Chapter 13: Blenheim.
Although the sun had not set when Rupert and Hugh rode into theforest on their return journey, they had not been long among thetrees when the light began to fade. The foliage met overhead, andalthough above the sky seemed still bright, the change wasdistinctly felt in the gloom of the forest. The ride had been along one, and Rupert feared to press his horse, consequently theywound but slowly up the hill, and by the time they reached itscrest, it was night.
"This is unpleasant, Hugh, for I can scarcely see my horse's head;and as there are several tracks crossing this, we are likely enoughto go wrong."
"I think, Master Rupert, we had better dismount and lead ourhorses. We shall break our necks if they tread on a stone on thisrocky path."
For half an hour they walked on in silence, then Hugh said, "Ithink we are going wrong, Master Rupert, for we are not descendingnow; and we ought to have been at the foot of the hill, if we hadbeen right, by this time."
"I am afraid you are right, Hugh. In that case we had better makeup our minds to halt where we are till morning. It is no usewandering on, and knocking up the horses. It seems rather lighterjust ahead, as if the trees opened a little; we may find a betterplace to halt."
In another minute they stood in a small clearing. The stars wereshining brightly; and after the dense darkness of the forest, theywere able to see clearly in the open. It was a clearing of somesixty feet diameter, and in the middle stood, by the path, a hut.
"Stay where you are, Hugh, with the horses. I will go quietlyforward. If the place is occupied, we will go back. We can't expecthospitality in Bavaria."
The hut proved to be empty. The door hung loosely on its hinges,and clearly the place was deserted.
Rupert called Hugh up, and fastening the horses outside, the ladsentered.
"Shall we light a fire, Master Rupert?"
"No, Hugh; at any rate unless we see that the shutters and doorwill close tightly. There may be scores of deserters in the wood,and we had better run no risk. The night is not cold. We will justsit down against the wall till morning. Before we do, though, wewill look round, outside the hut. If it has been lately inhabited,there may be a few vegetables or something the horses can munch."
Nothing, however, was found.
"We will take it by turns to watch, Hugh. I will take first watch;when I am sleepy I will wake you."
Without a word Hugh unstrapped his cloak, felt for a level piece ofground in the hut, and with his cloak for his pillow, was soonasleep.
Rupert sat down on the log of a tree, that lay outside the hut, andleaned against its wall. For two hours he sat, and thought over theadventures and the prospects of the war, and then gradually adrowsiness crept over him, and he fell fast asleep.
His waking was not pleasant. Indeed, he was hardly aware that hewas awake; for he first came to the consciousness that he was lyingon the ground, with a number of wild-looking figures around him,some of whom bore torches, while Hugh, held by two of them, wasclose by.
It was Hugh's voice, indeed, that first recalled him to aconsciousness of what had happened.
"Master Rupert, Master Rupert!" he exclaimed. "Tell me that you arenot killed!"
"No, I am not killed, Hugh," Rupert said, raising himself on hiselbow. "But it would have served me right if I had been, for goingto sleep on my watch."
One of their captors now stooped down, seized Rupert by theshoulder, and gave him a rough kick to intimate that he was to getup.
"I am sorry, Hugh, that I have sacrificed your life as well as myown by my folly, for I have no doubt these fellows mean to kill us.They are charcoal burners, as rough a lot as there exists inEurope, and now naturally half mad at the flames they see all overthe land."
In the meantime, a dialogue was going on between their captors asto the best and most suitable method of putting them to death.
"They are fond of burning houses," one said at last, "let them tryhow they like it. Let us make a blaze here, and toss them in, andlet them roast in their own shells."
The proposal was received with a shout of approval. Some of themscattered in the forest, and soon returned laden with dry branchesand small logs, which were piled up in a great heap against thehut, which was itself constructed of rough-hewn logs. The heap ofdry wood was then lighted, and ere long a great sheet of flamearose, the logs and the shingles of the roof caught, and ere manyminutes the hut was a pile of fire.
"They're going to throw us in there, Hugh."
"God's will be done, Master Rupert; but I should like to have diedsword in hand."
"And I too, Hugh. I wish I could snatch at a weapon and diefighting; but this man holds my hands like a vise, and those heavyaxes of theirs would make short work of us. Well, the fire will nottake an instant, Hugh; it will be a momentary death to be throwninto that mass of flame. Say a prayer to God, Hugh, for those athome, for it is all up with us now."
The blaze of fire had attracted other bodies of charcoal burnersand others, and their captors only delayed to obtain as large anumber of spectators as possible for their act of vengeance.
The fire was now at its height, and even the savage charcoalburners felt a grudging admiration for the calm demeanour, andfearless, if pale faces, with which these lads faced death. Therewas, however, no change of purpose. The horrors that had beenperpetrated on the plains had extinguished the last spark of pityfrom their breasts, and the deed that they were about to do seemedto them one of just and praiseworthy retribution.
The man who acted as leader gave the word, and the powerfulwoodsmen lifted the two lads as if they had been bundles of straw,and advanced towards the hut.
"Goodbye, Master Rupert!"
"Goodbye, Hugh. May God receive"--when a terrible scream rent theair, and a wild shout.
Then from the back of the crowd, two figures who had just arrivedat the spot burst their way. With piercing cries a woman with ababy in her arms flung herself down on the ground on her knees,between Rupert and the flames, and clasping the legs of the men whoheld him, arrested their movement; while the man, with a huge clubswinging round his head, planted himself also in the way, shoutingat the top of his voice.
A mighty uproar arose; and then the leader obtained silence enoughto hear the cause of the interruption.
Then the man began, and told the tale of the restoration to lifeand consciousness of his wife, and of the burial of his child, withan eloquence and pathos that moved many of his rough audience totears; and when he had finished, his wife, who had been sobbing onher knees while he spoke, rose to her feet, and told how thatmorning, as she went down from the wood towards her little one'sgrave, she saw Rupert ride up and dismount, and how when shereached the place she found fresh-gathered flowers laid on herdarling's grave.
A dead hush fell upon the whole assembly. Without a word the leaderof the charcoal burners strode away into the forest, and returnedin another minute with the two horses. Rupert and Hugh wrung thehands of the peasants to whom they owed their lives, and leapt intothe saddle.
The leader took a torch and strode on ahead along the path, to showthem their way; and the crowd, who had hitherto stood still andsilent, broke into a shout of farewell and blessing.
It was some time before either Rupert or Hugh spoke. The emotion had beentoo great for them. That terrible, half hour facing death--the suddenrevulsion at their wonderful deliverance--completely prostrated them,and they felt exhausted and weak, as if after some great exertion. Onthe previous occasions in which they had seen great danger together--atthe mill of Dettingheim, the fight on the Dykes, the scuttling of theboat--they had been actively engaged. Their energies were fullyemployed, and they had had no time to think. Now they had faceddeath in all his terrors, but without the power of action; and bothfelt they would far rather go through the three first risks again,than endure five minutes of that terrible watching the fire burn up.
Hugh was the first to speak when, nearly an hour after starting,they emerged from the wood into the plain at the foot of
the hill.
"My mother used to say, Master Rupert, that curses, like chickens,came home to roost, and surely we have proved it's the case withblessings. Who would have thought that that little act of kindnesswas to save our lives?"
"No, indeed, Hugh. Let it be a lesson to us to do good always whenwe can."
At this moment they reached the main road from which that over thehill branched off. Their guide paused, pointed in the directionthey were to go, and with a "Godspeed you," in his own language,extinguished his torch on the road, turned, and strode back by thepath that they had come by.
The lads patted their horses, and glad to be again on level ground,the animals went on at a sharp canter along the road. Two hourslater they reached camp.
The Duke of Marlborough had already laid siege to the fortress ofIngoldstadt, the siege operations being conducted by Prince Louisof Baden with a portion of his troops, while the main army coveredthe siege. But early in August the Elector of Bavaria left Augsburgwith his army, and, altogether abandoning his dominions, marched tojoin Marshal Tallard, who was now coming up.
Marlborough at once broke up his camp, leaving Prince Louis tocontinue the siege of Ingoldstadt, and collecting as many of histroops as he could, marched with all speed in the same direction;as Prince Eugene, who, with his army, had marched in a parallelline with the French, now ran the risk of being crushed by theirunited force.
By dint of great exertion, Marlborough joined the prince with hiscavalry on the tenth of August, and the infantry came up next day.
The two great armies now faced each other, their numerical forcebeing not unequal, the French being about 60,000 strong; and theallies 66,000. In other respects, however, the advantage lay whollywith the enemy. They had ninety guns, while the allies had butfifty-one; while out of the 60,000 troops under Marshal Tallard45,000 were the best troops France could produce. The allied armywas a motley assembly, composed of nearly equal numbers of English,Prussians, Danes, Wurtemburghers, Dutch, Hanoverians, and Hessians.But although not more numerous than the troops of othernationalities, it was felt by all that the brunt of the battlewould fall upon the British.
These had, throughout the three campaigns, shown fighting qualitiesof so high a character, that the whole army had come to look uponthem as their mainstay in battle. The heavy loss which had takenplace among these, the flower of his troops, at the assault ofSchlessingen greatly decreased the fighting power of Marlborough'sarmy.
The weakness caused by the miscellaneous character of the army wasso much felt, that Marlborough was urged to draw off, and not totempt fortune under such unfavourable circumstances.
Marshal Villeroi was, however, within a few days march with a largeforce, and Marlborough felt that if he effected a junction withTallard, Austria was lost. It was therefore necessary, at allhazards, to fight at once.
The French position was an exceedingly strong one. Their rightrested on the Danube; and the village of Blenheim, close to itsbank, was held by twenty-six battalions and twelve squadrons, allnative French troops.
Their left was equally protected from attack by a range of hills,impregnable for guns or cavalry. In the centre of their line,between their flanks, was the village of Oberglau, in and aroundwhich lay thirty battalions of infantry, among whom was the fineIrish regiments.
From Blenheim to Oberglau, and thence on to Lutzingen, at the footof the hills, the French line occupied somewhat rising ground, infront of them was the rivulet of the Nebel running through lowswampy ground, very difficult for the passage of troops.
Prince Maximilian commanded the French left, where the Bavarianswere posted, Marshal Marsin the line on to Oberglau and the villageitself, Marshal Tallard the main body thence to the Danube.
The French marshals, strong in the belief of the prowess of theirtroops, equal in number, greatly superior in artillery, andpossessing an extremely strong position, scarcely paid sufficientattention to what would happen in the event of a defeat. Theinfantry being posted very strongly in the three villages, whichwere very carefully entrenched and barricaded, insufficientattention was paid to the long line of communications between them,which was principally held by the numerous cavalry. This was theirweak point, for it was clear that if the allies should get acrossthe rivulets and swamps and break through the cavalry line, theinfantry would be separated and unable to reunite, and the strongforce in Blenheim would run a risk of being surrounded without apossibility of retreat, as the Danube was unfordable.
Upon the side of the allies the troops were divided into twodistinct armies. That under Prince Eugene, consisting of eighteenbattalions of infantry and seventy-four squadrons of horse, was toattack the French left. The main army under the duke, consisting offorty-eight battalions and eighty-six squadrons, was to attack thecentre and right.
The British contingent of fourteen battalions and fourteensquadrons formed part of Marlborough's command.
It was arranged that Prince Eugene should commence the attack, andthat when he had crossed the rivulets in front of the French left,Marlborough should advance and attempt to carry out the plan he hadlaid out, namely, to cut the French line between Oberglau andBlenheim.
Prince Eugene's advance took the French by surprise. So confidentwere the marshals in the strength of their position and the beliefof the superiority of their troops over the polyglot army ofMarlborough, that they had made up their minds that he was about toretreat.
The morning was misty, and Eugene's advance reached the Frenchpickets before they were perceived.
Their difficulties now began. The rivulets were deep, the groundtreacherous; fascines had to be laid down, and the rivulets filledup, before guns could get over; and even when across they could butfeebly answer the French artillery, which from the higher groundcommanded their whole line; thus the allies lost 2000 men beforeEugene got the army he commanded across the marshes. Then at halfpast twelve he sent word to Marlborough that he was ready.
While the cannon roar had been incessant on their right, the mainarmy remained motionless, and divine service was performed at thehead of every regiment and squadron.
The moment the aide-de-camp arrived with the news that PrinceEugene was in readiness, the artillery of Marlborough's army openedfire, and the infantry, followed closely by their cavalry, advancedto the attack.
The British division, under Lord Cutts, as the most trustworthy,had assigned to them a direct attack upon the strong position ofBlenheim, and they advanced unwaveringly under a storm of fire,crossed the swamps and the Nebel, and advanced towards Blenheim.
General Rowe led the front line, consisting of five Englishbattalions and four Hessians, and he was supported by Lord Cuttswith eleven battalions and fifteen squadrons.
Advancing through a heavy artillery fire, General Rowe's troops hadarrived within thirty yards of the palisade before the Frenchinfantry opened fire. Then a tremendous volley was poured into theallies, and a great number of men and officers fell. Still theymoved forward, and Rowe, marching in line with his men, struck thepalisade with his sword before he gave the order to fire. Thendesperately the British strove to knock down the palisade andattack their enemy with the bayonet, but the structure was toostrong, and the gallant force melted away under the withering firekept up by the great force of French infantry which occupied thevillage.
Half Rowe's force fell, he himself was badly wounded, most of hisofficers down, when some squadrons of French horse fell upon theirflank, threw them into confusion, and took the colours of theregiment.
The Hessians, who so far had been in reserve, fell upon the French,and retook the colours.
Fresh squadrons of French cavalry came up, and General Lumley sentsome squadrons of cavalry across to Rowe's assistance. Then, with acheer, the dragoons rode at the French, who were twice theirstrength. In an instant every one was engaged in a fierce conflict,cutting, slashing, and using their points.
The French gave way under the onslaught, but fresh squadrons cameup from their side, a heavy musketry fire brok
e out from theenclosure round Blenheim, and leaving many of their number behindthem, the British horse and foot fell back to the stream.
Marlborough, seeing that Blenheim could not be taken, now resolvedupon making his great effort to break the French line midwaybetween Oberglau and Blenheim.
On the stream at this part stood the village of Unterglau, having astone bridge across the Nebel. This was but weakly held by theFrench, who, upon seeing the allies advancing at full speed, firedthe village to check the advance, and then fell back.
General Churchill's division rushed through the burning village,crossed the bridge, and began to open out on both sides. Then theduke gave the order for the whole cavalry to advance. Headed by theEnglish dragoons, they came down in good order through theconcentrated fire of the enemy's batteries to the edge of thestream; but the difficulties here were immense. The stream wasdivided into several branches, with swampy meadows between them,and only by throwing down fascines could a footing be obtained forthe horses.
"I don't call this fighting, Master Rupert," Hugh said, as theyfloundered and struggled through the deep marshes, while theenemy's shell burst in and around the ranks; "it's more likeswimming. Here come the French cavalry, and we've not even formedup."
Had the French charge been pressed home, the dragoons must havebeen crushed; but Churchill's infantry on their right opened such aheavy fire that the French cavalry at that end of the line paused.On their left, however, near Blenheim, the dragoons, sufferingterribly from the artillery and musketry fire from that village,were driven back by the French cavalry to the very edge of theswamp.
Marlborough, however, anxiously watching the struggle, continued tosend fresh bodies of horse across to their assistance, until theDutch and Hanoverian squadrons were all across, and the alliedcavalry formed in two long lines.
While this had been going on, a serious fight had been raging infront of Oberglau; and here, as at Blenheim, the allies suffereddisaster. Here the Hanoverians, led by the Prince of Holstein, hadattacked. The powerful body of French and Irish infantry did not,however, wait for the assault, but, 9000 strong, charged down theslope upon the 5000 Hanoverians before they had formed up aftercrossing the river, repulsed them with great loss, and took theprince himself prisoner.
This was a serious disaster, as, by the rout of the Hanoverians theconnexion between Marlborough's army and that of Prince Eugene wasbroken.
Marlborough's eye, however, was everywhere; and galloping to thespot, he put himself at the head of some squadrons of Britishcavalry, and, closely followed by three battalions of freshinfantry, charged the Irish battalions, who, in the impetuosity oftheir pursuit, had fallen into disorder. The cavalry chargecompleted their confusion, and the infantry opening fire in flankon the lately victorious column, drove it back with immenseslaughter. Thus the battle was restored at this point.
All this time the fight had raged between Eugene's array and theBavarians and French opposed to them. At first the prince had beensuccessful, and the Danes and Prussians under his orders captured abattery of six guns. His cavalry, however, while advancing in somedisorder, were charged by the French, driven back across the Nebel,and the guns were retaken. Twice the prince himself rallied hiscavalry, and brought them back to the charge, but each time theBavarian horse, led by the elector, drove them back, defeated andbroken, across the river. The Prussian and Danish infantry stoodtheir ground nobly, although the enemy charged them over and overagain; but, cheered by the presence of Prince Eugene, who took hisplace amongst them, they beat off all attacks.
The Duke of Marlborough, after restoring the battle at Oberglau,rode back to his centre, and prepared for the grand attack by hiscavalry. Marshal Tallard, in preparation for the attack he sawimpending, brought up six battalions of infantry, and placed themin the centre of the ridge. Marlborough brought up three battalionsof Hessians to front them, placed the rest of his infantry to coverthe left of the cavalry from the attack of the strong battalions inBlenheim, and then, drawing his sword, placed himself in front ofhis troops, and ordered the trumpets to sound the advance.
This grand and decisive charge is thus described by Allison in his"Life of Marlborough:"
"Indescribably grand was the spectacle that ensued. In compactorder, and in the finest array, the allied cavalry, mustering 8000sabres, moved up the gentle slope in two lines--at first slowly, ason a field day, but gradually more quickly as they drew near, andthe fire of the artillery became more violent. The French horse,10,000 strong, stood their ground at first firmly. The choicest andbravest of their chivalry were there; the banderolls of almost allthe nobles of France floated over the squadrons.
"So hot was the fire of musketry and cannon when the assailantsdrew near, that their advance was checked. They retired sixtypaces, and the battle was kept up for a few minutes only by a fireof artillery. Gradually, however, the fire of the artilleryslackened; and Marlborough, taking advantage of the pause, led hiscavalry again to the charge. With irresistible vehemence the linedashed forward at full speed, and soon the crest of the ridge waspassed. The French horsemen discharged their carbines at aconsiderable distance with little effect, and immediately wheeledabout and fled.
"The battle was gained. The allied horse rapidly inundated the openspace between the two villages. The six battalions in the middlewere surrounded, cut to pieces, or taken. They made a nobleresistance; and the men were found lying on their backs in theirranks as they had stood in the field."
Thus at one blow the whole French line of defence was broken up.Blenheim was entirely cut off; and the rear of their left beyondOberglau threatened.
General Marsin's cavalry, seeing the defeat of their main body,fell back to avoid being taken in rear; and Prince Eugene, seeingthe Bavarian infantry left unsupported, called up all his reserves,and advanced at the head of the Danes and Prussians against them.The Bavarian infantry fought stubbornly, but the battle was lost,their line of retreat threatened by the allied horse, who were nowmasters of the field, and, setting fire to the villages of Oberglauand Lutzingen, they fell back sullenly.
In the meantime, Marshal Tallard was striving bravely to avert thedefeat. He brought up his last reserves, rallied his cavalry, anddrew them up in line stretching towards Blenheim in hopes ofdrawing off his infantry from that village. Marlborough brought uphis whole cavalry force, and again charging them, burst throughtheir centre, and the French cavalry, divided into two parts, fledin wild disorder--the one portion towards the Danube, the othertowards Hochstadt. Marlborough at the head of fifty squadronspursued the first body. Hanpesch with thirty followed the second.Marlborough drove the broken mass before him to the Danube, wheregreat numbers were drowned in attempting to cross; the rest weremade prisoners. Marshal Tallard himself, with a small body ofcavalry who still kept their ranks, threw himself into the villageof Sonderheim, and was there captured by the victorious squadrons.Hanpesch pursued the flying army as far as Hochstadt, capturedthree battalions of infantry on the way, and halted not until theFrench were a mere herd of fugitives, without order, riding fortheir lives.
There now remained only the garrison of Blenheim to dispose of, andthe infantry were brought up to attack them. So strong were thedefences, however, so desperate the resistance offered by the bravebody of Frenchmen, who were now alone against an army, that theinfantry attack was beaten back. The guns were then brought up, andopened fire, and the French, whose case was now hopeless,surrendered.
The battle of Blenheim was over. In this great battle Marlborough'sarmy lost 5000 men, Eugene's 6000. In all 11,000 men. The Frenchand Bavarians lost in killed and wounded 12,000, together with 1200officers and 13,000 privates made prisoners, and 47 cannon. Theirtotal loss, including desertions in their retreat through the BlackForest, was estimated by their own historians at 40,000 men--adefeat as complete and disastrous as that of Waterloo.