Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges

by William Makepeace Thackeray

  Chapter XIV. The Campaign Of 1707, 1708

  During the whole of the year which succeeded that in which the gloriousbattle of Ramillies had been fought, our army made no movement ofimportance, much to the disgust of very many of our officers remaininginactive in Flanders, who said that his grace the captain-general had hadfighting enough, and was all for money now, and the enjoyment of his fivethousand a year and his splendid palace at Woodstock, which was now beingbuilt. And his grace had sufficient occupation fighting his enemies athome this year, where it begun to be whispered that his favour wasdecreasing, and his duchess losing her hold on the queen, who wastransferring her royal affections to the famous Mrs. Masham, and Mrs.Masham's humble servant, Mr. Harley. Against their intrigues, our dukepassed a great part of his time intriguing. Mr. Harley was got out ofoffice, and his grace, in so far, had a victory. But her Majesty,convinced against her will, was of that opinion still, of which the poetsays people are when so convinced, and Mr. Harley before long had hisrevenge.

  Meanwhile the business of fighting did not go on any way to thesatisfaction of Marlborough's gallant lieutenants. During all 1707, withthe French before us, we had never so much as a battle; our army in Spainwas utterly routed at Almanza by the gallant Duke of Berwick; and we ofWebb's, which regiment the young duke had commanded before his father'sabdication, were a little proud to think that it was our colonel who hadachieved this victory. "I think if I had had Galway's place, and myFusiliers," says our general, "we would not have laid down our arms, evento our old colonel, as Galway did; and Webb's officers swore if we had hadWebb, at least we would not have been taken prisoners." Our dear oldgeneral talked incautiously of himself and of others; a braver or a morebrilliant soldier never lived than he; but he blew his honest trumpetrather more loudly than became a commander of his station, and, mighty manof valour as he was, shook his great spear, and blustered before the armytoo fiercely.

  Mysterious Mr. Holtz went off on a secret expedition in the early part of1708, with great elation of spirits, and a prophecy to Esmond that awonderful something was about to take place. This secret came out on myfriend's return to the army, whither he brought a most rueful and dejectedcountenance, and owned that the great something he had been engaged uponhad failed utterly. He had been indeed with that luckless expedition ofthe Chevalier de St. George, who was sent by the French king with shipsand an army from Dunkirk, and was to have invaded and conquered Scotland.But that ill wind which ever opposed all the projects upon which theprince ever embarked, prevented the Chevalier's invasion of Scotland, as'tis known, and blew poor Monsieur von Holtz back into our camp again, toscheme and foretell, and to pry about as usual. The Chevalier (the King ofEngland, as some of us held him) went from Dunkirk to the French army tomake the campaign against us. The Duke of Burgundy had the command thisyear, having the Duke of Berry with him, and the famous Mareschal Vendosmeand the Duke of Matignon to aid him in the campaign. Holtz, who kneweverything that was passing in Flanders and France (and the Indies forwhat I know), insisted that there would be no more fighting in 1708 thanthere had been in the previous year, and that our commander had reasonsfor keeping him quiet. Indeed, Esmond's general, who was known as agrumbler, and to have a hearty mistrust of the great duke, and hundredsmore officers besides, did not scruple to say that these private reasonscame to the duke in the shape of crown-pieces from the French king, bywhom the generalissimo was bribed to avoid a battle. There were plenty ofmen in our lines, quidnuncs, to whom Mr. Webb listened only too willingly,who could specify the exact sums the duke got, how much fell to Cadogan'sshare, and what was the precise fee given to Doctor Hare.

  And the successes with which the French began the campaign of 1708, servedto give strength to these reports of treason, which were in everybody'smouth. Our general allowed the enemy to get between us and Ghent, anddeclined to attack him, though for eight-and-forty hours the armies werein presence of each other. Ghent was taken, and on the same day Monsieurde la Mothe summoned Bruges; and these two great cities fell into thehands of the French without firing a shot. A few days afterwards La Motheseized upon the fort of Plashendall: and it began to be supposed that allSpanish Flanders, as well as Brabant, would fall into the hands of theFrench troops; when the Prince Eugene arrived from the Mozelle, and thenthere was no more shilly-shallying.

  The Prince of Savoy always signalized his arrival at the army by a greatfeast (my lord duke's entertainments were both seldom and shabby): and Iremember our general returning from this dinner with the twocommanders-in-chief; his honest head a little excited by wine, which wasdealt out much more liberally by the Austrian than by the Englishcommander:--"Now," says my general, slapping the table, with an oath, "hemust fight; and when he is forced to it, d---- it, no man in Europe canstand up against Jack Churchill." Within a week the battle of Oudenardewas fought, when, hate each other as they might, Esmond's general and thecommander-in-chief were forced to admire each other, so splendid was thegallantry of each upon this day.

  The brigade commanded by Major-General Webb gave and received about ashard knocks as any that were delivered in that action, in which Mr. Esmondhad the fortune to serve at the head of his own company in his regiment,under the command of their own colonel as major-general; and it was hisgood luck to bring the regiment out of action as commander of it, the foursenior officers above him being killed in the prodigious slaughter whichhappened on that day. I like to think that Jack Haythorn, who sneered atme for being a bastard and a parasite of Webb's, as he chose to call me,and with whom I had had words, shook hands with me the day before thebattle begun. Three days before, poor Brace, our lieutenant-colonel, hadheard of his elder brother's death, and was heir to a baronetcy inNorfolk, and four thousand a year. Fate, that had left him harmlessthrough a dozen campaigns, seized on him just as the world was worthliving for, and he went into action, knowing, as he said, that the luckwas going to turn against him. The major had just joined us--a creature ofLord Marlborough, put in much to the dislike of the other officers, and tobe a spy upon us, as it was said. I know not whether the truth was so, norwho took the tattle of our mess to head quarters, but Webb's regiment, asits colonel, was known to be in the commander-in-chief's black books: "Andif he did not dare to break it up at home," our gallant old chief used tosay, "he was determined to destroy it before the enemy;" so that poorMajor Proudfoot was put into a post of danger.

  Esmond's dear young viscount, serving as aide de camp to my lord duke,received a wound, and won an honourable name for himself in the _Gazette_;and Captain Esmond's name was sent in for promotion by his general, too,whose favourite he was. It made his heart beat to think that certain eyesat home, the brightest in the world, might read the page on which hishumble services were recorded; but his mind was made up steadily to keepout of their dangerous influence, and to let time and absence conquer thatpassion he had still lurking about him. Away from Beatrix, it did nottrouble him; but he knew as certain that if he returned home, his feverwould break out again, and avoided Walcote as a Lincolnshire man avoidsreturning to his fens, where he is sure that the ague is lying in wait forhim.

  We of the English party in the army, who were inclined to sneer ateverything that came out of Hanover, and to treat as little better thanboors and savages the Elector's court and family, were yet forced toconfess that, on the day of Oudenarde, the young electoral prince, thenmaking his first campaign, conducted himself with the spirit and courageof an approved soldier. On this occasion his electoral highness had betterluck than the King of England, who was with his cousins in the enemy'scamp, and had to run with them at the ignominious end of the day. With themost consummate generals in the world before them, and an admirablecommander on their own side, they chose to neglect the councils, and torush into a combat with the former, which would have ended in the utterannihilation of their army but for the great skill and bravery of the Dukeof Vendosme, who remedied, as far as courage and genius might, thedisasters occasioned by the squabbles and follies of his kinsmen, thelegiti
mate princes of the blood royal.

  "If the Duke of Berwick had but been in the army, the fate of the daywould have been very different," was all that poor Mr. von Holtz couldsay; "and you would have seen that the hero of Almanza was fit to measureswords with the conqueror of Blenheim."

  The business relative to the exchange of prisoners was always going on,and was at least that ostensible one which kept Mr. Holtz perpetually onthe move between the forces of the French and the Allies. I can answer forit, that he was once very near hanged as a spy by Major-General Wayne,when he was released and sent on to head quarters by a special order ofthe commander-in-chief. He came and went, always favoured, wherever hewas, by some high though occult protection. He carried messages betweenthe Duke of Berwick and his uncle, our duke. He seemed to know as wellwhat was taking place in the prince's quarter as our own: he brought thecompliments of the King of England to some of our officers, the gentlemenof Webb's among the rest, for their behaviour on that great day; and afterWynendael, when our general was chafing at the neglect of ourcommander-in-chief, he said he knew how that action was regarded by thechiefs of the French army, and that the stand made before Wynendael woodwas the passage by which the Allies entered Lille.

  "Ah!" says Holtz (and some folks were very willing to listen to him), "ifthe king came by his own, how changed the conduct of affairs would be! HisMajesty's very exile has this advantage, that he is enabled to readEngland impartially, and to judge honestly of all the eminent men. Hissister is always in the hand of one greedy favourite or another, throughwhose eyes she sees, and to whose flattery or dependants she gives awayeverything. Do you suppose that his Majesty, knowing England so well as hedoes, would neglect such a man as General Webb? He ought to be in theHouse of Peers as Lord Lydiard. The enemy and all Europe know his merit;it is that very reputation which certain great people, who hate allequality and independence, can never pardon." It was intended that theseconversations should be carried to Mr. Webb. They were welcome to him, forgreat as his services were, no man could value them more than JohnRichmond Webb did himself, and the differences between him and Marlboroughbeing notorious, his grace's enemies in the army and at home began tocourt Webb, and set him up against the all-grasping domineering chief. Andsoon after the victory of Oudenarde, a glorious opportunity fell intoGeneral Webb's way, which that gallant warrior did not neglect, and whichgave him the means of immensely increasing his reputation at home.

  After Oudenarde, and against the counsels of Marlborough, it was said, thePrince of Savoy sat down before Lille, the capital of French Flanders, andcommenced that siege, the most celebrated of our time, and almost asfamous as the siege of Troy itself, for the feats of valour performed inthe assault and the defence. The enmity of that Prince of Savoy againstthe French king was a furious personal hate, quite unlike the calmhostility of our great English general, who was no more moved by the gameof war than that of billiards, and pushed forward his squadrons, and drovehis red battalions hither and thither as calmly as he would combine astroke or make a cannon with the balls. The game over (and he played it soas to be pretty sure to win it), not the least animosity against the otherparty remained in the breast of this consummate tactician. Whereas betweenthe Prince of Savoy and the French it was _guerre a mort_. Beaten off inone quarter, as he had been at Toulon in the last year, he was back againon another frontier of France, assailing it with his indefatigable fury.When the prince came to the army, the smouldering fires of war werelighted up and burst out into a flame. Our phlegmatic Dutch allies weremade to advance at a quick march--our calm duke forced into action. Theprince was an army in himself against the French; the energy of his hatredprodigious, indefatigable--infectious over hundreds of thousands of men.The emperor's general was repaying, and with a vengeance, the slight theFrench king had put upon the fiery little Abbe of Savoy. Brilliant andfamous as a leader himself, and beyond all measure daring and intrepid,and enabled to cope with almost the best of those famous men of war whocommanded the armies of the French king, Eugene had a weapon, the equal ofwhich could not be found in France, since the cannon-shot of Sasbach laidlow the noble Turenne, and could hurl Marlborough at the heads of theFrench host, and crush them as with a rock, under which all the gatheredstrength of their strongest captains must go down.

  The English duke took little part in that vast siege of Lille, which theImperial generalissimo pursued with all his force and vigour, further thanto cover the besieging lines from the Duke of Burgundy's army, betweenwhich and the Imperialists our duke lay. Once, when Prince Eugene waswounded, our duke took his highness's place in the trenches; but the siegewas with the Imperialists, not with us. A division under Webb and Rantzauwas detached into Artois and Picardy upon the most painful and odiousservice that Mr. Esmond ever saw in the course of his military life. Thewretched towns of the defenceless provinces, whose young men had beendrafted away into the French armies, which year after year the insatiablewar devoured, were left at our mercy; and our orders were to show themnone. We found places garrisoned by invalids, and children and women: pooras they were, and as the costs of this miserable war had made them, ourcommission was to rob these almost starving wretches--to tear the food outof their granaries, and strip them of their rags. 'Twas an expedition ofrapine and murder we were sent on: our soldiers did deeds such as anhonest man must blush to remember. We brought back money and provisions inquantity to the duke's camp; there had been no one to resist us, and yetwho dares to tell with what murder and violence, with what brutal cruelty,outrage, insult, that ignoble booty had been ravished from the innocentand miserable victims of the war?

  Meanwhile, gallantly as the operations before Lille had been conducted,the Allies had made but little progress, and 'twas said when we returnedto the Duke of Marlborough's camp, that the siege would never be broughtto a satisfactory end, and that the Prince of Savoy would be forced toraise it. My Lord Marlborough gave this as his opinion openly; those whomistrusted him, and Mr. Esmond owns himself to be of the number, hintedthat the duke had his reasons why Lille should not be taken, and that hewas paid to that end by the French king. If this was so, and I believe it,General Webb had now a remarkable opportunity of gratifying his hatred ofthe commander-in-chief, of balking that shameful avarice, which was one ofthe basest and most notorious qualities of the famous duke, and of showinghis own consummate skill as a commander. And when I consider all thecircumstances preceding the event which will now be related, that my lordduke was actually offered certain millions of crowns provided that thesiege of Lille should be raised; that the Imperial army before it waswithout provisions and ammunition, and must have decamped but for thesupplies that they received; that the march of the convoy destined torelieve the siege was accurately known to the French; and that the forcecovering it was shamefully inadequate to that end, and by six timesinferior to Count de la Mothe's army, which was sent to intercept theconvoy; when 'tis certain that the Duke of Berwick, de la Mothe's chief,was in constant correspondence with his uncle, the English generalissimo:I believe on my conscience that 'twas my Lord Marlborough's intention toprevent those supplies, of which the Prince of Savoy stood in absoluteneed, from ever reaching his highness; that he meant to sacrifice thelittle army which covered this convoy, and to betray it as he had betrayedTollemache at Brest; as he betrayed every friend he had, to further hisown schemes of avarice or ambition. But for the miraculous victory whichEsmond's general won over an army six or seven times greater than his own,the siege of Lille must have been raised; and it must be remembered thatour gallant little force was under the command of a general whomMarlborough hated, that he was furious with the conqueror, and tried bythe most open and shameless injustice afterwards to rob him of the creditof his victory.