Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

of contributing any thing to the war in Flanders, was urgent that succor should be sent to him, and that the English general should in person take the command on the Moselle. Marlborough was thus reduced to the English troops, and those in the pay of Holland; but they amounted to nearly sixty thousand men; and, on the 19th of May, he set out from the Hague to take the command of this force, which lay in front of the old French frontier on the River Dyle. Marshal Villeroi had there collected sixty-two thousand men; so that the two armies, in point of numerical strength, were very nearly equal.

33. Forces on the opposite sides in Flanders.

The English general had established a secret correspondence with one Pasquini, an inhabitant of Namur, through whose agency, and that of some other citizens of the town who were inclined to the Imperial interest, he hoped to be able to make himself master of that important fortress. To facilitate that attempt, and have troops at hand ready to take advantage of any opening that might be afforded them in that quarter, he moved toward Tirlemont, directing his march by the sources of the Little Gheet. Determined to cover Namur, and knowing that the Hanoverians and Hessians were absent, Villeroi marched out of his lines in order to stop the advance of the allies, and gave battle in the open field. On the 20th of May, the English and Dutch forces effected their junction at Bitsia; and on the day following the Danish contingent arrived, Marlborough having, by great exertions, persuaded them to come up from the Rhine, upon receiving a guarantee for their pay from the Dutch government. This raised his force to seventy-three battalions and one hundred and twenty-three squadrons. The French had seventy-four battalions and one hundred and twenty-eight squadrons. But they had a much greater advantage in the homogeneous quality of their troops, who were all of one country, while the forces of the confederates were drawn from three different nations, speaking different languages, and many of whom had never acted in the field to

M

gether. Cadogan, with six hundred horse, formed the vanguard of Marlborough's army; and at daybreak on the 22d, he discovered the enemy's army grouped in dense masses in the strong camp of Mont St. André. As their position stretched directly across the allied line of march, a battle was una voidable; and Marlborough was no sooner informed of it, than with a joyous heart he prepared for the conflict.*

The ground occupied by the enemy, and which has become so famous by the battle of RAMILLIES which follow

34.

Position of

at Ramillies,

the French ed, was on the summit of an elevated plateau form22d of May. ing the highest ground in Brabant, immediately above the two sources of the Little Gheet. The elevated ground above is varied by gentle undulations, interspersed with garden grounds, and dotted with coppice woods. From it the two Gheets, the Mehaigne and the Dyle, take their rise, and flow in different directions, so that it is the highest surface in the whole country. The descents from the summit of the plateau to the Great Gheet are steep and abrupt; but the other rivers rise in marshes and mosses, which are very wet, and in some places impassable. Marlborough was well aware of the strength of the position on the summit of this eminence, and he had used all the dispatch in his power to reach it before the enemy; but Villeroi had less ground to go over, and had his troops in battle array on the summit before the English appeared in sight. The position occupied by the French ran along the front of a curve facing inward, and overhanging the sources of the Little Gheet. The troops were posted on the crest of the ridge above the marshes, having the village of Autre Eglise in front of the extreme left, and the villages of Offuz and Ramillies opposite their center. The extreme right occupied the high grounds which overhang

* The composition and strength of the two armies was as follows:

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

the Mehaigne, along the course of which, at a short distance, and nearly parallel to its banks, runs the old chaussée, which, after the lapse of more than a thousand years, still retains the name of Queen Brunehault. The right wing occupied the intermediate space, and rested on the Mehaigne, while the village of Tavières, on the banks of that river, was garrisoned by a large body of foot soldiers. The infantry were drawn up in two lines, the villages in their front being strongly occupied by separate detachments of foot. In Ramillies alone twenty battalions were posted. The great bulk of the horse was also

arranged in two lines on the right, across the chaussée of Brunehault, along which part of the allied columns was expected to advance. On the highest point of the ridge thus occupied by the French, but immediately behind their extreme right and the mass of their cavalry, and in a position commanding the whole field of battle, the tomb or barrow of the ancient German hero Ottomond was situated. This position, it was evident, would become the subject of a desperate strife between the contending parties in the approaching conflict.*

35. Marlborough's

maneuvers be

fore the battle, and plan of at

tack.

Marlborough no sooner came in sight of the enemy's position than he formed his own plan of attack. His troops were divided into ten columns, the cavalry being in two lines on each wing, the infantry in six columns in the center. He at once saw that the French right, surmounted by the lofty plateau on which the tomb of Ottomond was placed, was the key of their position, and against that he resolved to direct the weight of his onset ; but, the better to conceal his real design, he determined to make a vehement false attack on the village of Autre Eglise and their left. The nature of the ground occupied by the allies and the enemy respectively, favored this design; for the French were posted round the circumference of a segment of a circle, while the allies occupied the center and chord, so that they could move with greater rapidity than their opponents * KAUSLER, 765, 766. COXE, ii., 339, 340.

from one part of the field to another. Marlborough's stratagem was entirely successful. He formed, in the first instance, with some ostentation, a weighty column of attack opposite to the French left, which menaced the village of Autre Eglise. No sooner did Villeroi perceive this, than he drew a considerable body of infantry from his center behind Offuz, and march ed them with the utmost expedition to re-enforce the threatened point on his left. When Marlborough saw this crossmovement fairly commenced, he skillfully availed himself of a rising ground on which the front of his column of attack on the right was placed, by directing the second line and the columns which supported it, just as the front had reached the edge of the plateau, where they obstructed the view of those behind thern, to halt in a hollow, where they could not be seen, and immediately after, still concealed from the enemy's sight, to defile rapidly to the left till they came into the rear of the left center. The Danish horse, twenty squadrons strong, under the Duke of Wirtemberg, were at the same time placed in a third line, behind the cavalry of the left wing, so as to bring the weight of his horse as well as foot into that quarter.*

At half past twelve the cannonade began on both sides, and 36. that of the French played heavily on the columns ment of the of the confederates advancing to the attack.

Commence

battle, and

of Marlbor

The

skillful feint allied right wing, directed against Autre Eglise, ough. steadily advanced up the slopes from the banks of the Little Gheet to the edge of the plateau, where they halted, deployed into line, and opened their fire in such a position as to conceal entirely the transfer of the infantry and cavalry in their rear to the allied left. No sooner had those columns in support reached it, than the attack began in real earnest, and with a preponderating force in that direction. Colonel Wertonville, with four Dutch battalions, advanced against Tavières, while twelve battalions in columns of companies, supported by a strong reserve, began the attack on Ramillies in the left center. The vehemence of this assault soon con* COXE, ii., 342-344, 345. KAUSLER, 766.

vinced Villeroi that the real attack of the allies was in that quarter; but he had no reserve of foot to support the troops in the villages, every disposable man having been sent off to the left in the direction of Autre Eglise. In this dilemma, he hastily ordered fourteen squadrons of horse to dismount, and, supported by two Swiss battalions, moved them up to the support of the troops in Tavières. Before they could arrive, however, the Dutch battalions had with great gallantry carried that village; and Marlborough, directing the Danish horse, under the brave Duke of Wirtemberg, against the flank of the dismounted dragoons, as they were in column and marching up, the Swiss were speedily cut to pieces, and hurled back in confusion on the French horse, who were advancing to their support.*

37.

Following up his success, Overkirk next charged the first line of advancing French cavalry with the first line of the allied horse, and such was the vigor of his onset, that the enemy were broken and thrown back. But the second line of French and Bava

Repulse of imminent dan

Overkirk, and

ger of Marlbor

ough when hastening to his relief.

rian horse soon came up, and assailing Overkirk's men when they were disordered by success, and little expecting another struggle, overthrew them without difficulty, drove them back in great confusion, and almost entirely restored the battle in that quarter. The chances were, that the victorious French horse, having cleared the open ground of their opponents, would wheel about and attack in rear the twelve battalions who were warmly engaged with the attack on Ramillies. Marlborough instantly saw the danger, and, putting himself at the head of seventeen squadrons at hand, led them on himself to arrest the progress of the victorious horse, while, at the same time, he sent orders for every disposable saber to come up from his right with the utmost expedition. Twenty squadrons were there in reserve; they instantly wheeled threes about, and galloped off to the support of their leader. The moment was critical, and nothing but the admirable intrepidity

* KAUSLER, 346. CoxE, ii., 345–347.

« ElőzőTovább »