being driven below, and lying there miserably beating against one another. Five hundred wherries, three hundred ship-boats, and one hundred lighters and barges were entirely lost; and a much greater number received considerable damage. The wind blew from the western seas, which preventing many ships from putting to sea, and driving others into harbour, occasioned great numbers to escape destruction.

The Eddystone lighthouse near Plymouth was precipitated in the surrounding ocean, and with it Mr. Winstanley, the ingenious architect, by whom it was contrived, and the people who were with him.—“Having been frequently told that the edifice was too slight to withstand the fury of the winds and waves, he was accustomed to reply contemptuously, that he only wished to be in it when a storm should happen. Unfortunately his desire was gratified. Signals of distress were made, but in so tremendous a sea no vessel could live, or would venture to put off for their relief."

The amazing strength and rapidity of the wind, are evidenced by the following well authenticated circumstances. Near Shaftesbury a stone of near four hundred pounds weight, which had lain for some years fixed in the ground, fenced by a bank with a low stone wall upon it, was lifted up by the wind, and carried into a hollow way, distant at least seven yards from the place. This is mentioned in a sermon preached by Dr. Samuel Stennett in 1788. Dr. Andrew Gifford in a sermon preached at Little Wylde street, on the 27th of November, 1734, says that "in a country town, a large stable was at once removed off its foundation and instantly carried quite across the highway, over the heads of five horses and the men that were then feeding them, without hurting any one of them, or removing the rack and manger, both of which remained for a considerable time to the admiration of every beholder." Dr. Gifford, in the same sermon, gives an account of "several remarkable deliverances." One of the most remarkable instances of this kind occurred at a house in the Strand, in which were no less than fourteen persons: "Four of them fell with a great part of the house, &c., three stories, and several two: and though buried in the ruins, were taken out unhurt of these three were children; one that lay by itself, in a little bed near its nurse; another in a cradle; and the third was found hanging (as it were wrapp'd up) in some curtains that hitch'd by the way; neither of whom received the least damage. In another place, as a minister was crossing a court near his house, a stone from the top of a chimney upwards of one hundred and forty pounds weight, fell close to his heels, and cut between his footsteps four inches deep into the ground. Soon after, upon drawing in his arm, which he had held out on some occasion, another stone of near the same weight and size, brush'd by his elbow, and fell close to his foot, which must necessarily, in the eye of reason, have killed him, had it fallen while it was extended.” In the Poultry, where two boys were lying in a garret, a huge stack of chimneys fell in, which making its way through that and all the other floors to the cellar, it was followed by the bed with the boys asleep in it, who first awaked in that gloomy place of confusion without the least hurt.

So awful a visitation produced serious impressions on the government, and a day of fasting and humiliation was appointed by authority. The introductory part of the proclamation, issued by queen Anne for that purpose, claims attention from its solemn import.

"WHEREAS, by the late most terrible and dreadful storms of wind, with which it hath pleased Almighty God to afflict the greatest part of this our kingdom, on Friday and Saturday, the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh days of November last, some of our ships of war, and many ships of our loving subjects, have been destroyed and lost at sea, and great numbers of our subjects, serving on board the same have * Belsham's History of Great Britain.

perished, and many houses and other buildings of our good subjects have been either wholly thrown down and demolished, or very much damnified and defaced, and thereby several persons have been killed, and many stacks of corn and hay thrown down and scattered abroad, to the great damage and impoverishment of many others, especially the poorer sort, and great numbers of timber and other trees have by the said storm been torn up by the roots in many parts of this our kingdom: a calamity of this sort so dreadful and astonishing, that the like hath not been seen or felt in the memory of any person living in this our kingdom, and which loudly calls for the deepest and most solemn humiliation of us and our people: therefore out of a deep and pious sense of what we and all our people have suffered by the said dreadful wind and storms, (which we most humbly acknowledge to be a token of the divine displeasure, and that it was the infinite mercy of God that we and our people were not thereby wholly destroyed,) We have resolved, and do hereby command, that a General Public Fast be observed," &c.

This public fast was accordingly observed throughout England, on the nineteeth of January following, with great seriousness and devotion by all orders and denominations. The protestant dissenters, notwithstanding their objections to the interference of the civil magistrate in matters of religion, deeming this to be an occasion wherein they might unite with their countrymen in openly bewailing the general calamity, rendered the supplication universal, by opening their places of worship, and every church and meeting-house was crowded.

THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM, 1704.

PART I.-PREPARATIONS FOR THE BATTLE.

ARCHDEACON COXE.

On the memorable 13th of August, at two in the morning, the allied generals having detached their baggage at Reillingen, broke up their camp, leaving the tents standing, and at three the united troops, consisting of sixty-four battalions and one hundred and sixty-six squadrons, passed the Kessel in eight columns. The right wing was commanded by Eugene, the left by Marlborough, and the aggregate force amounted to fifty-two thousand men, with fifty-two pieces of artillery and a train of pontoons. The army of Eugene, filing by the right, was divided into two columns of infantry and two of cavalry, the artillery following the infantry, and the cavalry closing the march. The army of Marlborough, filing by the left, broke, also, into two columns of infantry and two of cavalry, the cavalry being to the left, and the artillery following the infantry. On reaching the banks of the Reichen, they came into parallel order, and halted. Here the outposts joined their respective corps. The two brigades of Wilkes and Rowe, which, on the preceding evening, had been stationed in advance at Dapfheim, were formed into a ninth column, and reinforced with eleven battalions from the first line, and fifteen squadrons of cavalry. column was designed to cover the march of the English and Dutch artillery along the great road, and to attack the village of Blenheim, the possession of which would facilitate the passage of the main army over the Nebel, and open the right flank of the enemy.

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The troops of Marlborough were directed to form on the ground stretching from Weilheim to Kremheim, while those of Eugene, passing along the skirts of the hills in the rear of Wolperstetten, Berghausen, and Schwenenbach, were to prolong the line to the extremity of the valley as far as Eichberg. From these general arrange

ments it appears that the allied commanders intended to make their first efforts against Blenheim and Lutzengen, which covered the flanks of the enemy. The subsequent changes arose from the locality of the ground and the order adopted by their antagonists. After these preliminary dispositions the troops resumed their march in silence. Meanwhile Marlborough and Eugene, escorted by forty squadrons, rode forward to observe the situation of the enemy; they were accompanied by the Prussian general Natzmer, who had been made prisoner in the battle fought here between Stirum and Villars in the preceding year, and was acquainted with the local peculiarities. About six they descried the advanced posts of the enemy falling back on their approach, and at seven reaching the higher ground near Wolperstetten, they came in full view of the hostile camp. From hence they could trace the course of the Nebel, and learned that it might be traversed at the houses and watermills near the right of the enemy; but that the islet and the banks towards Oberglauh were deemed too swampy to be passable. They observed, also, that the ground on the hither side, as far as Unterglauh, was sufficiently high to protect the passage of the rivulet, but that the plain beyond the further bank, on which the troops must form for the attack, was commanded by the eminence occupied by the enemy. these peculiarities they adapted their plan.

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The morning being hitherto partially hazy, the Gallo-Bavarians did not even suspect the approach of the enemy. Deceived by the intelligence which they had obtained from the prisoners taken on the preceding evening, they detached their cavalry to forage, and being persuaded that the allies were falling back on Nordlingen, they considered the guard which attended Marlborough and Eugene, as a body of cavalry pushed forward to cover this retrograde movement. But at seven the fog dispersed, the heads of Eugene's column were descried behind Berghausen, and the alarm was instantly given. Signal guns were fired to recall the foragers, and the advanced corps, committing Berghausen, Schwenenberg and Weilheim to the flames, fell back to the main body. Confusion pervaded the lines, the artillery was hurried forward, and the troops were observed hastening to form at the head of the camp. The Gallo-Bavarian army consisted of 56,000 men, and was drawn up in front of the tents according to the order of encampment. The united troops of the elector and Marsin formed on the left with the cavalry on their right; the army of Tallard on the right with the cavalry on the left, so that the centre consisted of horse and the wings of foot. This order was adopted on the supposition that the Nebel was impassable from Oberglauh to the mills. The lines extended from the commencement of the acclivity behind Blenheim along the crest of the eminence to the rear of Oberglauh, and from thence crossing a branch of the Nebel to the woods about Lutzengen.

As every moment afforded fresh indications of the approaching contest, Tallard proceeded to make ulterior arrangements. Hastening to Blenheim he ordered a brigade of dragoons under the count de Hautefeuille to dismount and form between the village and the Danube behind a barricade of waggons. He then directed all the infantry of the first line, and part of the second, to enter the village, and placed the three brigades of Navarre, Artois and Gueder with their right joining the left of the dismounted dragoons behind the pallisades which enclosed the gardens. The openings between the houses and gardens were closed with boards, carts, and gates. Behind the hedges to the left of the village he posted the brigade of Zurlauben; in the centre among the houses, that of Languedoc to the right; in the rear the royal brigade; and behind the Meulweyer that of Montroux to act as a reserve. Two hundred men were also thrown into the castle and churchyard, and small bridges formed across the Meulweyer to facilitate the communications. The mills on the Nebel, and adjacent houses, which were likely to favour the approach of an enemy,

were set on fire. A battalion of artillery was distributed on different points and lieutenant-general de Clerambault was enjoined to maintain the village to the last extremity.

Eight squadrons of gens d'armes drew up to the left of Blenheim, and from thence the line, including the right wing of the electoral army, amounting to about fifty squadrons, was prolonged near Oberglauh. Behind this village was the infantry of Marsin consisting of the brigades of Champagne and Bourbonnois, and the Irish brigade, in all about thirty battalions. Beyond were more battalions extending to the left, and covering the flank of the cavalry, who were drawn up in front of Lutzingen. Strong pickets of infantry occupied Oberglauh, and eighteen French and Bavarian battalions who had at first been posted at Lutzingen, were drawn out to form an oblique flank among the woods, on the extreme left of the cavalry. The second line of the united troops under the elector and Marsin, was formed in the same order as the first, but in that of Tallard were stationed three brigades of infantry in the centre of the cavalry. Behind was a reserve of horse which could not find a place in the lines. Tallard, observing the increasing mass of the allies in the centre, sent an aide-de-camp to his colleague, requesting that his reserve might likewise be posted behind the centre to resist the attack which he foresaw was meditated on that point; but this proposal was declined by Marsin, from an apprehension that his whole force would be required to withstand the attack of Eugene.

The artillery was distributed with judgment. Four twenty-four pounders were planted on the high ground above Blenheim, to sweep the plain of Schweningen. Four eight-pounders were also pointed against the columns of Marlborough, as soon as they appeared about the high road leading towards Unterglauh. Before the gens d'armes was another battery of twenty-four pounders, and the other pieces were disposed along the front of the different brigades. Zurlauben, who commanded the right wing of Tallard's cavalry, was directed to charge the allies whenever a certain number should have crossed the Nebel. Tallard rode along his lines to the left, and communicated his arrangements to the elector and Marsin. The three generals then visited the other points of their position, to mature the preparations against the attack of Eugene, whose columns continued to stretch along the elevated ground behind Berghausen.

About seven the troops of Marlborough reached their respective points of formation, and began to deploy. Officers were detached to sound the Nebel, and indicate the spots which were most passable; and the different generals assembled round the commanders to receive their orders. Two defects in the position of the enemy did not escape the vigilant eyes of the confederate generals. Blenheim and Oberglauh were too distant from each other to sweep the intervening space with a cross fire, and the lines of cavalry on the elevated ground were too remote from the rivulet to obstruct the passage. Of these defects they prepared to take advantage. While Eugene bore on the front and left flank of the troops under the elector and Marsin, Marlborough was to push his cavalry across the Nebel, under the protection of his foot, and to charge the hostile cavalry at the same time that the effort was made to carry Blenheim. With this view he ordered general Churchill to draw up the infantry in two lines, the first of seventeen, and the second of eleven battalions, in the direction of Weilheim, and between them an interval was left for the two lines of cavalry, the first of thirty-six and the second of thirty-five squadrons. Novel as this disposition may appear it was skilfully adapted to the nature of the ground and the situation of the enemy; for the first line of infantry, by traversing the Nebel, would cover the passage of the cavalry, while the second acting as a reserve would support the manœuvre from the hither bank. The pontoons being brought forward, the construction of five bridges was begun, one above Unterglauh, and four between

that village and the mills, while the stone bridge which had been damaged by the enemy was repaired. As a short interval of time was yet left, each squadron of the second line was ordered to collect twenty fascines to facilitate the passage of the fords.

During these preparations the ninth column, destined for the attack of Blenheim, had filed through Schweningen, and, inclining to the left above Kremheim, drew up in four lines of infantry and two of cavalry. The first line consisted of Rowe's brigade, the second of Hessians, the third of Ferguson's, and the fourth of Hanoverians. The first line of cavalry was formed by the dragoons of Ross, and the second by part of Wood's brigade. At eight a heavy cannonade was opened from every part of the enemy's right wing. Marlborough, therefore, ordered colonel Blood, who had just arrived with the artillery, to plant counter batteries on the most advantageous spots, particularly on the high ground below Unterglauh. He, himself, visited each battery as it opened to mark the effect. Meanwhile the imperialists had continued filing to the right, and the presence of Eugene became necessary to direct his attack. On taking leave of his colleague he promised to give notice as soon as his lines were formed, that the battle might begin on both wings at the same instant.

While Marlborough waited for this communication, he ordered the chaplains to perform the usual service at the head of each regiment and implore the favour of heaven, and he was observed to join with peculiar fervour in this solemn appeal to the Giver of victory. After this act of devotion he showed his usual humanity in pointing out to the surgeons the proper posts for the care of the wounded. He then rode along the lines, and was gratified to find both officers and men full of the most elevated hopes, and impatient for the signal. As he passed along the front, a ball from one of the opposite batteries glanced under his horse and covered him with earth. A momentary feeling of alarm for the safety of their beloved chief thrilled in the bosoms of all who witnessed this danger; but he coolly continued his survey, and finding his dispositions perfect sat down to take refreshment while he waited for the reports of Eugene. At this period the cannonade grew warm and general. On the left the fire of the enemy was answered with spirit and effect; but on the right great difficulty occurred in bringing up the artillery; for the ground being extremely broken, covered with brushwood, and intersected by ravines and rivulets, the troops of Eugene were obliged to make a considerable circuit before they could gain their intended position; and during their formation were exposed to a long and destructive fire. Unaware of these obstacles, and impatient of delay, Marlborough sent repeated messages to learn the situation of his colleague. He was apprised that Eugene had formed his lines with the infantry on the right and the cavalry on the left; but as the enemy presented a more extensive front, he had found it necessary to fill up the interval with reserve. This change of disposition was not only difficult in itself, but to the regret of Marlborough, retarded the attack at the moment when the arrangements on the left were completed, and the troops were anxiously expecting the signal to engage.

About midday an aide-de-camp arrived with the joyful intelligence that Eugene was ready. Marlborough instantly mounted his horse and ordered lord Cutts to begin the attack on Blenheim while he led the main body towards the Nebel, where the bridges were nearly completed.

PART II. THE BATTLE.

At one the attack on Blenheim commenced. The troops selected for this service inclined to the right, and descending to the bank of the Nebel took possession of the