"What mean you by knocking thus furiously?" the landlord of the littleinn asked angrily.
"What mean you by keeping your door shut in the face of travellers onsuch a night as this?" Hector replied, even more loudly. "Are honest mento be kept waiting in the rain while you are taking no steps to let themin?"
"How could I tell that you are honest men?" the landlord retorted.
"Because if we had not been honest men we should long before this havebattered your door down, as indeed I was just going to do when youopened it."
"Well, come in," the landlord said with an evil smile. "Maybe you wouldhave done better to have passed on."
He showed them into the taproom, where two or three rough men weresitting.
"What did these fellows mean by knocking so loudly?" one of them askedangrily.
"It means," Hector replied, "that travellers have a right to claimshelter of an inn; and indeed, inn or no inn, no one would refuseshelter to travellers on such a night as this is going to be." And hiswords were emphasized by a crash of thunder overhead.
"You crow pretty loud, young fellow," the man growled.
"I speak loud because I have right on my side. I desire to quarrel withno man; but one need indeed be a saint to keep one's temper when one iskept standing outside a door with the rain coming down in great drops,and threatening in another minute to come in bucketfuls. It is all theworse when, as you see, one has a sick comrade with one."
The man spoke in a low voice to the three others seated at the tablewith him. "May I ask whither you were journeying when thus caught in thestorm?" he asked in a more civil tone than he had hitherto used.
"Certainly you may. We were in haste to get on to Gunzenhausen bymorning, as a friend of ours has work ready for us there. We did notexpect this storm when we left Eichstadt just before the gates closed,and as the nights are short we thought we would push straight through."
"You are woodmen, I see."
"Ay, woodmen and charcoal burners."
"You are not from this part, at least, judging from your tongue."
"Nor, I fancy, are you," Hector replied.
"No," the other said. "In times like these every one is liable to bedriven from home either because the troops of one army or another haveplundered and destroyed everything, or perhaps because he has beenforced into the ranks."
"That is just our case, and you will understand that in times likethese, as you say, no one cares to answer questions on the part ofstrangers. But we have no particular cause of concealment. We have bothbeen in the army, and, as you see, have left it, and have our reasonsfor wishing to travel at night, when there is no chance of falling inwith troops whose officers might ask inconvenient questions. As, thanksto our host and you, we are nearly wet through, we will thank him to getready as quick as may be two flagons of hot beer, and if he has got acouple of eggs to beat up in each of them, so much the better."
The landlord left the room, and a minute or two later the man who hadspoken to Hector got up and went out.
"These men are up to no good," Hector whispered to Paolo as they satdown on a bench at a table some little distance from that at which theother men were seated. "I am sorry now that I asked for the liquor, itwas necessary to order something. I should not be surprised if they drugit. Do you put yours to your lips, and then groan as if it hurt you toomuch to try to swallow, and leave it standing in front of you. I willpretend to drink mine, and will manage to pour it away on the floor.Presently do you lean forward on to the table and appear to fall asleep.As I am in the corner, I will lean back and seem to go off also. UnlessI am greatly mistaken this is a regular thieves' den. Keep one hand onthe butt of a pistol. We will both keep awake for a time, and if nothingcomes of it we will then watch by turns. It is clear that they suspectthat we are not what we seem."
The men at the other table were talking together in low voices, and,listening intently, Hector could hear a murmur of voices in the roombehind him.
"There were more than two voices there," he whispered presently toPaolo. The latter nodded, for he too had been listening. Presently thelandlord returned with the two flagons of hot beer, which were set downon the table before them. The room was lighted only by a torch stuck ina cresset on the wall, and Hector had purposely seated himself as farfrom this as possible. Paolo took up his mug, raised it to his lips, andthen set it down again with a sudden cry.
"I am afraid that you will not be able to take it," Hector said aloud.
"What is the matter with your comrade?" the landlord asked.
"He has a terrible abscess in his jaw, and is unable to speak or toswallow."
The landlord took the torch from its place and walked over and looked atPaolo's cheek. "There is no mistake about that," he said. "It is indeeda terrible swelling, and the cheek looks almost raw."
"He has put liniments on it," Hector said, "but they seem to have donehim harm rather than good. However, he is not so bad as he was, and Ihope that the abscess will break ere long."
The landlord fastened the torch up again, and said in a low tone to theother men: "There is no doubt about his face being bad." As he turnedaway from the table he stood between Hector and the other men, and theformer seized the opportunity of pouring the contents of his mug againstthe wall by his knee, knowing that as the floor was of earth it wouldsoak it up at once. From time to time he lifted the mug to his lips,until he apparently drained it. Then half closing his eyes he leant upagainst the corner. Paolo had already laid his head down on the table,and after a time both breathed heavily and regularly. Half an hour laterone of the men rose noiselessly and left the room. Two or three minutesafterwards he returned with the host, the man who had gone out before,and two others.
"Seven against two," Hector thought to himself. "However, we shall havethe advantage of a surprise." He touched Paolo with his foot to assurehimself that he had not really gone off to sleep, but the responsivemovement showed that he also was on his guard. The man who had firstleft the room and one of the others drew their long knives and steppedquietly forward, while the others, also with bared weapons, preparedto support them if necessary. Hector waited until the two leaders wereclose, then he exclaimed sharply, "Now!" at the same moment throwingforward his hand with the pistol. Two reports rang out at the samemoment, and the men pitched heavily forward. A yell of surprise andfury broke from the others, but ere they could step over their fallencomrades, Hector and his companion stood erect with their second pistolsin their right hands and their axes ready for action in their left.
Hector's second shot took effect on the landlord, Paolo's apparentlymissed, for the other four rushed forward. Hector dashed the tableaside, and he and Paolo, poising their heavy axes, rushed forward tomeet their assailants.
"Mind the beams," Hector shouted, as with a sweeping side blow he clovein the head of one opponent. But the warning came too late. Paolo strucka downward blow, the axe caught the low beams of the ceiling, and itflew from his hand. His opponent sprang upon him. Paolo caught the man'sright wrist as he struck at him with his knife, and drew his own fromhis girdle. His assailant threw his other arm round him, and, grappling,they fell on to the ground. Hector could do nothing to assist him, forthe other two men were trying to circle round him, keeping beyond theswing of his axe but watching for an opportunity to spring upon him.Keeping his back against the wall he made feints against them. Presentlyone of the men passed between him and the two antagonists struggling onthe ground. Suddenly they rolled over and over, coming in contact withhim from behind and almost throwing him over. Before he could recoverfrom the shock Hector's axe struck him below the ear.
The other man would have turned and made for the door, but Hector knewthat it was important that he should not escape and carry the news toothers of his party, who might be in the forest. He therefore sprangafter him, and before the wretch could open the door struck him betweenthe shoulders with his long knife. As he did so Paolo sprung up with ashout.
"Thank God that you are alive, Paolo
! I was afraid that he might havekilled you."
"No, no, master. I had him by the wrist too firmly for that, and myknife did its work almost directly. But with those two fellows hoveringround I should have been at their mercy had I tried to get on my feet.So I kept on struggling until I saw my opportunity, and then as thatfellow's back was turned I rolled over against him, and so gave youthe chance that you were waiting for. Well, master, it has been a sharpbusiness."
"It has indeed. Now the first thing is to see if there is anyone elsein the house, and the next to look about for some clothes for you to puton, for those you wear are covered with blood. Then we must be off, andput as many miles between us and this place before morning as we can."
A brief search showed that the place was empty, save for the dead in thetaproom. An old doublet belonging to the landlord was found hanging upin the loft where he slept. Taking off his outer garments, Paolo putthis on.
"It is lucky I kept my breeches on under the others," he said, "for Icertainly could not have gone into a town with these stained things on.I suppose there is some money hidden somewhere, but we have not time tolook. You may be sure that many a traveller has been murdered here."
"I quite agree with you, but we have certainly no time to spare to huntfor it. Let us be off at once."
Reloading their pistols and carefully wiping their axes they went out bya door at the back of the house, for neither cared to re-enter the sceneof the slaughter. Before doing so, however, they took a long draughtfrom the landlord's beer barrel, to make up for the drink of whichthey had deprived themselves. The storm had passed, and the stars wereshining brightly. They met nobody on their way until within two or threemiles of Gunzenhausen; it was found that the haft of Paolo's axe wasdeeply stained with blood; and he threw it away on issuing from thewood, as it did not accord well with his present attire, which wasrather that of a discharged soldier or a worker in cities than of acountryman. Soon after eight o'clock they approached the town. They werenow greatly fatigued, for they had done two long days' marches withoutany sleep between them, and turning off from the road they made theirway to a little clump of trees, and there threw themselves down in theshade and slept until late in the afternoon.
"I think that after our experience of last night, Paolo," Hector said,as they walked towards the town, "we had better wait until we can joinsome party going to Hall before we leave this place. From what I hear,the road is a great deal more infested with bands of lawless men thanthat along which we have come."
"Then, master, I think we had certainly better wait, for I don't wantanything worse than we had yesterday."
They went to a small inn, had supper, and then lay down on some straw inan outhouse and slept soundly until morning. Then they breakfasted,and as there was no one else in the room Paolo was able to eat freely.Presently the landlord came in, and Hector entered into conversationwith him.
"We want to go on to Hall," he said. "We have friends there, and we areobliged to leave home because we should be taken for the army."
"Well, I don't think that you will find yourself better off at Hall thanhere. They are catching up every ablebodied young fellow and putting himinto the ranks, and as you both look strong and active, except for yourcomrade's face, you are both likely to be seized as soon as you enterHall, especially if you have no papers to show."
"We are not thinking of entering Hall, landlord. Our friends live a fewmiles away, and they will hide us till the army moves away from theseparts."
"That will be before long, thank the saints! There is news that a greatFrench army marched from Spires three days ago, and there is like to bea great fight before long; and if the French are beaten Merci will chasethem back to the Rhine, recapture all the towns that they have taken,and perhaps enter Alsace."
"Which way do they say that the French are marching?"
"They took the road to Weisloch. Some think that they will come throughWimpfen, and then by Weinsberg here, unless Merci bars the way. Othersagain think that they will make their way down through Stuttgart. Fivehundred men march from here tomorrow to Hall, whence they go on toHeilbronn to strengthen the garrison there. All the waggons in the townand country round have been fetched in to carry their stores and baggageand a convoy of ammunition. I should say that you could not do betterthan go on with the waggons. No one is likely to ask you any questions,for it will be thought that you are drivers."
"Thank you very much," Hector said; "that would certainly be a capitalplan. We were afraid of going through the forests alone."
"Yes, and you were right. They are full of marauders. A party oftroopers arrived here from Eichstadt yesterday evening. They stopped toget a drink at a cabaret in the forest, and on entering found seven menlying dead, and no one living to say how they got there. That some,if not all, were robbers was evident from the fact that, on the bodiesbeing searched, articles evidently plundered from travellers were foundupon all of them. An examination was made of the house, and considerablequantities of plunder found hidden. Searching in the forest behind,several mounds of earth, evidently graves, were discovered. The landlordhimself was among the killed, for one of the troopers, who had beforestopped at the house, recognized him. It was supposed that the brigandswere killed by some other party with whom they had quarrelled. Three ofthem were shot and two killed by tremendous blows from an axe, and asneither pistols nor axes were found in the room it is clear that thosewithin had been killed by some other band."
The next morning, when the column started, Hector and Paolo fell inamong the carts, and rendered good service on the road by helping tomove them when the wheels of the waggons stuck fast at spots where theroad crossed marshy valleys. So bad was the journey that it occupied twodays. Then the waggons were parked outside the walls of Hall, a guardbeing placed round them to prevent desertion. The troops slept insidethe town. At daybreak the next morning their march was arrested by anofficer riding out from the town, saying that news had arrived on theprevious evening that the French were marching upon Heilbronn, thatGeneral Merci was concentrating his army there to oppose the passage ofthe river, and that the troops were to push on with all speed, leavingtheir baggage train at Hall. Hector at once decided that, with theBavarian army gathering in front, it would be madness to endeavour topush on, and that indeed it would be far better to fall back until thedirection of the French march was fully determined, when they could makea detour and come down upon their flank without having to pass throughthe Bavarian army. He did not, however, care about remaining in Hall,which might be occupied by the Bavarians if they fell back, and theytherefore, after entering the town with the waggons, purchased a storeof provisions, and, going out again, established themselves in a smallfarmhouse, whose occupants had deserted it and fled into the town uponhearing that the French were but some thirty miles distant.
Every day Hector went into the place to gather news, and learned thatWimpfen had been captured by the French by a sudden assault, and thatthey had crossed the Neckar. On returning he at once started with Paolo,but on approaching the Neckar learned that the French had marched on toRothenburg. They fell in, however, with a detachment which had been lefton the Neckar. Hector found among them several officers to whom he wasknown, and, borrowing Paolo's money, fitted himself and followerout again, bought a couple of horses that had been captured from theBavarians, who had, he learned, retired to Franconia, and set outto join the army. Rothenburg had been, he found out on his arrival,captured in a few hours, and the main body of the French had marchedto Dinkelsbuhl, and there he came up with them. He had learned from theparty on the Neckar of the defection of Konigsmark and the Swedes, andthat Conde and Turenne's united army did not exceed twenty thousand men,and, as he knew, that of Merci was at least equal to it in strength. Hisfirst question on entering the camp was as to the quarters of his ownregiment, and he at once rode there. As soon as he was recognizedthe men ran to him, cheering wildly, and so great was the tumult thatTurenne himself, whose headquarters were but a short distance away,rode
to the spot to enquire the cause of the tumult. When he saw Hectorsurrounded by his cheering soldiers he passed through the crowd, and,reaching him, shook him warmly by the hand.
"I had hoped that we might have made an exchange for you during thewinter, colonel, but I had not thought it possible that I should see youagain before that time; for in the first place, we captured no prisonersin this campaign, but, on the contrary, have had many of our ownofficers taken; and in the second place, we have been too busy eversince Marienthal to enter into negotiations. You have, I suppose, giventhem the slip, you and that varlet of yours, for I see him over there."
"Yes, marshal; we had no very great difficulty in getting away. I havebeen very well treated, and until I heard that you were again taking theoffensive, I had no reason to fret over my imprisonment."
"Well, you have joined us just in time, for at any moment we may fight agreat battle. When you have leisure this evening come over to my tent.I shall be glad to hear how you managed to escape, and any news you havegained as to Merci's force and intentions."
As soon as the marshal had ridden off, his officers pressed round him,but before speaking to them individually Hector said a few words to themen, thanking them for the greeting they had given him, and saying thathe was glad indeed to be back among them. Then he talked for a time tothe officers, two or three of whom, after saying a few words apart toCaptain de Thiou, had hurried away. Half an hour later de Thiou said:
"I have no doubt that you will be glad of supper, colonel. Ours is justprepared, and we hope that you will join us."
"I am hungry, de Thiou, now I come to think of it, for except a crust ofbread this morning I have not touched anything today."
"It is fortunate that we are better off than usual," de Thiou said. "Wehad the luck to buy a pig from one of Weimar's troopers. The cavalry getthe best of it, for though there are orders against pillaging, there isno doubt that a good deal of it goes on; and, marching as we have been,there is no one to see that orders are strictly carried out. However, wehave benefited by it this afternoon."
Accompanying de Thiou, Hector was surprised to find that at a shortdistance in front of the spot where the regiment was bivouacked a largearbour had been erected.
"I did not notice this as I rode in," he said.
"It was not even thought of then, colonel; it was begun a few minutesafter you rode up, and the men have worked right willingly, andfortunately there was a copse hard by. I may say that it was themen's own idea. I had given orders that a table should be made of anymaterials that came to hand, and one of the men started the idea ofbuilding an arbour over it, and as many hands make quick work it has, asyou see, been constructed in little over half an hour."
As the evening was warm the front of the arbour had been left open.Inside, a rough table had been constructed of empty casks, planks takenfrom the bottom of the waggons, and a couple of doors from cottagesnear, while powder barrels served as seats.
"Now, colonel, will you take the head of the table?" de Thiou said.
"Certainly not, de Thiou. I am your guest upon this occasion, so do youtake that place, and I will sit upon your right hand."
"I only wish that we could have given you a dinner like those you sooften gave us at St. Denis."
"I shall enjoy it as much as if it were a royal feast," Hector said,seating himself; "for indeed since I escaped from Ingoldstadt some tendays ago I have been living on black bread, sausage, and cheese."
The meal was a joyous one, for at the assault of Rothenburg on theprevious day several barrels of wine had been captured by the soldiersof the regiment. These had been bought from them by the officers, whohad feared that some of the men might drink to excess, and so damage thereputation which the regiment had obtained for sobriety and discipline.One of these had been broached, and this and the pork afforded anexcellent supper even though the bread was of the worst possiblequality. When the meal was over, de Thiou stood up and proposed thehealth of the colonel, and congratulated him most warmly upon his escapefrom the enemy, expressing the extreme satisfaction of all the men aswell as officers at his return. The toast was drunk with enthusiasm,and Hector briefly returned thanks. Then, in accordance with the generalrequest, he related the particulars of his escape from Ingoldstadt andof his journey. Paolo, who had been waiting behind his master's chair,came in for warm praise for the share he had taken in the matter.
"I certainly did not think when I first, against the advice of everyone,took Paolo as my lackey five years ago, that he would turn out sovaluable a servant as he has done," Hector said as de Thiou handed agoblet of wine to the man. "He has been more than a servant, he hastaken part in all my adventures, and truly I regard him as my friend.Indeed, gentlemen, had it not been for him I certainly should not behere tonight, for my own money gave out altogether at Hall, and I had toborrow from his store the means of buying clothes and horses."
"By the way, colonel," de Thiou said, "from the day that you werecaptured I have drawn your pay for you, knowing that if it fell intoarrear you would have had hard work in getting it, so that I have nowthree months of your money in the regimental chest."
"Thank you, de Thiou, it will be very welcome; though Paolo would nothave been a very hard creditor."
At eight o'clock the party broke up, and Hector walked across toTurenne's quarters. The latter had just returned from a consultationwith the other generals.
"We shall open our trenches here tonight; the place is of someimportance, as it is on the direct road to Nordlingen, and it is as wellnot to leave it behind us. This, however, we shall do, if news comesthat Merci is marching to give us battle before that city, which weexpect he will do. The Imperialists will like to fight there, for itwas the scene of their great victory over the Duke of Weimar and theSwedes."
"We must hope that we shall reverse matters this time, marshal."
"We must hope so," the latter said gravely; "if we fight on a fairfield I have no misgivings whatever. But Merci always takes up strongpositions and entrenches himself, and Enghien is so anxious to fightthat he will do so at a disadvantage rather than wait until we can meetthem on even terms. You know what happened at Freiburg, where we lostsome nine thousand men and gained no great advantage; while if we hadmoved round and threatened their line of retreat the enemy must havefallen back at once, we should have obtained our object without the lossof a man, and might possibly have fallen upon Merci in his retreat, andwell nigh annihilated his army. Do not think, Campbell, that I am for amoment underestimating Enghien's genius. It is extraordinary, and in thehour of battle he is superb, not only from his extreme personal bravery,but from the quickness with which he grasps every point, seizes uponthe spot where a blow can be best delivered, and snatches victory, whereanother would see only defeat before him. But he is reckless of life solong as he carries his point, and rather than lose a day in turning theenemy's position and so forcing him to relinquish it, will sacrificewhole regiments by marching straight against the most formidableentrenchments. Had he but patience in addition to his own splendidqualities, I think he would be the greatest military genius the worldhas ever seen. And now let me hear what happened to you after you leftmy side that night after Marienthal."
Hector again related his adventures. Turenne laughed at the account ofhis escape, hidden under the flour bags.
"It was a good scheme," he said; "and it was well that you had thatlackey of yours with you, for I do not think that you could ever havemanaged it unaided."
"I am sure I could not, marshal; it was entirely his suggestion, and hearranged all the details splendidly. He was equally valuable in anotherway afterwards;" and he described the fight in the cabaret.
"That was more dangerous than taking part in a pitched battle; sevenagainst two are heavy odds indeed, though you had the advantage ofweapons. The fellow has a ready wit to think of rolling against the manwho was waiting for a chance of running in and stabbing you; he wouldhave made his fortune somehow even if he had not had the good luck tofall in with yo
u. In some respects you resemble each other; you bothhave enterprise, quickness, and daring, but he lacks your studioushabits, your determination to master everything connected with yourprofession, and your ability to turn your knowledge to account. He wouldhave made a good soldier, an excellent leader of an irregular corps, buthe would never have gained distinction. Well, I am very glad to have hada quiet talk with you; it takes one out of one's worries and anxieties.By the way, I had a letter from Mazarin; it reached me while I was atSpires. He said he was sorry to hear that you had been taken prisoner,and requested me to make an exchange for you as soon as possible, evenif I had to give a general officer for you, for he was very deeply yourdebtor, and had the highest esteem for you. What have you been doing tomake him your debtor? You never mentioned anything of the sort to me."
"The matter was to some degree a state one, marshal, or I shouldhave told you of it; but as it took place nearly a year ago, and thecircumstances are altogether changed, I can mention them to you inconfidence--for even now, were it known, it might make me some powerfulenemies." He then related how it was that he had thwarted the attempt onMazarin's life.
"That was a piece of singular good fortune," Turenne said. "Mazarin isa staunch friend and a bitter enemy. I owe him no goodwill, for he hasbehaved shamefully to de Bouillon, refusing to hand to him the estatesfor which he exchanged his principality of Sedan; but I do not permitmyself to allow family interests to weigh with me against my duties toFrance. Truly, as you say, it were well to hide your share in a businessthat sent De Beaufort and a score of others to prison, and a dozenmembers of powerful families into exile; it might well cause you serioustrouble were it known. You did well to keep the matter to yourself, andyou did specially well to refuse to accept any personal honour, for hadyou done so Mazarin's enemies would at once have connected that factwith the discovery of the plot."
On returning to his regiment, Hector found that an order had come justafter he left, for four companies to march down under the guidance of anengineer officer to begin work on the trenches. De Thiou, knowingthat he had gone to the marshal's, had gone down with the fourleading companies. The other infantry regiments had furnished similarcontingents, showing that the siege was to be pushed forward with allhaste.
"Enghien does not allow the grass to grow under his feet," CaptainMieville said. "We stormed Wimpfen a few hours after our arrival beforeit; we carried Rothenburg in a single night, and I expect that bytomorrow evening we shall be masters of this place."
In the morning four more companies went down to relieve those who hadbeen at work all night, and these had made great progress when, in theafternoon, the news came that Merci was marching with all his strengthtowards Nordlingen. Trumpets at once sounded to recall the troops fromthe trenches, a meal was hastily cooked, and at sunset the army marchedfor Nordlingen. All night they pushed on through the forest, and justas the leading squadrons emerged from it on to the plain, Merci's forceswere seen issuing out from the forest facing them. Both armies at onceformed in order of battle.
Enghien, anxious to attack, rode forward with Turenne, de Gramont, andGeis to reconnoitre the ground. It was found that between the armiesthere was a small river, with great pools and swamps on either side,and that the only approaches were by narrow and winding paths where twohorsemen could scarcely ride abreast. Even Enghien felt that it wouldbe madness to venture upon an attack. His artillery opened fire, that ofthe Bavarians replied, and the cannonade was continued till nightfall,inflicting a certain amount of loss on either side but in no wayaltering the position. Seeing that a battle could not be brought onhere, Enghien marched two hours before daybreak for Nordlingen. At ninethe army came down on to the great plain in front of that town, but hefound that Merci had been beforehand with him, and had already taken upa strong position two leagues away, and between him and the city, andthat his troops were already at work throwing up intrenchments. Theprince ordered all the baggage to be left behind, and at once marchedagainst the enemy. At four o'clock they were facing each other. Mercihad, as usual, chosen his position with great judgment. In the middleof the plain rose two little hills about a thousand yards apart. On thehill on his left stood the castle of Allersheim, and here Merci's leftwing, under General John de Werth, was posted; while at Weinberg hisright, commanded by General Gleen, took up its station. The main body ofthe army, under Merci himself, lay behind a village a couple of hundredyards beyond the hills, and at the head of the passage between them. Hehad his cavalry on his two wings, his infantry in the centre, and hadthrown forward some regiments to hold the village. On the two hills hehad planted his cannon, sheltered by intrenchments, and in a position tosweep the entrance to the valley.
His army consisted of between fourteen and fifteen thousand men, that ofEnghien of seventeen thousand. After examining the position a councilof war was held. Turenne was strongly against attacking the enemy in aposition of such strength, but Enghien as usual overruled his opinion.Turenne then urged that the cavalry on the wings should not charge upthe hills and attack the positions held there until the enemy's centrehad been defeated, and his advice in this respect was taken. Thegenerals then separated and rode to their respective commands. DeGramont commanded the right wing, consisting of all the French cavalry,and having as a second line a reserve consisting of four battalions ofinfantry and six squadrons of horse commanded by Chevalier de Chabot.Turenne commanded the left, which consisted of his own army, with twelvesquadrons of Weimar's cavalry, with the Hessian army--six battalionsand six squadrons--as a second line. The centre, consisting of tenbattalions and five squadrons of horse, was commanded by Count deMarsin. Enghien took no special command, preferring to remain free to gowhere his presence was most needed.