Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 369, July 1846 - Various

Скачать книгу

the renowned commanders and gallant armies now arrayed on the opposite sides, than had yet taken place since the commencement of the war.28

      During these rapid and vigorous movements, which entirely turned and broke through his much-vaunted lines of defence, Villars remained with the great body of his forces in a state of inactivity. Aware he was to be attacked, but ignorant where the blow was first likely to fall, he judged, and probably rightly, that it would be hazardous to weaken his lines at any one point by accumulating forces at another. No sooner, however, did he receive intelligence of the march of the Prince of Hesse-Cassel, than he broke up from the lines of Douay, and hastily collecting his forces, advanced towards that adventurous commander. At two in the morning of the 4th, he arrived in front of him with his cavalry; but conceiving the whole allied army was before him, he did not venture to make an attack at a time when his great superiority of force would have enabled him to do it with every chance of success. The movement of Villars, however, and general feux-de-joie which resounded through the French lines on the arrival of Marshal Boufflers, warned the allied leaders that a general battle was at hand; and orders were in consequence given to the whole army to advance at four o'clock on the afternoon of the 7th. A detachment of Eugene's troops was left to watch Mons, the garrison of which consisted only of eleven weak battalions and a regiment of horse, not mustering above five thousand combatants; and the whole remainder of the allied army, ninety thousand strong, pressed forward in dense masses into the level and marshy plain in the middle of which Mons is situated. They advanced in different columns, headed by Marlborough and Eugene; and never was a more magnificent spectacle presented, than when they emerged from the woods upon the plain, and ascended in the finest order, with their whole cavalry and artillery, as well as infantry, the undulating ground which lies to the south of that town. They arrived at night, and bivouacked on the heights of Quaregnon, near Genly, and thence on to the village of Quevy, in a line not three miles in length, and only five distant from the enemy; so that it was evident a general battle would take place on the following day, unless Villars was prepared to abandon Mons to its fate.29

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

      1

      Peru. Reiseskizzen aus den Jahren 1838-1842. Von J. J. von Tschudi. St Gall: 1846.

      2

      Untersuchungen über die Fauna Peruana. St Gall: 1846.

      3

      An Historical and Descriptive Narrative of Twenty Years' Residence in South America. Contain

1

Peru. Reiseskizzen aus den Jahren 1838-1842. Von J. J. von Tschudi. St Gall: 1846.

2

Untersuchungen über die Fauna Peruana. St Gall: 1846.

3

An Historical and Descriptive Narrative of Twenty Years' Residence in South America. Containing Travels in Arauco, Chili, Peru, and Columbia; with an account of the Revolution, its rise, progress, and results; by W. B. Stevenson. London: 1825.

4

Europeans are apt to attach the idea of some particular colour to the word Creole. It is a vulgar error. Creole (Spanish, Criollo) is derived from criar, to breed or produce, and is applied to native Americans descended from 'Old World' parents. Thus there are black Creoles as well as white, and a horse or a dog may be a Creole as well as a man, so long as the European or African blood is preserved unmixed.

5

The day and the event strangely coincide with the passage in Schiller's "Wilhelm Tell" —

"'s ist Simon und Judä

"Da rast der See und will sein Opfer haben."

6

Marlborough to Mr Secretary Boyle, 17th December 1708. Disp. iv. 362.

7

Disp. iv. 315, 323, 345. Marlborough to Duke de Mole, 10th Dec. 1708. Ibid. 346. Coxe, iv. 278.

8

Marlborough to Mr Secretary Boyle, 3d January 1709, Disp. iv. 389.

9

"'Can I do more than I do now?' said the King. 'I make treaties, but the Emperor breaks his word with me, as well as Holland, every moment. Besides it is impossible, without great inconvenience, to give more than three battalions; and he is a wretch who would advise me otherwise.' I said he was a wretch who should advise him not to do it. He replied, 'You speak very boldly, and may perhaps repent it, if your arguments are not conclusive.'" – General Grumbkow to Marlborough, March 9, 1709. Coxe, iv. 341.

10

King of Prussia to Marlborough, March 9, 1709. Coxe, iv. 346.

11

In communicating the thanks of the House of Lords, the Chancellor said,

"I shall not be thought to exceed my present commission, if, being thus led to contemplate the mighty things which your Grace has done for us, I cannot but conclude with acknowledging, with all gratitude, the providence of God in raising you up to be an instrument of so much good, in so critical a juncture, when it was so much wanted." Coxe, iv. 375.

12

Coxe, iv. 352, 366, 377.

13

"M. de Torcy has offered so much, that I have no doubt it will end in a good peace." Marlborough to Godolphin, 19th May 1707.

"Every thing goes on so well here, that there is no doubt of its ending in a good peace. Government have in readiness the sideboard of plate, and the chairs of state and canopy; and I beg it may be made so as to form part of a bed when I am done with it here, which I hope may be by the end of this summer, so that I may enjoy your dear society in quiet, which is the greatest satisfaction I am capable of having." Marlborough to the Duchess, 19th May 1709. Coxe, iv. 393.

14

Mémoire, M. de Torcy, ii. 104-111.

15

Swift's Conduct of the Allies, 72; Coxe, iv. 395-415.

16

"I have as much mistrust for the sincerity of France as any body living can have; but I will own to you, that in my opinion, if France had delivered the towns promised by the plenipotentiaries, and demolished Dunkirk and the other towns mentioned, they must have been at our discretion; so that if they had played tricks, so much the worse for themselves." Marlborough to Lord Godolphin, June 10, 1709. Coxe, iv. 405.

17

Coxe, iv. 401.

18

Ibid. v. i. 5.

19

Mém. de Villars, ii. 63. Marlborough to Godolphin, June 27, 1709. Coxe, iv. 5, 6.

20

Marlborough to Mr Secretary Boyle, 27th June 1709. Disp. iv. 520. Coxe, v. 7, 8.

21

Marlborough to Lord Galway, 4th July 1709; and to the Queen, 29th July 1709. Disp. iv. 530 and 556. Coxe, v. 8, 13. Marlborough's private letters

Скачать книгу

<p>28</p>

Coxe, v. 24, 25. Disp. iv. 588, 595.

<p>29</p>

Marlborough to Mr Secretary Boyle, 7th and 11th September 1709. Disp. iv. 591, 592. Coxe, v. 25, 26.