by G. A. Henty
Chapter 12: Oudenarde.
Desmond did not remain long at the marshal's camp, but accompaniedexpeditions that were sent to Bruges, Ghent, and Ypres. Theinhabitants of these towns had, for some time, been in communicationwith the marshal. They were hostile to the English, and had a standingfeud, of many years' duration, with the Dutch.
As soon, therefore, as the French columns approached, they openedtheir gates. The weak garrisons that had been placed there,finding themselves unable to at once control the population anddefend the walls, evacuated the town before the French arrived.
Beyond writing confidential reports to Berwick, Desmond had hadlittle to do, and spent most of his time with his own regiment, bywhom he was heartily welcomed, and with the other Irish battalionsencamped near them. He and the other officers captured in theSalisbury had been given up as lost by their comrades; and theappearance of Desmond, in his staff uniform, was the firstintimation they had received of his escape, of which he had morethan once to give a detailed account.
In doing this, he made no mention of the seizure of LordGodolphin. He knew that the minister was anxious that this shouldnot get abroad, and, as he had behaved fairly to them, Desmondconsidered that he ought to remain silent on the subject; andmerely said that, on their arrival at Rye, they had made anarrangement with a man who was in the habit of conveying personssecretly, to or from France, to take them across the channel.
"You amaze me more and more, Kennedy," the colonel said. "Sixmonths ago, when you joined, you seemed to me little more than aboy, and yet you have been through adventures that demanded thebrain and courage of a veteran. We missed you all much; but I hopewe shall soon get the others back again, for I had news the otherday, from Paris, that arrangements for their exchange were goingon, and no doubt they will rejoin as soon as they land.
"There is little chance of you, O'Neil and O'Sullivan coming backto the regiment; but, at any rate, as Berwick's force is sure tojoin ours, as soon as operations begin in earnest, we shall oftensee you."
It was the end of June before the main army advanced. Desmond hadreturned to Peronne after the capture of the three Flemish towns,and was warmly praised by Berwick for the manner in which he hadcarried out the work entrusted to him. On the 6th of July, hereceived orders to accompany the duke.
"There is bad news," Captain Fromart said, entering the room wherethe four aides-de-camp were together. "You know the marshal hadcommenced the siege of Oudenarde. We have news now that the enemyhas suddenly advanced towards him, and he has been obliged toraise the siege, and fall back across the Scheldt. The troops areto go forward at once. The duke will ride on, with all speed, inaccordance with Vendome's urgent request. All four of you are togo on with him. I shall accompany the force here.
"There is no time to be lost. The duke's horse is to be at thedoor in a quarter of an hour, and it will not please him to bekept waiting. You had better leave your spare horses, for thepresent. I have already warned the escort."
It was a short notice, but by the time named the fouraides-de-camp were in their saddles, as were their soldierservants, for by this time Desmond's two friends had obtainedservants from a dragoon regiment. They were but just in time, forthey had scarcely mounted when the duke came out, sprang into hissaddle, and went off at a canter.
The distance was some fifty miles. They stopped once for twohours, to refresh themselves and their horses, and rode intoVendome's camp soon after nightfall. A large tent had been alreadyerected for Berwick's use, close to that of the marshal; andanother, close by, for the use of the officers who might come withhim.
A quarter of an hour later, a soldier entered the aides-de-camp'stent, with a large tray.
"The Duke of Berwick bids me say, gentlemen, that he is suppingwith the marshal, who has sent these dishes to you from his owntable."
"Please to give our thanks to the Duke of Vendome, for hiskindness," Desmond said; but when the soldier had left the tent,he went on, "I have no doubt that this is the result of asuggestion on the part of Berwick, and greatly obliged to him wemust feel. We had just been saying that we supposed we should getnothing to eat till tomorrow morning, while here is a supperworthy of the marshal, and four flasks of wine, which I doubt notare good."
It was ten o'clock before the duke returned to his tent, when heat once sent for his aides-de-camp.
"There will be nothing more for you to do, tonight, gentlemen.Sleep soundly, for we shall have a hard day's work tomorrow. Weare to cross the Scheldt again at daybreak. The enemy are on theother side of the Dender, and the next day a pitched battle willprobably be fought. You may be surprised that we do not wait untilmy forces arrive, but we have heard that Eugene's reinforcementsare within two days' march of Marlborough, and, as they are morenumerous than those I command, it has been decided to acceptbattle at once. Good night."
"The general is in a good temper," d'Eyncourt said, as theyreentered their tent. "I expect that his views have been adopted,and that there was a warm discussion over them."
This was indeed the case. The Duke of Burgundy, an obstinate manwithout any knowledge of war, had been in favour of pushingforward, crossing the Lys as well as the Scheldt, and attackingthe allies as soon as they met them. Vendome, on the other hand,was of opinion that the army which was now collected near Ghenthad better advance against Oudenarde, which might be carried by acoup de main before Marlborough could come to its assistance,which he might be some days in doing, seeing that he was incommand of a mixed force, composed of Dutch, Danes, Hanoverians,Prussians, and British. Burgundy then maintained that they shouldretire, and fight near Ypres, where they would be close to thefrontier, and could retire upon Lille in case matters went againstthem. Berwick, however, at last managed to persuade him to agreeto Vendome's plan, as the capture of Oudenarde was a matter of theutmost importance, and it would be as easy to fall back thence toLille as it would be from Ypres.
This Burgundy had sullenly assented to, and the next morning thearmy marched to the position fixed upon. This was on steeplyrising ground, with the river Norken running at its foot. Beyondthis were two other eminences, on each of which stood a windmill.That on the west was called the windmill of Oycke, and that on theadjoining hill the windmill of Royegham, the latter flanking themain position. Oudenarde being found to be strongly garrisoned, itwas decided, in spite of the opposition of Burgundy, to cross theScheldt at Gavre, and then to give battle to the allies betweenthat river and the Dender.
Marlborough had, however, been joined by Prince Eugene, who had,like Berwick, hurried on in advance of his army, and the two greatgenerals decided, instead of attacking the French by the road fromBrussels, to sweep round across the Scheldt at Oudenarde, and byother bridges across the river, and so to place themselves betweenVendome and France.
A portion of the French army was already in movement, when thenews came that the allies were fast coming up. Early the nextmorning their advance guard, composed of twelve battalions ofinfantry and the whole of the cavalry, reached the Scheldt; and,having thrown bridges over the river, crossed, and soon came incontact with the French advance guard, under Biron. There was somesevere fighting, in which neither party gained any greatadvantage, the French maintaining possession of the village ofEynes.
While this conflict was going on, Marlborough and Eugene, with themain body, had reached the river, and were engaged in crossing it;and Vendome determined to attack them while carrying out theoperation. He was, as usual, opposed by Burgundy, who wished tocontinue the march to Ghent. Marshal Vendome pointed out that, ina country so broken and interspersed with hedges, an armypossessing the greatest strength--for the French numberedeighty-five thousand, while Marlborough had but eighty thousandunder him--would lose the advantage of that superiority; and, uponBerwick strongly siding with the marshal, Burgundy was forced togive way.
The discussion lasted some time, enabling the allies to passbodies of troops across the river, where they were formed up at avillage a few hundred yards north of Oudenarde; and immediate
lyMarlborough felt strong enough to risk an attack, orders were sentto Cadogan, who commanded the advance guard, to drive the enemyout of Eynes.
Four English battalions attacked the seven French battalions inthe village, while the cavalry crossed higher up, and came down onthe back of the village. Three of the French battalions weresurrounded and made prisoners, while the other four weredispersed.
It was now evident, even to Burgundy, that an action could not beavoided, but again an angry dispute took place. Vendome would havestood on the defensive, with the river Norken to be crossed beforehe could be attacked. He was, however, overruled by Burgundy, whohad nominally chief command. Marlborough took advantage of thedelay, and posted his troops in front of the castle of Bevere, andsent the twelve battalions at Eynes to reinforce his left, againstwhich he saw the main attack of the French would be directed. Hethen lined all the hedges with infantry, and stationed twentyBritish battalions, under Argyle, in reserve.
Crossing the Norken, the French fell upon the Dutch andHanoverians, who constituted the left wing, and who, thoughfighting obstinately, were driven back. Marlborough moved from thecentre with twenty battalions to reinforce them, and despatchedEugene to command on the right.
A desperate fight now took place. On both flanks, the ground wasbroken by enclosures with deep wet ditches, bridges, woods, andsmall villages; and the cavalry were unable to act on such ground.The infantry on both sides fought with extreme resolution; everyhedge, ditch, bridge, and house being defended to the last.Seldom, indeed, in modern warfare, has so obstinate and terrible afight taken place. Frequently the combatants were mingledtogether, and fought with bayonets and the butt ends of theirmuskets.
Gradually, however, the Dutch and the Hanoverian battalions wontheir way forward, and drove the French back to the village ofDiepenbeck, where the latter successfully maintained themselves.Marlborough then ordered General Overkirk to move round and seizethe hill at Oycke, which, although it flanked the enemy'sposition, was not held by them.
This he did, with twenty Dutch and Danish battalions, who had onlyjust crossed the river. He then pressed on and seized the mill ofRoyegham, thus cutting the communication between the French atDiepenbeck and the troops that still remained on the plateaubeyond the Norken. Eugene then swung round his right, and,pressing forward, surrounded the French on that side, socompletely enveloping them that his men and those of Overkirk eachbelieved the other to be French--for darkness had now fallen--andfought for some time before the mistake was discovered.
As, in such a country, it was impossible to move troops in regularformation in the darkness, Marlborough gave orders for the troopsto halt in the positions they held. Had the light lasted two hourslonger, the whole of the French army would have been slain orcaptured; but, under cover of darkness, the greater portion madetheir way through the intervals of the allied troops. Many fled toGhent, while thousands made for the French frontier. Vendome lostin killed and wounded six thousand men, and nine thousandprisoners, and his total loss exceeded twenty thousand; while theallies lost five thousand, of whom the great majority were Dutch,Danes, and Germans.
The French troops on the plateau withdrew, under the direction ofVendome, in good order; and before morning a large number offugitives had rallied. Marlborough sent forty squadrons of horsein pursuit of them, but the French showed so firm an attitude thatthe cavalry were unable to seriously interfere with their retreat.Berwick had remained, during the day, near the marshal; and hadplaced his aides-de-camp at his disposal, for the difficulty ofthe ground, and the distance from the plateau of the variouspoints at which the troops were engaged, rendered communicationmuch slower than it otherwise would have been, and Desmond and hiscompanions were frequently sent off with orders.
It was the first time Desmond had been under fire, and the effectof the roar of musketry, the whizzing of bullets, and the shoutsof the combatants, gave him a much stronger feeling of discomfortthan he had expected. The roar of cannon was not added to theother sounds, for the guns of the day were clumsy and difficult tomove; and, owing to the rapid marches and countermarches of botharmies, the greater portion of the artillery had been left behind,and only a few guns were on the field, and these, in so close andconfined a country, were of little use.
Desmond felt now that he would far rather be fighting in the thickof it, with O'Brien's regiment, than making his way alone alongthe lanes, impeded constantly by columns advancing to the front,while he was met by a stream of wounded men making their way tothe rear.
At first, all was exultation among the troops, for as theHanoverians and Dutch were forced to give way before the assaultof the main body of the French, shouts of victory rose; and it wasconfidently believed that they would, this day, avenge the twogreat victories Marlborough and Eugene had gained over them.
Having delivered his orders to the officer in command, Desmondrode back. Vendome and Berwick had both dismounted, and werestanding together, with a few of their staff, at the edge of theplateau, examining the field with their telescopes.
"I have delivered your message, sir," he said, riding up andsaluting. "The general bade me tell you all was going well. Theenemy were falling back, and will soon be in full flight."
"Very well, Mr. Kennedy. By this time, he will have found out thathe was a little too sanguine."
The fire had, indeed, for the past few minutes broken out withaugmented fury. Marlborough had arrived at the threatened point,and had placed himself at the head of the Dutch and Hanoverians,and, animated by his presence, these had not only ceased to fallback, but were in turn advancing.
"The battle is not won yet, Kennedy," O'Sullivan, who had returneda few minutes before from the front, said, as he joined him. "Onour left we are being driven back, for a large force hasreinforced the enemy there, and unless our main column defeats theallied left, and pushes them into Oudenarde, we shall have nightcoming on before we have finished; and, as our cavalry cannot actin these cramped fields, Marlborough will be able to draw offwithout any great loss."
For an hour, there was no change. Then Berwick, looking round,beckoned to Desmond.
"Mr. Kennedy," he said, "a strong force of the enemy moved, halfan hour ago, towards their left. I have lost sight of them, owingto the high hedges and trees, but it does not seem to me that theycan have joined in the battle. Our troops are strongly posted atDiepenbeck, and should be able to maintain themselves thereagainst the whole allied army; but the enemy cannot see ourdispositions, and would surely have pushed forward and made adesperate assault on the village, had they been joined by thestrong force I saw moving in that direction.
"It may be that this force has been held in reserve, in case ourline should be reinforced, and again advance. Marlborough may becontent to hold his own on his left, while Prince Eugene, who, wehave heard, commands on their right, turns our flank on that side.
"I wish you to ascertain, if possible, what this force is doing,and where it is posted. If you ride across to the mill, on theeminence behind Diepenbeck, you may be able to get sight of them;or, if the smoke renders it impossible to discover matters fromthat point, ride on to the farther hill, and, descending there onthe enemy's left, you will be able to make your way close enoughto ascertain what is going on. You are well mounted, and need notgreatly fear capture, for they would hardly care to divert a partyof cavalry in pursuit of a single officer. Still, it is as wellnot to push your horse too hard on your way out, for you maypossibly need all his strength."
A minute later, Desmond was cantering his horse down the declivityto the Norken. Crossing by the bridge near Mullen, he turned tothe right and rode up the hill of Royegham. Here a strong brigade,composed of cavalry and infantry, under General Grimaldi, wasstationed. Desmond rode up to him.
"The Duke of Berwick has sent me to ascertain, sir, the positionof a strong body of the enemy's troops, whom he observed marchingfrom the river towards our right. May I ask if you have noticedthem?"
"We saw them move away, after crossing the river, but have
notseen them since. I should fancy they are engaged in front ofDiepenbeck; but the ground is so undulating, and the view soobscured by smoke, that we have not caught sight of them sincethey issued from Oudenarde--indeed, the hill behind Diepenbeckprevents our seeing down into the low land beyond."
"I will ride on there, sir," Desmond said. "Certainly a betterview can be obtained than from this side."
A canter of a mile took him to the summit of the hill at whosefoot Diepenbeck stood. He could see the masses of French troops,gathered in and in front of the village; but beyond that a veil ofsmoke covered the country, and entirely obscured the contendingparties, whose position could only be guessed by the incessantrattle of their musketry fire.
Turning again, he rode down the dip that separated the hill fromthat of Oycke. He had just gained the crest, when he saw a largeforce marching rapidly towards the mill. Seeing at once theserious nature of the movement, he turned and galloped, at fullspeed, to the point where the generals were still watching theprogress of the fight.
"I could learn nothing of the force you spoke of from GeneralGrimaldi at Royegham, nor on the heights above Diepenbeck; but,riding towards Oycke, I saw them advancing at full speed towardsthe windmill, at which they had already almost arrived."
An exclamation of anger broke from the duke.
"This is what comes," he muttered, "of placing a fool in commandof the army."
Turning away, he at once communicated the news to Vendome, whostamped his foot furiously on the ground.
"Just when victory was in our grasp," he said, and turned hisglass towards Oycke, which was some four miles distant.
"I can make them out now," he said. "There is a black mass issuingfrom the village of Oycke, and ascending the hill in the directionof Royegham. It is too late to reinforce Grimaldi there. They willbe upon him before we can cross the Norken. But, at any rate, wemust send a brigade down to Henhelm, where, with Grimaldi's men,they can try to keep open the road from Diepenbeck."
Ten minutes later they could hear, by a sudden outburst of fire,that Grimaldi was engaged. The sun had already set, but Berwickwas able to make out, with his glass, that the left was giving waybefore the attack of Eugene, and that the twenty battalions underArgyle, which had hitherto remained inactive, were advancing bythe main road leading, through Mullen, to the plateau on whichthey stood.
"The day is lost," Berwick said bitterly. "The troops atDiepenbeck are completely cut off. Darkness alone can save themfrom annihilation. And to think that, if it had not been forBurgundy, we could have maintained ourselves here against doublethe force of the allies! So long as the system of giving thecommand of armies to royal incapables continues, we cannot hopefor success."
Vendome lost no time in issuing orders. The troops still on theplateau were brought forward, whence their fire would command itsapproaches. Aides-de-camp were sent in all directions, to orderthe generals of divisions to draw off at once, and to make theirway up to the plateau; and Berwick's four aides-de-camp were toldto make their way, if possible, by different routes to Diepenbeck,and to give orders for the troops there to maintain themselves, atall costs, until darkness had completely fallen; and then to maketheir way as best they could to the plateau; if that wasimpossible, to march for either Ghent or Lille.
"The service is a desperate one, gentlemen," Berwick said, as heturned to give the orders to his officers, "but it is necessary,for if the force remain there until morning, they are allirretrievably lost. It is getting dark already, and you may,therefore, hope to pass unnoticed between the intervals of theenemy. If you get there safely, do not try to return at once, but,like the rest, endeavour to make off during the night."
Without waiting for orders, Mike followed his master. Going down,they met the remnants of Biron's division flying in disorder. Theyseparated at the bridge of Mullen, and, with a word of adieu tohis comrades, Desmond turned to the right, and rode forGroenvelde.
Suddenly, a volley of musketry was fired from the hill to theright. Desmond staggered for a moment in the saddle, and thebridle fell from his left hand. Mike was by his side in a moment.
"Where are you hurt, master?"
"In the left wrist, I fancy. By the way the hand hangs down, itmust have smashed both bones. However, there is no time to wait,now. It is a matter of life and death to get to Diepenbeck."
"One moment, your honour. Let me put your hand into the breast ofyour coatee; then, if you keep your elbow tight against your body,it will keep it steady."
Although Mike carried out his suggestion as gently as he could,Desmond almost fainted with pain.
"Take a drop of brandy from your flask, master. It won't take halfa minute, and then we will be off."
They continued their journey. The rattle of musketry, ahead ofthem, showed that the combat had already commenced close by;between either the advancing troops of Argyle, or those who hadcrossed the hill of Royegham; and Grimaldi's brigade, which wasprobably endeavouring to hold them in check, until the troops atDiepenbeck came back.
It was already too dark to distinguish the uniforms, except at adistance of a few yards. Dashing on, he saw a dark massahead--three officers rode out.
"Who are you, sir?" they shouted.
"I am carrying a report from the general," he replied, in English,and without drawing rein dashed on, passing within twenty yards ofthe column, and reached Diepenbeck without further interruption.
In the centre of the village, the French general was sitting onhis horse, surrounded by his staff. The combat beyond raged asfuriously as before. Desmond rode up, and saluted.
"I am the bearer of orders from Marshal Vendome, sir," he said."He bid me tell you that a large force of the enemy has crossedthe hills of Oycke and Royegham, and is already in your rear, theenemy's right overlapping your left; while the whole Britishreserve is pressing forward, and will ere long effect a junctionwith both these forces. Your retreat, therefore, is entirely cutoff. The orders are that you shall maintain yourself here as longas possible, as in the darkness and confusion, it is unlikely thatthe allies can attack you from the rear before morning.
"The marshal himself holds the plateau, and will continue to doso. You are to make your way tonight, if possible, in battalionsand in good order, through the intervals between the variousdivisions of the enemy; or, if that is not possible, singly. Allare to endeavour to join him on the plateau. Those who cannot dothis are to make for Ghent or Lille."
"Your order scarcely comes as a surprise, sir," the general saidbitterly. "We have heard firing in our rear for some time, and wewere afraid that things had gone badly with us, after all."
He at once gave orders that the troops behind the village were totake up a position to resist any attack made in that direction.Desmond dismounted, as did Mike, and the latter took the twohorses, fastened them to a tree, and then, with Desmond's scarf,bound his arm firmly against his side.
"We have made a mess of it entirely, your honour," he said, "andhave got a terrible bating. Sure we were lucky in getting here.Faith, I thought we were caught when you were hailed."
"It was a narrow escape, Mike; and if they had waited till I hadgot a little nearer, and had seen my uniform, I must havesurrendered."
"It seems to me that we are like rats in a trap, Mr. Kennedy."
"Something like it, Mike; but it is hard if we can't get throughthem, in the dark."
"That we will do, sure enough," Mike said confidently; "but whichway should we go?"
"That I can't tell you. You see, they are in strength in front,Marlborough and Eugene are on the left and partly behind us, andthe troops you saw come across the hills are somewhere in therear. If it were daylight, not a man of us would escape; but as itis, it will be hard if we cannot make our way through.
"What I am thinking about chiefly, at present, is the safety ofO'Sullivan, O'Neil, and d'Eyncourt. They ought to have been hereas soon as we were. They may either have lost their way in thedarkness, or fallen into the hands of the enemy. However, I shallnot give the
m up for another half hour."
The firing was now abating, and presently died away completely;except for a few scattered shots, showing that the allies had beenhalted where they stood, and were no longer pressing forward.Another hour passed, and Desmond's comrades were still absent.
In the meantime, the general had called together the colonels ofthe several regiments, had explained the situation to them, andrepeated Vendome's orders. The news came like a thunderbolt uponthem, for the din of firing round the village had completelydeadened all distant sound, and they were wholly unaware of whatwas passing in other parts of the field.
"I must leave the matter to your individual discretion," thegeneral said. "Those of you who think your men can be relied on,can try to escape and join the marshal in a body. Those who havenot that confidence in their regiments--and indeed some of thesehave been almost annihilated--had best tell them to scatter. Thosewho remain here will assuredly be made prisoners in the morning.
"It is possible that that may be the better plan, for it is betterto surrender than to be cut to pieces. I therefore leave thematter entirely in your hands. I myself shall remain here. We havedone all that men can do in the way of fighting, and, as I wastold to hold this place till the last, I shall remain at my post."
Desmond was present when this conversation took place.
"We will wait another hour, Mike," he said, as he rejoined hisfollower. "We may be sure that the greater part of the enemy'stroops will be asleep by that time. They must have made atremendous march, for the news last night was that they weretwenty miles away; and they have been fighting twelve hours. Aftersuch work as that, the men will drop down to sleep as soon as theyhave halted."
"Shall we go on horse or on foot, your honour?"
"I think the best plan will be to lead our horses, Mike, acrossthis country. It would seem natural to do so, and once throughthem, we could then gallop round and join the troops on theplateau."
"I should say, sir, that if I were to steal out to where they havebeen fighting for the last six hours, I might get a couple ofuniforms to put over our own. They will be lying thick enoughthere, poor chaps. If we had them on, we might pass through anytroops we might meet, as we both speak English."
"That is a good idea, Mike, if you can carry it out."
"Sure I can do that, and without difficulty, your honour. I expectthe enemy have drawn back a little, so as to be in some sort oforder if we were to fall upon them in the night; and I know thatall our men have been recalled. I will fasten the horses to thistree, and perhaps your honour will keep an eye on them."
"I will stay with them, Mike."
The soldier at once made off. The village was now crowded withtroops. All order was at an end, and the regiments wereconsiderably mixed up. The officers went among them, saying thatan attempt was going to be made to pass through the enemy, andjoin the force on the plateau. They pointed out that there was atleast as much hope in being able to do so as in making off singly.
Many of the soldiers, not having themselves suffered defeat,responded to the call; and several bodies, four or five hundredstrong, marched out into the darkness. The majority, however,decided to shift for themselves, and stole away in threes andfours. Of those that remained, some broke into the village wineand beer shops and drank to stupefaction; while others, exhaustedby the efforts of the day, threw themselves down and slept.
Mike was away half an hour.
"I have got an officer's cloak for you, and a helmet withfeathers. I think he must have been a staff officer, who waskilled while delivering his orders. I have got a soldier'sovercoat and shako for myself."
"Capital, Mike! Now I think that we can venture, and we will gothe shortest way. We might very well lose ourselves among thesehills, if we were to try to make a circuit."
Having put the Dutch uniforms over their own, they set out, takingthe way to the left until they came to the main road by which theBritish reserve had advanced. Then they mounted their horses.
"It is no use trying to make our way through the broken ground,Mike. There is another road that goes through Huerne. We willstrike that, and must so get round on the right of the enemy. Evenif we come upon them, we are not likely to excite suspicion, as weshall be on a road leading from Oudenarde.
"I was noticing that road from the height. It runs into thisagain, near Mullen, and the enemy are not likely to have postedthemselves so near to the river."
They rode on through Huerne. The village was full of wounded. Noone paid them any attention, and they again went on, untilsuddenly they were challenged with the usual "Who comes there?"
"A staff officer, with despatches," Desmond replied.
He heard the butt of the soldier's musket drop upon the ground,and rode forward.
"Can you tell me, my man," he said as he reached the sentinel,"where the Duke of Marlborough is to be found?"
"I don't know, sir," the man replied. "Only our regiment is here.I know there are a number of cavalry away there on the left, and Iheard someone say that the duke himself was there. There is acrossroad, a hundred yards farther on, which will lead you tothem."
Thanking the man, Desmond rode on. A few bivouac fires had beenlighted, and these were already beginning to burn low, the troopshaving dropped asleep almost as soon as they halted.
"I hope we shall meet no more of them, Mike," Desmond said, asthey went on at a brisk trot. "I sha'n't feel quite safe till weget to Mullen."
They met, however, with no further interruption. As they crossedthe bridge, they halted, took off the borrowed uniforms, threwaway the headgear and put on their own hats, which they carriedunder their cloaks, and then rode on up the hill, after havingfirst satisfied the officer commanding a strong guard placed atthe bridge that they were friends.
Another ten minutes, and they were upon the plateau. Desmond hadno difficulty in finding out where the headquarters wereestablished at Hayse, and, riding there, he at once went into thehouse occupied by Berwick, and reported his return.
"I am glad to see you back again, Kennedy," the duke said,heartily. "It is something to have recovered one friend from thewreck. Now, what is your news?"
Desmond related what had happened to him from the time he left,and said that a large proportion of the troops at Diepenbeck hadalready left, and, as he heard no outburst of firing, he hopedmost of them had got safely away.
"I see you are wounded."
"I have had my wrist smashed with a musket ball, fired by a partyon a hill to the right, belonging, I suppose, to the force thatcame up from Oycke."
"You had a narrow escape of your life," Berwick said. "If you hadbeen hit a little farther back, the ball would have gone throughyour body. Sit down at once. I will send for my surgeon."
And he instantly gave orders for the surgeon of the staff to cometo his tent, and then made Desmond, who was suffering terriblyfrom the agony of the wound, drink a tumbler of wine.
"I know you are all busy, doctor," the duke said, as the surgeonentered, "but you must do something for Mr. Kennedy, who is badlywounded in the arm."
The surgeon examined the wound, and shook his head.
"Both bones are fractured," he said, "and I am afraid that thereis nothing for it but amputation."
"Then leave it till tomorrow, doctor," Desmond said faintly."There must be a number of poor fellows who want your attentionmuch more than I do."
"That would do, if I could make you a cradle, but we are badly offfor all surgical appliances."
"Could you cut one out of one of my jack boots?"
"A capital idea, Mr. Kennedy. Nothing could be better. And I willput it in operation, at once, with some of my other patients."
"Mr. Kennedy is full of expedients, doctor, and it seems to methat this may be really a valuable one. All the cavalry men havejack boots, and I will give you an order to requisition as many asmay be required. The men can get new ones from the stores atGhent."
The surgeon at once cut off the foot of one of Desmond's boots,and then divided
the leg longways. "There," he said, taking up oneof the halves; "you could not wish for a better cradle."
He took out some lint that he had brought with him, together withsome flat splints, bound the hand in its proper position, and thenlaid the arm from the elbow to the fingers in the cradle, roundwhich he tightly put a few bandages to keep it in position.
"Now for your scarf," he said, and with this made a sling tosupport the arm.
The whole operation did not take five minutes.
"Now, Mr. Kennedy, you had best lie down and get what sleep youcan. I will take the other half of your boot, and the other bootalso. It will be no use without its fellow. It will make threewounded men comparatively comfortable, and I will send for somemore from the troopers."
"Yes, lie down at once, Kennedy," Berwick said. "We are going tomarch off at daybreak, and the marshal and I have arrangedeverything between ourselves. You had better try and eatsomething, if it is only a wing of that chicken and a fewmouthfuls of meat. Your faintness must be due as much to hunger asto your wound, for you have been at work since early morning, andcannot have had time to eat anything."
This was indeed the case, and Desmond managed to swallow a fewmouthfuls, and then lay down upon the sofa, where, in spite of thepain of his wound, he presently dozed off, being utterly worn outwith the work and excitement of the day.
Before morning, some five thousand of the troops from Diepenbeckhad marched into the camp, in good order and with their arms, andas soon as it was daylight the whole force started for Ghent. Withdeep regret, Desmond had learned from the marshal, before lyingdown, that none of his comrades had returned; and as they had notreached Diepenbeck, he felt sure that they were either killed orprisoners.
"D'Eyncourt will, of course, be treated as a prisoner of war; butif the identity of O'Sullivan or O'Neil is proved with theofficers of that name who escaped from Newgate, it is likely to gohard with him."
After repulsing the cavalry sent in pursuit, the army marched awayunmolested, being joined as they went by large numbers offugitives, who had made their way through the allied lines insmall parties. Marlborough's army remained on the ground they hadwon, collecting and caring for the wounded of both armies.
Two days later, Berwick's corps joined Vendome, and that of Eugenemarched into Marlborough's camp. In spite of the loss that he hadsuffered at Oudenarde, this reinforcement raised Vendome's army toover one hundred and ten thousand men, which was about the sameforce as Marlborough had under his command.
After Eugene had joined him, standing as he did between Vendome'sarmy and Paris, Marlborough proposed that the enemy's fortressesshould be neglected, and that the army should march directly onParis. The movement might have been attended with success, but wasof so daring a description that even Eugene opposed it, while thecommanders of the Dutch, Danes, and Prussians were unanimouslyagainst it; and he consequently decided to lay siege to Lille--atremendous undertaking, for Lille was considered the strongestfortress in France, and Vendome, with over a hundred thousand men,was within a couple of days' march of it.
His dispositions were made with extreme care, and a tremendousconvoy of heavy artillery, ammunition, and provisions was broughtup from Ostend, without the French being able to interfere withits progress. Marlborough, with his British contingent and theHanoverians, was to cover the operations of the siege, which wasto be undertaken by Prince Eugene with the rest of the alliedarmy.
Vendome marched at once with his army, and, making a circuit,placed himself between Lille and Paris, deserting his recentconquests in Ypres, Ghent, and Bruges, all of which fell into thehands of the allies.