CHAPTER XIII: THE BATTLES OF FREIBURG
The cardinal did not address Hector until he had entered his privateroom, when he turned and said sharply, "What means this, colonel? WhenI saw you and your officers on the road I felt sure that you were notthere for nothing, and still more sure when on alighting I found you soclosely following me."
"I was convinced, cardinal, that there was a plot against your life, andI believe that it was only because the Duke of Orleans returned with youthat it was not carried into effect."
"And possibly because they saw your troop behind the carriage. Now tellme your reason for supposing that I was in danger."
Hector related the various steps that he had taken.
"Your spies worked better for you than mine did for me," the cardinalsaid. "That a dozen or so of Beaufort's friends were for some reasonor other spending their time at the Angel Inn and other cabarets I wasaware, but I have had no word of their proceedings today. You have beenbetter served, doubtless, because your plans were better laid. I hardlythink that they would have attacked me when Orleans was with me, butthere is no saying; for if Beaufort has daring and insolence enough toattempt to slay the queen's minister within a quarter of a mile of theLouvre, he would not trouble greatly whether princes of the blood werein the carriage or not, especially if he had some reason for believingthat Orleans would not regard the deed with very great disapproval.
"However, whatever his intentions might be, it is clear that theappearance of your party of twelve armed men decided the question. Wemay regard it as certain that the news that I had such an escort wascarried to them by the man who galloped on ahead. I thank you, sir, Ithank you very heartily, not only for my sake, but for that of France. Iwill ask you to go across to the Louvre; I will take half a dozen armedservants with me, but there is little fear that the attempt will berenewed today. They must be too much disconcerted by the failure oftheir plot to make fresh arrangements so speedily. I shall go firstto the Louvre and inform her majesty of what has taken place. You willremain here for half an hour, and will then leave by the gate at theback of the house and make a circuit, and enter the palace by the rivergate. The musketeers on guard will stop you, but I will give you apass." And he wrote a few lines on paper. "The queen's confidentialservant, Laporte, will be at the door to meet you, and will haveinstructions to escort you by corridors where you will be unobserved,and so to her majesty's private closet. Were you to accompany me,Beaufort would soon hear of it, and would be shrewd enough to perceivethat your meeting with me was by no means a matter of chance."
Hector followed out his instructions, and on presenting himself at thepalace was at once taken up to the queen's closet. Laporte went in, andreturning immediately requested him to enter. The queen was walking upand down the room, her face flushed with indignation.
"Her majesty would fain hear from your own lips, monsieur le baron, thestatement that you have made to me."
The queen sat down and listened intently while Hector repeated thestory.
"There can be no doubt about it, cardinal; this keeping of a number ofarmed men within call for days, the summons to them to gather in the RueSt. Honore, while he himself with others took up his post at the conventof the Capuchins hard by, the moment his spies had discovered that youhad left for Maisons, could but have been for one purpose. But theyshall learn that although a woman, Anne of Austria, Queen of France, isnot to be deprived of her minister and faithful friend without strikingback in return. Monsieur de Villar, you have rendered me a greatservice. Is there any boon that you would ask of me? it is grantedbeforehand."
"I thank your majesty most humbly," Hector said. "Already I havereceived honours far beyond anything I deserve. I had the honour whenthanking your majesty, to hope some day to be able to give proof thatthey were not unworthily bestowed, and still hope to do so."
"You have already shown yourself worthy," the queen said, "by the mannerin which you have in so short a time rendered the regiment to which weappointed you so efficient. However, if there is at present no boon thatwe can bestow, then remember that the Queen of France holds herselfyour debtor, and that you have my royal word that any boon that you mayhereafter ask for, that is in my power to grant, will be given you.Take this as a pledge of my promise." And she took off a gold chainexquisitely worked, and gave it him. He received it kneeling. "Now, sir,we will keep you here no longer. I have much to say to his excellency. Itrust that you will present yourself at the levee this evening."
"One thing more, colonel," Mazarin added; "I doubt not that some ofBeaufort's people will endeavour to find out how it was that you came tobe behind my carriage. If they do so you might carelessly mention thatyou and your officers had ridden out in a party at St. Germain, and thaton your way back you chanced to fall in with my carriage."
At the barracks Hector called the officers together. "Gentlemen," hesaid, "I have no doubt that your little ride today has somewhat puzzledyou. I am not at liberty to tell you the reason why I requested youto ride with me; but it is very probable that you may be asked thequestion, and I beg you all to remember that we have been on a littleparty of pleasure to St. Germain, and having dined there were on our wayback when we overtook the carriage of the cardinal; and seeing thathe had the Duke of Orleans with him, we reined back and followed him,deeming that it would not appear respectful were we to gallop past thecarriage. Please bear this story in mind. Recall also that we dined atthe Lion d'Or there, that our dinner was a good one and that it was asort of celebration on my part of our two companies having the honour tobe chosen for duty in Paris. This is a matter upon which much depends;it is, in fact, a matter of state; and you may well imagine that Ishould not be recalling these events to your mind were it not that agood deal depends upon it, and that I have received strict ordersthat this little comedy shall be carried out. I know that I can relyimplicitly upon your discretion, and I have indeed answered for you all.The story will be true in every respect. Instead of the excursion havingcome off today it shall come off on the first day I can arrange that wecan be all off duty."
That evening at the palace Hector was, as the cardinal predicted,accosted by one of Beaufort's officers, to whom he had been previouslyintroduced. After talking on other subjects for a few minutes, he said:
"I saw you today, monsieur, riding with a party of your officers alongthe Rue St. Honore. You did not notice me?"
"I assure you that I did not, sir, or I should not have been so rudeas to pass without saluting you." Then he added with a laugh, "We wereriding slowly, too, for the cardinal's coach was in front of us, and itwould not have been good manners to have galloped past him, especiallyas he had the Duke of Orleans with him."
"Had you been far?" the other asked carelessly.
"No great distance; a little party of pleasure with my officers to eata dinner together, to celebrate the honour we had received in beingbrought into Paris. My officers have worked very hard, and the matterserved as a good excuse for giving them a little dinner."
For the next day or two everything passed off quietly, but four of theofficers reported that when dining at a cabaret two or three of theduke's officers had come in and entered into conversation with them, andhad brought up the subject of their riding in after the cardinal.
"You almost looked as if you were serving as a bodyguard to him," one ofthem laughed.
"I daresay we did," was the answer. "It was rather a nuisance; but itwould not have been courteous to have ridden past the carriage." And hethen repeated the story as had been arranged.
Although the Duke of Beaufort had been told by some of his friends thatthere were rumours abroad of a plot against Mazarin's life, and that itwould be best for him to leave Paris for a time, he refused to do so,saying that even if it was discovered the cardinal would not dare to layhands on him. Moreover, the replies which had been obtained from Hectorand his officers convinced him that their riding behind Mazarin'scarriage was an accident.
On the 2nd of September the duke presented hims
elf at the Louvre asusual. After speaking with him for a few minutes, the queen left theroom with Mazarin, and Guibaut, captain of the Guards, at once cameforward and arrested him. He was kept at the Louvre that night, and nextday was taken to the castle of Vincennes. Two companies of Swiss guardsmarched first, followed by a royal carriage containing the duke andGuibaut. The carriage was surrounded by the royal musketeers. A bodyof light cavalry followed, and the two companies of the Poitou regimentbrought up the rear. Thus the people of Paris were shown that the queenhad both the will and the power to punish, and the fickle population,who would the day before have shouted in honour of Beaufort, weredelighted at seeing that the royal authority was once again paramount inParis. The other members of the party of Importants either fled or werearrested. The Campions, Beaupuis, and others, succeeded in making theirescape from France. The Marquis of Chateauneuf, governor of Touraine,was ordered back to his province. La Chatres, colonel general, wasdismissed from his post; the Duc de Vendome was forced to leave France;and the ambitious Bishop of Beauvais and several other prelates werecommanded to return to their dioceses. All the members of the Vendomefamily were exiled to the chateau of Annette. Madame de Chevreuse, deHautefort, and a large number of other members of the party were orderedto leave Paris. Thus the party of the Importants ceased to exist.
The people of Paris seemed greatly pleased at what appeared to them theend of the troubles, and they exclaimed that Richelieu was not dead, butthat he had simply changed his appearance, and had become twentyyears younger. Mazarin chose a number of soldiers belonging to his ownregiment, and several officers who belonged to Richelieu's own guard.These were at all times to follow him wherever he went. He selecteda number of noblemen, all of distinguished merit and influence, andcreated five of them dukes, and thus secured to himself a party thatwould to some extent balance the power of his adversaries.
He also made an effort to bring about a union between the Duke ofOrleans and the Condes, but failed, owing to the enormous demandsthat each put forward. Conde demanded the government of Languedocfor himself, of Burgundy for Enghien, and Normandy for the Duc deLongueville, and the entire domains of his late brother-in-law, Henry ofMontmorency. Orleans on his part demanded the province of Champagne, thethree bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and the town and castleof Sedan. As these demands, if granted, would have rendered the twofamilies all powerful, Mazarin gave up the attempt, and decided thatthe best plan to prevent troubles was to let these dangerous familiescontinue to be hostile to each other.
As soon as he had finished his work of crushing the Importants, Mazarinsent for Hector.
"Now, Monsieur Campbell," he said, "I have breathing time. Theconspiracy among the nobles is for the time crushed, and now that theysee that the queen is determined to protect me, and that I am not afraidof using the power committed to me, I hope that it will be some timebefore they venture to conspire again. I have further strengthened myposition by granting honours to many distinguished gentlemen who werewell inclined towards me, and on whose support in the future I shallbe able to rely. Now it is time that I should turn to the man who hasprobably saved my life, and to whose evidence given before the queen Iin no small degree owe it that she resolved to suppress these insolentnobles. I have not hurried in this matter, since, by your answer to thequeen, it was evident that you desired no change in your position, andthat the matter could wait.
"Still, monsieur, her offer was to grant honours for services renderedto the state. The matter of the service that you have rendered toCardinal Mazarin is still untouched. It is something so new to me thatanyone in France should be so perfectly contented with his lot as torefuse such an offer as that made to you by the queen, that I feelsomewhat at a loss what to do. I can understand that, young and ardent,increased rank would have no charm for you. Were it otherwise I couldbestow the highest rank upon you. I am aware that your habits aresimple, for I have made inquiries, and that money in itself goes forlittle in your eyes; still, sir, one who has the honour of being firstminister of France, and who is also a very rich man, cannot remain witha debt of gratitude wholly uncancelled. I hear from my agent in Poitouthat you have voluntarily remitted the fine that your vassals would payon the occasion of a new lord taking possession, on account of the heavytaxation that presses so sorely upon them.
"I honour you, sir, for such a step, and have even mentioned it to thequeen as a proof of the goodness of your disposition, and I feel surethat there is nothing that would please you better than that I shouldgrant the tenants of your estate an immunity from all taxation; but thisI cannot do. All private interests must give way to the necessitiesof the state. I deplore the sufferings of the cultivators of France,sufferings that have of late driven many to take up arms. It is my dutyto repress such risings; but I have ordered the utmost leniency to beshown to these unfortunate men, that the troops should not be quarteredupon their inhabitants, and that the officers shall see that there isno destruction of houses and no damage to property; that would increasestill further their difficulty in paying the imposts, which I regret tosay press so sorely and unduly upon them. Tell me frankly what is thegreatest object of your ambition?"
"I thank your excellency most heartily for your kind intentions towardsme, but any ambition that I may have had is already much more thangratified. I have never for a moment thought of, or even wished that Imight some day become lord of a fair estate and a noble of France. Ihad not ventured to hope that I might become colonel of a regimentfor another fifteen years. Both these things have, thanks to the kindappreciation of her majesty and yourself for a very simple act of duty,fallen to me. If I might ask a boon, it would be that my regiment may besent to join the force of Marshal Turenne. So long as there was dangerhere I should not have wished to be removed from a position where Imight be of some assistance, however slight, to the queen and yourself,but now that all danger is at an end I should be glad to return toactive duty. I have endeavoured humbly to make Marshal Turenne my model.He has but one thought and one desire--namely, to do his duty and tomake the soldiers under his command contented and happy, but I have nohope of ever emulating his great merits as a commander."
"That request is easily granted," Mazarin said, and drawing a sheet ofpaper towards him, he wrote:
The regiment of Poitou will at once proceed to the Rhine, where it willplace itself under the orders of Marshal Turenne.
He added his signature, and handed the paper to Hector.
"That counts for nothing," he said. "You must remember that life isshort and, especially in the case of a minister of France, uncertain.In your own case you might be disabled in the field and unable to servefurther. The advent of a party hostile to me in power would doubtless besignalized by acts of vengeance against those who have been friends, andestates change hands so frequently in France that la Villar might wellbe confiscated. No man is above the chances of fortune. I have agents inEngland, and have this morning given an order to my intendant to placein the hands of Monsieur Wilson, a well known citizen of London, agoldsmith, the sum of fifty thousand crowns to stand in your name, andto be payable to your order. Here is his address. It is but a small sumfor the saving of my life, but it will place you above the risk of thecontingencies of fortune in this country. I wish for no thanks," hesaid, with a wave of his hand as Hector was about to speak. "I havegiven more for the most trifling favours. I now bid you adieu, anddoubt not that I shall hear that you and your regiment have greatlydistinguished yourselves in the east, where hostilities will in allprobability shortly be commenced. You had better present yourself at thelevee this evening to make your adieus to the queen."
This Hector did, and early the next morning rode with his two companiesto St. Denis, where the news that the regiment was to march towards theRhine was received with great satisfaction. It was now the middle ofOctober, and when, after ten days' march, the regiment reached Epernay,they heard that Turenne had withdrawn his troops from the Rhine,where the Imperialists had already gone into winter quarters, and hads
tationed them in the various towns of Lorraine. His headquarters wereat Nancy. Turenne greeted him warmly upon his arrival.
"Matters have been going on slowly since I saw you in Paris. I have beentoo weak to fight the Bavarians, who fortunately were too undecided toattack me. Could they but have made up their minds to throw in theirfortune with Austria, they might have overrun all Lorraine, for aught Icould have done to withstand them. The troopers were without horses, theinfantry almost without clothes, and as the court was unable to send meany remittances I have been forced to borrow money upon my own estatesfor the public service, and have mounted five thousand horse andenrolled three thousand foot and am still sustaining them. However,I hear from Mazarin that he will in a week send off a large convoy oftreasure, which will be welcome indeed, for I am nearly at the end ofmy resources. Some of my troops are quartered in the town, but the mostpart are among the mountains, where they trouble the inhabitants lessand have small temptations towards rioting and excesses. Which would yourather?"
"I would much rather go into the country, marshal; my regiment isin good condition now, but to stay in quarters in a town is bad fordiscipline."
"So be it. You might make your headquarters at the village of Saline;there are no other troops within thirty miles of it. On arriving thereyou will make inquiries as to the supplies to be obtained within acircle of fifteen miles round. Fortunately I have a good supply oftents, and any men for whom you cannot find quarters in the villagescan be placed under canvas. You can draw as much wine as you require forthree months' rations from the stores here, and two months' rations offlour. I will direct the intendants to take up carts for the transportof the supplies you take from here. You will doubtless be able to buymeat up there, and I hope that you will be able to obtain sufficientflour and wine to last you till the end of the winter, for transportwill be very difficult when the snow is on the ground. Firewood yoursoldiers will, of course, cut for themselves in the forests."
The winter passed quietly. Hector managed to obtain quarters for all histroops--a village being allotted to each company. Before they marchedoff to their various quarters, Hector urged the officers to impress upontheir men the advantage of behaving well to the villagers.
"Of course the presence of so many men will be of serious inconvenienceto them, but they will doubtless make the best of it if they find thatthey are treated civilly and that their lodgers endeavour to give aslittle trouble as possible. See that everything down to the smallestarticle is paid for, and investigate every complaint, and I will punishany offenders severely. I have inquired into the average prices thatsheep, fowls, pigs, goats, and other articles fetch, and have made out alist for each company; the peasants will be gainers by it, for theywill be saved the journey down to the towns. Let this be stuck up in aconspicuous place in each village.
"The intendant will go round and make contracts for the supply of meat,and will see whether it will be more advantageous to erect ovens forthe baking of bread in each village or to arrange to buy it ready bakedthere, we supplying the flour; for the troops, after being accustomed togood bread at St. Denis, will not be content with the black bread uponwhich these poor people exist. I shall pay a visit to each companyin regular order, see that all is going on well, try men who havemisbehaved themselves, and listen gladly to any suggestions that therespective captains may make to me."
The first company was quartered at Saline, and although the cold wassevere and the life rough the troops were well contented, and Hector wasglad to find that his instructions were carried out and that excellentrelations were maintained between the troops and their hosts.
Early in the spring Turenne collected a force of three regiments ofcavalry and two of infantry, and, passing the Rhine at Breisach, fellsuddenly upon a force of Imperialists in the Black Forest, defeatedthem, and took three or four hundred prisoners, among whom were manyofficers, the rest of them escaping to the army commanded by CountMerci. In May the Bavarian army, numbering eight thousand foot and seventhousand horse, marched to besiege Freiburg, five leagues from Breisach,and Turenne followed with all his force, which now numbered ten thousandmen. He found, however, that the Imperialists had occupied all thestrong positions in the neighbourhood of the town, and not caring to runthe risk either of defeat or great loss, and receiving information thatthe town had already opened negotiations for surrender, he fell backsome five miles from the town, sending news to the court that his forcewas insufficient to attack the Imperialists. Mazarin thereupon sentorders to Enghien to set out at once for Germany. As soon as hereached the Rhine and his army prepared to cross, Enghien, who had beenappointed generalissimo, rode forward with Marshal de Gramont, who wasin command of the army under him, to the camp of Turenne. The meetingbetween Enghien and Turenne was most cordial. Enghien had always feltthe warmest admiration for the talents of the older marshal, had beenmost intimate with him whenever he was at court, and regarded him as hismaster in the art of war. Turenne was free from the vice of jealousy;and as the armies of France were almost always placed under the supremeif sometimes nominal command of princes of the blood, it seemed nothingbut natural to him that Enghien should receive supreme authority.
The characters of the two men were in complete contrast with eachother--the one was ardent, passionate, prompt in action and swift inexecution; the other, though equally brave, was prudent and careful,anxious above all things to accomplish his object with the smallestpossible loss of men, while Enghien risked the lives of his soldiers asrecklessly as his own. They always acted together in the most perfectharmony, and their friendship remained unimpaired even when insubsequent days they stood in arms against each other. At the councilTurenne was in favour of making a circuit and taking up their post inthe valley of St. Pierre, by which they would intercept the Bavarians'communications and force them by famine to issue out from their stronglines and fight in the open, and urged that to attack a position sostrongly fortified would entail terrible loss, even if successful.
Marshal de Gramont, and d'Erlac, governor of Breisach, were of the sameopinion. The Duc d'Enghien, however, was for attacking the enemy intheir intrenchments; the idea of starving out an enemy was altogetherrepugnant to one of his impetuous disposition, and as generalissimohe overruled the opinions of the others. He himself, led by Turenne,reconnoitred the position of the enemy, and decided that the one army,which was called the army of France, consisting of six thousand foot andfour thousand horse, commanded by Marshal de Gramont, should attackthe enemy's position in front and on their right flank, and the other,called the army of Weimar, of five thousand foot and as many horse,under Turenne, should move round by a narrow pass and attack the enemyon the left flank. Merci's army occupied an almost inaccessible hillwhose summit was strongly fortified, and it was against this that deGramont's army was to hurl itself. The entrance to the valley by whichTurenne was to fall upon their left flank was closed at its mouth byvery strong intrenchments, and it was behind this that the main body ofhorse was posted.
To gain his point of attack Turenne had to make a very wide circuit,and started at break of day on the 3rd of August. It was arranged thatEnghien, who remained with de Gramont, should not attack until threehours before sunset, in order to give Turenne time to attack at the samehour. At the time agreed upon, Enghien sent forward two battalions tobegin the attack. The regiments of Conde and Mazarin were to follow,while the duke held two others in reserve. In order to get at the enemythe assailants were forced to climb a very steep ascent, and cross avineyard intersected by many walls four feet high facing the terraceon which the vines grew. These were occupied by the Bavarians, but theFrench attacked with such vigour that the enemy were driven back. When,however, the latter reached the great cheval-de-frise, formed byfelled trees, in front of the intrenchments, they could make no furtherprogress, so heavy was the fire maintained by the enemy.
Enghien, seeing this, dismounted, placed himself at the head of theregiment of Conde, and led them forward, while Marshal Gramont andthe officers did the s
ame. Encouraged by this example, the troops werefilled with enthusiasm, and, following their leaders unfalteringly, madetheir way through the cheval-de-frise, and, pressing forward without apause, obtained possession of the intrenchments, driving the Bavariansinto the woods behind. The battle had lasted three hours, and had costthe Bavarians three thousand men, while the French suffered at leastequally.
Turenne's force had been as hotly engaged. Merci, the best general inthe Austrian army, had foreseen that an attempt might be made throughthe defile, and had posted strong bodies of infantry among the trees oneither side.
As soon as Turenne entered the defile he was encountered by a heavyfire from his unseen foes, who, falling back through the trees as headvanced, continued to gain strength. Turenne had to fight every foot ofhis way in order to dislodge the enemy, and it was not until Enghienhad brought the battle to a conclusion on his side, that Turenne arrivedand, forcing the intrenchments guarding the mouth of the defile, foundhimself in contact with Merci, who was now able to concentrate his wholeforce against him. The combat was a furious one. The troops were engagedat but forty paces apart, and sometimes had hand-to-hand encounters.Merci brought the whole of his cavalry into play, but Turenne was unableto use his, as they were behind his infantry and could not make theirway out through the mouth of the defile.
For seven hours the battle raged in the darkness. After losing threethousand men here, General Merci decided that his army would be totallydestroyed if Enghien should bring his troops down from the hill atdaybreak. Accordingly, leaving a body of musketeers to hide the movementby their fire, he withdrew the rest of his army and took up anotherstrong position, partly on a height known as the Black Mountain,covering the entrance of the valley of St. Pierre and partly in thevalley itself, thus covering his line of retreat. Had the French beenable to attack early the next morning before the Bavarians had time tointrench themselves they might have won an easy victory; but for thepast twenty-four hours the rain had been falling incessantly, Turenne'sarmy had been marching on the previous day, and had been fighting forseven hours, and was incapable of further exertions, while that ofEnghien was in little better plight, having passed the night in the rainon the ground it had won.
After such hard fighting both commanders agreed that a twenty-fourhours' halt was absolutely necessary. The day could not be termed one ofrest, for there were thousands of wounded to be collected and cared for,arms to be cleaned, for they had been rendered useless by the rain, andprovisions to be brought up from the rear. Merci made the most of thetime thus given him. The bottom of the mountain towards the plain wasfortified by several rows of felled trees, and a portion of his infantrywas posted between this point and the town of Freiburg, which was buthalf a mile away. The intrenchments that had been formed during thesiege of the town were occupied by them; and as their front was coveredby the fire of the guns from the fortress, as well as by that of theinfantry on the hill, he considered the position to be impregnable, andtherefore placed the main body of his army at the edge of the flat topof the hill, a strong body behind a wood about halfway up the slope, andhis cavalry extended from that point to the walls of the city.
After reconnoitering the position, Enghien determined to make twoattacks, one on the trenches between the foot of the hill and the town,and the other on the rows of felled trees at the foot of the mountain.A false attack was to be made between the two points. Turenne's forceadvanced nearly to the foot of the hill, the prince's army followed him,and also took up its position. But just as the attack was about to bemade a great tumult was heard on the hill, and Enghien and Turennerode to a neighbouring height in order to ascertain what was goingon, leaving strict orders that no movement was to be made until theirreturn. Count d'Espenan, who commanded the two advanced regiments ofEnghien's army, however, ordered a detachment to attack a redoubtwhich stood within the line of attack, and Merci sent supports to itsdefenders.
D'Espenan sent more troops on his side and the engagement becameserious. Suddenly the Imperialist artillery opened fire along the wholeof their line, and Enghien's troops, apparently taking this for thesignal of the beginning of the battle, moved forward for theassault without order or leader. As they were broken and confused byendeavouring to pass through the abattis of felled trees, the Bavariansrushed out and drove them back with great slaughter. Enghien andTurenne, galloping up in all haste, in vain attempted to rally them.Officers and men alike were panic stricken. The two generals then rodeto Turenne's army and advanced against the defence of trees. For a longtime the battle raged without any marked success on either side. Severaltimes the French made their way in to the intrenchments and were asoften repulsed. Merci ordered his cavalry to dismount, and led theminto the fray, but, darkness falling suddenly, the assailants ceased toattack, and occupied for the night the ground on which the struggle hadtaken place. The fight that day had cost them two thousand troops, andthe Bavarians twelve hundred, but as the latter had lost half theirinfantry in the first day's fighting the French were still superiorin numbers. During the night Turenne had all the wounded of bothnationalities carried to Breisach. After giving the army four days'rest, Enghien determined to resort to the tactics that Turenne hadfrom the first recommended, and, marching along the plain, ascended thevalley of Bloterthal and made for St. Pierre, where he would cut theBavarian line of retreat. As soon as Merci saw the movement he gaveorders for his army to fall back with all haste, and although Turennepressed hard on his rear he succeeded in drawing his troops off, though,in order to do so, he was obliged to abandon his baggage and cannon.Altogether he lost between eight and nine thousand men, with theirartillery and most of their horses. The French loss was equally great,and though the battle was claimed as a victory by them owing to theBavarians having finally fallen back, it was really a drawn one.