hours, the victors were nearly in as great disorder as the vanquished. Horse, foot, and artillery were every where blended together in confusion, more especially between Ramillies and the Mehaigne, and thence up to the tomb of Ottomond, in consequence of the various charges of all arms which had so rapidly succeeded each other on the same narrow space. Marlborough, seeing this, and before attempting any thing more, halted his troops on the ground where they stood, which, in the left and center, had been occupied by the enemy at the commencement of the action. Villeroi skillfully availed himself of this breathing-time to endeavor to re-form his broken troops, and to take up a new line from Geest-a-Gerompont, on his right, through Offuz to Autre Eglise, still held by its original garrison, on his left. But in making the retrograde movement so as to get his men into this oblique position, he was even more impeded and thrown into disorder by the baggagewagons and dismounted guns on the heights, than the allies had been on the plain below.

On observing this, Marlborough resolved to give the enemy no time to rally, but again sounding the charge, ordered infantry and cavalry to advance. A strong

41. General advance of the allies, which completes

column passed the morass in which the Little Gheet the victory. takes its rise, directing their steps toward Offuz; but the enemy, panic-struck, as at Waterloo, by the general advance of the victors, gave way on all sides. Offuz was abandoned without a shot being fired, the cavalry pursued the fugitives with headlong fury, and the plateau of Mont St. André was soon covered with the flying enemy. The troops in observation on the right, seeing the victory gained on the left and center, of their own accord joined in the pursuit, and soon made themselves masters of Autre Eglise and the heights behind it. The Spanish and Bavarian Horse-guards made a gallant attempt to stem the flood of disaster, but without attaining their object. This only led to their own destruction. General Wood and Colonel Wyndham, at the head of the English Horse-guards, charged them, and they were immediately

cut to pieces. The rout now became universal, and all resistance ceased. In frightful confusion, a disorganized mass of horse and foot, abandoning their guns, streamed over the plateau, poured headlong, on the other side, down the banks of the Great Gheet, and fled toward Louvain, which they reached in the most dreadful disorder at two o'clock in the morning. The British horse, under Lord Orkney, did not draw bridle from the pursuit till they reached the neighborhood of that fortress, having, besides fighting the battle, ridden full five-andtwenty miles that day. Marlborough halted for the night, and established head-quarters at Mildert, thirteen miles from the field of battle, and five from Louvain.*

The loss

42. Losses of the

the allies in

The trophies of the battle of Ramillies were immense; but they were even exceeded by its results. of the French in killed and wounded was seven French and thousand men, and, in addition to that, six thou- the battle. sand prisoners were taken. With the desertions which took place after the battle, they were weakened by fully fifteen thousand men. They lost fifty-two guns, their whole baggage and pontoon train, all their caissons, and eighty standards wrested from them in fair fight. Among the prisoners were the Princes de Soubise and Rohan, and a son of Marshal Tallard. The victors lost one thousand and sixty-six killed, and two thousand five hundred and sixty-seven wounded, in all, three thousand six hundred and thirty-three. The great and unusual proportion of the killed to the wounded shows how desperate the fighting had been, and how much of it, as in ancient warfare, had been in hand-to-hand contest. Overkirk nobly supported the duke in this action, and not only repeatedly charged at the head of his horse, but continued on horseback in the pursuit till one in the morning, when he narrowly escaped death from a Bavarian officer he had made prisoner, and to whom he had given back his sword, saying, You are a gentleman, and may keep it." The base wretch no sooner got it into his hand than he made a lounge

* CoXE, ii., 348, 349. Mem. de Marquis Maffei, 349, 350. KAUSLER, 768.

at the Dutch general, but fortunately missed his blow, and was immediately cut down for his treachery by Overkirk's orderly.*

43.

And its great results.

cause.

The immediate result of this splendid victory was the acquisition of nearly all Austrian Flanders. Brussels, Louvain, Mechlin, Alort, Luise, and nearly all the great towns of Brabant, opened their gates immediately after it. Ghent and Bruges speedily followed the example; and Daun and Oudenarde soon declared for the Austrian Of all the towns in Flanders, Antwerp, Ostend, Nieuport, and Dunkirk alone held out for the French; and to their reduction the duke immediately turned his attention. The public transports in Holland knew no bounds; they much exceeded what had been felt for the victory of Blenheim, for that only saved Germany, but this delivered themselves. The wretched jealousy which had so long thwarted the duke, as it does every other really great man, was fairly overpowered in "the electric shock of a nation's gratitude." In England, the rejoicings were equally enthusiastic, and a solemn thanksgiving at St. Paul's, which the queen attended in person, gave a willing vent to the general thankfulness. "Faction and the French," as Bolingbroke expressed it,† were all that Marlborough had to fear, and he had fairly conquered both. Above all, the magnitude of his renown rid him for a time, at least, of those vexatious councils of war which had so often thwarted his best-laid plans. But the snake, though scotched, was not killed, and but replenished its venom and prepared future stings even during the roar of triumphant cannon and the festive blaze of rejoicing cities.‡

* KAUSLER, 769. CoXE, ii., 350-353.

"This vast addition of renown which your grace has acquired, and the wonderful preservation of your life, are subjects upon which I can never express a thousandth part of what I feel. France and faction are the only enemies England has to fear, and your grace will conquer both ; at least, while you beat the French, you give a strength to the government which the other dares not contend with."-Bolingbroke to Marlborough, May 28, 1706. COXE, ii., 358.

"I shall attend the queen at the thanksgiving on Thursday next: I as

44. Retreat of the

French from Flanders, and universal joy

at its libera

The French, after this terrible defeat, retired in the deepest dejection toward French Flanders, leaving garrisons in the principal fortresses which still held out for them. Marlborough made his triumphant entry into Brussels in great pomp on the 28th of tion. May, amid the acclamations of the inhabitants. The Three Estates of Brabant, assembled there, acknowledged Charles III. for their sovereign, and received, in return, a guarantee from the English government and the States General that the joyeuse entrée, the Magna Charta of Flanders, should be faithfully observed. Every where," says Marlborough, "the joy was great at being delivered from the insolence and exactions of the French." The victory of Ramillies produced no less effect on the northern courts, whose jealousies and lukewarmness had hitherto proved so pernicious to the common cause. The King of Prussia, who had hitherto kept aloof, and suspended the march of his troops, now, on the mediation of Marlborough, became reconciled to the emperor and the States General; and the Elector of Hanover, forgetting his apprehensions about the English succession, was among the foremost to offer his congratulations, and make a tender of his forces to the now triumphant cause. It is seldom that the prosperous want friends.

Magnanimous

in protecting the Flemings from oppression.

The Dutch, upon the submission of Brabant, were anxious to levy contributions on it as a conquered country, 45. for the purpose of relieving themselves of part of wisdom of the expenses of the war; and Godolphin, actuated Marlborough by the same short-sighted views, was eager to replenish the English exchequer from the same source; but Marlborough, like Wellington in after days, had magnanimity and wisdom enough to see the folly, as well as injustice, of thus alienating infant allies at the moment of sure you I shall do it, from every vein within me, having scarce any thing else to support either my head or heart. The animosity and inveteracy one has to struggle against is unimaginable, not to mention the difficulty of obtaining things to be done that are reasonable, or of satisfying people with reason when they are done."-Godolphin to Marlborough, May 24, 1706.

their conversion, and he combated the project so successfully that it was abandoned.* At the same time, he preserved the strictest discipline on the part of his troops, and took every imaginable precaution to secure the affections and allay the apprehensions of the inhabitants of the ceded provinces. The good effects of this wise and conciliatory policy were soon apparent. Without firing a shot, the allies gained greater advantages during the remainder of the campaign than they could have done by a series of bloody sieges, and the sacrifice of thirty thousand men. Nor was it less advantageous to the English general than to the common cause; for it delivered him, for that season at least, from the thraldom of a council the invariable resource of a weak, as it is the aversion of a lofty mind.†

of war,

46.

Capitulation of

The Estates of Brabant, assembled at Brussels, sent injunctions to the governor of Antwerp, Ghent, and Ghent, Bruges, all the other fortresses within their territories, to Antwerp, and Oudenarde. declare for Charles III., and admit their troops. The effect of this, in connection with the well-known discipline preserved by the allied army, and the protection from contributions, was very decided. No sooner were the orders received at Antwerp, than a schism broke out between the French regiments in the garrison and the Walloon Guards. The latter declared for Charles III.; and the approach of Marlborough's army, and the intelligence of the submission of the other cities of Brabant, brought matters to a crisis. After some altercation, it was agreed that the French troops should march out with the honors of war, and be escorted to Bouchain, within the frontier of their own country. Accordingly, * Duke of Marlborough to Mr. Secretary Harley, June 14, 1706.

t "The consequences of this battle are likely to be greater than that of Blenheim; for we have now the whole summer before us, and, with the blessing of God, I will make the best use of it. For as I have had no council of war before this battle, so I hope to have none during the whole campaign; and I think we may make such work of it as may give the queen the glory of making a safe and honorable peace, for the blessing of God is certainly with us."-Marlborough to Lord Godolphin, May 27, 1706. CoXE, ii., 365.