Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 4.djvu/190

176 merely looking at their own interest in this design, Marlborough was glad to attack the enemy anywhere. He dispatched general Schultz to reduce the town and castle of Werk, and in the beginning of September laid siege to Venloo, which, on the 28th of the month, surrendered. Fort St. Michael, at Venloo, was stormed by the impetuous lord Cutts, unrivalled at that work, at the head of the English volunteers, amongst whom the young earl of Huntingdon greatly distinguished himself. He next invested and reduced Ruremonde and the fort of Stevenswerth; and Boufflers, confounded by the rapid successes of Marlborough, retiring on Liege, the English general followed him, reduced the place, stormed the citadel, and seized in it three hundred thousand florins in gold and a million florins in bills on the substantial merchants of the city, who promptly paid the money. This terminated the campaign. Marlborough had wonderfully raised his reputation, won the entire confidence of the States, and, having seen the French retire behind their lines, he distributed his troops into winter quarters, and projected his journey homewards.

As he was descending the Meuse from Maestricht on the way to the Hague, he fell into the hands of the French. He was accompanied by general Opdam and Mynheer Gueldermalsen, one of the deputies, and at Ruremonde was joined by Cohorn in another and swifter boat. Near Guelders he was surprised by a French partisan, who was lying in wait with his men amongst the rushes for plunder, and who, seizing the tow-rope of the boat, drew it to the shore, discharged their fire-arms and hand-grenades, and, rushing aboard, secured the soldiers before they could make any defence. Marlborough's companions were provided with passports, he had none; but he produced an old French one which belonged to his brother, general Churchill, and which did as well. The object of the marauder being booty, he paid little attention to the persons in the boat, but rifled it and let it go on, little suspecting the grand prize he thus ignorantly abandoned. The governor of Venloo, hearing of the affair, and supposing Marlborough and his companions conveyed prisoners to Guelders, dispatched a force to invest the place; and the news reaching the Hague, threw the whole government into consternation. Marlborough, however, soon put an end to their fears by his appearance there in safety.

The French had more success on the upper Rhine and in Germany farther south. The electors of Bavaria and Cologne, having obtained all they asked of the French, threw off their pretended neutrality and openly joined them. The elector of Bavaria surprised Ulm, and the diet, incensed at this treachery, denounced both him and the elector of Cologne as enemies, and forbade the appearance of their ministers in the diet. The French, encouraged by the alliance of the electors, took Newburg, in Swabia, and compelled the prince of Baden to lie inactive near Fridlingen. He was soon after attacked by the marshal de Villiers and count Guiscard, was defeated, and Fridlingen taken. On the other hand, Landau was reduced by the king of the Romans, the eldest son of the emperor, and a detachment from the army of Liege took Lintz, Brisac, and Andernach; the French on their side taking Triers and Traerbach.

In Italy prince Eugene had been left to contend singlehanded with the French and his countrymen of Savoy. The emperor had exhausted his strength in supporting the king of the Romans in the upper Rhinelands. Philip, the king of Spain, also sailed to Naples to support the French by his appearance there, and was cordially received by the pope. Notwithstanding the powers arrayed against him, Eugene determined to attack the French army about to besiege Luzzara and Guastalla, and posted himself for this purpose behind the dyke of Zero, in order to surprise the enemy before they had pitched their tents on arriving there. But his ambush was discovered by the advanced guard ascending the dyke to survey the country, where it beheld Eugene's army lying on its face behind the dyke. Eugene, notwithstanding, attacked the French army vigorously, but with only half the amount of force, and could not prevent their assaults of Luzzara and Guastalla, which fell. The prince, however, maintained his ground, and Philip returned to Spain without having achieved much advantage.

The operations at sea had not been so decisive as those of Marlborough on land. On the 12th of May Sir John Munden, sent out to intercept the French fleet convoying the viceroy of Mexico from Corunna to the West Indies, chased fourteen sail of French ships into Corunna, but, judging the fortifications too strong to attack them there, put out to sea again, and soon after returned home for provisions, to the great indignation of the people. Munden was tried by court-martial and acquitted, but the prince of Denmark dismissed him from the service notwithstanding. King William having planned the reduction of Cadiz, the queen was now advised to put the project into execution. Sir George Rooke was sent out with a squadron of fifty ships of the line, besides frigates, fireships, and smaller vessels, and carrying the duke of Ormonde with a land-force of fourteen thousand men. The fleet sailed from St. Helen's near the end of June, and anchored on the 12th of August within two leagues of Cadiz. The governor of Fort St. Catherine was summoned to surrender, but he refused; and on the 15th the duke of Ormonde landed under a fire from the batteries, and soon took the forts of St. Catherine and St. Mary. He issued a proclamation declaring that they came, not to make war on the Spaniards, but to free Spain from the yoke of France, and that the people and their property should be protected. But the English soldiers paid no regard to the proclamation, but got drunk in the wine-stores and committed great excesses. Some of the general officers were found as eager as the soldiers for pillaging; and the inhabitants, resenting their sufferings, held aloof. To complete the mischief, the land and the sea commander, as has been too commonly the case, fell to quarrelling. Ormonde wanted to storm the Isla de Leon; Rooke deemed it too hazardous. An attempt was made to batter Montagorda fort, but failed, and the troops were reimbarked.

As the fleet was returning from its inglorious enterprise, it was met by captain Hardy, who informed the commander that the galleons from the West Indies had entered Vigo bay under convoy of a French squadron. A council of war was immediately summoned, and it was resolved to tack about and proceed to Vigo. They appeared before the place on the 11th of October. The passage into the harbour they found strongly defended by forts and batteries on both sides, and the passage closed by a strong boom of iron chains,