Soldier of Fortune cr-1

by Edward Marston

Abigail was a little unsteady at first but he did not have to support her as they walked through the camp. As her mind cleared, she began to recall a few details.

  'I thought we were standing by a stream,' she said.

  'We were, Abigail.'

  'Then how did I come to be lying beside that tent?'

  'I carried you there,' he said.

  'Oh, I've been such a terrible nuisance to you.'

  'Not at all — I was glad to be of assistance. But I do think you need a long rest. We won't be able to meet for a while, I'm afraid. That's why these moments alone with you have been so memorable.'

  'They'd be memorable to me, if only I could remember them.'

  They shared a friendly laugh. Daniel chatted with her all the way back but his mind was elsewhere. His memory was not impaired. What he remembered most vividly was the failed attempt at killing him. As he had predicted, the assassin had come back.

  Edward Marston

  Soldier of Fortune

  The Confederate army set out at 3 a.m. on July 2, 1704. After a long, tiring, demanding march over muddy roads, they arrived to find that Marshal Marsin and the Elector of Bavaria had, as earlier reports had indicated, occupied the fortified town of Dillingen with the major part of their army. Though a smaller force of over 13,000 soldiers guarded the Schellenberg, it was still a forbidding sight on its elevated position. Frantic efforts to strengthen the dilapidated defences of the hill were in progress and, more worrying to Marlborough, was the fact that an encampment for a large army had been laid out on the south bank of the Danube. Once that was filled with French and Bavarian soldiers, supplemented by the reinforcements on their way, any crossing of the river would be virtually impossible.

  Count Jean d'Arco, commanding the force on the Schellenberg, was a Piedmontese soldier with a reputation for brilliance in the field. Though he was surprised by the sudden appearance of the enemy, he was relieved to see quartermasters marking out formal lines for a camp with a series of stakes. The army needed rest. Exhausted from their march, he reasoned, they would have neither the strength nor will to launch an attack until the following day. D'Arco and his senior officers therefore went off to dinner in the town without the slightest qualms. Confident that they would not require their weapons that evening, no fewer than ten battalions of Bavarians had crossed the pontoon bridge from the south bank of the Danube without their muskets.

  They had all been tricked by Marlborough. He had quickly assessed the situation. To attack on the following day would be to give the enemy more time to fortify the hill, making it more difficult to storm and increasing the likely number of casualties in Confederate ranks. Marlborough therefore elected to attack at once, a decision that was strongly opposed by the Margrave of Baden who feared that a frontal assault would result in heavy losses. He was overruled by Marlborough who was ready to bear such losses if he could achieve his aim of securing a crossing on the Danube.

  The Duke's Wing — with Captain Daniel Rawson part of it — had been leading the march and so was closer to the town than anyone else. They supplied the troops for the main assault. It was led by 5,750 stormers, drawn from the grenadier companies and volunteers from every battalion in the Allied army. Since artillery would be vital, Colonel Holcroft Blood set up a battery between the outlying village of Berg and the foot of the Schellenberg. They were supported by an Imperial battery, sent forward by Baden. The Kaiback stream made the ground boggy and it took time to manoeuvre all the pieces into position. Marlborough had had to leave his heaviest artillery back in Flanders but still felt that he had enough to carry the day.

  The attack began at six o'clock in the evening with only two hours of daylight left. It was preceded by a Forlorn Hope. Commanded by Lord John Mordaunt and drawn from the 1 ^st English Foot Guards, it consisted of eighty courageous soldiers ready to defy death as they drew the enemy fire so that their generals could determine where the defences were strongest. Daniel Rawson had joined the Forlorn Hope, undeterred by the fears of Abigail Piper and feeling the familiar buzz of excitement as they went forward at a brisk pace. When he glanced at Lord Mordaunt beside him, he was amused to recall that the man had once nursed vain ambitions of becoming Marlborough's son-in-law.

  The stray thought flew out of Daniel's mind as quickly as it had entered it. All his attention was needed for the fight. Like his comrades, Daniel was carrying a fascine, a bundle of tightly packed branches cut from the trees of the Boschberg by the dragoons. They were to be cast into the ditches in front of the breastworks so that they would be easier to cross. As they charged on, shouting and cheering at the top of their voices, many of the men hurled their fascines into the sunken lane at the bottom of the hill where they would be of little use. Daniel and a few others kept theirs until they reached an entrenchment farther up the hill.

  The enemy had been outwitted. D'Arco and his officers came running back to take command of their men while the Bavarian battalions scrambled back across the pontoon bridge to retrieve their weapons from the camp. Even before the first shot was fired, the noise was deafening as the attackers yelled 'God save the Queen!' and, on a signal from their officers, broke ranks to charge at full speed. The Forlorn Hope was a mere eighty paces away when the Bavarian Electoral Guards and the Grenadiers Rouges unleashed a fierce volley that killed or wounded dozens of the attackers. Daniel was knocked helplessly to the ground as the soldier next to him was hit by three simultaneous musket balls and thrown sideways by the force of the impact.

  The Schellenberg was a bell-shaped hill with a flattened top on which the French troops were ranged. The first artillery bombardment from Colonel Blood and his men wreaked havoc on the summit but went harmlessly over the heads of the Bavarians on the lower slopes. It left them free to repulse the first attack with raking fire that had British and Dutch soldiers crashing down on all sides. Daniel was dismayed to see General Goor, leading the Dutch troops, cut down by the enemy. Resounding volleys of musket fire were supported by fearsome canister shot from the battery on the hill. When they saw the attackers retiring, the Bavarian guards charged down the hill to harry them with the bayonets at the ready. Daniel had to slash away with his sword to keep them at bay.

  He killed one man with a thrust then hacked two more to the ground before falling back with the others towards a sunken road, fifty yards from the ramparts, that gave them moderate cover. Only steady and disciplined fire from the English Guards and from Orkney's Regiment stopped the Bavarians continuing their charge. The hail of bullets beat them back behind the fortifications. After re-forming in the sunken road, the Confederate army stormed back to renew their assault, only to be met by another burst of deadly fire from muskets and another pounding from artillery. Corpses lay in heaps everywhere. Daniel had to climb over fallen soldiers to go forward then use some of the human mounds as shields when the volleys rang out.

  Marlborough already had some idea of the troop disposition of the enemy from a corporal who had deserted from the Schellenberg. The early stages of the battle confirmed what the captain-general had been told. Defences were stout at the point of attack but there had to be weaknesses elsewhere. Marlborough sent an officer to survey the defences that linked the fort with the town of Donauworth. The report that was brought back was encouraging. The line of gabions — wicker baskets filled with stones — was completely unoccupied. The Regiment de Nettancourt, the French troops guarding that particular area, had been assigned elsewhere, leaving D'Arco's position exposed on the left.

  It was time to bring the Margrave of Baden and his Imperial Grenadiers into the battle. Baden hurried his men along the bank of the Kaiback stream, out of range of any musket fire from Donauworth. There followed a steep climb up grassy slopes made treacherous by the light rain that was falling. When they reached the abandoned gabions, they attacked the French in their flank so that D'Arco and his men were put under fire from two directions. The Regiment de Nectancourt bore the brunt of the attack and, along with the French dragoons who came to their ai
d, resisted bravely but they were unable to withstand it for long. They were soon overwhelmed.

  Seeing that their comrades were in difficulties, the four battalions defending the town fired ineffectually at Baden's men yet made no attempt to come out and fight them. The Electoral Guards and Grenadiers Rouges had fought gallantly against the initial onslaughts but they could not cope with an attack on their flank as well. As the remorseless advance continued in front of them and to their side, they lost their nerve and ran for their lives. Daniel Rawson joined the murderous chase. Having seen so many friends of his mercilessly cut down by enemy fire, he would give no quarter.

  So many French and Bavarian soldiers hurtled madly across one of the pontoon bridges that it broke under the combined weight and tossed everyone into the water. Scores of them who could not swim were drowned in the Danube and many of those who did strike out for the south bank were picked off by Confederate musketry. It was a scene of absolute carnage. To complete the rout, Marlborough let loose his cavalry, and his remounted dragoons, in hot pursuit of the fleeing enemy and the fugitives were systematically hacked to death by flailing blades.

  The Schellenberg had been successfully stormed but the Allied army had paid a high price for the victory. Over a quarter of the strong assault force — 1500 soldiers at least — had lost their lives. To set against such losses were important gains. Some 9000 of the garrison had been killed or taken prisoner. Also captured were 15 pieces of cannon, 13 colours and a large quantity of ammunition, weaponry, tents, baggage and camp utensils. In his haste to escape, Count d'Arco had left behind his plate and other rich booty. It was distributed among the victorious soldiers.

  It was not until the fighting was over that Daniel realised how bruised and bloodied he was. One musket ball had grazed his cheek and others had ripped through his sleeve. While parrying one bayonet thrust, he had received a glancing blow from another that split open the back of his coat and left him with a gash that oozed blood. His whole body was now aching with fatigue and he felt as if he had been trampled in a cavalry charge. Covered in mud and in the gore of his fellows, he was nevertheless buoyed up by the sheer exhilaration of victory. The first stage of Marlborough's plan had been accomplished. They had attained their objective.

  Only now, when it was all over, could he think about Abigail Piper once more. He recalled the plea she had made on the bank of the stream. She had been right to express fear about his involvement in the Forlorn Hope. It had been a communal act of sacrifice.

  Of the eighty men in that first doomed charge, only ten British soldiers had survived. Daniel Rawson was one of them.

  CHAPTER TEN

  There was still plenty of work left for the Confederate army. They had captured the fort on the Schellenberg but the town of Donauworth remained intact and well-defended. It had to be taken because it would block the road to Vienna and stop Marlborough's forces moving deep into the rich countryside of Bavaria, threatening its towns and villages on the way. When the fleeing garrison from the hill had been hunted down by the cavalry, the remnants of the assault force regrouped to count the cost of their victory and to tend the wounded. Captain Daniel Rawson returned to take charge of his battalion. His orders were to join the attack on the town.

  It had been a disastrous engagement for Count d'Arco. His corps had been utterly destroyed and many of his finest officers had been killed. When he saw that his cause was hopeless, he had fled to the town and had some difficulty persuading the garrison commander to let him in. The report that he gave to the Elector of Bavaria was laced with sorrow and apology. Though his men had withstood the early assaults with characteristic valour, they had succumbed in the end to superior numbers and a flanking movement by Baden's men.

  The Elector was shocked. In the fierce engagement, his army had lost some of its best soldiers and been significantly weakened. The Elector himself was now in danger. In the interest of personal safety, he and Marshal Marsin were forced to retreat ignominiously to a fortified camp at Augsburg in order to wait for Marshal Tallard.

  The Duke of Marlborough was deeply saddened by the severe losses he had sustained but accepted that they were an unfortunate necessity. Having seized the initiative, he was quick to press home his advantage. He knew that, before quitting the town, the enemy would try to lay waste to Donauworth so that its usefulness as a base for the Confederate army would be drastically reduced. His artillery was therefore repositioned and his battalions redeployed. Throughout the evening and into the night, there was a constant exchange of fire as Marlborough's men slowly tightened their grip on Donauworth.

  It fell to Colonel du Bordet to destroy the town and he ordered his men to put straw into the houses so that they could be burnt to the ground. Time, however, was against him. When reports came in that the Allied army had breached the defences and was fighting its way through the suburbs, the French colonel feared that their retreat would be cut off. An immediate evacuation ensued. Fire raged through some houses but the rest were abandoned before they could even be torched. The first thing that the incoming troops did was to help the beleaguered townspeople put out the flames. By four o'clock in the morning, Donauworth was in the hands of the Confederate army.

  Daniel Rawson had been one of the first officers to lead his men into the town. Having helped to douse the fires and chase the last few French soldiers out of Donauworth, he was able to take stock of what they had actually gained by the seizure of the town apart from a strategic position on the Danube. Back in the camp, he passed on full details to his commander in the latter's quarters. Daniel still bore the scars of battle and his long red coat was scuffed and torn.

  'It was an excellent haul, Your Grace,' he said cheerfully. 'We've secured three cannon, muskets, ammunition, utensils, 3000 sacks of flour and oats and everything you'd expect to find in an army camp. Most of the officers left their baggage behind as well. As for the river, we now have a dozen pontoon bridges at our disposal. The last French regiment in the town fled across one of them like frightened rabbits.'

  'This is all very heartening,' said Marlborough, taking the inventory from him so that he could inspect it. 'I've waited a long time to put a French army to flight.'

  'I fancy that the Bavarians can run even faster.'

  'Those who escaped will be back, Daniel. When they've licked their wounds, they'll join up with Marshal Tallard and seek revenge. Talking of wounds,' he added, peering closely at Daniel's bloodstained face, 'you look as if you've picked up a few of them yourself.'

  'My injuries can wait for attention, Your Grace. I was not going to leave the fray until we'd taken both the hill and the town. Besides,' he went on, gritting his teeth, 'the surgeons have enough on their hands at the moment. Some of our men have crippling injuries.'

  Marlborough nodded gravely. 'The worst cases will be taken back to our hospital at Nordlingen though many may not survive the journey. I don't relish passing on details of casualties to Parliament and to the States-General in Holland,' he confided. 'Public opinion in both countries will be outraged by the size of our losses.'

  'Given the situation, they were unavoidable.'

  'Politicians never understand a military situation, Daniel. They view everything in terms of numbers lost and costs incurred. I'll come in for sharp criticism, especially in Holland.'

  'That may be so,' said Daniel, 'but the Emperor will have the sense to appreciate the importance of this victory. The Imperial capital is now protected from French and Bavarian advance.'

  'That was a major objective of the enterprise. Emperor Leopold will also be pleased to hear how well Louis of Baden and his men conducted themselves. In scaling the hill and attacking the left flank, they did us good service.'

  'Your strategy was sound, Your Grace. You struck when they least expected it. Had you postponed the assault by a day, the outcome might have been very different.'

  'Either way, I would have been left with a lot of letters to write.'

  'Of course,' said Daniel, taking the
hint. 'I'll hold you up no longer but I felt that you might wish to include some of the details of that inventory in any correspondence.'

  'I most certainly will. Before you go,' said Marlborough as his visitor was about to leave, 'I meant to ask you about Abigail Piper. Is she still resolved to stay?'

  'I'm afraid that she is.'

  'I did my best to persuade her to return home.'

  'So did I, Your Grace, but she's an obstinate young lady.'

  'Love can instil the most extraordinary tenacity.'

  'True,' said Daniel, 'but even her tenacity might wilt if Abigail knew that I came very close to dying right beside her. It seems that I'm fighting a war on two fronts.'

  He told Marlborough about his stroll along the bank of a stream with Abigail and how she had saved him from being shot by fainting in his arms at the critical moment. Marlborough was aghast.

  'Why didn't you tell me this before?' he asked.

  'You were preoccupied with other matters, Your Grace. I'm not vain enough to think that my personal problems take precedence over the storming of the Schellenberg and the capture of the town. When you are concerned with the deployment in battle of thousands of men, the troubles of one are immaterial. In any case,' he continued with a grin, 'I've long believed that I have a staunch friend in heaven. If I can survive that Forlorn Hope with only a few scratches, I have no worries about a lone assassin.'

  'You should do, Daniel — he may strike again.'

  'I hope that he will.'

  'Have men about you at all times.'

  'From now on, I'll have eyes in the back of my head.'

  'Whoever he is, this man is clearly determined to kill you.'

  'I'm equally determined to take his life first.'

  'And you say that Abigail is not aware of this attack on you?'

  'No, Your Grace,' said Daniel. 'And there's no reason why she should be. She's had to face enough shock and upset already. The ugly truth must be kept from her.'