was 
 nominated a knight companion of the Bath on the I8th 
 of August following. In the same year he was placed 
 on the staff in England : he was appointed lieutenant- 
 general, October 30, 1805, and commanded an expedition 
 against the Cape of Good Hope. He arrived there the 
 5th of January, 1806; made good the landing on the 6th ; 
 on the 8th, attacked the Dutch army and beat them ; on 
 the 10th, the castle and town of Cape Town surrendered; 
 and on the 18th, general Jansen surrendered the colony. 
 In 1807, he was recalled. He sailed on the 18th of 
 January on board a transport, and arrived on the 12th 
 of April at Portsmouth. On the 19th of July he was re- 
 moved from the colonelcy of the 54th to the colonelcy of 
 the 24th, and placed on the foreign staff under general 
 lord Cathcart. He commanded a division at the siege 
 of Copenhagen, where he was twice slightly wounded ; 
 and returned with the army in November. 
 
 In 1808, Sir David was placed on the Irish staff, and
 
 486 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 commanded the camp on the Curragh of Kildaie. In 
 September that year he embarked at the cove of Cork, 
 in the command of a division consisting of about 5000 
 infantry for Falmouth, where he received reinforce- 
 ments, and sailed in command of about 10,000 men for 
 Corunna, where he arrived in the beginning of No- 
 vember, and formed a junction with the army under 
 lieutenant-general Sir John Moore. He commanded the 
 first division of that army ; and in the battle of Corunna, 
 on the 16th of January, 1809, he lost his left arm, which 
 was shattered by a grape-shot, so that it had to be am- 
 putated from the socket of the shoulder. 
 
 For his services on this occasion Sir David Baird, 
 whose name had already been included in the parlia- 
 mentary votes of thanks for the operations of the army 
 in India in 1799, for those of Egypt in 1801, and for the 
 Danish expedition, again received the thanks of both 
 houses of parliament. He was promoted to the rank of 
 general, June 4, 1814 ; and was appointed governor of 
 Kinsale on the death of general Sir Cornelius Cuyler in 
 1819; and of Fort George on the death of general Ross 
 iu 1827. His own death took place on the 18th of Au- 
 gust, 1829, at his seat, Ferntower, in Perthshire. The 
 latter part of his life seems to have been consider- 
 ably embittered by what he deemed the injustice of our 
 government, in not having adequately rewarded his 
 numerous military services ; and although he had been 
 created a baronet, he considered himself justly entitled 
 to a peerage. His duties in Ireland were chiefly of a 
 civil character, and by the manner in which he dis- 
 charged them he fully evinced that his talents were 
 better fitted for the field of battle, than the higher and 
 more important task of peaceful negotiation. 
 
 GERARD, VISCOUNT LAKE. 
 
 Geraud, first viscount Lake, was the second son of 
 Launcelot Charles Lake, Esq., by Letitia, daughter of 
 John Gumley, Esq., of Isleworth, in Middlesex, and was 
 born on July 27th, 1744. At aa early period he was
 
 LAKE. 4S7 
 
 devoted to the military professiun : he entered the army 
 at the age of fourteen, and made his tii-st campaigns in the 
 seven years' war. He first obtained a commission in the 
 first regiment of foot guards, in which he succeeded to a 
 company : on the 2d of May, 1794, he was promoted to 
 the command of the 53rd regiment of foot, from wiiich 
 he was transferred to the 73rd, and afterwards to the 
 80th. After having served with credit in the American 
 war, and in Holland, under the duke of York, and hav- 
 ing attained the rank of general, he was appointed to 
 the chief command in Ireland during the rebellion of 
 1797-8. On the landing of general Humbert, in August, 
 1797, at Killala, with a small French force, general Lake, 
 who was stationed at Castlebar, was suddenly attacked 
 by the invaders before his troops had been collected, in 
 consequence of which he was obliged to retreat with the 
 loss of six pieces of cannon. But he made ample amends 
 for this unavoidable mischance by the effective manner 
 in which he co-operated with the marquis Cornwallis 
 during their subsequent pursuit of the French. The 
 final defeat and surrender of Humbert at Ballinamuck, 
 on the 8th of September, was owing to the vigorous at- 
 tack upon the enemy by Lake, while they were retreat- 
 ing before Cornwallis. 
 
 A more splendid field of exertion was now presented 
 to the subject of this memoir, in which he was to reap 
 a high military reputation. He was appointed comman- 
 der-in-chief in India, a. u. 1800, at a very critical period. 
 The warlike Mahrattas were divided between two rival 
 chieftains, Scindiah and Holkar, whose superior ascend- 
 ancy threw the authority of the Peishwa into the shade, 
 and menaced an entire dissolution of that alliance which 
 subsisted between the Mahratta tribes and the British 
 government. lu this case, the marquis Wellesley, who 
 was governor-general, was apprehensive that the in- 
 trigues of the French would allure the Peishwa to throw 
 himself upon their protection ; an event that became 
 more probable from the successes of Holkar, which not 
 only threatened his rival's aflfairs with ruin, but those of 
 his sovereign also. A treaty was therefore concluded 
 betsveen the marquis and the Peishwa, in March, 1S03, 
 by which he was to be restored to his throne, and on the 
 British troops being set in motion for this purpose, the 
 command of the advanced detachment was given to
 
 488 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 major-general Wellesley, now the illustrious duke of 
 Wellington. This treaty, as was natural, brought the 
 rival Mahratta chieftains to their senses, and instead 
 of continuing their feud, they entered into a mutual 
 confederacy to support each other against the common 
 enemy, and subvert the alliance between the British 
 and the Peishwa. But the governor-general soon de- 
 tected this compact, and therefore orders were trans- 
 mitted to general Lake to assemble the army upon the 
 north-west frontier of the company's territories, to be 
 prepared to act against Scindiah. This was done by the 
 general with a promptitude and energy that greatly con- 
 tributed to the subsequent success. The army of Bengal 
 on the north-west frontier of Oude was soon in a state of 
 readiness to commence operations as soon as hostilities 
 should begin. 
 
 This consummation arrived in consequence of the re- 
 fusal of the confederate chiefs to accede to the marquis 
 Wellesley's requisitions ; a refusal which was reckoned 
 tantamount to a declaration of war, and accordingly 
 general Lake marched from Cawnpore on the 7th of 
 August 1803, at the head of an army of British and na- 
 tive troops, to the number of 10,500 men. His first aim 
 was to attack M. Perron, who was at the head of the 
 French interests in India, and who was continually in- 
 triguing among the native chiefs for the subversion of 
 the British interests. Perron's force, consisting of 15,000 
 cavalry, was strongly posted near the fortress of Ally- 
 Ghur, upon which Lake determined to turn his left 
 flank ; he advanced for this purpose on the 29th of Au- 
 gust, at the head of his cavalry, in two lines, supported 
 by his infantry. The simultaneous advance of this bold 
 onset so dismayed the enemy, that, after throwing out a 
 large column of their horse which was soon driven back, 
 they retired as rapidly as the British approached without 
 hazarding a battle. General Lake then took possession 
 of Gael, and summoned the fortress of Ally-Ghur to sur- 
 render ; but this being refused by M. Perron, the French 
 commandant, it was taken by storm on the 4th of Sep- 
 tember, after an hour of desperate resistance. In this 
 place the military stores of M. Perron were contained, 
 the capture of which was of great importance, and ma- 
 terially influenced the fate of the campaign. A few days 
 after, the French commander wrote to general Lake,
 
 LAKE. 489 
 
 announcing that he had left the service of Scindiah, and 
 requesting permission to pass unmolested to Lucknow, 
 which was granted. 
 
 Having thus quelled the French adventurers, the next 
 aim of general Lake was to extend the British frontier 
 to the river Jumna, and protect the person of the aged 
 emperor Shah Aulum, who was held in a sort of honour- 
 able imprisonment by the French faction. He therefore 
 moved towards Delhi, the capital of the Mogul empire, 
 on the 7th, and on the 11th of September encamped near 
 the Jehna Nullah, within six miles of the city. The 
 enemy, however, began to muster rapidly in front of the 
 British encampment, and prepare for battle, having their 
 flanks so well defended by swamps that they could only 
 be approached in front, while their front was bristled 
 with a line of entrenchments, and a numerous artillery. 
 Their force also amounted to 19,000 men, while Lake 
 could bring no more than 4500 into action. He endea- 
 voured to allure them from their strong entrenchments 
 by a feint, in which he was successful. After his ca- 
 valry had skirmished with the enemy, and sustained a 
 heavy cannonade, he ordered them to retire, which they 
 did, making an opening for his infantry to advance, and 
 the Indians mistaking this manoeuvre for a hasty retreat, 
 rushed out from their strong position with shouts of 
 triumph. But the steady advance of the British infantry 
 stopped their career, and the charge that followed was 
 so overwhelming that they broke, and fled in every 
 direction. Upon this general Lake ordered his line to 
 break into columns, and from between the intervals 
 the flying artillery darted out and played with such 
 eflfect that the rout was complete, while whole troops 
 were driven headlong into the Jumna. Three thousand 
 of the enemy perished in this engagement, and all their 
 artillery and military stores fell into the hands of the 
 victors. The personal intrepidity of the British com- 
 mander was conspicuous during the whole battle ; his 
 hoi'se was shot under him at the commencement, and in 
 the charge of foot by which the victory was decided, 
 he led it, at the head of the 76th regiment, through 
 a dreadful shower of round, grape, and chain shot. After 
 this victory. Lake moved his ground nearer to the Jum- 
 na, and received a message from Shah Aulum en- 
 treating the protection of the British government. The 
 Y 2
 
 490 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 interview which took place in consequence, between the 
 successful general and the fallen monarch, was touching 
 in the extreme. Lake repaired to the royal palace of 
 Delhi, which had once been so gorjreous with embassies 
 and processions, to congratulate the descendant of Timour 
 upon his emancipation from factious subjects, directed 
 by foreign intriguers — but in the pei'son of the repre- 
 sentative of those who had ruled oser so many kings 
 and princes, he saw a blind, heart-broken old man, 
 .seated beneath a ragged canopy, and surrounded by 
 insignia that mocked rather than imitated the pomp and 
 circumstance of royalty. But a gleam of sunshine was 
 thrown over the last days of the aged and care-worn 
 Shah Aulum, by the deliverance which he now experi- 
 enced, and the promise of British protection, so that, in 
 the hyperbolical language of his people, the interview 
 was said to have restored sight to his eyes. The grateful 
 Mogul conferred upon general Lake the second rank in 
 the empire, under the high-sounding Persian titles of 
 •The Saviour of the State, the Hero of the Land, the 
 Lord of the Age, and the Victorious in War.' 
 
 Active proceedings were still necessary, and the suc- 
 cessful commander was again in the field. The army 
 marched from Delhi on the 24th of September, towards 
 Agra, and reached it on the 2d of the following month. 
 This place was held by a strong garrison consisting of 
 seven battalions, which encamped on the outside of the 
 fort, and occupied the town and chief mosque of Agra. 
 General Lake resolved to dislodge them, and ordered the 
 attack, which soon carried the ravines, and the garrison 
 craved a suspension of hostilities ; but during the nego- 
 tiation, they treacherously renewed the conflict, by firing 
 upon the British. The breaching batteries were there- 
 fore opened once more, and in four days the fort capitu- 
 lated. Thus the branch of the campaign which had for 
 its field of operation the north-west frontier of Oude, was 
 finished with an energy, rapidity, and success, seldom 
 witnessed even in the wars and conquests of India. 
 
 The powerful Scindiah was now to be assailed and 
 humbled, more especially as that chieftain acted by the 
 able advice and with the co-operation of M. Perron's 
 partisans, whose troops formed the main strength of his 
 army. Fifteen battalions of these, and two battalions 
 which had escaped from the defeat at Delhi on the 11th
 
 LAKE. 491 
 
 of September, constituted the force of which g'eneral 
 Lake now resolved to go in pursuit ; and having left Agra 
 on the 2rth of October, he came up with them on the morn- 
 ing of the 1st of November, near the village of Laswaree. 
 They then sent a message to treat of surrender, and 
 general Lake returned them an offer of the terms, upon 
 which he allowed them an hour to deliberate. No reply 
 being received after the hour had elapsed, the British 
 infantry were ordered to the attack, and four British 
 batteries opened a heavy fire, which, however, was 
 returned with interest, as the enemy were superior both 
 in number of guns and weight of metal. The 76th regi- 
 ment, which headed the attack, was thinned so rapidly 
 in its advance by the cannonade, that Lake judged it 
 necessary to begin the charge with that small body of 
 men and the few native troops that were already come 
 up, without -waiting till his whole army could close ; he 
 therefore led them on in person under a teiTible fire by 
 which they were for a moment staggered, while at the 
 same instant the enemy's cavalry made a dash upon them 
 to complete their disorder. But the infantry received 
 them with such a steady and close discharge that they 
 were obliged to recoil : they rallied, however, in a few 
 moments, and were about to repeat the onset, when Lake 
 called up his own cavalry to encounter them. Their 
 charge was brilliant and successful, and the rest of the 
 British infantry, that had by this time arrived upon the 
 scene, joined the attack upon the enemy's reserve, which 
 was posted in the rear of their first line. The resistance 
 at this point, as in every other part of the battle, was 
 gallant and obstinate, but unavailing; the enemy, driven 
 from their position and their artillery, after having 
 vainly attempted to rally, were forced at last to retreat, 
 which they did in good order. Nearly the whole of their 
 army lay dead on the field of battle, or remained pri- 
 soners to the British ; their artillery, camp equipage, 
 money, beasts of burden, and provisions, enriched the 
 conquerors, and soothed them for the toil and expense 
 of such a victory. No effort of this campaign had tasked 
 such exertions, or been crowned with such signal success : 
 by it the power of Scindiah, as well as the influence of 
 the French party, received an irrecoverable blow ; the 
 Peishwa was restored to his authority, and the Deccan 
 tranquillized. It is worthy of remark also that the greater
 
 492 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 part of the army by which such a triumph was achieved, 
 had previously been long under anus, and in the course 
 of forty-eight hours had performed a march of more 
 than sixty-five miles. The commander also showed him- 
 self worthy of such soldiers, by his skilful arrangements 
 and personal courage. Setting the example to the whole 
 army, he led in person all the different attacks on the 
 lines, and had two horses killed under him. Indeed, the 
 whole of this campaign formed a glorious parallel to 
 that which was simultaneously waged by the illustrious 
 Wellington in a difTerent part of India, and which was 
 so distinguished by the victory of Assaye. 
 
 On account of these services general Lake was ele- 
 vated to the peerage on the 1st of September, 1804, by 
 the title of Lord Lake, of Delhi and Laswaree (the places 
 of his two greatest victories), and to the dignity of 
 Viscount, on the 31st of October, 1807. After his return 
 to England, however, he was not fated long to enjoy 
 those honours which he had so amply merited. He was 
 appointed to sit on the trial of that miserable traitor, or 
 imbecile general, Whitelocke, upon the Buenos Ayres 
 affair — and as if the calamities of that shameful expedition 
 Iiad sent home a secret pestilence that was to cost us more 
 lives even after all had been finished in the southern 
 hemisphere, viscount Lake caught cold upon the trial, 
 which terminated his existence after a few days of con- 
 finement. He died on the 30th of February, 1806, at the 
 age of sixty-five, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 Francis Gerard, second viscount Lake. 
 
 MAJOR-GEN. SIR JOHN STUART, K.B. 
 
 Sir John Stuart was bom about the year 1760, and 
 xvas the son of a Scottish gentleman who had emigrated 
 to South Carolina, where his occupation chiefly lay in 
 the back settlements of the province. According, how- 
 ever, to the prevailing practice among the colonial fa- 
 milies, the subject of our memoir was sent to England 
 for the purposes of education, and this being completed 
 at Westminster school, be returned to the paternal roof.
 
 STUART. 493 
 
 After the death of his father in 1782, he adopted the 
 military profession, and having obtained the rank of 
 ensign he first saw active service at the battle of Guild- 
 ford, where he received a severe wound in the groin, the 
 consequences of which proved troublesome in after-life. 
 Little after this occurs in the military career of Sir 
 John till 1795, when, having risen through the several 
 ranks until he had attained that of brigadier-general, 
 we find him serving under Sir Charles Grey, in the ex- 
 pedition to the "West Indies. This campaign was singu- 
 larly fortunate, as Martinique, Guadaloupe, St. Lucia, 
 and several smaller possessions, fell into the hands of the 
 British. During this campaign general Stuart found an 
 antagonist who tasked the utmost of his skill and courage 
 in the celebrated Victor Hughes, who had obtained pos- 
 session of Guadaloupe, and organized a formidable system 
 of resistance with the aid of the negro slaves. 
 
 From the West Indies, Stuart was recalled to serve in 
 another hemisphere ; and having obtained the command 
 of the Minorca, or Stuart regiment, he embarked with 
 Abercromby for the deliverance of Egypt from the French. 
 His aid was effective in the memorable landing, and the 
 movements which followed previous to the battle of 
 Aboukir. The courage of Stuart was particularly con- 
 spicuous in this terrible engagement. Perceiving that 
 gallant regiment, the 4-2d, on the point of being over- 
 powered, he hastened to its aid, and charged with the 
 foreign brigade and the queen's German regiment with 
 such effect, that the French were checked in their career 
 of success, and driven back upon their own artillery. 
 His conduct on this occasion elicited the highest appro- 
 bation from his dying commander-in-chief, and the fol- 
 lowing extract appears in the general orders of the 
 army, dated March 24th, 1801 : ' The support given to the 
 reserve by brigadier-general Stuart and the foreign 
 brigade, was as gallant as it was prompt, and entirely 
 confirmed the fortunate issue of that brilliant day.' Ou 
 the promotions which subsequently took place, he was 
 raised to the rank of major-general ; he also received, 
 from the grand seignior, the insignia of the order of the 
 Crescent, which had been instituted for the purpose of 
 rewarding those whose valour had been most conspicu- 
 ous in the delivery of Egypt. 
 
 After the conclusion of the peace of Amiens, Sir John
 
 404 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 once more returued to Egypt, being sent thither on a 
 special mission ; and as he visited Constantinople on his 
 way, he had there a critical escape from the effects of Turk- 
 ish treachery. The course of his diplomatic duties required 
 him to confer with the principal officers of the Turkish 
 government, and among these was the capudan pacha, 
 whom Sir John had bitterly reproached in Egypt (and 
 it is said also by something weightier than words) for 
 his treacherous massacre of the Mameluke chiefs. The 
 capudan pacha in the bitterness of his heart resolved to 
 take full vengeance for this offence, and as the plague 
 was raging with great violence in the city, he caused 
 two infected persons to be brought to his house, that 
 they might die in the small chamber in which he meant 
 to give audience to the general, causing it also to be 
 kept closely shut until the British general arrived. But 
 Sir John underwent this terrible ordeal without receiv- 
 ing the infection, and the malignant purpose of the pacha 
 was happily disappointed. 
 
 On the breaking out of the war which succeeded the 
 short-lived peace of 1802, those officers who had served 
 with distinction in Egypt were not forgotten, and the 
 station which was intrusted to Sir John Stuart on this 
 occasion was one of high importance. Bonaparte having 
 been proclaimed king of Italy, proceeded to take posses- 
 sion of the Neapolitan kingdom, which he easily accom- 
 plished, by driving Ferdinand IV. and his family into 
 Sicily, after which he established his brother Joseph 
 upon the vacated throne of Naples. But the fierce and 
 hardy natives of Calabria were too much attached to 
 Ferdinand, and too impatient of foreign control, to obey 
 a French sovereign, and therefore they took up arms 
 against the invaders, and signalized their valour in 
 many a desperate skirmish. This spirit of revolt was 
 carefully cherished among them by emissaries from the 
 Sicilian court, and it was at last thought that by the aid 
 of regular troops their resistance might be rendered effec- 
 tive. In compliance, therefore, with the wishes of the 
 exiled court, Sir John Stuart, who commanded the Bri- 
 tish troops that had been sent to defend Sicily, undertook 
 an expedition to the opposite coast of Italy in aid of the 
 insurgents. He set sail for this purpose, and disem- 
 barked his troops in the gulf of St. Euphemia, near the 
 frontier of Lower Calabria, in the beginning of July,
 
 STUART. 495 
 
 having- under his commacd a force that fell somewhat 
 short of 5000 men. 
 
 The French commander of Calabria was general 
 Regnier, who had served under Menou in Egypt; and 
 although he had seen the battle of Aboukir, and shared 
 in the defeats and expulsion of his countrymen, his 
 contempt of the military character of England was un- 
 bounded ; he had even published a book, on the evacu- 
 ation of Egypt, in which he denied every claim of our 
 officers and soldiers to skill and courage, and proved, to 
 his own satisfaction at least, that they might have been 
 very easily beaten. It was now time to make good 
 his assertions, and rout his adversaries in the field as 
 well as upon paper — and in full confidence in his own 
 skill, as well as his superiority in cavalry and the 
 discipline of his soldiers, he left his strong position on 
 the bank of the river Amata, and on the 4th of July ad- 
 A'anced to give combat to the British on the open plains 
 of Maida. At nine in the morning the two armies con- 
 fronted each other, the British light infantry brigade, 
 which formed the right of the advanced line, being 
 drawn up opposite the 1st Legion, the favourite French 
 regiment. The French troops were not only more nume- 
 rous on this occasion, being 7000 strong, but consisted 
 chiefly of well-tried and experienced veterans, while 
 their antagonists were for the most part young recruits ; 
 but in spite of this disparity the British advanced eagerly 
 to the conflict. The opposed corps, when they were within 
 cue hundred paces of each other, mutually fired a few 
 rounds, after which they prepared for close combat with 
 the bayonet. The British soldiers, who were in quick 
 march for the purpose, were impeded by the blankets 
 which they carried at their backs ; which their com- 
 mander perceiving-, ordered the line to halt, that they 
 might throw them down. This was done in a moment, 
 but the French imagining that the pause proceeded 
 from fear, advanced with quick step, and loud shouts of 
 triumph, in the hope that their enemies were already 
 half conquered. Never were soldiers more miserably 
 mistaken : the British, disencumbered of their load, 
 again advanced, cheered in turn, and crossed the bayo- 
 nets of the French, who were confounded at this unex- 
 pected boldness. Their ofiScers now endeavoured to 
 make them stand and return the charge, but in vain ;
 
 498 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 they were paralyzed to fiad themselves so unexpectedly 
 assailed where they had hoped to be the assailants ; and 
 no sooner were the bayonets crossed than they broke 
 and fled when it was too late to escape, so that they were 
 pursued with great slaughter, while the whole plain 
 was covered with their dead and wounded. The left of 
 the French being thus completely defeated, a desperate 
 struggle was made by their right to retrieve the day, 
 and Regnier brought up his cavalry, in which arm the 
 British were deficient; but such was the steady resist- 
 ance of the infantry, that they threw off the horse from 
 every point of attack. The French fled in all directions, 
 and were pursued with great havoc not only by the 
 British soldiers, but the Calabrian peasantry. — Such was 
 the battle of Maida, which, although waged upon a 
 small scale, was valuable in its moral results, as it in- 
 spired the British soldiers with a confidence in their 
 own prowess, that was of the utmost service during the 
 course of the war. As for its political efi"ects, they were 
 comparatively valueless, for it was soon found that the 
 Calabrians were too ferocious and unmanageable to be 
 converted even into irregular soldiers ; and as the ma- 
 laria began to aff"ect the British troops, Sir John Stuart 
 7-eturned to Sicily, and resumed the protection of that 
 island. 
 
 As soon as tidings of this victory arrived in London, 
 the Park and Tower guns were fired, and a Gazette 
 Extraordinary was published, detailing the particulars 
 of the engagement. A vote of thanks to Sir John Stuart 
 was proposed and unanimously carried in both houses of 
 parliament, and soon afterwards he was invested with 
 the insignia of the order of the Bath, while the regi- 
 ments which he commanded in Calabria were permitted 
 to bear the word Maida upon their standards. He was 
 also created a noble by the Sicilian court, under the title 
 of Count of Maida. Soon after these public honours. 
 Sir John was rewarded with the colonelcy of the 74th 
 regiment of foot, and appointed lieutenant-governor of 
 Grenada ; and he subsequently held the distinguished 
 office of commander-in-chief of the western district of 
 England. He died at Clifton, on the 1st of April, 1815, 
 and was interred in Bristol cathedral.
 
 407 
 
 LIEUT.-GEN. SIR JOHN MOORE, K.B. 
 
 It is fortunate for the character of this illustrious 
 commander, that success is not always taken as the cri- 
 terion of excellence. It is frequently amidst difficulties 
 and disappointments that those higher abilities are called 
 forth which might hare been eclipsed amidst the blaze 
 of prosperity ; and that the talents of a commander are 
 exhibited more transcendantly amidst the emergencies 
 of a disastrous retreat, than the triumphs of a yictorious 
 advance. Thus Moreau was more illustrious for his 
 masterly retreat through the Black Forest, than for his 
 splendid victory at Hohenlinden ; and Sir John Moore 
 has at length won his due share of that approbation, which 
 has been conceded to his more fortunate successors, who 
 entered his field of labour under more favourable auspices. 
 
 Sir John Moore was born at Glasgow, on the 13th of 
 November, 1761, and was the sou of Dr. Moore, a phy- 
 sician, the well-known author of Zeluco, and other 
 popular works : his mother was a daughter of John 
 Anderson, laird of Dovehill. In his boyhood, he was 
 educated at the High School of Glasgow, where he was 
 distinguished for the gracefulness of his person, and a 
 certain impetuosity of temper, which, however, paternal 
 care and his own good sense soon repressed. When he 
 had arrived at the age of eleven. Dr. Moore was en- 
 gaged to accompany, as governor, the young duke of 
 Hamilton to the continent; the subject of our memoir 
 was taken with them ; and thus he had an early oppor- 
 tunity of observing men and manners, and making a 
 judicious choice of his future course in life. That choice 
 was decidedly for the military profession, which was 
 formed at twelve years of age, and all his subsequent 
 studies were directed to this point. After having visited 
 France, Geneva, Germany, and Prussia, in which last 
 country his spirit was inspired by a truly heart-stirring 
 military spectacle — Frederick the Great reviewing 40,000 
 of his soldiers— Sir John went with the travelling party 
 to Italy, where he learned that an ensigncy had been 
 procured for him in the 51st regiment, being now fifteen 
 years of age. As the regiment was stationed at Minorca,
 
 498 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 he repaired thither, and joined it iu 1777. A garrison 
 life, however, was not sutficiently stirring- for his active 
 temper, and as the war in America was then raging:, Sir 
 John wrote to his father, expressing his anxious wish to 
 serve in that quarter. This was soon gratified by his 
 friend and fellow-tourist, the duke of Hamilton, who, after 
 raising a regiment for immediate service, obtained in it 
 for Sir John the rank of lieutenant. The duke, indeed, 
 who had been incited by a sudden access of chivalrous 
 enthusiasm, held the rank of captain in this regiment of 
 his own raising, and intended to accompany it; but 
 when the period arrived, he had been visited by a new 
 and more gentle inspiration ; for he married, and re- 
 signed his commission. Lieutenant Moore reached the 
 scene of war, and the Hamilton regiment, although com- 
 posed of raw recruits, was soon marched into the fire of 
 action. On one occasion his company, being attacked by 
 superior numbers, took to their heels ; upon which he 
 rallied them by his voice and example, and held the 
 enemy at bay, although v/ith the loss of one-third of his 
 men, until assistance arrived. While all commended 
 his intrepidity on this occasion, he wrote the following 
 naive and modest statement to his father : ' I got some 
 little credit by chance for my behaviour during the en- 
 gagement. To teil you the truth, not for any thing that 
 deserved it, but because I was the only officer who did 
 not leave his post too soon.' His services and merit soon 
 procured him tlie rank of captain. He foitunately es- 
 caped the disasters of lord Cornwallis's army at York- 
 town, for he had left it for New York, before they 
 commenced. On the capitulation that followed, and by 
 which the war in America was ended, captain Moore 
 returned to England, and on the peace of 1783, the 
 Hamilton regiment was disbanded. During this period 
 of tranquillity he devoted himself to study, and especially 
 to that of fortification and military tactics, and on the 
 downfall of the ministry, which soon followed the peace, 
 he was elected a representative of four Scottish boroughs, 
 through the influence of the duke of Hamilton. In 1/87, 
 he was promoted to a majority in the GOth regiment, and 
 afterwards in the 51st, in which he had first got his 
 commission. His next step in the army was in conse- 
 quence of our rupture with Spain, about the mercantile 
 dispute of Nootka Sound. As the 51st regiment was
 
 MOORE. 499 
 
 ordered to South America on this occasion, the lieu- 
 tenant-colonel, who was averse to such a service, retired, 
 and his commission was purchased by major .Moore. 
 The expected war, however, did not take place, as Spain 
 made every concession, upon which the 5lst remained in 
 Ireland until 1792, when it was ordered to embark for 
 Gibraltar. 
 
 After a short stay in this impre-;nable fortress, the 
 monotony of which but ill-accorded with Moore's active 
 temperament, his regiment was ordered for Toulon, to 
 reinforce the garrison ; but before that ill-fated town 
 was reached, general O'Hara had been taken prisoner, 
 and the garrison compelled to embark. In consequence 
 of this, when Moore had reached the English fleet under 
 the command of lord Hood, he found it filled with the 
 inhabitants of Toulon, who, after having fled from the 
 revolutionary fury of their countr\-men, were fiddling 
 and dancing, as if their sufferings had been a dream. 
 But a new destination was given to the services of the 
 51st regiment, for the affairs of Corsica were no\7 mixed 
 up with the changes of this all-engrossing war. That 
 unfortunate country was oven'un by French troops, 
 while its institutions were subverted by the new revo- 
 lutionary principles of the French government ; and 
 after a brave but unavailing resistance under their 
 heroic leader Paoli, the Corsicans had placed themselves 
 under the protection of England. They sent to lord 
 Hood for aid to expel the French from the island, which 
 they represented as an easy task ; but as that com- 
 mander was doubtful of the truth of their assertions, 
 from his bitter experience at Toulon, he selected two 
 oflicers, one of whom was lieutenant-colonel Moore, who 
 had lately joined the army of general Dundas, to ex- 
 amine into the state of affairs, and report upon the pro- 
 priety of the expedition. Moore landed with some risk, 
 as the coast was wholly occupied by the enemy ; and 
 after joining a guerilla party of the natives, with whom 
 he explored the state of the country, he reported to lord 
 Hood and general Dundas, that a landing would pro- 
 bably be successful, and that the French could be ex- 
 pelled. In consequence of these representations, and 
 the reasons wirh which they were corroborated, the 
 British troops were lauded in Martello Bay, on the 7th 
 of February 1794, and Moore was detached with 800
 
 500 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 soldiers and seamen to march forward, and attack the 
 enemy's works. But the French had employed the 
 interval so well in strengthening their fortifications, that 
 an attack by land was out of the question : the fleet then, 
 attempted to enter the bay by forcing the Martello tower ; 
 but this tower, although gai'risoned by only thirty-six 
 men, held the whole British fleet in play for seven days. 
 It was at length silenced, but the other works seemed 
 still unassailable, upon which colonel Moore, who had 
 examined a steep, rocky hill, about 700 yards from the 
 enemy's chief redoubt, advised that cannon should be 
 dragged up this precipice, and planted on the summit. 
 This seemingly impossible achievement was speedily 
 accomplished by the energies of the British seamen, 
 who in two days hauled up and mounted two eighteen- 
 pounders by the help of block and tackle, while another 
 battery of smaller guns was planted on a neighbouring 
 summit. The astonished French found themselves thus 
 unexpectedly commanded by the British artillery, and 
 after their ramparts had been shattered, they were assailed 
 by three storming columns, the central one being headed 
 by Moore himself, and which was the first to scale the 
 entrenchments. The works and all the neighbouring 
 forts were hastily evacuated by the French, who re- 
 treated into Bastia. As the enemy were now collected in 
 great force in this quarter, Bastia was blockaded by the 
 fleet, and obliged to surrender to the British on the 23rd 
 of May. 
 
 Of the island of Corsica nothing now remained to the 
 French but the town of Calvi,the siege of which the Bri- 
 tish commander resolved to undertake. This was com- 
 menced on the 29th of June, and as the place was of great 
 strength, the siege continued till the 19th of July, when a 
 practicable breach having been made in the rampart of 
 one of the forts, it was resolved to attempt it by storm. 
 The reserve headed by Moore was appointed to attack the 
 fort, which was gallantly done amidst a shower of bullets, 
 hand grenades, and shells, that exploded among them at 
 every step ; Moore himself was struck on the head by the 
 splinter of a shell that whirled him round, and covered 
 his face with blood. But he recovered in a few mo- 
 ments, and mounted the breach with bis gallant fol- 
 lowers, who rushed forward with loud shouts, driving 
 the enemy before them. The post was won, and bat-
 
 MOORE. 501 
 
 teries were raised upon it, which so successfully played 
 upoa the garrison, that on the 2d of Augnst they were 
 compelled to surrender. After this brilliant affair, the 
 British commander invested colonel Moore with the 
 duties of adjutant-g-eneral, as a step to farther promotion. 
 The whole island was now rescued from the French— 
 but here, as it has frequently happened, the blunders of 
 British diplomacy counteracted the effects of British 
 valour. The Corsicans, who only sought a protector at 
 the bands of Britain, received a master in the person of 
 Sir Gilbert Elliot, who was thrust upon them as viceroy; 
 and before the simple islanders could recover from their 
 astonishment at this undesirable boon, the new func- 
 tionary commenced his ofSce royally, by quarrelling not 
 only with the natives, but the British commander also. 
 As might be expected, therefore, the island of Corsica 
 could not long be a pleasant residence for Moore, who 
 came in for an ample share of the vice-regal indignation ; 
 and after several bickerings with Elliot, he was com- 
 manded by the latter to quit the island in forty-eight 
 hours. Thus unceremoniously was he dismissed from a 
 country which his valour had so greatly conti-ibuted to 
 deliver. But Sir Gilbert's departure was as abrupt, and 
 almost as early, as his own. He invented a constitution 
 for the island, which was modelled from that of Eng- 
 land ; but so complex a political mechanism for a little 
 country like Corsica, was as preposterous as the applica- 
 tion of a powerful steam-engine to raise a bucket from a 
 common fountain. The Corsicans therefore rebelled, 
 and called in their old masters the French, who soon 
 drove out Sir Gilbert and his impracticable system of 
 government, after which the island was established as 
 an integral portion of the French empire. 
 
 The dismissal of colonel Moore, and the unfavourable 
 representations of the viceroy, instead of retarding, 
 rather promoted his military advancement, so that soon 
 after his return to England he was unexpectedly pro- 
 moted to the rank of brigadier-general in the West 
 Indies. He joined his brigade in the Isle of "Wight, and 
 set sail from Spithead on the 23th of February, 1796, to 
 join the army under Sir Ralph Abercromby at Barbadoes. 
 His able services under this gallant veteran during the 
 West India campaign displayed the highest exertions of 
 valour and military skill, especially in the debarkation
 
 502 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 at St. Lucia, and the storming' of Morne Fortune, in 
 which latter achievement he used the same plan M'hich 
 had been so successful at Calvi. Heavy <runs were 
 drag:ged up to the most advanced posts, by which Moine 
 Fortune was so successfully battered that the garrison 
 capitulated. After these successes, Sir Ralph Abercromby 
 appointed general Moore commandant and governor of 
 St. Lucia, in order to complete the reduction of the 
 island, a charge which the latter accepted with reluc- 
 tance, as he longed for more active service. But he 
 performed this duty with his wonted energy and success, 
 notwithstanding the difficulties be encountered from the 
 French troops, and the wild bands of Caribs, and run- 
 away slaves, who filled the whole island with havoc and 
 massacre. By establishing a line of posts, and keeping 
 his troops continually on the alert, he repressed these 
 insurgent bands wherever they attempted to rise, and at 
 length restored tranquillity among the plantations. But 
 from the effects of the climate, and incessant service, the 
 mortality among liis troops was so frightful, that the 31st 
 regiment only, which at first consisted of 91.'i men, had 
 dwindled away to seventy-four. Happily the object of 
 Abercromby's expedition was accomplished by the re- 
 duction of Grenada and St. Vincent, for which purpose 
 he had left St. Luci^, aiid therefore the soldiers were 
 recalled from this fatal Golgotha. General Moore was 
 carried from the island in an apparently dying state to 
 Martinico ; but in his voyage to England, the sea breezes 
 soon restored his enfeebled constitution. On his return, 
 he received the rank of major-general, and in September, 
 1798, he was appointed colonel of the 9th West India 
 regiment. 
 
 The field of general Moore's exertions was now shifted 
 to Ireland. That most unhappy country had been no 
 unconcerned spectator of the French revolution ; and 
 when the Irish leaders saw the republican form of 
 government established in France, they had hoped that 
 with French assistance a similar destiny might be ac- 
 complished for themselves. They had therefore invoked 
 a landing of our enemies, and in the hope that this 
 object would be fulfilled, they had broke out into a state 
 of desperate and open resistance that rendered military 
 interference necessary. Sir Ralph Abercromby was ap- 
 pointed to the chief command of the army upon this
 
 MOORE. 503 
 
 occasion, and lie applied to have Moore appointed bis 
 bri-iadier general, which request was complied with. 
 Here general Moore served, first under his old com' 
 mander, and afterwards under lord Cornwallis, and had 
 a considerable share in suppressing the revolt occasioned 
 by the landing of general Humbert. Besides these active 
 services, he was distinguished in Ireland by the prudence 
 with which he controlled the insurrectionary dispositions 
 of the Irish, and the strict sobriety and discipline which 
 he maintained among the soldiers under his immediate 
 command. 
 
 After tranquillity had been restored in Ireland, general 
 Moore, on his return to England, offered his services in 
 accompanying the expedition under the duke of York to 
 aid the Dutch in their revolt against France; and on his 
 offer being gladly accepted, he rejoined Sir Ralph Aber- 
 cromby once more, being attached to that commander's 
 division of the army, a brigade in which was placed 
 under his command. He landed at the Helder, on the 
 27th of August, 1799, and was actively engaged in that 
 fierce conflict which immediately followed, and where 
 the British were victorious, and in the subsequent en- 
 gagement on the 19th of September, with general Brune, 
 in which the valour of the British was rendered useless 
 by the blunders of their Russian allies. General Moore, 
 however, had still greater cause to remember the some- 
 what equivocal engagement of the 2d of October, in 
 which the British were commanded by the duke of 
 York. On this occasion, the column commanded by 
 Abercromby showed itself worthy of its leader by sweep- 
 ing every thing before it, and Moore, who was in the 
 thickest of the heavy fire, received two severe wounds, 
 by which he was compelled to leave the field. In con- 
 sequence of these injuries he was obliged to return home, 
 which he did in a very debilitated condition. As his 
 constitution had been greatly shattered, it was judged 
 that he needed a long interval of retirement; but it 
 seemed as if the unconquerable energy of his will could 
 raise him above pain and sickness, for early in the fol- 
 lowing spring he was ready for action, and requesting to 
 be employed. He was placed again under his revered 
 friend Abercromby, whom he followed in the Egyptian 
 expedition ; and he signalized his wonted courage and 
 military conduct in the memorable landing of the British
 
 504 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 troops, their subsequent advance, and, above all, the bril- 
 liant affair of the 21st of March, at Aboukir, where he 
 was general officer of the day. His coolness, decision, 
 and activity, in this trying conflict, where the British 
 were not only outnumbered, but almost taken by sur- 
 prise, greatly contributed to the victory. At an early 
 period of the engagement, he was severely wounded iii 
 the leg by a musket ball ; but indifferent to the pain, he 
 still continued to act until the last shot was fired. This 
 wound prevented him from sharing in the subsequent 
 movements of the array, until the French had agreed to 
 evacuate Egypt, when he was appointed to escort their 
 troops to Rosetta. This service he performed in such a 
 judicious and masterly style, although at the head of only 
 6000 men, as to extort the highest applause of the enemy. 
 After these events, the general returned home in time to 
 soothe the death-bed. of his venerable father, who died, 
 exulting in the merited renown of his illustrious off- 
 spring. 
 
 After this period, until 1806, general Moore was chiefly 
 employed as one of the British generals in preparing for 
 the national defence, in consequence of the threatened 
 invasion. As he largely enjoyed the confidence of the 
 commander-in-chief, he was entrusted with the impor- 
 tant station of Sandwich, opposite to Boulogne, where 
 Bonaparte was expected to land ; and although the 
 enemy's threat was never fulfilled, yet the high state of 
 discipline to which Moore brought the soldiers and vo- 
 lunteers had filled them with hope and made them eager 
 for the encounter. His zeal on this occasion was grate- 
 fully acknowledged by the order of the Bath, which was 
 conferred upon him towards the end of 1804. In 1806, he 
 was sent to Sicily, shortly after the battle of Maida, 
 where he served under general Fox, and on the follow- 
 ing year he was appointed commander-in-chief of all the 
 troops in the Mediterranean ; but in consequence of the 
 intrigues and divisions that prevailed in the weak and 
 worthless court of Palermo, he was unable to effect any 
 thing of consequence for Sicily. While he was endea- 
 vouring to organize its miserable troops, and put the 
 island into a state of defence, an order came to him from 
 England, to proceed with 7000 men to Gibraltar, and 
 there wait for farther instructions. On his arrival there 
 it had been intended that his services should be directed
 
 MOORE. 50,7 
 
 towards Portugal, which country was menaced by a 
 French force, under general Junot. But the prince re- 
 gent of Portugal, instead of waiting for the arrival of Sir 
 John Moore, took refuge with the British fleet, so that 
 on the very day before the British generals arrival the 
 prince had set sail, on account of which Sir John 
 was obliged to return home. Another expedition equally 
 fruitless led him to Sweden. He was sent at the head 
 of 10,000 men to aid our ally Gustavus against the com- 
 mon enemy ; but unfortunately for the general cause, 
 this monarch was as mad as an overwrought feeling of 
 chivalry and the study of the Apocalypse could well 
 make him. His requirements were therefore so extra- 
 vagant, and so inconsistent with Sir John Moore's duty 
 to his own government, that the latter very properly 
 refused to comply ; upon which the freakish sovereign 
 was so indignant, that he put the British general under 
 a species of arrest. Sir John, however, contrived to 
 escape from Stockholm, disguised and unattended, and 
 in consequence of this rupture the armament was re- 
 called. 
 
 The last and the most important of Sir John Moore's 
 campaigns now succeeded ; the only campaign in which 
 he bore the principal command. Spain and Portugal, 
 which had been absorbed within the wide-spreading 
 dominion of Bonaparte, had become impatient of the 
 foreign yoke that galled their national spirit, and insur- 
 rections took place in every part of the Peninsula, the 
 reports of which were extravagantly magnified in Eng- 
 land. In consequence of these rumours the nation 
 seemed to be pervaded with one of its periodical poli- 
 tical frenzies, so that nothing was said or sung about 
 our streets, coffee-houses, and theatres, but laudations of 
 Spanish valour and Spanish patriotism. All this would 
 have been harmless enough had it been confined to the 
 popular feeling ; but our ministry were unfortunately 
 infected with the hallucination. It was asserted that 
 the Thermopylae of European liberty was to be found in 
 the Peninsula, and that it needed only a few British 
 troops in that quarter to complete the good work, and 
 utterly annihilate the power of Bonaparte. Sir Arthur 
 Wellesley was therefore sent thither in the first instance, 
 after which it was resolved to send out an additional 
 army, in order that the operations might be more exteu- 
 Z
 
 506 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 sive and certain. Sir John Moore had just returned 
 from Sweden at this crisis, and it was generally ex- 
 pected, on account of his hi^h reputation, that he would 
 Lave been appointed to this command ; but greatly to 
 the surprise of his friends, he was attached to the expe- 
 dition in a subsidiary capacity. The armament arrived 
 in Maciera-roads just in time to hear of the victory of 
 Vimiero. Preparations were now making, after the 
 liberation of Portugal, for an advance into Spain, when 
 a despatch from lord Castlereagh arrived at Lisbon, 
 on the 6th of October, 1808, in which Sir John was ap- 
 pointed to the command of an army of 30,000 infantry 
 and 5000 cavalry, to co-operate with the Spanish armies 
 in driving the French from their country. It was 
 thought by the British ministry, that such a force would 
 be perfectly adequate to the undertaking. They had 
 been grossly deceived by the representations of the 
 Spanish Junta, who talked of successes that had never 
 occurred, and of armies that existed no where but on 
 paper, and all that they wanted was the presence of 
 a British force, to form the nucleus of a universal na- 
 tional resistance. In the plan, therefore, which was 
 prescribed to Sir John Moore, he was required, after 
 eutering the country, to concert his measures with the 
 commanders of the several Spanish armies, and in all 
 cases of doubt or diflSculty, to be directed by Mr. Frere, 
 the British minister in Spain. Sir John Moore was not 
 so weak as to be infected with the popular delusion. 
 He suspected the existence of those armies which the 
 Spaniards so pompously paraded in their manifestoes ; 
 he knew the defective character which at this time per- 
 vaded the British commissariat ; and he found that the 
 means of transport for a campaign of such geographical 
 difficulties were miserably defective. But in spite of 
 these obstacles his march was commenced on the 18th 
 of October, and on the 13th of the following month 
 he reached Salamanca, having in that short interval 
 performed a march of 400 miles. But on arriving at 
 this place he found th ^ futility of those representations, 
 upon the strength of which he had been encouraged to 
 advance. Instead of ihe 100,000 Spanish soldiers who 
 were to cover his ma: ;h, he found that Napoleon him- 
 self had hurried to le scene of action, thus leaving 
 Portugal to its fate, vhile the Spanish armies were
 
 MOORE. Qffj 
 
 completely demoralized and helpless throug^h the inju- 
 diciousness of their commanders, and their frequent 
 losses. In consequence of these circumstances, and the 
 victory which the French gained at Tudela, Sir John 
 Moore resolved to preserve his army by retreating to 
 Portug-al. In this measure, however, he was opposed 
 by Mr. Frere. This functionary was blindly enthusiastic 
 upon the subject of Spanish patriotism, which made him 
 hope even against impossibilities ; his ridiculous devot- 
 edness to the cause made him actually, like the knight 
 of La Mancha, see armies in every cloud of dust; and 
 besides, although merely a scholar and a civilian, he 
 considered himself an oracle in military affairs, and 
 competent to direct the whole campaign. He, therefore, 
 fiercely opposed every idea of retreat, and insisted upon 
 Sir John's advance to Madrid, now menaced by the 
 French, but which he represented as about to become 
 a second Saragossa. Although Moore suspected the cor- 
 rectness of these statements, and felt the difficulties of 
 his position, yet he resolved to make one farther generous 
 effort in behalf of Spain, and advance for the protection 
 of the capital. He therefore resumed his forward move- 
 ment on the 11th of December, at the head of only 
 25,000 effective soldiers, while 150,000 French troops 
 were stationed in different parts of the country. But 
 general Romana, whose co-operation was necessary, in- 
 stead of joining him, retreated into Galicia, and the 
 British were obliged to abide the whole brunt of the 
 storm. The emperor had detached Soult in pursuit of 
 them, and their march was retarded by occasional skir- 
 mishes with the enemy. Sir John Moore intended to 
 have reached Carrion on the 24th of December ; but 
 here he found not only that Soult was concentrated at 
 Carrion with 20,000 men, but that the whole French army 
 had been called up from its different positions to sur- 
 round him, and that Napoleon himself was advancing 
 at the head of 50,000 soldiers. Even a victory, under 
 such circumstances, would have annihilated the British 
 army. To advance, or even to remain in its present 
 position, would have been madness ; and as for Madrid, 
 it had surrendered without resistance, and was now 
 occupied by the French. Thus, to use the expressive 
 language of Moore, ' the bubble had burst, and he must
 
 508 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 have a run for it.' No alternative remained but a 
 
 speedy retreat into Galicia. 
 
 It was on the evening of the 24th that this memorable 
 retreat was commenced, and not a moment too soon, for 
 the patrols of Napoleon's army were already in sight, 
 and had actually come up with the rear of the British 
 column, while Soult at the same time was advancing. 
 Lefebvre had also thrown his army between the British 
 and the frontiers of Portugal, so that, with the exception 
 of one dangerous outlet, they were hemmed in on every 
 side. On the 27th, after some smart skirmishing, the head- 
 quarters of the army were established in Benevente, after 
 which Sir John Moore continued the retreat to Astorga, 
 ■which was reached on the 30th. This town, however, 
 the army was obliged to quit on the following day, and 
 in less than twenty four hours Napoleon entered it with 
 his army. It was here that the emperor was obliged to 
 halt in his pursuit, in consequence of the change that 
 had taken place in Austria, which required his imme- 
 diate presence in that quarter. However, he entrusted 
 to Soult the task of driving the British into the sea, and 
 25,000 men were placed for this purpose under his im- 
 mediate command, while nearly twice that number could 
 be called upon in case of necessity. Nothing could be 
 more disastrous to the British soldiers, or trying to the 
 spirit of their commander, than this most difficult and 
 protracted march in the face of such a superior enemy. 
 Our soldiers, who had entered Spain amidst the general 
 enthusiasm and hope, and who longed for nothing 
 better than an encounter, were disappointed on enter- 
 ing to find every thing so different from what they 
 had been taught to anticipate. The pride, the bigotry, 
 and the inefficiency of the Spanish troops converted 
 their disappointment into rage ; but the feeling became 
 perfect madness when they found themselves compelled 
 to retreat from a country where they had been taught to 
 expect a career of victory and triumph. Then succeeded 
 the miseries of their march, where they were sometimes 
 obliged to proceed with the rapidity of couriers over 
 rocks and mountains, in the midst of rain, snow, and 
 tempest, enduring all the sufferings of hunger and thirst, 
 and with an insulting enemy hanging incessantly on 
 their flank and rear. All discipline was therefore gra-
 
 MOORE. 609 
 
 dually forgotten, and all order confounded ; troops and 
 regiments were alternately converted into tumultuary 
 mobs or bands of marauders ; the cottages were plun- 
 dered and burnt and the peasantry murdered in their 
 line of march, and calamities more terrible than those 
 inflicted by a national enemy were inflicted by the 
 British soldiers, upon those people whom they came to 
 defend. It was in Tain that Sir John Moore exerted his 
 utmost authority to quell these destructive excesses. 
 The sufferings of the soldiers made them indifferent to 
 the restraints of discipline, or the threats of their officers ; 
 and wherever wine could be found they gave loose to 
 riot, until they fell unresistingly beneath the sabres of 
 their pursuers. There was only one circumstance that 
 could restore them to discipline and obedience ; this was 
 the appearance of the enemy, and the promise of an en- 
 gagement. No sooner did the French advance, and 
 show symptoms of a desire for battle, than the broken 
 ranks threw themselves immediately into their wonted 
 order, and prepared with alacrity for the combat. 
 
 In this state of disorder and suffering the army reached 
 the neighbourhood of Corunna, to which the British trans- 
 ports had been ordered round from Vigo ; but as Sir John 
 Moore looked towards the harbour he saw nothing but 
 an open expanse of water, for the fleet was still detained 
 at Vigo by contrary winds. He was therefore obliged to 
 take post at Corunna until the shipping could arrive, 
 even though he should have to hazard an engagement ; 
 and upon this subject Soult did not leave him long in 
 suspense. On the 14th of January (1809) the transports 
 arrived, in which the sick, the horses, and the artillery 
 were embarked, except twelve guns (only six-pounders) 
 which were retained for action ; but the French army 
 was also at hand, with the full determination of prevent- 
 ing the escape of the British. A parting battle was 
 inevitable, and on the 16th Sir John Moore made every 
 preparation to await it. The British infantry, to the 
 number of 14,500, occupied a range of heights in the 
 neighbourhood of the town, enclosed by three sides of 
 the enemy's position, their several divisions under the 
 generals Baird, Hope, Paget, and Frazer, being thrown 
 up to confront every point of attack. The French, who 
 amounted to 20,000 men, and were led by the greatest 
 of their commanders next to Bonaparte, advanced in
 
 510 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 full confidence, and at their first onset drove in the 
 British piquets, and carried the Tillage of Elvina ; they 
 then made three attacks simultaneously upon as many 
 different parts of the British army, and obtained at first 
 a partial success from their immense superiority in can- 
 non. But Moore having- detected the weakest part of 
 the enemy's position, threw forward his reserves, under 
 Paget and Frazer, who drove the French out of Elvina. 
 The struggle was renewed for the possession of this post, 
 around which the interest of the battle was now concen- 
 trated, while Sir John Moore, knowing that his right 
 was the weakest point of his army, took his station there. 
 He had sent the 50th regiment to aid in the capture of 
 the village; and when he saw their gallant bearing, he 
 exultingly exclaimed — ' Well done the 50th, well done 
 my majors,' alluding to majors Napier and Stanhope, by 
 whom it was commanded. To the 5-2d regiment, which 
 was detached on the same service, be briefly exclaimed — 
 ' Highlanders! remember Egypt;' and when their am- 
 munition began to fail, so that they seemed disposed to 
 fall back, he rode up to them, and cried — ' Join your 
 comrades ; you have your bayonets ! ' When the contest 
 for the village was at the fiercest, Sir John, who was 
 anxiously watching the event, was struck on the left 
 breast by a cannon shot that dashed him to the ground 
 with great violence. Without the least change of coun- 
 tenance he rose again in a sitting posture, and continued 
 to observe the battle as if he had been untouched. It 
 was not till he saw that his soldiers were gaining ground, 
 that he allowed himself to be taken to the rear. At first 
 it was hoped that his hurt was not deadly; but a mo- 
 ment sufficed to undeceive his friends upon this point. 
 His shoulder was shattered to pieces ; the arm was hang- 
 ing only by a piece of skin, and the ribs over the heart, 
 besides being broken, were bared of flesh, while the 
 muscles of the breast were torn into long strips. While 
 his soldiers were placing him in a blanket, the hilt 
 of his sword got entangled in the wound, and captain 
 Hardinge, a staff"officer, attempted to unbuckle the wea- 
 pon ; but Moore prevented him, saying in a feeble voice — 
 • It is as well as it is, I had rather it should go out of 
 the field with me.' This touching incident reminds us 
 of one that graced the last moments of a hero of anti- 
 quity, who, like Moore, died in the moment of victory -
 
 MOORE. 511 
 
 Epaminondas kissing his shield, and rejoicing that it had 
 not been left behind. 
 
 Although the presiding spirit that had animated the 
 British army was thus withdrawn, the first impulse still 
 continued to act, and the regiments, as yet ignorant of 
 the death of their commander, pressed onward and 
 gained ground. Elvina was won, and when night set 
 in the French were retiring in confusion before the 
 successful charges of the Bi-itish reserves. Had the 
 latter been but reinforced on this occasion, the success had 
 been more complete, for the ammunition of the French 
 was nearly exhausted, while the narrow bridge of El 
 Borgo was the only medium of retreat. As it was, how- 
 ever, the enemy were thrown into such disorder that the 
 British could find no difficulty in getting on board their 
 ships, and therefore Sir John Hope, upon whom the 
 command devolved, judged it prudent to embark dur- 
 ing the night. This was done with such ability and 
 promptitude, that on the succeeding morning the trans- 
 ports were nearly all out at sea, before the disappointed 
 French could bring a gun to bear upon them. 
 
 From this poiut we must again return to the last mo- 
 ments of the expiring hero. A few veteran soldiers, 
 in slow procession, and weeping as they went, carried 
 their commander from the field ; but he repeatedly or- 
 dered them to halt and turn round, that he might listen 
 to the distant firing, and judge of the progress of the 
 battle. His practised ear soon discerned the state of 
 matters, and he allowed himself to be carried to the 
 town. He could only speak during short intervals of 
 agony, and his anxious question which he repeated to 
 every one was, ' Are the French beaten ? ' — and on being 
 assured that such was the case, he exclaimed, ' I hope 
 the people of England will be satisfied ; I hope my 
 country will do me justice.' He then spoke affection- 
 ately of his mother and his relatives, inquired after the 
 safety of his friends who were still engaged, and even 
 at that moment mentioned those whose merits had en- 
 titled them to promotion. A few moments after he died 
 ■without a struggle. His friends would have brought his 
 corpse to England, but he had often expressed a wish 
 that he should be buried on the field where he might 
 happen to fall ; and the wish was now remembered as a 
 sacred bequest. The rampart of the citadel of Corunna 
 wa3 selected as the fittest grave, and the hour of mid-
 
 512 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 nig-ht, when the sounds of conflict had sunk into repose, 
 as the period of interment. The chaplain-general read 
 the funeral service by torchlight, and the mourners de- 
 parted amidst the murmurs of a random fire, that was 
 gradually approaching nearer. But a generous enemy 
 completed those funei'al rites, which the friends of the 
 dead had been obliged abruptly to terminate. On the 
 succeeding day, when the British were safely out at sea, 
 the guns of the French paid the wonted military honours 
 to the funeral of Moore, and Soult afterwards raised a 
 monument to his memory. 
 
 ' Thus ended,' writes the eloquent historian of the 
 peninsular war, ' the career of Sir John Moore, a man 
 whose uncommon capacity was sustained by the purest 
 virtue, and governed by a disinterested patriotism, more 
 in keeping with the primitive than the luxurious age of 
 a great nation. His tall, graceful person, his dark, 
 searching eyes, strongly defined forehead, and singu- 
 larly expressive mouth, indicated a noble disposition and 
 a refined understanding, while the lofty sentiments of 
 honour habitual to his mind, being adorned by a subtle, 
 playful wit, gave him, in conversation, an ascendancy 
 that he always preserved by the decisive vigour of his 
 actions.' As for his public and professional character, it 
 is briefly but happily sketched in the general order 
 which was issued to the army, on the 1st of February, 
 1809 : ' In the school of regimental duty,' it says, ' he 
 obtained that correct knowledge of his profession which 
 is essential to the proper direction of the gallant spirit of 
 the soldier ; and he was enabled to establish a charac- 
 teristic order and regularity of conduct, because the 
 troops found in their leader a striking example of the 
 discipline which he enforced on others. In a military 
 character, obtained amidst the dangers of climate, the 
 privations incident to service, and the sufferings of re- 
 peated wounds, it is difficult to select any point as a 
 preferable subject for praise. The life of Sir John Moore 
 was spent among his troops. During the season of re- 
 pose, his time was devoted to the care and instruction of 
 the ofiicer and soldier; in war he courted service in 
 every quarter of the globe. Regardless of personal con- 
 sideration, he esteemed that, to which his country called 
 him, the post of honour ; and by his undaunted spirit 
 and unconquerable perseverance he pointed the way to 
 victory.'
 
 WELLINGTON. 513 
 
 FIELD-MARSHAL 
 
 THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, K. G, 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 By the end of the seventeenth century the military 
 character of Britain, once so dreaded upon the continent, 
 had become cheap in general estimation, and those na- 
 tions that had trained themselves to arms by continual 
 warfares and aggressions, were ready to deride every 
 warlike operation which our countrymen undertook by 
 land. They asserted that our island spirit had been cor- 
 rupted by traffic ; that our generals were ignorant of the 
 first principles of the military art ; and that even the 
 national valour, when roused to action, and conducted 
 to success, was rather a fortuitous and momentary pa- 
 roxysm, than a permanent characteristic of the British 
 people. Such was the general opinion throughout Eu- 
 rope until the delusion was dispelled by the victories of 
 Marlborough. When the ploughshare of succeeding 
 generations had erased the deep marks of havoc pro- 
 duced by his campaigns, and when France, our here- 
 ditary, national enemy had produced the greatest and 
 most successful of her commanders, the charge against 
 Britain was resumed, and many a taunting gibe was 
 expressed at the idea of a ' nation of shopkeepers ' pre- 
 tending to interfere in the affairs of Europe as a mili- 
 tary people. And indeed our first efforts to repress the 
 aggressions of Bonaparte seemed to add truth as well 
 as poignancy to the sarcasm. But the triumph of the 
 enemy was brief. The illustrious Wellington entered 
 upon the scene, and stepped from victory to victory. 
 After showing, by routing all the most distinguished 
 officers of Napoleon in turn, that his success was owing 
 to no capricious change of fortune, he finally stamped 
 the military reputation of the country, as well as his 
 own, upon the field of Waterloo, where he broke the 
 power of the ablest and most successful conqueror that 
 had ever been inflicted upon the human race. 
 Z2
 
 514 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Arthur Wellesley, the illustrious subject of this me- 
 moir, third surviving son of the first earl of Mornington, 
 •was born at Dangan Castle, in the county of Meath, on 
 the 1st of May, 1769. His mother was Anne, eldest 
 daughter of Arthur Hill, first viscount Dungannon. The 
 family of Wellesley is of great antiquity in Ireland, as 
 its progenitor accompanied Henry II. thither in the 
 capacity of standard bearer, and was endowed by that 
 sovereign with large grants of land in Kildare and 
 Meath. The first place where the young hero received 
 a public education was Eton school ; after which he was 
 removed to the military school of Angers, in France, 
 where he learned the principles of that science in which 
 he was to show his proficiency at the expense of his 
 instructors. At the age of eighteen, he obtained an en- 
 signcy in the 73rd regiment of foot ; and as rapid pro- 
 motion was easy at that period for those who possessed 
 wealth or influence, he rapidly rose through the inter- 
 mediate steps, and became lieutenant-colonel of the 33rd 
 reg-iment in 1793. During this interval, he served above 
 three yeai-s in the cavalry, which circumstance was of 
 importance to his future use of that arm of warfare : he 
 also sat in the Irish parliament during the three years 
 preceding 1794, where he represented the borough of 
 Trim. Little comparatively is known of the history of 
 colonel Wellesley during this period, but we may safely 
 presume that his active mind did not waste itself in fri- 
 volity or idleness. It is probable that even now he was 
 carefully treasuring up those lessons of experience, 
 which he afterwards so brightly illustrated as a warrior 
 and a statesman. 
 
 Such was the quiet tenor of his life till 1794, when the 
 expedition of the duke of York called him for the first 
 time into active service. In May, he embarked with his 
 regiment at Cork, and landed at Ostend in the following 
 month. It is unnecessary for us to repeat those disas- 
 trous events which befell the British and their allies, 
 during this unfortunate campaign, in which the exer- 
 tions and moral energies of the former were paralyzed 
 by the blunders of the latter. The sagacious mind of 
 colonel Wellesley, even at this early period, and upon a 
 ground which he was afterwards so gloriously to occupy, 
 must already have detected those gross mistakes that 
 were alternately committed by the assailants and the
 
 WELLINGTON. 515 
 
 assailed. The allied armies formed a feeble cordon of 
 nearly eighty miles in length, that might have been 
 broken at every point ; but the French had not yet ac- 
 quired so much military sagacity as to attack it with 
 their forces concentrated. As it was, however, the duke 
 of York was compelled to retreat, and the miseries of his 
 soldiers in this retrograde winter march through Flan- 
 ders were trying in the extreme, until they reached 
 Westphalia. The dreary wastes covered with snow 
 which they had to traverse, and the multitudes that 
 sunk under the inflictions of cold, fatigue, and hunger, 
 remind us of those sufterings which were afterwards 
 experienced upon so gigantic a scale by the French 
 army in their retreat from Moscow. During the pro- 
 gress of these unfortunate events, colonel Wellesley ex- 
 erted himself with energy and promptitude wherever 
 his services were required. In the desultory contests 
 that took place, he on one occasion, at Meteren, repulsed 
 the enemy by whom he was attacked, and recovered 
 two pieces of cannon which they had taken ; and on 
 another, at Geldermansel, he was equally successful. 
 During the last and most trying part of the retreat, 
 he commanded a brigade in the rear-guard, and in so 
 judicious a manner as to excite the admiration of his 
 brethren in arms. The wasted British army, at the ter- 
 mination of their retreat, embarked at Bremerlehe, on 
 the Weser, in the spring of 1795, and returned home 
 amidst the discontent and murmurs of the whole nation. 
 No sooner had Wellesley returned than a new sphere 
 of action was opened for his services in the West Indies, 
 v.-hither he was ordered to embark in autumn. He set 
 sail with his regiment accordingly ; but fortunately he 
 was not fated to encounter that baneful climate which 
 has destroyed so many of our best and bravest officers ; 
 for adverse winds and tempestuous weather dispersed 
 the armament, and drove the 33rd regiment back to 
 Spithead. On the April of the ensuing spring its desti- 
 nation was changed for India, which he reached at an 
 early period of 1797, having obtained the rank of colonel 
 by brevet, in the preceding year. It was not many 
 months after his arrival at Calcutta that he was fol- 
 lowed by his eldest brother, lord Mornington, who had 
 been appointed governor-general of India. This was an 
 event particularly favourable to colonel Wellesley, who
 
 516 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 was now certain of having his abilities employed id 
 their proper sphere, and therefore, in 1.79S, he was at- 
 tached to the army of general Harris, which had for its 
 object the dethronement of Tippoo Saib. The particulars 
 of this splendid campaign have been already related, 
 but that part of it which fell to the share of Wellesley 
 tended to increase his gi-owing military reputation. He 
 was already distinguished for the admirable and efficient 
 discipline which he had introduced among the greater 
 part of the troops, who for some time previously had 
 been placed under his superintendence, so that general 
 Harris, on assuming the command, noticed the circum- 
 stance particularly in the genei*al order ; and during the 
 siege of Seringapatam, his frequent suggestions upon the 
 state of the different posts were received with great 
 approbation by the commander-in-chief. As Wellesley 
 commanded the reserves, he had no opportunity of taking 
 a part in the storming of the city ; but when the capture 
 was accomplished, he exerted himself with great huma- 
 nity in calming the fury of the soldiers, who were suffi- 
 ciently disposed for deeds of cruelty and rapine. After 
 tranquillity had been restored, he was invested by ge- 
 neral Harris with the office of commandant, and a 
 garrison was established in the capital. 
 
 While colonel Wellesley was thus called to the mili- 
 tary and civil government of a great portion of the 
 Mysore, and employed in restoring order by the vigour 
 of his administration, one of those military adventurers 
 so common in the east suddenly made his appearance, 
 for the purpose of restoring the reign of anarchy. This 
 was a sort of independent chieftain, or brigand, named 
 Doondiah Waugh, who, after troubling the country, had 
 been trepanned and imprisoned by Tippoo ; but at 
 the siege of Seringapatam he had escaped from his dun- 
 geon, and contrived to rally a considerable force, at the 
 head of which he proceeded to levy contributions upon 
 the province of Bednore, accompanied with numerous 
 acts of atrocity. A British force under colonel Dalrym- 
 ple was sent against him ; but Doondiah fled, and took 
 refuge in the Mahratta country, whither his pursuers 
 could not follow him. Such an Asiatic freebooter might 
 in time have founded at least a temporary empire, so 
 that it was necessary to crush him before his power had 
 opportunity to consolidate ; and colonel Wellesley, who
 
 WELLINGTON. 517 
 
 was now appointed to the command of the troops above 
 the ghauts, found that this service was included among 
 his military duties. He therefore took the field in per- 
 son against Doondiah, in 1800, and found in this daring' 
 barbarian an antagonist with whom it was not easy to 
 cope. This chieftain's forces being wholly composed of 
 cavalry and light artillery, enabled him to come and go 
 like the winds ; and such was the terror which his flying 
 movements inspired, that he had become the master of 
 a considerable portion of the territory that had lately 
 been wrested from Tippoo Sultan, while the pompous title 
 which he had assumed, of ' King of the Two Worlds ' 
 showed the extent of his ambitious hopes. The country 
 was so wasted by his depredations, that it was impossible 
 to subsist an army from its resources ; but Wellesley, on 
 the occasion, displayed that fertility of invention for 
 which his great campaigns were afterwards so remark- 
 able. He commenced his march towards the end of 
 May, and after following the doublings of his light-heeled 
 antagonist till the 9th of September, during which he 
 had greatly curtailed the power of Doondiah, he at length 
 drove him fairly into a cul-de-sac between Yepulpurry 
 and Bunnoo. The chieftain, whose force now consisted 
 of 5000 cavalry, endeavoured to turn and break through 
 between his pursuers, but his career had come to a close. 
 Wellesley, who urged the pursuit with his cavalry alone, 
 ga\e him no time for such a movement. At the 
 head of the 19th and 25th British regiments, and the 1st 
 and 2d of native cavalry, he made so resistless a charge, 
 that the marauders were broken and scattered almost in 
 a moment, while Doondiah himself was among the slain. 
 By these prompt measures, which were attended with 
 immense toil and hazard, one of the national pests of 
 devoted India was speedily exterminated. 
 
 After this successful campaign, the first in which he 
 held the chief command, colonel Wellesley returned to 
 his civil duties in the Mysore teiTitory, where his talents 
 for political administration were as conspicuous as those 
 he had lately shown for war, so that the natives -were 
 gradually reconciled to the British government, which 
 at last they preferred to that of their native princes. 
 But a new enemy was soon to summon him again to the 
 field, and put the uttermost of his ability to the test. It 
 is here necessary to premise, before mentioning the par-
 
 518 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 ticulars of a campaign upon which the military repu- 
 tation of our illustrious hero is based, that the vast em- 
 pire of the Mahrattas was in a great measure under the 
 dominion of four feudatory chiefs, who exercised a 
 sovereign and independent authority over their respec- 
 tive dominions, and. set at nought the control of their 
 feudal superior, the Peishwa, from whom they derived 
 their power. These were Scindiah, Holkar, Guickwar, 
 and Bhoonslah. The most powerful of these was Scin- 
 diah, whose army amounted to 40,000 men, disciplined 
 and commanded chiefly by French officers. As it was 
 natural that these sovereigns should feel jealous of the 
 British power, they had first tried the experiment of 
 stirring up Doondiah against it, that they might learn by 
 the result whether it might be safely encountered. But 
 when the result was ascertained, and when it was found 
 that nothing but union among themselves could give to 
 their resistance any hope of success, their mutual feuds 
 and jealousy of each other, fortunately for the British in- 
 terests, stood in the way of such a coalescence. To pre- 
 vent, however, the possibility of such a union, and to 
 detach the Peishwa from their control, was now the 
 policy of the Company, more especially as that unfor- 
 tunate potentate, who had been defeated by Holkar and 
 obliged to fly, had earnestly solicited an alliance with 
 the British. The request was acceded to by the gover- 
 nor general, and it was also sought, though in vain, to 
 include Scindiah, the rival of Holkar, within the same 
 treaty. The terms being settled, and signed by the 
 Peishwa on the 2Ist of December, 1802, it was resolved 
 to restore him to his throne ; and as these events had 
 been for some time anticipated, Wellesley, who had now 
 been raised to the rank of major-general, had been busied 
 in preparations for an arduous and important campaign. 
 In fact, the task of subsisting an army in the east, in 
 which Wellesley so much excelled, is of much greater 
 difficulty than gaining victories and storming cities. Of 
 this the marquis Cornwallis was made fatally aware, in 
 his advance upon Seringapatam. The truth of this pro- 
 position will be easily perceived when we call to mind 
 the geographical peculiarities of India, and the fact, that 
 in an Indian anuy scarcely a fifth part of the number 
 are the eflTective combatants. 
 All being now in readiness, general Wellesley, who
 
 WELLINGTON. 519 
 
 commanded the advanced detachment of the expedition, 
 commenced his march from Hurryhur on the 9th of 
 March, 1803, and proceeded towards Poouah, the capital 
 of the Peishwa ; and as he hoped to be joined by the 
 chieftains who were in hostility with Holkar, he care- 
 fully abstained from any hostile act that might excite 
 their jealousy. Several of these joined him with their 
 forces, so that the country was relieved for a time from 
 their depredations, and on their line of march the British 
 ■were every where welcomed by the natives as their 
 liberators. After having- crossed the rivers in basket 
 boats, and suffered every hardship from the roughness 
 of the country, and the heat of the climate, general 
 Wellesley, previous to reaching Poonah, was given to 
 understand that Amrut Rao, who kept possession of the 
 city, intended to burn it before the British arrived. The 
 English general, to prevent such a disaster, began to 
 amuse the barbarian with a feigned negotiation, in the 
 midst of which he made a rapid night march with his 
 cavalry upon Poonah. Ararut Rao having timely warn- 
 ing of this sudden movement, abandoned the city with 
 great rapidity, which immediately fell into the hands of 
 the British. By this bold measure the war was removed 
 to a distance from the Company's territories, and an ad- 
 vantageous position was gained, from which the cam- 
 paign might be continued with success. On the l.Sth of 
 May, the Peishvva re-entered his capital in state, and 
 resumed his throne. 
 
 Having recruited and refreshed his army, and brought 
 it into a most efficient state during the halt at Poonah, 
 general Wellesley again prepared to take the field. The 
 purposes of the great Mahratta chiefs were still uncer- 
 tain, and in the event of their combining, the war 
 would have assumed a very formidable aspect. Scindiah 
 himself had lately shown such symptoms of hostility as 
 could not be mistaken, and on being offered certain 
 amicable terms by the British general, he refused them 
 so peremptorily, that he was selected as the first example, 
 for a warning to his brother chiefs. War was therefore 
 declared against him on the 6th of August, and Wellesley 
 resumed his march at the head of 10,000 regular troops, 
 and about 30,000 native soldiers. His first operation was 
 against the town and fort of Ahmednuggur, which was 
 strongly garrisoned for Scindiah. The town was carried
 
 520 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 by storm, and the garrison of the fort were compelled to 
 capitulate, after which Wellesley pressed forward, being 
 eager to come to action with the enemy : but Scindiah 
 was equally desirous to shun an engagement, and he 
 purposed to carry on a predatory war with his cavalry 
 only. But he was soon obliged to abandon this purpose 
 on account of the rapidity with which he was followed, 
 and the disposition of those detachments from the British 
 army by which his motions were circumscribed. He 
 therefore called up his infantry, and encamped at the 
 village of Assaye, having the almost impassable river 
 Kaitna, with its steep and rugged banks, in his front. 
 The troops of Scindiah, and those of his ally Bhoonslah, 
 the rajah of Berar, to the number of 50,000, occupied the 
 large plains to an extent of several miles ; and besides 
 their numbers and formidable position, they had an im- 
 mense train of artillery ; while Wellesley had with him 
 upon this occasion not more than 4,500 men, of whom 
 only 1700 were Europeans. But after the British com- 
 mander had surveyed the enemy's position, he resolved 
 to attack them, notwithstanding this disparity of num- 
 bers. As soon as this purpose was known his army was 
 elate with anticipated success : from their reliance upon 
 their commander, his soldiers felt as if the victory was 
 already their own. 
 
 On the '23d of September, 1803, was fought the im- 
 portant battle of Assaye. On the village of that name 
 the infantry composing the left wing of the enemy rested, 
 and upon this general Wellesley resolved to make the 
 attack, by which the battle would be confined within a 
 narrow space, and their numerous cavalry neutralized. 
 A ford was found by which the Kaitna was easily 
 crossed ; and with his infantry formed into two lines, 
 supported by the cavalry, he closed upon the enemy, 
 notwithstanding a heavy cannonade, by which his 
 few guns were rendered useless, most of the gunners 
 and draught bullocks being killed. The charge was 
 made with the bayonet ; the Mahratta artillery was 
 carried ; and the British still rushing forward, at length 
 drove the Mahratta infantry towards the river Jouah, a 
 tributary of the Kaitna, which joins it at an acute angle. 
 When the native troops of Scindiah were broken and 
 put to flight, the French infantry in his service re- 
 treated at first in good order ; but on being closely fol-
 
 WELLINGTON. 521 
 
 lowed and assailed by the victors, they were finally 
 compelled to fly with their allies. The British, in their 
 hot pursuit, had thrown themselves into some disorder; 
 and it was then that the Mahratta cavalry, which had 
 been shut out from the combat by the judicious arrange- 
 ments of Wellesley, began to muster upon the skirts of 
 our over-eager battalions, and threaten an attack ; while 
 some of their infantry had rallied near Assaye, and com- 
 menced a fire upon the rear of the pursuers. Thus, the 
 successful army was suddenly placed between two fires, 
 and its situation for a moment was more critical than 
 ever. But Wellesley, instantly placing himself at the 
 head of the 78th regiment and a portion of his native 
 cavalry, charged upon the Mahrattas who had rallied, 
 and soon put them to flight. The field was strewn with 
 the dead and wounded, and 100 pieces of artillery and 
 seven standards fell into the hands of the British, who 
 had 365 killed, and 1481 wounded, being more than one- 
 third of their whole force — a proof of the obstinacy of 
 the resistance, and the difiiculty of such a victory, as 
 ■well as the determined valour of those who gained it. 
 
 After this defeat, Scindiah had recourse to negotiation, 
 and a truce was agreed upon on the 22d of November, 
 by which he engaged to move his forces into the terri- 
 tories of the rajah of Berar, and there maintain a strict 
 neutrality. But instead of observing these conditions 
 he united himself with Manoo Bappoo, brother to the 
 rajah, and prepared to renew the war. Wellesley, there- 
 fore, went in pursuit of these confederates, whose united 
 forces composed a formidable army, and came up with 
 them on the 29th, near the village of Argaum. The Bri- 
 tish troops had performed a long march under the heat of 
 a burning sun, and the day was already far spent ; but 
 as soon as Wellesley discovered the enemy's line stretch- 
 ing to a great extent in front of the village, and drawn up 
 in battle array, he determined on an immediate attack. 
 As his army advanced for the purpose, a heavy cannon- 
 ade was suddenly opened upon it from artillery that 
 was concealed by trees, upon which a part of the native 
 infantry turned and fled in dismay : but before the panic 
 had spread, he succeeded in rallying, and bringing them 
 back, after which his whole line advanced at a steady 
 pace. The battle was now commenced in earnest by a 
 large body of Persian cavalry in the service of the rajah
 
 522 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 of Berar : these gallant Asiatics, mounted upon fleet 
 chargers, advanced like a whirlwind upon the 74th and 
 78th regiments, who were in advance on the riglit of 
 the British line ; but their impetuous onset and heady 
 valour were in vain, for they were cut off almost to a 
 man. At the same time Scindiah's cavalry made a dash 
 upon the British left, but were repulsed with great slaugh- 
 ter by a battalion of native infantry. The enemy's in- 
 fantry were now reached and encountered ; but these 
 having seen the fate of the horse, did not even wait the 
 charge : they fled in confusion, leaving their cannon 
 and ammunition behind, and were chased several miles 
 by moonlight with great slaughter ; nothing but the 
 friendly darkness could have saved them from total de- 
 struction. As it was, their loss was more than 2000 men, 
 while the British had only forty six killed, and about 300 
 wounded, Scindiah having been thus baffled by Welles- 
 ley, at the same time that his forces had been defeated 
 in the north by general Lake, now thought it prudent to 
 submit, more especially as the rajah of Berar had already 
 concluded a separate alliance with the British. He 
 acceded to every condition of the treaty which was pro- 
 posed by the conqueror, and surrendered into the posses- 
 sion of the Company the rich provinces between the 
 Jumna and the Ganges, called the Dooab, several exten- 
 sive districts beyond the Ganges, a part of his maritime 
 territory in Guzzerat, and finally the person of shah 
 Aulum, the Great Mogul, whom for some time he had 
 kept in a state of thraldom. Thus our empire in the east, 
 which was founded by Clive, was completed by the vic- 
 tories of Lake and Wellesley ; and while the former was 
 promoted to a peerage, the. latter was rewarded with the 
 order of the Bath. This was certainly establishing an 
 invidious disproportion between the merits of these two 
 illustrious commanders ; but Wellesley could afford to 
 wait : his spring-time of reputation had only begun, 
 and those deeds which with others would have formed 
 the bright termination of a military career, had been 
 with him nothing more than a commencement. 
 
 It was natural that Sir Arthur Wellesley should now 
 long for a more distinguished sphere of action than India 
 was likely to furnish. He had already established for 
 himself a reputation that was sure to open for him a 
 way in Europe, and the value of his services could not
 
 WELLINGTON. 523 
 
 tail to be appreciated by the authorities at home. Besides 
 this, his health required a change of climate, and he 
 was unwilling' to stay long^er in India, as he felt that the 
 Company had but coldly recognised the zeal with which 
 he had promoted their interests. He therefore announced 
 his intention of departing for England, to the regret of 
 all his companions in arms, as well as of those provinces 
 into which his civil administration had introduced the 
 blessings of prosperity and peace. Numerous addresses 
 from the various civil and military bodies, all expressive 
 of affection and regret, were sent to him on the occasion ; 
 and on the 5th of March (1805) a grand farewell enter- 
 tainment was given to him by the ofScers of the presi- 
 dency of Madras. A few dajs after this, he embarked 
 for England, where he arrived in the month of September. 
 Circumstances had occurred before the lauding of Sir 
 Arthur that seemed to promise him immediate opportu- 
 nities of distinction ; for, in consequence of the growing 
 power of France, Russia, Austria, and Sweden had 
 leagued with Great Britain against the predominant 
 enemy. Only one mouth, therefore, after the arrival of 
 Sir Arthur Wellesley, our ministry resolved to send an 
 army to the north of Germany, to co-operate with the 
 Swedish and Russian forces for the recovery of Hanover, 
 and to attempt a diversion in favour of the Austrian and 
 Russian army, at this time closely pressed by Napoleon 
 on the banks of the Danube. But this expedition, to 
 which Sir Arthur was attached, and most unjustly as a 
 mere leader of brigade, had scarcely reached its destina- 
 tion, when Napoleon's successes, the treachery of Mack, 
 and above all the battle of Austerlitz, showed the im- 
 practicability of the attempt, so that the British army 
 returned to England early in the spring of 1806. On 
 Sir Arthur Wellesley's arrival, he was returned to the Bri- 
 tish parliament as member for the borough of Newport, 
 the first time he had sat in that house ; and here he was 
 obliged to defend his brother, the governor-general of 
 India, upon the several charges that were brought against 
 his vice-regal administration. This, however, he effec- 
 tually accomplished, and showed himself as powerful in 
 the senate as in the field ; and in April of the same 
 year he married the Hon. Miss Elizabeth Packenham, 
 daughter of lord Longford, to whom he had been en- 
 gaged before his departure for India. After this, the
 
 52A MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 duke of Richmond being appointed lord-lieutenant of 
 Ireland, in April, 1807, Sir Arthur was appointed hia 
 chief secretary, in which capacity he was employed for 
 several months, partly in Dublin, and partly in London. 
 But the expedition to Copenhagen soon called him from 
 civil into military action, and when admiral Gambier 
 and lord Catbcart were sent, at the head of a powerful 
 armament, to secure the Danish fleet at Copenhagen, 
 that it might not be employed by France to the jeopardy 
 of England, Sir Arthur Wellesley accompanied the ex- 
 pedition as commander of the division of reserve. In 
 this hostile demonstration, which was completely suc- 
 cessful. Sir Arthur bore a distinguished part. He led 
 the reserve in two divisions against the Danes at Kioge, 
 where three or four of their battalions were drawn up 
 in one line, with cavalry upon either flank, and at a 
 short distance there seemed to be another force still 
 more numerous. Such was the skilfulness of his arrange- 
 ments, and the promptness of his attack, that the 
 Danes were routed with great loss. This defeat accele- 
 rated the capitulation that soon took place, by which the 
 Danish fleet was surrendered to the temporary custody of 
 England. On returning to England, and resuming his 
 oflicial duties as chief secretary of Ireland, Sir Arthur 
 received the thanks of the House of Commons, * for the 
 zeal, intrepidity, and energy, displayed in the various 
 operations which were necessary for conducting the 
 siege, and effecting the surrender of the navy and ar- 
 senal of Copenhagen.' 
 
 The time had at length arrived when Sir Arthur Wel- 
 lesley was to enter upon a field where his great talents 
 could be properly exercised, and for which his previous 
 training in India had so admirably fitted him. The re- 
 sistance of Spain and Portugal to the aggressions of 
 Napoleon had filled the British public with such hopes of 
 success, that an army was assembled in 1808 to aid these 
 countries against the common enemy, and Sir Arthur was 
 appointed to command an expedition in which be would 
 have to cope with the bravest armies and best leaders of 
 France. He set sail with the armament from Cork on 
 July 12th, but on arriving at Corunna he found that 
 the Spaniards, although they had lately been defeated 
 under their generals Ceusta and Blake were still too 
 proud to avail themselves of the aid of a British army.
 
 WELLINGTON. 525 
 
 They were eager enough, however, to receive supplies 
 of arms, ammunition, and above all of money, after being 
 furnished with which they advised Sir Arthur to repair 
 to the north of Portugal, where his exertions would be 
 most required. Sir Arthur repaired to Portugal accord- 
 ingly ; and after some negotiations with the leading 
 men of that country, he found that the best place to dis- 
 embark his army would be the Mondego river, upon 
 which he took this bold step, although all his forces had 
 not yet arrived, while he knew that Sir Hew Dalrymple 
 had been sent out to supersede him. The remainder of 
 the troops under general Spencer unexpectedly arrived 
 before the landing was completed ; and Sir Arthur set 
 forward at the head of 12,000 men, few of whom had 
 ever seen actual service, with inexperienced officers, a 
 mere handful of cavalry, and a wretchedly defective 
 commissariat. But this decisive measure was necessary 
 on account of the despondency of the Portuguese. He 
 was joined by a Portuguese army in a still worse plight 
 than his own, upon which he commenced his march to 
 Lisbon by the sea-coast, to keep up his communication 
 with the store-ships. But the leaders of Portugal soon 
 showed themselves as obstinate and opinionative as those 
 of Spain, so that when Sir Arthur an-ived at Leyria, he 
 found that the Portuguese general would accompany 
 him no farther. Every entreaty on the part of the Bri- 
 tish commander was in vain, and all that he could 
 obtain was a reinforcement of 1000 infantry, with all the 
 light troops and cavalry, from the Portuguese army. 
 
 It was necessary for a force so constituted as the 
 British to press forward to action, as nothing but a vic- 
 tory could reconcile such impracticable allies. Fortu- 
 nately, too, the opportunity was at hand, as generals 
 Laborde and Loison had been detached by Junot to 
 proceed to Leyria, and anticipate the arrival of the 
 British. But having been too late for this purpose, 
 Loison was obliged to return, leaving Laborde with 6000 
 men at Rolifa. Sir Arthur hun-ied forward to the 
 attack, and after driving in the enemy's pickets, he 
 surveyed the position of their main army, and adopted 
 his plan with promptitude. The French occupied the 
 plain in front of the village, and the nearest hills on 
 each side, all the favourable points of which were occu- 
 pied by small detachments, while in their rear was
 
 526 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 a steep ridge parallel to their position, forming a second 
 line, in which they might entrench themselves in case 
 of defeat. Wellesley resolved to attack them in three 
 columns : one of these was to turn the left of the French, 
 and penetrate into the mountains in their rear ; an- 
 other was to take possession of the hills on their right, 
 and watch the advance of Loison, who was hourly ex- 
 pected to come to the aid of his partner from Alcaentre ; 
 while with the centre column, which he intended to 
 lead himself. Sir Arthur resolved to attack the enemy 
 in front. These dispositions heing made, the British 
 army advanced to the attack on the irth of August; but 
 Laborde, whose interest it was to gain time, in the hope 
 of Loison's arrival, retired adroitly and in good order by 
 the passes of the mountains, as his antagonists advanced. 
 A new arrangement was thus necessary, for the French 
 were more strongly posted than ever : accordingly, the 
 right and left British columns were marched to out- 
 flank the enemy on either side, while the main column, 
 without waiting the result of these movements, made 
 a furious onset upon the enemy's front, which was 
 strongly defended by passes lined with light troops. A 
 desperate struggle was the consequence, in which the 9th 
 and 29th regiments forced two strong ravines, and main- 
 tained their ground till the rest of the troops came up, 
 and particularly one of the flanking columns, that had now 
 entered into combat ; afterwards their united efl^brts w-ere 
 so successful, that the French were compelled to give 
 ■way. Sir Arthur's want of cavalry prevented a pursuit 
 through the mountain passes, but the honours, if not the 
 advantages, of victory were decidedly his own. It must 
 be remembered also, that although the British were so 
 superior in numbers, only about 5000 men were ac- 
 tually engaged. 
 
 In the mean time Junot, who commanded in Portugal, 
 had resolved to check the advance of the British, for 
 which purpose he left Lisbon, and marched upon Torres 
 Vedras, which he reached the day after the battle of 
 Rolifa. In consequence of this movement. Sir Arthur 
 ■would have marched thither immediately ; but having 
 learned that generals Anstruther and Ackland were in 
 the offing with reinforcements for his army, he resolved 
 to protect their disembarkation. He therefore proceeded 
 to Vimiero, which he judged the most fitting place for
 
 WELLINGTON. 627 
 
 the purpose, and the troops were landed through a vio- 
 lent surf. His whole force was now increased to 19,000 
 men, and eighteen pieces of artillery ; hut he was still 
 so miserably deficient in cavalry, that he was unable to 
 gain information of the enemy's movements. At length, 
 having learned that Junot had concentrated his forces, 
 and occupied a strong position at Torres Vedras, he re- 
 solved to turn it by moving along the coast and gaining 
 Mafra, where he would be in the rear of the enemy with 
 his advanced guard, while the rest of his army should 
 occupy a strong post on the left bank of the San Lorenzo, 
 at a few miles distance. But this daring plan, which 
 perhaps would have decided the fate of Portugal by a 
 single blow, was unfortunately annihilated at the very 
 moment that it was about to be attempted. Sir Harry 
 Burrard, who had been sent out to supersede Sir Ar- 
 thur, had arrived in Maceira Roads ; and no sooner 
 was the measure proposed to him, than he gave it a most 
 decided negative. Sir Arthur Wellesley was therefore 
 obliged to remain at Vimiero in a weak position, while 
 Junot, as he was well aware, was marching thither to 
 give him battle. 
 
 On the 21st of August, at eight o'clock in the morning, 
 large masses of the enemy's cavalry became visible ; 
 columns of infantry followed, and in such a direction as 
 showed that they meant to turn the left of the British 
 position, and attack it in the rear. This would have cut 
 oflF the only chance of retreat, and therefore Sir Arthur 
 anticipated their movement by advancing four brigades, 
 with three pieces of cannon, to the height on the Lou- 
 rinha road, along which the enemy were advancing. 
 After an awful pause, during which the French columns 
 were sometimes concealed by trees and the broken 
 ground as they marched, they made their presence 
 known by a furious attack on the advanced guard, 
 which was promptly met by terrible volleys of mus- 
 ketry and Shrapnel's case-shot : they still, however, con- 
 tinued to press forward and ascend the steep acclivity, 
 when the 50th regiment closed upon them with the bayo- 
 net. The charge was so irresistible, that the assailants 
 were defeated with great loss. Another French co- 
 lumn advanced to the church-yard for the purpose of pe- 
 netrating into the town, in which attempt at first they 
 were almost successful ; but on being charged in flank
 
 528 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 by Ackland's brigade, which was moving to take up its 
 position, this attempt was also frustrated. While these 
 two attacks were going on, a third and the most desperate 
 of all was made by two French grenadier battalions, 
 that were ordered to take Ackland's brigade in flank; 
 but the English guns opened upon them at a distance of 
 200 yards, and swept down their ranks as they advanced. 
 The French columns now began to retreat in great dis- 
 order, upon which the handful of British cavalry im- 
 prudently dashed among them ; but the French horse 
 rallied, and charged upon them so violently as to drive 
 them back with the loss of their colonel. While the 
 British centre was thus hotly and successfully engaged, 
 the battle was equally violent on the extreme left, which 
 the French, under general Solignac, had hoped to take 
 in flank and rear. But as soon as he had executed his 
 circuitous movement for the purpose, he was disappointed 
 to find three lines of infantry drawn up to receive him. 
 The French charged, but were received so steadily at 
 the point of the bayonet, that they soon wavered, upon 
 which they were attacked by the British in turn, and 
 driven, after a desperate struggle, into the low ground 
 of the village of Perenza, with the loss of six pieces of 
 cannon. General Brennier, who had been detached by 
 Junot toco-operate with Solignac, but had been obstructed 
 m his march by several ravines, now advanced, and 
 entered into action ; but the British, who had been in- 
 terrupted only for a moment by his coming, soon ral- 
 lied, returned to the charge, and continued to drive the 
 enemy before them. The French brigades being thus 
 broken in all directions, and the left of their army sepa- 
 rated from the right. Sir Arthur Wellesley resolved to 
 cut off the latter from Torres Vedras, and prevent its 
 retreat upon Lisbon. But Sir Harry Burrard, who had 
 arrived during the action, and taken no share in it 
 from a feeling of delicacy, now interposed. He thought 
 the measure too hazardous, although he saw the enemy 
 flying before him, and therefore he ordered the troops 
 to halt on the ground they occupied. In vain Sir Arthur 
 represented that nearly one-half of the British army 
 had not been in action, and that the whole united could 
 safely move on Torres Vedras. The new commander 
 could not understand this plain reasoning, and trembled 
 for his responsibility. In the mean time, Junot profited
 
 WELLINGTON. 529 
 
 by this cessation : he rallied his broken troops and re- 
 gained the pass of Torres Vedras to prepare anew for 
 action. In this battle the French lost about 2000 men, 
 thirteen pieces of cannon, and twenty-three waggons 
 loaded with ammunition : the loss of the British was 720 
 in killed, wounded, and missing. 
 
 The singular chapter of changes in the command of 
 the IJi'itish army had not yet terminated ; for early on 
 the morning after the battle Sir Hew Dalrymple arrived 
 to supersede Sir Harry Burrard ; and thus, no doubt to 
 the great astonishment of the French, the British army 
 had three commanders-in-chief successively, in twenty- 
 four hours. Sir Hew intended to commence active mea- 
 sures on the arrival of Sir John Moore with reinforce- 
 ments ; but Junot did not oblige him to await the coming 
 of such effective aid. That able commander had now 
 resolved to evacuate Portugal, and he accordingly sent 
 general Kellermaun with a flag of truce, to ascertain the 
 tenns on which he would be permitted to depart. Thus, 
 in spite of the scrupulous misgivings of Burrard and 
 Dalrymple, the French confessed their inferiority, so that 
 the bold measures of Wellesley might have been adopted 
 with everj' prospect of success. As it was, an agreement, 
 commonly called the convention of Cintra, was ratified, 
 by which the French army engaged to evacuate Portu- 
 gal, on conditions of which the following is a summary', 
 viz. : ' The soldiers not to be considered as prisoners of 
 war, but to be at liberty to serve on their arrival iu 
 France ; — to be conveyed from Portugal by the British 
 government ; — to be allowed to carry wiih them their 
 arms and baggage, their artillery of French calibre and 
 horses belonging to it, and tumbrils, supplied with 
 sixty rounds per gun, as well as their military chest and 
 personal property — and should any doubt arise as to the 
 meaning of any article, it was to be explained iu favour 
 of the French army.' Had Sir Arthur Wellesley been 
 commander-in-chief on this occasion, no such proposals 
 ■would have been listened to for a moment; but his re- 
 monstrances on the subject were overruled by his su- 
 periors, who dreaded the thought of reducing the French 
 to desperation. He had no resource but to sign the 
 treaty with the rest, and this he did with feelings of 
 bitterness, resolving immediately after to return to Eng- 
 land, as he could be of no farther service to the army. 
 2 A
 
 533 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Not only England, but Portugal also, participated in his 
 indignation at this unworthy convention. The French 
 troops, on leaving Portugal, took care not to depart 
 empty-handed. They carried oflF the plunder of churches, 
 museums, and private houses, under the pretence that it 
 was their own property, notwithstanding the remon- 
 strances of the lawful owners, and they embarked amidst 
 the curses of a whole nation which they had so wantonly 
 oppressed and impoverished. 
 
 After this event, no farther military operations re- 
 mained in Portugal; upon which Sir Arthur Wellesley, 
 having sought and obtained permission, returned to 
 London. After justifying the small share he bad taken 
 in the convention of Cintra, he resumed his official situ- 
 ation of chief secretary for Ireland, and repaired to 
 Dublin. But his stay there was brief, in consequence of 
 the re-assembling of parliament ; and when he resumed 
 his seat, he was gratified to receive the thanks of both 
 houses for his services in Portugal. Sir Arthur was 
 occupied for a short time in parliamentary duties, when 
 a fresh summons called him again to the field. Notwith- 
 standing the deliverance of Portugal, the cause of France 
 had been triumphant in Spain, where army after army 
 had been beaten or annihilated ; and to crown all, the 
 expedition of Sir John Moore, from which so much had 
 been hoped, had terminated at Corunna, in consequence 
 of %vhich Portugal was once more occupied by a French 
 army under marshal Soult. The unfortunate Portuguese 
 again implored the aid of England, upon which our 
 ministry resolved to resume the war in the Peninsula 
 upon a greater scale than ever; and as no one was 
 thought so capable of encountering the great commanders 
 of Napoleon as the victor of Vimiero, Sir Arthur Welles- 
 ley was selected to conduct the expedition. His recom- 
 mendation to the British ministry respecting the conduct 
 of the war was, that Portugal should be defended what- 
 ever became of Spain, and that, in consequence of th3 
 inefficiency of the Portuguese armies, a British force of 
 30,000 men should be kept up in that country. Having: 
 thus provided against those disasters that had marred 
 the Spanish campaign, he sailed from Portsmouth on the 
 IGth of April, 1809, and on the '22d arrived in the Tagus, 
 where he was welcomed by the people with rapture, 
 while Lisbon was illuminated in honour of his arrival.
 
 WELLINGTON. 631 
 
 For a short time previous, lord Beresford, who had been 
 appointed to the command of the Portuguese forces, had 
 been employed in the Herculean task of reducing- them 
 to military discipline, and had stxcceeded so much beyond 
 expectation, that they were now in some measure fit to 
 co-operate with the British army. Soult was at present 
 at Oporto, in the north of Portugal, and Victor and 
 Lapisse at Merida, — their united forres being- about 
 30,000. The plan which Sir Arthur adopted was to drive 
 Soult into Galicia, and upon his return to fall upon 
 Lapisse and Victor, who in the mean time were to be 
 prevented from joining Soult by a strong detachment 
 from the British army. This arrangement, however, was 
 disturbed by a victory which Soult had gained over 
 Sylveira ; Sir Arthur therefore resolved to advance and 
 operate on two routes, one of which, the high road that 
 led to Oporto, would enable him to fall upon Soult's riirht 
 unexpectedly, with superior numbers. This part of the 
 army he conducted in person, committing the other to 
 marshal Beresford, and on the 9th of May the main body 
 of the British army marched from Coimbra. On the 
 11th, the advanced guard of the French, to the number 
 of 4000, was found strongly posted at Grijo, and was 
 attacked in front and flank with such vigour, that it 
 was forced from its position, and obliged to cross the 
 Douro. This was a disastrous circumstance for Soult, 
 who would have retreated immediately from Oporto, but 
 calculating upon the impediments in the route of the Bri- 
 tish, he thought that he might safely remain twenty four 
 hours longer, to concentrate his detachments. His calcu- 
 lations, however, did not take into account the uncommon 
 skill and enterprise of the British commander. Welles- 
 ley resolved to cross the Douro without delay, although 
 the passage of the river was truly perilous, being deep, 
 rapid, and more than 300 yards wide, while 10,000 
 French veterans lined the opposite bank. Having select-d 
 a favourable position on the other side, where the first 
 troops that crossed would be able to maintain themselves 
 till farther aid arrived, he gave the signal, and boat 
 after boat to the number of three were successively 
 launched, without producing any stir among the enemy. 
 The landing-place was a very strong building called the 
 Seminary, surrounded by a stone wall, and here the 
 whole of the first battalion of the Buffs had landed and
 
 532 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 established themselves before a single gun was fired. Then, 
 indeed, as if rousing from a trance, the French troops 
 rushed from Oporto towards the Seminary ; horse, foot, and 
 artillery, surrounded and assailed it at once with the sud- 
 denness of a hurricane ; and such was the critical situation 
 of the building-, gii-dled as it was with incessant flashes 
 of musketry and cannon, that a long- resistance seemed 
 impossible. General Paget, who had mounted the roof 
 of the Seminary, was struck down by a musket shot ; 
 general Hill took his place ; and as the contest deep- 
 ened and became more desperate. Sir Arthur was only 
 prevented fi-om crossing in person by the vehement 
 remonstrances of his officers. In the mean time, several 
 boats were eagerly brought by the citizens and launched, 
 to accelerate the crossing, while shouts and the waving 
 of handkerchiefs from the windows of Oporto gave notice 
 that the French had abandoned the lower part of the 
 city. General Murray, who had been detached with a 
 small force to cross the river four miles above the city, 
 in which he had succeeded, now arrived as the French 
 columns were yielding, and in a short time they were 
 compelled to retreat. Such was the celebrated passage 
 of the Douro — an achievement which for skill and daring 
 yields to none that occurred during the course of this 
 momentous war, — achieved, too, at the expense of only 
 twenty killed and ninety-six wounded, while the French 
 sustained a loss of 500 in killed and wounded, as well as 
 the capture of five pieces of cannon. The French re- 
 treated to Vallonga, while Sir Arthur employed the two 
 following days in crossing over the rest of his army, with 
 the baggage, stores, and artillery. Oporto was full of 
 triumph at its deliverance, and every house was illu- 
 minated ; but the light shone fearfully upon the dead 
 corpses of the French, that had been shamefully stripped 
 by the people, and left neglected upon the streets; and 
 Sir Arthur, after having defeated the enemy, was now 
 obliged to repress the excesses of his allies, and compel 
 them to respect the common observances of humanity. 
 
 On the 13th of May, when the British rear had crossed 
 the river. Sir Arthur Wellesley commenced the pursuit of 
 Soult ; but this skilful commander, who never appeared 
 greater than in defeat, had rallied his forces success- 
 fully, and was retreating to Amarante, where he ex- 
 pected that Loison with a strong force still maintained
 
 WELLINGTON. 533 
 
 his position. But Loison, on learning that Oporto had 
 been evacuated, had retired without a blow at the ap- 
 proach of Beresford, leaving Soult to the chance of cap- 
 ture or destruction. This discovery stunned the whole 
 French army for an instant, and a cry was raised that 
 they must capitulate ; but Soult stilled their murmurs, 
 and at this critical moment a Spanish pedlar offered to 
 conduct him by a path that led over the Sierra de Cata- 
 lina to Guimaraens. The general immediately destroyed 
 his artillery, abandoned his military chest and baggage, 
 loaded the animals with the sick and musket ammu- 
 nition, and in this forlorn condition fullovv'ed his guide 
 amidst torrents of rain, and through a region that would 
 have tried the practised foot of the goatherd. At Gui- 
 maraens he fell in with Loisin, and on the same night 
 he was joined by Lorges' dragoons from Braga. Thus 
 his heroic perseverance and courage under the most try- 
 ing circumstances enabled him to concentrate his army, 
 so that he was at the head of 20,000, and ready to renew 
 the war, instead of having recourse, like Junot, to a 
 convention. He resumed his march, taking upon him- 
 self the command of the rear-guard, to oppose the pur- 
 suit of the British, by whom he was closely followed, 
 while the front, under the command of Loison, was 
 obliged to fight its way through the Portuguese. In this 
 manner the French army had reached the Ponte Nova 
 on the Cavado river on the 16th ; while the rear-guard 
 was halting at Salamonde, to protect its crossing on the 
 retreat to Montalegre, when VVellesley, who had left 
 Braga in the morning, came upon it at about four in the 
 afternoon. Soult had posted his rear-guard to great ad- 
 vantage, with a ravine on the right and a steep hill on 
 the left : but the hill was soon turned ; his soldiers, who 
 were dispirited, fled, after a single volley; and as they 
 crossed the Ponte Nova, the British guns played upon 
 them with such tremendous effect, that the bridge, the 
 neighbouring rocks, and the defile beyond, were strewed 
 with dead. The French managed, however, to reach 
 Montalegre on the 17th, and on the 19th Soult was at 
 Orense, whither he could not be pursued by an army 
 encumbered with guns and baggage. But while we 
 allow the defeated French general his proper meed of 
 approbation, let us not lose sight of the successful rival 
 to whose superiority he was obliged to yield. Sir Arthur
 
 534 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 had landed at a distracted capital, and among a dispi- 
 rited people, and two powerful armies were in the field 
 to oppose him, one of which held possession of the second 
 city in the king-dom. But in twenty-eight days he had 
 raised the people from despair to hope, made a march of 
 200 miles through a difficult country, forced the passage 
 of a great river, and compelled his adversary to fly 
 across the frontier without artillery or baggage. 
 
 Sir Arthur VVellesley was now eager to carry the war 
 into Spain ; but, on returning from his pursuit of Soult 
 to Oporto, in consequence of the necessity of refitting his 
 army, he had there a chilling specimen of the nature of 
 Portuguese gratitude. His soldiers were in want of every 
 necessary, and had received no pay for two months; 
 there was no money in the military chest, and the sup- 
 plies of gold from England had not yet arrived. In this 
 difficulty he applied to the senate, and afterwards to the 
 merchants of the Wine Company, but in vain; and at 
 last, after considerable delay, they were absolutely 
 shamed into a loan of £10,000, for the supplies of an 
 army that had saved their city from being plundered. 
 This sum was but a drop compared with the emergency, 
 so that after marching to Abrantes, Sir Arthur found 
 himself unable to carry the war across the frontiers from 
 want of money. The expected remittances came from 
 England, but valuable time had been lost, and after the 
 arrears of the army had been paid, nothing remained 
 but a trifling balance with which to commence the cam- 
 paign. To add to this miserable deficiency in what so 
 emphatically constitutes the sinews of war, general 
 Cuesta, the Spanish commander, with whom the British 
 general was to co-operate, was a stupid, bigotted, ob- 
 stinate old man, who could understand no plan, and 
 would obey no will, but his own, while the Estremaduran 
 army under his command was so undisciplined and dis- 
 organized, that it was altogether unfit to be trusted. Thus 
 Sir Arthur Wellesley had entered upon all the difficulties 
 by which Moore had been so miserably beset; but an 
 immediate advance into Spain was necessary, and he 
 commenced the campaign accordingly, without waiting 
 for the reinforcements that were expected from England. 
 His force on this occasion consisted of 22,000 British 
 soldiers ; of the allies, Cuesta's army amounted to 38,000, 
 and that of Venegas to 25,000, but upon these he could
 
 WELLINGTON. 53.5 
 
 place little reliance ; wbile Spain was occupied by above 
 70,000 French soldiers in complete fighting trim, 
 
 Ou the 8th of July, 1809, Sir Arthur arrived at Pla- 
 sencia. On arriving at the ridge of mountains that 
 separates the valley of the Tagus from Castile and Leon, 
 he found it necessary to guard his flanks by securing 
 two passes, one of which he wished Cuesta to occupy; 
 but here the old Spaniard was so impracticable, that 
 after a long refusal he stiffly assented, and then allotted 
 for the purpose only 600 meu — a mere mockery for such 
 a service. Sir Arthur, after this, endeavoured to consult 
 with him upon their line of future operations ; but the 
 old man squandered away two precious days in obstinate 
 and useless debate, and would at last assent to no pro- 
 posal. Such was the conduct of this worse than useless 
 ally ; nor was that of the Junta more flattering. As in 
 the case of general Moore, they promised every thing and 
 performed nothing— so that uhile the Spanish camp was 
 filled to overflowing, the English army was furnished 
 with neither carts nor mules, and was starving for want 
 of provisions. Bitterly, indeed, might Sir Arthur have 
 exclaimed in the words of the Spanish proverb, ' Spare 
 me from my friends : I can defend myself from my 
 enemies!' 
 
 Under these ominous circumstances the British marched 
 to Talavera, and easily drove in the enemy's outposts. 
 On the following morning they were ready for battle ; 
 but here again Cuesta interposed, by refusing to move 
 till the next day. Thus the 23rd was passed in inaction. 
 Early, however, on the succeeding morning the allied 
 troops were put in motion to pass the Alberche, but no 
 enemy was visible, having retreated during the night to 
 Toledo. Beyond this point Sir Arthur had previously 
 expressed his resolution not to move until his starving 
 soldiers were supplied with provisions, upon which 
 Cuesta, with a rashness equal to his obstinacy, resolved 
 to pursue the enemy at the head of his own army. This 
 he did in the fond hope of reaching Madrid ; but when 
 he had arrived at Torrejos ou the 26th, his heart misgave 
 him, so that he resolved to retrace his steps and fall 
 back upon his British allies. Fortunately for him. Sir 
 Arthur had moved two divisions of infantry and all his 
 cavalry across the Alberche to Cazalegas, to which 
 place the Spanish army returned in great disorder, with
 
 536 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 the French in full pursuit at their heels. It was 
 now necessary to withdraw the Spanish ai-my from its 
 dangerous position on the farther side of the Alberche — 
 upon which Sir Arthur pointed out to Cuesta a safe 
 position at Talavera ; but it was with the utmost reluc- 
 tance that the Spaniard at last yielded to a suggestion 
 upon which the fate of his army depended. The allied 
 forces now occupied a position about two miles in length, 
 extending perpendicularly from the Tagus ; their right 
 rested on the river in front of Talavera, where the 
 ground was shaded with vines and olive-trees, and inter- 
 sected by banks and ditches, while their left rested upon 
 a commanding height overlooking a valley of about 600 
 yards wide. The Spaniards, who were posted on the 
 right by the judicious foresight of Sir Arthur Wellesley, 
 were so effectually protected by trees, banks, walls, and 
 ditches, that they would be little exposed to a heavy 
 cannonade, and there, also, they could defend themselves 
 to advantage when assailed. The approach to Talavera, 
 which was by the Toledo road, was defended by a heavy 
 battery in front of a church, which was occupied by Spa- 
 nish troops ; the town itself was also occupied by Spanish 
 infantry, and the point of junction between the two 
 allied annies was defended by a half-finished redoubt, that 
 contained ten guns, a division of British infantry, and a 
 brigade of cavalry. This favourable position was com- 
 pletely occupied on the evening of the 27th of July. The 
 British troops, including those of the German legion, 
 amounted to nearly 20,000 men, with 30 guns ; the Spa- 
 nish army to 34,000 men, with 70 guns ; while the French 
 army consisted of 50,000 veteran soldiers, accustomed 
 to victory, and commanded by king Joseph in person, 
 who had under him the marshals Jourdan and Vic- 
 tor. 
 
 The encounters that preluded the battle of Talavera 
 would have themselves been reckoned worthy of com- 
 memoration, but for the engagement that followed. On 
 the afternoon of the 27th, a division of the French forded 
 the Alberche, and threw forward their light infantry so 
 rapidly, that they almost took Sir Arthur himself pri- 
 soner ; but the steadiness of the 45th regiment restored 
 the battle, and the British division, after losing 400 men, 
 regained its position. The enemy cannonaded the Bri- 
 tish during the evening, and endeavoured at the same
 
 WELLINGTON. 537 
 
 time to overtbrow the Spauish infantry on tbe right, but 
 without success : dunng the night, howefer, they threw 
 a division across the valley on the left of the high grounds 
 where tlie British were posted under general Hill ; a 
 desperate conflict followed, as this was the key of the 
 British position, and the French were driven down the 
 hill into the ravine below. This important post was 
 again attempted at daylight on the '2Sth, and the French, 
 who had planted artillery on the opposite height, which 
 corresponded with that of the British position, kept up a 
 cannonade that swept along the whole army as far as 
 the redoubt that connected it with the Spaniards. Aided 
 by this destructive fire, the French columns advanced 
 upon both sides of the hill, and their musketry was so 
 heavy and fatal, that multitudes of the British fell, and 
 Hill himself was wounded ; but at length a terrible 
 charge of his light and heavy cavalry united wrested 
 the temporary advantage from the enemy, and drove 
 them back to their former station. 
 
 The hour for a decisive push was now at hand. The last 
 of the above-mentioned skirmishes had ended at nine 
 o'clock in the morning, and from that period until mid-day 
 the heat of the weather was so intense, that the troops of 
 both parties mingled together to quench their thirst at 
 the little brook between their positions, without interrup- 
 tion. But at one o'clock the French drums interrupted 
 this temporary harmony, and their troops began to muster : 
 at two, the French heights opposite tbe British position 
 swarmed with troops that reached to the valley below, and 
 immediately the battle was opened by eighty pieces of can- 
 non, whose destructive showers preceded the onset of the 
 light troops. Sir Arthur Wellesley took post on the sum- 
 mit of the hill, from which he watched every movement 
 of the enemy, who endeavoured to bear down the British 
 army by a simultaneous attack both upon its wings and 
 centre, and several columns of infantry, supported by light 
 cavalry, had already all but reached the hill upon the 
 left. But before they could clear the obstacles of the 
 lower ground, Sir Arthur sent Anson's brigade, composed 
 of the 23rd light dragoons and the 1st German hussars 
 to charge upon them. The gallant troops went off at a 
 canter, which soon increased to a gallop, but a hollow 
 cleft was in their way, of which they were not aware 
 till they touched the brink. The Germans reined up 
 2 A 2
 
 538 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 under a heavy fire, but the English impetuously dashed 
 in, men and horses rolling over each other, or desperately 
 scrambling up the opposite bank by twos and threes, 
 where they were speedily rallied, and led headlong into 
 the midst of the enemy. Here, however, their career 
 terminated ; for Victor detached his Polish laucers and 
 Westphaliau light horse to fall upon them in the rear, a 
 service which these fresh troops performed with such 
 vigour, that the 23rd was overpowered and obliged to 
 retreat, with the loss of half the number that went into 
 action. But their adversaries, as if exhausted by the 
 effort, remained stationary in the valley, and did not 
 venture upon the Gennan cavalry that were still drawn 
 up in reserve. While these events occurred on the Bri- 
 tish left, Victor's fourth corps assailed the right, but was 
 met upon either flank by a heavy fire that soon threw it 
 into confusion, and drove it back with great loss. The 
 broken troops rallied, however, and attempted to make 
 head against their assailants ; but a regiment of Spanish 
 cavalry charged among them and completed their discom- 
 fiture. At the same moment, the centre was the scene 
 of a furious conflict, where the British, after being almost 
 torn to pieces by the French battery, were attacked by a 
 division that had crossed the ravine, under general La- 
 pisse. The assailants were met by Sherbrooke's division 
 with a heavy fire, and then a charge of bayonets that 
 niade them give way, upon which they were pursued by 
 the brigade of guards ; but this fine body being carried 
 away by the ardour of conflict, the British left flank 
 was uncovered, the French rallied with the aid of their 
 supporting columns, the guards were driven back, and 
 the English troops fell into disorder. But Sir Arthur, 
 who had foreseen this contingency even while the guards 
 were in pursuit, sent down the 48th regiment to their 
 relief. It descended and formed on the plain, and after 
 dismissing the fugitives through its openings, the whole 
 body resumed its line, and met the pursuers with such a 
 shock as suddenly to suspend their career. The disor- 
 dered British and Gennan troops in the mean time were 
 rallied during the respite, and the French, already confi- 
 dent of victory, were driven back, while their leader 
 was mortally wounded. Thus the French had been 
 thrown off and baSled at every point ; and the British, 
 who had endured the whcle brunt of the battle, might
 
 WELLINGTON. 539 
 
 now have become the assailants; but they were in such 
 an exhausted condition from long want of provisions, 
 and the Spanish army was so little to be trusted, that 
 they were unable to improve their victory. When the bat- 
 tle, therefore, ceased at six o'clock, both parties retained 
 their orig-inal position, and the loss on either side had 
 been equal, amounting in each case to about 7000 men. 
 But the honour and the moral advantages of the 
 conflict were decidedly in favour of the British troops. 
 They had borne the onset of more than twice their num- 
 ber of French troops, and had repelled them, while 
 Cuesta, in his impregnable position which had been as- 
 signed him by the British commander, took little share 
 in the engagement. The close of the battle of Talavera 
 was marked by one of those frightful incidents that so 
 often rob war of its attractions. The long, dry grass and 
 shrubs having taken fire, an inundation of flames passed 
 suddenly over a part of the field, scorching in its course 
 the dead and wounded. To add to these suflferings, after 
 the allied army had entered Talavera, there had been 
 made by the Spanish authorities no provision whatever 
 for the wounded, and although the British troops were 
 perishing with hunger, while there was abundance of 
 grain secreted in the town, no succour was allowed them. 
 Beyond this point endarance would have been more or 
 less than human, and Sir Arthur Wellesley was obliged 
 to tell the Junta in plain terms, that instead of following 
 out the campaign he would disperse his army until he 
 was supplied with provisions and proper means of trans- 
 port. 
 
 An important difiiculty under which the British gene- 
 ral had laboured since his entrance into Spain, arose 
 from his want of intelligence respecting the movements 
 of the different French commanders, and the extent of 
 their resources : this was especially the case respecting 
 the army under Soult, of the number and movements of 
 which Sir Arthur could obtain no certain tidings, until 
 it had advanced through the Puerto de Banos without 
 meeting with the slightest resistance from the Spaniards. 
 It was only in this unwelcome fashion that the neigh- 
 bourhood of an enemy was announced, and Sir Arthur 
 resolved to go in quest of Soult, after leaving Cuesta at 
 Talavera to hold Victor in check. He commenced his 
 march at the head of the British army on the 3rd of
 
 540 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Aug-iist, hoping to overwhelm Soult, whose forces he had 
 been taught to consider as numerically inferior ; but on 
 the contrary, the duke of Daimatia had 53,000 soldiers, 
 ■while his own, after being reinforced by several Spanish 
 battalions, did not exceed 23,000. Cuesta, indeed, so 
 far from defending Talavera, had abandoned it to the 
 enemy, and was now within a day's march of the Bri- 
 tish ; but to balance such a doubtful chance of aid, king 
 Joseph and Victor were preparing to effect a junction at 
 Mostoles. The narrow valley of the Tagus was now the 
 scene of a curious game of cross-purposes, where Soult 
 and Wellesley, equally ignorant of each other's move- 
 ments, might have stumbled upon each other by chance, 
 in which case the collision would have been fearful to 
 the British army. But just at one and the same period 
 intercepted letters fell into the hands of both leaders, by 
 which Sir Arthur ascertained the real strength of Soult, 
 while the latter discovered that the British were almost 
 within his reach. A fearful but a spirit-stirring trial of 
 skill now took place between these two great masters in 
 the art of war, where the one sought, while the other 
 shunned, an encounter. At first the moves were in fa- 
 vour of the French commander, who, by an admirable 
 series of dispositions, barred up the British army in front, 
 while impassable mountains were on their right, and the 
 Tagus on their left, and Joseph and Victor expected to 
 assemble in the rear. But Sir Arthur extricated himself 
 from this difficulty by abandoning for a time the fruits 
 of his successes, and retreating across the Tagus. Cuesta 
 loudly complained of this arrangement, but it was now 
 too late to attend to his remonstrances. The peissage of 
 the river was safely accomplished on the 4th of August, 
 iu consequence of the precautions which Sir Arthur 
 had taken, and thus the admirable combinations of the 
 enemy were baffled by still higher exertions of general- 
 ship. 
 
 In the mean time, Cuesta, who, according to custom, 
 had deferred moving to the last, did not vouchsafe to 
 cross the river till the 5th ; so that Soult, who till this 
 period was ignorant of Sir Arthur's movement, had time 
 to advance, and pour down his troops upon the Spanish 
 rear-guard before it had moved from the right bank of 
 the Tagus. It was soon driven across the river, and on 
 the 8ch Soult also passed over, in consequence of the sloth
 
 WELLINGTON. 541 
 
 or ig-norance of the Spaniards, who might have effectually 
 disputed the passage. When it was at the heat of mid- 
 day, the greater number of the Spanish soldiers, senti- 
 nels and ail, were enjoying a conifortable siesta near Azu- 
 tan, within five milea of the bridge, when the French 
 suddenly burst upon them, and shook them from their 
 slumbers. A furious but brief conflict was the conse- 
 quence, for the Spaniards fought without order, and were 
 soon put to flight. Soult resolving to pursue the advan- 
 tage, made several movements for a second and more 
 decisive engagement, when a great part of his force was 
 called off by ting Joseph to oppose Vanegas, after which 
 he was himself reduced to a state of inactivity by an 
 order from Napoleon, dated from Schoenbrunn. So little 
 srill was Cuesta disposed to act in concert with the Bri- 
 tish, that Sir Arthur did not learn of the defeat of the 
 Spaniards till the 9th ; and so complete was the old man's 
 indiscretion, that he had left behind him forty pieces of 
 cannon under a very slender guard. Had these fallen 
 into the hands of the French, the Spanish army would 
 soon have been annihilated ; but Wellesley persuaded 
 the soldiers to drag them off without the knowledge of 
 Cuesta. 
 
 It would be difficult within a work of such limited 
 compass to detail the movements that followed, in which 
 the skilfulness of the English was only paralleled by the 
 folly of the Spanish commander. The French divisions 
 were scattered over different points, so that Sir Arthur 
 might have struck some decisive blow ; but this was 
 impossible on account of the exhausted condition of his 
 soldiers, who were still suffering from want of provisions. 
 For a long time they had received only hilf a ration per 
 day ; they had no salt to their provisions, and their only 
 drink was water; sickness was general among them, 
 and their horses and beasts of burden were dying by 
 hundreds. And still there was no help from that un- 
 grateful country which they were shedding their best 
 blood to deliver. Even after they had been five days 
 without bread, 500 mules passed them laden with pro- 
 visions for the Spanish army, and to every remonstrance 
 of Sir Arthur, the Junta only answered with evasive 
 promises or more provoking silence. At least a month 
 had now elapsed since he had informed the Supreme 
 Central Junta, that if his army was not supplied with
 
 542 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 provisions and means of transport, he must retire into 
 Portugal, and the present condition of the army made 
 farther forbearance impossible. Across the frontier, 
 therefore, he conducted 16,000 sickly and famine-worn 
 soldiers, without horses for the cavalry or mules to draw 
 the cannon, several pieces of which, and a great quan- 
 tity of ammunition, he was obliged to leave in the hands 
 of his perfidious allies. But notwithstanding these me- 
 lancholy circumstances, this campaign had produced 
 important fruits. The south of Spain had been delivered, 
 and Portutral kept free from invasion; and British 
 valour, hitherto held cheap in the eyes of Europe, had 
 attained its former reputation, and given promise of 
 ■what it would yet accomplish. On leaving the country, 
 Sir Arthur said — ' I have fished in many troubled waters, 
 but Spanish troubled waters I will never try again.' We 
 have seen upon what substantial grounds this resolution 
 was founded. 
 
 The opinions which were agitated among the British 
 public, and the discussions in both houses of parliament, 
 at the termination of this campaign, were in some cases 
 as unjust as they were short-sighted. While nothing 
 was talked of by some but the disasters of our army 
 in Spain, its commander was accused of presump- 
 tion and want of capacity, of vain-glory, partiality, and 
 misrepresentation ; nay, one member had the hardi- 
 hood to hint at the propriety of an impeachment of Sir 
 Arthur Wellesley. There prevailed, however, a better 
 feeling in higher quarters, and in consequence of a just 
 appreciation of his services, Sir Arthur was raised to the 
 peerage by the titles of baron Douro of Wellesley, and 
 viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington, in 
 the county of Somerset, with a pension of £2000. per 
 annum, settled upon himself and the two next heirs to 
 his title in succession. 
 
 It would be difficult to describe the feelings of the 
 Spanish Junta when they found that lord Wellington had 
 retired across the frontier into Portugal. They keenly 
 felt, although they would not acknowledge, their own 
 helplessness ; they were too proud to make a proper use 
 of their British allies, and too feeble to forego their aid. 
 Wellington, however, although he would no longer make 
 Spain his field of operation, maintained his position for 
 many weeks upon the frontier of Estreniadura, by which
 
 WELLINGTON. 543 
 
 he preserved Andalusia from falling into the hands of 
 the French, at the expense, however, of a serious loss in 
 men, from a pestilential fever which prevails at that 
 season of the year in the low grounds about the Guadi- 
 ana. But the usual obstinacy of the Spaniards rendered 
 even this service ineftectaal, and lord Wellington was 
 therefore oblig-ed to resume his orig^inal plan of moving- 
 to the northward of the Tagus, as the liberation of the 
 Peninsula could be best accomplished in Portugal. This 
 movement was made the more necessary in consequence 
 of the defeat and dispersion of the Spanish army by the 
 French at Ocanna, on the 19th of November. On the 
 15th of the following month, the British army broke up, 
 and proceeded by easy marches to the eastern frontier 
 of Portugal, where the troops were established in healthy 
 cantonments, and prepared for the approaching struggle. 
 To accomplish the deliverance of Portugal, the most 
 strenuous exertions as well as the greatest sacrifices 
 were necessary ; but the energies of lord Wellington 
 were adequate to the occasion. Having assumed the 
 entire responsibility of those measures by which he must 
 stand or fall, he insisted upon the recognition of his full 
 rights over all the arrangements made for the British 
 and Portuguese armies, as marshal-general of Portugal. 
 He demanded of the regency to revive the ancient 
 military laws, by which all men were required to arm 
 in defence of the kingdom ; and that on whatever line 
 the invaders should approach there should be a laying 
 waste of the country, a demolition of mills and bridges, 
 and an abandonment by the people of their homes, while 
 the population, armed and converted into soldiers, should 
 close upon the flanks and rear of the enemy. In the 
 mean time, as he was informed that Massena had been 
 intrusted with the command of the French army in 
 Spain, and had received an order from Napoleon to drive 
 the English into the sea, Wellington took up a defensive 
 position towards the frontiers, not for the purpose of con- 
 testing the ground, but of impeding the progress of the 
 invaders. 
 
 The soundness of these precautionary measures was 
 soon to be put to the test. Bonaparte having concluded 
 a peace with Germany, was now able to direct his im- 
 mense resources against Spain and Portugal, and such 
 masses of veteran soldiers were thrown into the Peninsula
 
 644 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 aa threatened to make resistance hopeless. Massena 
 commenced his march at the head of 70,000 men, and 
 opened the campaign by commencing the siege of Ciudad 
 Rodrigo, on the 4th of June, 1810. Although lord Wel- 
 lington had his head-quarters so near as the village of 
 Alverca, which is midway between Almeida and Celerico, 
 he was obliged to witness the fall of the city without 
 being able to make one attempt to relieve it. Such an 
 attempt, indeed, was out of the question, as only 25,000 
 men composed his disposable force, a great part of which 
 consisted of inexperienced and undisciplined Portuguese. 
 His quiescence on this occasion galled Massena, who 
 saw that he had no common antagonist to encounter, 
 and the French commander endeavoured, but in vain, 
 to taunt and irritate his lordship into the open field. 
 Massena after this invested Almeida, upon which Wel- 
 lington recrossed the Mondego, and approached the 
 enemy, with the purpose of watching some moment for a 
 decisive blow, or at least to protract the siege. Even 
 this last measure would be of great importance, for by 
 delaying the French army before Almeida until the rains 
 set in, the difficulties in the way of the invasion of Por- 
 tugal would be seriously increased. This plan would 
 probably have been successful, as the French spent nearly 
 a whole month before the town in a state of inactivity, 
 when one of those accidents occurred which no human 
 Bagavity could anticipate. Near midnight the powder 
 magazine of Almeida exploded, and the whole town, 
 with the exception of six houses, was converted in a 
 moment into a mass of ruins, under which were buried 
 guns, artillery-men, and military stores. Even yet re- 
 sistance for some time longer would have been both 
 practicable and useful ; but the dismayed survivors capi- 
 tulated upon the 27th of August. This was a grievous 
 disappointment to lord Wellington, more especially as 
 the enemy found such supplies of bread in the town as 
 would enable them to advance. Indeed, nothing could 
 now be more trying than the situation of his lordship. 
 The Spaniards had complained of what they termed his 
 timidity, and even the British of what they reckoned his 
 inertness— both incessantly clamoured for an engage- 
 ment ; and the Portuguese, not only dispirited, but mad- 
 dened by their losses, began to cabal against him, and 
 oppose all his measures. It was in a position like this.
 
 WELLINGTON. 545 
 
 more than in the field of battle, that the iron energy and 
 indomitable courag-e of his character were apparent. 
 With his small and heterogeneous army even a victory 
 at the present juncture vrould probably have been fatal, 
 while defeat would have ensured the loss of the Peninsula. 
 That army was the last stake of the good cause, and 
 therefore he would not hazard it, in spite of the loud 
 remonstrances of every party. In writing to the Portu- 
 guese authorities upon the subject, he thus addressed 
 them : ' I should forget my duty to my sovereign, to the 
 prince regent, and to the cause in general, if I should 
 permit public clamour or panic to induce me to change 
 in the smallest degree the system and plan of operations 
 which I have adopted after mature consideration, and 
 which daily experience shows to be the only one likely 
 to produce a good end.' 
 
 All parties, however, were soon to be gratified, for the 
 hour of a decisive engagement was drawing nigh. The 
 French continued to advance, and Wellington to retreat, 
 but in such excellent order and with such circum- 
 spection, that the enemy could not force him to give 
 battle. Portuguese traitors were in the French camp, 
 who acted as guides to Massena ; but such was their 
 ignorance even of their own limited country, that in- 
 stead of the easiest, they led him by the most difficult 
 routes, so that his advance was greatly impeded. His 
 purpose was to obtain possession of Coimbra, which the 
 sagacity of Wellington soon discerned ; his lordship 
 therefore secured that town against any sudden attack 
 after which he took post with the greater part of hU 
 army in front of Coimbra, to protect it. Here he re- 
 solved to hazard an engagement, as farther delay would 
 have destroyed the spirit of the Portuguese as well as 
 the confidence of his own troops ; and he was the more 
 induced to this measure, as the nature of the ground 
 which he selected compensated for his inferiority in 
 numbers. His position was the Serra de Busafo, a high, 
 steep, and rugged range of hills, where every point of 
 advantage was occupied and strengthened to the utmost, 
 while a division of Portuguese cavalry and the 13th 
 light dragoons were posted in front of the Alva, to hinder 
 the advance of the enemy's cavalry on Mondego. Mas- 
 sena was still ignorant of the nature of the ground, and
 
 546 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 the strength of the British lines ; he was led onward in 
 a great measure hood-winked by the ignorance of his 
 Portuguese guides ; and even when he arrived, and had 
 reconnoitred this formidable position, he believed that 
 the British would never abide the encounter, or, if they 
 did, that they would be beaten. He now thought that 
 the time had come when he should be able to drive the 
 English into the sea, as Napoleon had commanded, and 
 in this hope he made arrangements for a battle on the 
 ensuing day. 
 
 It was on the 27th of September (1810) that the battle 
 of Busaco commenced. At the foot of the Sierra de 
 Busaco nearly 70,000 French soldiers were assembled; 
 while on the summits 50,000 antagonists, about half of 
 whom were British, were drawn up to receive them. 
 For three days previous, some smart skirmishes had 
 taken place ; but these wex-e only light preludes to the 
 important contest. IVIassena, who had burst through the 
 mighty obstacles of the Alps and the Apennines, could 
 see no difficulties in the present instance ; and having 
 ordered an attack, the huge masses of his troops were 
 seen indistinctly moving in the valley beneath, and 
 winding up the steep, rugged sides of the mountains, 
 amidst heavy mists which the sunrise had not yet dis- 
 pelled. And first there were heard a few dropping shots 
 from the advanced skirmishers of either party, and these 
 were soon succeeded by whole sheets of living flame, 
 that seemed to wreathe every crag and hill as the con- 
 flict deepened and became more universal. The main 
 object of Massena was to force his way through the 
 British lines by obtaining possession of the road that 
 crosses the Sierra from St. Antonio de Cantara, and thus 
 to turn Wellington's right; and, for this purpose, Ney, 
 Regnier, and Loison— men trained to war amidst the 
 •victories of Bonaparte — made the most desperate attacks 
 upon the British right, and occasionally staggered our 
 columns by the weight and violence of their onsets. But 
 every onset was successfully repulsed by the British and 
 Portuguese, who now fought side by side with equal 
 ardour, and who were favoured on every occasion by the 
 skill with which their positions had been chosen. At 
 length, Massena finding that his object could not be 
 accomplished, after two desperate attacks had failed,
 
 WELLINGTON. 547 
 
 reluctantly withdrew his shattered legions, leaving be- 
 tween 6000 and 7000 in killed and Wi^unded, while the 
 allies did not lose above 1300. 
 
 Massena now finding- that the British position at Busaco 
 was impregnable, resolved to try some other route by 
 which he could tiini it ; and from a peasant he learned 
 of a road that led to Coi-dao, on the great road from 
 Oporto to Coimbra, by which his purpose could be ac- 
 complished. On the 28th, therefore, he gradually with- 
 drew his troops, keeping up a smart skirmishing to con- 
 ceal his movement, and it was only towards evening 
 that his intention was discovered. The British there- 
 fore abandoned their position at Busaco on the 29th, and 
 continued to fall back upon Lisbon, where Wellington 
 knew that he had a still stronger position than that 
 which he had occupied at Busaco. These were the cele- 
 brated lines of Torres Vedras upon which he was re- 
 treating, while the enemy were following in blind con- 
 fidence. The French entered Coimbra and pillaged it, 
 with a full share of military license, after which they 
 pressed forward, meeting with no resistance from Wel- 
 lington, who delayed giving battle until the anticipated 
 moment had arrived. In this way the British and 
 Portuguese troops were led into the lines, astonished at 
 every step on account of the strength of the position that 
 had been previously selected and prepared for them by 
 their leader's admirable foresight, and the secj-et of 
 which he had till nov/ concealed within his own breast. 
 If any thing could equal their astonishment, it was that 
 of Massena, who had never dreamt of such a stupendous 
 barrier for the defence of Lisbon. He had expected that 
 the British troops would have been hurrying to their 
 ships, and leaving Portugal to its fate ; but instead of 
 this, they were looking down in calm security upon 
 their enemy below, and so strongly entrenched, that 
 neither his army, nor yet one of twice its numbers, 
 would have been able to dislodge them. The lines com- 
 posed three distinct ranges of defence, stretching across 
 the peninsula fomoed by the Tagus and the ocean, upon 
 the extremity of which Lisbon is situated, and exhibited 
 over a tract of thirty miles the model of a field of battle. 
 Nature had done much to form the district into a strong 
 rampart of national defence, and art had completed the 
 work by the resources of military science, for the roads
 
 548 MILITARV HISTORY, 
 
 that led to it were destroyed, the mountains were per- 
 pendicularly scarped, livers were dammed and inun- 
 dations formed, roads were constructed to facilitate the 
 rapid coramunicatiou of the troops, while redoubts re- 
 sembling castles in size and strength, and every inac- 
 cessible post, were defended by 600 pieces of artillery. 
 By this wonderful succession of works, which he had 
 planned and caused to be executed in secrecy, lord 
 Wellington possessed the rare advantage of having a 
 moveable army within a fortified place, from no single 
 point of which he could be dislodged without an immense 
 numerical superiority on the part of the assailants. 
 
 It required no great skill on the part of the French 
 commander to discover the hopelessness of an attack. 
 He lingered many days before the lines, surveying them 
 at every point, and cautiously feeling as it were for some 
 place of weakness, by throwing out his skirmishers 
 against them in various directions. After a month had 
 been spent in these experiments, until his provisions 
 were exhausted, while the pay of his soldiers was several 
 mouths in arrear, he saw that the rich plunder of Lisbon 
 ■was not destined to balance his defective accounts. Not 
 only a retreat, but a very hasty one, was necessary, and 
 this was executed with the utmost secrecy. On the I5th 
 of November, as the British looked out from their en- 
 trenchments, they saw in the morning twilight the 
 French sentries at their usual posts — but when daylight 
 strengthened, they discovered that these were only men of 
 straw, equipped in military costume, and propped with 
 broomsticks that looked like shouldered muskets. It 
 was expected in this case that Massena intended to re- 
 treat into Spain, where he could refit his army and pre- 
 pare for another campaign ; and to harass his retreat as 
 much as possible the British followed upon his track. 
 But such was not the purpose of the French commander: 
 he still hoped to effect the conquest of Portugal ; and 
 having retired no farther than Sautarem, which is by 
 nature a very strong position, he there entrenched himself 
 in three lines, in the same manner his adversary had done 
 at Torres Vedras, intending there to pass the winter and 
 await the coming of reinforcements. By this admirable 
 disposition he still held Lisbon in a state of blockade, 
 while he was enabled to subsist his army from the re- 
 sources of the district, and he could not be attacked
 
 WELLINGTON. 549 
 
 without imminent hazard. All that Wellington could 
 do, therefore, was to watch the movements of such an 
 enemy, and discover some favourable moment of onset ; 
 and accordingly, his advanced troops were posted in 
 front of Santarem, while the head-quarters of the army 
 were established at Cartaxo. But it is impossible to de- 
 scribe, or fully to appreciate, the trying situation of lord 
 Wellington at this particular juncture. The Portuguese 
 were weary of the war ; a large faction among the autho- 
 rities studiously thwarted the measures of his lordship for 
 the national defence ; there were Portuguese traitors in 
 the camp who revealed all his movements so carefully to 
 the enemy, that no plans could be concealed except such 
 as were confined to his own breast. Accusations, misre- 
 presentations, even caricatures, were transmitted to Eng- 
 land to excite against him the popular indignation ; and 
 as if all this had not been enough, some of his best gene- 
 rals were obliged to return home on account of sickness, 
 and others, being disgusted with the war, sought leave of 
 absence under the plea of business, so that at last only 
 one general remained of all that had come out with him 
 from England. And all this time the Spanish horizon, 
 towards which he looked for aid in the great common 
 cause, only waxed darker and more forbidding. The 
 Spaniards, who hated and despised the Portuguese, 
 seemed to forget that the fall of Portugal would involve 
 the ruin of Spain also ; and therefore, instead of aiding 
 him with reinforcements or co-operation, they still looked 
 on with sullen tranquillity, allowing their own national 
 affairs to become more hopeless than ever. Any other 
 commander than Wellington, placed in such a trying 
 situation, w^ould have resigned his office with disgust, or 
 embarked his army in despair. 
 
 The time at last arrived when the British commander 
 was to reap the fruits of his perseverance. Massena, 
 after clinging to the hope of conquering Portugal to the 
 last, found his army so much reduced by want and sick- 
 ness, that he must forsake his prey ; and he resolved to 
 abandon Santarem as stealthily as he had retreated from 
 Torres Vedras. He accordingly destroyed all the guns 
 and ammunition that could not be carried off, and for- 
 warded his sick and baggage, after which he silently 
 withdrew his army on the night of the 5th of March, 
 1811. This he was enabled to accomplish the more safely
 
 550 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 by sending Ney to threaten the lines of Torres Vedras, 
 by which Wellington at first was hindered from advanc- 
 ing. But Massena was not to be allowed to leave Por- 
 tugal with impunity : he was closely followed by his 
 indefatigable antagonist, and a succession of skirmishes 
 took place during the retreat, in which the French inva- 
 riably sustained great loss. Thus the two armies con- 
 tinued, the one in retreat and the other in pursuit, 
 combating at every step, while the French, although 
 superior in numbers, were outmanoeuvred, and driven 
 from every place of strength at which they endeavoured 
 to make a stand. The last, as well as the most desperate 
 of these struggles, occurred near Salingal, on the 3d of 
 April, in which Massena, who had not yet resigned his 
 hopes of Portugal, endeavoured to stem the tide of pur- 
 suit. On this occasion a thick atmosphere of mists and 
 fogs, succeeded by a dark heavy rain, had almost marred 
 the dispositions of Wellington, as his soldiers were for 
 some time at a loss to distinguish between friend and foe ; 
 but the weather soon cleared up, every error was rectified, 
 and after a short conflict of an hour's length, the French 
 were beaten with the loss of 1000 men. Massena con- 
 tinued his retreat during the night, and on the following 
 day he entered the Spanish frontier. — Thus was Portugal 
 delivered, after nearly four years of foreign invasion 
 and oppression. Massena had entered the country at 
 the head of 65,000 veteran troops, a reinforcement of 
 10,000 more had been sent to him while at Santarem, 
 but of these scarcely 40,000 recrossed the border, after 
 suffering as well as inflicting every species of cala- 
 mity. 
 
 The two rival commanders now stood upon Spanish 
 soil, but as prompt as ever to renew the deadly contest. 
 Lord Wellington immediately invested Almeida, and 
 laid siege to Badajoz, the reduction of which was of 
 principal importance, not only for sealing the safety of 
 Portugal, but ensuring the subsistence of Cadiz, which 
 derived its supplies from the Condudo de Niebla. In 
 either operation any hope of aid from the Spaniards was 
 out of the question, and therefore the whole work must 
 be accomplished by the British troops. Lord Wellington 
 made his calculations accordingly, and sent marshal 
 Beresford into Estremadura, at the head of a consider- 
 able force, to relieve Campo Major, and lay siege to
 
 WELLINGTON. 651 
 
 Olivenfa and Badajoz. The first object of the expedition 
 ■was accomplished by that gallant commander; but from 
 the delay of the Portuguese authorities (as usual) in fur- 
 nishing him with supplies, he was obliged to quarter his 
 troops in Elvas, during which interval the fortifications 
 of Badajoz were strengthened and prepared for an obsti- 
 nate resistance: however, Olivenja surrendered, and lord 
 Wellington, eager to bring the whole plan to a favour- 
 able issue, hurried to Elvas, and assumed the direction 
 of the siege of Badajoz. The supineness of the Spanish 
 commanders had furnished such facilities for the strength- 
 ening of that town, that lord Wellington found it would 
 be necessary to secure their co-operation before he could 
 successfully invest it. He addressed them with a memo- 
 rial to that effect, explanatory of the combined plan of 
 operations on which he proposed to proceed ; but while 
 the Spanish chiefs were tardily digesting the plan, and 
 deliberating whether they would comply or not, the 
 movements of Massena recalled Wellington to Beira. 
 The French commander was again in great force upon 
 the Agueda, and had established his head-quarters at 
 Ciudad Rodrigo ; and on the 2d of May his army crossed 
 the river, after which they proceeded to Dos Casas, driv- 
 ing the British advanced troops before them into the 
 beautiful village of Fuentes Onoro. As this place was 
 to be the scene of a decisive struggle, the British were 
 drawn up in a position extending six miles from flank 
 to flank, having the ruins of Fort Conception on the 
 extreme left, Nava d'Aver on the extreme right, and 
 Fuentes Onoro towards the centre. On the 3d, the 
 enemy advanced in three columns abreast upon Fuentes 
 Onoro and Fort Conception, and fell furiously upon the 
 right of the British centre, in the hope of carrying 
 the village ; but Wellington, aware of the importance of 
 this post, threw forward reinforcements, so that the place 
 was gallantly maintained until night, when the French 
 retired under cover of the darkness. On the following 
 day both armies remained inactive ; but Massena, hav- 
 ing arrived upon the ground, reconnoitred the British 
 position, and resolved to direct his chief force upon its 
 right. But this purpose was anticipated by lord Welling- 
 ton ; and on the evening of that day he so effectually 
 strengthened that part of his position, that there was no 
 cause for anxiety.
 
 552 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 On the morning of the 5th of May (1811), a little after 
 daybreak, the battle of Fuentes Onoro commenced, by 
 the French bearing towards the British right, upon 
 which they closed, and for a few moments with apparent 
 •uccess. The 7th division, which bore the first brunt of 
 the onset, was shaken; and the peninsular troops, which 
 had been stationed to cover the right of this division, 
 fled in dismay; so that it was rapidly turned by the 
 French cavalry. A body of British horse then dashed 
 forward to the rescue of this division, but was soon 
 driven back, and its troop of horse artillery being thus 
 abandoned was rapidly enclosed by the enemy. But in 
 a few moments, to the astonishment of the enemy, who 
 had never seen such a novel feat of war, this troop sud- 
 denly burst from amongst the French squadrons at full 
 speed, with their guns unlimbered, and on reaching the 
 allied line they suddenly poured a tremendous fire upon 
 the surprised ranks of the pursuers. This soon daunted 
 the onward career of the enemy, while the British in- 
 fantry drawn up in squares successfully threw off the 
 French cavalry at the points of their bayonets. In the 
 mean time the British left was menaced; upon which 
 lord Wellington concentrated his troops in that direction ; 
 and there the resistance was so effective, that although 
 they were outflanked and continually charged by the 
 French cavalry, they repelled every onset, and securely 
 reached the station which their leader had assigned 
 them. But the chief struggle during the day was for 
 the possession of the village of Fuentes Onoro, to which 
 the enemy once more directed their efforts ; and here 
 the conflict was so desperate and doubtful, that it 
 was impossible for some time to foresee the issue. It 
 was assailed by Drouet, and defended by three British 
 regiments ; and the banks of the stream, the streets, the 
 houses, and the chapel, were each and all the scene of 
 a desperate strife, attended with alternate success. Each 
 commander continued to send reinforcements to the 
 spot, and thus the conflict was maintained till ni^'ht, 
 when at last the French were compelled to withdraw. 
 This terminated the battle in favour of the British and 
 their allies, who, at the expense of 1700 in killed, 
 wounded, and missing, had inflicted a loss of 5000 upon 
 the enemy. Thus, with a very inferior force, Wellington 
 had defeated ' the spoilt child of victory,' and thwarted
 
 WELLINGTON. 553 
 
 the great object for which he had given battle, viz. the 
 relief of Almeida, which was abandoned to its fate, and 
 soon evacuated by its garrison. Massena not daring- to 
 renew the attack, remained inactive on the 6th and 7th, 
 but on the 8th he commenced a retreat. As if to crowa 
 also this signal success, lord Beresford on the 16th fought 
 and gained the glorious victory of Albuera, which con- 
 ferred a new lustre upon the British arms, and shook the 
 already-loosened dominion of France in the Peninsula. 
 This victory prevented the French from relieving 
 Badajoz, which was invested on the 2oth; but the garri- 
 son made such a desperate resistance, that the British 
 were foiled in two attacks upon the fort of San Chris- 
 toval. The siege thus continued till the 11th of June, 
 when Wellington raised it, in consequence of having 
 learned that Marmont and Soult were about to unite 
 their forces for the relief of Badajoz. Finding that they 
 were rapidly approaching, he retired across the Guadi- 
 ana; but Marmont, who now commanded in Spain in- 
 stead of Massena, advanced very close to the allied 
 army, and showed symptoms of preparing for the en- 
 counter. The collision would have been fearful, as the 
 combined French armies now exceeded 70,000 men, of 
 whom 8000 were cavalry, while Wellington had no more 
 than 56,000, of whom only 3500 were cavalry. But these 
 were so admirably posted, that large portions were con- 
 cealed by the inequalities of the ground ; and Marmont, 
 being unable to discover their precise situation, thought 
 it prudent to remain inactive. Matters remained in this 
 situation from the 23d to the end of June, when at last 
 the French army was withdrawn. 
 
 Wellington was now anxious to take Ciudad Rodrigo 
 before Marmont could come to its relief ; and therefore, 
 having moved the greater part of his army on the 21st 
 of July, under the pretext of placing it in more healthy 
 quarters, he marched towards that city, and held it in a 
 state of blockade for six weeks, at the end of which 
 Marmont advanced to its relief, with his army amount- 
 ing to 60,000 men and 100 pieces of artillery. But this 
 time Wellington would not retire, as the moral effect of 
 such a movement would have equalled the evils of a 
 defeat : he therefore took up a position upon the Coa, 
 from which, as from a centre, his troops irradiated in 
 lines over a hemisphere that included all the principal 
 2 B
 
 554 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 roads by which the French could assail him. The enemy, 
 who were deceived by this imposing appearance, ven- 
 tured at first upon nothing farther than light skirmish- 
 ing, in order to feel the strength and ascertain the 
 number of their opponents. Having discovered their 
 own superiority, they now prepared for a more serious 
 encounter ; but Wellington, who knew that his position 
 was not favourable for such a decisive trial, withdrew 
 his troops by a skilful concentric movement, and took up 
 new ground twelve miles behind Guinaldo. Here a 
 fresh skirmish took place, after which V/ellington fell 
 back, and on the morning of the 28th of September he 
 had occupied so strong a post on the heights behind 
 Soito, that his army could not be turned, while the 
 enemy's superiority in guns and cavah-y was negatived. 
 Marmont, therefore, was unable to accomplish any thing 
 farther than the victualling of Ciudad Rodrigo, being 
 obliged to retire from want of provisions, so that Wel- 
 lington was enabled to resume the blockade of that city. 
 His eye was also upon every part of the campaign, so 
 that he resolved to strike a blow at Soult in Estremadura; 
 for which purpose he directed general Hill to move 
 against Girard, who was harassing the Spaniards at 
 Caceres at the head of the fifth division. This important 
 service was ably performed. Hill surprised the enemy, 
 and drove them in a confused rout to the village of 
 Santa Anna, after inflicting upon them a loss of 2000 
 men ; after which, Wellington resolved to lay siege both 
 to Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. The period was favour- 
 able for such an attempt, as there was no apprehension 
 that Napoleon, who was now employed in preparations 
 for his Russian campaign, would be able to interpose; 
 while the exhausted condition of the British army was 
 such, that the enemy, never dreaming of such a hardy 
 attempt, were unprepared to counteract it. His soldiers 
 were soon restored to health by favourable weather and 
 supplies of provisions, while the French armies in the 
 Peninsula were diminished by draughts for the Russian 
 campaign, so that the favourable moment for action had 
 arrived, and he laid siege to Ciudad Rodrigo with an 
 army of ;<5,000 soldiers. This city had been greatly 
 strengthened by the French since it was last besieged, 
 and the peasantry were so remiss in bringing up sup- 
 plies to the allied army, that the siege went on slowly,
 
 WELLINGTON. 655 
 
 and the French were making preparations at Salamanca 
 for its relief : on these accounts Wellington found it 
 necessary to storm the place at once, notwithstanding 
 the strength of its defences. On the 19th of January 
 (1812), therefore, having made two practicable breaches, 
 the desperate attempt was hazarded, the British troops 
 being led on in five separate bodies. The attack was 
 made at the same instant upon as many points, each 
 storming division being preceded by a party of soldiers 
 carrying bundles of hay with which to lessen the depth 
 of the ditch. The ditch was soon passed, the faitsse 
 braie (a low work united to the escarp of the body of the 
 place) was scaled through a terrible scene of conflict 
 and carnage, the breaches were won, and the shout of 
 victory was heard at the same time from different parts 
 of the defences, where the assailants had been equally 
 successful. Thus, by a daring onset, upon which the 
 martinet rules of warfare could never have dared to 
 speculate, this important place was taken after a siege 
 of twelve days, and in defiance of the immense supe- 
 riority of those armies which were hurrying to its relief. 
 The French on this occasion lost 1800 men in killed and 
 prisoners, while 150 pieces of artillery, including the 
 battering train of Marmont's army, fell into the hands 
 of the victor. In consequence of this important exploit, 
 the British commander was raised to the rank of earl of 
 Wellington by his own government, marquis of Torres 
 Vedras by that of Portugal, and duke of Ciudad Rodrigo 
 by that of Spain. 
 
 Marmont, on learning the fall of the city, withdrew 
 his army from Salamanca to Valladolid; upon which, 
 Wellington having left Ciudad Rodrigo to the keeping 
 of the Spaniards, advanced to the siege of Badajoz. For 
 this purpose he established his head-quarters at Elvas 
 on the 11th of March, and on the 16th the fortress of 
 Badajoz was invested by marshal Beresford. As no time 
 could be aflTorded for a regular attack, Wellington re- 
 solved to carry the place by storming a detached fort 
 called the Picurina, from the site of which the escarp 
 of one front could be effectually breached. The fort was 
 carried on the evening of the 24th, and in five days two 
 breaches were made in the bastions of La Trinidad and 
 Santa Maria. On the 6th of April every thing was in 
 readiness for caiTying the place by storm, and the attempt
 
 556 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 •was made at night, under the cover of darkness ; but the 
 garrison were on the alert, so that as the storming 
 parties advanced, tire-balls were thrown among them 
 that distinctly revealed every individual, and these were 
 succeeded by such a tremendous fire, that their ranks 
 were torn in pieces, or swept away as they approached 
 the breaches. The assailants still rushed desperately 
 forward; but the glacis, the ditch, and a ruined ravelin, 
 which they successively reached, were choked with 
 dead bodies; and even when the breaches were attained, 
 these were so strongly defended with chevmtx-de-frise 
 as to be impassable, while an incessant storm of grenades 
 and musketry rendered a longer stay at these deadly 
 stations impossible. But at this trying moment, when 
 the troops were about to be recalled, Picton, Leith, and 
 Walker, who commanded three of the storming brigades, 
 had surmounted every obstacle at their respective posts, 
 and made good their footing within the walls. Thus 
 the town was gained, but with a heavy loss to the captors 
 of 5000 killed and 2G00 wounded, during the different 
 operations of the siege. And here it is melancholy to 
 add, that those soldiers who had shown themselves 
 heroes in the storming, seemed to have been converted 
 into brutes, or even into fiends, when resistance was at 
 an end, so that all the frightful excesses committed by 
 the savage hordes of Timour or Genghiz Khan upon a 
 captured town, were exhibited on this occasion by a 
 Christian and a British army. 
 
 The French weie now as much confounded by this 
 rapid mode of taking towns as the Austrian generals had 
 formerly been by the flying victories of young Bonaparte ; 
 and Soult, who had been making preparations for a 
 pitched battle in order to relieve Badaioz, according to 
 established rule, was mortified to learn that Badajoz was 
 beyond his help. Wellington would now have followed 
 up his successes by marching southward ; but here his 
 evil genius, in its wonted form of Spanish stupidity, 
 obliged him to pause. After having taken Ciudad 
 Rodrigo, he had intrusted its defence to the Spaniards, 
 with directions to victual it from the English maga- 
 zines ; but these precious allies performed the work so 
 tardily, that the provisions could not be moved from the 
 short distance of seventeen leagues in seven long weeks, 
 60 that Marmont, in consequence of this unpardonable
 
 WELLINGTON. 557 
 
 delay, had blockaded the city, in hope of reducing it by 
 famine. Lord Wellington -was therefore constrained to 
 retrace his steps to its relief, and at his approach Mar- 
 mont drew back into Spain, upon which the former 
 placed his army in cantonments between the Coa and 
 the Agueda. 
 
 After his troops had been refreshed and rested, Wel- 
 lington resolved to assume the offensive, and march 
 against Marmont, who was profiting by the manifold 
 blunders of the Spanish commanders : he therefore re- 
 Tictualled Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo, and before 
 plunging into Spain resolved to destroy the communica- 
 tion of the French across the Tagus, as well as to esta- 
 blish one for himself. Both objects were successfully 
 accomplished. Two bridge-heads, and formidable forts 
 on both sides of the river, at Almarez, were gallantly 
 stonned and demolished by Sir Rowland Hill, on the 
 ISth of May, while Wellington established his own com- 
 munication with Sir Rowland Hill at Alcantara, by 
 repairing the broken central arch of the old Roman 
 bridge with cordage, which was thrown across a chasm 
 one hundred feet wide. All being now in readiness, he 
 crossed the Agueda on the 13th of June, and on the 17th 
 appeared before Salamanca, which the French army 
 immediately evacuated. Nothing could exceed the tri- 
 umph with which the entrance of Wellington into that 
 ancient city was welcomed by the inhabitants, who now 
 found themselves delivered after three years of French 
 bondage and oppression. But three forts which had 
 been erected by the enemy, to command the passage of 
 the Tormes, and bridle the citizens, were garrisoned by 
 800 French soldiers; and to reduce these, a regular 
 attack was necessary on account of their strength* 
 They were forthwith invested ; but a delay of several 
 days occurred, on account of their obstinate resistance, 
 and during the interval Marmont had time to make 
 preparations for their relief. His coming, however, was 
 descried at an early period from the heights of San 
 Christoval, three miles in advance of the city, upon 
 which the British were drawn up in battle array. And 
 now followed a scene of marching and counter-marching 
 on the part of the French commander, in which he 
 handled his large masses as a skilful fencer does his 
 foils, but of which it was difficult to divine the purpose,
 
 658 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 unless he hoped to mystify and throw his adversary off 
 his guard, and rush upon him at some unprepared mo- 
 ment. But Wellington was a still more skilful fencer 
 than Marmont, and therefore he regulated his move- 
 ments so successfully, and watched the proceedings of 
 the other with so much caution, that no such opportunity 
 was afforded. It would be unnecessary to exhaust our 
 readers by leading them through these devious ma- 
 noeuvres, that sometimes resembled the unprofitable 
 march of king Pepin, and which continued from the 20tb 
 of June to the 21st of July, while the moves of the British 
 army completely counteracted the efforts of the French. 
 But like many exquisitely cunning persons, Marmont 
 refined so much upon this process, that at length he con- 
 trived to overreach himself instead of his adversary ; for 
 having miscalculated the position of the British, a large 
 portion of their force being concealed from view, he 
 rashly advanced to give battle. This very process severed 
 the left wing of the French so completely from the centre, 
 that its destruction was certain. Wellington, who fore- 
 saw his advantage, exclaimed in a tone of exultation, as 
 he contemplated this blunder of his light-heeled antago- 
 nist, 'At last I have them!' 
 
 The British army was posted with its left occupying 
 one of two very bold rocky heights, called the Arapiles, 
 and its right extending to AldeaTejada. An interval of 
 nearly two miles was apparently interposed between 
 them, for the third division, which occupied this space, 
 was concealed by the nature of the ground. It was 
 this circumstance which induced the French marshal to 
 give battle in the hope of crushing the British right, 
 upon which he directed his greatest efforts. A cloud of 
 skirmishers was accordingly flung upon it, and then 
 succeeded a heavy cannonade ; but while the right 
 maintained a successful resistance, the third division 
 emerged from its concealment, and fell unexpectedly 
 upon the enemy's flank. This movement decided the con- 
 flict : the French left was outflanked and overwhelmed, 
 before it could recover from its surprise, and Marmont, 
 who galloped to the spot, had his arm broken by the 
 explosion of a shell that struck him to the ground. 
 General Clauzel succeeded to the command, and the 
 enemy still continued to fi^ht bravely. Their right was 
 strengthened by the troops that had fled from the left,
 
 WELLINGTON. 559 
 
 and by others who had retired from the Arapile hill iu 
 consequence of the discomfiture of their centre ; and 
 thus rallied, the French army exhibited a bold front, 
 and made a desperate eflfbrt to wrest the victory from 
 the British, while the daylig-ht was closing fast. But 
 Wellington, equally determined to complete his success, 
 attacked them both in front and in flank with such 
 vigour, that they were forced back, and at length put 
 completely to the rout. Even flight would not have 
 been allowed them, had the orders which Wellington 
 issued to the first division been fulfilled, which were, to 
 push between general Foy and the rest of the French 
 army, by which the escape of the latter would have 
 been impossible : as it was, the divisions of Foy and 
 Maucune were enabled to cover the flight of the broken 
 troops, and save them from total destruction. — Such was 
 the battle of Salamanca, which lasted from three in the 
 afternoon till near ten at night. It was diflicultto ascer- 
 tain the loss of the enemy in killed, but it must have beea 
 immense, and 7000 were taken prisoners: there also fell 
 into the hands of the victors eleven pieces of cannon, 
 several ammunition waggons, two eagles, and six colours. 
 This advantage, however, was obtained at a heavy price, 
 as 5,200 British and Portuguese were killed, wounded, 
 and missing. The value of the co-operation aftbrded 
 by the Spanish troops in this engagement may be esti- 
 mated from their loss, which amounted to two men 
 killed, and four wounded! 
 
 Nothing could be more happily timed for the British 
 than the victory of Salamanca. Joseph Bonaparte had 
 advanced from Madrid to join Marmont, and had arrived 
 within a few hours' march, when he heard of the mar- 
 shal's defeat, upon which he hastily retreated, otherwise 
 Wellington might have had to encounter upon the Douro 
 a second army more powerful than the first. The British 
 commander now resolved, as Marmont's retreating army 
 was not likely soon to take the field, to march to the 
 Spanish capital, and there either compel Joseph to a 
 battle, or oblige him to quit Madrid. He accordingly 
 commenced his march on the 6th of August, and by the 
 12th, two of his divisions entered Madrid, amidst the 
 loud triumph of the citizens. Joseph had at first made 
 a show of resistance by throwing his ai-my across the 
 roada that led to the capital ; but instead of waiting for
 
 5G0 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the attack, he retreated with all his court and followers 
 across the Tag-us, and sought shelter in Valencia. Wel- 
 lington, on finding that the king had fled, entered 
 Madrid, where he was welcomed as the great national 
 deliverer, the crowds enthusiastically clustering round 
 him, kissing the hem of his garment, and hanging upon 
 his stirrups. Their joy did not exceed the gratitude of 
 the British government towards the hero who had con- 
 ducted their affairs to such a prosperous crisis; and 
 •while his armorial bearings were augmented in the 
 dexter quarter with an escutcheon charged with the 
 crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick, this 
 heraldric distinction was accompanied with the more 
 tangible reward of a grant of £'100,000, to enable him to 
 support with suitable dignity the new honours that had 
 been conferred upon him. Although Madrid was evacu- 
 ated by the French, a garrison of more than 2000 men 
 Lad been left in Buen Retiro, a favourite abode of 
 the Spanish king, but now converted into a military 
 depot, which was invested by the British on the 13th. 
 But on the following day, when an attack was about to 
 be made, it surrendered, and thus Madrid was com- 
 pletely cleared of the enemy. 
 
 \\ ellington soon found that it was time to be again in 
 motion, as the cause had sulTered reverses in the south- 
 east of Spain through the errors of the Spanish leaders : 
 he accordingly quitted Madrid on the 1st of September, 
 and advanced into Valladolid, while the enemy retired 
 at his approach, and crossed the Pisergua. Lord Wel- 
 lington continued to follow them to Burgos, at which 
 place he arrived on the 19th. During the whole pro- 
 gress of this retreat, the skilful conduct of Clauzel, 
 •who had succeeded Marmont in command, excited the 
 admiration both of friend and enemy. After having 
 reorganised his broken troops, he retreated before the 
 British with such coolness and circumspection, as not to 
 allow a single advantage ; and although every day he 
 oflered battle, it was upon ground so judiciously selected, 
 that Wellington, whose numbers were greatly reduced 
 by sickness, could not venture to attack him in front, 
 and therefore constantly turned his flanks. The French 
 hastily retreated through Burgos on seeing that Wel- 
 lington was now joined by the Spanish troops; but in 
 the castle they left 1800 infantry, and several artillery-
 
 WELLTXGTON. 561 
 
 men, to command the passages of the Arlanzon, and the 
 roads communicating with them. The works were so 
 strong, and so bravely defended, that several attacks 
 failed. At last the walls were mined, and a breach was 
 made by the explosion on the 29th, and aTiother was 
 effected by the same process on the 4th of October; but 
 still the resistance was so obstinate and successful, that 
 although the exterior line of the defences was gained, 
 the garrison continued to make sorties, in which they 
 inflicted serious mischief on the assailants. Things 
 continued in this state till the 18th, when Wellington 
 having received a supply of ammunition, and completed 
 another mine, resolved, as soon as it should explode, to 
 storm the breach in the second line. The attempt was 
 made ; but the bravery of the assault was met with 
 equal bravery, and the assailants were driven back with 
 loss. These delays began to assume a very serious 
 aspect, more especially as the French aimy began to 
 show a pui-pose of raising the siege. Massena, who now 
 commanded the northern provinces, sent the army of 
 Portugal for the purpose almost as soon as the siege 
 commenced, and Souham, who was intrusted with the 
 command, was only hindered from an immediate ad- 
 vance by a report that the allied army was 60,000 strong. 
 At length he learnt that its utmost force was 30,000, 
 upon which he moved forward, and afcer skirmishing 
 with the British outposts he obtained possession of the 
 heights commanding ^lonasterio, where the British army 
 was encamped. The situation of the allies was thus so 
 perilous, that Wellington saw the necessity of a retreat, 
 which was commenced on the night of the 2nth, when 
 he moved his whole army back upon the Douro. He 
 was followed by Souham with such superior numbers 
 that, in the words of Wellington, they might have eaten 
 up the British army; but fortunately perhaps for the 
 latter, the French commander was prevented by the 
 orders of the king from risking an engagement. How- 
 ever, he harassed the British in their retreat by frequent 
 skirmishes. The Douro was crossed on the 29th of Octo- 
 ber, lord Wellington finding it necessary to continue his 
 retrograde movement on account of the superiority of 
 the French, and the inefficiency of his own allies, the 
 Spaniards, On the 8th of the following month he re- 
 gained his old position of San Christoval, in front of 
 2 B2
 
 562 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Salamanca. Here he halted, and chose an advantageous 
 ground, where, at the head of 52,000 English and Portu- 
 guese troops, and 16,000 Spaniards, he thought he might 
 safely abide the encounter of the French, who mustered 
 90,000 combatants. But the French showed uo inclination 
 to encounter Wellington upon ground of his own select- 
 ing, and instead of advancing to battle, they moved 
 upon the flank and rear of the allies ; upon which Wel- 
 lington broke up from San Christoval, and selected a 
 new position upon the Arapiles, where he again offered 
 battle to the enemy ; but still Soult was too wary to ac- 
 cept the challenge, and Wellington continued his march 
 towards Ciudad Rodrigo. After enduring great misery 
 and privation, the British reached Rodrigo on the ISth, 
 in a weary and exhausted condition, having had little 
 rest since the 13th of June, when the campaign com- 
 menced. Wellington's skilful dispositions, however, dur- 
 ing this retreat, had rescued them from certain destruc- 
 tion, and it was with astonishment that the French saw 
 the escape of an army, upon the ruin of which they had 
 built such reasonable hopes of success. The troops were 
 distributed into winter-quarters where they could be fed 
 without difficulty, and concentrated at a short notice. 
 Such was the termination of the campaign of 1812, at 
 which, as usual, the politicians in England loudly grum- 
 bled : they saw in it nothing but an advance, and then 
 a retreat. But AVellington, who was best qualified to 
 estimate its advantages, declared that it was the most 
 successful campaign in all its circumstances, and had 
 produced for the cause more important results, than any 
 campaign in which a British army had been engaged 
 for the last century. 
 
 Having settled his army in comfortable quarters, Wel- 
 lington began to prepare for the ensuing campaign ; for 
 which purpose he repaired to Cadiz on the 18th of De- 
 cember, resolving, as he said, * to throw himself into 
 fortune's way at the renewal of the war, if he could 
 collect a sufficient army.' He there proposed to the 
 Spanish authorities certain measures, without a compli- 
 ance with which he felt it would be impossible for him 
 to assume the command of their army, as commander-in- 
 chief of the Spanish forces ; and as these proposals were 
 in themselves both reasonable and necessary, they were 
 readily conceded. In the mean time, while he remained
 
 WELLINGTON. 563 
 
 in wiiiter-quaiter3, he was gratified to find t!iat hia 
 i^ervices were properly appreciated ; for the Blue Riband, 
 which had been vacated by the death of the mai-quis of 
 Buckingham, was transmitted to him from England, 
 ^vhile the prince regent of Portugal conferred on him the 
 title of Duke of Victoria. Having now brought the Per 
 tu^uese troops to an effective state in point of numbers 
 and discipline, and reduced those of Spain to some degree 
 of order and obedience, he opened the campaign about the 
 middle of May, 1813. Not only the condition of his own 
 army, but the state of the enemy, gave him every prospect 
 of success. Bonaparte was now struggling amidst the snows 
 of Russia, and could send no reinforcements to the Penin- 
 sula ; the French marshals who commanded under Joseph 
 were at war not only among themselves, but also with 
 their nominal sovereign ; and Soult, by far the most able 
 antagonist of Wellington, was recalled by Napoleon, 
 v.ho was now unable to dispense with his services. 
 
 The plan of the British commander, when he com- 
 menced operations, was to turn the French position on 
 the Douro, by passing his left across the river within the 
 Portuguese frontiers ; then to ascend as far as Zamora, 
 cross the Esla, and unite with the Galician forces ; and 
 in the mean time to force the passage of the Tormes 
 with the centre, in person, and connect his left wing 
 with his right, which was considerably in advance, by 
 establishing a bridge upon the Douro below Zamora. 
 But here, at the commencement of this very critical 
 plan, the dilatoriness of those who should have con- 
 structed the pontoon-bridge was so great, that injurious 
 delays occurred, enough to affect the whole campaign. 
 As liis great object was to effect his passage suddenly, 
 before king Joseph could have time to concentrate his 
 forces, the measure was accomplished at last, notwith- 
 standing several unforeseen obstacles, and the French 
 troops stationed at Zamora and Tora fled at the advance 
 of the allied army. Having successfully united his two 
 ■wings on the Douro, Wellington found that the enemy, 
 in consequence of the delays, had found time to concen- 
 trate their forces between Torre-lobaton and Tordesillas ; 
 but this measure was now too late, for the allies were 
 upon the right side of the Douro, and held the superiority 
 of numbers. The French were therefore glad to retreat, 
 while Wellington pressed forward and reached Valencia,
 
 SM MILITARY HISTORY. | 
 
 T%here his troops were received with showers of roses I 
 and welcoming acclamations. Joseph continued in full j 
 retreat towards Burgos, closely followed hy his antago- 1 
 nist ; and not finding a resting-place even at Burgos, he 1 
 took possession of the rocks and defiles of Pancorbo, and 
 moved the rest of his army behind the Ebro, where he 
 purposed to await the arrival of reinforcements. But this 
 design was not fated to be realized, for on the 13th of 
 June, Graham moved the British left upon the Ebro, and 
 crossed it in safety ; the centre followed on the 15th, 
 and Hill crossed it with the right on the same day ; by 
 which combined movements, admirably executed, the 
 French were entirely cut off from the sea-coast. The 
 British thus abandoned their line of communication with 
 Portugal, of which they had always been hitherto 
 obliged to keep a firm hold, and continued their march 
 towards Victoria in fearless confidence, while the French 
 still continued in full retreat, bewildered by these skilful 
 movements, the purpose of which they were unable to 
 penetrate until they were executed. They at length 
 gained the valley, or basin, of Vittoria, which is about 
 ten miles in length, and eight in breadth, divided into 
 two unequal parts by the Zadora, a branch of the Ebro. 
 Their position extended about eight miles ; their num- 
 bers amounted to 72,000, of which 11,000 were cavalry ; 
 and to oppose them, lord Wellington had 35,000 British 
 and German, 25,000 Portuguese, and 21,000 Spaniards, 
 including 10,000 cavalry, making a total of 81,000. The 
 British commander thus possessed a numerical superi- 
 ority ; but in other respects the two armies misrht be said 
 to be equal, for the Spaniards were mostly fresh levies, 
 and therefore not for a moment to be compared to the 
 skilful veterans of France. 
 
 On the 20th the allied army halted, in order to close 
 up its columns, and upon the same day lord Wellington 
 reconnoitred the enemy's position, preparatory to an at- 
 tack on the morrow. On the 21st, at early dawn, the 
 morning being wet and misty, the allies advanced to the 
 attack in three bodies, which though acting in concert, 
 seemed to be three distinct armies, on account of the 
 ruggedness of the ground. Graham, who commanded 
 the left, was to force, if possible, the passage of the river 
 opposite Vittoria, by which the French position would be 
 completely turned ; Hill, at the head of the right, was to
 
 WELLINGTON. 565 
 
 turn the enemy's left ; while the centre, which Welling- 
 ton commanded in person, was to attack by the bridges of 
 Nanclares, Vellodas, Tres Puentes, and Mendoza, which 
 opened upon the right of the French centre. Hill com- 
 menced the conflict, and commenced it gallantly : he 
 seized the village of Puebla, and after a severe struggle 
 drove the enemy from their position on the heights, and 
 then carried the village of Subijana de Alava, in front of 
 the French line. The ruggedness of the country retarded 
 for some time the advance of his remaining columns to 
 their stations ; but at length they crossed the Zadora at 
 different points. Similar delays occurred with the cen- 
 tral attack, which was conducted by lord Wellington ; 
 but at the critical moment a Spanish peasant came up 
 with the information that the bridge of Tres Puentes 
 was left unguarded. This was promptly occupied by a 
 British brigade. It was now one o'clock, and a distant 
 sound of guns on the left announced that Graham had 
 commenced his attack on the extreme right of the French, 
 while the advancing wreaths of smoke showed that it 
 •was done with success. Hill still pressed on successfully 
 upon the extreme left of the enemy ; and the allied 
 centre secured the bridge of Mendoza, and forced the 
 passage of the river. The battle now became desperate 
 and general ; but the allies had already obtained the 
 advantage, and continued to drive the French from every 
 point, while the sounds of Graham's successful onset were 
 always approaching nearer. For six miles the French, 
 retreated, but still maintained a gallant running fight, 
 availing themselves of every obstacle of ground to check 
 the advance of the pursuers,, or restore their centre — but 
 in vain. Thus the battle continued till six o'clock, when 
 the French stood at bay upon their last defensible height 
 between the villages of Ali and Armentia, while behind 
 them, like a broken tide, was a terriiied multitude of men, 
 women, and children, attached to the French army, with 
 waggons laden with plunder, all hurrying through the 
 city of Vittoria and the fields beyond it. This last line 
 of defence was so desperately contested, that the victory 
 for some time was held in suspense ; but at length the 
 enemy were overpowered by the numbers that were con- 
 centrated against them, and driven completely from the 
 heights. Joseph, who commanded the army in person, 
 perceiving that all was lost, and that the highway to
 
 566 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Vittoria was completely crowded and blocked up, di- 
 rected the retreat by the road of Salvatiera, leaving the 
 city on their left. Thus, the whole French left and 
 centre were flying with headlong speed, with the allied 
 cavalry in full pursuit, leaving their right to be enclosed 
 and destrojed by the victors. The pursuit was continued 
 till dark, along a miserable route filled with flying soldiers 
 and non-combatants, intersected with pan-ots, poodles, 
 monkeys, and women, which the epicurean French officers 
 bad brought with them to the field, but which now figured 
 among the captives. Joseph himself was almost taken 
 prisoner in Vittoria, and had only time to exchange his 
 carriage for a horse, upon which he escaped ; and the 
 baton of marshal Jourdan, who commanded under him, 
 was among the spoils. The whole artillery and baggage 
 of the enemy and their money chests were taken, the 
 last of which were said to have contained five millions 
 and a half of dollars. Be this as it may, the soldiera and 
 camp followers took care that the exact amount should 
 never be fairly ascertained ; and when the chests were 
 conveyed to head-quarters, they were found empty. 
 Even the gold that had tipped the baton of marshal 
 Jourdan had disappeared with the other bullion. This 
 trophy was transmitted to the prince regent of Great 
 Britain, and the gift elicited the following gratifying 
 intimation to lord Wellington, in a letter which was 
 dated from Carlton House, 3d July, 1813 :— ' Your glorious 
 conduct is beyond all human praise, and far above my 
 reward. I know no language the world afi'ords worthy to 
 express it. I feel I have nothing left to say, but devoutly 
 to ofl'er up my prayer of gratitude to Providence, that it 
 has, in its omnipotent bounty, blessed my country and 
 myself with such a general. You have sent me, among 
 the trophies of your unrivalled fame, the staff" of a 
 French marshal, and I send you in return that of Eng- 
 land.' 
 
 In consequence of this distinguished victory, and the 
 consequent disasters by which the retreat of the French 
 armies was attended, the allied forces occupied the whole 
 line of the Spanish frontier, from Ronscesvalles to the 
 mouth of the Bidassoa. But the situation of Wellington 
 was still critical, for while he had two points to cover 
 that were sixty miles from each other, and of difficult 
 communication, he was now to be opposed by his old and
 
 WELLINGTON. 567 
 
 able adversary, Soult, who had been sent to retrieve the 
 French fortunes iu the Peninsula. Such a commander 
 was not likely to lay himself open, like Jourdan, to such 
 a defeat as that of Vittoria, and he was plentifully rein- 
 forced with troops and munitions to renew the war with 
 success. The first measures of Wellington were, to 
 blockade Pamplona, lay siege to San Sebastian, and at 
 the same time to dispose of the rest of his army so as to 
 shut up the various passes of the mountains. On account, 
 however, of this extent of line and multiplicity of opera- 
 tions, the chief danger to be dreaded arose from the 
 facility which Soult possessed of concentrating his 
 forces, to break through some one of the passes and 
 bear down upon Pamplona. In fact, this was now the 
 design of the French commander, and by a sudden and 
 well-managed onset he drove the British from the pass 
 of Maya, inflicting upon them a loss of 140O men and 
 four guns, and advanced within five miles of the town. 
 The Spanish troops, to whom Wellington had intrusted 
 the blockade of Pamplona, were so dismayed at this 
 approach, that they were about to retreat, and had even 
 spiked some of their guns for this purpose, when the 
 posture of affairs was changed by the promptitude of the 
 British commander. He flew to the place of danger, and 
 arrived about two minutes before the enemy had occu- 
 pied the highway to Ostiz, where he took up a position 
 that covered the approach to Pamplona. It was, indeed, 
 high time for such speed and decision, for Soult not only 
 purposed to raise the blockade, but to force the commu- 
 nication of the allied army. The French occupied a 
 ridge parallel to that upon which the allies were drawn 
 up, a deep rugged ravine lying between them, and the 
 battle was commenced by an attack on the hill which 
 commanded theRonscesvalles road, and which was occu 
 pied by a Portuguese battalion and a Spanish regiment. 
 These troops resisted gallantly at the point of the bayo- 
 net ; but as Soult intended to make this hill the pivot of 
 his operations, Wellington reinforced them, so that the 
 French were prevented from accomplishing their object. 
 On the following morning the engagement was resumed 
 by the French from the village of Sorauren, which they 
 had carried on the preceding day ; but they were taken 
 in the rear and both flanks, and driven back. Upon this 
 failure, Soult shifted the place of assault from the right
 
 508 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 bank of Ulzama to the extremity of the ridge, but with 
 no better success ; after which a general attack was 
 made along the whole range of heights occupied by the 
 allied army, and the conflict was maintained for several 
 hours with the utmost fury. But the French were foiled 
 in every attempt, and at last driven down the hill with 
 great slaughter. Being dispirited by these repeated fai- 
 lures, they were at last reluctantly withdrawn. 
 
 The following day (July 29th) was spent by both armies 
 in a state of mutual tranquillity, but each was only 
 waiting for reinforcements, which soon arrived. Soult 
 now resolved, instead of forcing the front, to turn the 
 left of the allied army, by an attack upon the corps com- 
 manded by Sir Rowland Hill, in which, if he succeeded, 
 he would be enabled to relieve San Sebastian. He there- 
 fore brought up reinforcements in that direction, while 
 he concealed his purpose by occupying with his chief 
 force the heights of Sorauren ; and early on the follow- 
 ing day, the French troops began to advance in great 
 force towards the mountains on the south of Ulzama. 
 But Wellington, who had detected the purposes of this 
 skilful movement, soon counteracted it with greater 
 skill : he resolved, instead of awaiting the attack, to as- 
 sume the initiative ; and by his admirable dispositions, 
 the enemy were driven from a position which his lord- 
 ship described as 'one of the strongest and most difiicult 
 of access he had ever yet seen occupied by troops.' The 
 dispersion of the French was so complete, that t)>ey fled 
 across the mountains in broken detachments. Thus was 
 Soult's left wing entirely routed and dispersed, and that 
 commander, who had been employed on the British left, 
 where he was gallantly resisted, did not learn of this 
 disaster till towards the close of the day. He saw, that 
 instead of hoping for victory he must instantly withdraw 
 his army from certain destruction, and accordingly, he 
 retired at nightfall towards the pass of Arraiz, closely 
 followed by Sir Rowland Hill. A skirmish ensued on 
 the succeeding morning, in which the French were driven 
 from their strong position : they then retreated to San 
 Estevan with such rapidity, that Wellington, whose 
 route was necessarily very circuitous, was unable to 
 overtake them in time, except with the light division 
 under count Alten, which gained the flank of the enemy 
 near the bridge of Yanci, and held them iu check for
 
 WELLINGTON. 569 
 
 several hours. Soult still continuing his retreat, reached 
 the pass of Echelar, and on the 1st of August took up a 
 strong position ; but on the 2d, he was attacked by his 
 indefatigable adversary ; and here, general Barnes's bri- 
 gade drove two French divisions from the strong posts 
 they occupied. This event closed a series of operations 
 extending over a space of nine days, and the consequences 
 of which were ruinous to the French. They acknow- 
 ledged a loss of 13,14S men, 2700 of whom were prison- 
 ers ; but as more than GOOO prisoners were shipped for 
 England, their estimate was certainly far short of the 
 reality. The loss of the allied army was about 4000 Bri- 
 tish soldiers, 2000 Portuguese, and 300 Spaniards. 
 
 Wellington having thus established himself oa this 
 part of the Spanish boundary, resolved to secure his hold 
 by reducing San Sebastian and Pamplona, instead of 
 carrying the war immediately into France, a measure 
 which as yet he saw would be premature ; and as a fleet 
 of transports arrived from England on the 19th of August, 
 with battering train, ordnance, ammunition, and military 
 stores, he was enabled to resume his operations against 
 San Sebastian with greater effect than ever. The bat- 
 teries were opened on the 26th, to widen the breaches 
 that had been previously made, and on the 30th, a des- 
 perate assault, headed by general Sir J. Leith, was made, 
 which was met by the most devoted courage : the 
 assailants were swept away as fast as they advanced, on 
 account of the heavy fire of the garrison ; and as the tide 
 was gradually rising upon the narrow peninsula on 
 which the town is built, and enclosing the rear of the 
 assailants, not a moment was to be lost. In this despe- 
 rate crisis, Sir Thomas Graham tried a new experiment 
 in gunnery, by directing forty-seven pieces of artillery 
 to play upon the high curtain above the main breach in 
 the face of the demi-bastion, while the soldiers were ad- 
 vancing to storm — the shot flew only a few feet above 
 their heads, and swept the enemy from their ramparts ! 
 A casualty co-operated with this novel mode of attack, 
 for an immense magazine of fire barrels, shells, and 
 grenades, which the garrison had piled upon the ram- 
 parts for their defence, suddenly ignited, and a tremen- 
 dous series of explosions took place, by which multitudes 
 of the besieged were swept from their stations. The 
 British and Portuguese immediately dashed forward,
 
 570 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 and the town was carried in the midst of a dreadful 
 thunder-storm that deepened the horrors of the conflict. 
 Two thousand of the allied army in killed and wounded 
 attested the desperate character of the assault, and the 
 bravery with which it was encountered. During the 
 whole night, the devoted town was in a blaze, while the 
 flames revealed every excess of the conquerors, who 
 were maddened with the losses they had sustained, and 
 a thirst for plunder and revenge. 
 
 Preparations were now necessary for the siege of the 
 castle of la Motte, into which the relics of the garrison 
 had retired, but the operations were retarded by the 
 burning of the town, that continued for several days, until 
 nothing but blackened ruins remained. The walls were 
 at length bombarded with such effect, that after the 
 castle was nearly a heap of rubbish it was surrendered, 
 the French being allowed to march out with the honours 
 of war. It was in the midst of these important events 
 that Wellington was interrupted by a demonstration 
 of the duke of Dalmatia. Soult, although he had 
 been driven beyond the passes, resolved to make a bold 
 effort for the relief of San Sebastian ; but Wellington, 
 who had foreseen, also anticipated, his measures. Ho 
 moved forward several divisions of the Spanish army, 
 with certain British and Portuguese brigades to support 
 them, which were strongly posted across the line of ap- 
 proach at every assailable point. On the 29th of August, 
 the enemy were seen assembling in great force at Vera, 
 and on the morning of the 31st, they were in the act of 
 crossing the Bidasoa, in three columns, at as many dif- 
 ferent points, upon which a heavy fire was immediately 
 opened upon them. The first French corps, which had 
 already crossed the river at the foot of the San Marcial 
 height, advanced up the steep expecting an easy victory, 
 as only Spaniards opposed them ; but they were now to 
 learn that the soldiers of the Peninsula had at length 
 profited by the lessons of the British commander. The 
 Spaniards, who saw their enemies toiling up the steep 
 ascent in some disorder, immediately dashed upon them 
 and drove them pell-mell down the hill into the river, in 
 which many were drowned. A similar attack was made 
 xipon the right of the Spaniards, but with the same re- 
 sult. In the afternoon, a second French column, which 
 had thrown a bridge across the Bidasoa and united them-
 
 WELLINGTON. 571 
 
 selves with the first, advanced simultaueously to the 
 attack of the heights at different points. But here lord 
 Wellington rode along the front of the Spanish lines, and 
 addressed the soldiers with such commendations of their 
 gallant conduct, that the mountains resounded with their 
 vivas, and the French were received with such courage 
 that they were again driven down the steep and across 
 the river. The third column, under the command of 
 general Clauzel, crossed the river, and endeavoured to 
 force the heights that covered the right of the Spaniards, 
 where they seemed for a short period to have succeeded ; 
 but the Portuguese troops that were posted in this quar- 
 ter were so effectually reinforced from the British, that 
 Clauzel was obliged to retreat and recross the Bidasoa, 
 which he accomplished with great difficulty. In these 
 conflicts the French lost 3600 men, and the allied army 
 2623. The heaviest of this loss was sustained by the 
 Spaniards, as it amounted to 1679 men ; but they had 
 now rolled back the reproach which had long attached to 
 their arms, and acquired that confidence in their own 
 courage and efforts which would have been cheaply 
 purchased by a greater sacrifice. Wellington, who 
 knew the confidence he could place in them, had refused 
 to reinforce them in the last attack, declaring that the 
 honour of the victory, as well as the brunt of the battle, 
 should be entirely their own. In consequence of this 
 success, San Sebastian was taken without farther inter- 
 ruption. 
 
 The marshals Soult and Suchet now resolved to adopt 
 a new plan of action. The former, with his whole army 
 disencumbered of their guns, was to cross the Pyrenean 
 chain by the mountain roads to the northward of Jaca ; 
 while the latter, reinforced from France, was to advance 
 between the Ebro and the Pyrenees, and join Soult with 
 30,000 men and 100 pieces of artillery, after which their 
 combined forces, to the number of 80,000 or 90,000, could 
 fall upon Wellington's right flank. But this bold and 
 well-conceived plan was rendered useless by the British 
 general assuming the offensive. Wellington resolved 
 to cross the frontier, and carry the war into the south of 
 France ; but finding it not prudent in the present juncture 
 to move his whole force, he resolved to invade France 
 with the left wing of his army. He therefore crossed 
 the Bidasoa at an early hour of the morning of the
 
 572 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 7th of October, amidst a thunder-storm that concealed 
 his movements, and drove in the French pickets that t' 
 were posted in the neighbourhood of Audaye. Three 
 successive positions v?ere then attacked and carried by the 
 fifth division, while the other portions of the allied army 
 were equally successfuL^at the different points by which 
 they crossed the river, except in an attempt to gain pos- 
 session of the Great la Rhune, where the Spaniards under 
 Giron were roughly handled : but on the succeeding night 
 the French withdrew from that position also. The entire 
 left wing of the allied army was thus established upon 
 the soil of France, while the right occupied the passes of 
 Ronscesvalles and Maya ; but although thus far success- 
 ful the sufferings of the invaders were extreme, in con- 
 sequence of those fierce changes of weather that occur 
 among the Pyrenees, and sickness and death prevailed 
 to a great extent among the soldiers. A still greater 
 danger than even this, however, was to be apprehended 
 from the Spanish and Portuguese troops. They had a 
 long account of national injuries to settle, and had they 
 been allowed to follow up their purposes of revenge upon 
 France, the whole country would have risen as one man 
 against them, and driven them across the frontier. But 
 Wellington not only forbade every excess by proclama- 
 tion, but sternly menaced every offender ; and the strict 
 nature of his military discipline gave no ground to hope 
 that punishment might be eluded. The French and 
 Basque peasantry were also invited to remain peaceably 
 in their villages, under the assurance that they would be 
 protected from military license. These declarations, 
 which were rigorously fulfilled, quickly softened the 
 atrocities of invasion : the peasantry recovered their con- 
 fidence and brought in abundance of provisions, so that 
 the army was better supplied than it had ever been in 
 Spain. 
 
 On the 31st of October, Pamplona, which had been 
 blockaded by the Spaniards under Don Carlos de 
 Espana, surrendered, and the garrison were embarked 
 as prisoners of war for England. By this circumstance 
 the right wing of the allied army was now at liberty, 
 and Wellington therefore resolved to direct his whole 
 force against Soult. The troops were accordingly drawn 
 from Ronscesvalles and the passes of Maya on the 10th of 
 November, and in nine divisions confronted the French
 
 WELLINGTON. 573 
 
 left and left centre, through which Wellington intended to 
 break. The attack was commenced at dawn by the British 
 right centre, and the advanced redoubts were carried, so 
 that the enemy were obliged to retreat behind the village 
 of Same, which was their main position, being of great 
 natural strength and also skilfully fortified ; but from 
 this also they were driven by the on-sweep of the in- 
 vaders. During the course of these events, the allied 
 right, under the conduct of Sir Rowland Hill, was equally 
 successful, having stormed the entrenchments on the left 
 bank of the Nivelle, and compelled the enemy to take 
 to flight to the mountains. A general advance was now 
 made upon the right and left bank of the Nivelle ; the 
 hills beyond it were carried, and the allies, having thus 
 established themselves in the rear of the French right, 
 would have cut it in pieces and taken Soult prisoner, 
 but that the darkness obliged them to pause. As it was, 
 they had carried positions which had been three months 
 in fortifying, and captured 1400 men, six tumbrils of 
 ammunition, and fifty-one pieces of cannon. Even in 
 defending the frontier of ' la belle France,' it is to be 
 observed, that the French did not fight with that intrepid 
 confidence which they had formerly been wont to exhibit. 
 It seemed as if they now felt that they were opposed to 
 a leader of a very dififerent character from any former 
 antagonist — one who had foiled their best commanders, 
 and never experienced a defeat. 
 
 After this engagement, Soult commenced his retreat 
 upon Bidart with his right wing, apprehensive that his 
 communication with Bayonne might be cut off, while 
 the allied army advanced in his track. As the French 
 occupied a strong position in front of Bayonne under the 
 fire of that place, including posts on the Adour and the 
 Nive, lord Wellington had resolved to cross the latter 
 river immediately, but was prevented from moving by 
 heavy rains till the 8th of December On the following 
 day he directed the right of the army under Hill to pass 
 at one point, while the sixth division under Sir H. Clinton 
 crossed at another, and both movements were success- 
 fully executed ; the enemy were driven from the river, 
 and obliged to retire towards Bayonne. But it was now 
 that the allied army discovered the full difficulty of the 
 task they had still to execute. Soult's position was a small, 
 compact crescent, of which the strongly fortified town of
 
 5T4 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Bayonne formed the centre; while the allies, who were 
 posted around it, necessarily occupied one of much greater 
 circumference, which was liable to be broken at any 
 point. This was Soult's expectation, and he prepared to 
 realize it by an attack upon the weakened left wing of the 
 allied army with nearly the whole of his forces. Early 
 on the morning of the 10th the desperate conflict com- 
 menced — a conflict of life-and-death importance, in which 
 the gates of France were to be the prize of the victor, 
 and which was continued during the three following 
 days. On each side were exhibited the same skilful 
 manoeuvring and the same desperate valour which had 
 characterized the previous conflicts : but in them all the 
 result was the same ; the French were repelled at every 
 point. It was during this protracted and momentous 
 engagement, which was not waged as hitherto for con- 
 quest and aggrandizement, but national defence, that 
 chilling tidings reached the French encampment, and 
 found their way from troop to troop. The star of Napoleon 
 was on the wane, and the empire which had been ga- 
 thered under its auspices was falling in pieces. Hanover 
 was emancipated ; the Dutch had proclaimed their inde- 
 pendence ; and before the struggle had terminated, two 
 German regiments came over to the allies. When the 
 battle was ended on the I3th, Wellington had success- 
 fully accomplished all his purposes. The French were 
 confined within their camp at Bayonne ; their communi- 
 cation with Saint Jean Pied-de-Port was cut oflf; a large 
 and fertile tract of country was wrested from them, and 
 they were deprived of the navigation of the Adour, upon 
 •which they depended for supplies ; and such was the 
 bavoc among their ranks, that in the last day's conflict 
 alone their loss amounted to more than 6000 men. 
 
 Soult, still confident in the strength of his position, 
 made a new arrangement of his forces, by which his 
 line was extended until it doubled in the rear of the 
 allied right wing, while his communication with St. 
 Jean Pied-de-Port was once more opened, although not 
 by the direct road. Upon this Wellington made a cor- 
 respondent movement to secure the part of his army that 
 was in danger, after which he sent the bulk of his forces 
 into their old cantonments, intending with more favour- 
 able weather to commence a fresh campaign. While he 
 thus kept firm possession of the most vulnerable part of
 
 WELLINGTON. 575 
 
 France, the cause of Bonaparte was daily declining ; the 
 crisis was fast approacbina:, and the duke d'Angouleme, 
 as the representative of the Bourbon family, arrived at 
 the allied head-quarters under the assumed name of the 
 Comte de Pradel. During the month of December the 
 state of the weather kept both armies inactive, but at the 
 commencement of 1S14, all were ready for action. A suc- 
 cession of movements and skinnishes commenced this 
 campaign, which was destined to be the most important 
 in its results. The posts of the allied army were rest- 
 ing on the Gave (or rivulet) of Oleron, when the British 
 commander gave orders on the 21st of February to break 
 up from the blockade of Bayonne; and on the 24th, Hill 
 and Clinton, with their divisions, crossed the Gave 
 d'Oleron at different points, while Beresford attacked the 
 enemy's posts at Gave de Fau, and forced them to retire. 
 The French army was assembled at Orthez on the 2.5th ; 
 but Wellington, having forced the passage of the Adour 
 in the face of every difficulty, by a series of skilful 
 movements scarcely inferior to those that signalized the 
 passage of the Douro, resolved to give battle. The 
 position of Soult was peculiarly strong, and his army 
 amounted to about 40,000, while that of Wellington was 
 considerably diminished (in appearance at least) from his 
 having been obliged to dismiss the Spanish troops on 
 entering the French frontier, on account of their ten- 
 dency to revenge and plunder. The engagement com- 
 menced on the 27th, at nine o'clock in the morning, by 
 a vigorous attack of the British and Portuguese upon 
 the village of St. Boes, in advance of the French right, 
 which was carried after a desperate resistance ; but from 
 the heights beyond it such a destructive fire was directed, 
 that they were unable to gain any farther footing. Wel- 
 lington on observing this altered in an instant his plan 
 of attack, and resolved to break through the French line 
 at the angle formed by the meeting of its right and 
 centre. By this rapid change, which was admirably 
 executed by the allied troops, he brought an overwhelm- 
 ing force to bear upon the key of the enemy's position. 
 This decided the engagement : the French ranks were 
 broken asunder; upon which Soult, perceiving that his 
 case was hopeless, commanded a retreat to Sault de 
 Navailles by the only road left open to him. In the 
 mean time the French left, which occupied Orthez under
 
 576 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 general Clauzel, had fared no better : Sir Rowland Hill, 
 who had effected the passage of the Gave above Orthez 
 and placed himself in the rear of the enemy's left, per- 
 ceived that the day was with the allies, and accordingly 
 he pushed forward to intercept the retreat of the enemy 
 at Sault de Navailles. Hitherto the French had retreated 
 in good order ; but perceiving that they were placed 
 between two fires, and in danger of being cut off from 
 their rallying point, their retreat became a race, in which 
 they threw away knapsacks, arms, and accoutrements, 
 and thus lightened they scoured along with a nimbleness 
 that extorted even the applause of their more heavy- 
 bodied pursuers. They got first to Sault de Navailles ; 
 but their rear column was overtaken by lord Edward 
 Somerset, and charged so successfully, that many were 
 taken prisoners. Had it not been for the ruggedness of 
 the country, which prevented the British cavalry from 
 an eflective pursuit, the loss of the French army would 
 have been more severe ; but they had between 4000 and 
 5000 killed and wounded, and 2000 taken prisoners, with 
 twelve pieces of cannon, besides sustaining a heavy de- 
 ficiency in the shape of desertion, several thousands 
 having abandoned their standards. The British, how- 
 ever, had almost paid dear for this victory, as Wellington 
 himself was sti-uck by a spent ball, which bruised him so 
 severely, that he was unable to direct iu person the 
 last movements of the army. 
 
 On the following day, the British continued the pur- 
 suit in three columns ; but the badness of the roads im- 
 peded their advance, and marshal Soult, after reinforcing 
 his army with the troops of the garrison of Dax, and 
 some battalions of conscripts, continued his retreat in the 
 direction of Agen. Still, however, the pursuit was per- 
 severingly continued, and with favourable results, for 
 Beresford took a large magazine of provisions without 
 resistance at Mont de Marsan, while Sir Rowland Hill, 
 with the right wing of the allies, attacked a portion of 
 the French army on the 2d of March, and drove them 
 from the town of Aire. At last, the weather interposed 
 in favour of the fugitives, and the Adour was so swollen 
 by the rains, that Wellington could not move forward 
 until his communication with the different parts of his 
 army by means of the river could be restored. Thus 
 Soult had a breathing interval, and he resolved to retreat
 
 WELLINGTON. 577 
 
 up tbe course of the Adour to Turbes, and effect a junc- 
 tion with Suchet's aimj-, by which he might transfer the 
 war once more to the Pyrenees. In consequence of this 
 plan he was obliged to leave Bordeaux exposed to the 
 allies ; but he imagined that they would not dare to ad- 
 vance so far, with Bayonne and a strong French army 
 in their rear. But the course of events baffled his calcu- 
 lations. The late losses of Napoleon, and the critical 
 situation of France, now menaced on every side, had 
 changed in many cases the whole current of public feel- 
 ing, so that a desire was frequently and loudly expressed 
 for the restoration of the Bourbons. Bordeaux itself 
 was the first city that took a decided step in this re- 
 action, by sending a deputation to the due d'Augouleme 
 at the British head-quarters, inviting his arrival, and to 
 assure lord Wellington that the British army should be 
 received with welcome. Beresford was immediately 
 sent thither with 12,000 men to expel the ganison, and 
 give the citizens an opportunity to declare themselves. 
 It must be remembered, that Wellington had no purpose 
 to bias tbe French nation as to the form of government 
 they should adopt, or the dynasty by which they should 
 be governed : his only desire was Peace, which he 
 thought could only be obtained by the downfall of Bona- 
 parte ; and therefore he had hitherto checked, rather 
 than encouraged, the pretensions of Angouieme and the 
 exclusiveness of the Bourbonists. He wished to ascer- 
 tain the unbiassed feelings of the people themselves, 
 and be guided by the result. This neutrality was the 
 more necessary, as the allied European powers, who 
 were in treaty with the falling emperor, had not yet 
 declared, and did not even seem to have ascertained 
 their own future purposes ; and as the name of Bonaparte 
 was still terrible, they advanced their unwieldy masses 
 of troops into France to enclose him, with the same hesi- 
 tation which hunters exhibit when they enter the lion's 
 den. But the movement of the British troops upon 
 Bordeaux struck the key-note of that popular feeling, 
 which was taken up and continued over the whole length 
 and breadth of France. The city, freed from appre- 
 hension, mounted the white cockade, and proclaimed 
 Louis XVIII. and the cause of legitimacy. 
 
 Soult was in a fury at this unexpected event, by which 
 all his calculations were baffled, and after publishing an 
 2 C
 
 573 MILITARY HISTORY 
 
 angry proclamation, in which Wellington was heartily 
 abused, but to which the latter made no reply, the Frencli 
 marshal resumed the more difficult process of encounter- 
 ing his antagonist in the field. When the swelling of 
 the Adour had subsided, the communications of the 
 British army were restored, and Wellington having left 
 a division under lord Dalhousie at Bordeaux for its 
 protection, prepared to go in quest of Soult and Suchet. 
 Soult in the mean time, having been reinforced, ima- 
 gined that he now outnumbered his adversary, and in 
 this confidence he resolved* to assume the aggressive. 
 He accordingly set his troops in motion, and crossed the 
 Adour on the 12th of March ; but his measures seemed 
 now to lack that vigour and decision for which they had 
 formerly been distinguished, for he did not reach Garlin, 
 where Hill's right was posted, till the 15th. He found it 
 too strong to be attacked in front, and he resolved to 
 turn its right ; but on finding that it continued to be 
 hourly reinforced, he lost heart, and hastened back to 
 Lambege. It was now the plan of Wellington, who had 
 called up Freyre's Spanish corps from the frontier, and 
 otherwise reinforced his army, to resume the initiative, 
 which he did on the 18th by an attempt to bring the 
 enemy to action before they could repass the Adour; 
 but Soult, preferring a retrograde movement, recrossed 
 the river, and took up a strong position on the right 
 bank. From this he was driven on the 20th, upon whicli 
 he drew off to a still stronger position, formed by a range 
 of heights covering the road to St. Gaudens : here, how- 
 ever, he was again outmanoeuvred by his skilful oppo- 
 nent, upon which he continued his retreat with such 
 celerity, that he reached Toulouse on the 24th, and there 
 determined to make his final stand. The allied army 
 did not arrive till three days later, and Soult employed 
 every moment of the interval in strengthening his po- 
 sition and the defences of the city. The French army 
 was posted upon the bold and picturesque range of 
 heights called Moimt Calvinet, which were crowned 
 with redoubts and flanking entrenchments, that cora- 
 Tnanded the whole front of their position as far as the 
 Ers, a deep and muddy river at the foot of Mount Cal- 
 vinet ; and as this river at the present season could only 
 he passed by bridges, Soult had destroyed them all except 
 that of Croix d'Orade, on the Alley road. The southern
 
 WELLINGTON. 579 
 
 front of his position was defended by the Garonne, the 
 wiiUh and rapidity of which river lie judged to be a .suf- 
 ficient protection. 
 
 Wellington, on having reconnoitred this formidable 
 position, resolved to obtain a passage above the city, and 
 thus compel Soult to abandon Toulouse. He therefore 
 ordered a bridge to be laid immediately below the 
 junction of the Arriege with the Garonne ; but on making 
 the attempt, it was found that the distance across was 
 too great for the pontoons to cover. But Wellington 
 could instantaneously alter or accommodate his plans to 
 every emergency, however sudden ; and he resolved to 
 lay a bridge below Toulouse, and attack Soult's position 
 in front, before the latter could be reinforced by the ad- 
 vance of Suchet. On the morning of the 4th of April 
 the bridge was finished, and the river was crossed by a 
 portion of the allied army without interruption ; but the 
 pontoons, with the weight of horse and carriages, and 
 the sti-ength of the swollen current, was at length 
 swamped, and no farther crossing could be effected until 
 the floods had abated. Thus the allied army was cut iu 
 two, and stationed upon either bank of the Garonne till 
 the 8th, when the crossing was finally effected, and 
 45,000 men, of whom 8000 were Spaniards and .5000 
 Portuguese, were led to the attack of 40,000 French 
 soldiers, protected by strong entrenchments. Fortunately, 
 the dashing exploit of a body of horse under colonel 
 Vivian had secured the possession of the only bridge 
 over the Ers which the French had failed to destroy, 
 and it was across this that Beresford marched with the 
 4th and 8th divisions to begin the attack. The battle 
 commenced on the 10th of April at seven o'clock, the 
 roofs and steeples of Toulouse being crowded with citizens, 
 the anxious spectators of an event by which their own 
 fate and that of the city was to be decided. Beresford's 
 division crossed the Ers, and drove the enemy from the 
 village of Montblanc, and Freyre's Spanish corps then 
 rushed into action, striving to reach the French left, 
 which was nearly half a mile distant ; but this latter 
 exploit was conducted with more ardour than discretion ; 
 for the assailants were driven down the heights with 
 great slaughter, and the French had almost obtained 
 possession of the bridge over the Ers, by which Beresford 
 would have been cut off from the rest of the army, but 
 that reinforcements arrived, by which the career of the
 
 580 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 enemy was checked. The Spaniards were rallied by their 
 officers, and led back to the charg-e, and the French were 
 compelled to return to their entrenchments. In the 
 mean time, greneral Picton, who had been commissioned 
 to execute a feint on the extreme rig-ht of the allied 
 army, was still more unfortunate. He had been directed 
 to divert the attention of the eiremy from the real point 
 of attack, by menacing the bridge-heads that protected 
 the bridges across the great canal of Languedoc ; but his 
 ardent courage soon converted the feint into a real 
 attack, and under circumstances where success was im- 
 possible : the French entrenched behind a mound five 
 feet in height, which was fronted by a dry ditch six feet 
 wide and as many in depth, defied all the efforts of the 
 assailants, and drove them back with great loss. The 
 interest of the battle sYiifted once more to the French 
 extreme right, where Bercsford having successfully 
 estaljlished himself, directed the attack against Mont- 
 audran and the redoubts on Mount Calviiiet. These 
 attempts were successful, notwithstanding the extreme 
 dillicultics of the ground and the strength of the enemy's 
 entrenchments; and while theCth division, under general 
 Clinton, scaled the heights, and established themselves 
 in front of the French line, the 4th, under Sir Lowry 
 Cole, were equally successful in the other quarter, hav- 
 ing forced their way up the hill, and established them- 
 selves on Clinton's left. A pause now occurred, which 
 Beresford employed in bringing up his guns, which he 
 had been obliged to leave behind at Montblanc ; while 
 the French laid planks between their different works 
 for the more convenient movement of their artillery. 
 About one o'clock, when Beresford had finished his pre- 
 parations, the battle was renewed with great fury, and 
 Clinton's division was attacked both in front and flank 
 by Soult, who hoped to cut it off' before it could be joined 
 by Sir Lowry Cole ; but the (ith division charged with 
 the bayonet, and so effectually, that after a desperate 
 hand-to-hand struggle the French were borne backward, 
 while two of their principal redoubts, which formed the 
 key of their position, were carried. These Soult endea- 
 voured to recover, for which purpose he changed his 
 front, and returned to the attack ; but the fith being now 
 joined by the 4th division, instead of waiting the enemy's 
 approach, advanced to the charge. Tlie French were 
 compelled to abandon their remaining works, which they
 
 WELLINGTON. 581 
 
 did in good order, carrying off all their artillery except 
 a siiiijrle gun, after wbich they occupied a ridge of great 
 strength between Mount Calvinet and the town, which 
 they still seemed resolved to defend. Tlie allied army, 
 wliich was now established upon three sides of tlie town, 
 looked forward with eagerness to the expected encounter, 
 and Wellington had made arrangements for cutting otY 
 the enemy's retreat; but during the night Soult with- 
 drew all his posts within the entrenched line behind the 
 canal, thus abandoning Toulouse to its fate. In this 
 engagement the loss of the allied army was greater than 
 that of the French, amounting to 4G59 in killed, wounded, 
 and missing. The enemy, however, confessed themselves 
 vanquished by relinquishing their formidable works, and 
 even Toulouse itself, in the defence of which they had 
 resolved to ' bury themselves under its ruins.' But when 
 the season of rest afterwards succeeded, in which they 
 could ' fight all their battles o'er again,' by their fire- 
 sides, they somehow discovered that they had not been 
 beaten at all, but, on the contrary, had gained a glorious 
 victory. This, at the worst, was a harmless piece of 
 vanity : a more serious cause of regret is, that the battle 
 should have been fought at all ; for Paris was alreadyoccu- 
 pied by the allied sovereigns, and Bonaparte had signed 
 his abdication, so that had the tidings been conveyed more 
 rapidly, all this gratuitous bloodshed might have been 
 avoided. 
 
 If Soult had seriously intended to defend Toulouse, the 
 resolution was very short-lived ; for on the night of the 
 llth he retired with his whole force, by the way of 
 Carcassonne, to join Suchet, and on the 12th Wellington 
 entered the town. The white flag and white cockades 
 now became the fashion, the imperial eagles had disap- 
 peared, and the streets resounded with the cries of 
 ' T'iie not re bon roi ! vhcnt Ics Anglais!' For this lat- 
 ter exclamation at least there was good cause, for Wel- 
 lington, in his attack upon Soult, had subjected himself 
 to serious difficulties in order to preserve the good town 
 from the damage of a raiidom cannonade. On the same 
 evening tidings arrived of the incredible events that had 
 taken place in Paris, and it was proclaimed in the 
 theatre that Bonaparte had resigned all pretensions to 
 the crown of France, and that Louis XVIII. had been 
 called to the throne. Such events ^t first seemed im-
 
 582 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 possible. The puller-down of kings deposed! the 'child 
 of destiny ' reduced to the fate of vulgar heroes! The 
 audience at first distrusted their own ears ; and even 
 when they were more assured, they could scarcely com- 
 prehend the tidings. A low murmur first arose, but some 
 time elapsed before it swelled into a shout of triumph, 
 which was strengthened by the British officers, and the 
 song of ' Vite Henri Quatre,' long disused in France, was 
 loudly called for, to signalize the do%vnfall of Napoleon, 
 and the restoration of legitimacy. But while contem- 
 plating the fall of one illustrious personage, it is grate- 
 ful to turn to the rise of another. In the following 
 month, Wellington was raised to the ducal rank, and 
 had £'300,000 voted to him for the purchase of an estate 
 for the maintenance of his new dignity. Here, as lord 
 chancellor Eldon justly observed when addressing the 
 duke of Wellington in the House of Lords, was a fact 
 unprecedented in the history of England. In the short 
 compass of little more than four years he had been raised 
 to the highest rank that the crown can bestow. It is 
 gratifying to add, that not one title had been bestowed 
 without its appropriate meed. Arthur Wellesley, 
 whether as knight, viscount, earl, marshal, marquis, or 
 duke, had paid the price of each successive step by some 
 heroic deed, that will illuminate the pages of British 
 history when, perchance, the pages of the British peei'age 
 will cease to be consulted. 
 
 As hostilities had thus terminated, the talents of the 
 duke of Wellington were now exerted in behalf of his 
 country in a civil capacity, having been appointed 
 British ambassador at the court of France ; and on the 
 4th of May he arrived at Paris, where be was received 
 with high and merited honour by the allied sovereigns, 
 and the most illustrious personages of Europe, who were 
 assembled in the French capital. From thence he has- 
 tened, after a short stay, to Madrid, where the miserable 
 Ferdinand, who had been restored to his throne, was em- 
 bittering, rather than healing, the deep wounds of Spain. 
 This priest-ridden potentate had dissolved the cortes, 
 annulled the constitution which they had promulgated, 
 and was striding onward towards absolute despotism at 
 the hazard of a civil war and second deposition. The 
 duke reached Madrid on the 21th, and continued there 
 till the 5th of June, endeavouring to impress the neces-
 
 WELLINGTON. 583 
 
 city of moderation upon all parties, but in vain. Spain 
 had not yet endured the full measure of that national 
 affliction from which she was to learn wisdom. On the 
 loth of June, the duke of Wellington rejoined his army 
 at Bordeaux ; and as peace had been signed at Paris, he 
 proceeded to break up the British and Portuguese forces, 
 which, under his superintendence, had been brought 
 into such a state of perfect discipline and efficiency, that 
 he said of them, ' I always thought I could have gone 
 any where, and accomplished any thing, with that army.' 
 On the 23d he arrived in England, and five days after 
 he was introduced as apeer into the House of Lords. That 
 important event resembled a great national triumph 
 rather than a simple act of official initiation; and as the 
 general enthusiasm was equally prevalent in the House 
 of Commons, he received the thanks of that august body 
 by a committee expressly appointed for the purpose. He 
 wished on this occasion to make his acknowledgments 
 in person, which was granted, and on the succeeding 
 day he entered the crowded house, being received by all 
 the members standing. On this occasion, the principal 
 merits of the noble duke were happily summed up by 
 the speaker in the following appropriate and comprehen- 
 sive words : — ' It is not the grandeur of military success 
 which has alone fixed our admiration, or commanded our 
 applause ; it has been that generous and lofty spirit 
 which inspired your troops with unbounded confidence, 
 and taught them to know that the day of battle was 
 always a day of victory ; that moral courage and endur- 
 ing fortitude, which, in perilous times, when gloom and 
 doubt had beset ordinary minds, stood nevertheless un- 
 shaken ; and that ascendancy of character which, unit- 
 ing the energies of jealous and rival nations, enabled 
 you to wield at will the fate and fortunes of mighty em- 
 pires.' 
 
 1815- — Although peace had been established, it was the 
 peace of exhaustion, not forbearance ; and France, chafed 
 under the restraint of the allied powers, and irritated by 
 the extravagances of the loyalists, began to exhibit a 
 spirit of hostility, that only waited a moving impulse. 
 And they did not wait long, for the ' Child of Destiny' 
 was again in the field. We have been told by the wisest 
 of monarchs, that the counsels of kings are inscrutable, 
 and therefore we cannot pretend to divine the causes
 
 584 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 which induced the allied sovereigns to send Napoleon to 
 Elba, an island within sight of France ; and still less can 
 we conjecture the motives that induced them to furnish 
 him with good, or at least plausible, reasons for escaping 
 from confinement. As early as the 26th of February he left 
 Elba, with an armament containing some 1,200 soldiers, 
 and the allied sovereigns, who had latterly been exhibit- 
 ing certain symptoms of disagreement among themselves, 
 were restored to unanimity by the tidings. The empe- 
 rors of Austria and Russia and the king of Prussia imme- 
 diately published a declaration, by which they placed 
 Bonaparte without the pale of all civil and social rela- 
 tionship, and delivered him up to public vengeance as 
 the common enemy of mankind. In the meantime every 
 step of Napoleon's advance was an earthquake : the 
 troops that were sent to apprehend him hurried to his 
 standard ; the old soldiery of France, in whose eyes he 
 was the incarnation of Victory itself, hailed his arrival 
 as the commencement of a new era that was to eclipse 
 all past renown ; and the unfortunate Louis XVIII. was 
 left as solitary upon his throne as Mark Antony on the 
 banks of the Cydnus, when the crowds forsook him to 
 hail the coming of Cleopatra. In this strange emergency 
 the labours of the duke of Wellington were incessant. 
 After having announced to the allied sovereigns tlie 
 landing of Bonaparte in France, he enforced upon the 
 British ministry the necessity of instant action before 
 the power of their tenible adversary had gathered to a 
 height. But after the profusion of the late war, the 
 British statesmen had been seized with one of their peri- 
 odical ague-fits of economy, which made them shiver at 
 the expense of a final campaign, so that they had not 
 even called out the militia, by which they could have 
 availed themselves of the troops of the line in Ireland, 
 and other quarters, for the present crisis. These cir- 
 cumstances necessarily occasioned such delay, that Wel- 
 lington could not move till the 4th of April, on the 
 evening of which day he arrived at Brussels, and assumed 
 the command of the forces of his Britannic majesty upon 
 the continent. The plan of the campaign which the 
 duke recommended was fortunately adopted by the allied 
 sovereigns, and their respective armies were so sta- 
 tioned as to be ready for the expected attack upon what- 
 ever quarter it might be made.
 
 WELLINGTON. 585 
 
 During these preparations Napoleon had not been idle. 
 With an almost superhuman energy he had rallied and 
 organized his dispersed veterans, restored the military 
 magazines, and long before the allies were ready for the 
 field he vras at the head of a most efficient army of 
 150.000 men, 20,000 of whom were cavalry. With such 
 an instrument, a fearful blow was to be dealt, and he 
 had only to look around for the victim. And he was not 
 long in making the selection. He resolved to burst upon 
 one of the wings of the vast military cordon by which 
 the empire was enclosed, separate Blucher from Welling- 
 ton, and then crush them in detail ; after which, success 
 over his other enemies would be comparatively easy. 
 His troops were, therefore, moved by rapid marches to- 
 wards the frontiers of the Netherlands, and on the 12th 
 of June, before daylight, he left Paris to take the command 
 of the army, which he reached on the 14th. As it was 
 his plan to take the allied army by surprise, his troops 
 were set in motion by three o'clock on the following 
 morning, and after driving in the Prussian outposts, 
 they crossed the Sambre in the afternoon, in four bodies, 
 at different parts of the river. The Prussian general, 
 Ziethen, unable to endure the weight of such an onset, 
 retreated before the French, contesting the ground inch by 
 inch, that Blucher might have time to concentrate his 
 forces. While thus the conflict and retreat were going 
 on, marshal Ney arrived at the French head-quarters, 
 and was directed by Napoleon to take command of the 
 left column, consisting of 45,000 men, and advance to 
 Quatre Bras, to separate the communication between 
 Blucher and Wellington. The French marshal accord- 
 ingly advanced against prince Bernard of Saxe Weimar, 
 who commanded a portion of the Netherlands' army at 
 Frasne, and who was obliged in consequence of his in- 
 ferior numbers to fall back upon Quatre Bras, after a 
 fierce but unequal struggle. Night at length put an 
 end to these several conflicts, in which the French had 
 been successful, although they had failed in destroying 
 the communication between the British and Prussian 
 armies. 
 
 While these events of the 15th were going forward, 
 the duke of Wellington, who was ignorant that active 
 hostilities had commenced, was present with his princi- 
 pal officers at a ball given by the duchess of Richmond 
 2C2
 
 58G MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 in Brussels, when the prince of Orange rode into the 
 court-yard at five o'clock in the eveuiug, and announced 
 the first tidings of the enemy's movements. Soon after, 
 despatches arrived from Blucher himself, in which the 
 attack, was mentioned as a mere aftair of outposts. This 
 information was insufficient to justify the duke in com- 
 mencing any serious movement ; it might be a feint of 
 the enemy to allure him from Brussels, that the town 
 might be left undefended, and, therefore, the dance con- 
 tinued until a little before midnight, when a second de- 
 spatch came from Blucher announcing the whole events of 
 the day. The drum was now beat to ai-ms ; the British 
 officers bade a hxirried adieu to their fair but terror- 
 stricken partners ; the streets of Brussels in an in- 
 stant resounded with the loud din of a military muster, 
 and the marching of the troops who were ordered for 
 Quatre Bras. In the mean time Napoleon, who had 
 passed the night at Charleroi, resolved to make a simul- 
 taneous attack upon both armies; that against the 
 British, for the purpose of keeping Wellington in check, 
 to be conducted by marshal Ney, while that against 
 Blucher was to be led by himself in person. Quatre 
 Bras was occupied by the prince of Orange, by which 
 the road that connected the British with the Prussian 
 position at Ligny was kept open, and it was upon this 
 point, therefore, that Ney directed his eflbrts. By five 
 o'clock in the morning, a series of light skirmishings 
 commenced, and Wellington, who arrived two hours 
 afterwards, and saw that the prince of Orange main- 
 tained his position with ease, repaired in person to 
 Blucher, whom he found in a windmill between Ligny 
 and Bry, with the army of Bonaparte manoeuvring in 
 the distance preparatory to the engagement. The two 
 generals held brief and hasty counsel, after which the 
 duke returned to Quatre Bras ; but here matters had 
 undergone a serious change during the interval. Ney had 
 altered the light skirmishes into an overwhelming 
 attack, so that as the British troops could only arrive at in- 
 tervals, and by different routes, there was danger of their 
 being cut ofl' in detail ; and as for the Netherlanders, 
 they were already reeling beneath the immense masses 
 of the enemy, and about to abandon Quatre Bras with- 
 out a struggle. In this crisis, the elevated ground at 
 Quatre Bras suddenly shone with a gleam of bayonets from
 
 WELLINGTON. 587 
 
 the arrival of Ficton's division, cousisting- of 12,000 men, 
 \vho were rapidly formed in order, and opposed to the head- 
 long progress of the French. Still the enemy pressed 
 onward, and their cavalry, after putting several squa- 
 drons of the Brunswick horse to flight, dashed upon our 
 infantry before their squares could be regularly formed, 
 and inflicted upon them a severe loss. The battle was 
 every moment becoming more critical ; Wellington him- 
 self, who had been exposed to the hottest of the fire, 
 had seen many of his staff struck down by his side, and 
 on one occasion he was almost taken prisoner by the French 
 cavalry, when the 3d English division most oppor- 
 tunely arrived, to sustain the brunt of a furious attack 
 which was made upon the allied right, to obtain posses- 
 sion of the wood of Bossu, and the out-buildings in front 
 of Quatre Bras. The French were repelled, but the 
 British, in attempting to prosecute their success, advanced 
 too rashly, and were charged in tvirn and driven back 
 by the enemy's cuirassiers. Even yet, it seemed as if 
 the French would have ultimately succeeded, when 
 about half-past six o'clock the Brunswickers arrived, by 
 which the allied army was now equal to that of Key. 
 The French were completely driven from the wood, 
 and their commander, as a last and decisive effort, re- 
 solved to call up his reserve from Frasne, and thus 
 renew the battle— but he was paralysed to learn at this 
 critical moment that it had been removed by Napoleon, 
 to support his attack upon the Prussians. All hope of 
 success was from that moment abandoned, and his ut- 
 most attempt from thenceforth, was to maintain his 
 original position on the heights near Frasne until the 
 day had closed. The British remained masters of the 
 field, by which they saved the Prussian army ; for it 
 had been the expectation of Bonaparte that Ney would 
 have been able to gain Quatre Bras, after which he 
 was to envelope the right of the Prussians during the 
 battle of Ligny, and thus ensure their destruction. 
 
 While the battle of Quatre Bras was thus going on, 
 another part of this complex military drama was sus- 
 tained between Napoleon and Blucher, only seven miles 
 distant. The bulk of the French army, under the con- 
 duct of the emperor, assailed the Prussian position at 
 three o'clock, and after a desperate resistance, succeeded 
 in carrying it. ThL" battle, which lasted till nine o'clock,
 
 588 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 cost the Prussians a loss of 15,000 men, and fifteen pieces 
 of cannon ; but the fierce old warrior by whom they 
 were commanded secured their retreat to the vicinity 
 of Wavre, where he formed a jvmction with Bulow. In 
 consequence of this circumstance, Wellington was com- 
 pelled to make a corresponding movement, and accord- 
 ingly he retrograded upoii Waterloo, where, if attacked, 
 he could depend upon the suppoi-t of Blucher, as Wavre 
 is distant only about twelve miles. The allied army 
 reached their position of Mont St. Jean in fi-ont of Wa- 
 terloo at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 17th ; and 
 only two hours after, Bonaparte's advanced guard ap- 
 peared in the neighbourhood of La Belle Alliance. The 
 night was stormy, and the rain fell in torrents, as each 
 army addressed itself to an uncomfortable bivouac. On 
 both sides there was the solemn conviction that the events 
 of the succeeding morrow would decide the fate of na- 
 tions, and a restless longing for the coming of day, by 
 which suspense and uncertainty would be laid to rest. 
 
 It was a fearful hazard which the duke of Wellington 
 encountered, when he resolved to make a decisive stand 
 at Waterloo. The French army, consisting of well-tried 
 veterans, and animated by the recollection of past vic- 
 tories, were at least 90,000 strong ; and they were headed 
 by their most able commanders, and above all by Bona- 
 parte himself— a leader who had hitherto encountered 
 no equal, and who latterly had been rather overwhelmed 
 than conquered, under tiie weight of a coalition against 
 vhich valour and skill were useless. To oppose these 
 the duke had about 80,000 men, of whom only 33,000, 
 including the old German legion, could be relied on, the 
 rest of his forces being a motley array, composed of 
 soldiers of diflferent nations. In the number of guns the 
 inequality was still greater, as he had only 120 pieces of 
 artillery, while Napoleon had *270. But he i-esolved to 
 abide the hazard, confiding in the strength of his position 
 and the promised support of Blucher; while his soldiers 
 showed the utmost alacrity for battle, under the recol- 
 lection that their general had always been victorious. 
 The ground of Waterloo, which he had inspected some 
 months previously with a soldier's eye, and with the 
 capabilities of which he was well acquainted, was ad- 
 mirably adapted for his purpose. His army was drawn 
 up on a range of gentle eminences, called the heights of
 
 WELLINGTON. 589 
 
 Mont St. Jean, that extended about a mile and a half 
 frora east to west, in connexion with which were live 
 roads, all leading to Brussels. His extreme left rested 
 on the farm of Ter-la-Haye, and was protected by a deep 
 ravine ; his centre was posted between two roads lead- 
 ins from Genappe and Nivelles ; his left centre, in which 
 he was weakest, occupied ground a little iu the rear of 
 the farm, La Haye Sainte ; and his right centre was ia 
 the rear of another farm, called Gomont, but which will 
 be remembered through all time under the misnomer of 
 Hougoumont. This place was the key of the duke's 
 position, and so long as it could be held his right wing 
 was safe. The right allied wing, composed of lord Hill's 
 corps, was thrown back nearly at right angles to the 
 centre, to accommodate itself to the form of the valley, 
 and was protected by a ravine. Thus, with an open 
 ground in front, and with his flanks defended by deep 
 ravines, the duke was confident that his position could 
 scarcely be turned. Even in the event of a retreat, also, 
 the village of Mont St. Jean would afford him a good 
 centre of support for a second position ; and if that was 
 also carried, the forest of Soignies, which was at a little 
 distance in his rear, and extended almost to the town of 
 Brussels, would afford a safe retreat. 
 
 Although Bonaparte was aware of the position -which 
 the allied army had taken up, he thought that the occu- 
 pation was only temporary, to secure a safe retreat. 
 Resolved, however, that they should not thus steal away 
 from him, he bestirred himself at the earliest dawn of 
 the 18th, and brought up his troops to the heights in 
 front of those eminences occupied by the allied forces, 
 that he might overtake and destroy the runaways. But 
 when he saw that his enemies still occupied the same 
 ground, and were ready to abide the contest, his sur- 
 prise was soon changed into a burst of triumph ; and he 
 exclaimed, 'Ah! I have them at last — these English!' 
 His hope was to crush them with the weight of his onset 
 before Blucher could arrive to their aid, after which he 
 meant to attack the latter while the Prussians were 
 marching over the broken ground between Wavre and 
 Mont St. Jean. His plan of attack on this occasion was 
 extremely simple. He proposed to break through the 
 centre of the allied army, or turn one of its flanks, and 
 thus overwhelm it in detail; for which purpose it was
 
 590 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 necessary first of all to obtain possession of Hougoumont. 
 He therefore sent orders to marshal Ney, who couiiuauded 
 his left wing', to direct a lart;e force upon the farm and 
 carry it; and accordingly 30,000 men in three columns, 
 the first of which was led by Jerome Bonaparte, were 
 detached for this important service. At half-past ten 
 they were seen moving- above Hougoumont, towards 
 which they approached obliquely, throwing out skir- 
 mishers along their whole line ; and at eleven the battle 
 of Waterloo commenced, by a furious conflict to obtain 
 the key of the allied position. But the wood and outer 
 fence of the farm-house were lined with skirmisliers, 
 who successfully resisted Jerome's tirailleurs ; aud when 
 the heavy French columns advanced to the support of 
 their light troops, a British battery, posted within range 
 upon the height above, opened upon them a tremendous 
 fire, that for a few moments checked their advance. 
 The assailants, however, brought up their heavy artil- 
 lery, and answered with a cannonade equally terrible, 
 by which a great part of the wood was gained ; the 
 Nassau battalion, that had been stationed there to guard 
 it, gave way, and the French still pressing forward, ad- 
 vanced to the hedge enclosures, and endeavoured to pe- 
 netrate into the garden. But here they were impeded by 
 the felled trees with which every approach was blocked 
 up, and attacked by the light companies of the guards, 
 who lined the hedges, while a heavy fire from the loop- 
 holed walls of the old chateau poured incessantly upon 
 them. Again and again they repeated their attack, bu 
 unsuccessfully, and were at last obliged to desist; after 
 which the guards, sallying from their enclosures, reco- 
 vered a large portion of the wood. 
 
 After this repulse, the battle, instead of being confined 
 to one spot, became general, and the cannonade on both 
 sides was attended with terrible efl'ects. As a large force 
 of cavalry was now displayed by the French, the two 
 centre divisions of the allied army were ordered to form 
 squares against the expected attack ; but the demon- 
 stration was only a feint, and as the duke saw that his 
 squares were suflTcring greatly under the incessant can- 
 nonade, he withdrew them behind the slope, so that its 
 ridge interposed between them and the enemy's fire. 
 This movement, which took place between one and two 
 o'clock, was mistaken by the French for a retreat ; upon
 
 WELLINGTON. 591 
 
 which several columns, led b^- count d'Evlon, were 
 ordered to attack the left of the allied position, a furious 
 lire being directed all the time against Hougoumont, to 
 conceal their real intention. The attack was for a short 
 space successful : the Belgian brigade, to whose keeping 
 this important post had been assigned, were soon driven 
 in ; the life-guards, who were sent to support them, were 
 compelled to retreat ; and the French continued to ad- 
 vance along the cross road in the rear of the allied 
 line, until the gallant Ficton threw Kempt and Pack's 
 brigades across the way, when the enemy were already 
 within forty yards of them. Here a desperate conflict 
 commenced, that continued for an hour, during which 
 Picton fell while in the act of ordering a charge. But 
 the corps of d'Erlon had been staggered by the steady 
 fire of the British infantry, and before they could re- 
 cover, lord Usbridge charged them with such an impe- 
 tuous onset, at the head of a brigade of horse, that their 
 formidable masses were broken in pieces, and driven 
 back in great confusion. The British dragoons, on this 
 occasion, pursued their success too far ; and when they 
 were already exhausted with their efforts, the five of a 
 whole battalion of infantry opened upon them, followed 
 by a charge of cuirassiers and lancers, by whom they 
 were driven back with great loss, after leaving the 
 brave general Ponsonby among the slain. While the bat- 
 tle was thus continued with such desperate fury on the 
 left, Hougoumont had been repeatedly menaced by the 
 troops of Jerome Bonaparte; but when the conflict had 
 slackened for a few moments, in consequence of the 
 gallant charge of lord Uxbridge, the attack upon Hou- 
 goumont became more furious than ever. Napoleon's 
 dispositions showed his resolution to obtain this impor- 
 tant post at whatever sacrifice, upon which the duke of 
 Wellington sent thither a reinforcement of 4000 men, 
 who were advantageously posted in the wood, and about 
 the enclosures of the chateau. It was on this point that 
 the whole storm was now directed, and every part of the 
 building and its adjacent scenery was lighted up with 
 incessant discharges of musketry and artillery, under 
 which whole ranks were levelled like grass, under the 
 successive sweeps of the scythe. But fresh assailants 
 still poured in, and the struggle was not remitted for a 
 moment. At last the corn-stacks in the farm-yard and
 
 592 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 the building itself were set on fire by the French how- 
 itzers, and a desperate hand to hand conflict ensued, 
 amidst the blaze of the ronflagration, and the shrieks of 
 the wounded and dying, who were perishing among- the 
 flames. The whole building was soon a mass of charred 
 ruins; but the assailants were at last driven back by the 
 Coldstream guards under colonel Woodford, and the 
 position was secured. 
 
 In this manner four hours of hard fighting had elapsed, 
 during which Napoleon had obtained no advantage : his 
 effort to force the allied left had failed, and two attacks 
 upon Hougoumont had been repulsed. He now deter- 
 mined to assail the allied left centre, hopi7ig he should 
 find it less defensible, for which purpose it was first 
 necessary to obtain possession of La Haye Sainte ; and 
 this position be resolved to carry at every hazard. Be- 
 tween three and four o'clock, therefore, such masses were 
 directed against it as made resistance hopeless, and the 
 gallant defenders who bore up against the onset while 
 their ammunition lasted, were at last enclosed, and cut 
 down without means of resistance. After obtaining pos- 
 session of the farm, Ney was able to assemble a large 
 body of cuirassiers in a hollow between it and Hougou- 
 mont, where they were protected from the fire of the 
 British guns, and enabled to charge with advantage. 
 But although the attacks that followed were of the most 
 murderous description, the allied squares remained as 
 firm and cool as if they had been drawn up on parade, 
 while the ground after every onset was thickly strewn 
 with their iron-sheathed assailants, who only charged to 
 perish under the steady fire of their opponents. Nor 
 was their fate better when they retreated from these im- 
 moveable phalanxes; for they were followed by charges 
 of the British cavalry, and encountered by men as 
 brave but far stronger than themselves, against whose 
 swords even their well-tempered panoply was but a frail 
 protection. And still time was passing, and every mi- 
 nute that expired was a knell to the hopes of Napoleon — 
 six o'clock had arrived, and as yet the allied army stood 
 firm, while the Prussians might be expected every mo- 
 ment upon the scene, and their arrival would be deci- 
 sive of the day. Onfe resource as yet remained to the 
 emperor by a charge of his far-famed Imperial Guards, 
 who had seldom charged an enemy in vain, and their
 
 WELLINGTON. 593 
 
 onset might be decisive by breaking- the allied centre, 
 which was already exhausted by previous attacks. More 
 than an hour elapsed before his dispositions could be 
 made for this last and most important effort, after which, 
 ail being in readiness, the guards received their wonted 
 order from Napoleon — ' Let every one follow me!' He 
 inarched at their head for about ten minutes, under a 
 heavy tire of the English artillery, after v.hich he sud- 
 denly halted with his staff in a hollow between La Belle 
 Alliance, and La Haye Sainte, committing to Ney the 
 conduct of this final movement. The guards marched 
 across the plain that lay between the two eminences, a 
 tremendous fire thinning their ranks as they proceeded, 
 while the French guns answered the cannonade, and 
 covered their advance. But from this heavy fire the 
 British troops were almost wholly protected, the duke of 
 Wellington having providently ordered them to lie down 
 beneath the brow of the hill, until the word of command 
 should be given. As for himself he continued tranquilly 
 to watch the advance of the massive columns as they 
 cleared the plain, and began to ascend the eminence 
 of the allied position ; and when the critical moment 
 had come, he exclaimed, ' Up, Guards, and at them !* 
 The whole line sprung up in an instant, and received 
 the assailants with such a volley as sent them reeling 
 backwards. But the confusion of the Imperial Guards 
 was only for a moment. They rallied, and were in the 
 act of deploying, when a second volley was poured among 
 them, after which the English guards continued to fire 
 upon them by independent files. The whole assailing 
 mass began to fall into confusion, upon which general 
 Maitland led his brigade to the charge. This completed 
 the discomfiture of the enemy, who fled in confusion. 
 The French chasseurs then endeavoured to protect them, 
 by taking the English guards in flank; but at that in- 
 stant the extreme right of the allied army, under general 
 Hill, which had not yet been engaged, and which had 
 stood during the day at right angles with the centre, was 
 suddenly wheeled into a crescent, by which the chas- 
 seurs were enclosed and destroyed. Thus the last hope 
 of the French had failed ; their last stake had been played, 
 and lost. The allied ai-my had maintained its post, and 
 night and Blucher, according to the often-repeated wish 
 of Wellington, had come ! The duke at one instant per-
 
 591 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 ceiving the confusion of the French army, which was 
 now in full retreat, and hearing the firing ou his left 
 which told him that the Prussians had arrived, gave the 
 order to advance, upon which the whole line moved for- 
 ward to become the assailants. The French made even 
 yet a desperate stand, but it was only for a few moments : 
 they turned and fled, Napoleon himself being among the 
 fugitives. It was in this final death-struggle that lord 
 Uxbridge, who had headed so many splendid charges of 
 cavalry during the day, and contributed so greatly to the 
 •victory, was wounded in the knee by almost the last 
 shot that was fired. Till after dark the pursuit was con- 
 tinued by the British, until Wellington found himself on 
 the same road with Blucher, who undertook to follow the 
 enemy and prevent their rallying, a pledge which he 
 redeemed with merciless fidelity. In the chase, the Prus- 
 sians found nothing but panic-struck crowds, flying with 
 headlong rapidity by the light of the moon, and whom 
 they cut down and trampled under foot without pity. 
 No sound was heard over the whole country but the 
 useless cry for mercy, mingled with the war-whoop of 
 revenge. The duke, who had halted his troops about two 
 miles beyond Rosomrae, now returned with his ofiicers 
 to head-quarters at Waterloo, in doing which, he was 
 obliged to pass many a huge pile of carnage, composed 
 of the bodies of those whom he had trained to arms and 
 led so often to victory ; and we are told that he burst 
 into tears at the spectacle, declaring that he had never 
 fought such a battle, and that he hoped never to fight 
 such another. 
 
 In this great conflict of Waterloo, the principal features 
 of which only have been briefly sketched, there was 
 little of scientific military manoeuvring. ' Napoleon just 
 moved forward,' writes Wellington, ' in the old style, in 
 columns, and was driven oS" in the old style. The only 
 difference was, that he mixed cavalry with his infantry, 
 and supported both with an enormous quantity of artil- 
 lery.' In such a case, the chief object of Wellington was 
 to remain on the defensive and maintain his post until 
 toe promised arrival of the Prussians — a i-esult by which 
 the defeat of the French must be insured. While the 
 French have asserted, that but for the arrival of Blucher 
 the British would have been inevitably defeated, the 
 Prussians have not scrupled to claim the chief hoaoui-a
 
 WELLINGTON. 595 
 
 of the victory, as if their arrival had uot only saved the 
 British army from destruction, but occasioued the defeat 
 of the French. But we have already seen that every 
 attack, of the enemy had been foiled — that our troops 
 stood firm and undaunted till the close of the engage- 
 ment — that the attack of the imperial guards, which was 
 Napoleon's last and decisive stroke, had been miserably 
 unsuccessful. The emperor had done his utmost, and his 
 troops were in retreat by the time the Prussians arrived. 
 All that Blucher had to do was to improve a victory 
 already move than half won, and to pursue an enemy 
 baffled and retiring from an attempt that had proved a 
 signal failure. But this veteran pupil of Frederic the 
 Great certainly deserves high commendation for the zeal 
 and activity with which he completed the victory of 
 Waterloo. Undaunted by his defeat at Ligny and the 
 force of Grouchy, which the emperor had left to hinder 
 his advance, the Prussian marshal hastened to the con- 
 flict, like the war-horse at the summons of the trumpet, 
 and, in spite of every obstacle, arrived in time to inflict 
 the last and decisive blow, by which all future efforts 
 on the part of the enemy were rendered hopeless. But 
 for this interposition, the baffled and broken French 
 troops might have retired to their old encampment, and 
 resumed the engagement on the succeeding day ; or they 
 might have assumed some new position, and renewed 
 the campaign under the command of that leader whose 
 presence was equivalent to whole armies, and whose 
 turns of fortune had been so wonderful, that none could 
 foresee their limits or their termination. 
 
 The superb army of Napoleon being thus annihilated, 
 Wellington and Blucher resolved to push directly to 
 Paris ; and the main bodies of their armies accordingly 
 crossed the frontier on the 21st of June, without waiting 
 for the arrival of the Russians and Austrians. On enter- 
 ing the French territories, Wellington published two 
 proclamations ; one addressed to the troops, reminding 
 them that they were entering the country of the king of 
 France, the ally of their own sovereigns; and the other 
 to the French people, announcing that the allied army 
 recognised no enemy but Bonaparte, and that the inha- 
 bitants of the country would be unmolested. The march 
 to Paris was still continued; and, during the interval, 
 Napoleou abdicated for the second time; after which.
 
 596 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 commissiouers were sent to the two generals from the 
 provisional government established at Paris, to treat for 
 an armistice. The two commanders would not accede to 
 the proposal, as nothing short of the restoration of 
 Louis XV'III. was thought a sufficient guarantee for the 
 establishment of peace ; and Blacher — more in the spirit 
 of an ancient Hun than a modern soldier — demanded that 
 Napoleon should be delivered up to him, for the express 
 purpose of putting him to death. But this unworthy 
 spirit of his colleague was indignantly checked by the 
 duke of Wellington. ' You and I,' he said, ' have acted 
 too distinguished a part in these transactions to become 
 executioners; and I am determined, that if the sove- 
 reigns wish to put him to death, they shall appoint au 
 executioner, which shall not be me.' 
 
 On reaching the French capital, on the 30th of June, 
 it was found that an attack upon it would be a work of 
 ditficulty and danger ; for the outworks and neighbour- 
 ing heights were strongly fortified, while within were 
 50,000 troops of the line, besides national guards and 
 other armed bodies, all zealous for the defence of their 
 beloved city. But after a series of shai-p skirmishes, in 
 which the French troops were unsuccessful, a military 
 convention was arranged at St. Cloud, by which it was 
 agreed that the French army should evacuate the strong 
 posts they held and the city itsulf, which was fulfilled 
 on the Gth of July. On the day following, the British 
 and Prussian anuies entered Paris — and here again the 
 revengeful ire of Blucher broke forth. Being indignant 
 at the bridge of Jena, because it commemorated the defeat 
 of his countrymen, he prepared to destroy it, and was 
 only prevented by the determined remonstrances of Wel- 
 lington. He then resolved to exact an oppressive con- 
 tribution from the city; but here again the duke inter- 
 posed, and the measure was reluctantly abandoned. 
 Being determined, however, to revenge the injuries of 
 Prussia in some shape or other, Blucher next bethought 
 himself of the Louvre, and soon cleared its galleries of 
 every work of art which had been carried away from 
 his country. This appeared a deed of just restitution, 
 and the example was too tempting not to be followed by 
 the other powers, so that in a few days every statue and 
 picture which the French had taken from different 
 countries was reclaimed by the original owners. In the
 
 WELLINGTON. 597 
 
 mean time, Bonaparte, who thus saw tlie downfall of his 
 grandeux- and the termination of his political history, con- 
 tinued to linger at Rochefort, hoping in some unguarded 
 moment to evade the Tigrilance of the British cruizers, 
 and escape to America. But, finding the coast too strictly 
 watched, he was obliged to deliver himself up to captain 
 IMaitland, of the Bellerophon, on the 15th of July, by 
 whom he was brought to England, to wait the award of 
 the British court. And who can forget that award ? 
 As long as the rocky island of St. Helena shall endure, 
 so long will the fate of the heart broken exile be remem- 
 bered and deplored. 
 
 It is here that the military history of the duke of 
 Wellington terminates. As yet he had but attained the 
 mid day of life: but how full of stii-ring events; and 
 how much had already been done for the present and 
 the future, for fame and posterity ! In looking back 
 upon the military history of England, where shall we 
 find his parallel '. Not even in Marlborough ; for al- 
 though the hero of Blenheim achieved many a splendid 
 triumph, it was not over such redoubted leaders as Junot, 
 Marmout, Jourdan, Victor, Soult, Ney, Massena, and 
 finally Napoleon himself. Into the long and distin- 
 guished political career to which the duke of Wellington 
 was called, after the victory of Waterloo had restoi-ed 
 peace to Europe, it is not our province to enter. It is 
 sufficient to state, that it has been rendered, perhaps, as 
 illustrious as his military course, and precisely tiirough 
 the exertion of the same noble qualities which made him 
 unrivalled in the field — firmness, caution, sagacity, and 
 foresight, all animated by devoted patriotism, and ele- 
 vated by moral rectitude.
 
 598 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 ROWLAND HILL, 
 
 BARON HILL OK ALMAREZ AND OF HAWKESTONE, 
 SHROl'SHIUE. 
 
 A HERO cannot live and act alone. He requires the 
 co-operation of kindred spirits for the successful accom- 
 plishment of his gigantic purposes and the full completion 
 of his greatness. But, fortunately for his fame, such 
 assistants are not long wanting. The very commence- 
 ment of his career, so unlike that of other men, is an 
 electric impulse that kindles every heart in which the 
 heroic principle is implanted ; and, in the continuation 
 of his course, they rally around him as their common 
 centre, and become the instruments, as well as the 
 pupils, of his successes, by which they acquire a repu- 
 tation only inferior to his own. Such was eminently the 
 case with Napoleon and our own Wellington, under 
 whom were reared the rival Titans of what miglit be 
 termed a ' war of the giants.' And, as a work recording 
 the triumphs of British heroism would be incomplete 
 without a notice of those distinguished individuals by 
 whom the victories of the great captain of the age were 
 accomplished, we cannot more fitly conclude our labours 
 than with brief notices of the principal commanders who 
 served under the duke of Wellington. Of these, our 
 present illustrious Commander-in-chief naturally demands 
 our first attention. 
 
 Lord Hill commenced his military career in 17Q0,in the 
 38tb regiment. His promotion was rapid ; for at Toulon, 
 three years afterwards, having previously obtained a 
 company, he served upon the respective staffs of lord 
 Mulgrave and generals O'Hara and Dundas. Captain 
 Hill was wounded when general O'Hara was made pri- 
 soner; and was sent with the despatches to England by 
 Sir David Dundas, when Toulon was evacuated. After 
 the close of this unfortunate expedition, he was appointed 
 to the command of the 00th regiment, and accompanied 
 it to Egypt. In the action of the 13th of March he par- 
 ticularly distinguished himself, and was severely wounded 
 in the head by a spent ball. On the 1st of January he 
 was promoted to a brevet colonelcy, and, with the rank
 
 HILL. 599 
 
 of brigadier-general, was appointed to the Irish staff. On 
 being made a major-general, and placed upon lord Cath- 
 cart's staff in his expedition to Hanover, the freedom of 
 the city of Cork was presented to general Hill, as a 
 token of their respect, by the inhabitants. Early in the 
 summer of 180S, he embarked at Cork for the Peninsula ; 
 and in the battles of Rolifa and Vimiero, he commanded 
 a brigade under Sir Arthur Wellesley. General Hill 
 served afterwards under Sir John Moore, coifimanding a 
 corps during the retreat, and the reserve at Corunna. 
 On Wellington's return to Portugal, Hill went out with 
 him ; and, through the long and glorious struggle that 
 ensued, he not only shared in the triumphs of his im- 
 mortal leader, but eminently distinguished himself in 
 separate commands. In the passage of the Douro (I2th 
 of May, 1S09), when Sir Edward Paget was wounded. 
 Hill succeeded to the command, and held the Seminary 
 against overwhelming numbers, until assistance from the 
 other shore, and the appearance of Murray's brigade 
 from Avintas, obliged Soult to commence a retreat, 
 which was equally celebrated for its ability and its mis- 
 fortunes. 
 
 To record the numerous and important services of this 
 distinguished commander would be almost to epitomise 
 the Peninsular campaigns. At Talavera he was slightly 
 ■wounded, when commanding a division ; and as one of 
 the principal efforts of the enemy w^as made against his 
 division, the manner in whicti it was received and re- 
 pulsed added considerably to lord Hill's reputation. So 
 far the subject of this memoir was fortunate as a lieu 
 tenant; but the period soon arrived when he had an op- 
 portunity of distinguishing himself in separate commands, 
 where the glory was all his own. His surprise of Girard 
 at Arrayo de Molinas was a bold and masterly operation, 
 being admirably planned and executed with rapidity and 
 spirit. Fifteen hundred prisoners, including general 
 Brune and the duke d'Aremberg, a colonel of chasseurs, 
 and the chief of the staflf, felf into the hands of the 
 British ; and had not Girard's first division moved at 
 daylight from the village, there can be little doubt but 
 that the French loss would have been considerably aug- 
 mented. It was a strange coincidence, and one which 
 amused not a little the British army, that a battalion of 
 the French 34th regiment was attacked at AiTayo de
 
 600 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Molinas, and taken by a wing of the 34th Ent,'lish. Tha 
 brass drums of that corps, and the baton of their drum- 
 major, with ' Austerlitz ' and the eagle engraven on it, 
 are still in the possession of the English 34t!i, as the 
 treasured trophies of that important and well-fought 
 action. 
 
 The next exploit of Sir Rowland Hill was the de- 
 struction of the bridge of boats at Almarez, by which the 
 French matshal (Marmont) had secured the passage of 
 the Tagus. Aware of the deep importance of the bridge 
 to all further operations, no pains had been spared by 
 the French engiTieers to secure it effectually against sur- 
 prise. On the right bank it was protected by a strong- 
 redoubt, called Fort Ilagusa, flanked by ajiic/ic reaching 
 to the side of the Tagus. On the left bank a tetc-du-pont 
 had been constructed, and this was immediately under 
 the guns of Fort Napoleon, a very extensive redoubt, 
 with a loop holed tower and accommodation for a garri- 
 son of 500 men. The limits of this brief notice will only 
 permit us to say, that Hill's attack had all the good for- 
 tune a well designed and bravely-executed enterprise 
 deserved. The works were carried by the bayonet ; the 
 garrison was driven in confusion across the river, in 
 which many fugitives perished in their hurry to escape ; 
 and 250 were made prisoners. The works were dis- 
 mantled and blown up; the guns thrown into the river; 
 the bridge, pontoons, palisades, and every thing com- 
 bustible, were burned; and the whole of the service was 
 most completely effected, with a loss on the part of the 
 Kritish that was comparatively trifling. 
 
 The third occasion on which lord Hill particularly dis- 
 tinguished himself was upon the Nive, in the battle of 
 the 13th of December, 1813. On the night of the 12th, 
 Soult, passing through Bayonne with a considerable 
 force, issued at daylight ft-om his intrenchments, and fell 
 upon Hill's corps with nearly 30,000 men. With not 
 more than half that number of British and Portuguese 
 troops Sir Rowland vigorously resisted, and foiled the 
 French marshal in his furious and repeated efl'orts to 
 carry the English position. At last, wearied and dis- 
 comfited, the duke of Dalmatia ordered his columns to 
 retire; but he was followed closely by the English gene- 
 ral, who forced the French from a height on which their 
 infantry bad formed, and drove them ofl' the ground.
 
 ANGLESEY. 601 
 
 with the loss of two pieces of artillery. No contest 
 during the Peninsular struggle was more honourable to 
 the British arms than that of the 13th of December; and 
 the frank and manly declaration of lord Wellington, 
 when he came up after the battle, ' Hill, the day's your 
 own!' showed how highly he estimated the gallantry 
 and talent of his lieutenant. 
 
 For these glorious and important services, Sir Rowland 
 Hill received the grand cross of the Bath, the govern- 
 ment of Blackness Castle, the Portuguese order of the 
 Tower and Sword, the freedom of the city of London, the 
 government of Hull, and lastly, on the 3rd of May, 1814, 
 he was raised to the peerage, by the style and title of 
 baron Hill, of Almarez, and of Hawkestone, Shropshire. 
 He is also a G.C.H., K.M.T., K.S.G., and D.C.L. 
 
 As commander-in-chief of the British army, lord Hill's 
 conduct has given universal satisfaction. The welfare of 
 the service seems the mainspring of all his actions ; and 
 the strictest impartiality characterises every appointment 
 that issues from the War Office. 
 
 HENRY WILLIAM BALEY PAGET, 
 
 MARQUIS OF ANGLESEY, EARL OF UXBRIDGE, &C. 
 
 This gallant officer, distinguished as much by his emi- 
 nent services in the organization and development of the 
 cavalry force of his country, as by those which he ren- 
 dered in her battle-fields, was the eldest son of Henry, 
 lord Paget, the third earl of Uxbridge. He was born on 
 the 17th of May, 1763; and received his education at the 
 public school of Westminster and the university of Ox- 
 ford. His father had been himself a soldier, honoured 
 with the confidence of his sovereign ; and on the break- 
 ing out of the French revolution, and in the prospect of 
 the wars which it originated, he eagerly seconded the 
 disposition of the young Henry William to take a share 
 in the vast military movements which were in pre- 
 paration. A fine body of young men was accordingly 
 raised on the earl's estates, which was subsequently 
 organized as the 10th regiment of foot, or Staffordshire 
 volunteers, and of which lord Paget was appointed lieu- 
 2 D
 
 602 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 tenant-colonel. At the head of this gallant corps, be 
 made his earliest military essay, under the duke of 
 York, in the first campaign of the British army in 
 Flanders ; and there, during the temporary absence of 
 lord Cathcart, had the distinction of replacing that officer 
 for a period at the head of the brigade. On his return 
 to England, he was sent to Ipswich, with the 7th light 
 dragoons and other bodies of cavalry under his command ; 
 and here it was that his lordship commenced that series 
 of evolutions, and laid the foundation of that system of 
 discipline and duty, which eflFected an entire revolution 
 in cavalry practice. Indeed, it was chiefly through the 
 unwearied zeal and diligence of lord Paget that our 
 cavalry became the formidable and effective instrument 
 ■which it proved itself to be in the laurelled fields of the 
 Peninsula and on the dreadful day of Waterloo. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1808, lord Paget was 
 sent into Spain with two brigades of cavalry, to strengthen 
 the corps of the army under Sir David Baird, which was 
 marching through Galicia, for the purpose of effecting a 
 junction with the main body, advancing upon Salamanca 
 under the brave but unfortunate Sir John Moore. But 
 the treachery and incapacity of those whom he had come 
 to serve, with the strong front presented by the armies 
 of Soult and Junot (prepared to combine their forces), 
 added to the daily increasing rumours that Napoleon was 
 about to advance in person, with the whole disposable 
 strength of the French troops in Spain, compelled the 
 British commander to commence that memorable retreat 
 to the sea, through an exhausted country, and in the 
 face of an enemy of overwhelming numbers, which 
 ended in the extrication of his army from the toils into 
 which he had been so wantonly led, and his own de- 
 struction, but by a soldier's death and in the arms of 
 victory. The wliole of that disastrous retreat was covered 
 by lord Paget's cavalry, with a gallantry in which the 
 best parts of the spiiit of chivalry were combined with 
 the improved tactics of modern warfare. Day after day 
 did their intrepid leader lead them on to some dashing, 
 yet well-conducted, enterprise, ending with the glorious 
 one of Corunna, in which he brought up his reserve to 
 the support of the British left wing, and turned the for- 
 tunes of the day in that direction. Had the list of his 
 services terminated at this period, he must have carried
 
 ANGLESEY. 603 
 
 v.'ith him from the Spanish coast the reputation of one 
 of the most gallant of the many gallant spirits which 
 those stirring times produced, and the most brilliant 
 cavalry officer of his time. 
 
 From 1S06 to 1812, lord Paget sat in the House of 
 Commons as representative for Melbourne Port ; the 
 death of his father, in the latter year, removed him, as 
 earl of Uxbridge,to the House of Peei-s. But his natural 
 scene of action was the battle plain ; and events were 
 preparing employment for his genius on its more cha- 
 racteristic ground. Napoleon's sudden burst into France 
 from his island cage, set all his keepers in motion to 
 secure the untamed lion ; and the command of the large 
 cavalry forces attached to the British army under Wel- 
 lington was given, by a happy appointment, to the earl 
 of Usbridge. His bearing and exploits on that field 
 of gallant deeds have been the theme of minstrel, 
 orator, and historian ; and are too familiar, in all their 
 incidents, to need repetition here. Conspicuous for his 
 bravery where all were brave, leading on his brig-ades 
 to charge after charge, and exciting applause even 
 among the French officers, who saw in his bold bearing 
 their own chief ' of the snow-white plume,' the gallant 
 Murat, he contributed largely to the success of the ope- 
 rations by which the day was won, and left a limb 
 behind him, to attest the gallantry with which his per- 
 son was exposed to the fearful accidents of the field. One 
 of the last shots fired by the flying foe struck his lordship 
 on the right thigh, inflicting a wound which rendered 
 immediate amputation necessary : and the leg of the hero 
 having been appropriated as a relic by the owner of the 
 house in which the operation was performed, lies buried 
 beneath a green mound, in a garden opposite to the inn, 
 at Waterloo. 
 
 For his part in this great event, in which the eagle 
 of France perished, the earl of Uxbridg'e was, on the 
 23d of June, 1815, created marquis of Anglesey, and 
 he largely shaved in all the other honours with which 
 the grateful country hailed her victorious soldiers. But 
 the same day and scene in which his lordship's leg was 
 interred, saw also the burying of the tomahawk of war; 
 and the peaceful era to which these deeds were the 
 harbinger, has furnished no fresh incidents to his his- 
 tory. In politics, he has played a somewhat conspicuous
 
 G04 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 part ; but it is only with his military capacity that we have 
 to do in this work. Under Mr. Canning's administration, 
 the marquis of Anglesey succeeded the duke of Welling- 
 ton as master-general of the Ordnance, with a seat in 
 the cabinet ; and he was lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1828, 
 and again in 1830. That high office he continued to fill 
 till September 18.33, when the state of his health com- 
 pelled him to resign. Since that period, his lordship has 
 withdrawn from the tumult of public life; and now re- 
 poses, in an advanced and honoured old age, upon his 
 laurels as a soldier, and his unimpeached character as a 
 man.* 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL 
 
 SIR THOMAS PICTON, K.G.C.B. 
 
 Sir Thomas Picton was born in August, 1758, at Payston, 
 in the county of Pembroke, the seat of his father, Thomas 
 Picton, Esq., and as he was attached to a military life 
 from his boyhood, he particularly directed his attention 
 to military studies, after which he increased his martial 
 acquirements under M. Lachee, a French gentleman who 
 kept a military academy. In his fourteenth year he ob- 
 tained an ensigncy in the 12th regiment of foot, under 
 the command of his uncle, lieutenant-colonel William 
 Picton ; and in about two years he left the military school, 
 to join his regiment at Gibraltar. In March, 1777, he 
 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the same 
 regiment ; and in January of the next year he was ga- 
 zetted captain in the 75th, or Prince of Wales's regi- 
 ment of foot, and immediately returned to England. 
 This was to him a subject of deep regret, for, a few 
 months after his leaving Gibraltar, the celebrated siege 
 of that fortress commenced, and the regiment he had 
 quitted, commanded by his uncle, bore a distinguished 
 part in the astonishing defence under general Elliot. 
 Peace shortly afterwards followed, and upon the dis- 
 banding of the 75th, captain Picton was placed on half- 
 pay, and retired into Pembrokeshire, where he enjoyed 
 
 * This and tlie precedin? memoir are extractt'd, with several alte- 
 rations, from iMaswell's Military Almanack.
 
 PICTOy. 695 
 
 the affection and esteem of a numerous circle of relations 
 and friends. He remained for the long period of twelve 
 years unemployed and unpromoted ; and much of his 
 retirement was passed in the enjoyments of the sports of 
 the field, and in studying the classics, but more parti- 
 cularly in perfecting himself in the art of war. 
 
 War with revolutionary France broke out in 1793, bat 
 a whole year of hostilities elapsed, without captain Picton 
 being able to obtain active employment. At the end of 
 that period he embarked for the West Indies at his own 
 expense, without appointment, and with no better pros- 
 pect of notice than a slight acquaintanceship with Sir 
 John Vaughan, the commander-in-chief in that part of 
 the globe. That general immediately attached captain 
 Picton to the 17th foot, and made him his confidential 
 aide-de-camp ; and soon after he promoted him to a ma- 
 jority in the CSth regiment, and gave him the post of 
 deputy-quarter-master-general, which entitled him to the 
 brevet rank of lieutenant-colonel. On the death of his 
 estimable friend at Martinique in August, 1795, colonel 
 Picton resolved upon returning home, but his intention 
 was changed on being introduced to Sir Ralph Aber- 
 cromby. Under that illustrious commander he continued 
 his voluntary service, and accompanied him in the attacks 
 of St. Lucia and Grenada ; after which, he was appointed 
 by Sir Ralph to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 56th re- 
 giment, and returned with him to Europe. After two 
 months, he again sailed with Sir Ralph for the West 
 Indies, and on the capture of Trinidad, in February, 1797, 
 he was immediately made governor and commandant of 
 the island. The confidence which Sir Ralph Abercromby 
 placed in colonel Picton may be regarded as decisive of 
 his mei-its : ' Did I know any ofiicer,' said that great and 
 good man to the subject of our memoir, ' who, in my 
 opinion, would discharge the duties annexed to this sta- 
 tion better than you, to him would I have given it; there 
 are no thanks due to me.' 
 
 After having held this very difficult situation for six 
 years, during which he was promoted to the rank of 
 brigadier-general, Picton resigned his office of governor 
 in February 1803, and embarked for Europe. He arrived 
 in his native country at a period of great popular alarm 
 on the subject of invasion. The French army was at 
 Boulogne, and a flotilla was in readiness for its convey-
 
 608 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 ance to tbe shores of England. General Pictou imme- 
 diately made an offer of his services to government, 
 and at the same time wrote a letter to Mr. Addington 
 respecting- the organization and employment of the 
 volunteer forces which were then being- raised in every 
 part of the kingdom. But while his attention was thus 
 turned to the safety of the state, he was roughly sum- 
 moned to a concern for his own, by a series of malignant 
 accusations that followed him from Trinidad. It was 
 represented by his enemies, that his administration in 
 the government of the island bad been unjust, tyrannical, 
 and unconstitutional; and such was the plausibility of 
 the charges, as well as the strength of popular resent- 
 ment excited against him, that a most vexatious and 
 oppressive trial followed, which did not terminate till 
 June, 1808. But the result was most honourable to the 
 character of the traduced hero. During these harass- 
 ing legal proceedings, the privy council also bad been 
 engaged in investigating a long list of charges brought 
 against tbe ex-governor ; and, in tbe January of tbe 
 preceding year, had pronounced that there was no 
 foundation whatever for taking any further measures 
 with reference to them : and as a testimony also of the 
 high estimation in which government held tbe character 
 of the accused, he had, on the 25tb of April, 1808, been 
 promoted to tbe rank of major-general. Thus, after a 
 trial of so many years' duration — in the course of which 
 an examination before tbe privy council, upon unwar- 
 rantable statements, calculated, if true, to crush his repu- 
 tation both as a man and a soldier, was carried on — the 
 honour and justice of this brave officer were established, 
 to the perfect satisfaction of every upright mind. The 
 expenses that had been incurred during the trial would 
 of themselves have been sufficient to effect his ruin, had 
 not bis venerable uncle, general William Picton, defrayed 
 the whole costs of the suit. 
 
 About tbe latter end of July, 1809, the unhappy ex- 
 pedition against Flushing took place, in which major- 
 general Picton was placed on the staff of the commander- 
 in-chief, and, after tbe surrender of that town, be was 
 appointed governor of it and tbe surrounding country. 
 The havoc among the British troops, caused by tbe pesti- 
 lential atmosphere of this fatal spot, rendered all other 
 miseries of war comparatively trifling. With his soldiers
 
 PICTON. G07 
 
 hourly expiriug around him, governor Picton was also 
 seized with the malignarit disease ; and so rapid was its 
 projjress, that, in a short time, he was brought to the last 
 extremity, when he was conveyed to his native shores. 
 Scarcely had his health in some measure recovered, than 
 he was summoned to assist in rescuing Portugal and 
 Spain from the power of France, and ordered to the head- 
 quarters of Wellington in the Peninsula. The deadly 
 complaint imbibed at Walcheren still lurked in his 
 frame, but his was not a spirit to be repressed by bodily 
 infirmity ; and on his arrival in Spain he was imme- 
 diately appointed to the command of the third division of 
 the army, then quartered in the neighbourhood of 
 Celerico. To narrate with historical accuracy the ex- 
 ploits performed by this valiant division, under his com- 
 mand, would soon carry us far beyond our limits ; in 
 every battle that was fought his troops were distin- 
 guished by their heroism and success, and in a short 
 time they were known throughout the army by the ap- 
 pellation of the ' fighting division ;' for, wherever danger 
 was to be encountered, or glory won, there was the 
 heroic Picton, at the head of his gallant solJiers. 
 
 The following incident is from the work of Mr. Robin- 
 son, and forms a striking characteristic of this eminent 
 warrior : the circumstance occurred at the battle of 
 Busaco. ' After general Picton had made every disposi- 
 tion for the reception of the enemy,' says the biographer, 
 ' he visited the particular spots occupied by his division, 
 and, having been awake nearly the whole night, a short 
 time before day broke he wrapped himself in his cloak, 
 put on a coloured nightcap (his usual custom), and, after 
 giving orders to some of his staff that he might be called 
 upon the least alarm, stretched himself upon the gi'ound, 
 to snatch a short repose. Possessing that command over 
 the senses peculiar to strong minds, he was instantly 
 asleep. Brief, however, were his slumbers ; the sound of 
 musketry on the left suddenly aroused him ; when, 
 throwing olf his cloak and putting on his hat, he sprung 
 into the saddle, and was the next moment at the head of 
 his troops, defending the pass of St. Antonio. From 
 thence, when this point was secured, he galloped to the 
 spot where the enemy had gained a partial success. 
 Here his presence retrieved the lost ground; he rallied 
 the retreating troops, and urged them again to the attack.
 
 608 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 Major Smith placed himself at their head, and fell lead- 
 ing the attack. Pictoii, at the same time, placed himself 
 at the head of a Portuguese battalion : the eyes of the 
 men were fixed upon him as he cried, 'Forward!' and 
 pointed towards the foe. When arrived within a few yards, 
 with some encouraging words, and a loud ' hurra,' he 
 gave the word to charge, and at the same moment taking 
 off his hat, he waved it over his head, totally uncon- 
 scious that it was still covered by his night-cap. His 
 appearance at this moment was sufficiently grotesque, 
 and caused much mierriment. This incident for an in- 
 stant diverted the minds of the soldiers from the approach- 
 ing conflict ; but it was only for an instant ; giving one 
 loud cheer, they dashed boldly forward ; the echo was a 
 groan, as, borne back by the impetuosity of this charge, 
 the foe rolled over the craggy steep.' 
 
 The siege of Ciudad Rodrigo had commenced early in 
 January, and on the 19th it was resolved that Picton and 
 his division should attack the largest of the breaches. At 
 half-past six on the same evening every man was ready, 
 and his style of military eloquence may be understood by 
 his exclamation to the 8Sth regiment : * Rangers of Con- 
 naught! it is not my intention to expend any powder on 
 this occasion ; we'll do the business with cold iron !' The 
 3d division made five simultaneous attacks, and, hav- 
 ing soon got possession of the breach, carried devastation 
 into the town. General Picton then made every effort 
 to put a stop to the sanguinary horrors that ensued. He 
 flew in all directions, calling in a voice of thunder on the 
 frantic soldiers, to remember they were ' men and English- 
 men!' The still more tremendous siege of Badajos fol- 
 lowed in the ensuing April, and there the deeds per- 
 formed by the troops under his immediate command, 
 though emulated and occasionally equalled by other bodies 
 of British troops, were scarcely ever excelled. While 
 leading his soldiers to the foot of the ramparts of the 
 castle of Badajos, a ball struck him in the groin a little 
 above his watch. He did not fall or bleed, but being 
 assisted to the glacis, stood there for twenty minutes 
 directing the attack. As he observed the numbers whom 
 the overwhelming fire of the besieged strewed around 
 him, he cried out, in a calm energetic tone, ' If we can- 
 not win the castle, let us at least die upon the walls.' 
 This was sufficient ; other ladders were brought, and the
 
 PICTON. 600 
 
 castle was entered. The wound which Picton had re- 
 ceived prevented him from ascending with his brave 
 soldiers, but he remained encouraging party after party 
 as they rushed forward, until they gained that position, 
 which secured to the British army the complete posses- 
 sion of the town. 
 
 During the ensuing march of the army towards Castile, 
 general Picton was seized with the fever incidental to 
 the country, and compelled to return to England; but 
 though his health was considerably reinstated, he de- 
 clared that active service could alone restore his spirits. 
 On the 1st of February, 1S13, he was invested with the 
 knighthood of the Bath, and immediately returned to the 
 Peninsula, where he was hailed by his soldiers with the 
 cry of ' Here comes our brave old father!' The battle of 
 Vittoria took place in the following June, and in a letter 
 to his brother he praises the valour of his division, while 
 of himself he only says, ' I was very fortunate, having 
 escaped with only one shot-hole in my great coat.' 
 Having participated in all the rapid and glorious affairs 
 which took place with the retreating army of the French 
 under Soult, and highly distinguished himself at the pass 
 amid the heights of Zubiri, Sir Thomas Picton left the 
 camp in October, 1813, and repaired to England, where 
 he received the thanks of the House of Commons. Early 
 in December he rejoined the army with renovated 
 health, in due season to lead on the 3d and 4th divisions 
 at St. Jean de Luz (January, 1814), where he attacked 
 and defeated the enemy. At Orthez he also covered 
 himself with honour; and, indeed, from the moment of 
 entering the territory of France, till the battle of Tou- 
 louse, no language can express too high an idea of the 
 conduct and valour of this admired commander. On the 
 breaking up of the forces, his ' fighting division' declared 
 that they would never forget their old general, and sub- 
 scribed among themselves a sum amounting to nearly 
 £1,600, for the purpose of presenting ' Old Picton' with 
 a piece of plate. His friends, and the public at large, 
 were indeed disappointed when they found that he was 
 not elevated to the peerage when that dignity was con- 
 ferred on five of his brother officers. The excuse was, 
 that the custom in the service did not permit the grant 
 of titular honours to any who had not held what are 
 termed ' distinct commands.' Sir Thomas, however, 
 2 D 2
 
 610 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 having again been honoured with tlie thanks of parlia- 
 ment, was contented, and retired to the quiet of a country 
 life. On the extension of the order of the Bath at the 
 beginning of 1815, he was made knight grand cross, and 
 this was the last and utmost distinction he enjoyed. 
 
 Sir Thomas Picton had entered upon a career of rural 
 tranquillity and parliamentary usefulness, when the re- 
 turn of Napoleon from Elba gave the signal for renewed 
 hostilities ; and our veteran soldier received an applica- 
 tion from the War Office, requiring him to join the army 
 in the Netherlands under the duke of Wellington. A 
 presentiment of his fate is said to have been deeply im- 
 pressed upon his mind, without disturbing its serenity. 
 ' When you hear of my death,' said he to an intimate 
 friend, ' you will hear of a bloody day,' a prognostic 
 which was but too faithfully verified. He left London on 
 the 11th of June, and immediately on his joining the 
 army he was appointed to the command of the reserve, 
 consisting of above 10,001) men. On the tempestuous 
 night of the 17th, which succeeded the desperate onset at 
 Quatre Bras, Sir Thomas laid himself down for a few hours 
 in a small cottage in the village of Waterloo, which long 
 retained his name; and when the day began to dawn, 
 he was in the field, making preparations, animating his 
 men, and giving directions for the approaching conflict. 
 As the battle commenced, his division was posted on the 
 road to Wavre, behind a straggling hedge which extended 
 from the farm of La Haye Sainte to Ter la Haye. The 
 French columns marched upwards along the hedge to 
 force the position, when the English hastened forward 
 to meet them, and the muzzles of the opposing muskets 
 almost touched each other. The general gave the word 
 for the brigade of Sir James Kempt to advance : the sol- 
 diers bounded over the hedge, and were received with a 
 murderous volley. The struggle that ensued was terrific : 
 the British, not stopping to reload, rushed upon the 
 enemy, trusting solely to the thrust of the bayonet. The 
 repeated fire of the French had, however, fearfully 
 thinned the first line, and the dreadful work of the bayo- 
 net was proceeding at the odds of one to six. Picton 
 then ordered up general Pack's brigade ; and he must 
 at that moment have felt what the duke of Wellington 
 afterwards remarked in his despatches, that to repel this 
 most serious attack of the foe, was of the highest conse-
 
 PICTON. 611 
 
 quence to the success of the battle. Consciuub at the 
 same time that his own pi'esence would inspire the men 
 with coutideuce, he rode along the gallant line, wa\ing 
 his soldiers onward with his sword, when a bullet struck 
 him on the forehead, and he fell back upon his horse. 
 Captain Tyler, his aide-de-camp, instantly dismounting, 
 ran to him, and, assisted by a soldier, lifted him from his 
 horse, but he was quite dead. At that moment, the shock 
 of war was at the wildest, for the conflicting hosts had 
 met. Captain Tyler laid the body of his heroic friend 
 beneath a tree, and rushed to the combat, after havuig 
 informed Sir James Kempt of the lamentable occurrence. 
 That general immediately assumed the command of the 
 division, which the last example of their veteran leader 
 had already inspired with enthusiasm. The masses of 
 French assailants were one after another driven back : not, 
 however, until the sanguinary struggle was over, and the 
 Prussians, who had newly arrived, were in pursuit of the 
 flying foe, did captain Tyler quit the field in search of the 
 body of his esteemed general: it was easily found, but 
 he was surprised to discover, on examining the corse, 
 that there was another musket wound in the side, which 
 had broken two of the ribs. On inquiry, he was informed 
 by an old confidential attendant of the general, that this 
 had occurred two days before, during the affair of Quatre 
 Bras, and had been bound up and concealed by Picton's 
 express command, lest the operation of the surgeon might 
 keep him out of the field on the day of the approaching 
 battle. The remains of this lamented warrior were 
 landed at Deal on the 25th of June ; and on the 3d of 
 July, they were deposited in the family vault at Bays- 
 water. Parliament voted him a monument, under the 
 dome of St. PauVs Cathedral ; and a stupendous pillar 
 commemorative of his valiant exploits has been erected 
 near Caermarthen, which can be seen at the distance of 
 many miles.
 
 6[2 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 STAPLETON STAPLETON COTTON, 
 
 VISCOUNT COMBERMERE. 
 
 This nobleman is the second son of Sir Robert Salusbary 
 Totton.. Bart., and was born in 1775. His education wa» 
 chiefly obtained at Westminster School, and, while there, 
 he commenced his military career, at the opening of the 
 revolutionary war, as a second lieutenant in the royal 
 Welsh fusileers. In 1791 we find him lieutenant in that 
 reijiinent, from which rank he was, after two years, pro- 
 moted to that of captain in the 6th dragoon guards. In 
 this capacity he served with much credit in 1793 and 
 1794, under the duke of York, in the campaigns in Flan- 
 ders ; and in the latter year, he was promoted to the rank 
 of major of the 59th regiment, and afterwards to that of 
 lieutenant-colonel of Gwyn's hussars, which subsequently 
 became the 25th light dragoons. In 1796 colonel Cotton 
 went to the Cape of Good Hope, in command of this 
 regiment; whence he took it to India, and served during 
 the Mysore war. He distinguished himself particularly 
 at the battle of Malavelly, a few days previous to the 
 arrival of the army before Seringapatam, and was 
 thanked for his conduct on this occasion by general 
 Harris. Upon the death of his elder brother, the lieu- 
 tenant-colonel was exchanged into the 16th light dragoons, 
 and returned to England in 1800. Two years afterwards, 
 colonel Cotton commanded the 16th regiment of light 
 dragoons, in Ireland, and was shortly afterwards wade a 
 brigadier-general, and a major general in 1805, when he 
 was appointed to the command of a brigade of light ca- 
 valry in England. 
 
 In October, 1S03, major-general Cotton was sent with 
 the 14th and 16th light dragoons to Portugal : he com- 
 manded the advanced guard when Soult was driven from 
 Oporto into Galicia ; fought at the battle of Talavera ; 
 and in the following year received the local rank of 
 lieutenant-general, and the command of the cavalry of 
 lord Wellington's army, from which time he was engaged 
 in the most honourable services till the close of the war. 
 He covered the retreat of AN'ellington's army from Al- 
 meida to the lines near Torres Vedras, and received the
 
 COMBERMERE. 613 
 
 thanks of his commander for the masterly manner in 
 which that duty was performed. This was but one of 
 many important services which, as commander of the 
 cavalry, he rendered to the great hero of that war. He 
 also received thanks for his judicious and gallant conduct 
 at Castiglion, where, with two brigades of cavalry, and 
 Cole's and Alton's divisions of infantry, he kept in check, 
 the whole of Marmont's forces, whilst lord Wellington 
 was getting into position on the river Alcran. In April, 
 IS 11, he defeated the whole of Soult's cavalry, near 
 Llerena, with general Le Marchand's and general Anson's 
 brigades, taking about 300 men and horses prisoners. At 
 the memorable battle of Salamanca, Sir Stapleton Cotton 
 fwho had now succeeded to the baronetage) particularly 
 signalized himself. He afforded the most important sup- 
 port to major-general Pakenham, who commanded the 
 3d division ; and it was to the cavalry, under the com- 
 mand of Sir Stapleton, that he owed his success. Upon 
 this occasion, nearly .3,000 of the French infantry were 
 made prisoners by the cavalry. The darkness, however, 
 while it favoured the enemy, was exceedingly disadvan- 
 tageous to our own troops. Nor was it one of the least 
 considerable misfortunes occasioned by it, that Sir Staple- 
 ton Cotton, who had passed through all the peri's of the 
 conflict in safety, was fired at by a Portuguese picket, 
 and severely wounded. After the battle he was presented 
 with the order of the Bath, and appointed colonel of the 
 20th light dragoons ; he received the repeated and unani- 
 mous thanks of both houses of parliament, in conjunc- 
 tion with lord Wellington, and other eminent officers; 
 and, on his return to England for a short interval, he 
 was again thanked, in his place in the House of Com- 
 mons. He also received the grand cross of the Tower 
 and Sword, the grand cross of Ferdinand, and, in 1814, 
 the grand cross of the Guelphic Order. 
 
 During the following campaign, in 1814, Sir Stapleton 
 Cotton fully sustained in France the high character which 
 his exploits in the Peninsula had gained him. At the 
 battle of Orthez, the cavalry under his command mate- 
 rially contributed to the success of that bi-illiant achieve- 
 ment. On this occasion, he was directed to support Sir 
 Lowry Cole's division, in his attack upon the heights on 
 which Soult had posted his centre and left. These 
 heights shortly became the chief point of conflict, and
 
 614 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 were thought by Soult to be impregnable ; but they were 
 forced ; and Soult retired from them in excellent order, 
 availing himself of the many favourable positions which 
 the country afforded. He was driven, however, from 
 each successively by the irresistible gallantry of the allied 
 troops, until their incessant attacks changed his retreat 
 into a rapid flight, in which his troops were thrown into 
 the utmost confusion. In the course of this very rapid 
 manoeuvre, the position of Sir Stapleton Cotton only 
 allowed of his making one charge, but of this he availed 
 himself in a most masterly manner, and brought in a 
 number of prisoners. At Toulouse the cavalry under Sir 
 Stapleton again distinguished themselves, and were suc- 
 cessful al,-"o in taking many prisoners during the enemy's 
 retreat. On the 17th of May, 1814, he was elevated to the 
 peerage. In 1815, he was appointed to the command of 
 the cavalry in the duke of Wellington's army in France ; 
 and in 1817, he was made governor of Barbadoes, and 
 commander of the forces iu the Leeward Islands, during- 
 which period he spent three years in the West Indies. 
 
 In 1822, lord Combermere was appointed commander- 
 in-chief of the forces iu Ireland ; but after three years he 
 was again removed from home service to India, which 
 he made the theatre of his most brilliant services. His 
 lordship held the high office of commander-in-chief, and 
 second in council ; and the object of interposition on the 
 part of the British government was to protect a native 
 prince against a usurpei*. The late rajah of Bhurtpore 
 had died in close alliance with the East India Company. 
 Apprehensive, however, of the consequences which might 
 ensue upon his death, he had during his life-time de- 
 clared his son, Bulwuut Singh, his successor, and had 
 obtained for him fi-om the Company the guarantee of his 
 succession iu the usual form. From that time the young 
 rajah was under the protection of the British govern- 
 ment. On the death of the father, however, his nepliew, 
 Doojjun Sal, gained a party iu the army, by which he 
 obtained possession of Bhurtpore itself, and his cousin's 
 throne. To expel this usurper, and reinstate the son of 
 our ancient ally, was the design with which lord Com- 
 bermere took the field shortly after his arrival in Bengal, 
 with an army of 28,000 men, composed of King's and 
 Company's troops. His first and chief object was the re- 
 duction of Bhurtpore itself, a fortress of immense strength
 
 COMBERMERE. CI5 
 
 and resources, wbicb had already signalized itself bj' its 
 surcessful resistance to the British troops when besieged 
 in 1805 by lord Lake. 
 
 Before this apparently impregnable fortress lord Com- 
 bermere appeared on the 10th of December, 1825, with 
 his army, and a field of more than 100 pieces of artillery. 
 During the night, the enemy had cut the embankment 
 of a lake to the northward, for the purpose of filling the 
 ditch ; a precaution which had essentially contributed to 
 the successful resistance oiFered to the besiegers in 1805. 
 But this measuT-e had fortunately been conducted too 
 tardily, and the British troops ari-ived in time to make 
 themselves masters of the embankment, and repair the 
 breach, before sufficieiit water had flowed into the fosse 
 to render it impracticable. His lordship then occupied a 
 few days in reconnoitring the -works, and determining 
 the points of attack, until his battering train and appur- 
 tenances arrived. On the "iSd of December every thing 
 was in complete readiness ; the north-eastern angle of 
 the works was fixed on as the point of attack; and the 
 besiegers, under a heavy fire, took possession of a ruined 
 village and of Buldeo Singh's garden, and completed 
 tbeir first parallel at the distance of about 800 yards from 
 the fort. On the following morning, two batteries, situ- 
 ated at these points, and one more advanced between 
 them, opened on the town with tremendous eflfect, and 
 the rest of the month was spent in such close firing, as 
 left scarcely a roof in the city uninjured. Such, how- 
 ever, was the tenacity of the mud walls, that they resisted 
 the effects of shot much better than masonry would have 
 done, and recourse was had to mining on the 3d of 
 January, 1S26. The first attempt failed, owing to the 
 fear of discovery on the part of the engineers, who sprung 
 the mine before it was sufficiently advanced to have any 
 material effect on the wall. A second attempt was made, 
 but the miners were driven away, having been counter- 
 mined from the interior before they had entered many 
 feet. On the 14th, another mine, under one of the bas- 
 tions, was exploded too precipitately, and failed of its 
 effect. These events occasioned some delay ; but lord 
 Combermere directed two more mines to be driven into 
 the same bastion, which were exploded on the 16th, and, 
 with the aid of a day's battering, a practicable breach 
 was made. The result of this splendid undertaking was
 
 616 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 MOW decided, and it only remained to exert the same 
 gallantry in striking the last hlow. The particulars of 
 the fall of Bhurtpore are thus given iu a very detailed 
 and authentic account. 
 
 ' Early in the morning of the 18th, the troops destined 
 for the assault established themselves in the advanced 
 trenches, unperceived hy the enemy. The left breach 
 was to be mounted by the brigade of general Nicolls, 
 headed by the 59th regiment ; that on the right, by 
 general Reynell's brigade, headed by the 14th regiment ; 
 the explosion of the mine under the north-east angle was 
 to be the signal for the attack. At eight o'clock the mine 
 was exploded with terrific effect ; the whole of the 
 salient angle and part of the stone cavalier in the rear 
 were lifted into the air, which for some time was in total 
 darkness ; but, from the mine having exploded in an 
 unexpected direction, or from the tioops having been 
 stationed, in consequence of miscalculation, too near it, 
 the ejected stones and masses of earth killed in their fall 
 several men of his majesty's 14th regiment of foot, at 
 the head of the column of attack, and severely wounded 
 three officers; they fell so thickly about lord Comber- 
 mere himself, that brigadier-general M'Combe, who was 
 standing next him, was knocked down, and two sepoys, 
 who were within a few feet of him, were killed on the 
 spot. The troops immediately mounted to the assault 
 •with the greatest order and steadiness, and, notwith- 
 standing a determined opposition, carried the breaches. 
 The left breach was the more difficult of the two ; and, 
 at one moment, where the ascent was steepest, the .59th 
 regiment, which led the attack, halted for an instant; 
 but, at a cheer from their comrades behind, they pressed 
 on, and quickly surmounted it ; the grenadiers, moving 
 up it slowly and resolutely, without yet drawing a trigger 
 in return for the vollejs of round shot, grape, and mus- 
 ketry, which were poured upon them. 
 
 * Some of the foremost of the enemy defended the right 
 breach for a few minutes with gi-eat resolution, but, as 
 the explosion of the mine had blown up 300 of their com- 
 panions, they were soon compelled to give way, and were 
 pursued along the rampai-ts. Whenever they came to a 
 gun which they could move, they turned it upon their 
 pursuers, but they were immediately killed by the grena- 
 diers, and the gun upset. In two hours the whole ram-
 
 COMRERMERE. 617 
 
 part surrounding the town, although bravely defended 
 at every gateway and bastion, along with the command 
 of the gates of the citadel, were in possession of the be- 
 siegers, and early iu the afternoon the citadel itself sur- 
 rendered. Brigadier-general Sleigh, commanding the 
 cavalry-, having been entrusted with preventing the 
 escape of the enemy's troops after the assault, made such 
 a disposition of his forces, that he succeeded in securing 
 Dooijun Sal, who, with his wife, two sons, and ICO chosen 
 horse, attempted to force a passage through the Sth light 
 cavalry. The garrison consisted of about 36,000 men, of 
 all arms ; of whom nearly 10,000 fell during the siege 
 and stonning : the loss of the besiegers did not exceed 
 1,200 men. Thus, as by tlie surrender of the town all the 
 stores, arms, and ammunition, fell into the possession of 
 the victor, the whole military power of the Bhurtpore 
 state might be considered as annihilated. The fortifica- 
 tions were demolished, by orders from the supreme go- 
 vernment ; the principal bastions, and parts of several 
 curtains, were blown up on the 6th of February ; and it 
 was left to the rains to complete the ruin. The Futty 
 Bourg, or * Bastion of Victory,' built, as the Bhurtpo- 
 reans vaunted, with the bones and blood of the British 
 soldiers who fell in the assault under lord Lake, was 
 now laid low ; and among its destroyers were some of 
 those very men who, twenty years before, ' had been 
 permitted,' in the boasting language of the natives, to 
 ' fly from its eternal walls.' All the other fortresses within 
 the rajah's dominions immediately surrendered — the in- 
 habitants returned to their abodes — and the prince was 
 reinstated in his authority.' 
 
 By this gallant achievement, India was saved, and, in 
 reward of such important services, his lordship was raised 
 to the rank of viscount, with tiie title of Viscount Com- 
 bermere of Bhurtpore in India, and of Combermere 
 Abbey, in the county of Chester; and was afterwards 
 made colonel of the 1st life guards. His lordship married 
 in 1801 lady Anne Marian Pelham Clinton, eldest 
 daughter of Thomas, third duke of Newcastle, by whom 
 he has no surviving issue. Her ladyship died in 1807. In 
 lSI4lord Combermere married Caroline, second daughter 
 of William Fulke Greville, cousin of the earl of Warwick, 
 by whom he has issue one son and two daughters.
 
 618 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 GENERAL THOMAS GRAHAM, 
 
 r-ORD LYNEDOCH, G. C. B. 
 
 This gallant veteran, who was bora in 1750, is the 
 third son of Thomas Graham, of Bakowan, in Perth- 
 shire, the representative of an ancient and illustrious 
 family, and lady Christian Hope, fourth daughter of 
 Charles, first earl of Hopetoun. By the death of both 
 his elder brothers, he became their heir ; and in 1774, at 
 which time he had succeeded his father, he married the 
 hon. Mary Cathcart, one of the three daughters of the 
 ninth lord Cathcart, in whose society he for a time en- 
 perienced the highest happiness. In 1792, however, this 
 happy union was terminated by her death, and Mr. 
 Graham was left to mourn a loss which to him nothing 
 in this world could repair. His grief was so deep as 
 greatly to injure his health; and he was directed to 
 travel, with the view of alleviating his distress, and re- 
 storing the tone of his constitution, by change of scene, 
 and variety of objects. But his course was sad and soli- 
 tary, and his heart refused to be comforted. He passed 
 like an unpurposed wanderer through France, then en- 
 gaged in all the turmoil of revolution. Thence he pro- 
 ceeded to the Mediterranean ; and in military society, at 
 Gibraltar, he first found the means of partially disengag- 
 ing himself from the spell under which he laboured; or 
 rather, perhaps, we might more truly say, he rushed 
 into the dangers of war, to seek that death in which alone 
 his broken spirit could hope to find rest. 
 
 Lord Hood, who was about to sail for the south of 
 France, could not but be proud to receive Mr. Graham as 
 a volunteer ; and accordingly, the latter, at the com- 
 mencement of the revolutionary war, 1793, lauded with 
 the British troops at Toulon, and served as extra aide de- 
 camp to the commanding general, lord Mulgrave, whose 
 particular thanks he obtained for his gallant and able 
 services : he was foremost in attack, and on one occa- 
 sion, at the head of a column, when a private fell, he 
 supplied his place in the front rank. On returning to 
 this country, he raised the 1st battalion of the 90th regi- 
 ment, of which his commission as lieutenant-colonel-
 
 LYNEDOCH. G19 
 
 commandant was dated the 10th of February', 1704 This 
 corps passed the summer of 17'J5 at Isle Dieu, and soon 
 afterwards was ordered to Gibraltar ; and on the 22d of 
 July, 1795, he obtained the rank of colonel in the army. 
 As Gibraltar only required garrison duty, colonel Graham 
 obtained permission to join the Austrian army, and he 
 continued on that service during the memorable summer 
 of 1796. He was afterwards attached to the Austrian 
 army of Italy, and was shut up in Mantua with general 
 Wurmser during its investment. But as Mantua con- 
 tinued long in a state of siege, and a mere defensive 
 warfare was not consonant with colonel Graham's views, 
 he resolved to depart from the garrison. On the night 
 of the 24th of December, 1706, he accordingly quitted the 
 place, although opposed by a deluge of rain, and with 
 only one attendant. Mantua being situated on a lake 
 formed by the Mincio, while regular channels of com- 
 munication with the main land were in possession of the 
 besiegers, it was only by embarking in a boat that he 
 could effect his escape ; and such was the impenetrable 
 darkness of the night, that the vessel stranded several 
 times on the islands of the lake or river, before the land- 
 ing-place could be discerned. Having obtained a landing 
 on a convenient spot, he travelled during the night on 
 foot, wading through mire and swamps, and in con- 
 stant danger of losing his way, with the additional ap- 
 prehension of being shot by some of the numerous pickets, 
 or stopped as a British officer, in the uniform of his regi- 
 ment. At daybreak he concealed himself, and at night 
 resumed his journey. Having reached a river, he hired 
 a boat ; and here his life would in all probability have 
 been sacrificed, had not the sentinels been driven from 
 their posts by a heavy fall of rain, by which his passage 
 was in comparative safety. At length he joined the army 
 of the archduke Charles. 
 
 On the pacification of continental affairs, colonel 
 Graham returned to his native country in 1797, and in 
 the autumn of the same year he went out to his regiment 
 at Gibraltar ; whence he proceeded to the attack of Mi- 
 norca with Sir Charles Stuart, who, on the reduction of 
 that island, bestowed much commendation on the spirit and 
 exertions of his brave and enterprising associate. After the 
 reduction of Minorca, colonel Graham repaired to Sicilj', 
 where his exertions were so effective, that he received
 
 620 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 repeateJ acknowledgments, and tokens of gratitude from 
 the king and queen of Naples. Not long after, be, with 
 tbe local rank of brigadier, besieged the island of Malta, 
 having under his command the 30th and 89th regiments, 
 and some corps embodied under his immediate direction. 
 This island, the key of Egypt and the Levant, having 
 been basely surrendered to the French in 1793, the British 
 government resolved to wrest it from the enemy, to whom 
 it was a maritime station of great importance, more par- 
 ticularly since Bonaparte's views upon India, through 
 Egypt, had become apparent. Aware of the prodiiiious 
 strength of its works, the general bad recourse to a 
 blockade, and the British force accordingly appeared, 
 before Malta in the month of September, 1798. The 
 French garrison held out till September, 1800, when, 
 after a resistance of two years' duration, they surren- 
 dered. Major-general Pigot having arrived with a rein- 
 forcement a short time previous to the capitulation, the 
 honour of transmitting an account of the success devolved 
 upon him ; but in his despatch he bore ample testimony 
 to the high merit and efficient operations of brigadier- 
 general Graham. On the completion of this service 
 Graham returned to England, and arrived just in time 
 to learn that his own regiment, the 90th, had covered 
 itself with glory on the plains of Egypt, while it formed 
 the advanced guard of the iirst line on the 2Ist of March, 
 1801. Being eager to rejoin his comrades in arms, he again 
 left Enuland, and landed in Egypt; but that country 
 being completely conquered, he soon quitted it, and tra- 
 velled to Europe with Mr. Hutchinson, brother of the 
 commander-in-chief, lord Hutchinson, through Turkey. 
 He passed some time at Constantinople ; and, peace hav- 
 ing in the mean time been concluded, he also made a 
 short residence at Paris. From 1S03 to 1805, he served 
 with his regiment in Ireland ; when it was ordered out 
 to the West Indies, and he remained without active 
 employment or promotion till the spring of 1808. 
 
 Sir John Moore being appointed to lead an armament 
 to the shores of Sweden, colonel Graham obtained per- 
 mission to accompany him as aide-de-camp. The misun- 
 derstanding between the kiiig of Sweden and Sir John 
 Moore having put an end to his mission, that officer was 
 immediately ordered to Spain, whither he was accom- 
 panied by colonel Graham, who served during the whole
 
 LYNEDOCH. 621 
 
 of the campaign of 1808. On his return to Eng-land, he 
 was promoted to the rank of major-general, and was 
 shortly after appointed to command a division in the 
 expedition to Walcheren. He was actively employed 
 at the siesre of Flushing, hut, being attacked by the fever, 
 he was obliged to return home. 
 
 The possession of Cadiz being about this time disputed 
 by the Spanish patriots and the French, Graham, with 
 the brevet rank of lieutenant-genei'al, was sent to take 
 the command of the British troops in that fortress ; and, in 
 Feb. 1811, he embarked in an expedition, for a combined 
 attack on the rear of the French army which was blockad- 
 ing Cadiz, a movement that led, in the March following, to 
 the memorable battle of Barrosa. The troops marched 
 from Isla on the night of the 17th of February, and em- 
 barked the next morning at daybreak in Cadiz Bay. In 
 the evening of the 21st, the expedition sailed, and arrived 
 off Tarifa on the following day; but as the weather 
 proved unfavourable for a landing, it proceeded to Alge- 
 siras, where the force disembarked on the morning of the 
 2.3d. On the following day they marched to Tarifa, 
 without any other road than merely a mule path, which 
 was found scarcely practicable for the advance of the 
 cavalry : all the artillery, therefore, was sent onwards 
 by water. On the2rth, the Spanish troops under general 
 Lapena arrived, from Cadiz, at Tarifa, upon which the 
 allied army continued its route to Barrosa, which was 
 reached on the 5th of March, when the vanguard pro- 
 ceeded to attack the enemy's position opposite the point 
 of Santa Petri, and the reserve baited on the east side of 
 the heights of Barrosa. The attack of the vanguard on the 
 enemy's lines succeeded ; it was supported by half the 
 prince of Augloua's division, the other half remaining on 
 the heights; and, previous to the movement of the British 
 to that point, general Lapena offered Graham his option, 
 whether the latter should move for that purpose with his 
 corps, or continue posted on the heights: but the lieu- 
 tenant-general declining to make an election, the former 
 decided that the reserve should march, leaving two batta- 
 lions to join the remainder of the Spanish forces, to 
 preserve the position on the heights. In addition, how- 
 ever, to two battalions of Walloon and Ciudad-Real 
 guards, Graham left colonel Brown's battalion, composed 
 of flank companies, which was posted at the Torre Bar-
 
 622 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 rosa. The British general, therefore, had every reason 
 to suppose tliat the Spanish commander would remain on 
 that position during: the day. 
 
 Graham's division having halted on the eastern slope 
 of the Barrosa height for about two hours, was marched 
 about twelve o'clock, through a wood towards the Torre 
 Bermeja. On the march, he received certain intelligence 
 that the enemy had appeared in force on the plain, and 
 was advancing towards the height of Barrosa. Consider- 
 ing this position as the key to that of Santa Petri, he 
 immediately counter-marched to support the troops left 
 for its defence ; and the alacrity with which this ma- 
 noeuvre was executed, was a favourable omen. Before 
 the British troops could get entirely disentangled from 
 the wood, the Spanish troops on the Barrosa hill were 
 seen retiring from it, while the enemy's left wing was 
 rapidly ascending ; at the same time their right wing 
 stood on the plain, on the edge of the wood, within can- 
 non-shot. A retreat in the face of such opposition must 
 have involved the whole of the allied army in the utmost 
 danger, and therefore an immediate attack was resolved 
 upon. Major Duncan opened a powerful battery of ten 
 guns on the centre. Brigadier-general Dilkes, with his 
 brigade; lieutenant-colonel Benin's (of the 28th) flank 
 battalion ; lieutenant-colonel Norcott's two companies of 
 the rifle corps ; and major Acheson, with a part of the 
 67th foot (separated from the regiment in the wood) — 
 formed on the right. Colonel Wheatley's brigade, with 
 three companies of Coldstream guards, under lieutenant- 
 colonel Jackson, and lieutenant-colonel Bernard's flank 
 battalion, formed on the left. The right wing proceeded 
 to the attack of general Rufin's division on the hill, 
 while lieutenant-colonel Bernard and lieutenant-colonel 
 Bassche's detachment of the 20th Portuguese, were 
 warmly engaged on the left with the enemy's tirailleurs. 
 General Laval's division, notwithstanding the havoc made 
 by major Duncan's battery, continued to advance in very 
 imposing masses, opening their fire of musketry, and 
 were only checked by that of the left wing: the latter 
 now advanced, firing, and a spirited charge made by the 
 three companies of the guards, and the 87th regiment, 
 supported by the remainder of the wing, decided the 
 defeat of General Laval's division. 
 
 At the time the troops were halted on the east side of
 
 LYNEDOCH. 623 
 
 the heights of Barrosa, lieutenant-genei-al Graham's 
 orders were conveyed for brigadier-e-eneral Dilk.es' bri- 
 gade, as well as for that of colouel Wheatley, to proceed 
 to Santa Petri. The column accordingly began its march 
 on the hill, and, descending the other side, entered a fir- 
 wood, so thick as to be almost impervious to the guns 
 and mounted officers. The enemy were now reported to 
 have made their appearance in the plain which the bri- 
 gade had just quitted, and the lieutenant-general's orders 
 were shortly after received for the column to retrace its 
 steps. The line now advanced obliquely to the right, 
 towards a corps of the enemy which occupied the heights 
 the British had so lately passed, and a heavy fire of artil- 
 lery and musketry was kept up on both sides : but the 
 line continuing their advance with distinguished gal- 
 lantry, that part of the enemy's force immediately op- 
 posed to them was obliged to withdraw towards another 
 corps upon its right. The British still dashed on, bring- 
 ing forward the right shoulder, and thereby threatening 
 the enemy's left, who at length formed the flank en masse, 
 continuing their retreat down the hill, and ascending an- 
 other rising ground, halting occasionally, and keeping up 
 a severe and destructive fire. 
 
 At one time they were observed to push forward two or 
 three divisions from the tnasse, as was conceived, to 
 charge the British line, but the well-directed fire of our 
 troops, still advancing, obliged them to desist, and the 
 British were too exhausted with their difficult march 
 to return the compliment. Soon after our troops had 
 begun to descend the hill, the enemy's cavalry were seen 
 posted on the left, and it was expected that they would 
 charge a weak part of the line, having made a move 
 ment seemingly for that purpose. Major-general Dilkes 
 and his aide-de-camp were at this period dismounted, both 
 their horses having been shot under them. The British 
 cavalry now arrived on the field of action, and imme- 
 diately charged the enemy, who, after a slight hesitation, 
 advanced to the encounter, both parties meeting at a 
 hand-gallop : thus mixed, dispersed, and re formed, the 
 enemy retired, and our hussars pursued the stragglers. 
 After the defeat of the cavalry, the French continued 
 to retreat obliquely to their right wing, until, some artil 
 levy being brought up, their complete defeat was decided.
 
 624 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 and the British line received their commander's orders 
 to halt. 
 
 In his despatch, lieutenant-general Graham bore ample 
 testimony to the gallantry and distinguished conduct 
 of the officers and corps engaged : the British guards had 
 their full share of commendation : they wei-e under an 
 officer who had served with him in former campaigns ; 
 who had been their companion at Lincelles, and other 
 scenes of their glory. The thanks of parliament were 
 voted to the general and his brave force, on this victory ; 
 and in his answer, after stating that it would ill become 
 him to disguise his feelings on the occasion, for he well 
 knew the inestimable value of such thanks to a soldier, 
 he adds the following elegant remark: ' 1 have formerly 
 often heard you, sir, eloquently and impressively deliver 
 tbe thanks of the house to officers present, and never 
 without an anxious wish that I might one day receive 
 this most enviable mark of my country's regard : this 
 honest ambition is now fully gratified, and 1 am more 
 than ever bound to try to merit the good opinion of the 
 house.' 
 
 In the summer of 1811, lieutenant-general Graham 
 was relieved from his duty at Cadiz, and joined the army 
 under lord Wellington, of which he was appointed second 
 in command. He was present at the siege of Ciudad 
 Ilodrigo ; but having a complaint in his eyes, occasioned 
 by the use of a prospect-glass under an almost vertical 
 sun, together with much writing by candle-light, he was 
 obliged to revisit England. Early in 1813, however, he 
 again repaired to the Peninsula ; but was not engaged 
 in any action of magnitude, till that of Vittoria, when 
 he commanded the left wing of the British army. He 
 was also present in the subsequent military operations, 
 and commanded the army employed in the siege of ths 
 town and citadel of St. Sebastian : the former surren- 
 dered to him on the 9th of September by capitulation, 
 and the citadel was taken by storm on the 31st of the 
 same month. The left of the British army being directed 
 to pass the Bidassoa river, the natural boundary of France 
 and Spain, Graham was entiusted with that service ; and, 
 on the 7th of October, after an obstinate resistance from 
 the enemy, he succeeded in establishing the British 
 ai my on French ground. In consequence of ill-health.
 
 BERESFORD. 625 
 
 he now resigned his command to lieutenant general Sir 
 John Hope, and returned to England. In 1814, he was 
 appointed commander of the forces in Holland, with the 
 temporary' rank of general ; and on the 3d of May, in the 
 same year, after again receiving the thanks of parlia- 
 ment, for his conduct in the Peninsula, he was raised to 
 the peerage, by the title of Barou Lynedoch, of Bal- 
 gowan, in the county of Perth, having previously re- 
 ceived the first class of the military order of the Bath. 
 In 1821, he was raised to the rank of general, and, in 
 addition to other marks of royal consideration, the go- 
 vernorship of Dumbarton Castle was conferred upon him. 
 Of late years, lord Lynedoch has passed much of his 
 time on the Continent, chiefly in Italy, where the climate 
 is more congenial to his health, at his advanced peiiod of 
 life. We have only to add, that there never was an 
 officer in the British service more universally respected 
 and beloved. 
 
 ^yILLIAM CARR, 
 
 VISCOUNT BERESFORD, G.C. B., C. H., &C. &C. 
 
 This brave soldier owes his high rank and illustrious 
 titles to his good sword alone, being an illegitimate son 
 of George de la Poer, first marquis of Waterford. He 
 entered the military service as an ensign in the 6th 
 foot in 17S5, and in the following year he embarked for 
 Nova Scotia, where he remained during four years, at the 
 end of which, having obtained a lieutenant's commission, 
 he returned to England. It was during the period of his 
 stay in America that an unfortunate wound was inflicted 
 upon the future hero of Albuera. Being out shooting in 
 the woods with a brother ensign (now general Sir Thomas 
 Molyneux), the former, on the springing of a covey of 
 partridges cried out, impatiently, ' Why don't you fire ?' 
 The other fired accordingly, but some of the shot entered 
 Beresford's eye, and deprived it of sight forever. 
 
 In January, 1791, lieutenant Beresford was appointed 
 captain in an independent company, and in the same year a 
 'Z E
 
 626 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 captain in the 69th foot. In the beginning of 1793 he era- 
 barked at Cork on foreign service, and he and his company 
 served on board the Britannia as marines. He was also 
 engaged in the taking of Toulon ; after which he went to 
 Corsica, and was present at the sieges of St. Fiorenza, 
 Bastia, and Calvi. Promotion continued to crown his 
 active services, so that in March, 1794, he was appointed 
 major in the 69th regiment, and in August following 
 lieutenant-colonel in the late 124th. He set sail after- 
 wards with Sir Ralph Abercromby for the West Indies; 
 but in consequence of his regiment being sent back, he 
 escaped from that lazar-house of our European soldiery, 
 to share in nobler fields of action. His next sphere of 
 public service was the East Indies, to which he sailed in 
 1799 ; but shortly after landing there, he proceeded by 
 the Red Sea to Egypt, in command of a brigade belonging 
 to Sir David Baird's army. After this, he was appointed 
 commandant at Alexandria, in which office he remained 
 until Egypt was evacuated. On his return to England, 
 in 1800, he received the brevet of colonel, and distin 
 guished himself by his activity in Ireland. The county 
 of Wicklow, which was greatly infested with rebels, was 
 on this occasion cleared and pacificated through the 
 exertions of colonel Beresford. 
 
 In 1S05, the subject of our memoir was ordered to pro- 
 ceed with the army under Sir David Baird, by which 
 the conquest of the Cape of Good Hope was accompli-^heil, 
 and in this valuable colonial acquisition colonel Beres- 
 ford had an important share. From the Cape, he was 
 sent at the head of a small detachment, and with the 
 rank of brigadier-general, to capture Buenos Ayres, an 
 exploit in which he fully succeeded. But this success 
 was soon followed by a most unfortunate reverse. The 
 enemy rallied in overwhelming numbers; and, although 
 Beresford obtained several advantages over them in tlie 
 field, he was fiually besieged in the town by an army of 
 10,000 or 12,000 men, while his own force did not consist 
 of more than 1200. After three days of stout resistance 
 he was obliged to yield to numbers, and he surrendered 
 with his whole force as prisoners of war, but with the 
 condition that they were to be embarked without delay for 
 England, or the Cape of Good Hope, and be exchanged 
 for the Spanish prisoners that had been made in the 
 capture of Buenos Ayres. But this stipulation was so
 
 BERESFORD. 627 
 
 shamefully violated, that Beresford resolved to mate his 
 escape from the enemy, vrhich at length he effected 
 throug-h the aid of the inhabitants of the colony ; so that, 
 in 1807, he returned in safety to England. On his arrival, 
 he did not remain long unoccupied, for in the same year 
 he was sent to command the land forces against the 
 island of Madeira. 'I'he island was taten, and Beres- 
 ford, who had been previou^^ly invested with the tem- 
 porary rank of major-general, was appointed governor, 
 and commander-in-chief in that quarter. Greater emer- 
 gencies soon called him from this comparatively obscure 
 situation ; for, in August, 1808, he was ordered to join 
 the British army in Portugal, in which country he arrived 
 a few days after the battle of Vimiero. He was then 
 attached to the army of Sir John Moore, with which he 
 marched into Spain, and was a sharer in all the exertions 
 and sufferings of the melancholy retreat which followed. 
 He ably exerted himself also at the battle of Corunna, 
 and covered the embarkation of the troops, with which 
 he returned to England. 
 
 After so much varied experience in military affairs, a 
 new and congenial field of exertion was opened to general 
 Beresford. This was the training and disciplining of the 
 Portuguese troops — and when we remember the very 
 hopeless materials out of which Beresford was expected 
 to create an efficient army, we can scarcely sufficiently 
 admire the self-devotedness that undertook such a task, 
 by which all his military reputation was perilled, or the 
 ability with which he converted an effeminate and spirit- 
 less people into bold and hardy warriors. The Portu- 
 guese government was so highly satisfied with his exer- 
 tions in this department, that it raised him to the rank of 
 marshal, and commander-in-chief of the army of Portugal. 
 The services which he rendered in this capacity to the 
 common cause were highly efficient, and on almost every 
 occasion his Portuguese troops showed themselves worthy 
 to fight by the side of British soldiers. 
 
 Of all the martial achievements of Beresford, the vic- 
 tory of Albuera was the most distinguished, in which he 
 held the sole command. Soult, who had resolved to re- 
 lieve Badajoz, which was invested by general William 
 Stewart, departed from Seville on the 10th of May, 1811, 
 and on the loth concentrated his army at Santa Marta. 
 Beresford, having held a conference with the Spanish
 
 CiJ8 MILITARY HISTORY, 
 
 generals, resolved to give battle to Soiilt at Albuera. On 
 the morning of the 15th, the British were accordingly 
 posted on the left of Albuera, while the ritiht was to be 
 occupied by the Spanish troops under general Blake ; but 
 that commander, with the proverbial slowness of bis 
 countrymen, did not fully occupy the position until the 
 following morning. Appai-ently, the army of general 
 Beresford was fully a match for the enemy, for it con- 
 sisted of 30,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry ; while the 
 French numbered only 19,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. 
 But in the allied army only 7,000 were British troops who 
 could be firmly relied on; the rest were chiefly Spaniards 
 and Portuguese, whose discipline was still imperfect, and 
 whose spirits were clouded with the remembrance of 
 many a defeat ; and the presence of the obstinate Blake 
 ■would, of itself, have been ominous of evil even to a 
 more promising cause. As for the French, they were men 
 of one nation, trained in the most perfect discipline, 
 inured to the character of the wars of the Peninsula, and 
 animated by the recollection of their past victories in 
 that quarter. They were also led by a commander who 
 was inferior to none of the distinguished leaders of 
 France, with the exception of their illustrious head. 
 About nine o'clock in the morning of the IGth the battle 
 commenced, by the enemy making an attack in one 
 heavy column, preceded by a sharp cannonade to gain 
 the bridge, and force the passage of the Albuera; but this 
 movement was ably answered by the British guns which 
 were posted on the rising ground. After some manoeuvres, 
 Beresford perceived that the principal attack of the enemy 
 was to be upon the right, where the Spanish army was 
 posted, and sent orders for Blake to change his front 
 accordingly; but the latter, declaring that no such attack 
 was meditated, refused to move until the appearance of 
 hostile masses bearing down upon him convinced him of 
 his error. Hethen commenced the necessaryevolution,but 
 with such pompous slowness, that Beresford was obliged 
 to snatch from him the command for a moment, by 
 superintending the movements in person. Even this 
 measure, however, was almost too late, for the enemy 
 were already among them, and the Spanish ranks were 
 wavering before the shock. All was now confusion and 
 peril, and Sonlt, thinking that the victory was already his 
 own, threw forward all his columns and called up his
 
 BERESFORD. C29 
 
 reserves, with which he occupied the hill that com- 
 manded the Yalverde Road, hy which the retreat of the 
 allied amiy would have been completely cut off. General 
 Stewart seeing this, immediately rushed to the foot of 
 the height with Colborne's brigade; but this rash onset 
 was met by so tremendous a fire, that his columns were 
 thrown into confusion; four regiments of hussars and 
 lancers then charged in their rear, and cut them down 
 in whole companies ; and Beresford himself, while en- 
 deavouring to restore order amidst such a tumult, was 
 obliged to exert himself like a common swordsman. On 
 one occasion a lancer charged him ; but the marshal 
 exerting his remarkable strength, turned the weapon 
 aside, and threw the man out of the saddle. The Spa- 
 niards, in the mean time, increased the confusion, by 
 firing without intermission, and as the British were 
 before them, and suffered greatly from this unadvised 
 zeal, Beresford ordered these precious allies to advance, 
 but in vain. He then seized one of their ensigns in his 
 powerful grasp, and bore him forward, colours and all, 
 in the hope that the Spaniards would follow; but no 
 sooner was the fellow released, than he ran back to his 
 company. Happily, at this trying moment the state of 
 the weather, which prevented Soult from ascertaining 
 the full amount of bis success, gave the allied troops an 
 opportunity of recovering from their confusion, and 
 Stewart was enabled to lead the British troops to the 
 attack of the hill in better order than before. Thus the 
 battle was renewed upon even terms; and when the 
 British soldiers were enabled to encounter upon unen- 
 cumbered ground, their attack was so terrible, that Soult 
 soon perceived that the victory might yet be torn from 
 his grasp. Their close destructive fire made huge gaps 
 in the massive columns of the enemy ; they closed with 
 the bayonet, and nothing could withstand their impetuous 
 onset. The French reeled, yielded, and at last fled, but 
 were closely pursued with horrible caroage ; and the 
 British at length gained the summit of the hill, down the 
 steep of which the enemy were precipitated like a falling 
 avalanche. But fearful was the price which the victors 
 had paid for so signal an advantage ; for out of nearly 
 7,000 British warriors, not more than 1,500 stood un- 
 wounded upon the hill-top. Nothing, however, could be 
 more decisive than the victory they had gained ; and the 
 2 E 2
 
 630 MILITARY HISTORY. 
 
 French, who had lost S,000 men in this sanguinary action, 
 found themselves in no condition to attempt a second 
 conflict, and retreated to Solano. During the rest of the 
 war marshal Beresford ably seconded the operations of 
 the duke of Wellington ; and when Bourdeaux espoused 
 the cause of the Bourbons, he was sent thither, at the 
 head of a detachment, to take possession of the town. It 
 is also pleasing to notice the gratitude with which his 
 valuable services were recognised by our government. 
 In 1812, he was appointed to the rank of lieutenant- 
 general ; in 1814 he was raised to the peerage, by the 
 title of Baron Beresford of Albuera, with an annuity of 
 S^'2,000 per annum to himself and his two immediate 
 successors in the barony ; in 1823 he was made a viscount, 
 and in 1825, a general in the British army. The fields in 
 which he successively distinguished himself were Co- 
 runna, Busaco, Albuera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, 
 Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthez, and Toulouse ; and for 
 these he has the privilege of wearing a cross with seven 
 clasps. His lordship is colonel of the 16th regiment, 
 governor of Jersey, and master-general of the ordnance. 
 He is also duke of Elvas, marquis of Campo Major, and 
 count Francoso in Portugal, and a field-marshal in that 
 kingdom.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Abercromhy, Sir Ralph, life of, 446. 
 
 Attoukir, landing of the British troops at, 451. Battle of, 4o3. 
 
 Abraham, heiibts of, battle or the, 417. 
 
 Acre, siege of, by Richard I., 121. Massacre of the garrison, 122. 
 
 Agitators in the 'Parliamentary army, 350. 
 
 Agricola, citilizes theBritous, 19. 'iavades Caledonia, 20. 
 
 Alban's, St., victory of the duke of York at, 275. The earl of War- 
 wick defeated at, 280. 
 
 Albuera, battle of, 627. 
 
 Alfred the Great, life of, 35. 
 
 Ally Ghur, success of general Lake at, 4S8. 
 
 American colonies, revolt of, 420. Conimencement of hostilities, 421. 
 Elect Washington commander-in-chief, ib. Receive aid from France, 
 423. Theirsucc. sses, ii. Their independence ratified bv Britain, iA. 
 
 Americans defeated by Cornwallis atRigely's iMills, 461. They oblige 
 Cornwallis to surrender, 463. 
 
 Anertim Moor, battle of, 310. 
 
 Anglesey, marq^ is of, lire of, 601. 
 
 Anglesey, conquest of, by Suetonius, 15. 
 
 Anne, accession and death of, 369. 
 
 Arc, Joan of, her early history, 258. Applies to be sent to the dau- 
 phin, 259. Relieves Orleans, 261. Her subsequent successes, 264. 
 Attends the coronation of the dauphin, 265. Taken prisoner at the 
 siege of Compelgne, 267. Tried and executed, 268. 
 
 Archery, excellence of the English in, 87. 
 
 Arcol, defence of, by Clive, 430. 
 
 Argaum, battle of, 521. 
 
 Argyll, duke of, the life of, 404. 
 
 Asiaye, ba.'tle of, 520. 
 
 Assize of arras, by Henry II., 112. 
 
 Athelney, island of, shelters Alfred, 39. 
 
 Athelstane, his victories, 45. 
 
 Austria, archduke of, his infamous conduct towards Richar J I. 122, 
 126, 129. 
 
 Azincourt, battle of, 246. 
 
 Badajoz stormed by lord Wellington, 555. 
 
 Baird, Sir David, life of, 476. 
 
 Baliol made kin-f of Scotland by Edward I., 162. Renouaces alle- 
 giance to Edward, ib. 
 
 , Ed\»-ard, invade* Scotland, 196. Gains the battle of Duplin, 197. 
 
 Is driven out of Scotland, ib. Reinstated on the Scottish throne, 198. 
 Is again expelled, 199. Is a third time unsuccessful, U>. 
 
 Barcelona, siege oi, by ihe earl .->f Peterborough, 395. Captured, 397. 
 Relieved by the eari of Peterborough, 400. 
 
 Barnel, battle of, 288. 
 
 iaron* of England, thtir opposition to royal despotism, 141, 143, 146, 
 148, 187- 
 
 Barrosa, battle o(, 621. 
 
 Bange, battle of, 251. 
 
 Beauvais, bishop of, liij warlike characttr, 132. 
 
 Btres/ord, viscount, life of, 625.
 
 632 INDEX. 
 
 Berwick taken by Edwanl I., 162. De^ie^'ed by Edward II., 185. 
 
 Siirrendired to Edward HI , 198. 
 Bhurlpore, storming of, 615. 
 Bidasoa, battle of, 570. 
 Blenheim, battle oi, 377. 
 
 Blondel the minstrel discovers the prison of Ricliard I., 130. 
 liloreheath, victory of the Yorkists at, 277. 
 Buadicea, life of, 17. 
 Bonaparte, successes of, 424. 
 Boxicorth, battle of, 297. 
 Bourdeaux proclaims Loui* XVIII., 577. 
 Boyne, battle of the, 368. 
 Brenneville, battle of, 96. 
 Britain, ancient, account of, 1. 
 Britons, ancient, their mude of warfare, 9. 
 Bruce, Robert, h:s quarrel with Comyn, 170. Is defeated at Methven, 
 
 171. His subsequent successes, 172. Gains the battle of Bannoik- 
 
 biirn, 176. Secures the independence ol Scotland, 194. Dies, 195. 
 Bruce, Edward, invades Ireland, 182. Is killed at the battle oi Dun- 
 
 dalk, 183. 
 Brunanburgh, battle of, 45. 
 Bucltingham, duke of, obtains the crown for Richard III., 294. 
 
 Rebels again*! Richard, 296. Is tetrayed and executed, ib. 
 Burpoyne, g-eneral, his unsuccessful campaign, 422. 
 Buiaco, battle of, 545. 
 
 Cade, John, insurrection of, 274. 
 
 Caeji, frightful funeral of William the Conqueror at, 78. 
 
 Ctesar, invasion of Britain by, 3. Second campaign of. in Britain, 6. 
 
 Calais, siege of, by Edward 111., 209. Taken by ihedukeof Guise, 313. 
 
 Caledonians, their wars with the Romans, 21 . 
 
 Caligula, his mad attempt to conquer Britain, 11. 
 
 Cannon, iirst use of, 303. 
 
 Canute, his reign in England, 49. 
 
 Caractacus, life of, II. 
 
 Cassivellanus, life of, 7. 
 
 Chandernagore, in the East Indies, capture of, 434. 
 
 Charles I., accession of, 329. Opposed by the Scots, ib. Quarrels 
 
 with the Parliament, 332. Commencement of the civil war, 333. 
 
 Takes refuge with the Sottish army, 340. Is delivered up to the 
 
 English, ib. His trial and execution, ib. 
 Charles II. called to the throne by Monk, 364. His administration, 
 
 character, and death, 365. 
 Charles, of Austria, his claims to the Spanish Throne supported by the 
 
 earl of Peterborough, 395. 
 Chivalrous education, nature of, 214. 
 Cintra, the convention of, 529. 
 
 Ciudad Rodrigo attacktd by Wellington, 553. Taken by storm, 555. 
 Claudius, invasion of Britain by, 12. 
 Clive, lord, life of, 427. 
 Coniliermere, viscount, life of, 612. 
 Cornwallis, marquis, life of, 457. 
 Corsica, the French expelled from, by the British, 490. Sir Gilbert 
 
 Elliott appointed viceroy, 501. His impracticable government, J6. • 
 Corunna, battle of, 509. 
 Crecy, battle of, 205. 
 Cromwell, Oliver, life of, 342. 
 
 Cuesta, general, his impracticable obstinacy, 524, 534, 539, 540. 
 Cyprus conquered by Richard Coeur-de-Lion, 120. 
 
 Danelagh, settlement of, 40. 
 
 Vanes, first invasion of England by, 33. Description of, 34. Massacre 
 
 of, by the English, 47. 
 Valid, king of Scotland, defeated, and taken prisoner at Neville's 
 
 Cross, 208,
 
 INDEX. CM 
 
 Dtlhi, victory of Lake at, 4f9. 
 
 Doondiah Waugh, insurrection of, in India, 516. Defeated and slain 
 
 by colonel Welleslev, 517. 
 Douglas, Sir James, surprises the castle of Ro\bur?h, 175. Defeats 
 
 the English at Lenthaushlee, 183. His sallant exploits, ib. Shares 
 
 in the victory of Alitton, 186. Invades England with Randniph, 19I. 
 
 Attack* tl.e English camp by a night surprise, 193. Embarks with 
 
 the heart of Bru( e for the Holy Land, 195. Slain by the xMoors, 196. 
 Douglas and Rand'^il|ih, nofile emulation between, 178- 
 Douglas, lord Archibald, defeated at Halidon Hi 1, 198. 
 , the knight of Liddisdale, relie-.es the castle of Dunbar, 200. 
 
 Takes the castle of Edinburgh, 16. 
 , James, eari of, overthrows Hotspur in single combat, 231. 
 
 Is slain at the battle of Otterbounie, 232. 
 , the earl of, defeated at Ho:iiildon,238. Leasue- with Percv 
 
 to dethrone Henry IV., 240. Gallant behaviour at rhe battle o'f 
 
 Shrewsbury, ib. Gains the battle of Bauge, 251. I» defeated and 
 
 slain at V'erneuil, 257. 
 
 , earl of Angus, defeats the English at Ancrum Moor, 310. 
 
 Douro, passage of the, 531. 
 
 Druidism, su'ppression of, by the conquest of Anglesey, 16. 
 
 Druids, iccount of, 1. 
 
 Duel between Clive and an officer, 428. 
 
 Dumblain, defeat of the Pretender's forces at, 406. 
 
 Dunbar gal.antly defended bv the counte-s, 199. 
 
 Dundee, viscnunt, killed at Killicrankie, 366. 
 
 Dunkeld, bi-hop of, drives the English to their ships, 184. 
 
 Edgar Athe'ing, his feeble character and conduct, 64,69, 94. 
 
 Edgehill, battle of, 334. 
 
 Edicard the Confessor, his partiality for the Normans, 49. 
 
 Edward I. conducts the war against the Earl of Leicester, 152. Life 
 of, 155. 
 
 Edward IT. accession of, 174. His nobles rebel against him, 175, 187. 
 Unsuccessfully invades S- otland, 174, 177, 185, 188. Is deposed by 
 the queen, 190. Assassinated, 191. 
 
 Edicard III. his unfortunate campaign against the Scots, 191. In- 
 vades Scotland and gains the b.ittle of Ha:idon Hill, 198. Is ruc- 
 cessfullv opposed bv Sir Andrew Murray, 199. Life of, 201. 
 
 Edward the Ulack Prince, gallant conduct of, at Crecv, 207. Life 
 of, 214. 
 
 Edirard son of Henry VI. murdered at Tewkesbury, 290. 
 
 Edward IF. gain< a victory over the Lancasteriaus at ^Mortimer's 
 cross, 281. Is called to the throne, 281. Gains the battle of Tow- 
 ton. 282. Is driven from Knarland by Warwick, 286. Returns from 
 Burgundy, 287. Defeats Warwick at Barnet, 288. Defeats the queen 
 at Tewkesbury, 2S9. Invades France, 291. Dies, 293. 
 
 Egypt, expedition of the British to, 4*9. 
 
 I,7iza6f//!, accession of, to the throne of England, 313. Nature of her 
 administration, ib. Sends aid to the Protestants of Scotland, 315. 
 Dies, 316. 
 
 Elliott, lord Heathiield, life of, 440. 
 
 , Sir Gilbert, his viceroyalty of Corsica, 501. 
 
 Ely, isle of, defended by Hereward Le Wake, 81. Betrayed by the 
 Monks, 83. 
 
 Elhandune, defeat of the Danes by Alfred at, 40. 
 
 Eustace, count of Boulogne, his violent conduct at Dover, 30. Sum- 
 moned to aid the English against William the Conqueror, 67. 
 
 Evesham, battle of, 152. 
 
 Falkirk, battle of, 166. 
 
 Feudal system, established iu England by William the Conqueror, 86. 
 Flanders, the duke of York's ruinous retreat through, 515. 
 Flemish merchants, their gallant defence of Berwick, 163.
 
 Flodden, battle of, 305. 
 Fuentes d'Onoro, battle of, 552. 
 
 Galpacus, life of, 21. 
 
 Geoffry, s'>n of Henry II. wars against his fatlier, 112. His untirael) 
 
 death, 114. 
 George I., access ion of, 369. Die<=, 370. 
 George II., accession of, 370. Dies, 371. 
 George III , accession of, 420. 
 Geriah in the East Indies, captnrpd, 432. 
 Gibraltar, able defence of, by Eliintt, 443. 
 Godwin, earl, his power and'popularity, 50. 
 Grampians, battle of the, 22. 
 Gitnuowder, changes wrought in war bv, 302. 
 Gulhrun, the Danish leader, his wars with Alfred, 38. 
 
 Halidon Hill, battle of, 198 
 
 Hampden, his refusal to pav tonnage and poundage, 329. 
 
 Hardrada invades England, 54. Is slain at the battle of Stamford 
 
 Bridge, 55. 
 Harold, his journey to the court of Normandy, 51. Circumvented by 
 William, 52. Chosen king, 53. Defeats' Hardrada at Stamford 
 bridge, 54. (s defeated anil slain at Hasting, 61. 
 Harris, lord, life of, 469. 
 
 Hasting the Danish leader, his wars with Alfred, 41. 
 Hastings, battle of, 61. 
 
 Hmgist and Horsa obtain a settlement in Britain, 28. 
 Henry Beauclerk ascends the throne, 92. Wars with his brother Ro 
 bert, 93. His successes against the French, 93. Loses his son by 
 shipwreck, 96. Dies, 99. 
 Hniry II. accession of, 105. Invades Ireland, 108. Dissensions among 
 his sons, 108. Grief at the death of his son Henry, 1 14. Reduced to 
 extreniitv by the king of France, and his son'Richard, 115. His 
 death, 116. 
 Henry III., his rash attachment to strangers, 146. Losses in France, 
 
 147. Taken prisoner at the battle of Lewes, 151. Dits, 155. 
 Henry of Hereford's quarrel with the duke of Norfolk, 233. Returns 
 from banishment, 234. Usurps thecrown under the title of Henry IV. 
 235. 
 Henry IV. his unsuccessful inroads into Wales, 237. Quarrels with the 
 
 Percies, 239. Deteaus them at Shiewsburv, 240. Dies, 243. 
 Henry V., life of, 243. 
 
 Henry VI., accession of, 255. His marriage, 271. Loses all his pos- 
 sessions in France, 272. Taken prisoner by the Yorkisis at St. Al- 
 ban's, 276. Endeavours to reconcile the contending parties, 277. 
 Taken pilsoner at Northampton, 278. Delivered bv the Queen at 
 St. Alban's, 280. Flies to Scotland, 262. Is again apprehended, and 
 sent to the Tower, 283 Is delivered by the earl of Warwick, 286. 
 Sentaarain to the Tower by Edward IV.,'287. 
 Henry VII., defeats Richard III. at Bosworth, 297. Crowned, and 
 marries ttie Princess Elizabeth, 298. Opposed by the pretensions of 
 Lambert Sininel, 298. And of Perkin Warbeck, 300. Dies, 302. 
 Henry VIII., accession of, .?04. Invades France, 303. Besieges Te- 
 rouenne, 307. Gains the battle of Spurs, 307. Invades France a 
 second time, 308. Endeavours to unite Scotland with England, 309. 
 Dies, 310. 
 Henry of Transtamare defeated by the Black Prince, 223. 
 Heptarchy, kingdoms of united under Egbert, 32. 
 Hereford, lord ■>f, his conspiracy against William the Conqueror, 71. 
 Herexcard Le IVahe, life of, 60. 
 //j//, lnrd,lifeof, 598, 
 Homildon, defeat of the Scots at, 238. 
 
 Hotspur, defeated in sinele combat by Douglas, 231. Is defeated and 
 taken prisoner at Otterbourne, 232. Gains the victory of Homildon,
 
 INDEX. 633 
 
 238. Rebels against Henry IV., 240. Is defeated and slain at Slirews- 
 burv, 241. 
 Hyde'r Ally, his rise, 476. His unjust treatment from tlie Britisli, 477. 
 His successes, 478. Defeats tlie Britisli, 480. 
 
 India, formation of our empire in, 427, 464, 469, 476, 486, 515. 
 Innocent III., his contest with king John, 137, 139. 
 Interdict, sentence of, pronounced against England, 137. 
 Ireland, conquest of, by the English, 106. Invaded by Oliver Crom- 
 well, a36. Espouses the cause of James II , 367. 
 
 Jaffa, battle of, between Richard I. and Saladin, 124. 
 
 James IF. of Scotland invades England, 305. Is defeated and slain 
 at Flodden, 306. 
 
 James I., accession of, to the English throne, 328. His arbitrary ad- 
 miuistrati>n, i6. Dies, 329. 
 
 James II., accession of, 365. Is deposed, 366. 
 
 Jeu-s, massacre of, at the accession of Richard I,, 119. 
 
 John, the accession of, to the thront-, 134. Murders his nephew 
 Arthur, 136. Loses his possessions on the continent, ih. Quarrels 
 with the pope, 137. His cruelty to the Jews, 138. His surrender to 
 the pope, 140. The nobles combine against him, ib. Compelled to 
 subscribe Ma^na Charta, 142. Dies at Newark, 145. 
 
 John, king of France, taken prisoner at Poictiers, 219. 
 
 Joseph, king of Spain, defeattd at Talavera, 536. Obliged to fly from 
 Matlrid, 559. Defeated at Vittoria, 564. 
 
 Judith, wife of earl Waltheof, her infamous conduct, 73. 
 
 Junol, marshal, defeated at Vimiero, 527. 
 
 Killihrankie, battle of, 366. 
 
 Knight, education of, 214. 
 
 Knighthood, order of, among the Anglo-Saxons, 81. 
 
 Koveripauk, victory gained at, by Clive, 430. 
 
 Lake, viscount, life of, 456. 
 
 Laswaree, victory of Lake at, 491. 
 
 Lea river, Alfred strands the Danish nav^ in, 43. 
 
 Leith besieged by the ^cots and English, 315. 
 
 Leslie, general, invades England, 330. 
 
 Letces, battle of, 150. 
 
 Limoges stormed bv the Black Prince, 226. 
 
 Lincoln, battle near, between Stephen and the English barons, 102. 
 
 Londonderry, siege of, 367. 
 
 Lonis, the dauphin of France, invades England, 143. Is compelled to 
 
 leave England, 145. 
 Lonishourg', capture of, 413. 
 Lynedoch, lord, life of, 618. 
 
 Madrid, welcome of Wellins-ton into, 550. 
 
 Mahommedanism, history of, 117. 
 
 Maida, battle of, 495. 
 
 Malcolm Canmore, his reception of refugees from England, 88. 
 
 Malplaquet, battle of, 389. 
 
 Mar, earl of, proclaims the Pretender in Scotland, 369—106. Is de- 
 feated at Dumblain, 406. Embarks for France, 408. 
 
 Margaret of Anjou married to Henry VI., 271. >hares in the assas- 
 sination of the good duke Hiiniplirev, 272. Her violent conduct 
 aiainst the Yorkists, 276. Is defeited bv the earl of Warwick at 
 Northampton, 278. Defeats the .lukt of Vork at Wakefield, 279. 
 Defeats the earl of Warwick at St. Alban's, 2S0. Flies t« Scotland, 
 282. Is defeat- d at Hexhair,, 283. Forms an alliance with the earl 
 of Warwick, 285. Is liefeated at Tewkesbury, 289. 
 
 Marlborough, duke of, life of, 371. 
 Marmont defeated at Salam tnca, 558. 
 Marston moor, battle of, 346.
 
 633 INDEX. 
 
 Miissfiia defeated at Busaco, 545. Oblig:ed to evacuate Portugal, 550. 
 Defeated at Fuentes d'Ouoro, 552. 
 
 Matilda appointed to the roval succession bv Henry Beauclerk, 96. 
 Is supplanted by Steplien, y'9. Her wars with Stephen, «6. Miscrios 
 occasioned by them, 104. 
 
 Mazarine, cardinal, his dread of Cromwell, 362. 
 
 Monacltisnt, abuses of, in Kns^land, 46. 
 
 Monk, oreneral, restores the monarchy, 364. 
 
 Mont/orl, Simon de, earl of Leicester, drives the foreign favourites of 
 Henry 111. from Enjland, 149. Is slain at the battle of Evesham, 
 153. 
 
 Atoni/art, countess of, her irallant defence of Hennebon, 203. Re- 
 lie»ed by Sir Walter Manny, ib. 
 
 Montrose, earl of, embraces the cause of Charles I., 336. Gains a vic- 
 tory at Perth, 3)7. Defeats Arsjvll at Inverloehy, 338. Gains the 
 victories of Alderne and Alford, 339. Is defeated at Pliilipliau^h, 
 ib. 
 
 Moore, Sir John, life of, 497. 
 
 Muskets first used, 303. 
 
 Kajara, victory of the Black Prince at, 223. 
 
 Nasebi/, battle of, J4S. 
 
 I>levill's Cross, battle of, 208. 
 
 I^ew Forest, orisrin of, 76 
 
 l^'iietle, enjasfemeiit at the, 572. 
 
 ISormans, character of the, ai. Txcesses of, in England, 50, 64, 104. 
 
 fiurthdiupton, victory of the Yorkists near, 278. 
 
 Noruu-h, bishop of, iinsuccesshilU invadi-s France, 230. 
 
 Pfuncios, pipal, frii,'htened out of Scotland, 164. 
 
 Odo, bishop of Bayeux, bears a command at the battle of Hastinj^s, 61. 
 
 His oppressixe conduct in Eusland, 67. lmpri^oned by William the 
 
 Contpieror, 76. Banished by William Kufus, 89. 
 Orthez, battle of, 575. 
 Osli:, bJttle of, 567. 
 thfurins, defeat of Caractaciis bv, 13. 
 (til, rhinirne, vietorv of the Scots at, 232. 
 (tiid-narde, bartle of, 3s7. 
 (hitluics, Kn<rlish, origin of, 70—88. 
 Owtn Glendoirer attempts the liberation of Wales, 236. His success- 
 
 ful resistance asfai^ist Henry IV., 237. Is elTectually opposed by the 
 
 prince of Wales, 241. 
 
 Papal usurpations in England, 79, 137, 139. In Scotland, 167, 184, 
 
 186. 
 Parliament, dismissal of, bv Cromwell, 359. 
 Patau, defeit of the English ai, .264. 
 Pedro the Cnirl applies for aid lo the Black Prince, 223. His ia- 
 
 gr ilitude and treachery, ;24. His defeat and death, 225. 
 Peninsula, ueneral Sir John Moore sent to the deliverance of the, 
 
 5"5. Sir Arthur Wellesley sent on the same mission, 524. 
 Perrot, -Ir John, life ol, 319, 
 Perth stormed by Kobert Bruce. 175. 
 Pitirboioui;li, earl of, life of, 393. 
 Pirlon, licutenaiit-geiieral, life of, 604. 
 Pinkie, Scol^ deteated at, 311. 
 Plasseu, battle of, 437. 
 Poictii'rs, battle of, 218. 
 Portugal rescued fioni the French, 529. 
 Portuguese, in-iratitude of the, to their liberators, 534. 
 Pretend) r, his ca' se embraced by the earl of Mar, 406. Ruined by 
 
 the batili- of Diiinblain, it. He arrives in S( oiland, 403. Dei arts 
 
 for France, ib. SiirTeiings of his adherents, 409. 
 Pretender, the voung, lands in Scotland, 370. Defejted and obliu'ed 
 
 lo esca;)e to Fiance, ib.
 
 INDEX. 63? 
 
 Ramillies, battle of, 363. 
 
 Randolph surprises the castle of Edinbursh, 175. His <»allant conduct 
 at Bannockburn, 178. Iinades Eiig-land in conjunclion with Doug- 
 las, 186. Asain invades England, 188. He and Douglas conduct a 
 successful campaign Jgiinst Edward III., 191. 
 
 Revolution, French wars of the, 424. 
 
 Richard Ceeur de Lion, life of, 117. 
 
 Richard If., accession of, 228. Defeats the insurrection of Wat 
 Tyler, 229. His unjust conduct to the earl of Hereford, 23 1. Is de- 
 posed and murdered, 235. 
 
 Richard III. contributes to the victor} of Tewkesbury, 260. Im- 
 prisons the queen's relations, 293. Is chosen Froiec or, iO. Ob- 
 tains the crown, 295. Quarrels with the duke of Buckingham, 29G. 
 Defeated and slain at Bosworth, 297. 
 
 Robtrt, son of William the Conqueror, rebellion of, 74. Joins the 
 crusades, 90. Is imprisoned by Henry Bci-.uclerk, 94. 
 
 Rolica, battle of, 525. 
 
 Rotiin, battle of, 168. 
 
 Roxburgh, castle of, surprised by Sir James Douglas, 175. 
 
 .Salamanca, battle of, 558. 
 
 Salic law excludes Edward III. from the throne of France, 201. 
 
 San Mateo, siege of, raised by the earl of Peterborough, 397. 
 
 San Sebastian stormed, 569. 
 
 Saxons called to tlie aid of t!ie Britons, 27. Description of, ib. Their 
 conquest of Ensriand, 30. 
 
 Scindiah, war against, conducted by general Lake, 483. Colonel 
 Wellesley sent against him, 518. 'Defeat of, at Assaye, by Wel- 
 lington, 520. And at Argaum, 521. 
 
 Scots and Picts, their invasion of South Britain, 24. 
 
 Serinsapatam menaced by lord Cornwallis, 465. Its lines forced, 466. 
 Stormed by general Harris, 472, 484. 
 
 Severus, invasion of Caledonia by, 23. 
 
 Shah Allium delivered from capdvitv bv the British, 490. 
 
 Sidney, Sir Philip, lite of, 317. 
 
 Simnel, Lambert, defeated at Stoke, 299. 
 
 Somerset, duke of, chosen protector, 310. Gains the battle of Pinkie, 
 311. 
 
 Soult, marshal, defeated at Coninna, 509. His generous conduct 
 after the battle, 512. His able retreat to Guimaraens, 5 i3. Defeated 
 at Ostiz, 567. Defeated at Biila-oa, 570. Defeated at the Niveile, 
 572. Defeated at Orthez, 575. Defeated at Toulouse, 579. 
 
 Spain, aid sent thither from Britain, 505. Faial retreat of Sir John 
 iMoore from, 508. Sir Arthur Wellesley sent to the assistance of, 
 523. 
 
 Spanish patriotism, efects of, in England, 505. 
 
 Spanish troops, ineflSciency of the, 508, 524, 535. Improvement of 
 the, 570. 
 
 Spurs, batt'e of, 307. 
 
 Standard, battle of the, 99. 
 
 Stephen usurps the English crown, 99. Fills the land with mercenary 
 soldiers, lOi. Is defeated and taken prisoner near Lincoln, 102. Is 
 released, 103. I< opposed by Henry of Anjou, 104. Dies, 105. 
 
 Stirling, battle of, 165. 
 
 Strongbow, earl of Pembroke, his conquests in Ireland, 107. 
 
 Stuart, Sir John, life of, 492. 
 
 Suetonius takes ihe island of Anslesev, 15. Defeats Boadicea, 18. 
 
 Sweyn invades England, 47. His conquest of England, 49. 
 
 Talavera, battle of, 536. 
 
 Tippoo Saib, spirited resistance of, 464, 471, 481. Obliged to sur- 
 render to Cornwallis, 466. 
 
 Torauld, the pugnacious abbot, taken prisoner by Le Wake, 82. 
 
 Torres Vedras, the lines of, 547. 
 
 Tr.stig, e :rl of Northumberland, stirs up enemies against Ensland, 53. 
 Is killed at the battle of Stamford bridge, 55.
 
 638 INDEX. 
 
 Toulouse, battle of, 579. 
 
 Tou'ton, battle of, 281. 
 
 Tyburn, Croniwt'll'» welcome at, 357. 
 
 Tyler, Wat, iiisurreclion of, 288. 
 
 Valencia, siese of, raised by Ihp earl of Peterborough, 399. 
 Vaurus, bastard of, hanged on his own tree, 252. 
 Verncuil, victory of the Knslish at, 257. 
 Verulamium (St. Alban's) taken by the Britons, 18. 
 Vimiero, battle of, 527. 
 Viltoria, battle of, 564. 
 
 Wakefield, duke of York defeated at, and elain, 279. 
 
 H'atei subdued bv Edward I., 158. 
 
 H'altace, Sir VVilliani, becomes the champion of Scotland, 164. De- 
 feaLs the Enelish at Stirling, 165. Is defeated bv Eilw ird 1. at Fal- 
 kirk, lo6. Is betrayed, tried, and executed, 169.' 
 
 Warwick, earl of, chiefly contributes to the victory of tl)e Yorkists at 
 St. Alban's, 275. Flies to Calais, 276. Gains the victory of North- 
 ampton, 278. Is defeated l)y the queen at St. Alban's, 280. He 
 rebels aaainst Edward IV., 284. Forms an alliance with the queen, 
 2h5. Drrves Edward IV. from the kingdom, 286. Is defeated and 
 slain at Birnet, 288. 
 
 n'«///(<Y;/" executed by the Normans, 73. 
 
 Wnsltinlton appointed commander-in-chief of the Americans, 421. 
 His skill and success in war, 4.'2. 
 
 WtUivpton, duke of, life of, 513. 
 
 Wiit hi(li<s,>er\icM of peneral Abercromby in the, 147. Services of 
 ireneral Moore in the, 502. 
 
 Williiim the Conqueror, lil"e of, 56. 
 
 Williiim livj'iis succeeds to the throne of England, 89. His wars with 
 the Nornran nobles, ib. His death, 91. 
 
 Willinm the Lion taken prisoner at Alnwick, 111. 
 
 H iltiiini of Orange called to ti.e Briti>h throne, 36o. Crosses over to 
 Irel:ind,"367. Giins t'le victory of the Bojne, 368. Dies, 3i59. 
 
 U in^'iy-fiiid, victory of Cromwell at, 345. 
 
 M o//e," life of, 412. 
 
 York stormed by the English, 68. Retaken by the Normans, 69. Mas- 
 sacre of the Jews at, 1 19. 
 
 York and Lancaster, war between the houses of, 273. 
 
 > or*, duke of, his claims to the cnwn of l.n<,'land, 273. Appointed 
 protector of the kinirdom, 275. Defeats the L.tncasterians at >t. 
 Alban's, ih. Is afraid to occupy the throne, 278. Is defeated and 
 slain at Wakefield, 279, 
 
 Piiuted b\ A. SWEETING, 15, Bartlett's Buildings, London.
 
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