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52 The French troops, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, marched to this conquest on the solid waters of the Maefe, as if nature favoured their enterprise, and presented a spectacle which has not often occurred in the history of war. The solidity which the river had acquired, sufficiently marks the severity of the season. Yet the French soldiers were destitute of the most necessary articles of clothing. Whole battalions were in want of shoes and stockings, nor was the dress of the officers much superior to that of the common men. A sentinal on duty had frequently no other covering to protect him from the cold, instead of a coat, than a tattered blanket fastened round him; and hats or caps were articles that were rarely seen.

Under these disadvantageous circumstances the French troops arrived at Rotterdam, and were immediately quartered on the inhabitants of the town. A moderate requisition of clothing was impartially levied; and after their first alarms had subsided, the behaviour of the French soldiers conciliated the good opinion of all. Not one act of violence or