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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.07/27/01*END* + + + + + + + + + + + +Produced by John Hill + + + + + +THE FIFTEEN DECISIVE BATTLES OF THE WORLD +FROM MARATHON TO WATERLOO + +by Sir Edward Creasy, M.A. +(Late Chief Justice of Ceylon) +Author of 'The Rise and Progress of the English Constitution' + + + + +Dedicated to ROBERT GORDON LATHAM, M.D., F.R.S. +Late Fellow of King's College Cambridge; Fellow of the Royal +College of Physicians, London. +Member of the Ethnological Society, New York; +Late Professor of the English Language and Literature, in +University College, London. + +By his Friend THE AUTHOR. + + + + +Notes: + +Capital letters have been used to replace text in italics in the +printed text. Accents have been omitted. + +Footnotes have been inserted into the text enclosed in square +'[]' brackets, near the point where they were indicated by a +suffix in the text. + +Greek words in the text have been crudely translated into +Western European capital letters. Sincere apologies to Greek +scholars! Longer passages in Greek have been omitted and where +possible replaced with a reference to the original from which +they were taken. + + + + +PREFACE. + +It is an honourable characteristic of the Spirit of this Age, +that projects of violence and warfare are regarded among +civilized states with gradually increasing aversion. The +Universal Peace Society certainly does not, and probably never +will, enrol the majority of statesmen among its members. But +even those who look upon the Appeal of Battle as occasionally +unavoidable in international controversies, concur in thinking it +a deplorable necessity, only to be resorted to when all peaceful +modes of arrangement have been vainly tried; and when the law of +self-defence justifies a State, like an individual, in using +force to protect itself from imminent and serious injury. For a +writer, therefore, of the present day to choose battles for his +favourite topic, merely because they were battles, merely because +so many myriads of troops were arrayed in them, and so many +hundreds or thousands of human beings stabbed, hewed, or shot +each other to death during them, would argue strange weakness or +depravity of mind. Yet it cannot be denied that a fearful and +wonderful interest is attached to these scenes of carnage. There +is undeniable greatness in the disciplined courage, and in the +love of honour, which make the combatants confront agony and +destruction. And the powers of the human intellect are rarely +more strongly displayed than they are in the Commander, who +regulates, arrays, and wields at his will these masses of armed +disputants; who, cool yet daring, in the midst of peril reflects +on all, and provides for all, ever ready with fresh resources and +designs, as the vicissitudes of the storm of slaughter require. +But these qualities, however high they may appear, are to be +found in the basest as well as in the noblest of mankind. +Catiline was as brave a soldier as Leonidas, and a much better +officer. Alva surpassed the Prince of Orange in the field; and +Suwarrow was the military superior of Kosciusko. To adopt the +emphatic words of Byron:-- + +"'Tis the Cause makes all, + Degrades or hallows courage in its fall." + +There are some battles, also, which claim our attention, +independently of the moral worth of the combatants, on account of +their enduring importance, and by reason of the practical +influence on our own social and political condition, which we can +trace up to the results of those engagements. They have for us +an abiding and actual interest, both while we investigate the +chain of causes and effects, by which they have helped to make us +what we are; and also while we speculate on what we probably +should have been, if any one of those battles had come to a +different termination. Hallam has admirably expressed this in +his remarks on the victory gained by Charles Martel, between +Tours and Poictiers, over the invading Saracens. + +He says of it, that "it may justly be reckoned among those few +battles of which a contrary event would have essentially varied +the drama of the world in all its subsequent scenes: with +Marathon, Arbela, the Metaurus, Chalons, and Leipsic." It was the +perusal of this note of Hallam's that first led me to the +consideration of my present subject. I certainly differ from +that great historian as to the comparative importance of some of +the battles which he thus enumerates, and also of some which he +omits. It is probable, indeed, that no two historical inquirers +would entirely agree in their lists of the Decisive Battles of +the World. Different minds will naturally vary in the +impressions which particular events make on them; and in the +degree of interest with which they watch the career, and reflect +on the importance, of different historical personages. But our +concurrence in our catalogues is of little moment, provided we +learn to look on these great historical events in the spirit +which Hallam's observations indicate. Those remarks should teach +us to watch how the interests of many states are often involved +in the collisions between a few; and how the effect of those +collisions is not limited to a single age, but may give an +impulse which will sway the fortunes of successive generations of +mankind. Most valuable also is the mental discipline which is +thus acquired, and by which we are trained not only to observe +what has been, and what is, but also to ponder on what might have +been. [See Bolingbroke, On the Study and Use of History, vol. +ii. p. 497 of his collected works.] + +We thus learn not to judge of the wisdom of measures too +exclusively by the results. We learn to apply the juster +standard of seeing what the circumstances and the probabilities +were that surrounded a statesman or a general at the time when he +decided on his plan: we value him not by his fortune, but by his +PROAIRESIZ, to adopt the expressive Greek word, for which our +language gives no equivalent. + +The reasons why each of the following Fifteen Battles has been +selected will, I trust, appear when it is described. But it may +be well to premise a few remarks on the negative tests which have +led me to reject others, which at first sight may appear equal in +magnitude and importance to the chosen Fifteen. + +I need hardly remark that it is not the number of killed and +wounded in a battle that determines its general historical +importance. It is not because only a few hundreds fell in the +battle by which Joan of Arc captured the Tourelles and raised the +siege of Orleans, that the effect of that crisis is to be judged: +nor would a full belief in the largest number which Eastern +historians state to have been slaughtered in any of the numerous +conflicts between Asiatic rulers, make me regard the engagement +in which they fell as one of paramount importance to mankind. +But, besides battles of this kind, there are many of great +consequence, and attended with circumstances which powerfully +excite our feelings, and rivet our attention, and yet which +appear to me of mere secondary rank, inasmuch as either their +effects were limited in area, or they themselves merely confirmed +some great tendency or bias which an earlier battle had +originated. For example, the encounters between the Greeks and +Persians, which followed Marathon, seem to me not to have been +phenomena of primary impulse. Greek superiority had been already +asserted, Asiatic ambition had already been checked, before +Salamis and Platea confirmed the superiority of European free +states over Oriental despotism. So, AEgos-Potamos, which finally +crushed the maritime power of Athens, seems to me inferior in +interest to the defeat before Syracuse, where Athens received her +first fatal check, and after which she only struggled to retard +her downfall. I think similarly of Zama with respect to +Carthage, as compared with the Metaurus: and, on the same +principle, the subsequent great battles of the Revolutionary war +appear to me inferior in their importance to Valmy, which first +determined the military character and career of the French +Revolution. + +I am aware that a little activity of imagination, and a slight +exercise of metaphysical ingenuity, may amuse us, by showing how +the chain of circumstances is so linked together, that the +smallest skirmish, or the slightest occurrence of any kind, that +ever occurred, may be said to have been essential, in its actual +termination, to the whole order of subsequent events. But when I +speak of Causes and Effects, I speak of the obvious and important +agency of one fact upon another, and not of remote and fancifully +infinitesimal influences. I am aware that, on the other hand, +the reproach of Fatalism is justly incurred by those, who, like +the writers of a certain school in a neighbouring country, +recognise in history nothing more than a series of necessary +phenomena, which follow inevitably one upon the other. But when, +in this work, I speak of probabilities, I speak of human +probabilities only. When I speak of Cause and Effect, I speak of +those general laws only, by which we perceive the sequence of +human affairs to be usually regulated; and in which we recognise +emphatically the wisdom and power of the Supreme Lawgiver, the +design of The Designer. + +MITRE COURT CHAMBERS, TEMPLE, +June 26, 1851. + + +* + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BATTLE OF MARATHON + +Explanatory Remarks on some of the circumstances of the Battle of +Marathon. + +Synopsis of Events between the Battle of Marathon, B.C. 490, and +the Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse, B.C. 413. + + +CHAPTER II. + +DEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS AT SYRACUSE, B.C. 413. + +Synopsis of Events between the Defeat of the Athenians at Syracuse +and the Battle of Arbela. + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE BATTLE OF ARBELA, B.C. 331. + +Synopsis of Events between the Battle of Arbela and the Battle of +the Metaurus. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE BATTLE OF THE METAURUS, B.C. 207. + +Synopsis of Events between the Battle of the Metaurus, B.C. 207, +and Arminius's Victory over the Roman Legions under Varus. A.D. 9. + + +CHAPTER V. + +VICTORY OF ARMINIUS OVER THE ROMAN LEGIONS UNDER VARUS, A.D. 9. + +Arminius. +Synopsis of Events between Arminius's Victory over Varus and the +Battle of Chalons. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE BATTLE OF CHALONS, A.D. 451. + +Synopsis of Events between the Battle of Chalons, A.D. 451, and +the Battle of Tours, 732. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BATTLE OF TOURS, A.D. 732. + +Synopsis of Events between the Battle of Tours, A.D. 732 and the +Battle of Hastings, 1066. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS, A.D. 1066. + +Synopsis of Events between the Battle of Hastings, A.D. 1066, and +Joan of Arc's Victory at Orleans, 1429. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +JOAN OF ARC'S VICTORY OVER THE ENGLISH AT ORLEANS, A.D. 1429. + +Synopsis of Events between Joan of Arc's Victory at Orleans, +A.D. 1429, and the Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588. + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE DEFEAT OF THE SPANISH ARMADA, A.D. 1588. + +Synopsis of events between the Defeat of the Spanish Armada +A.D. 1588, and the Battle of Blenheim, 1704. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM, A.D. 1704. + +Synopsis of Events between the Battle of Blenheim, 1704, and the +Battle of Pultowa, 1709. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE BATTLE OF PULTOWA, A.D. 1709. + +Synopsis of Events between the Battle of Pultowa, 1709, and the +Defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga, 1777. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +VICTORY OF THE AMERICANS OVER BURGOYNE AT SARATOGA, A.D. 1777. + +Synopsis of Events between the Defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga, 1777, +and the Battle of Valmy, 1792. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE BATTLE OF VALMY. + +Synopsis of Events between the Battle of Valmy, 1792, and the Battle +of Waterloo, 1815. + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, 1815. + + +* + + + +THE FIFTEEN DECISIVE BATTLES OF THE WORLD. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BATTLE OF MARATHON. + +"Quibus actus uterque +Europae atque Asiae fatis concurrerit orbis." + +Two thousand three hundred and forty years ago, a council of +Athenian officers was summoned on the slope of one of the +mountains that look over the plain of Marathon, on the eastern +coast of Attica. The immediate subject of their meeting was to +consider whether they should give battle to an enemy that lay +encamped on the shore beneath them; but on the result of their +deliberations depended not merely the fate of two armies, but the +whole future progress of human civilization. + +There were eleven members of that council of war. Ten were the +generals, who were then annually elected at Athens, one for each +of the local tribes into which the Athenians were divided. Each +general led the men of his own tribe, and each was invested with +equal military authority. One also of the Archons was associated +with them in the joint command of the collective force. This +magistrate was termed the Polemarch or War-Ruler: he had the +privilege of leading the right wing of the army in battle, and of +taking part in all councils of war. A noble Athenian, named +Callimachus, was the War-Ruler of this year; and as such, stood +listening to the earnest discussion of the ten generals. They +had, indeed, deep matter for anxiety, though little aware how +momentous to mankind were the votes they were about to give, or +how the generations to come would read with interest that record +of their debate. They saw before them the invading forces of a +mighty empire, which had in the last fifty years shattered and +enslaved nearly all the kingdoms and principalities of the then +known world. They knew that all the resources of their own +country were comprised in the little army entrusted to their +guidance. They saw before them a chosen host of the Great King +sent to wreak his special wrath on that country, and on the other +insolent little Greek community, which had dared to aid his +rebels and burn the capital of one of his provinces. That +victorious host had already fulfilled half its mission of +vengeance. Eretria, the confederate of Athens in the bold march +against Sardis nine years before, had fallen in the last few +days; and the Athenian generals could discern from the heights +the island of AEgilia, in which the Persians had deposited their +Eretrian prisoners, whom they had reserved to be led away +captives into Upper Asia, there to hear their doom from the lips +of King Darius himself. Moreover, the men of Athens knew that in +the camp before them was their own banished tyrant, Hippias, who +was seeking to be reinstated by foreign scimitars in despotic +sway over any remnant of his countrymen that might survive the +sack of their town, and might be left behind as too worthless for +leading away into Median bondage. + +The numerical disparity between the force which the Athenian +commanders had under them, and that which they were called on to +encounter, was fearfully apparent to some of the council. The +historians who wrote nearest to the time of the battle do not +pretend to give any detailed statements of the numbers engaged, +but there are sufficient data for our making a general estimate. +Every free Greek was trained to military duty: and, from the +incessant border wars between the different states, few Greeks +reached the age of manhood without having seen some service. But +the muster-roll of free Athenian citizens of an age fit for +military duty never exceeded thirty thousand, and at this epoch +probably did not amount to two-thirds of that number. Moreover, +the poorer portion of these were unprovided with the equipments, +and untrained to the operations of the regular infantry. Some +detachments of the best armed troops would be required to +garrison the city itself, and man the various fortified posts in +the territory; so that it is impossible to reckon the fully +equipped force that marched from Athens to Marathon, when the +news of the Persian landing arrived, at higher than ten thousand +men. [The historians who lived long after the time of the +battle, such as Justin, Plutarch and others, give ten thousand as +the number of the Athenian army. Not much reliance could be +placed on their authority, if unsupported by other evidence; but +a calculation made from the number of the Athenian free +population remarkably confirms it. For the data of this, see +Boeck's "Public Economy of Athens," vol. i. p. 45. Some METOIKOI +probably served as Hoplites at Marathon, but the number of +resident aliens at Athens cannot have been large at this period.] + +With one exception, the other Greeks held back from aiding them. +Sparta had promised assistance; but the Persians had landed on +the sixth day of the moon, and a religious scruple delayed the +march of Spartan troops till the moon should have reached its +full. From one quarter only, and that a most unexpected one, did +Athens receive aid at the moment of her great peril. + +For some years before this time, the little state of Plataea in +Boeotia, being hard pressed by her powerful neighbour, Thebes, +had asked the protection of Athens, and had owed to an Athenian +army the rescue of her independence. Now when it was noised over +Greece that the Mede had come from the uttermost parts of the +earth to destroy Athens, the brave Plataeans, unsolicited, +marched with their whole force to assist in the defence, and to +share the fortunes of their benefactors. The general levy of the +Plataeans only amounted to a thousand men: and this little +column, marching from their city along the southern ridge of +Mount Cithaeron, and thence across the Attic territory, joined +the Athenian forces above Marathon almost immediately before the +battle. The reinforcement was numerically small; but the gallant +spirit of the men who composed it must have made it of tenfold +value to the Athenians: and its presence must have gone far to +dispel the cheerless feeling of being deserted and friendless, +which the delay of the Spartan succours was calculated to create +among the Athenian ranks. + +This generous daring of their weak but true-hearted ally was +never forgotten at Athens. The Plataeans were made the fellow- +countrymen of the Athenians, except the right of exercising +certain political functions; and from that time forth in the +solemn sacrifices at Athens, the public prayers were offered up +for a joint blessing from Heaven upon the Athenians, and the +Plataeans also. [Mr. Grote observes (vol. iv. p. 484), that +"this volunteer march of the whole Plataean force to Marathon is +one of the most affecting incidents of all Grecian history." In +truth, the whole career of Plataea, and the friendship, strong +even unto death, between her and Athens, form one of the most +affecting episodes in the history of antiquity. In the +Peloponnesian War the Plataeans again were true to the Athenians +against all risks and all calculation of self-interest; and the +destruction of Plataea was the consequence. There are few nobler +passages in the classics than the speech in which the Plataean +prisoners of war, after the memorable siege of their city, +justify before their Spartan executioners their loyal adherence +to Athens. (See Thucydides, lib. iii. secs. 53-60.)] + +After the junction of the column from Plataea, the Athenians +commanders must have had under them about eleven thousand fully- +armed and disciplined infantry, and probably a larger number of +irregular light-armed troops; as, besides the poorer citizens who +went to the field armed with javelins, cutlasses, and targets, +each regular heavy-armed soldier was attended in the camp by one +or more slaves, who were armed like the inferior freemen. [At +the battle of Plataea, eleven years after Marathon, each of the +eight thousand Athenian regular infantry who served there, was +attended by a light-armed slave. (Herod. lib. viii. c. 28,29.)] +Cavalry or archers the Athenians (on this occasion) had none: +and the use in the field of military engines was not at that +period introduced into ancient warfare. + +Contrasted with their own scanty forces, the Greek commanders saw +stretched before them, along the shores of the winding bay, the +tents and shipping of the varied nations that marched to do the +bidding of the King of the Eastern world. The difficulty of +finding transports and of securing provisions would form the only +limit to the numbers of a Persian army. Nor is there any reason +to suppose the estimate of Justin exaggerated, who rates at a +hundred thousand the force which on this occasion had sailed, +under the satraps Datis and Artaphernes, from the Cilician +shores, against the devoted coasts of Euboea and Attica. And +after largely deducting from this total, so as to allow for mere +mariners and camp followers, there must still have remained +fearful odds against the national levies of the Athenians. Nor +could Greek generals then feel that confidence in the superior +quality of their troops which ever since the battle of Marathon +has animated Europeans in conflicts with Asiatics; as, for +instance, in the after struggles between Greece and Persia, or +when the Roman legions encountered the myriads of Mithridates and +Tigranes, or as is the case in the Indian campaigns of our own +regiments. On the contrary, up to the day of Marathon the Medes +and Persians were reputed invincible. They had more than once +met Greek troops in Asia Minor, in Cyprus, in Egypt, and had +invariably beaten them. Nothing can be stronger than the +expressions used by the early Creek writers respecting the terror +which the name of the Medes inspired, and the prostration of +men's spirits before the apparently resistless career of the +Persian arms. It is therefore, little to be wondered at, that +five of the ten Athenian generals shrank from the prospect of +fighting a pitched battle against an enemy so superior in +numbers, and so formidable in military renown. Their own +position on the heights was strong, and offered great advantages +to a small defending force against assailing masses. They deemed +it mere foolhardiness to descend into the plain to be trampled +down by the Asiatic horse, overwhelmed with the archery, or cut +to pieces by the invincible veterans of Cambyses and Cyrus. +Moreover, Sparta, the great war-state of Greece, had been applied +to, and had promised succour to Athens, though the religious +observance which the Dorians paid to certain times and seasons +had for the present delayed their march. Was it not wise, at any +rate, to wait till the Spartans came up, and to have the help of +the best troops in Greece, before they exposed themselves to the +shock of the dreaded Medes? + +Specious as these reasons might appear, the other five generals +were for speedier and bolder operations. And, fortunately for +Athens and for the world, one of them was a man, not only of the +highest military genius, but also of that energetic character +which impresses its own type and ideas upon spirits feebler in +conception. + +Miltiades was the head of one of the noblest houses at Athens: +he ranked the AEacidae among his ancestry, and the blood of +Achilles flowed in the veins of the hero of Marathon. One of his +immediate ancestors had acquired the dominion of the Thracian +Chersonese, and thus the family became at the same time Athenian +citizens and Thracian princes. This occurred at the time when +Pisistratus was tyrant of Athens. Two of the relatives of +Miltiades--an uncle of the same name, and a brother named +Stesagoras--had ruled the Chersonese before Miltiades became its +prince. He had been brought up at Athens in the house of his +father Cimon, [Herodotus, lib. vi. c. 102] who was renowned +throughout Greece for his victories in the Olympic chariot-races, +and who must have been possessed of great wealth. The sons of +Pisistratus, who succeeded their father in the tyranny at Athens, +caused Cimon to be assassinated, but they treated the young +Miltiades with favour and kindness; and when his brother +Stesagoras died in the Chersonese, they sent him out there as +lord of the principality. This was about twenty-eight years +before the battle of Marathon, and it is with his arrival in the +Chersonese that our first knowledge of the career and character +of Miltiades commences. We find, in the first act recorded of +him, proof of the same resolute and unscrupulous spirit that +marked his mature age. His brother's authority in the +principality had been shaken by war and revolt: Miltiades +determined to rule more securely. On his arrival he kept close +within his house, as if he was mourning for his brother. The +principal men of the Chersonese, hearing of this, assembled from +all the towns and districts, and went together to the house of +Miltiades on a visit of condolence. As soon as he had thus got +them in his power, he made them all prisoners. He then asserted +and maintained his own absolute authority in the peninsula, +taking into his pay a body of five hundred regular troops, and +strengthening his interest by marrying the daughter of the king +of the neighbouring Thracians. + +When the Persian power was extended to the Hellespont and its +neighbourhood, Miltiades, as prince of the Chersonese, submitted +to King Darius; and he was one of the numerous tributary rulers +who led their contingents of men to serve in the Persian army in +the expedition against Scythia. Miltiades and the vassal Greeks +of Asia Minor were left by the Persian king in charge of the +bridge across the Danube, when the invading army crossed that +river, and plunged into the wilds of the country that now is +Russia, in vain pursuit of the ancestors of the modern Cossacks. +On learning the reverses that Darius met with in the Scythian +wilderness, Miltiades proposed to his companions that they should +break the bridge down, and leave the Persian king and his army to +perish by famine and the Scythian arrows. The rulers of the +Asiatic Greek cities whom Miltiades addressed, shrank from this +bold and ruthless stroke against the Persian power, and Darius +returned in safety. But it was known what advice Miltiades had +given; and the vengeance of Darius was thenceforth specially +directed against the man who had counselled such a deadly blow +against his empire and his person. The occupation of the Persian +arms in other quarters left Miltiades for some years after this +in possession of the Chersonese; but it was precarious and +interrupted. He, however, availed himself of the opportunity +which his position gave him of conciliating the goodwill of his +fellow-countrymen at Athens, by conquering and placing under +Athenian authority the islands of Lemnos and Imbros, to which +Athens had ancient claims, but which she had never previously +been able to bring into complete subjection. At length, in 494 +B.C., the complete suppression of the Ionian revolt by the +Persians left their armies and fleets at liberty to act against +the enemies of the Great King to the west of the Hellespont. A +strong squadron of Phoenician galleys was sent against the +Chersonese. Miltiades knew that resistance was hopeless; and +while the Phoenicians were at Tenedos, he loaded five galleys +with all the treasure that he could collect, and sailed away for +Athens. The Phoenicians fell in with him, and chased him hard +along the north of the AEgean. One of his galleys, on board of +which was his eldest son, Metiochus, was actually captured; but +Miltiades, with the other four, succeeded in reaching the +friendly coast of Imbros in safety. Thence he afterwards +proceeded to Athens, and resumed his station as a free citizen of +the Athenian commonwealth. + +The Athenians at this time had recently expelled Hippias, the son +of Pisistratus, the last of their tyrants. They were in the full +glow of their newly-recovered liberty and equality; and the +constitutional changes of Cleisthenes had inflamed their +republican zeal to the utmost. Miltiades had enemies at Athens; +and these, availing themselves of the state of popular feeling, +brought him to trial for his life for having been tyrant of the +Chersonese. The charge did not necessarily import any acts of +cruelty or wrong to individuals: it was founded on so specific +law; but it was based on the horror with which the Greeks of that +age regarded every man who made himself compulsory master of his +fellow-men, and exercised irresponsible dominion over them. The +fact of Miltiades having so ruled in the Chersonese was +undeniable; but the question which the Athenians, assembled in +judgment, must have tried, was, whether Miltiades, by becoming +tyrant of the Chersonese, deserved punishment as an Athenian +citizen. The eminent service that he had done the state in +conquering Lemnos and Imbros for it, pleaded strongly in his +favour. The people refused to convict him. He stood high in +public opinion; and when the coming invasion of the Persians was +known, the people wisely elected him one of their generals for +the year. + +Two other men of signal eminence in history, though their renown +was achieved at a later period than that of Miltiades, were also +among the ten Athenian generals at Marathon. One was +Themistocles, the future founder of the Athenian navy and the +destined victor of Salamis: the other was Aristides, who +afterwards led the Athenian troops at Plataea, and whose +integrity and just popularity acquired for his country, when the +Persians had finally been repulsed, the advantageous pre-eminence +of being acknowledged by half of the Greeks as their impartial +leader and protector. It is not recorded what part either +Themistocles or Aristides took in the debate of the council of +war at Marathon. But from the character of Themistocles, his +boldness, and his intuitive genius for extemporizing the best +measures in every emergency (a quality which the greatest of +historians ascribes to him beyond all his contemporaries), we may +well believe that the vote of Themistocles was for prompt and +decisive action. [See the character of Themistocles in the 138th +section of the first book of Thucydides, especially the last +sentence.] On the vote of Aristides it may be more difficult to +speculate. His predilection for the Spartans may have made him +wish to wait till they came up; but, though circumspect, he was +neither timid as a soldier nor as a politician; and the bold +advice of Miltiades may probably have found in Aristides a +willing, most assuredly it found in him a candid, hearer. + +Miltiades felt no hesitation as to the course which the Athenian +army ought to pursue: and earnestly did he press his opinion on +his brother-generals. Practically acquainted with the +organization of the Persian armies, Miltiades was convinced of +the superiority of the Greek troops, if properly handled: he saw +with the military eye of a great general the advantage which the +position of the forces gave him for a sudden attack, and as a +profound politician he felt the perils of remaining inactive, and +of giving treachery time to ruin the Athenian cause. + +One officer in the council of war had not yet voted. This was +Callimachus, the War-Ruler. The votes of the generals were five +and five, so that the voice of Callimachus would be decisive. + +On that vote, in all human probability, the destiny of all the +nations of the world depended. Miltiades turned to him, and in +simple soldierly eloquence, the substance of which we may read +faithfully reported in Herodotus, who had conversed with the +veterans of Marathon, the great Athenian thus adjured his +countryman to vote for giving battle:-- + +"It now rests with you, Callimachus, either to enslave Athens, +or, by assuring her freedom, to win yourself an immortality of +fame, such as not even Harmodius and Aristogeiton have acquired. +For never, since the Athenians were a people, were they in such +danger as they are in at this moment. If they bow the knee to +these Medes, they are to be given up to Hippias, and you know +what they then will have to suffer. But if Athens comes +victorious out of this contest, she has it in her to become the +first city of Greece. Your vote is to decide whether we are to +join battle or not. If we do not bring on a battle presently, +some factious intrigue will disunite the Athenians, and the city +will be betrayed to the Medes. But if we fight, before there is +anything rotten in the state of Athens, I believe that, provided +the Gods will give fair play and no favour, we are able to get +the best of it in the engagement." [Herodotus, lib. vi. sec. +209. The 116th section is to my mind clear proof that Herodotus +had personally conversed with Epizelus, one of the veterans of +Marathon. The substance of the speech of Miltiades would +naturally become known by the report of some of his colleagues.] + +The vote of the brave War-Ruler was gained; the council +determined to give battle; and such was the ascendancy and +military eminence of Miltiades, that his brother-generals, one +and all, gave up their days of command to him, and cheerfully +acted under his orders. Fearful, however, of creating any +jealousy, and of so failing to obtain the co-operation of all +parts of his small army, Miltiades waited till the day when the +chief command would have come round to him in regular rotation, +before he led the troops against the enemy. + +The inaction of the Asiatic commanders, during this interval, +appears strange at first sight; but Hippias was with them, and +they and he were aware of their chance of a bloodless conquest +through the machinations of his partisans among the Athenians. +The nature of the ground also explains, in many points, the +tactics of the opposite generals before the battle, as well as +the operations of the troops during the engagement. + +The plain of Marathon, which is about twenty-two miles distant +from Athens, lies along the bay of the same name on the north- +eastern coast of Attica. The plain is nearly in the form of a +crescent, and about six miles in length. It is about two miles +broad in the centre, where the space between the mountains and +the sea is greatest, but it narrows towards either extremity, the +mountains coming close down to the water at the horns of the bay. +There is a valley trending inwards from the middle of the plain, +and a ravine comes down to it to the southward. Elsewhere it, is +closely girt round on the land side by rugged limestone +mountains, which are thickly studded with pines, olive-trees, and +cedars, and overgrown with the myrtle, arbutus, and the other low +odoriferous shrubs that everywhere perfume the Attic air. The +level of the ground is now varied by the mound raised over those +who fell in the battle, but it was an unbroken plain when the +Persians encamped on it. There are marshes at each end, which +are dry in spring and summer, and then offer no obstruction to +the horseman, but are commonly flooded with rain, and so rendered +impracticable for cavalry, in the autumn, the time of year at +which the action took place. + +The Greeks, lying encamped on the mountains, could watch every +movement of the Persians on the plain below, while they were +enabled completely to mask their own. Miltiades also had, from +his position, the power of giving battle whenever he pleased, or +of delaying it at his discretion, unless Datis were to attempt +the perilous operation of storming the heights. + +If we turn to the map of the old world, to test the comparative +territorial resources of the two states whose armies were now +about to come into conflict, the immense preponderance of the +material power of the Persian king over that of the Athenian +republic is more striking than any similar contrast which history +can supply. It has been truly remarked, that, in estimating mere +areas, Attica, containing on its whole surface only seven hundred +square miles, shrinks into insignificance if compared with many a +baronial fief of the Middle Ages, or many a colonial allotment of +modern times. Its antagonist, the Persian empire, comprised the +whole of modern Asiatic and much of modern European Turkey, the +modern kingdom of Persia, and the countries of modern Georgia, +Armenia, Balkh, the Punjaub, Affghanistan, Beloochistan, Egypt, +and Tripoli. + +Nor could a European, in the beginning of the fifth century +before our era, look upon this huge accumulation of power beneath +the sceptre of a single Asiatic ruler, with the indifference with +which we now observe on the map the extensive dominions of modern +Oriental sovereigns. For, as has been already remarked, before +Marathon was fought, the prestige of success and of supposed +superiority of race was on the side of the Asiatic against the +European. Asia was the original seat of human societies and long +before any trace can be found of the inhabitants of the rest of +the world having emerged from the rudest barbarism, we can +perceive that mighty and brilliant empires flourished in the +Asiatic continent. They appear before us through the twilight of +primeval history, dim and indistinct, but massive and majestic, +like mountains in the early dawn. + +Instead, however, of the infinite variety and restless change +which have characterised the institutions and fortunes of +European states ever since the commencement of the civilization +of our continent, a monotonous uniformity pervades the histories +of nearly all Oriental empires, from the most ancient down to the +most recent times. They are characterised by the rapidity of +their early conquests; by the immense extent of the dominions +comprised in them; by the establishment of a satrap or pacha +system of governing the provinces; by an invariable and speedy +degeneracy in the princes of the royal house, the effeminate +nurslings of the seraglio succeeding to the warrior-sovereigns +reared in the camp; and by the internal anarchy and +insurrections, which indicate and accelerate the decline and fall +of those unwieldy and ill-organized fabrics of power. It is also +a striking fact that the governments of all the great Asiatic +empires have in all ages been absolute despotisms. And Heeren is +right in connecting this with another great fact, which is +important from its influence both on the political and the social +life of Asiatics. "Among all the considerable nations of Inner +Asia, the paternal government of every household was corrupted by +polygamy; where that custom exists, a good political constitution +is impossible. Fathers being converted into domestic despots, +are ready to pay the same abject obedience to their sovereign +which they exact from their family and dependants in their +domestic economy." We should bear in mind also the inseparable +connexion between the state religion and all legislation, which +has always prevailed in the East, and the constant existence of a +powerful sacerdotal body, exercising some check, though +precarious and irregular, over the throne itself, grasping at all +civil administration, claiming the supreme control of education, +stereotyping the lines in which literature and science must move, +and limiting the extent to which it shall be lawful for the human +mind to prosecute its inquiries. + +With these general characteristics rightly felt and understood. +it becomes a comparatively easy task to investigate and +appreciate the origin, progress, and principles of Oriental +empires in general, as well as of the Persian monarchy in +particular. And we are thus better enabled to appreciate the +repulse which Greece gave to the arms of the East, and to judge +of the probable consequences to human civilization, if the +Persians had succeeded in bringing Europe under their yoke, as +they had already subjugated the fairest portions of the rest of +the then known world. + +The Greeks, from their geographical position, formed the natural +vanguard of European liberty against Persian ambition; and they +pre-eminently displayed the salient points of distinctive +national character, which have rendered European civilization so +far superior to Asiatic. The nations that dwelt in ancient times +around and near the northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, +were the first in our continent to receive from the East the +rudiments of art and literature, and the germs of social and +political organization. Of these nations, the Greeks, through +their vicinity to Asia Minor, Phoenicia, and Egypt, were among +the very foremost in acquiring the principles and habits of +civilized life; and they also at once imparted a new and wholly +original stamp on all which they received. Thus, in their +religion they received from foreign settlers the names of all +their deities and many of their rites, but they discarded the +loathsome monstrosities of the Nile, the Orontes, and the +Ganges;--they nationalized their creed; and their own poets +created their beautiful mythology. No sacerdotal caste ever +existed in Greece. So, in their governments they lived long +under hereditary kings, but never endured the permanent +establishment of absolute monarchy. Their early kings were +constitutional rulers, governing with defined prerogatives. And +long before the Persian invasion the kingly form of government +had given way in almost all the Greek states to republican +institutions, presenting infinite varieties of the balancing or +the alternate predominance of the oligarchical and democratical +principles. In literature and science the Greek intellect +followed no beaten track, and acknowledged no limitary rules. +The Greeks thought their subjects boldly out; and the novelty of +a speculation invested it in their minds with interest, and not +with criminality. Versatile, restless, enterprising and self- +confident, the Greeks presented the most striking contrast to the +habitual quietude and submissiveness of the Orientals. And, of +all the Greeks, the Athenians exhibited these national +characteristics in the strongest degree. This spirit of activity +and daring, joined to a generous sympathy for the fate of their +fellow-Greeks in Asia, had led them to join in the last Ionian +war; and now, mingling with their abhorrence of the usurping +family of their own citizens, which for a period had forcibly +seized on and exercised despotic power at Athens, it nerved them +to defy the wrath of King Darius, and to refuse to receive back +at his bidding the tyrant whom they had some years before driven +from their land. + +The enterprise and genius of an Englishman have lately confirmed +by fresh evidence, and invested with fresh interest, the might of +the Persian monarch, who sent his troops to combat at Marathon. +Inscriptions in a character termed the Arrow-headed, or +Cuneiform, had long been known to exist on the marble monuments +at Persepolis, near the site of the ancient Susa, and on the +faces of rocks in other places formerly ruled over by the early +Persian kings. But for thousands of years they had been mere +unintelligible enigmas to the curious but baffled beholder: and +they were often referred to as instances of the folly of human +pride, which could indeed write its own praises in the solid +rock, but only for the rock to outlive the language as well as +the memory of the vain-glorious inscribers. The elder Niebuhr, +Grotefend, and Lassen had made some guesses at the meaning of the +Cuneiform letters; but Major Rawlinson, of the East India +Company's service, after years of labour, has at last +accomplished the glorious achievement of fully revealing the +alphabet and the grammar of this long unknown tongue. He has, in +particular, fully deciphered and expounded the inscriptions on +the sacred rock of Behistun, on the western frontiers of Media. +These records of the Achaemenidae have at length found their +interpreter; and Darius himself speaks to us from the consecrated +mountain, and tells us the names of the nations that obeyed him, +the revolts that he suppressed, his victories, his piety, and his +glory. [See the tenth volume of the "Journal of the Royal +Asiatic Society."] + +Kings who thus seek the admiration of posterity are little likely +to dim the record of their successes by the mention of their +occasional defeats; and it throws no suspicion on the narrative +of the Greek historians, that we find these inscriptions silent +respecting the overthrow of Datis and Artaphernes, as well as +respecting the reverses which Darius sustained in person during +his Scythian campaigns. But these indisputable monuments of +Persian fame confirm, and even increase, the opinion with which +Herodotus inspires us, of the vast power which Cyrus founded and +Cambyses increased; which Darius augmented by Indian and Arabian +conquests, and seemed likely, when he directed his arms against +Europe, to make the predominant monarchy of the world. + +With the exception of the Chinese empire, in which, throughout +all ages down to the last few years, one-third of the human race +has dwelt almost unconnected with the other portions, all the +great kingdoms which we know to have existed in Ancient Asia, +were, in Darius's time, blended with the Persian. The northern +Indians, the Assyrians, the Syrians, the Babylonians, the +Chaldees, the Phoenicians, the nations of Palestine, the +Armenians, the Bactrians, the Lydians, the Phrygians, the +Parthians, and the Medes,--all obeyed the sceptre of the Great +King: the Medes standing next to the native Persians in honour, +and the empire being frequently spoken of as that of the Medes, +or as that of the Medes and Persians. Egypt and Cyrene were +Persian provinces; the Greek colonists in Asia Minor and the +islands of the AEgean were Darius's subjects; and their gallant +but unsuccessful attempts to throw off the Persian yoke had only +served to rivet it more strongly, and to increase the general +belief: that the Greeks could not stand before the Persians in a +field of battle. Darius's Scythian war, though unsuccessful in +its immediate object, had brought about the subjugation of Thrace +and the submission of Macedonia. From the Indus to the Peneus, +all was his. + +We may imagine the wrath with which the lord of so many nations +must have heard, nine years before the battle of Marathon, that a +strange nation towards the setting sun, called the Athenians, had +dared to help his rebels in Ionia against him, and that they had +plundered and burnt the capital of one of his provinces. Before +the burning of Sardis, Darius seems never to have heard of the +existence of Athens; but his satraps in Asia Minor had for some +time seen Athenian refugees at their provincial courts imploring +assistance against their fellow-countrymen. When Hippias was +driven away from Athens, and the tyrannic dynasty of the +Pisistratidae finally overthrown in 510 B.C., the banished tyrant +and his adherents, after vainly seeking to be restored by Spartan +intervention, had betaken themselves to Sardis, the capital city +of the satrapy of Artaphernes. There Hippias (in the expressive +words of Herodotus) [Herod. lib. v. c. 96.] began every kind of +agitation, slandering the Athenians before Artaphernes, and doing +all he could to induce the satrap to place Athens in subjection +to him, as the tributary vassal of King Darius. When the +Athenians heard of his practices, they sent envoys to Sardis to +remonstrate with the Persians against taking up the quarrel of +the Athenian refugees. But Artaphernes gave them in reply a +menacing command to receive Hippias back again if they looked for +safety. The Athenians were resolved not to purchase safety at +such a price; and after rejecting the satrap's terms, they +considered that they and the Persians were declared enemies. At +this very crisis the Ionian Greeks implored the assistance of +their European brethren, to enable them to recover their +independence from Persia. Athens, and the city of Eretria in +Euboea, alone consented. Twenty Athenian galleys, and five +Eretrian, crossed the AEgean Sea; and by a bold and sudden march +upon Sardis the Athenians and their allies succeeded in capturing +the capital city of the haughty satrap, who had recently menaced +them with servitude or destruction. The Persian forces were soon +rallied, and the Greeks were compelled to retire. They were +pursued, and defeated on their return to the coast, and Athens +took no further part in the Ionian war. But the insult that she +had put upon the Persian power was speedily made known throughout +that empire, and was never to be forgiven or forgotten. In the +emphatic simplicity of the narrative of Herodotus, the wrath of +the Great King is thus described:--"Now when it was told to King +Darius that Sardis had been taken and burnt by the Athenians and +Ionians, he took small heed of the Ionians, well knowing who they +were, and that their revolt would soon be put down: but he asked +who, and what manner of men, the Athenians were. And when he had +been told, he called for his bow; and, having taken it, and +placed an arrow on the string, he let the arrow fly towards +heaven; and as he shot it into the air, he said, 'O Supreme God! +grant me that I may avenge myself on the Athenians.' And when he +had said this, he appointed one of his servants to say to him +every day as he sat at meat, 'Sire, remember the Athenians.'" + +Some years were occupied in the complete reduction of Ionia. But +when this was effected, Darius ordered his victorious forces to +proceed to punish Athens and Eretria, and to conquer European +Greece. The first armament sent for this purpose was shattered +by shipwreck, and nearly destroyed off Mount Athos, But the +purpose of King Darius was not easily shaken. A larger army was +ordered to be collected in Cilicia; and requisitions were sent to +all the maritime cities of the Persian empire for ships of war, +and for transports of sufficient size for carrying cavalry as +well as infantry across the AEgean. While these preparations +were being made, Darius sent heralds round to the Grecian cities +demanding their submission to Persia. It was proclaimed in the +market-place of each little Hellenic state (some with territories +not larger than the Isle of Wight), that King Darius, the lord of +all men, from the rising to the setting sun, required earth and +water to be delivered to his heralds, as a symbolical +acknowledgment that he was head and master of the country. +[Aeschines in Ctes. p. 622, ed. Reiske. Mitford, vol. i. p. 485. +AEschines is speaking of Xerxes, but Mitford is probably right in +considering it as the style of the Persian kings in their +proclamations. In one of the inscriptions at Persepolis, Darius +terms himself "Darius the great king, king of kings, the king of +the many peopled countries, the supporter also of this great +world." In another, he styles himself "the king of all inhabited +countries." (See "Asiatic Journal vol. X pp. 287 and 292, and +Major Rawlinson's Comments.)] Terror-stricken at the power of +Persia and at the severe punishment that had recently been +inflicted on the refractory Ionians, many of the continental +Greeks and nearly all the islanders submitted, and gave the +required tokens of vassalage. At Sparta and Athens an indignant +refusal was returned: a refusal which was disgraced by outrage +and violence against the persons of the Asiatic heralds. + +Fresh fuel was thus added to the anger of Darius against Athens, +and the Persian preparations went on with renewed vigour. In the +summer of 490 B.C., the army destined for the invasion was +assembled in the Aleian plain of Cilicia, near the sea. A fleet +of six hundred galleys and numerous transports was collected on +the coast for the embarkation of troops, horse as well as foot. +A Median general named Datis, and Artaphernes, the son of the +satrap of Sardis, and who was also nephew of Darius, were placed +in titular joint command of the expedition. That the real +supreme authority was given to Datis alone is probable, from the +way in which the Greek writers speak of him. We know no details +of the previous career of this officer; but there is every reason +to believe that his abilities and bravery had been proved by +experience, or his Median birth would have prevented his being +placed in high command by Darius. He appears to have been the +first Mede who was thus trusted by the Persian kings after the +overthrow of the conspiracy of the Median Magi against the +Persians immediately before Darius obtained the throne. Datis +received instructions to complete the subjugation of Greece, and +especial orders were given him with regard to Eretria and Athens. +He was to take these two cities; and he was to lead the +inhabitants away captive, and bring them as slaves into the +presence of the Great King. + +Datis embarked his forces in the fleet that awaited them; and +coasting along the shores of Asia Minor till he was off Samos, he +thence sailed due westward through the AEgean Sea for Greece, +taking the islands in his way. The Naxians had, ten years +before, successfully stood a siege against a Persian armament, +but they now were too terrified to offer any resistance, and fled +to the mountain-tops, while the enemy burnt their town and laid +waste their lands. Thence Datis, compelling the Greek islanders +to join him with their ships and men, sailed onward to the coast +of Euboea. The little town of Carystus essayed resistance, but +was quickly overpowered. He next attacked Eretria. The +Athenians sent four thousand men to its aid. But treachery was +at work among the Eretrians; and the Athenian force received +timely warning from one of the leading men of the city to retire +to aid in saving their own country, instead of remaining to share +in the inevitable destruction of Eretria. Left to themselves, +the Eretrians repulsed the assaults of the Persians against their +walls for six days; on the seventh day they were betrayed by two +of their chiefs and the Persians occupied the city. The temples +were burnt in revenge for the burning of Sardis, and the +inhabitants were bound and placed as prisoners in the +neighbouring islet of AEgylia, to wait there till Datis should +bring the Athenians to join them in captivity, when both +populations were to be led into Upper Asia, there to learn their +doom from the lips of King Darius himself. + +Flushed with success, and with half his mission thus +accomplished, Datis reimbarked his troops, and crossing the +little channel that separates Euboea from the mainland, he +encamped his troops on the Attic coast at Marathon, drawing up +his galleys on the shelving beach, as was the custom with the +navies of antiquity. The conquered islands behind him served as +places of deposit for his provisions and military stores. His +position at Marathon seemed to him in every respect advantageous; +and the level nature of the ground on which he camped was +favourable for the employment of his cavalry, if the Athenians +should venture to engage him. Hippias, who accompanied him, and +acted as the guide of the invaders, had pointed out Marathon as +the best place for a landing, for this very reason. Probably +Hippias was also influenced by the recollection, that forty-seven +years previously he, with his father Pisistratus, had crossed +with an army from Eretria to Marathon, and had won an easy +victory over their Athenian enemies on that very plain, which had +restored them to tyrannic power. The omen seemed cheering. The +place was the same; but Hippias soon learned to his cost how +great a change had come over the spirit of the Athenians. + +But though "the fierce democracy" of Athens was zealous and true +against foreign invader and domestic tyrant, a faction existed in +Athens, as at Eretria, of men willing to purchase a party triumph +over their fellow-citizens at the price of their country's ruin. +Communications were opened between these men and the Persian +camp, which would have led to a catastrophe like that of Eretria, +if Miltiades had not resolved, and had not persuaded his +colleagues to resolve, on fighting at all hazards. + +When Miltiades arrayed his men for action, he staked on the +arbitrement of one battle not only the fate of Athens, but that +of all Greece; for if Athens had fallen, no other Greek state, +except Lacedaemon, would have had the courage to resist; and the +Lacedaemonians, though they would probably have died in their +ranks to the last man, never could have successfully resisted the +victorious Persians, and the numerous Greek troops, which would +have soon marched under the Persian satraps, had they prevailed +over Athens. + +Nor was there any power to the westward of Greece that could have +offered an effectual opposition to Persia, had she once conquered +Greece, and made that country a basis for future military +operations. Rome was at this time in her season of utmost +weakness. Her dynasty of powerful Etruscan kings had been driven +out, and her infant commonwealth was reeling under the attacks of +the Etruscans and Volscians from without, and the fierce +dissensions between the patricians and plebeians within. +Etruria, with her Lucumos and serfs, was no match for Persia. +Samnium had not grown into the might which she afterwards put +forth: nor could the Greek colonies in South Italy and Sicily +hope to survive when their parent states had perished. Carthage +had escaped the Persian yoke in the time of Cambyses, through the +reluctance of the Phoenician mariners to serve against their +kinsmen. But such forbearance could not long have been relied +on, and the future rival of Rome would have become as submissive +a minister of the Persian power as were the Phoenician cities +themselves. If we turn to Spain, or if we pass the great +mountain chain which, prolonged through the Pyrenees, the +Cevennes, the Alps, and the Balkan, divides Northern from +Southern Europe, we shall find nothing at that period but mere +savage Finns, Celts, Slaves, and Teutons. Had Persia beaten +Athens at Marathon, she could have found no obstacle to prevent +Darius, the chosen servant of Ormuzd, from advancing his sway +over all the known Western races of mankind. The infant energies +of Europe would have been trodden out beneath universal conquest; +and the history of the world, like the history of Asia, would +have become a mere record of the rise and fall of despotic +dynasties, of the incursions of barbarous hordes, and of the +mental and political prostration of millions beneath the diadem, +the tiara, and the sword. + +Great as the preponderance of the Persian over the Athenian power +at that crisis seems to have been, it would be unjust to impute +wild rashness to the policy of Miltiades, and those who voted +with him in the Athenian council of war, or to look on the after- +current of events as the mere result of successful indiscretion. +as before has been remarked, Miltiades, whilst prince of the +Chersonese, had seen service in the Persian armies; and he knew +by personal observation how many elements of weakness lurked +beneath their imposing aspect of strength. He knew that the bulk +of their troops no longer consisted of the hardy shepherds and +mountaineers from Persia Proper and Kurdistan, who won Cyrus's +battles: but that unwilling contingents from conquered nations +now largely filled up the Persian muster rolls, fighting more +from compulsion than from any zeal in the cause of their masters. +He had also the sagacity and the spirit to appreciate the +superiority of the Greek armour and organization over the +Asiatic, notwithstanding former reverses. Above all, he felt and +worthily trusted the enthusiasm of the men under his command. + +The Athenians, whom he led, had proved by their new-born valour +in recent wars against the neighbouring states, that "Liberty and +Equality of civic rights are brave spirit-stirring things: and +they who, while under the yoke of a despot, had been no better +men of war than any of their neighbours, as soon as they were +free, became the foremost men of all; for each felt that in +fighting for a free commonwealth, he fought for himself, and, +whatever he took in hand, he was zealous to do the work +thoroughly." So the nearly contemporaneous historian describes +the change of spirit that was seen in the Athenians after their +tyrants were expelled; [Herod. lib. v. c. 87.] and Miltiades +knew that in leading them against the invading army, where they +had Hippias, the foe they most hated, before them, he was +bringing into battle no ordinary men, and could calculate on no +ordinary heroism. As for traitors, he was sure, that whatever +treachery might lurk among some of the higher-born and wealthier +Athenians, the rank and file whom he commanded were ready to do +their utmost in his and their own cause. With regard to future +attacks from Asia, he might reasonably hope that one victory +would inspirit all Greece to combine against common foe; and that +the latent seeds of revolt and disunion in the Persian empire +would soon burst forth and paralyse its energies, so as to leave +Greek independence secure. + +With these hopes and risks, Miltiades, on the afternoon of a +September day, 490 B.C., gave the word for the Athenian army to +prepare for battle. There were many local associations connected +with those mountain heights, which were calculated powerfully to +excite the spirits of the men, and of which the commanders well +knew how to avail themselves in their exhortations to their +troops before the encounter. Marathon itself was a region sacred +to; Hercules. Close to them was the fountain of Macaria, who had +in days of yore devoted herself to death for the liberty of her +people. The very plain on which they were to fight was the scene +of the exploits of their national hero, Theseus; and there, too, +as old legends told, the Athenians and the Heraclidae had routed +the invader, Eurystheus. These traditions were not mere cloudy +myths, or idle fictions, but matters of implicit earnest faith to +the men of that day: and many a fervent prayer arose from the +Athenian ranks to the heroic spirits who while on earth had +striven and suffered on that very spot, and who were believed to +be now heavenly powers, looking down with interest on their still +beloved country, and capable of interposing with superhuman aid +in its behalf. + +According to old national custom, the warriors of each tribe were +arrayed together; neighbour thus fighting by the side of +neighbour, friend by friend, and the spirit of emulation and the +consciousness of responsibility excited to the very utmost. The +War-Ruler, Callimachus, had the leading of the right wing; the +Plataeans formed the extreme left; and Themistocles and Aristides +commanded the centre. The line consisted of the heavy-armed +spearmen only. For the Greeks (until the time of Iphicrates) +took little or no account of light-armed soldiers in a pitched +battle, using them only in skirmishes or for the pursuit of a +defeated enemy. The panoply of the regular infantry consisted of +a long spear, of a shield, helmet, breast-plate, greaves, and +short sword. Thus equipped, they usually advanced slowly and +steadily into action in an uniform phalanx of about eight spears +deep. But the military genius of Miltiades led him to deviate on +this occasion from the commonplace tactics of his countrymen. It +was essential for him to extend his line so as to cover all the +practicable ground, and to secure himself from being outflanked +and charged in the rear by the Persian horse. This extension +involved the weakening of his line. Instead of an uniform +reduction of its strength, he determined on detaching principally +from his centre, which, from the nature of the ground, would have +the best opportunities for rallying if broken; and on +strengthening his wings, so as to insure advantage at those +points; and he trusted to his own skill, and to his soldiers' +discipline, for the improvement of that advantage into decisive +victory. + +[It is remarkable that there is no other instance of a Greek +general deviating from the ordinary mode of bringing a phalanx of +spearmen into action, until the battles of Leuctra and Mantineia, +more than a century after Marathon, when Epaminondas introduced +the tactics (which Alexander the Great in ancient times, and +Frederic the Great in modern times, made so famous) of +concentrating an overpowering force on some decisive point of the +enemy's line, while he kept back, or, in military phrase, refused +the weaker part of his own.] + +In this order, and availing himself probably of the inequalities +of the ground, so as to conceal his preparations from the enemy +till the last possible moment, Miltiades drew up the eleven +thousand infantry whose spears were to decide this crisis in the +struggle between the European and the Asiatic worlds. The +sacrifices, by which the favour of Heaven was sought, and its +will consulted, were announced to show propitious omens. The +trumpet sounded for action, and, chanting the hymn of battle, the +little army bore down upon the host of the foe. Then, too, along +the mountain slopes of Marathon must have resounded the mutual +exhortation which AEschylus, who fought in both battles, tells us +was afterwards heard over the waves of Salamis,--"On, sons of the +Greeks! Strike for the freedom of your country! strike for the +freedom of your children and of your wives--for the shrines of +your fathers' gods, and for the sepulchres of your sires. All-- +all are now staked upon the strife!" + +Instead of advancing at the usual slow pace of the phalanx, +Miltiades brought his men on at a run. They were all trained in +the exercises of the palaestra, so that there was no fear of +their ending the charge in breathless exhaustion: and it was of +the deepest importance for him to traverse as rapidly as possible +the space of about a mile of level ground, that lay between the +mountain foot and the Persian outposts, and so to get his troops +into close action before the Asiatic cavalry could mount, form, +and manoeuvre against him, or their archers keep him long under +bow-shot, and before the enemy's generals could fairly deploy +their masses. + +"When the Persians," says Herodotus, "saw the Athenians running +down on them, without horse or bowmen, and scanty in numbers, +they thought them a set of madmen rushing upon certain +destruction." They began, however, to prepare to receive them +and the Eastern chiefs arrayed, as quickly as time and place +allowed, the varied races who served in their motley ranks. +Mountaineers from Hyrcania and Affghanistan, wild horsemen from +the steppes of Khorassan, the black archers of Ethiopia, +swordsmen from the banks of the Indus, the Oxus, the Euphrates, +and the Nile, made ready against the enemies of the Great King. +But no national cause inspired them, except the division of +native Persians; and in the large host there was no uniformity of +language, creed, race, or military system. Still, among them +there were many gallant men, under a veteran general; they were +familiarized with victory; and in contemptuous confidence their +infantry, which alone had time to form, awaited the Athenian +charge. On came the Greeks, with one unwavering line of levelled +spears, against which the light targets, the short lances and +scymetars of the Orientals offered weak defence. The front rank +of the Asiatics must have gone down to a man at the first shock. +Still they recoiled not, but strove by individual gallantry, and +by the weight of numbers, to make up for the disadvantages of +weapons and tactics, and to bear back the shallow line of the +Europeans. In the centre, where the native Persians and the +Sacae fought, they succeeded in breaking through the weaker part +of the Athenian phalanx; and the tribes led by Aristides and +Themistocles were, after a brave resistance, driven back over the +plain, and chased by the Persians up the valley towards the inner +country. There the nature of the ground gave the opportunity of +rallying and renewing the struggle: and meanwhile, the Greek +wings, where Miltiades had concentrated his chief strength, had +routed the Asiatics opposed to them; and the Athenian and +Plataean officers, instead of pursuing the fugitives, kept their +troops well in hand, and wheeling round they formed the two wings +together. Miltiades instantly led them against the Persian +centre, which had hitherto been triumphant, but which now fell +back, and prepared to encounter these new and unexpected +assailants. Aristides and Themistocles renewed the fight with +their re-organized troops, and the full force of the Greeks was +brought into close action with the Persian and Sacian divisions +of the enemy. Datis's veterans strove hard to keep their ground, +and evening [ARISTOPH. Vesvoe 1085.] was approaching before the +stern encounter was decided. + +But the Persians, with their slight wicker shields, destitute of +body-armour, and never taught by training to keep the even front +and act with the regular movement of the Greek infantry, fought +at grievous disadvantage with their shorter and feebler weapons +against the compact array of well-armed Athenian and Plataean +spearmen, all perfectly drilled to perform each necessary +evolution in concert, and to preserve an uniform and unwavering +line in battle. In personal courage and in bodily activity the +Persians were not inferior to their adversaries. Their spirits +were not yet cowed by the recollection of former defeats; and +they lavished their lives freely, rather than forfeit the fame +which they had won by so many victories. While their rear ranks +poured an incessant shower of arrows over the heads of their +comrades, the foremost Persians kept rushing forward, sometimes +singly, sometimes in desperate groups of twelve or ten upon the +projecting spears of the Greeks, striving to force a lane into +the phalanx, and to bring their scimetars and daggers into play. +But the Greeks felt their superiority, and though the fatigue of +the long-continued action told heavily on their inferior numbers, +the sight of the carnage that they dealt amongst their assailants +nerved them to fight still more fiercely on. + +[See the description, in the 62nd section of the ninth book of +Herodotus, of the gallantry shown by the Persian infantry against +the Lacedaemonians at Plataea. We have no similar detail of the +fight at Marathon, but we know that it was long and obstinately +contested (see the 113th section of the sixth book of Herodotus, +and the lines from the "Vespae" already quoted), and the spirit +of the Persians must have been even higher at Marathon than at +Plataea. In both battles it was only the true Persians and the +Sacae who showed this valour; the other Asiatics fled like +sheep.] + +At last the previously unvanquished lords of Asia turned their +backs and fled, and the Greeks followed, striking them down, to +the water's edge, where the invaders were now hastily launching +their galleys, and seeking to embark and fly. Flushed with +success, the Athenians dashed at the fleet. + +[The flying Mede, his shaftless broken bow; + The fiery Greek, his red pursuing spear; + Mountains above, Earth's, Ocean's plain below, + Death in the front, Destruction in the rear! + Such was the scene.--Byron's CHILDE HARROLD.] + +"Bring fire, bring fire," was their cry; and they began to lay +hold of the ships. But here the Asiatics resisted desperately, +and the principal loss sustained by the Greeks was in the assault +on the fleet. Here fell the brave War-Ruler Callimachus, the +general Stesilaus, and other Athenians of note. Conspicuous +among them was Cynaegeirus, the brother of the tragic poet +AEschylus. He had grasped the ornamental work on the stern of +one of the galleys, and had his hand struck off by an axe. Seven +galleys were captured; but the Persians succeeded in saving the +rest. They pushed off from the fatal shore: but even here the +skill of Datis did not desert him, and he sailed round to the +western coast of Attica, in hopes to find the city unprotected, +and to gain possession of it from some of the partisans of +Hippias. Miltiades, however, saw and counteracted his manoeuvre. +Leaving Aristides, and the troops of his tribe, to guard the +spoil and the slain, the Athenian commander led his conquering +army by a rapid night-march back across the country to Athens. +And when the Persian fleet had doubled the Cape of Sunium and +sailed up to the Athenian harbour in the morning, Datis saw +arrayed on the heights above the city the troops before whom his +men had fled on the preceding evening. All hope of further +conquest in Europe for the time was abandoned, and the baffled +armada returned to the Asiatic coasts. + +After the battle had been fought, but while the dead bodies were +yet on the ground, the promised reinforcement from Sparta +arrived. Two thousand Lacedaemonian spearmen, starting +immediately after the full moon, had marched the hundred and +fifty miles between Athens and Sparta in the wonderfully short +time of three days. Though too late to share in the glory of the +action, they requested to be allowed to march to the battle-field +to behold the Medes. They proceeded thither, gazed on the dead +bodies of the invaders, and then, praising the Athenians and what +they had done, they returned to Lacedaemon. + +The number of the Persian dead was six thousand four hundred; of +the Athenians, a hundred and ninety-two. The number of Plataeans +who fell is not mentioned, but as they fought in the part of the +army which was not broken, it cannot have been large. + +The apparent disproportion between the losses of the two armies +is not surprising, when we remember the armour of the Greek +spearmen, and the impossibility of heavy slaughter being +inflicted by sword or lance on troops so armed, as long as they +kept firm in their ranks. [Mitford well refers to Crecy, +Poictiers, and Agincourt, as instances of similar disparity of +loss between the conquerors and the conquered.] + +The Athenian slain were buried on the field of battle. This was +contrary to the usual custom, according to which the bones of all +who fell fighting for their country in each year were deposited +in a public sepulchre in the suburb of Athens called the +Cerameicus. But it was felt that a distinction ought to be made +in the funeral honours paid to the men of Marathon, even as their +merit had been distinguished over that of all other Athenians. A +lofty mound was raised on the plain of Marathon, beneath which +the remains of the men of Athens who fell in the battle were +deposited. Ten columns were erected on the spot, one for each of +the Athenian tribes; and on the monumental column of each tribe +were graven the names of those of its members whose glory it was +to have fallen in the great battle of liberation. The antiquary +Pausanias read those names there six hundred years after the time +when they were first graven. The columns have long perished, but +the mound still marks the spot where the noblest heroes of +antiquity, the MARATHONOMAKHOI repose. [Pausanias states, with +implicit belief, that the battlefield was haunted at night by +supernatural beings, and that the noise of combatants and the +snorting of horses were heard to resound on it. The superstition +has survived the change of creeds, and the shepherds of the +neighbourhood still believe that spectral warriors contend on the +plain at midnight, and they say that they have heard the shouts +of the combatants and the neighing of the steeds. See Grote and +Thirlwall.] + +A separate tumulus was raised over the bodies of the slain +Plataeans, and another over the light-armed slaves who had taken +part and had fallen in the battle. [It is probable that the +Greek light-armed irregulars were active in the attack on the +Persian ships and it was in this attack that the Greeks suffered +their principal loss.] There was also a distinct sepulchral +monument to the general to whose genius the victory was mainly +due. Miltiades did not live long after his achievement at +Marathon, but he lived long enough to experience a lamentable +reverse of his popularity and good fortune. As soon as the +Persians had quitted the western coasts of the AEgean, he +proposed to an assembly of the Athenian people that they should +fit out seventy galleys, with a proportionate force of soldiers +and military stores, and place them at his disposal; not telling +them whither he meant to proceed, but promising them that if they +would equip the force he asked for, and give him discretionary +powers, he would lead it to a land where there was gold in +abundance to be won with ease. The Greeks of that time believed +in the existence of Eastern realms teeming with gold, as firmly +as the Europeans of the sixteenth century believed in Eldorado of +the West. The Athenians probably thought that the recent victor +of Marathon, and former officer of Darius, was about to guide +them on a secret expedition against some wealthy and unprotected +cities of treasure in the Persian dominions. The armament was +voted and equipped, and sailed eastward from Attica, no one but +Miltiades knowing its destination, until the Greek isle of Paros +was reached, when his true object appeared. In former years, +while connected with the Persians as prince of the Chersonese, +Miltiades had been involved in a quarrel with one of the leading +men among the Parians, who had injured his credit and caused some +slights to be put upon him at the court of the Persian satrap, +Hydarnes. The feud had ever since rankled in the heart of the +Athenian chief, and he now attacked Paros for the sake of +avenging himself on his ancient enemy. His pretext, as general +of the Athenians, was, that the Parians had aided the armament of +Datis with a war-galley. The Parians pretended to treat about +terms of surrender, but used the time which they thus gained in +repairing the defective parts of the fortifications of their +city; and they then set the Athenians at defiance. So far, says +Herodotus, the accounts of all the Greeks agree. But the +Parians, in after years, told also a wild legend, how a captive +priestess of a Parian temple of the Deities of the Earth promised +Miltiades to give him the means of capturing Paros: how, at her +bidding, the Athenian general went alone at night and forced his +way into a holy shrine, near the city gate, but with what purpose +it was not known: how a supernatural awe came over him, and in +his flight he fell and fractured his leg: how an oracle +afterwards forbad the Parians to punish the sacrilegious and +traitorous priestess, "because it was fated that Miltiades should +come to an ill end, and she was only the instrument to lead him +to evil." Such was the tale that Herodotus heard at Paros. +Certain it was that Miltiades either dislocated or broke his leg +during an unsuccessful siege of that city, and returned home in +evil plight with his baffled and defeated forces. + +The indignation of the Athenians was proportionate to the hope +and excitement which his promises had raised. Xanthippus, the +head of one of the first families in Athens, indicted him before +the supreme popular tribunal for the capital offence of having +deceived the people. His guilt was undeniable, and the Athenians +passed their verdict accordingly. But the recollections of +Lemnos and Marathon, and the sight of the fallen general who lay +stretched on a couch before them, pleaded successfully in +mitigation of punishment, and the sentence was commuted from +death to a fine of fifty talents. This was paid by his son, the +afterwards illustrious Cimon, Miltiades dying, soon after the +trial, of the injury which he had received at Paros. + +[The common-place calumnies against the Athenians respecting +Miltiades have been well answered by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton in +his "Rise and Fall of Athens," and Bishop Thirlwall in the second +volume of his "History of Greece;" but they have received their +most complete refutation from Mr. Grote in the fourth volume of +his History, p.490 et seq., and notes. I quite concur with him +that, "looking to the practice of the Athenian dicastery in +criminal cases, fifty talents was the minor penalty actually +proposed by the defenders of Miltiades themselves as a substitute +for the punishment of death. In those penal cases at Athens, +where the punishment was not fixed beforehand by the terms of the +law, if the person accused was found guilty, it was customary to +submit to the jurors subsequently and separately, the question as +to the amount of punishment. First, the accuser named the +penalty which he thought suitable; next, the accused person was +called upon to name an amount of penalty for himself, and the +jurors were constrained to take their choice between these two; +no third gradation of penalty being admissible for consideration. +Of course, under such circumstances, it was the interest of the +accused party to name, even in his own case, some real and +serious penalty, something which the jurors might be likely to +deem not wholly inadequate to his crime just proved; for if he +proposed some penalty only trifling, he drove them to far the +heavier sentence recommended by his opponent." The stories of +Miltiades having been cast into prison and died there, and of his +having been saved from death only by the interposition of the +Prytanis of the day, are, I think, rightly rejected by Mr. Grote +as the fictions of after ages. The silence of Herodotus +respecting them is decisive. It is true that Plato, in the +Gorgias, says that the Athenians passed a vote to throw Miltiades +into the Barathrum, and speaks of the interposition of the +Prytanis in his favour; but it is to be remembered that Plato, +with all his transcendent genius, was (as Niebuhr has termed him) +a very indifferent patriot, who loved to blacken the character of +his country's democratic institutions; and if the fact was that +the Prytanis, at the trial of Miltiades, opposed the vote of +capital punishment, and spoke in favour of the milder sentence, +Plato (in a passage written to show the misfortunes that befell +Athenian statesmen) would readily exaggerate this fact into the +story that appears in his text.] + +The melancholy end of Miltiades, after his elevation to such a +height of power and glory, must often have been recalled to the +mind of the ancient Greeks by the sight of one, in particular, of +the memorials of the great battle which he won. This was the +remarkable statue (minutely described by Pausanias) which the +Athenians, in the time of Pericles, caused to be hewn out of a +huge block of marble, which, it was believed, had been provided +by Datis to form a trophy of the anticipated victory of the +Persians. Phidias fashioned out of this a colossal image of the +goddess Nemesis, the deity whose peculiar function was to visit +the exuberant prosperity both of nations and individuals with +sudden and awful reverses. This statue was placed in a temple of +the goddess at Rhamnus, about eight miles from Marathon, Athens +herself contained numerous memorials of her primary great +victory. Panenus, the cousin of Phidias, represented it in +fresco on the walls of the painted porch; and, centuries +afterwards, the figures of Miltiades and Callimachus at the head +of the Athenians were conspicuous in the fresco. The tutelary +deities were exhibited taking part in the fray. In the back- +ground were seen the Phoenician galleys; and nearer to the +spectator, the Athenians and the Plataeans (distinguished by +their leathern helmets) were chasing routed Asiatics into the +marshes and the sea. The battle was sculptured also on the +Temple of Victory in the Acropolis; and even now there may be +traced on the frieze the figures of the Persian combatants with +their lunar shields, their bows and quivers, their curved +scimetars, their loose trowsers, and Phrygian tiaras. +[Wordsworth's "Greece," p. 115.] + +These and other memorials of Marathon were the produce of the +meridian age of Athenian intellectual splendour--of the age of +Phidias and Pericles. For it was not merely by the generation of +men whom the battle liberated from Hippias and the Medes, that +the transcendent importance of their victory was gratefully +recognised. Through the whole epoch of her prosperity, through +the long Olympiads of her decay, through centuries after her +fall, Athens looked back on the day of Marathon as the brightest +of her national existence. + +By a natural blending of patriotic pride with grateful piety, the +very spirits of the Athenians who fell at Marathon were deified +by their countrymen. The inhabitants of the districts of +Marathon paid religious rites to them; and orators solemnly +invoked them in their most impassioned adjurations before the +assembled men of Athens. "Nothing was omitted that could keep +alive the remembrance of a deed which had first taught the +Athenian people to know its own strength, by measuring it with +the power which had subdued the greater part of the known world. +The consciousness thus awakened fixed its character, its station, +and its destiny; it was the spring of its later great actions and +ambitious enterprises. [Thirlwall.] + +It was not indeed by one defeat, however signal, that the pride +of Persia could be broken, and her dreams of universal empire be +dispelled. Ten years afterwards she renewed her attempts upon +Europe on a grander scale of enterprise, and was repulsed by +Greece with greater and reiterated loss. Larger forces and +heavier slaughter than had been seen at Marathon signalised the +conflicts of Greeks and Persians at Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, +and the Eurymedon. But mighty and momentous as these battles +were, they rank not with Marathon in importance. They originated +no new impulse. They turned back no current of fate. They were +merely confirmatory of the already existing bias which Marathon +had created. The day of Marathon is the critical epoch in the +history of the two nations. It broke for ever the spell of +Persian invincibility, which had paralysed men's minds. It +generated among the Greeks the spirit which beat back Xerxes, and +afterwards led on Xenophon, Agesilaus, and Alexander, in terrible +retaliation, through their Asiatic campaigns. It secured for +mankind the intellectual treasures of Athens, the growth of free +institutions the liberal enlightenment of the Western world, and +the gradual ascendency for many ages of the great principles of +European civilisation. + + +EXPLANATORY REMARKS ON SOME OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE BATTLE OF +MARATHON. + +Nothing is said by Herodotus of the Persian cavalry taking any +part in the battle, although he mentions that Hippias recommended +the Persians to land at Marathon, because the plain was +favourable for cavalry evolutions. In the life of Miltiades, +which is usually cited as the production of Cornelius Nepos, but +which I believe to be of no authority whatever, it is said that +Miltiades protected his flanks from the enemy's horse by an +abattis of felled trees. While he was on the high ground he +would not have required this defence; and it is not likely that +the Persians would have allowed him to erect it on the plain. + +Bishop Thirlwall calls our attention to a passage in Suidas, +where the proverb KHORIS HIPPEIS is said to have originated from +some Ionian Greeks, who were serving compulsorily in the army of +Datis, contriving to inform Miltiades that the Persian cavalry +had gone away, whereupon Miltiades immediately joined battle and +gained the victory. There may probably be a gleam of truth in +this legend. If Datis's cavalry was numerous, as the abundant +pastures of Euboea were close at hand, the Persian general, when +he thought, from the inaction of his enemy, that they did not +mean to come down from the heights and give battle, might +naturally send the larger part of his horse back across the +channel to the neighbourhood of Eretria, where he had already +left a detachment, and where his military stores must have been +deposited. The knowledge of such a movement would of course +confirm Miltiades in his resolution to bring on a speedy +engagement. + +But, in truth, whatever amount of cavalry we suppose Datis to +have had with him on the day of Marathon, their inaction in the +battle is intelligible, if we believe the attack of the Athenian +spearmen to have been as sudden as it was rapid. The Persian +horse-soldier, on an alarm being given, had to take the shackles +off his horse, to strap the saddle on, and bridle him, besides +equipping himself (see Xenoph. Anab. lib.iii c.4); and when each +individual horseman was ready, the line had to be formed; and the +time that it takes to form the Oriental cavalry in line for a +charge, has, in all ages, been observed by Europeans. + +The wet state of the marshes at each end of the plain, in the +time of year when the battle was fought, has been adverted to by +Mr Wordsworth; and this would hinder the Persian general from +arranging and employing his horsemen on his extreme wings, while +it also enabled the Greeks, as they came forward, to occupy the +whole breadth of the practicable ground with an unbroken line of +levelled spears, against which, if any Persian horse advanced +they would be driven back in confusion upon their own foot. + +Even numerous and fully-arrayed bodies of cavalry have been +repeatedly broken, both in ancient and modern warfare, by +resolute charges of infantry. For instance, it was by an attack +of some picked cohorts that Caesar routed the Pompeian cavalry, +which had previously defeated his own at Pharsalia. + +I have represented the battle of Marathon as beginning in the +afternoon, and ending towards evening. If it had lasted all day, +Herodotus would have probably mentioned that fact. That it ended +towards evening is, I think, proved by the line from the "Vespae" +which I have already quoted, and to which my attention was called +by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton's account of the battle. I think +that the succeeding lines in Aristophanes, also already quoted, +justify the description which I have given of the rear-ranks of +the Persians keeping up a flight of arrows over the heads of +their comrades against the Greeks. + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF MARATHON, B.C. 490, AND +THE DEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS AT SYRACUSE, B.C. 413. + +B.C. 490 to 487. All Asia is filled with the preparations made +by King Darius for a new expedition against Greece. Themistocles +persuades the Athenians to leave off dividing the proceeds of +their silver mines among themselves, and to employ the money in +strengthening their navy. + +487. Egypt revolts from the Persians, and delays the expedition +against Greece. + +485. Darius dies, and Xerxes his son becomes King of Persia in +his stead. + +484 The Persians recover Egypt. + +480 Xerxes invades Greece. Indecisive actions between the +Persian and Greek fleets at Artemisium. Destruction of the three +hundred Spartans at Thermopyae. The Athenians abandon Attica and +go on shipboard. Great naval victory of the Greeks at Salamis. +Xerxes returns to Asia, leaving a chosen army under Mardonius, to +carry on the war against the Greeks. + +478. Mardonius and his army destroyed by the Greeks at Plataea +The Greeks land in Asia Minor, and defeat a Persian force at +Mycale. In this and the following years the Persians lose all +their conquests in Europe, and many on the coast of Asia. + +477. Many of the Greek maritime states take Athens as their +leader, instead of Sparta. + +466. Victories of Cimon over the Persians at the Eurymedon. + +464. Revolt of the Helots against Sparta. Third Messenian war. + +460. Egypt again revolts against Persia. The Athenians send a +powerful armament to aid the Egyptians, which, after gaining some +successes, is destroyed, and Egypt submits. This war lasted six +years. + +457. Wars in Greece between the Athenian and several +Peloponnesian states. Immense exertions of Athens at this time. +"There is an original inscription still preserved in the Louvre, +which attests the energies of Athens at this crisis, when Athens, +like England in modern wars, at once sought conquests abroad, and +repelled enemies at home. At the period we now advert to (B.C. +457), an Athenian armament of two hundred galleys was engaged in +a bold though unsuccessful expedition against Egypt. The +Athenian crews had landed, had won a battle; they had then re- +embarked and sailed up the Nile, and were busily besieging the +Persian garrison in Memphis. As the complement of a trireme +galley was at least two hundred men, we cannot estimate the +forces then employed by Athens against Egypt at less than forty +thousand men. At the same time she kept squadrons on the coasts +of Phoenicia and Cyprus, and yet maintained a home-fleet that +enabled her to defeat her Peloponnesian enemies at Cecryphalae +and AEgina, capturing in the last engagement seventy galleys. +This last fact may give us some idea of the strength of the +Athenian home-fleet that gained the victory; and by adopting the +same ratio of multiplying whatever number of galleys we suppose +to have been employed, by two hundred, so as to gain the +aggregate number of the crews, we may form some estimate of the +forces which this little, Greek state then kept on foot. Between +sixty and seventy thousand men must have served in her fleets +during that year. Her tenacity of purpose was equal to her +boldness of enterprise. Sooner than yield or withdraw from any +of their expeditions the Athenians at this very time, when +Corinth sent an army to attack their garrison at Megara, did not +recall a single crew or a single soldier from AEgina or from +abroad; but the lads and old men, who had been left to guard the +city, fought and won a battle against these new assailants. The +inscription which we have referred to is graven on a votive +tablet to the memory of the dead, erected in that year by the +Erecthean tribe, one of the ten into which the Athenians were +divided. It shows, as Thirlwall has remarked, "that the +Athenians were conscious of the greatness of their own effort;" +and in it this little civic community of the ancient world still +"records to us with emphatic simplicity, that 'its slain fell in +Cyprus, in Egypt, in Phoenicia, at Haliae, in AEgina, and in +Megara, IN THE SAME YEAR.'" [Paeans of the Athenian Navy.] + +455. A thirty years' truce concluded between Athens and +Lacedaemon. + +440. The Samians endeavour to throw off the supremacy of Athens. +Samos completely reduced to subjection. Pericles is now sole +director of the Athenian councils. + +431. Commencement of the great Peloponnesian war, in which +Sparta, at the head of nearly all the Peloponnesian states, and +aided by the Boeotians and some of the other Greeks beyond the +Isthmus, endeavours to reduce the power of Athens, and to restore +independence to the Greek maritime states who were the subject +allies of Athens. At the commencement of the war the +Peloponnesian armies repeatedly invade and ravage Attica, but +Athens herself is impregnable, and her fleets secure her the +dominion of the sea. + +430. Athens visited by a pestilence, which sweeps off large +numbers of her population. + +426. The Athenians gain great advantages over the Spartans at +Sphacteria, and by occupying Cythera; but they suffer a severe +defeat in Boeotia, and the Spartan general Brasidas, leads an +expedition to the Thracian coasts, and conquers many of the most +valuable Athenian possessions in those regions. + +421. Nominal truce for thirty years between Athens and Sparta, +but hostilities continue on the Thracian coast and in other +quarters. + +415. The Athenians send an expedition to conquer Sicily. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +DEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS AT SYRACUSE, B.C.413. + +"The Romans knew not, and could not know, how deeply the +greatness of their own posterity, and the fate of the whole +Western world, were involved in the destruction of the fleet of +Athens in the harbour of Syracuse. Had that great expedition +proved victorious, the energies of Greece during the next +eventful century would have found their field in the West no less +than in the East; Greece, and not Rome, might have conquered +Carthage; Greek instead of Latin might have been at this day the +principal element of the language of Spain, of France, and of +Italy; and the laws of Athens, rather than of Rome, might be the +foundation of the law of the civilized world."--ARNOLD. "The +great expedition to Sicily, one of the most decisive events in +the history of the world."--NIEBUHR. + +Few cities have undergone more memorable sieges during ancient +and mediaeval times, than has the city of Syracuse. Athenian, +Carthaginian, Roman, Vandal, Byzantine, Saracen, and Norman, have +in turns beleaguered her walls; and the resistance which she +successfully opposed to some of her early assailants was of the +deepest importance, not only to the fortunes of the generations +then in being, but to all the subsequent current of human events. +To adopt the eloquent expressions of Arnold respecting the check +which she gave to the Carthaginian arms, "Syracuse was a +breakwater, which God's providence raised up to protect the yet +immature strength of Rome." And her triumphant repulse of the +great Athenian expedition against her was of even more wide- +spread and enduring importance. It forms a decisive epoch in the +strife for universal empire, in which all the great states of +antiquity successively engaged and failed. + +The present city of Syracuse is a place of little or no military +strength, as the fire of artillery from the neighbouring heights +would almost completely command it. But in ancient warfare its +position, and the care bestowed on its walls, rendered it +formidably strong against the means of offence which then were +employed by besieging armies. + +The ancient city, in the time of the Peloponnesian war, was +chiefly built on the knob of land which projects into the sea on +the eastern coast of Sicily, between two bays; one of which, to +the north, was called the bay of Thapsus, while the southern one +formed the great harbour of the city of Syracuse itself. A small +island, or peninsula (for such it soon was rendered), lies at the +south-eastern extremity of this knob of land, stretching almost +entirely across the mouth of the great harbour, and rendering it +nearly land-locked. This island comprised the original +settlement of the first Greek colonists from Corinth, who founded +Syracuse two thousand five hundred years ago; and the modern city +has shrunk again into these primary limits. But, in the fifth +century before our era, the growing wealth and population of the +Syracusans had led them to occupy and include within their city +walls portion after portion of the mainland lying next to the +little isle; so that at the time of the Athenian expedition the +seaward part of the land between the two bays already spoken of +was built over, and fortified from bay to bay; constituting the +larger part of Syracuse. + +The landward wall, therefore, of the city traversed this knob of +land, which continues to slope upwards from the sea, and which to +the west of the old fortifications (that is, towards the interior +of Sicily) rises rapidly for a mile or two, but diminishes in +width, and finally terminates in a long narrow ridge, between +which and Mount Hybla a succession of chasms and uneven low +ground extend. On each flank of this ridge the descent is steep +and precipitous from its summits to the strips of level land that +lie immediately below it, both to the south-west and north-west. + +The usual mode of assailing fortified towns in the time of the +Peloponnesian war, was to build a double wall round them, +sufficiently strong to check any sally of the garrison from +within, or any attack of a relieving force from without. The +interval within the two walls of the circumvallation was roofed +over, and formed barracks, in which the besiegers posted +themselves, and awaited the effects of want or treachery among +the besieged in producing a surrender. And, in every Greek city +of those days, as in every Italian republic of the middle ages, +the rage of domestic sedition between aristocrats and democrats +ran high. Rancorous refugees swarmed in the camp of every +invading enemy; and every blockaded city was sure to contain +within its walls a body of intriguing malcontents, who were eager +to purchase a party-triumph at the expense of a national +disaster. Famine and faction were the allies on whom besiegers +relied. The generals of that time trusted to the operation of +these sure confederates as soon as they could establish a +complete blockade. They rarely ventured on the attempt to storm +any fortified post. For the military engines of antiquity were +feeble in breaching masonry, before the improvements which the +first Dionysius effected in the mechanics of destruction; and the +lives of spearmen the boldest and most highly-trained would, of +course, have been idly spent in charges against unshattered +walls. + +A city built, close to the sea, like Syracuse, was impregnable, +save by the combined operations of a superior hostile fleet and a +superior hostile army. And Syracuse, from her size, her +population, and her military and naval resources, not unnaturally +thought herself secure from finding in another Greek city a foe +capable of sending a sufficient armament to menace her with +capture and subjection. But in the spring of 414 B.C. the +Athenian navy was mistress of her harbour and the adjacent seas; +an Athenian army had defeated her troops, and cooped them within +the town; and from bay to bay a blockading wall was being rapidly +carried across the strips of level ground and the high ridge +outside the city (then termed Epipolae), which, if completed, +would have cut the Syracusans off from all succour from the +interior of Sicily, and have left them at the mercy of the +Athenian generals. The besiegers' works were, indeed, +unfinished; but every day the unfortified interval in their lines +grew narrower, and with it diminished all apparent hope of safety +for the beleaguered town. + +Athens was now staking the flower of her forces, and the +accumulated fruits of seventy years of glory, on one bold throw +for the dominion of the Western world. As Napoleon from Mount +Coeur de Lion pointed to St. Jean d'Acre, and told his staff that +the capture of that town would decide his destiny, and would +change the face of the world; so the Athenian officers, from the +heights of Epipolae, must have looked on Syracuse, and felt that +with its fall all the known powers of the earth would fall +beneath them. They must have felt also that Athens, if repulsed +there, must pause for ever in her career of conquest, and sink +from an imperial republic into a ruined and subservient +community. + +At Marathon, the first in date of the Great Battles of the World, +we beheld Athens struggling for self-preservation against the +invading armies of the East. At Syracuse she appears as the +ambitious and oppressive invader of others. In her, as in other +republics of old and of modern times, the same energy that had +inspired the most heroic efforts in defence of the national +independence, soon learned to employ itself in daring and +unscrupulous schemes of self-aggrandizement at the expense of +neighbouring nations. In the interval between the Persian and +Peloponnesian wars she had rapidly grown into a conquering and +dominant state, the chief of a thousand tributary cities, and the +mistress of the largest and best-manned navy that the +Mediterranean had yet beheld. The occupations of her territory +by Xerxes and Mardonius, in the second Persian war, had forced +her whole population to become mariners; and the glorious results +of that struggle confirmed them in their zeal for their country's +service at sea. The voluntary suffrage of the Greek cities of +the coasts and islands of the AEgean first placed Athens at the +head of the confederation formed for the further prosecution of +the war against Persia. But this titular ascendancy was soon +converted by her into practical and arbitrary dominion. She +protected them from piracy and the Persian power, which soon fell +into decrepitude and decay; but she exacted in return implicit +obedience to herself. She claimed and enforced a prerogative of +taxing them at her discretion; and proudly refused to be +accountable for her mode of expending their supplies. +Remonstrance against her assessments was treated as factious +disloyalty; and refusal to pay was promptly punished as revolt. +Permitting and encouraging her subject allies to furnish all +their contingents in money, instead of part consisting of ships +and men, the sovereign republic gained the double object of +training her own citizens by constant and well-paid service in +her fleets, and of seeing her confederates lose their skill and +discipline by inaction, and become more and more passive and +powerless under her yoke. Their towns were generally dismantled; +while the imperial city herself was fortified with the greatest +care and sumptuousness: the accumulated revenues from her +tributaries serving to strengthen and adorn to the utmost her +havens, her docks, her arsenals, her theatres, and her shrines; +and to array her in that plenitude of architectural magnificence, +the ruins of which still attest the intellectual grandeur of the +age and people, which produced a Pericles to plan and a Phidias +to execute. + +All republics that acquire supremacy over other nations, rule +them selfishly and oppressively. There is no exception to this +in either ancient or modern times. Carthage, Rome, Venice, +Genoa, Florence, Pisa, Holland, and Republican France, all +tyrannized over every province and subject state where they +gained authority. But none of them openly avowed their system of +doing so upon principle, with the candour which the Athenian +republicans displayed, when any remonstrance was made against the +severe exactions which they imposed upon their vassal allies. +They avowed that their empire was a tyranny, and frankly stated +that they solely trusted to force and terror to uphold it. They +appealed to what they called "the eternal law of nature, that the +weak should be coerced by the strong." [THUC. i. 77.] Sometimes +they stated, and not without some truth, that the unjust hatred +of Sparta against themselves forced them to be unjust to others +in self-defence. To be safe they must be powerful; and to be +powerful they must plunder and coerce their neighbours. They +never dreamed of communicating any franchise, or share in office, +to their dependents; but jealously monopolized every post of +command, and all political and judicial power; exposing +themselves to every risk with unflinching gallantry; enduring +cheerfully the laborious training and severe discipline which +their sea-service required; venturing readily on every ambitious +scheme; and never suffering difficulty or disaster to shake their +tenacity of purpose. Their hope was to acquire unbounded empire +for their country, and the means of maintaining each of the +thirty thousand citizens who made up the sovereign republic, in +exclusive devotion to military occupations, and to those +brilliant sciences and arts in which Athens already had reached +the meridian of intellectual splendour. + +Her great political, dramatist speaks of the Athenian empire as +comprehending a thousand states. The language of the stage must +not be taken too literally; but the number of the dependencies of +Athens, at the time when the Peloponnesian confederacy attacked +her, was undoubtedly very great. With a few trifling exceptions, +all the islands of the AEgean, and all the Greek cities, which in +that age fringed the coasts of Asia Minor, the Hellespont, and +Thrace paid tribute to Athens, and implicitly obeyed her orders. +The AEgean Sea was an Attic lake. Westward of Greece, her +influence though strong, was not equally predominant. She had +colonies and allies among the wealthy and populous Greek +settlements in Sicily and South Italy, but she had no organized +system of confederates in those regions; and her galleys brought +her no tribute from the western seas. The extension of her +empire over Sicily was the favourite project of her ambitious +orators and generals. While her great statesman Pericles lived, +his commanding genius kept his countrymen under control and +forbade them to risk the fortunes of Athens in distant +enterprises, while they had unsubdued and powerful enemies at +their own doors. He taught Athens this maxim; but he also taught +her to know and to use her own strength, and when Pericles had +departed the bold spirit which he had fostered overleaped the +salutary limits which he had prescribed. When her bitter +enemies, the Corinthians, succeeded, in 431 B.C., in inducing +Sparta to attack her, and a confederacy was formed of five-sixths +of the continental Greeks, all animated by anxious jealousy and +bitter hatred of Athens; when armies far superior in numbers and +equipment to those which had marched against the Persians were +poured into the Athenian territory, and laid it waste to the city +walls; the general opinion was that Athens would, in two or three +years at the farthest, be reduced to submit to the requisitions +of her invaders. But her strong fortifications, by which she was +girt and linked to her principal haven, gave her, in those ages, +almost all the advantages of an insular position. Pericles had +made her trust to her empire of the seas. Every Athenian in +those days was a practised seaman. A state indeed whose members, +of an age fit for service, at no time exceeded thirty thousand, +and whose territorial extent did not equal half Sussex, could +only have acquired such a naval dominion as Athens once held, by +devoting, and zealously training, all its sons to service in its +fleets. In order to man the numerous galleys which she sent out, +she necessarily employed also large numbers of hired mariners and +slaves at the oar; but the staple of her crews was Athenian, and +all posts of command were held by native citizens. It was by +reminding them of this, of their long practice in seamanship, and +the certain superiority which their discipline gave them over the +enemy's marine, that their great minister mainly encouraged them +to resist the combined power of Lacedaemon and her allies. He +taught them that Athens might thus reap the fruit of her zealous +devotion to maritime affairs ever since the invasion of the +Medes; "she had not, indeed, perfected herself; but the reward of +her superior training was the rule of the sea--a mighty dominion, +for it gave her the rule of much fair land beyond its waves, safe +from the idle ravages with which the Lacedaemonians might harass +Attica, but never could subdue Athens." [THUC. lib. i. sec. 144.] + +Athens accepted the war with which her enemies threatened her, +rather than descend from her pride of place. And though the +awful visitation of the Plague came upon her, and swept away more +of her citizens than the Dorian spear laid low, she held her own +gallantly against her foes. If the Peloponnesian armies in +irresistible strength wasted every spring her corn lands, her +vineyards, and her olive groves with fire and sword, she +retaliated on their coasts with her fleets; which, if resisted, +were only resisted to display the pre-eminent skill and bravery +of her seamen. Some of her subject-allies revolted, but the +revolts were in general sternly and promptly quelled. The genius +of one enemy had, indeed, inflicted blows on her power in Thrace +which she was unable to remedy; but he fell in battle in the +tenth year of the war; and with the loss of Brasidas the +Lacedaemonians seemed to have lost all energy and judgment. Both +sides at length grew weary of the war; and in 421 B.C. a truce of +fifty years was concluded, which, though ill kept, and though +many of the confederates of Sparta refused to recognise it, and +hostilities still continued in many parts of Greece, protected +the Athenian territory from the ravages of enemies, and enabled +Athens to accumulate large sums out of the proceeds of her annual +revenues. So also, as a few years passed by, the havoc which the +pestilence and the sword had made in her population was repaired; +and in 415 B.C. Athens was full of bold and restless spirits, who +longed for some field of distant enterprise, wherein they might +signalize themselves, and aggrandize the state; and who looked on +the alarm of Spartan hostility as a mere old woman's tale. When +Sparta had wasted their territory she had done her worst; and the +fact of its always being in her power to do so, seemed a strong +reason for seeking to increase the transmarine dominion of +Athens. + +The West was now the quarter towards which the thoughts of every +aspiring Athenian were directed. From the very beginning of the +war Athens had kept up an interest in Sicily; and her squadrons +had from time to time appeared on its coasts and taken part in +the dissensions in which the Sicilian Greeks were universally +engaged one against the other. There were plausible grounds for +a direct quarrel, and an open attack by the Athenians upon +Syracuse. + +With the capture of Syracuse all Sicily, it was hoped, would be +secured. Carthage and Italy were next to be assailed. With +large levies of Iberian mercenaries she then meant to overwhelm +her Peloponnesian enemies. The Persian monarchy lay in hopeless +imbecility, inviting Greek invasion; nor did the known world +contain the power that seemed capable of checking the growing +might of Athens, if Syracuse once could be hers. + +The national historian of Rome has left us, as an episode of his +great work, a disquisition on the probable effects that would +have followed, if Alexander the Great had invaded Italy. +Posterity has generally regarded that disquisition as proving +Livy's patriotism more strongly than his impartiality or +acuteness. Yet, right or wrong, the speculations of the Roman +writer were directed to the consideration of a very remote +possibility. To whatever age Alexander's life might have been +prolonged, the East would have furnished full occupation for his +martial ambition, as well as for those schemes of commercial +grandeur and imperial amalgamation of nations, in which the truly +great qualities of his mind loved to display themselves. With +his death the dismemberment of his empire among his generals was +certain, even as the dismemberment of Napoleon's empire among his +marshals would certainly have ensued, if he had been cut off in +the zenith of his power. Rome, also, was far weaker when the +Athenians were in Sicily, than she was a century afterwards, in +Alexander's time. There can be little doubt but that Rome would +have been blotted out from the independent powers of the West, +had she been attacked at the end of the fifth century B.C., by an +Athenian army, largely aided by Spanish mercenaries, and flushed +with triumphs over Sicily and Africa; instead of the collision +between her and Greece having been deferred until the latter had +sunk into decrepitude, and the Roman Mars had grown into full +vigour. + +The armament which the Athenians equipped against Syracuse was in +every way worthy of the state which formed such projects of +universal empire; and it has been truly termed "the noblest that +ever yet had been sent forth by a free and civilized +commonwealth." [Arnold's History of Rome.] The fleet consisted +of one hundred and thirty-four war galleys, with a multitude of +store ships. A powerful force of the best heavy-armed infantry +that Athens and her allies could furnish was sent on board, +together with a smaller number of slingers and bowmen. The +quality of the forces was even more remarkable than the number. +The zeal of individuals vied with that of the republic in giving +every galley the best possible crew, and every troop the most +perfect accoutrements. And with private as well as public wealth +eagerly lavished on all that could give splendour as well as +efficiency to the expedition, the fated fleet began its voyage +for the Sicilian shores in the summer of 415 B.C. + +The Syracusans themselves, at the time of the Peloponnesian war, +were a bold and turbulent democracy, tyrannizing over the weaker +Greek cities in Sicily, and trying to gain in that island the +same arbitrary supremacy which Athens maintained along the +eastern coast of the Mediterranean. In numbers and in spirit +they were fully equal to the Athenians, but far inferior to them +in military and naval discipline. When the probability of an +Athenian invasion was first publicly discussed at Syracuse, and +efforts were made by some of the wiser citizens to improve the +state of the national defences, and prepare for the impending +danger, the rumours of coming war and the proposals for +preparation were received by the mass of the Syracusans with +scornful incredulity. The speech of one of their popular orators +is preserved to us in Thucydides, [Lib. vi. sec. 36 et seq., +Arnold's edition. I have almost literally transcribed some of +the marginal epitomes of the original speech.] and many of its +topics might, by a slight alteration of names and details, serve +admirably for the party among ourselves at present which opposes +the augmentation of our forces, and derides the idea of our being +in any peril from the sudden attack of a French expedition. The +Syracusan orator told his countrymen to dismiss with scorn the +visionary terrors which a set of designing men among themselves +strove to excite, in order to get power and influence thrown into +their own hands. He told them that Athens knew her own interest +too well to think of wantonly provoking their hostility:--"EVEN +IF THE ENEMIES WERE TO COME," said he, "SO DISTANT FROM THEIR +RESOURCES, AND OPPOSED TO SUCH A POWER AS OURS, THEIR DESTRUCTION +WOULD BE EASY AND INEVITABLE. THEIR SHIPS WILL HAVE ENOUGH TO DO +TO GET TO OUR ISLAND AT ALL, AND TO CARRY SUCH STORES OF ALL +SORTS AS WILL BE NEEDED. THEY CANNOT THEREFORE CARRY, BESIDES, +AN ARMY LARGE ENOUGH TO COPE WITH SUCH A POPULATION AS OURS. +THEY WILL HAVE NO FORTIFIED PLACE FROM WHICH TO COMMENCE THEIR +OPERATIONS; BUT MUST REST THEM ON NO BETTER BASE THAN A SET OF +WRETCHED TENTS, AND SUCH MEANS AS THE NECESSITIES OF THE MOMENT +WILL ALLOW THEM. BUT IN TRUTH I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THEY WOULD +EVEN BE ABLE TO EFFECT A DISEMBARKATION. LET US, THEREFORE, SET +AT NOUGHT THESE REPORTS AS ALTOGETHER OF HOME MANUFACTURE; AND BE +SURE THAT IF ANY ENEMY DOES COME, THE STATE WILL KNOW HOW TO +DEFEND ITSELF IN A MANNER WORTHY OF THE NATIONAL HONOUR." + +Such assertions pleased the Syracusan assembly; and their +counterparts find favour now among some portion of the English +public. But the invaders of Syracuse came; made good their +landing in Sicily; and, if they had promptly attacked the city +itself, instead of wasting nearly a year in desultory operations +in other parts of the island, the Syracusans must have paid the +penalty of their self-sufficient carelessness in submission to +the Athenian yoke. But, of the three generals who led the +Athenian expedition, two only were men of ability, and one was +most weak and incompetent. Fortunately for Syracuse, Alcibiades, +the most skilful of the three, was soon deposed from his command +by a factious and fanatic vote of his fellow-countrymen, and the +other competent one, Lamachus, fell early in a skirmish: while, +more fortunately still for her, the feeble and vacillating Nicias +remained unrecalled and unhurt, to assume the undivided +leadership of the Athenian army and fleet, and to mar, by +alternate over-caution and over-carelessness, every chance of +success which the early part of the operations offered. Still, +even under him, the Athenians nearly won the town. They defeated +the raw levies of the Syracusans, cooped them within the walls, +and, as before mentioned, almost effected a continuous +fortification from bay to bay over Epipolae, the completion of +which would certainly have been followed by capitulation. + +Alcibiades, the most complete example of genius without principle +that history produces, the Bolingbroke of antiquity, but with +high military talents superadded to diplomatic and oratorical +powers, on being summoned home from his command in Sicily to take +his trial before the Athenian tribunal had escaped to Sparta; and +he exerted himself there with all the selfish rancour of a +renegade to renew the war with Athens, and to send instant +assistance to Syracuse. + +When we read his words in the pages of Thucydides (who was +himself an exile from Athens at this period, and may probably +have been at Sparta, and heard Alcibiades speak), we are at loss +whether most to admire or abhor his subtile and traitorous +counsels. After an artful exordium, in which he tried to disarm +the suspicions which he felt must be entertained of him, and to +point out to the Spartans how completely his interests and theirs +were identified, through hatred of the Athenian democracy, he +thus proceeded:--"Hear me, at any rate, on the matters which +require your grave attention, and which I, from the personal +knowledge that I have of them, can and ought to bring before you. +We Athenians sailed to Sicily with the design of subduing, first +the Greek cities there, and next those in Italy. Then we +intended to make an attempt on the dominions of Carthage, and on +Carthage itself. [Arnold, in his notes on this passage, well +reminds the reader that Agathocles, with a Greek force far +inferior to that of the Athenians at this period, did, a century +afterwards, very nearly conquer Carthage.] If all these projects +succeeded (nor did we limit ourselves to them in these quarters), +we intended to increase our fleet with the inexhaustible supplies +of ship timber which Italy affords, to put in requisition the +whole military force of the conquered Greek states, and also to +hire large armies of the barbarians; of the Iberians, and others +in those regions, who are allowed to make the best possible +soldiers. [It will be remembered that Spanish infantry were the +staple of the Carthaginian armies. Doubtless Alcibiades and +other leading Athenians had made themselves acquainted with the +Carthaginian system of carrying on war, and meant to adopt it. +With the marvellous powers which Alcibiades possessed of +ingratiating himself with men of every class and every nation, +and his high military genius, he would have been as formidable a +chief of an army of CONDOTTIERI as Hannibal afterwards was.] +Then, when we had done all this, we intended to assail +Peloponnesus with our collected force. Our fleets would blockade +you by sea, and desolate your coasts; our armies would be landed +at different points, and assail your cities. Some of these we +expected to storm and others we meant to take by surrounding them +with fortified lines. [Alcibiades here alluded to Sparta itself, +which was unfortified. His Spartan hearers must have glanced +round them at these words, with mixed alarm and indignation.] We +thought that it would thus be an easy matter thoroughly to war +you down; and then we should become the masters of the whole +Greek race. As for expense, we reckoned that each conquered +state would give us supplies of money and provisions sufficient +to pay for its own conquest, and furnish the means for the +conquest of its neighbours. + +"Such are the designs of the present Athenian expedition to +Sicily, and you have heard them from the lips of the man who, of +all men living, is most accurately acquainted with them. The +other Athenian generals, who remain with the expedition, will +endeavour to carry out these plans. And be sure that without +your speedy interference they will all be accomplished. The +Sicilian Greeks are deficient in military training; but still if +they could be at once brought to combine in an organised +resistance to Athens, they might even now be saved. But as for +the Syracusans resisting Athens by themselves, they have already +with the whole strength of their population fought a battle and +been beaten; they cannot face the Athenians at sea; and it is +quite impossible for them to hold out against the force of their +invaders. And if this city falls into the hands of the +Athenians, all Sicily is theirs, and presently Italy also: and +the danger which I warned you of from that quarter will soon fall +upon yourselves. You must, therefore, in Sicily fight for the +safety of Peloponnesus. Send some galleys thither instantly. +Put men on board who can work their own way over, and who, as +soon as they land, can do duty as regular troops. But above all, +let one of yourselves, let a man of Sparta, go over to take the +chief command, to bring into order and effective discipline the +forces that are in Syracuse, and urge those, who at present hang +back to come forward and aid the Syracusans. The presence of a +Spartan general at this crisis will do more to save the city than +a whole army." [THUC., lib. vi sec. 90,91.] The renegade then +proceeded to urge on them the necessity of encouraging their +friends in Sicily, by showing that they themselves were earnest +in hostility to Athens. He exhorted them not only to march their +armies into Attica again, but to take up a permanent fortified +position in the country: and he gave them in detail information +of all that the Athenians most dreaded, and how his country might +receive the most distressing and enduring injury at their hands. + +The Spartans resolved to act on his advice, and appointed +Gylippus to the Sicilian command. Gylippus was a man who, to the +national bravery and military skill of a Spartan, united +political sagacity that was worthy of his great fellow-countryman +Brasidas; but his merits were debased by mean and sordid vice; +and his is one of the cases in which history has been austerely +just, and where little or no fame has been accorded to the +successful but venal soldier. But for the purpose for which he +was required in Sicily, an abler man could not have been found in +Lacedaemon. His country gave him neither men nor money, but she +gave him her authority; and the influence of her name and of his +own talents was speedily seen in the zeal with which the +Corinthians and other Peloponnesian Greeks began to equip a +squadron to act under him for the rescue of Sicily. As soon as +four galleys were ready, he hurried over with them to the +southern coast of Italy; and there, though he received such evil +tidings of the state of Syracuse that he abandoned all hope of +saving that city, he determined to remain on the coast, and do +what he could in preserving the Italian cities from the +Athenians. + +So nearly, indeed, had Nicias completed his beleaguering lines, +and so utterly desperate had the state of Syracuse seemingly +become, that an assembly of the Syracusans was actually convened, +and they were discussing the terms on which they should offer to +capitulate, when a galley was seen dashing into the great +harbour, and making her way towards the town with all the speed +that her rowers could supply. From her shunning the part of the +harbour where the Athenian fleet lay, and making straight for the +Syracusan side, it was clear that she was a friend; the enemy's +cruisers, careless through confidence of success, made no attempt +to cut her off; she touched the beach, and a Corinthian captain +springing on shore from her, was eagerly conducted to the +assembly of the Syracusan people, just in time to prevent the +fatal vote being put for a surrender. + +Providentially for Syracuse, Gongylus, the commander of the +galley, had been prevented by an Athenian squadron from following +Gylippus to South Italy, and he had been obliged to push direct +for Syracuse from Greece. + +The sight of actual succour, and the promise of more, revived the +drooping spirits of the Syracusans. They felt that they were not +left desolate to perish; and the tidings that a Spartan was +coming to command them confirmed their resolution to continue +their resistance. Gylippus was already near the city. He had +learned at Locri that the first report which had reached him of +the state of Syracuse was exaggerated; and that there was an +unfinished space in the besiegers' lines through which it was +barely possible to introduce reinforcements into the town. +Crossing the straits of Messina, which the culpable negligence of +Nicias had left unguarded, Gylippus landed on the northern coast +of Sicily, and there began to collect from the Greek cities an +army, of which the regular troops that he brought from +Peloponnesus formed the nucleus. Such was the influence of the +name of Sparta, [The effect of the presence of a Spartan officer +on the troops of the other Greeks, seems to have been like the +effect of the presence of an English officer upon native Indian +troops.] and such were his own abilities and activity, that he +succeeded in raising a force of about two thousand fully armed +infantry, with a larger number of irregular troops. Nicias, as +if infatuated, made no attempt to counteract his operations; nor, +when Gylippus marched his little army towards Syracuse, did the +Athenian commander endeavour to check him. The Syracusans +marched out to meet him: and while the Athenians were solely +intent on completing their fortifications on the southern side +towards the harbour, Gylippus turned their position by occupying +the high ground in the extreme rear of Epipolae. He then marched +through the unfortified interval of Nicias's lines into the +besieged town; and, joining his troops with the Syracusan forces, +after some engagements with varying success, gained the mastery +over Nicias, drove the Athenians from Epipolae, and hemmed them +into a disadvantageous position in the low grounds near the great +harbour. + +The attention of all Greece was now fixed on Syracuse; and every +enemy of Athens felt the importance of the opportunity now +offered of checking her ambition, and, perhaps, of striking a +deadly blow at her power. Large reinforcements from Corinth, +Thebes, and other cities, now reached the Syracusans; while the +baffled and dispirited Athenian general earnestly besought his +countrymen to recall him, and represented the further prosecution +of the siege as hopeless. + +But Athens had made it a maxim never to let difficulty or +disaster drive her back from any enterprise once undertaken, so +long as she possessed the means of making any effort, however +desperate, for its accomplishment. With indomitable pertinacity +she now decreed, instead of recalling her first armament from +before Syracuse, to send out a second, though her enemies near +home had now renewed open warfare against her, and by occupying a +permanent fortification in her territory, had severely distressed +her population, and were pressing her with almost all the +hardships of an actual siege. She still was mistress of the sea, +and she sent forth another fleet of seventy galleys, and another +army, which seemed to drain the very last reserves of her +military population, to try if Syracuse could not yet be won, and +the honour of the Athenian arms be preserved from the stigma of a +retreat. Hers was, indeed, a spirit that might be broken, but +never would bend. At the head of this second expedition she +wisely placed her best general Demosthenes, one of the most +distinguished officers whom the long Peloponnesian war had +produced, and who, if he had originally held the Sicilian +command, would soon have brought Syracuse to submission. + +The fame of Demosthenes the general, has been dimmed by the +superior lustre of his great countryman, Demosthenes the orator. +When the name of Demosthenes is mentioned, it is the latter alone +that is thought of. The soldier has found no biographer. Yet +out of the long list of the great men of the Athenian republic, +there are few that deserve to stand higher than this brave, +though finally unsuccessful, leader of her fleets and armies in +the first half of the Peloponnesian war. In his first campaign +in AEtolia he had shown some of the rashness of youth, and had +received a lesson of caution, by which he profited throughout the +rest of his career, but without losing any of his natural energy +in enterprise or in execution. He had performed the eminent +service of rescuing Naupactus from a powerful hostile armament in +the seventh year of the war; he had then, at the request of the +Acarnanian republics, taken on himself the office of commander- +in-chief of all their forces, and at their head he had gained +some important advantages over the enemies of Athens in Western +Greece. His most celebrated exploits had been the occupation of +Pylos on the Messenian coast, the successful defence of that +place against the fleet and armies of Lacedaemon, and the +subsequent capture of the Spartan forces on the isle of +Sphacteria; which was the severest blow dealt to Sparta +throughout the war, and which had mainly caused her to humble +herself to make the truce with Athens. Demosthenes was as +honourably unknown in the war of party politics at Athens, as he +was eminent in the war against the foreign enemy. We read of no +intrigues of his on either the aristocratic or democratic side. +He was neither in the interest of Nicias, nor of Cleon. His +private character was free from any of the stains which polluted +that of Alcibiades. On all these points the silence of the comic +dramatist is decisive evidence in his favour. He had also the +moral courage, not always combined with physical of seeking to do +his duty to his country, irrespectively of any odium that he +himself might incur, and unhampered by any petty jealousy of +those who were associated with him in command. There are few men +named in ancient history, of whom posterity would gladly know +more, or whom we sympathise with more deeply in the calamities +that befel them, than Demosthenes, the son of Alcisthenes, who, +in the spring of the year 413 B.C., left Piraeus at the head of +the second Athenian expedition against Sicily. + +His arrival was critically timed; for Gylippus had encouraged the +Syracusans to attack the Athenians under Nicias by sea as well as +by land, and by an able stratagem of Ariston, one of the admirals +of the Corinthian auxiliary squadron, the Syracusans and their +confederates had inflicted on the fleet of Nicias the first +defeat that the Athenian navy had ever sustained from a +numerically inferior foe. Gylippus was preparing to follow up +his advantage by fresh attacks on the Athenians on both elements, +when the arrival of Demosthenes completely changed the aspect of +affairs, and restored the superiority to the invaders. With +seventy-three war-galleys in the highest state of efficiency, and +brilliantly equipped, with a force of five thousand picked men of +the regular infantry of Athens and her allies, and a still larger +number of bowmen, javelin-men, and slingers on board, Demosthenes +rowed round the great harbour with loud cheers and martial music, +as if in defiance of the Syracusans and their confederates. His +arrival had indeed changed their newly-born hopes into the +deepest consternation. The resources of Athens seemed +inexhaustible, and resistance to her hopeless. They had been +told that she was reduced to the last extremities, and that her +territory was occupied by an enemy; and yet, here they saw her, +as if in prodigality of power, sending forth, to make foreign +conquests, a second armament, not inferior to that with which +Nicias had first landed on the Sicilian shores. + +With the intuitive decision of a great commander, Demosthenes at +once saw that the possession of Epipolae was the key to the +possession of Syracuse, and he resolved to make a prompt and +vigorous attempt to recover that position, while his force was +unimpaired, and the consternation which its arrival had produced +among the besieged remained unabated. The Syracusans and their +allies had run out an outwork along Epipolae from the city walls, +intersecting the fortified lines of circumvallation which Nicias +had commenced, but from which they had been driven by Gylippus. +Could Demosthenes succeed in storming this outwork, and in re- +establishing the Athenian troops on the high ground, he might +fairly hope to be able to resume the circumvallation of the city, +and become the conqueror of Syracuse: for, when once the +besiegers' lines were completed, the number of the troops with +which Gylippus had garrisoned the place would only tend to +exhaust the stores of provisions, and accelerate its downfall. + +An easily-repelled attack was first made on the outwork in the +day-time, probably more with the view of blinding the besieged to +the nature of the main operations than with any expectation of +succeeding in an open assault, with every disadvantage of the +ground to contend against. But, when the darkness had set in, +Demosthenes formed his men in columns, each soldier taking with +him five days' provisions, and the engineers and workmen of the +camp following the troops with their tools, and all portable +implements of fortification, so as at once to secure any +advantage of ground that the army might gain. Thus equipped and +prepared, he led his men along by the foot of the southern flank +of Epipolae, in a direction towards the interior of the island, +till he came immediately below the narrow ridge that forms the +extremity of the high ground looking westward. He then wheeled +his vanguard to the right, sent them rapidly up the paths that +wind along the face of the cliff, and succeeded in completely +surprising the Syracusan outposts, and in placing his troops +fairly on the extreme summit of the all-important Epipolae. +Thence the Athenians marched eagerly down the slope towards the +town, routing some Syracusan detachments that were quartered in +their way, and vigorously assailing the unprotected part of the +outwork. All at first favoured them. The outwork was abandoned +by its garrison, and the Athenian engineers began to dismantle +it. In vain Gylippus brought up fresh troops to check the +assault: the Athenians broke and drove them back, and continued +to press hotly forward, in the full confidence of victory. But, +amid the general consternation of the Syracusans and their +confederates, one body of infantry stood firm. This was a +brigade of their Boeotian allies, which was posted low down the +slope of Epipolae, outside the city walls. Coolly and steadily +the Boeotian infantry formed their line, and, undismayed by the +current of flight around them, advanced against the advancing +Athenians. This was the crisis of the battle. But the Athenian +van was disorganized by its own previous successes; and, yielding +to the unexpected charge thus made on it by troops in perfect +order, and of the most obstinate courage, it was driven back in +confusion upon the other divisions of the army that still +continued to press forward. When once the tide was thus turned, +the Syracusans passed rapidly from the extreme of panic to the +extreme of vengeful daring, and with all their forces they now +fiercely assailed the embarrassed and receding Athenians. In +vain did the officers of the latter strive to re-form their line. +Amid the din and the shouting of the fight, and the confusion +inseparable upon a night engagement, especially one where many +thousand combatants were pent and whirled together in a narrow +and uneven area, the necessary manoeuvres were impracticable; and +though many companies still fought on desperately, wherever the +moonlight showed them the semblance of a foe, [THUC. vii. 44. +Compare Tacitus's description of the night engagement in the +civil war between Vespasian and Vitellius: "Neutro inclinaverat +fortuna, donec adulta nocte, LUNA OSTENDERET ACIES, FALERESQUE." +--Hist. Lib. iii. sec. 23.] they fought without concert or +subordination; and not unfrequently, amid the deadly chaos, +Athenian troops assailed each other. Keeping their ranks close, +the Syracusans and their allies pressed on against the +disorganized masses of the besiegers; and at length drove them, +with heavy slaughter, over the cliffs, which, scarce an hour +before, they had scaled full of hope, and apparently certain of +success. + +This defeat was decisive of the event of the siege. The +Athenians afterwards struggled only to protect themselves from +the vengeance which the Syracusans sought to wreak in the +complete destruction of their invaders. Never, however, was +vengeance more complete and terrible. A series of sea-fights +followed, in which the Athenian galleys were utterly destroyed or +captured. The mariners and soldiers who escaped death in +disastrous engagements, and in a vain: attempt to force a +retreat into the interior of the island, became prisoners of war. +Nicias and Demosthenes were put to death in cold blood; and their +men either perished miserably in the Syracusan dungeons, or were +sold into slavery to the very persons whom, in their pride of +power, they had crossed the seas to enslave. + +All danger from Athens to the independent nations of the West was +now for ever at an end. She, indeed, continued to struggle +against her combined enemies and revolted allies with +unparalleled gallantry; and many more years of varying warfare +passed away before she surrendered to their arms. But no success +in subsequent conquests could ever have restored her to the pre- +eminence in enterprise, resources, and maritime skill which she +had acquired before her fatal reverses in Sicily. Nor among the +rival Greek republics, whom her own rashness aided to crush her, +was there any capable of reorganizing her empire, or resuming her +schemes of conquest. The dominion of Western Europe was left for +Rome and Carthage to dispute two centuries later, in conflicts +still more terrible, and with even higher displays of military +daring and genius, than Athens had witnessed either in her rise, +her meridian, or her fall. + + +SYNOPSIS OF THE EVENTS BETWEEN THE DEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS AT +SYRACUSE, AND THE BATTLE OF ARBELA. + +412 B.C. Many of the subject allies of Athens revolt from her, +on her disasters before Syracuse being known; the seat of war is +transferred to the Hellespont and eastern side of the AEgean. + +410. The Carthaginians attempt to make conquests in Sicily. + +407. Cyrus the Younger is sent by the king of Persia to take the +government of all the maritime parts of Asia Minor, and with +orders to help the Lacedaemonian fleet against the Athenian. + +406. Agrigentum taken by the Carthaginians. + +405. The last Athenian fleet destroyed by Lysander at +AEgospotamos. Athens closely besieged. Rise of the power of +Dionysius at Syracuse. + +404. Athens surrenders. End of the Peloponnesian war. The +ascendancy of Sparta complete throughout Greece. + +403. Thrasybulus, aided by the Thebans and with the connivance +of one of the Spartan kings, liberates Athens from the Thirty +Tyrants, and restores the democracy. + +401. Cyrus the Younger commences his expedition into Upper Asia +to dethrone his brother Artaxerxes Mnemon. He takes with him an +auxiliary force of ten thousand Greeks. He in killed in battle +at Cunaxa; and the ten thousand, led by Xenophon, effect their +retreat in spite of the Persian armies and the natural obstacles +of their march. + +399. In this, and the five following years, the Lacedaemonians +under Agesilaus and other commanders, carry on war against the +Persian satraps in Asia Minor. + +396. Syracuse is besieged by the Carthaginians, and successfully +defended by Dionysius. + +394. Rome makes her first great stride in the career of conquest +by the capture of Veii. + +393. The Athenian admiral Conon, in conjunction with the Persian +satrap Pharnabazus, defeats the Lacedaemonian fleet off Cnidus, +and restores the fortifications of Athens. Several of the former +allies of Sparta in Greece carry on hostilities against her. + +388. The nations of Northern Europe now first appear in +authentic history. The Gauls overrun great part of Italy, and +burn Rome. Rome recovers from the blow, but her old enemies, the +AEquians and Volscians, are left completely crushed by the Gallic +invaders. + +387. The peace of Antalcidas is concluded among the Greeks by +the mediation, and under the sanction, of the Persian king. + +378 to 361. Fresh wars in Greece. Epaminondas raises Thebes to +be the leading state of Greece, and the supremacy of Sparta is +destroyed at the battle of Leuctra. Epaminondas is killed in +gaining the victory of Mantinea, and the power of Thebes falls +with him. The Athenians attempt a balancing system between +Sparta and Thebes. + +359. Philip becomes king of Macedon. + +357. The Social War breaks out in Greece, and lasts three years. +Its result checks the attempt of Athens to regain her old +maritime empire. + +356. Alexander the Great is born. + +343. Rome begins her wars with the Samnites: they extend over a +period of fifty years. The result of this obstinate contest is +to secure for her the dominion of Italy. + +340. Fresh attempts of the Carthaginians upon Syracuse. +Timoleon defeats them with great slaughter. + +338. Philip defeats the confederate armies of Athens and Thebes +at Chaeronea, and the Macedonian supremacy over Greece is firmly +established. + +336. Philip is assassinated, and Alexander the Great becomes +king of Macedon. He gains several victories over the northern +barbarians who had attacked Macedonia, and destroys Thebes, +which, in conjunction with Athens, had taken up arms against the +Macedonians. + +334. Alexander passes the Hellespont. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE BATTLE OF ARBELA, B.C. 331. + +"Alexander deserves the glory which he has enjoyed for so many +centuries and among all nations; but what if he had been beaten +at Arbela having the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the deserts in +his rear, without any strong places of refuge, nine hundred +leagues from Macedonia?"--NAPOLEON. + +Asia beheld with astonishment and awe the uninterrupted progress +of a hero, the sweep of whose conquests was as wide and rapid as +that of her own barbaric kings, or the Scythian or Chaldaean +hordes; but, far unlike the transient whirlwinds of Asiatic +warfare, the advance of the Macedonian leader was no less +deliberate than rapid; at every step the Greek power took root, +and the language and the civilization of Greece were planted from +the shores of the AEgean to the banks of the Indus, from the +Caspian and the great Hyrcanian plain to the cataracts of the +Nile; to exist actually for nearly a thousand years, and in their +effects to endure for ever."--ARNOLD. + +A long and not uninstructive list might be made out of +illustrious men, whose characters have been vindicated during +recent times from aspersions which for centuries had been thrown +on them. The spirit of modern inquiry, and the tendency of +modern scholarship, both of which are often said to be solely +negative and destructive, have, in truth, restored to splendour, +and almost created anew, far more than they have assailed with +censure, or dismissed from consideration as unreal. The truth of +many a brilliant narrative of brilliant exploits has of late +years been triumphantly demonstrated; and the shallowness of the +sceptical scoffs with which little minds have carped at the great +minds of antiquity, has been in many instances decisively +exposed. The laws, the politics, and the lines of action adopted +or recommended by eminent men and powerful nations have been +examined with keener investigation, and considered with more +comprehensive judgment, than formerly were brought to bear on +these subjects. The result has been at least as often favourable +as unfavourable to the persons and the states so scrutinized; and +many an oft-repeated slander against both measures and men has +thus been silenced, we may hope, for ever. + +The veracity of Herodotus, the pure patriotism of Pericles, of +Demosthenes, and of the Gracchi, the wisdom of Cleisthenes and of +Licinius as constitutional reformers, may be mentioned as facts +which recent writers have cleared from unjust suspicion and +censure. And it might be easily shown that the defensive +tendency which distinguishes the present and recent best +historians of Germany, France, and England, has been equally +manifested in the spirit in which they have treated the heroes of +thought and the heroes of action who lived during what we term +the Middle Ages and whom it was so long the fashion to sneer at +or neglect. + +The name of the victor of Arbela has led to these reflections; +for, although the rapidity and extent of Alexander's conquests +have through all ages challenged admiration and amazement, the +grandeur of genius which he displayed in his schemes of commerce, +civilization, and of comprehensive union and unity amongst +nations, has, until lately, been comparatively unhonoured. This +long-continued depreciation was of early date. The ancient +rhetoricians--a class of babblers, a school for lies and scandal, +as Niebuhr justly termed them--chose among the stock themes for +their commonplaces, the character and exploits of Alexander. +They had their followers in every age; and until a very recent +period, all who wished to "point a moral or adorn a tale" about +unreasoning ambition, extravagant pride, and the formidable +frenzies of free will when leagued with free power, have never +failed to blazon forth the so-called madman of Macedonia as one +of the most glaring examples. Without doubt, many of these +writers adopted with implicit credence traditional ideas and +supposed, with uninquiring philanthropy, that in blackening +Alexander they were doing humanity good service. But also, +without doubt, many of his assailants, like those of other great +men, have been mainly instigated by "that strongest of all +antipathies, the antipathy of a second-rate mind to a first-rate +one," [De Stael.] and by the envy which talent too often bears +to genius. + +Arrian, who wrote his history of Alexander when Hadrian was +emperor of the Roman world, and when the spirit of declamation +and dogmatism was at its full height, but who was himself, unlike +the dreaming pedants of the schools, a statesman and a soldier of +practical and proved ability, well rebuked the malevolent +aspersions which he heard continually thrown upon the memory of +the great conqueror of the East. He truly says, "Let the man who +speaks evil of Alexander not merely bring forward those passages +of Alexander's life which were really evil, but let him collect +and review all the actions of Alexander, and then let him +thoroughly consider first who and what manner of man he himself +is, and what has been his own career; and then let him consider +who and what manner of man Alexander was, and to what an eminence +of human grandeur HE arrived. Let him consider that Alexander +was a king, and the undisputed lord of the two continents; and +that his name is renowned throughout the whole earth. Let the +evil-speaker against Alexander bear all this in mind, and then +let him reflect on his own insignificance, the pettiness of his +own circumstances and affairs, and the blunders that he makes +about these, paltry and trifling as they are. Let him then ask +himself whether he is a fit person to censure and revile such a +man as Alexander. I believe that there was in his time no nation +of men, no city, nay, no single individual, with whom Alexander's +name had not become a familiar word. I therefore hold that such +a man, who was like no ordinary mortal was not born into the +world without some special providence." [Arrian, lib. vii. AD +FINEM.] + +And one of the most distinguished soldiers and writers of our own +nation, Sir Walter Raleigh, though he failed to estimate justly +the full merits of Alexander, has expressed his sense of the +grandeur of the part played in the world by "The Great Emathian +Conqueror" in language that well deserves quotation:--"So much +hath the spirit of some one man excelled as it hath undertaken +and effected the alteration of the greatest states and +commonwealths, the erection of monarchies, the conquest of +kingdoms and empires, guided handfuls of men against multitudes +of equal bodily strength, contrived victories beyond all hope and +discourse of reason, converted the fearful passions of his own +followers into magnanimity, and the valour of his enemies into +cowardice; such spirits have been stirred up in sundry ages of +the world, and in divers parts thereof, to erect and cast down +again, to establish and to destroy, and to bring all things, +persons, and states to the same certain ends, which the infinite +spirit of the UNIVERSAL, piercing, moving, and governing all +things, hath ordained. Certainly, the things that this king did +were marvellous, and would hardly have been undertaken by any one +else: and though his father had determined to have invaded the +Lesser Asia, it is like that he would have contented himself with +some part thereof, and not have discovered the river of Indus, as +this man did." ["The Historie of the World," by Sir Walter +Raleigh, Knight, p. 628.] + +A higher authority than either Arrian or Raleigh may now be +referred to by those who wish to know the real merit of Alexander +as a general, and how far the commonplace assertions are true, +that his successes were the mere results of fortunate rashness +and unreasoning pugnacity, Napoleon selected Alexander as one of +the seven greatest generals whose noble deeds history has handed +down to us, and from the study of whose campaigns the principles +of war are to be learned. The critique of the greatest conqueror +of modern times on the military career of the great conqueror of +the old world, is no less graphic than true. + +"Alexander crossed the Dardanelles 334 B.C. with an army of about +forty thousand men, of which one-eighth was cavalry; he forced +the passage of the Granicus in opposition to an army under +Memnon, the Greek, who commanded for Darius on the coast of Asia, +and he spent the whole of the year 333 in establishing his power +in Asia Minor. He was seconded by the Greek colonists, who dwelt +on the borders of the Black Sea, and on the Mediterranean, and in +Smyrna, Ephesus, Tarsus, Miletus, &c. The kings of Persia left +their provinces and towns to be governed according to their own +particular laws. Their empire was a union of confederated +states, and did not form one nation; this facilitated its +conquest. As Alexander only wished for the throne of the +monarch, he easily effected the change, by respecting the +customs, manners, and laws of the people, who experienced no +change in their condition. + +"In the year 332, he met with Darius at the head of sixty +thousand men, who had taken up a position near Tarsus, on the +banks of the Issus, in the province of Cilicia. He defeated him, +entered Syria, took Damascus, which contained all the riches of +the Great King, and laid siege to Tyre. This superb metropolis +of the commerce of the world detained him nine months. He took +Gaza after a siege of two months; crossed the Desert in seven +days; entered Pelusium and Memphis, and founded Alexandria. In +less than two years, after two battles and four or five sieges, +the coasts of the Black Sea from Phasis to Byzantium, those of +the Mediterranean as far as Alexandria, all Asia Minor, Syria, +and Egypt, had submitted to his arms. + +"In 331, he repassed the Desert, encamped in Tyre, recrossed +Syria, entered Damascus, passed the Euphrates and Tigris, and +defeated Darius on the field of Arbela, when he was at the head +of a still stronger army than that which he commanded on the +Issus, and Babylon opened her gates to him. In 330, he overran +Susa, and took that city, Persepolis, and Pasargada, which +contained the tomb of Cyrus. In 329, he directed his course +northward, entered Ecbatana, and extended his conquests to the +coasts of the Caspian, punished Bessus, the cowardly assassin of +Darius, penetrated into Scythia, and subdued the Scythians. In +328, he forced the passage of the Oxus, received sixteen thousand +recruits from Macedonia, and reduced the neighbouring people to +subjection. In 327, he crossed the Indus, vanquished Poros in a +pitched battle, took him prisoner, and treated him as a king. He +contemplated passing the Ganges, but his army refused. He sailed +down the Indus, in the year 326, with eight hundred vessels; +having arrived at the ocean, be sent Nearchus with a fleet to run +along the coasts of the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, as far +as the mouth of the Euphrates. In 325, he took sixty days in +crossing from Gedrosia, entered Keramania, returned to Pasargada, +Persepolis, and Susa, and married Statira, the daughter of +Darius. In 324, he marched once more to the north, passed +Ecbatana, and terminated his career at Babylon." [See Count +Montolon's Memoirs of Napoleon.] + +The enduring importance of Alexander's conquests is to be +estimated not by the duration of his own life and empire, or even +by the duration of the kingdoms which his generals after his +death formed out of the fragments of that mighty dominion. In +every region of the world that he traversed, Alexander planted +Greek settlements, and founded cities, in the populations of +which the Greek element at once asserted its predominance. Among +his successors, the Seleucids and the Ptolemies imitated their +great captain in blending schemes of civilization, of commercial +intercourse, and of literary and scientific research with all +their enterprises of military aggrandizement, and with all their +systems of civil administration. Such was the ascendancy of the +Greek genius, so wonderfully comprehensive and assimilating was +the cultivation which it introduced, that, within thirty years +after Alexander crossed the Hellespont, the language, the +literature, and the arts of Hellas, enforced and promoted by the +arms of semi-Hellenic Macedon, predominated in every country from +the shores of that sea to the Indian waters. Even sullen Egypt +acknowledged the intellectual supremacy of Greece; and the +language of Pericles and Plato became the language of the +statesmen and the sages who dwelt in the mysterious land of the +Pyramids and the Sphinx. It is not to be supposed that this +victory of the Greek tongue was so complete as to exterminate the +Coptic, the Syrian, the Armenian, the Persian, or the other +native languages of the numerous nations and tribes between the +AEgean, the Iaxertes, the Indus, and the Nile; they survived as +provincial dialects. Each probably was in use as the vulgar +tongue of its own district. But every person with the slightest +pretence to education spoke Greek. Greek was universally the +State language, and the exclusive language of all literature and +science, It formed also for the merchant, the trader, and the +traveller, as well as for the courtier, the government official, +and the soldier, the organ of intercommunication among the +myriads of mankind inhabiting these large portions of the Old +World. [See Arnold, Hist. Rome, ii. 406.] Throughout Asia +Minor, Syria, and Egypt, the Hellenic character that was thus +imparted, remained in full vigour down to the time of the +Mahometan conquests. The infinite value of this to humanity in +the highest and holiest point of view has often been pointed out; +and the workings of the finger of Providence have been gratefully +recognised by those who have observed how the early growth and +progress of Christianity were aided by that diffusion of the +Greek language and civilization throughout Asia Minor, Syria, and +Egypt which had been caused by the Macedonian conquest of the +East. + +In Upper Asia, beyond the Euphrates, the direct and material +influence of Greek ascendancy was more short-lived. Yet, during +the existence of the Hellenic kingdoms in these regions, +especially of the Greek kingdom of Bactria, the modern Bokhara, +very important effects were produced on the intellectual +tendencies and tastes of the inhabitants of those countries and +of the adjacent ones, by the animating contact of the Grecian +spirit. Much of Hindoo science and philosophy, much of the +literature of the later Persian kingdom of the Arsacidae, either +originated from, or was largely modified by, Grecian influences. +So, also, the learning and science of the Arabians were in a far +less degree the result of original invention and genius, than the +reproduction, in an altered form, of the Greek philosophy and the +Greek lore, acquired by the Saracenic conquerors together with +their acquisition of the provinces which Alexander had subjugated +nearly a thousand years before the armed disciples of Mahomet +commenced their career in the East. It is well known that +Western Europe in the Middle ages drew its philosophy, its arts, +and its science, principally from Arabian teachers. And thus we +see how the intellectual influence of ancient Greece, poured on +the Eastern world by Alexander's victories, and then brought back +to bear on Mediaeval Europe by the spread of the Saracenic +powers, has exerted its action on the elements of modern +civilization by this powerful though indirect channel as well as +by the more obvious effects of the remnants of classic +civilization which survived in Italy, Gaul, Britain, and Spain, +after the irruption of the Germanic nations. [See Humboldt's +Cosmos.] + +These considerations invest the Macedonian triumphs in the East +with never-dying interest, such as the most showy and sanguinary +successes of mere "low ambition and the pride of kings," however +they may dazzle for a moment, can never retain with posterity. +Whether the old Persian empire, which Cyrus founded, could have +survived much longer than it did, even if Darius had been +victorious at Arbela, may safely be disputed. That ancient +dominion, like the Turkish at the present time, laboured under +every cause of decay and dissolution. The satraps, like the +modern pachas, continually rebelled against the central power, +and Egypt, in particular, was almost always in a state of +insurrection against its nominal sovereign. There was no longer +any effective central control, or any internal principle of unity +fused through the huge mass of the empire, and binding it +together. Persia was evidently about to fall; but, had it not +been for Alexander's invasion of Asia, she would most probably +have fallen beneath some other Oriental power, as Media and +Babylon had formerly fallen before herself, and as, in after +times, the Parthian supremacy gave way to the revived ascendancy +of Persia in the East, under the sceptres of the Arsacidae. A +revolution that merely substituted one Eastern power for another +would have been utterly barren and unprofitable to mankind. + +Alexander's victory at Arbela not only overthrew an Oriental +dynasty, but established European rulers in its stead. It broke +the monotony, of the Eastern world by the impression of Western +energy and superior civilization; even as England's present +mission is to break up the mental and moral stagnation of India +and Cathay, by pouring upon and through them the impulsive +current of Anglo-Saxon commerce and conquest. + +Arbela, the city which has furnished its name to the decisive +battle that gave Asia to Alexander, lies more than twenty miles +from the actual scene of conflict. The little village then named +Gaugamela is close to the spot where the armies met, but has +ceded the honour of naming the battle to its more euphonious +neighbour. Gaugamela is situate in one of the wide plains that +lie between the Tigris and the mountains of Kurdistan. A few +undulating hillocks diversify the surface of this sandy track; +but the ground is generally level, and admirably qualified for +the evolutions of cavalry, and also calculated to give the larger +of two armies the full advantage of numerical superiority. The +Persian King (who before he came to the throne, had proved his +personal valour as a soldier, and his skill as a general) had +wisely selected this region for the third and decisive encounter +between his forces and the invaders. The previous defeats of his +troops, however severe they had been, were not looked on as +irreparable, The Granicus had been fought by his generals rashly +and without mutual concert. And, though Darius himself had +commanded and been beaten at Issus, that defeat might be +attributed to the disadvantageous nature of the ground; where, +cooped up between the mountains, the river, and the sea, the +numbers of the Persians confused and clogged alike the general's +skill and the soldiers' prowess, so that their very strength +became their weakness. Here, on the broad plains of Kurdistan, +there was scope for Asia's largest host to array its lines, to +wheel, to skirmish, to condense or expand its squadrons, to +manoeuvre, and to charge at will. Should Alexander and his +scanty band dare to plunge into that living sea of war, their +destruction seemed inevitable. + +Darius felt, however, the critical nature to himself as well as +to his adversary of the coming encounter. He could not hope to +retrieve the consequences of a third overthrow. The great cities +of Mesopotamia and Upper Asia, the central provinces of the +Persian empire, were certain to be at the mercy of the victor. +Darius knew also the Asiatic character well enough to be aware +how it yields to the prestige of success, and the apparent career +of destiny. He felt that the diadem was now either to be firmly +replaced on his own brow, or to be irrevocably transferred to the +head of his European conqueror. He, therefore, during the long +interval left him after the battle of Issus, while Alexander was +subjugating Syria and Egypt, assiduously busied himself in +selecting the best troops which his vast empire supplied, and in +training his varied forces to act together with some uniformity +of discipline and system. + +The hardy mountaineers of Affghanistan, Bokhara, Khiva, and +Thibet, were then, as at present, far different from the +generality of Asiatics in warlike spirit and endurance. From +these districts Darius collected large bodies of admirable +infantry; and the countries of the modern Kurds and Turkomans +supplied, as they do now, squadrons of horsemen, strong, skilful, +bold, and trained to a life of constant activity and warfare. It +is not uninteresting to notice that the ancestors of our own late +enemies, the Sikhs, served as allies of Darius against the +Macedonians. They are spoken of in Arrian as Indians who dwelt +near Bactria. They were attached to the troops of that satrapy, +and their cavalry was one of the most formidable forces in the +whole Persian army. + +Besides these picked troops, contingents also came in from the +numerous other provinces that yet obeyed the Great King. +Altogether, the horse are said to have been forty thousand, the +scythe-bearing chariots two hundred, and the armed elephants +fifteen in number. The amount of the infantry is uncertain; but +the knowledge which both ancient and modern times supply of the +usual character of Oriental armies, and of their populations of +camp-followers, may warrant us in believing that many myriads +were prepared to fight, or to encumber those who fought, for the +last Darius. + +The position of the Persian king near Mesopotamia was chosen with +great military skill. It was certain that Alexander on his +return from Egypt must march northward along the Syrian coast, +before he attacked the central provinces of the Persian empire. +A direct eastward march from the lower part of Palestine across +the great Syrian Desert was then, as now, utterly impracticable. +Marching eastward from Syria, Alexander would, on crossing the +Euphrates, arrive at the vast Mesopotamian plains. The wealthy +capitals of the empire, Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis, would then +lie to his south; and if he marched down through Mesopotamia to +attack them, Darius might reasonably hope to follow the +Macedonians with his immense force of cavalry, and, without even +risking a pitched battle, to harass and finally overwhelm them. +We may remember that three centuries afterwards a Roman army +under Crassus was thus actually destroyed by the Oriental archers +and horsemen in these very plains; [See Mitford.] and that the +ancestors of the Parthians who thus vanquished the Roman legions, +served by thousands under King Darius. If, on the contrary, +Alexander should defer his march against Babylon, and first seek +an encounter with the Persian army, the country on each side of +the Tigris in this latitude was highly advantageous for such an +army as Darius commanded; and he had close in his rear the +mountainous districts of Northern Media, where he himself had in +early life been satrap, where he had acquired reputation as a +soldier and a general, and where he justly expected to find +loyalty to his person, and a safe refuge in case of defeat. +[Mitford's remarks on the strategy of Darius in his last campaign +are very just. After having been unduly admired as an historian, +Mitford is now unduly neglected. His partiality, and his +deficiency in scholarship, have been exposed sufficiently to make +him no longer a dangerous guide as to Greek polities; while the +clearness and brilliancy of his narrative, and the strong common +sense of his remarks (where his party prejudices do not +interfere) must always make his volumes valuable as well as +entertaining.] + +His great antagonist came on across the Euphrates against him, at +the head of an army which Arrian, copying from the journals of +Macedonian officers, states to have consisted of forty thousand +foot, and seven thousand horse. In studying the campaigns of +Alexander, we possess the peculiar advantage of deriving our +information from two of Alexander's generals of division, who +bore an important part in all his enterprises. Aristobulus and +Ptolemy (who afterwards became king of Egypt) kept regular +journals of the military events which they witnessed; and these +journals were in the possession of Arrian, when he drew up his +history of Alexander's expedition. The high character of Arrian +for integrity makes us confident that he used them fairly, and +his comments on the occasional discrepancies between the two +Macedonian narratives prove that he used them sensibly. He +frequently quotes the very words of his authorities: and his +history thus acquires a charm such as very few ancient or modern +military narratives possess. The anecdotes and expressions which +he records we fairly believe to be genuine, and not to be the +coinage of a rhetorician, like those in Curtius. In fact, in +reading Arrian, we read General Aristobulus and General Ptolemy +on the campaigns of the Macedonians; and it is like reading +General Jomini or General Foy on the campaigns of the French. + +The estimate which we find in Arrian of the strength of +Alexander's army, seems reasonable when we take into account both +the losses which he had sustained, and the reinforcements which +he had received since he left Europe. Indeed, to Englishmen, who +know with what mere handfuls of men our own generals have, at +Plassy, at Assaye, at Meeanee, and other Indian battles, routed +large hosts of Asiatics, the disparity of numbers that we read of +in the victories won by the Macedonians over the Persians +presents nothing incredible. The army which Alexander now led +was wholly composed of veteran troops in the highest possible +state of equipment and discipline, enthusiastically devoted to +their leader, and full of confidence in his military genius and +his victorious destiny. + +The celebrated Macedonian phalanx formed the main strength of his +infantry. This force had been raised and organized by his father +Philip, who on his accession to the Macedonian throne needed a +numerous and quickly-formed army, and who, by lengthening the +spear of the ordinary Greek phalanx, and increasing the depth of +the files, brought the tactic of armed masses to the greatest +efficiency of which it was capable with such materials as he +possessed. [See Niebuhr's Hist. of Rome, iii. 488.] He formed +his men sixteen deep, and placed in their grasp the SARISSA, as +the Macedonian pike was called, which was four-and-twenty feet in +length, and when couched for action, reached eighteen feet in +front of the soldier: so that, as a space of about two feet was +allowed between the ranks, the spears of the five files behind +him projected in advance of each front-rank man. The phalangite +soldier was fully equipped in the defensive armour of the regular +Greek infantry. And thus the phalanx presented a ponderous and +bristling mass, which as long as its order was kept compact, was +sure to bear down all opposition. The defects of such an +organization are obvious, and were proved in after years, when +the Macedonians were opposed to the Roman legions. But it is +clear that, under Alexander, the phalanx was not the cumbrous +unwieldy body which it was at Cynoscephalae and Pydna. His men +were veterans; and he could obtain from them an accuracy of +movement and steadiness of evolution, such as probably the +recruits of his father would only have floundered in attempting, +and such as certainly were impracticable in the phalanx when +handled by his successors: especially as under them it ceased to +be a standing force, and became only a militia. [See Niebuhr.] +Under Alexander the phalanx consisted of an aggregate of +eighteen thousand men, who were divided into six brigades of +three thousand each. These were again subdivided into regiments +and companies; and the men were carefully trained to wheel, to +face about, to take more ground, or to close up, as the +emergencies of the battle required. Alexander also arrayed in +the intervals of the regiments of his phalangites, troops armed +in a different manner, which could prevent their line from being +pierced, and their companies taken in flank, when the nature of +the ground prevented a close formation; and which could be +withdrawn, when a favourable opportunity arrived for closing up +the phalanx or any of its brigades for a charge, or when it was +necessary to prepare to receive cavalry. + +Besides the phalanx, Alexander had a considerable force of +infantry who were called shield-bearers: they were not so +heavily armed as the phalangites, or as was the case with the +Greek regular infantry in general; but they were equipped for +close fight, as well as for skirmishing, and were far superior to +the ordinary irregular troops of Greek warfare. They were about +six thousand strong. Besides these, he had several bodies of +Greek regular infantry; and he had archers, slingers, and +javelin-men, who fought also with broadsword and target. These +were principally supplied to him by the highlanders of Illyria +and Thracia. The main strength of his cavalry consisted in two +chosen corps of cuirassiers, one Macedonian, and one Thessalian +each of which was about fifteen hundred strong. They were +provided with long lances and heavy swords, and horse as well as +man was fully equipped with defensive armour. Other regiments of +regular cavalry were less heavily armed, and there were several +bodies of light horsemen, whom Alexander's conquests in Egypt and +Syria had enabled him to mount superbly. + +A little before the end of August, Alexander crossed the +Euphrates at Thapsacus, a small corps of Persian cavalry under +Mazaeus retiring before him. Alexander was too prudent to march +down through the Mesopotamian deserts, and continued to advance +eastward with the intention of passing the Tigris, and then, if +he was unable to find Darius and bring him to action, of marching +southward on the left side of that river along the skirts of a +mountainous district where his men would suffer less from heat +and thirst, and where provisions would be more abundant. + +Darius, finding that his adversary was not to be enticed into the +march through Mesopotamia against his capital, determined to +remain on the battle-ground which he had chosen on the left of +the Tigris; where, if his enemy met a defeat or a check, the +destruction of the invaders would be certain with two such rivers +as the Euphrates and the Tigris in their rear. The Persian king +availed himself to the utmost of every advantage in his power. +He caused a large space of ground to be carefully levelled for +the operation of his scythe-armed chariots; and he deposited his +military stores in the strong town of Arbela, about twenty miles +in his rear. The rhetoricians of after ages have loved to +describe Darius Codomannus as a second Xerxes in ostentation and +imbecility; but a fair examination of his generalship in this his +last campaign, shows that he was worthy of bearing the same name +as his great predecessor, the royal son of Hystaspes. + +On learning that Darius was with a large army on the left of the +Tigris, Alexander hurried forward and crossed that river without +opposition. He was at first unable to procure any certain +intelligence of the precise position of the enemy, and after +giving his army a short interval of rest, he marched for four +days down the left bank of the river. A moralist may pause upon +the fact, that Alexander must in this march have passed within a +few miles of the remains of Nineveh, the great, city of the +primaeval conquerors of the human race. Neither the Macedonian +king nor any of his followers knew what those vast mounds had +once been. They had already become nameless masses of grass- +grown ruins; and it is only within the last few years that the +intellectual energy of one of our own countrymen has rescued +Nineveh from its long centuries of oblivion. [See Layard's +"Nineveh," and also Vaux's "Nineveh and Persepolis," p. 16.] + +On the fourth day of Alexander's southward march, his advanced +guard reported that a body of the enemy's cavalry was in sight. +He instantly formed his army in order for battle, and directing +them to advance steadily, he rode forward at the head of some +squadrons of cavalry, and charged the Persian horse whom he found +before him. This was a mere reconnoitring party, and they broke +and fled immediately; but the Macedonians made some prisoners, +and from them Alexander found that Darius was posted only a few +miles off and learned the strength of the army that he had with +him. On receiving this news, Alexander halted, and gave his men +repose for four days, so that they should go into action fresh +and vigorous. He also fortified his camp, and deposited in it +all his military stores, and all his sick and disabled soldiers; +intending to advance upon the enemy with the serviceable part of +his army perfectly unencumbered. After this halt, he moved +forward, while it was yet dark, with the intention of reaching +the enemy, and attacking them at break of day. About half-way +between the camps there were some undulations of the ground, +which concealed the two armies from each other's view. But, on +Alexander arriving at their summit, he saw by the early light the +Persian host arrayed before him; and he probably also observed +traces of some engineering operation having been carried on along +part of the ground in front of them. Not knowing that these +marks had been caused by the Persians having levelled the ground +for the free use of their war-chariots, Alexander suspected that +hidden pitfalls had been prepared with a view of disordering the +approach of his cavalry. He summoned a council of war forthwith, +some of the officers were for attacking instantly at all hazards, +but the more prudent opinion of Parmenio prevailed, and it was +determined not to advance farther till the battle-ground had been +carefully surveyed. + +Alexander halted his army on the heights; and taking with him +some light-armed infantry and some cavalry, he passed part of the +day in reconnoitring the enemy, and observing the nature of the +ground which he had to fight on. Darius wisely refrained from +moving from his position to attack the Macedonians on eminences +which they occupied, and the two armies remained until night +without molesting each other. On Alexander's return to his head- +quarters, he summoned his generals and superior officers +together, and telling them that he well knew that THEIR zeal +wanted no exhortation, he besought them to do their utmost in +encouraging and instructing those whom each commanded, to do +their best in the next day's battle. They were to remind them +that they were now not going to fight for a province, as they had +hitherto fought, but they were about to decide by their swords +the dominion of all Asia. Each officer ought to impress this +upon his subalterns and they should urge it on their men. Their +natural courage required no long words to excite its ardour: but +they should be reminded of the paramount importance of steadiness +in action. The silence in the ranks must be unbroken as long as +silence was proper; but when the time came for the charge, the +shout and the cheer must be full of terror for the foe. The +officers were to be alert in receiving and communicating orders; +and every one was to act as if he felt that the whole result of +the battle depended on his own single good conduct. + +Having thus briefly instructed his generals, Alexander ordered +that the army should sup, and take their rest for the night. + +Darkness had closed over the tents of the Macedonians, when +Alexander's veteran general, Parmenio, came to him, and proposed +that they should make a night attack on the Persians. The King +is said to have answered, that he scorned to such a victory, and +that Alexander must conquer openly and fairly. Arrian justly +remarks that Alexander's resolution was as wise as it was +spirited. Besides the confusion and uncertainty which are +inseparable from night engagements, the value of Alexander's +victory would have been impaired, if gained under circumstances +which might supply the enemy with any excuse for his defeat, and +encourage him to renew the contest. It was necessary for +Alexander not only to beat Darius, but to gain such a victory as +should leave his rival without apology for defeat, and without +hope of recovery. + +The Persians, in fact, expected, and were prepared to meet a +night attack. Such was the apprehension that Darius entertained +of it, that he formed his troops at evening in order of battle, +and kept them under arms all night. The effect of this was, that +the morning found them jaded and dispirited, while it brought +their adversaries all fresh and vigorous against them. + +The written order of battle which Darius himself caused to he +drawn up, fell into the hands of the Macedonians after the +engagement, and Aristobulus copied it into his journal. We thus +possess, through Arrian, unusually authentic information as to +the composition and arrangement of the Persian army. On the +extreme left were the Bactrian, Daan, and Arachosian cavalry. +Next to these Darius placed the troops from Persia proper, both +horse and foot. Then came the Susians, and next to these the +Cadusians. These forces made up the left wing. Darius's own +station was in the centre. This was composed of the Indians, the +Carians, the Mardian archers, and the division of Persians who +were distinguished by the golden apples that formed knobs of +their spears. Here also were stationed the body-guard of the +Persian nobility. Besides these, there were in the centre, +formed in deep order, the Uxian and Babylonian troops, and the +soldiers from the Red Sea. The brigade of Greek mercenaries, +whom Darius had in his service, and who were alone considered fit +to stand in the charge of the Macedonian phalanx, was drawn up on +either side of the royal chariot. The right wing was composed of +the Coelosyrians and Mesopotamians, the Medes, the Parthians, the +Sacians, the Tapurians, Hyrcanians, Albanians, and Sacesinae. In +advance of the line on the left wing were placed the Scythian +cavalry, with a thousand of the Bactrian horse, and a hundred +scythe-armed chariots. The elephants and fifty scythe-armed +chariots were ranged in front of the centre; and fifty more +chariots, with the Armenian and Cappadocian cavalry, were drawn +up in advance of the right wing. + +Thus arrayed, the great host of King Darius passed the night, +that to many thousands of them was the last of their existence. +The morning of the first of October, two thousand one hundred and +eighty-two years ago, dawned slowly to their wearied watching, +and they could hear the note of the Macedonian trumpet sounding +to arms, and could see King Alexander's forces descend from their +tents on the heights, and form in order of battle on the plain. +[See Clinton's "Fasti Hellenici." The battle was fought eleven +days after an eclipse of the moon, which gives the means of +fixing the precise date.] + +There was deep need of skill, as well as of valour, on +Alexander's side; and few battle-fields have witnessed more +consummate generalship than was now displayed by the Macedonian +king. There were no natural barriers by which he could protect +his flanks; and not only was he certain to be overlapped on +either wing by the vast lines of the Persian army, but there was +imminent risk of their circling round him and charging him in the +rear, while he advanced against their centre. He formed, +therefore, a second or reserve line, which was to wheel round, if +required, or to detach troops to either flank; as the enemy's +movements might necessitate: and thus, with their whole army +ready at any moment to be thrown into one vast hollow square, the +Macedonians advanced in two lines against the enemy, Alexander +himself leading on the right wing, and the renowned phalanx +forming the centre, while Parmenio commanded on the left. + +Such was the general nature of the disposition which Alexander +made of his army. But we have in Arrian the details of the +position of each brigade and regiment; and as we know that these +details were taken from the journals of Macedonian generals, it +is interesting to examine them, and to read the names and +stations of King Alexander's generals and colonels in this the +greatest of his battles. + +The eight troops of the royal horse-guards formed the right of +Alexander's line. Their captains were Cleitus (whose regiment +was on the extreme right, the post of peculiar danger), Graucias, +Ariston, Sopolis, Heracleides, Demetrias, Meleager, and +Hegelochus. Philotas was general of the whole division. Then +came the shield-bearing infantry: Nicanor was their general. +Then came the phalanx, in six brigades. Coenus's brigade was on +the right, and nearest to the shield-bearers; next to this stood +the brigade of Perdiccas, then Meleager's, then Polysperchon's; +and then the brigade of Amynias, but which was now commanded by +Simmias, as Amynias had been sent to Macedonia to levy recruits. +Then came the infantry of the left wing, under the command of +Craterus. Next to Craterus's infantry were placed the cavalry +regiments of the allies, with Eriguius for their general. The +Messalian cavalry, commanded by Philippus, were next, and held +the extreme left of the whole army. The whole left wing was +entrusted to the command of Parmenio, who had round his person +the Pharsalian troop of cavalry, which was the strongest and best +amid all the Thessalian horse-regiments. + +The centre of the second line was occupied by a body of +phalangite infantry, formed of companies, which were drafted for +this purpose from each of the brigades of their phalanx. The +officers in command of this corps were ordered to be ready to +face about, if the enemy should succeed in gaining the rear of +the army. On the right of this reserve of infantry, in the +second line, and behind the royal horse-guards, Alexander placed +half the Agrian light-armed infantry under Attalus, and with them +Brison's body of Macedonian archers, and Cleander's regiment of +foot. He also placed in this part of his army Menidas's squadron +of cavalry, and Aretes's and Ariston's light horse. Menidas was +ordered to watch if the enemy's cavalry tried to turn the flank, +and if they did so, to charge them before they wheeled completely +round, and so take them in flank themselves. A similar force was +arranged on the left of the second line for the same purpose, The +Thracian infantry of Sitalces was placed there, and Coeranus's +regiment of the cavalry of the Greek allies, and Agathon's troops +of the Odrysian irregular horse. The extreme left of the second +line in this quarter was held by Andromachus's cavalry. A +division of Thracian infantry was left in guard of the camp. In +advance of the right wing and centre was scattered a number of +light-armed troops, of javelin-men and bowmen, with the intention +of warding off the charge of the armed chariots. [Kleber's +arrangement of his troops at the battle of Heliopolis, where, +with ten thousand Europeans, he had to encounter eighty thousand +Asiatics in an open plain, is worth comparing with Alexander's +tactics at Arbela. See Thiers's "Histoire du Consulat," &c. vol. +ii. livre v.] + +Conspicuous by the brilliancy of his armour, and by the chosen +band of officers who were round his person, Alexander took his +own station, as his custom was, in the right wing, at the head of +his cavalry: and when all the arrangements for the battle were +complete, and his generals were fully instructed how to act in +each probable emergency, he began to lead his men towards the +enemy. + +It was ever his custom to expose his life freely in battle, and +to emulate the personal prowess of his great ancestor, Achilles. +Perhaps in the bold enterprise of conquering Persia, it was +politic for Alexander to raise his army's daring to the utmost by +the example of his own heroic valour: and, in his subsequent +campaigns, the love of the excitement, of "the rapture of the +strife," may have made him, like Murat, continue from choice a +custom which he commenced from duty. But he never suffered the +ardour of the soldier to make him lose the coolness of the +general; and at Arbela, in particular, he showed that he could +act up to his favourite Homeric maxim. + +Great reliance had been placed by the Persian king on the effects +of the scythe-bearing chariots. It was designed to launch these +against the Macedonian phalanx, and to follow them up by a heavy +charge of cavalry, which it was hoped would find the ranks of the +spearmen disordered by the rush of the chariots, and easily +destroy this most formidable part of Alexander's force. In +front, therefore, of the Persian centre, where Darius took his +station, and which it was supposed the phalanx would attack, the +ground had been carefully levelled and smoothed, so as to allow +the chariots to charge over it with their full sweep and speed. +As the Macedonian army approached the Persian, Alexander found +that the front of his whole line barely equalled the front of the +Persian centre, so that he was outflanked on his right by the +entire left; wing of the enemy, and by their entire right wing on +his left. His tactics were to assail some one point of the +hostile army, and gain a decisive advantage; while he refused, as +far as possible, the encounter along the rest of the line. He +therefore inclined his order of march to the right so as to +enable his right wing and centre to come into collision with the +enemy on as favourable terms as possible though the manoeuvre +might in some respects compromise his left. + +The effect of this oblique movement was to bring the phalanx and +his own wing nearly beyond the limits of the ground which the +Persians had prepared for the operations of the chariots; and +Darius, fearing to lose the benefit of this arm against the most +important parts of the Macedonian force, ordered the Scythian and +Bactrian cavalry, who were drawn up on his extreme left, to +charge round upon Alexander's right wing, and check its further +lateral progress. Against these assailants Alexander sent from +his second line Menidas's cavalry. As these proved too few to +make head against the enemy, he ordered Ariston also from the +second line with his light horse, and Cleander with his foot, in +support of Menidas. The Bactrians and Scythians now began to +give way, but Darius reinforced them by the mass of Bactrian +cavalry from his main line, and an obstinate cavalry fight now +took place. The Bactrians and Scythians were numerous, and were +better armed than the horseman under Menidas and Ariston; and the +loss at first was heaviest on the Macedonian side. But still the +European cavalry stood the charge of the Asiatics, and at last, +by their superior discipline, and by acting in squadrons that +supported each other, instead of fighting in a confused mass like +the barbarians, the Macedonians broke their adversaries, and +drove them off the field. [The best explanation of this may be +found in Napoleon's account of the cavalry fights between the +French and the Mamelukes:--"Two Mamelukes were able to make head +against three Frenchmen, because they were better armed, better +mounted, and better trained; they had two pair of pistols, a +blunderbuss, a carbine, a helmet with a vizor, and a coat of +mail; they had several horses, and several attendants on foot. +One hundred cuirassiers, however were not afraid of one hundred +Mamelukes; three hundred could beat; an equal number, and one +thousand could easily put to the rout fifteen hundred, so great +is the influence of tactics, order, and evolutions! Leclerc and +Lasalle presented their men to the Mamelukes in several lines. +When the Arabs were on the point of overwhelming the first, the +second came to its assistance on the right and left; the +Mamelukes then halted and wheeled, in order to turn the wings of +this new line; this moment was always seized upon to charge them, +and they were uniformly broken."--MONTHOLON'S HISTORY OF THE +CAPTIVITY OF NAPOLEON, iv. 70.] + +Darius, now directed the scythe-armed chariots to be driven +against Alexander's horse-guards and the phalanx; and these +formidable vehicles were accordingly sent rattling across the +plain, against the Macedonian line. When we remember the alarm +which the war-chariots of the Britons created among Caesar's +legions, we shall not be prone to deride this arm of ancient +warfare as always useless. The object of the chariots was to +create unsteadiness in the ranks against which they were driven, +and squadrons of cavalry followed close upon them, to profit by +such disorder. But the Asiatic chariots were rendered +ineffective at Arbela by the light-armed troops whom Alexander +had specially appointed for the service, and who, wounding the +horses and drivers with their missile weapons, and running +alongside so as to cut the traces or seize the reins, marred the +intended charge; and the few chariots that reached the phalanx +passed harmlessly through the intervals which the spearmen opened +for them, and were easily captured in the rear. + +A mass of the Asiatic cavalry was now, for the second time, +collected against Alexander's extreme right, and moved round it, +with the view of gaining the flank of his army. At the critical +moment, Aretes, with his horsemen from Alexander's second line, +dashed on the Persian squadrons when their own flanks were +exposed by this evolution. While Alexander thus met and baffled +all the flanking attacks of the enemy with troops brought up from +his second line, he kept his own horse-guards and the rest of the +front line of his wing fresh, and ready to take advantage of the +first opportunity for striking a decisive blow. This soon came. +A large body of horse, who were posted on the Persian left wing +nearest to the centre, quitted their station, and rode off to +help their comrades in the cavalry fight that still was going on +at the extreme right of Alexander's wing against the detachments +from his second line. This made a huge gap in the Persian array, +and into this space Alexander instantly dashed with his guard; +and then pressing towards his left, he soon began to make havoc +in the left flank of the Persian centre. The shield-bearing +infantry now charged also among the reeling masses of the +Asiatics; and five of the brigades of the phalanx, with the +irresistible might of their sarissas, bore down the Greek +mercenaries of Darius, and dug their way through the Persian +centre. In the early part of the battle, Darius had showed skill +and energy; and he now for some time encouraged his men, by voice +and example, to keep firm. But the lances of Alexander's +cavalry, and the pikes of the phalanx now gleamed nearer and +nearer to him. His charioteer was struck down by a javelin at +his side; and at last Darius's nerve failed him; and, descending +from his chariot, he mounted on a fleet horse and galloped from +the plain, regardless of the state of the battle in other parts +of the field, where matters were going on much more favourably +for his cause, and where his presence might have done much +towards gaining a victory. + +Alexander's operations with his right and centre had exposed his +left to an immensely preponderating force of the enemy. Parmenio +kept out of action as long as possible; but Mazaeus, who +commanded the Persian right wing, advanced against him, +completely outflanked him, and pressed him severely with +reiterated charges by superior numbers. Seeing the distress of +Parmenio's wing, Simmias, who commanded the sixth brigade of the +phalanx, which was next to the left wing, did not advance with +the other brigades in the great charge upon the Persian centre, +but kept back to cover Parmenio's troops on their right flank; as +otherwise they would have been completely surrounded and cut off +from the rest of the Macedonian army. By so doing, Simmias had +unavoidably opened a gap in the Macedonian left centre; and a +large column of Indian and Persian horse, from the Persian right +centre, had galloped forward through this interval, and right +through the troops of the Macedonian second line. Instead of +then wheeling round upon Sarmenio, or upon the rear of +Alexander's conquering wing, the Indian and Persian cavalry rode +straight on to the Macedonian camp, overpowered the Thracians who +were left in charge of it, and began to plunder. This was +stopped by the phalangite troops of the second line, who, after +the enemy's horsemen had rushed by them, faced about, +countermarched upon the camp, killed many of the Indians and +Persians in the act of plundering, and forced the rest to ride +off again. Just at this crisis, Alexander had been recalled from +his pursuit of Darius, by tidings of the distress of Parmenio, +and of his inability to bear up any longer against the hot +attacks of Mazaeus. Taking his horse-guards with him, Alexander +rode towards the part of the field where his left wing was +fighting; but on his way thither he encountered the Persian and +Indian cavalry, on their return from his camp. + +These men now saw that their only chance of safety was to cut +their way through; and in one huge column they charged +desperately upon the Macedonians. There was here a close hand- +to-hand fight, which lasted some time, and sixty of the royal +horse-guards fell, and three generals, who fought close to +Alexander's side, were wounded. At length the Macedonian, +discipline and valour again prevailed, and a large number of the +Persian and Indian horsemen were cut down; some few only +succeeded in breaking through and riding away. Relieved of these +obstinate enemies, Alexander again formed his horse-guards, and +led them towards Parmenio; but by this time that general also was +victorious. Probably the news of Darius's flight had reached +Mazaeus, and had damped the ardour of the Persian right wing; +while the tidings of their comrades' success must have +proportionally encouraged the Macedonian forces under Parmenio. +His Thessalian cavalry particularly distinguished themselves by +their gallantry and persevering good conduct; and by the time +that Alexander had ridden up to Parmenio, the whole Persian army +was in full flight from the field. + +It was of the deepest importance to Alexander to secure the +person of Darius, and he now urged on the pursuit. The river +Lycus was between the field of battle and the city of Arbela, +whither the fugitives directed their course, and the passage of +this river was even more destructive to the Persians than the +swords and spears of the Macedonians had been in the engagement. +[I purposely omit any statement of the loss in the battle. There +is a palpable error of the transcribers in the numbers which we +find in our present manuscripts of Arrian; and Curtius is of no +authority.] The narrow bridge was soon choked up by the flying +thousands who rushed towards it, and vast numbers of the Persians +threw themselves, or were hurried by others, into the rapid +stream, and perished in its waters. Darius had crossed it, and +had ridden on through Arbela without halting. Alexander reached +that city on the next day, and made himself master of all +Darius's treasure and stores; but the Persian king unfortunately +for himself, had fled too fast for his conqueror: he had only +escaped to perish by the treachery of his Bactrian satrap, +Bessus. + +A few days after the battle Alexander entered Babylon, "the +oldest seat of earthly empire" then in existence, as its +acknowledged lord and master. There were yet some campaigns of +his brief and bright career to be accomplished. Central Asia was +yet to witness the march of his phalanx. He was yet to effect +that conquest of Affghanistan in which England since has failed. +His generalship, as well as his valour, were yet to be signalised +on the banks of the Hydaspes, and the field of Chillianwallah; +and he was yet to precede the Queen of England in annexing the +Punjaub to the dominions of an European sovereign. But the +crisis of his career was reached; the great object of his mission +was accomplished; and the ancient Persian empire, which once +menaced all the nations of the earth with subjection, was +irreparably crushed, when Alexander had won his crowning victory +at Arbela. + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF ARBELA AND THE BATTLE OF +THE METAURUS. + +B.C. 330. The Lacedaemonians endeavour to create a rising in +Greece against the Macedonian power; they are defeated by +Antipater, Alexander's viceroy; and their king, Agis, falls in +the battle. + +330 to 327. Alexander's campaigns in Upper Asia. "Having +conquered Darius, Alexander pursued his way, encountering +difficulties which would have appalled almost any other general, +through Bactriana, and taking Bactra, or Zariaspa, (now Balkh), +the chief city of that province, where he spent the winter. +Crossing the Oxus, he advanced in the following spring to +Marakanda (Samarcand) to replace the loss of horses which he had +sustained in crossing the Caucasus, to obtain supplies from the +rich valley of Sogd (the Mahometan Paradise of Mader-al-Nahr), +and to enforce the submission of Transoxiana. The northern limit +of his march is probably represented by the modern Uskand, or +Aderkand, a village on the Iaxartes, near the end of the Ferganah +district. In Margiana he founded another Alexandria. Returning +from the north, he led on his army in the hope of conquering +India, till at length, marching in a line apparently nearly +parallel with the Kabul river, he arrived at the celebrated rock +Aornos, the position of which must have been on the right bank of +the Indus, at some distance from Attock; and it may perhaps be +represented by the modern Akora"--(VAUX.) + +327, 326. Alexander marches through, Affghanistan to the +Punjaub. He defeats Porus. His troops refuse to march towards +the Ganges, and he commences the descent of the Indus. On his +march he attacks and subdues several Indian tribes, among others +the Malli; in the storming of whose capital (Mooltan), he is +severely wounded. He directs his admiral, Nearchus, to sail +round from the Indus to the Persian Gulf; and leads the army back +across Scinde and Beloochistan. + +324. Alexander returns to Babylon. "In the tenth year after he +had crossed the Hellespont, Alexander, having won his vast +dominion, entered Babylon; and resting from his career in that +oldest seat of earthly empire, he steadily surveyed the mass of +various nations which owned his sovereignty, and revolved in his +mind the great work of breathing into this huge but inert body +the living spirit of Greek civilization. In the bloom of +youthful manhood, at the age of thirty-two, he paused from the +fiery speed of his earlier course; and for the first time gave +the nations an opportunity of offering their homage before his +throne. They came from all the extremities of the earth to +propitiate his anger, to celebrate his greatness, or to solicit +his protection. . . . History may allow us to think that +Alexander and a Roman ambassador did meet at Babylon; that the +greatest man of the ancient world saw and spoke with a citizen of +that great nation, which was destined to succeed him in his +appointed work, and to found a wider and still more enduring +empire. They met, too, in Babylon, almost beneath the shadow of +the temple of Bel, perhaps the earliest monument ever raised by +human pride and power, in a city stricken, as it were, by the +word of God's heaviest judgment, as the symbol of greatness apart +from and opposed to goodness."--(ARNOLD.) + +323. Alexander dies at Babylon. On his death being known at +Greece, the Athenians, and others of the southern states, take up +arms to shake off the domination of Macedon. They are at first +successful; but the return of some of Alexander's veterans from +Asia enables Antipater to prevail over them. + +317 to 289. Agathocles is tyrant of Syracuse; and carries on +repeated wars with the Carthaginians; in the course of which +(311) he invades Africa, and reduces the Carthaginians to great +distress. + +306. After a long series of wars with each other, and after all +the heirs of Alexander had been murdered, his principal surviving +generals assume the title of king, each over the provinces which +he has occupied. The four chief among them were Antigonus, +Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Seleucus. Antipater was now dead, but +his son Cassander succeeded to his power in Macedonia and Greece. + +301. Seleucus and Lysimachus defeat Antigonus at Ipsus. +Antigonus is killed in the battle. + +280. Seleucus, the last of Alexander's captains, is +assassinated. Of all Alexander's successors, Seleucus had formed +the most powerful empire. He had acquired all the provinces +between Phrygia and the Indus. He extended his dominion in India +beyond the limits reached by Alexander. Seleucus had some sparks +of his great master's genius in promoting civilization and +commerce, as well as in gaining victories. Under his successors, +the Seleucidae, this vast empire rapidly diminished; Bactria +became independent, and a separate dynasty of Greek kings ruled +there in the year 125, when it was overthrown by the Scythian +tribes. Parthia threw off its allegiance to the Seleucidae in +250 B.C., and the powerful Parthian kingdom, which afterwards +proved so formidable a foe to Rome, absorbed nearly all the +provinces west of the Euphrates, that had obeyed the first +Seleucus. Before the battle of Ipsus, Mithridates, a Persian +prince of the blood-royal of the Achaemenidae, had escaped to +Pontus, and founded there the kingdom of that name. + +Besides the kingdom of Seleucus, which, when limited to Syria, +Palestine, and parts of Asia Minor, long survived; the most +important kingdom formed by a general of Alexander was that of +the Ptolemies in Egypt. The throne of Macedonia was long and +obstinately contended for by Cassander, Polysperchon, Lysimachus, +Pyrrhus, Antigonus, and others; but at last was secured by the +dynasty of Antigonus Gonatas. The old republics of southern +Greece suffered severely during these tumults, and the only +Greek states that showed any strength and spirit were the cities +of the Achaean league, the AEtolians, and the islanders of +Rhodes. + +290. Rome had now thoroughly subdued the Samnites and the +Etruscans, and had gained numerous victories over the Cisalpine +Gauls. Wishing to confirm her dominion in Lower Italy, she +became entangled in a war with Pyrrhus, fourth king of Epirus, +who was called over by the Tarentines to aid them. Pyrrhus was +at first victorious, but in the year 275 was defeated by the +Roman legions in a pitched battle. He returned to Greece, +remarking, "Rome becomes mistress of all Italy from the Rubicon +to the Straits of Messina." + +264. The first Punic war begins. Its primary cause was the +desire of both the Romans and the Carthaginians to possess +themselves of Sicily. The Romans form a fleet, and successfully +compete with the marine of Carthage. [There is at this present +moment [written in June, 1851] in the Great Exhibition at Hyde +Park a model of a piratical galley of Labuan, part of the mast of +which can be let down on an enemy, and form a bridge for +boarders. It is worth while to compare this with the account in +Polybius of the boarding bridges which the Roman admiral Dullius, +affixed to the masts of his galleys and by means of which he won +his great victory over the Carthaginian fleet.] During the +latter half of the war, the military genius of Hamilcar Barca +sustains the Carthaginian cause in Sicily. At the end of twenty- +four years, the Carthaginians sue for peace, though their +aggregate loss in ships and men had been less than that sustained +by the Romans since the beginning of the war. Sicily becomes a +Roman province. + +240 to 218. The Carthaginian mercenaries who had been brought +back from Sicily to Africa, mutiny against Carthage, and nearly +succeed in destroying her. After a sanguinary and desperate +struggle, Hamilcar Barca crushes them. During this season of +weakness to Carthage, Rome takes from her the island of Sardinia. +Hamilcar Barca forms the project of obtaining compensation by +conquests in Spain, and thus enabling Carthage to renew the +struggle with Rome. He takes Hannibal (then a child) to Spain +with him. He and, after his death, his brother, win great part +of southern Spain to the Carthaginian interest. Hannibal obtains +the command of the Carthaginian armies in Spain, 221 B.C., being +then twenty-six years old. He attacks Saguntum, a city on the +Ebro in alliance with Rome, which is the immediate pretext for +the second Punic war. + +During this interval Rome had to sustain a storm from the north. +The Cisalpine Gauls, in 226, formed an alliance with one of the +fiercest tribes of their brethren north of the Alps, and began a +furious war against the Romans, which lasted six years. The +Romans gave them several severe defeats, and took from them part +of their territories near the Po. It was on this occasion that +the Roman colonies of Cremona and Placentia were founded, the +latter of which did such essential service to Rome in the second +Punic war, by the resistance which it made to the army of +Hasdrubal. A muster-roll was made in this war of the effective +military force of the Romans themselves, and of those Italian +states that were subject to them. The return showed a force of +seven hundred thousand foot, and seventy thousand horse. +Polybius mentions this muster. + +228. Hannibal crosses the Alps and invades Italy. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE BATTLE OF THE METAURUS, B.C. 207. + +Quid debeas, 0 Roma, Neronibus, +Testis Metaurum flumen, et Hasdrubal +Devictus, et pulcher fugatis +Ille dies Latio tenebris, + +Qui primus alma risit adorea; +Dirus per urbes Afer ut Italas, +Ceu flamma per taedas, vel Eurus +Per Siculas equitavit undas.--HORATIUS, iv. Od. 4. + +". . . The consul Nero, who made the unequalled march which +deceived Hannibal, and defeated Hasdrubal, thereby accomplishing +an achievement almost unrivalled in military annals. The first +intelligence of his return, to Hannibal, was the sight of +Hasdrubal's head thrown into his camp. When Hannibal saw this, +he exclaimed with a sigh, that 'Rome would now be the mistress of +the world.' To this victory of Nero's it might be owing that his +imperial namesake reigned at all. But the infamy of the one has +eclipsed the glory of the other. When the name of Nero is heard, +who thinks of the consul! But such are human things."--BYRON. + +About midway between Rimini and Ancona a little river falls into +the Adriatic, after traversing one of those districts of Italy, +in which a vain attempt has lately been made to revive, after +long centuries of servitude and shame, the spirit of Italian +nationality, and the energy of free institutions. That stream is +still called the Metauro; and wakens by its name recollections of +the resolute daring of ancient Rome, and of the slaughter that +stained its current two thousand and sixty-three years ago, when +the combined consular armies of Livius and Nero encountered and +crushed near its banks the varied hosts which Hannibal's brother +was leading from the Pyrenees, the Rhone, the Alps, and the Po, +to aid the great Carthaginian in his stern struggle to annihilate +the growing might of the Roman Republic, and make the Punic power +supreme over all the nations of the world. + +The Roman historian, who termed that struggle the most memorable +of all wars that ever were carried on, [Livy, Lib. xxi. sec. 1.] +wrote-in no spirit of exaggeration. For it is not in ancient but +in modern history, that parallels for its incidents and its +heroes are to be found. The similitude between the contest which +Rome maintained against Hannibal, and that which England was for +many years engaged in against Napoleon, has not passed unobserved +by recent historians. "Twice," says Arnold, [Vol. iii, p. 62. +See also Alison--PASSIM.] "has there been witnessed the struggle +of the highest individual genius against the resources and +institutions of a great nation; and in both cases the nation has +been victorious. For seventeen years Hannibal strove against +Rome; for sixteen years Napoleon Bonaparte strove against +England; the efforts of the first ended in Zama, those of the +second in Waterloo." One point, however, of the similitude +between the two wars has scarcely been adequately dwelt on. That +is, the remarkable parallel between the Roman general who finally +defeated the great Carthaginian, and the English general who gave +the last deadly overthrow to the French emperor. Scipio and +Wellington both held for many years commands of high importance, +but distant from the main theatres of warfare. The same country +was the scene of the principal military career of each. It was +in Spain that Scipio, like Wellington, successively encountered +and overthrew nearly all the subordinate generals of the enemy, +before being opposed to the chief champion and conqueror himself. +Both Scipio and Wellington restored their countrymen's confidence +in arms, when shaken by a series of reverses. And each of them +closed a long and perilous war by a complete and overwhelming +defeat of the chosen leader and the chosen veterans of the foe. + +Nor is the parallel between them limited to their, military +characters and exploits. Scipio, like Wellington, became an +important leader of the aristocratic party among his countrymen, +and was exposed to the unmeasured invectives of the violent +section of his political antagonists. When, early in the last +reign, an infuriated mob assaulted the Duke of Wellington in the +streets of the English capital on the anniversary of Waterloo, +England was even more disgraced by that outrage, than Rome was by +the factious accusations which demagogues brought against Scipio, +but which he proudly repelled on the day of trial, by reminding +the assembled people that it was the anniversary of the battle of +Zama. Happily, a wiser and a better spirit has now for years +pervaded all classes of our community; and we shall be spared the +ignominy of having worked out to the end the parallel of national +iugratitude. Scipio died a voluntary exile from the malevolent +turbulence of Rome. Englishmen of all ranks and politics have +now long united in affectionate admiration of our modern Scipio: +and even those who have most widely differed from the Duke on +legislative or administrative questions, forget what they deem +the political errors of that time-honoured head, while they +gratefully call to mind the laurels that have wreathed it. + +Scipio at Zama trampled in the dust the power of Carthage; but +that power had been already irreparably shattered in another +field, where neither Scipio nor Hannibal commanded. When the +Metaurus witnessed the defeat and death of Hasdrubal, it +witnessed the ruin of the scheme by which alone Carthage could +hope to organise decisive success,--the scheme of enveloping Rome +at once from the north and the south of Italy by chosen armies, +led by two sons of Hamilcar. [See Arnold, vol. iii, p. 387.] +That battle was the determining crisis of the contest, not merely +between Rome and Carthage, but between the two great families of +the world, which then made Italy the arena of their oft-renewed +contest for pre-eminence. + +The French historian Michelet whose "Histoire Romaine" would have +been invaluable, if the general industry and accuracy of the +writer had in any degree equalled his originality and brilliancy, +eloquently remarks: "It is not without reason that so universal +and vivid a remembrance of the Punic wars has dwelt in the +memories of men. They formed no mere struggle to determine the +lot of two cities or two empires; but it was a strife on the +event of which depended the fate of two races of mankind, whether +the dominion of the world should belong to the Indo-Germanic or +to the Semitic family of nations. Bear in mind, that the first +of these comprises, besides the Indians and the Persians, the +Greeks, the Romans, and the Germans. In the other are ranked the +Jews and the Arabs, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians. On +the one side is the genius of heroism, of art, and legislation: +on the other is the spirit of industry, of commerce, of +navigation. The two opposite races have everywhere come into +contact, everywhere into hostility. In the primitive history of +Persia and Chaldea, the heroes are perpetually engaged in combat +with their industrious and perfidious, neighbours. The struggle +is renewed between the Phoenicians and the Greeks on every coast +of the Mediterranean. The Greek supplants the Phoenician in all +his factories, all his colonies in the east: soon will the Roman +come, and do likewise in the west. Alexander did far more +against Tyre than Salmanasar or Nabuchodonosor had done. Not +content with crushing her, he took care that she never should +revive: for he founded Alexandria as her substitute, and changed +for ever the track of commerce of the world. There remained +Carthage--the great Carthage, and her mighty empire,--mighty in a +far different degree than Phoenicia's had been. Rome annihilated +it. Then occurred that which has no parallel in history,--an +entire civilisation perished at one blow--vanished, like a +falling star. The 'Periplus' of Hanno, a few coins, a score of +lines in Plautus, and, lo, all that remains of the Carthaginian +world! + +"Many generations must needs pass away before the struggle +between the two races could be renewed; and the Arabs, that +formidable rear-guard of the Semitic world, dashed forth from +their deserts. The conflict between the two races then became +the conflict of two religions. Fortunate was it that those +daring Saracenic cavaliers encountered in the East the +impregnable walls of Constantinople, in the West the chivalrous +valour of Charles Martel and the sword of the Cid. The crusades +were the natural reprisals for the Arab invasions, and form the +last epoch of that great struggle between the two principal +families of the human race." + +It is difficult amid the glimmering light supplied by the +allusions of the classical writers to gain a full idea of the +character and institutions of Rome's great rival. But we can +perceive how inferior Carthage was to her competitor in military +resources; and how far less fitted than Rome she was to become +the founder of centralized and centralizing dominion, that should +endure for centuries, and fuse into imperial unity the narrow +nationalities of the ancient races that dwelt around and near the +shores of the Mediterranean Sea. + +Carthage was originally neither the most ancient nor the most +powerful of the numerous colonies which the Phoenicians planted +on the coast of Northern Africa. But her advantageous position, +the excellence of her constitution (of which, though ill-informed +as to its details, we know that it commanded the admiration of +Aristotle), and the commercial and political energy of her +citizens, gave her the ascendancy over Hippo, Utica, Leptis, and +her other sister Phoenician cities in those regions; and she +finally seduced them to a condition of dependency, similar to +that which the subject allies of Athens occupied relatively to +that once imperial city. When Tyre and Sidon and the other +cities of Phoenicia itself sank from independent republics into +mere vassal states of the great Asiatic monarchies and obeyed by +turns a Babylonian, a Persian, and a Macedonian master, their +power and their traffic rapidly declined; and Carthage succeeded +to the important maritime and commercial character which they had +previously maintained. The Carthaginians did not seek to compete +with the Greeks on the north-eastern shores of the Mediterranean, +or in the three inland seas which are connected with it; but they +maintained an active intercourse with the Phoenicians, and +through them with lower and Central Asia; and they, and they +alone, after the decline and fall of Tyre, navigated the waters +of the Atlantic. They had the monopoly of all the commerce of +the world that was carried on beyond the Straits of Gibraltar. +We have yet extant (in a Greek translation) the narrative of the +voyage of Hanno, one of their admirals, along the western coast +of Africa as far as Sierra Leone. And in the Latin poem of +Festus Avienus, frequent references are made to the records of +the voyages of another celebrated Carthaginian admiral, Himilco, +who had explored the north-western coast of Europe. Our own +islands are mentioned by Himilco as the lands of the Hiberni and +the Albioni. It is indeed certain that the Carthaginians +frequented the Cornish coast (as the Phoenicians had done before +them) for the purpose of procuring tin; and there is every reason +to believe that they sailed as far as the coasts of the Baltic +for amber. When it is remembered that the mariner's compass was +unknown in those ages, the boldness and skill of the seamen of +Carthage, and the enterprise of her merchants, may be paralleled +with any achievements that the history of modern navigation and +commerce can supply. + +In their Atlantic voyages along the African shores, the +Carthaginians followed the double object of trade and +colonization. The numerous settlements that were planted by them +along the coast from Morocco to Senegal, provided for the needy +members of the constantly-increasing population of a great +commercial capital; and also strengthened the influence which +Carthage exercised among the tribes of the African coast. +Besides her fleets, her caravans gave her a large and lucrative +trade with the native Africans; nor must we limit our belief of +the extent of the Carthaginian trade with the tribes of Central +and Western Africa, by the narrowness of the commercial +intercourse which civilized nations of modern times have been +able to create in those regions. + +Although essentially a mercantile and seafaring people, the +Carthaginians by no means neglected agriculture. On the +contrary, the whole of their territory was cultivated like a +garden. The fertility of the soil repaid the skill and toil +bestowed on it; and every invader, from Agathocles to Scipio +AEmilianus, was struck with admiration at the rich pasture-lands +carefully irrigated, the abundant harvests, the luxuriant +vineyards, the plantations of fig and olive-trees, the thriving +villages, the populous towns, and the splendid villas of the +wealthy Carthaginians, through which his march lay, as long as he +was on Carthaginian ground. + +The Carthaginians abandoned the Aegean and the Pontus to the +Greeks, but they were by no means disposed to relinquish to those +rivals the commerce and the dominion of the coasts of the +Mediterranean westward of Italy. For centuries the Carthaginians +strove to make themselves masters of the islands that lie between +Italy and Spain. They acquired the Balearic islands, where the +principal harbour, Port Mahon, still bears the name of the +Carthaginian admiral. They succeeded in reducing the greater +part of Sardinia; but Sicily could never be brought into their +power. They repeatedly invaded that island, and nearly overran +it; but the resistance which was opposed to them by the +Syracusans under Gelon, Dionysius, Timoleon, and Agathocles, +preserved the island from becoming Punic, though many of its +cities remained under the Carthaginian rule, until Rome finally +settled the question to whom Sicily was to belong, by conquering +it for herself. + +With so many elements of success, with almost unbounded wealth +with commercial and maritime activity, with a fertile territory, +with a capital city of almost impregnable strength, with a +constitution that ensured for centuries the blessings of, social +order, with an aristocracy singularly fertile in men of the +highest genius, Carthage yet failed signally and calamitously in +her contest for power with Rome. One of the immediate causes of +this may seem to have been the want, of firmness among her +citizens, which made them terminate the first Punic war by +begging peace, sooner than endure any longer the hardships and +burdens caused by a state of warfare, although their antagonists +had suffered far more severely than themselves. Another cause +was the spirit of faction among their leading men, which +prevented Hannibal in the second war from being properly +reinforced and supported. But there were also more general +causes why Carthage proved inferior to Rome. These were her +position relatively to the mass of the inhabitants of the country +which she ruled, and her habit of trusting to mercenary armies in +her wars. + +Our clearest information as to the different races of men in and +about Carthage is derived from Diodorus Siculus. [Vol. ii. p. +447, Wesseling's ed.] That historian enumerates four different +races: first, he mentions the Phoenicians who dwelt in Carthage: +next, he speaks of the Liby-Phoenicians; these, he tells us, +dwelt in many of the maritime cities, and were connected by +intermarriages with the Phoenicians, which was the cause of their +compound name: thirdly, he mentions the Libyans, the bulk and +the most ancient part of the population, hating the Carthaginians +intensely, on account of the oppressiveness of their domination: +lastly, he names the Numidians, the nomad tribes of the frontier. + +It is evident, from this description, that the native Libyans +were a subject class, without franchise or political rights; and, +accordingly, we find no instance specified in history of a Libyan +holding political office or military command. The half-castes, +the Liby-Phoenicians, seem to have been sometimes sent out as +colonists; [See the "Periplus" of Hanno.] but it may be +inferred, from what Diodorus says of their residence, that they +had not the right of the citizenship of Carthage: and only a +solitary case occurs of one of this race being entrusted with +authority, and that, too, not emanating from the home government. +This is the instance of the officer sent by Hannibal to Sicily, +after the fall of Syracuse; whom Polybius [Lib. ix. 22.] calls +Myttinus the Libyan, but whom, from the fuller account in Livy, +we find to have been a Liby-Phoenician [Lib. xxv. 40.] and it is +expressly mentioned what indignation was felt by the Carthaginian +commanders in the island that this half-caste should control +their operations. + +With respect to the composition of their armies, it is observable +that, though thirsting for extended empire, and though some of +the leading men became generals of the highest order, the +Carthaginians, as a people, were anything but personally warlike. +As long as they could hire mercenaries to fight for them, they +had little appetite for the irksome training, and they grudged +the loss of valuable time, which military service would have +entailed on themselves. + +As Michelet remarks, "The life of an industrious merchant, of a +Carthaginian, was too precious to be risked, as long as it was +possible to substitute advantageously for it that of a barbarian +from Spain or Gaul. Carthage knew, and could tell to a drachma, +what the life of a man of each nation came to. A Greek was worth +more than a Campanian, a Campanian worth more than a Gaul or a +Spaniard. When once this tariff of blood was correctly made out, +Carthage began a war as a mercantile speculation. She tried to +make conquests in the hope of getting new mines to work, or to +open fresh markets for her exports. In one venture she could +afford to spend fifty thousand mercenaries, in another, rather +more. If the returns were good, there was no regret felt for the +capital that had been lavished in the investment; more money got +more men, and all went on well." [Histoire Romaine, vol. ii. p. +40.] + +Armies composed of foreign mercenaries have, in all ages, been as +formidable to their employers as to the enemy against whom they +were directed. We know of one occasion (between the first and +second Punic wars) when Carthage was brought to the very brink of +destruction by a revolt of her foreign troops. Other mutinies of +the same kind must from time to time have occurred. Probably one +of these was the cause of the comparative weakness of Carthage at +the time of the Athenian expedition against Syracuse; so +different from the energy with which she attacked Gelon half a +century earlier, and Dionysius half a century later. And even +when we consider her armies with reference only to their +efficiency in warfare, we perceive at once the inferiority of +such bands of condottieri, brought together without any common +bond of origin, tactics, or cause, to the legions of Rome, which +at the time of the Punic wars were raised from the very flower of +a hardy agricultural population trained in the strictest +discipline, habituated to victory, and animated by the most +resolute patriotism. And this shows also the transcendency of +the genius of Hannibal, which could form such discordant +materials into a compact organized force, and inspire them with +the spirit of patient discipline and loyalty to their chief; so +that they were true to him in his adverse as well as in his +prosperous fortunes; and throughout the chequered series of his +campaigns no panic rout ever disgraced a division under his +command; no mutiny, or even attempt at mutiny, was ever known in +his camp; and, finally, after fifteen years of Italian warfare, +his men followed their old leader to Zama, "with no fear and +little hope;" ["We advanced to Waterloo as the Greeks did to +Thermopylae; all of us without fear and most of us without +hope."--SPEECH OF GENERAL FOY.] and there, on that disastrous +field, stood firm around him, his Old Guard, till Scipio's +Numidian allies came up on their flank; when at last, surrounded +and overpowered, the veteran battalions sealed their devotion to +their general with their blood. + +"But if Hannibal's genius may be likened to the Homeric god, who, +in his hatred to the Trojans, rises from the deep to rally the +fainting Greeks, and to lead them against the enemy, so the calm +courage with which Hector met his more than human adversary in +his country's cause, is no unworthy image of the unyielding +magnanimity displayed by the aristocracy of Rome. As Hannibal +utterly eclipses Carthage, so, on the contrary, Fabius, +Marcellus, Claudius Nero, even Scipio himself, are as nothing +when compared to the spirit, and wisdom, and power of Rome. The +senate, which voted its thanks to its political enemy, Varro, +after his disastrous defeat, 'because he had not despaired of the +commonwealth,' and which disdained either to solicit, or to +reprove, or to threaten, or in any way to notice the twelve +colonies which had refused their customary supplies of men for +the army, is far more to be honoured than the conqueror of Zama. +This we should the more carefully bear in mind because our +tendency is to admire individual greatness far more than +national; and, as no single Roman will bear comparison to +Hannibal, we are apt to murmur at the event of the contest, and +to think that the victory was awarded to the least worthy of the +combatants. On the contrary, never was the wisdom of God's +Providence more manifest than in the issue of the struggle +between Rome and Carthage. It was clearly for the good of man +kind that Hannibal should be conquered: his triumph would have +stopped the progress of the world. For great men can only act +permanently by forming great nations; and no one man, even though +it were Hannibal himself, can in one generation effect such a +work. But where the nation has been merely enkindled for a while +by a great man's spirit, the light passes away with him who +communicated it; and the nation, when he is gone, is like a dead +body, to which magic power had, for a moment, given unnatural +life: when the charm has ceased, the body is cold and stiff as +before. He who grieves over the battle of Zama should carry on +his thoughts to a period thirty years later, when Hannibal must, +in the course of nature, have been dead, and consider how the +isolated Phoenician city of Carthage was fitted to receive and to +consolidate the civilization of Greece, or by its laws and +institutions to bind together barbarians of every race and +language into an organized empire, and prepare them for becoming, +when that empire was dissolved, the free members of the +commonwealth of Christian Europe." [Arnold, vol. iii. p. 61. The +above is one of the numerous bursts of eloquence that adorn +Arnold's third volume, and cause such deep regret that that +volume should have been the last, and its great and good author +have been cut off with his work thus incomplete.] + +It was in the spring of 207 B.C. that Hasdrubal, after skilfully +disentangling himself from the Roman forces in Spain, and, after +a march conducted with great judgment and little loss, through +the interior of Gaul and the passes of the Alps, appeared in the +country that now is the north of Lombardy, at the head of troops +which he had partly brought out of Spain, and partly levied among +the Gauls and Ligurians on his way. At this time Hannibal with +his unconquered, and seemingly unconquerable army, had been +eleven years in Italy, executing with strenuous ferocity the vow +of hatred to Rome which had been sworn by him while yet a child +at the bidding of his father, Hamilcar; who, as he boasted, had +trained up his three sons, Hannibal, Hasdrubal, and Mago, Like +three lion's whelps, to prey upon the Romans. But Hannibal's +latter campaigns had not been signalised by any such great +victories as marked the first years of his invasion of Italy. +The stern spirit of Roman resolution, ever highest in disaster +and danger, had neither bent nor despaired beneath the merciless +blows which "the dire African" dealt her in rapid succession at +Trebia, at Thrasymene, and at Cannae. Her population was thinned +by repeated slaughter in the field; poverty and actual scarcity +wore down the survivors, through the fearful ravages which +Hannibal's cavalry spread through their corn-fields, their +pasture-lands, and their vineyards; many of her allies went over +to the invader's side; and new clouds of foreign war threatened +her from Macedonia and Gaul. But Rome receded not. Rich and +poor among her citizens vied with each other in devotion to their +country. The wealthy placed their stores, and all placed their +lives at the state's disposal. And though Hannibal could not be +driven out of Italy, though every year brought its sufferings and +sacrifices, Rome felt that her constancy had not been exerted in +vain. If she was weakened by the continual strife, so was +Hannibal also; and it was clear that the unaided resources of his +army were unequal to the task of her destruction. The single +deer-hound could not pull down the quarry which he had so +furiously assailed. Rome not only stood fiercely at bay, but had +pressed back and gored her antagonist, that still, however, +watched her in act to spring. She was weary, and bleeding at +every pore; and there seemed to be little hope of her escape, if +the other hound of old Hamilcar's race should come up in time to +aid his brother in the death-grapple. + +Hasdrubal had commanded the Carthaginian armies in Spain for some +time, with varying but generally unpropitious fortune. He had +not the full authority over the Punic forces in that country +which his brother and his father had previously exercised. The +faction at Carthage, which was at feud with his family, succeeded +in fettering and interfering with his power; and other generals +were from time to time sent into Spain, whose errors and +misconduct caused the reverses that Hasdrubal met with. This is +expressly attested by the Greek historian Polybius, who was the +intimate friend of the younger Africanus, and drew his +information respecting the second Punic war from the best +possible authorities. Livy gives a long narrative of campaigns +between the Roman commanders in Spain and Hasdrubal, which is so +palpably deformed by fictions and exaggerations as to be hardly +deserving of attention. [See the excellent criticisms of Sir +Walter Raleigh on this, in his "History of the World," book v. +chap. iii. sec. 11.] + +It is clear that in the year 208 B.C., at least, Hasdrubal +outmanoeuvred Publius Scipio, who held the command of the Roman +forces in Spain; and whose object was to prevent him from passing +the Pyrenees and marching upon Italy. Scipio expected that +Hasdrubal would attempt the nearest route, along the coast of the +Mediterranean; and he therefore carefully fortified and guarded +the passes of the eastern Pyrenees. But Hasdrubal passed these +mountains near their western extremity; and then, with a +considerable force of Spanish infantry, with a small number of +African troops, with some elephants and much treasure, he +marched, not directly towards the coast of the Mediterranean, but +in a north-eastern line towards the centre of Gaul. He halted +for the winter in the territory of the Arverni, the modern +Auvergne; and conciliated or purchased the good-will of the Gauls +in that region so far, that he not only found friendly winter +quarters among them, but great numbers of them enlisted under +him, and on the approach of spring marched with him to invade +Italy. + +By thus entering Gaul at the south-west, and avoiding its +southern maritime districts, Hasdrubal kept the Romans in +complete ignorance of his precise operations and movements in +that country; all that they knew was that Hasdrubal had baffled +Scipio's attempts to detain him in Spain; that he had crossed the +Pyrenees with soldiers, elephants, and money, and that he was +raising fresh forces among the Gauls. The spring was sure to +bring him into Italy; and then would come the real tempest of the +war, when from the north and from the south the two Carthaginian +armies, each under a son of the Thunderbolt, were to gather +together around the seven hills of Rome. [Hamilcar was surnamed +Barca, which means the Thunderbolt. Sultan Bajazet had the +similar surname of Yilderim.] + +In this emergency the Romans looked among themselves earnestly +and anxiously for leaders fit to meet the perils of the coming +campaign. + +The senate recommended the people to elect, as one of their +consuls, Caius Claudius Nero, a patrician of one of the families +of the great Claudian house. Nero had served during the +preceding years of the war, both against Hannibal in Italy, and +against Hasdrubal in Spain; but it is remarkable that the +histories, which we possess, record no successes as having been +achieved by him either before or after his great campaign of the +Metaurus. It proves much for the sagacity of the leading men of +the senate, that they recognised in Nero the energy and spirit +which were required at this crisis, and it is equally creditable +to the patriotism of the people, that they followed the advice of +the senate by electing a general who had no showy exploits to +recommend him to their choice. + +It was a matter of greater difficulty to find a second consul; +the laws required that one consul should be a plebeian; and the +plebeian nobility had been fearfully thinned by the events of the +war. While the senators anxiously deliberated among themselves +what fit colleague for Nero could be nominated at the coming +comitia, and sorrowfully recalled the names of Marcellus, +Gracchus, and other plebeian generals who were no more--one +taciturn and moody old man sat in sullen apathy among the +conscript fathers. This was Marcus Livius, who had been consul +in the gear before the beginning of this war, and had then gained +a victory over the Illyrians. After his consulship he had been +impeached before the people on a charge of peculation and unfair +division of the spoils among his soldiers: the verdict was +unjustly given against him, and the sense of this wrong, and of +the indignity thus put upon him, had rankled unceasingly in the +bosom of Livius, so that for eight years after his trial he had +lived in seclusion at his country seat, taking no part in any +affairs of state. Latterly the censors had compelled him to come +to Rome and resume his place in the senate, where he used to sit +gloomily apart, giving only a silent vote. At last an unjust +accusation against one of his near kinsmen made him break +silence; and he harangued the house in words of weight and sense, +which drew attention to him, and taught the senators that a +strong spirit dwelt beneath that unimposing exterior. Now, while +they were debating on what noble of a plebeian house was fit to +assume the perilous honours of the consulate, some of the elder +of them looked on Marcus Livius, and remembered that in the very +last triumph which had been celebrated in the streets of Rome +this grim old man had sat in the car of victory; and that he had +offered the last grand thanksgiving sacrifice for the success of +the Roman arms that had bled before Capitoline Jove. There had +been no triumphs since Hannibal came into Italy. [Marcellus had +been only allowed an ovation for the conquest of Syracuse.] The +Illyrian campaign of Livius was the last that had been so +honoured; perhaps it might be destined for him now to renew the +long-interrupted series. The senators resolved that Livius +should be put in nomination as consul with Nero; the people were +willing to elect him; the only opposition came from himself. He +taunted them with their inconsistency is honouring a man they had +convicted of a base crime. "If I am innocent," said he, "why did +you place such a stain on me? If I am guilty, why am I more fit +for a second consulship than I was for my first one?" The other +senators remonstrated with him urging the example of the great +Camillus, who, after an unjust condemnation on a similar charge, +both served and saved his country. At last Livius ceased to +object; and Caius Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius were chosen +consuls of Rome. + +A quarrel had long existed between the two consuls, and the +senators strove to effect a reconciliation between them before +the campaign. Here again Livius for a long time obstinately +resisted the wish of his fellow-senators. He said it was best +for the state that he and Nero should continue to hate one +another. Each would do his duty better, when he knew that he was +watched by an enemy in the person of his own colleague. At last +the entreaties of the senators prevailed, and Livius consented to +forego the feud, and to co-operate with Nero in preparing for the +coming struggle. + +As soon as the winter snows were thawed, Hasdrubal commenced his +march from Auvergne to the Alps. He experienced none of the +difficulties which his brother had met with from the mountain +tribes. Hannibal's army had been the first body of regular +troops that had ever traversed the regions; and, as wild animals +assail a traveller, the natives rose against it instinctively, in +imagined defence of their own habitations, which they supposed to +be the objects of Carthaginian ambition. But the fame of the +war, with which Italy had now been convulsed for eleven years, +had penetrated into the Alpine passes; and the mountaineers +understood that a mighty city, southward of the Alps, was to be +attacked by the troops whom they saw marching among them. They +not only opposed no resistance to the passage of Hasdrubal, but +many of them, out of the love of enterprise and plunder, or +allured by the high pay that he offered, took service with him; +and thus he advanced upon Italy with an army that gathered +strength at every league. It is said, also, that some of the +most important engineering works which Hannibal had constructed, +were found by Hasdrubal still in existence, and materially +favoured the speed of his advance. He thus emerged into Italy +from the Alpine valleys much sooner than had been anticipated. +Many warriors of the Ligurian tribes joined him; and, crossing +the river Po, he marched down its southern bank to the city of +Placentia, which he wished to secure as a base for his future +operations. Placentia resisted him as bravely as it had resisted +Hannibal eleven years before; and for some time Hasdrubal was +occupied with a fruitless siege before its walls. + +Six armies were levied for the defence of Italy when the long- +dreaded approach of Hasdrubal was announced. Seventy thousand +Romans served in the fifteen legions of which, with an equal +number of Italian allies, those armies and the garrisons were +composed. Upwards of thirty thousand more Romans were serving in +Sicily, Sardinia, and Spain. The whole number of Roman citizens +of an age fit for military duty scarcely exceeded a hundred and +thirty thousand. The census taken before the war had shown a +total of two hundred and seventy thousand, which had been +diminished by more than half during twelve years. These numbers +are fearfully emphatic of the extremity to which Rome was +reduced, and of her gigantic efforts in that great agony of her +fate. Not merely men, but money and military stores, were +drained to the utmost; and if the armies of that year should be +swept off by a repetition of the slaughters of Thrasymene and +Cannae, all felt that Rome would cease to exist. Even if the +campaign were to be marked by no decisive success on either side, +her ruin seemed certain. In South Italy Hannibal had either +detached Rome's allies from her, or had impoverished them by the +ravages of his army. If Hasdrubal could have done the same in +Upper Italy; if Etruria, Umbria, and Northern Latium had either +revolted or been laid waste, Rome must have sunk beneath sheer +starvation; for the hostile or desolated territory would have +yielded no supplies of corn for her population; and money, to +purchase it from abroad, there was none. Instant victory was a +matter of life and death. Three of her six armies were ordered +to the north, but the first of these was required to overawe the +disaffected Etruscans. The second army of the north was pushed +forward, under Porcius, the praetor, to meet and keep in, check +the advanced troops of Hasdrubal; while the third, the grand army +of the north, which was to be under the immediate command of the +consul Livius, who had the chief command in all North Italy, +advanced more slowly in its support. There were similarly three +armies in the south, under the orders of the other consul +Claudius Nero. + +The lot had decided that Livius was to be opposed to Hasdrubal, +and that Nero should face Hannibal. And "when all was ordered as +themselves thought best, the two consuls went forth of the city; +each his several way. The people of Rome were now quite +otherwise affected, than they had been, when L. AEmilius Paulus +and C. Tarentius Varro were sent against Hannibal. They did no +longer take upon them to direct their generals, or bid them +dispatch, and win the victory betimes; but rather they stood in +fear, lest all diligence, wisdom, and valour should prove too +little. For since, few years had passed, wherein some one of +their generals had not been slain; and since it was manifest, +that if either of these present consuls were defeated, or put to +the worst, the two Carthaginians would forthwith join, and make +short work with the other: it seemed a greater happiness than +could be expected, that each of them should return home victor; +and come off with honour from such mighty opposition as he was +like to find. With extreme difficulty had Rome held up her head +ever since the battle of Cannae; though it were so, that Hannibal +alone, with little help from Carthage, had continued the war in +Italy. But there was now arrived another son of Amilcar; and one +that, in his present expedition, had seemed a man of more +sufficiency than Hannibal himself. For, whereas in that long and +dangerous march through barbarous nations, over great rivers and +mountains, that were thought unpassable, Hannibal had lost a +great part of his army; this Asdrubal, in the same places, had +multiplied his numbers; and gathering the people that he found in +the way, descended from the Alps like a rolling snow-ball, far +greater than he came over the Pyrenees at his first setting out +of Spain. These considerations, and the like, of which fear +presented many unto them, caused the people of Rome to wait upon +their consuls out of the town, like a pensive train of mourners; +thinking upon Marcellus and Crispinus, upon whom, in the like +sort, they had given attendance the last year, but saw neither of +them return alive from a less dangerous war. Particularly old Q. +Fabius gave his accustomed advice to M. Livius, that he should +abstain from giving or taking battle, until he well understood +the enemies' condition. But the consul made him a froward +answer, and said, that he would fight the very first day, for +that he thought it long till he should either recover his honour +by victory, or, by seeing the overthrow of his own unjust +citizens, satisfy himself with the joy of a great, though not an +honest revenge. But his meaning was better than his words." +[Sir Walter Raleigh.] + +Hannibal at this period occupied with his veteran but much +reduced forces the extreme south of Italy. It had not been +expected either by friend or foe, that Hasdrubal would effect his +passage of the Alps so early in the year as actually occurred. +And even when Hannibal learned that his brother was in Italy, and +had advanced as far as Placentia, he was obliged to pause for +further intelligence, before he himself commenced active +operations, as he could not tell whether his brother might not be +invited into Etruria, to aid the party there that was disaffected +to Rome or whether he would march down by the Adriatic Sea. +Hannibal led his troops out of their winter quarters in Bruttium, +and marched northward as far as Canusium. Nero had his head- +quarters near Venusia, with an army which he had increased to +forty thousand foot and two thousand five hundred horse, by +incorporating under his own command some of the legions which had +been intended to set under other generals in the south. There +was another Roman army twenty thousand strong, south of Hannibal, +at Tarentum. The strength of that city secured this Roman force +from any attack by Hannibal, and it was a serious matter to march +northward and leave it in his rear, free to act against all his +depots and allies in the friendly part of Italy, which for the +last two or three campaigns had served him for a base of his +operations. Moreover, Nero's army was so strong that Hannibal +could not concentrate troops enough to assume the offensive +against it without weakening his garrisons, and relinquishing, at +least for a time, his grasp upon the southern provinces. To do +this before he was certainly informed of his brother's operations +would have been an useless sacrifice; as Nero could retreat +before him upon the other Roman armies near the capital, and +Hannibal knew by experience that a mere advance of his army upon +the walls of Rome would have no effect on the fortunes of the +war. In the hope, probably, of inducing Nero to follow him, and +of gaining an opportunity of outmanoeuvring the Roman consul and +attacking him on his march, Hannibal moved into Lucania, and then +back into Apulis;--he again marched down into Bruttium, and +strengthened his army by a levy of recruits in that district. +Nero followed him, but gave him no chance of assailing him at a +disadvantage. Some partial encounters seem to have taken place; +but the consul could not prevent Hannibal's junction with his +Bruttian levies, nor could Hannibal gain an opportunity of +surprising and crushing the consul. Hannibal returned to his +former head-quarters at Canusium, and halted there in expectation +of further tidings of his brother's movements. Nero also resumed +his former position in observation of the Carthaginian army. + +[The annalists whom Livy copied, spoke of Nero's gaining repeated +victories over Hannibal, and killing; and taking his men by tens +of thousands. The falsehood of all this is self-evident. If +Nero could thus always beat Hannibal, the Romans would not have +been in such an agony of dread about Hasdrubal, as all writers +describe. Indeed, we have the express testimony of Polybius that +such statements as we read in Livy of Marcellus, Nero, and others +gaining victories over Hannibal in Italy, must be all +fabrications of Roman vanity. Polybius states (Lib. xv. sec. 16) +that Hannibal was never defeated before the battle of Zama; and +in another passage (Book ix. chap, 3) he mentions that after the +defeats which Hannibal inflicted on the Romans in the early years +of the war, they no longer dared face his army in a pitched +battle on a fair field, and yet they resolutely maintained the +war. He rightly explains this by referring to the superiority of +Hannibal's cavalry the arm which gained him all his victories. +By keeping within fortified lines, or close to the sides of the +mountains when Hannibal approached them, the Romans rendered his +cavalry ineffective; and a glance at the geography of Italy will +show how an army can traverse the greater part of that country +without venturing far from the high grounds.] + +Meanwhile, Hasdrubal had raised the siege of Placentia, and was +advancing towards Ariminum on the Adriatic, and driving before +him the Roman army under Porcina. Nor when the consul Livius had +come up, and united the second and third armies of the north, +could he make head against the invaders. The Romans still fell +back before Hasdrubal, beyond Ariminum, beyond the Metaurus, and +as far as the little town of Sena, to the southeast of that +river. Hasdrubal was not unmindful of the necessity of acting in +concert with his brother. He sent messengers to Hannibal to +announce his own line of march and to propose that they should +unite their armies in South Umbria, and then wheel round against +Rome. Those messengers traversed the greater part of Italy in +safety; but, when close to the object of their mission, were +captured by a Roman detachment; and Hasdrubal's letter, detailing +his whole plan of the campaign, was laid, not in his brother's +hands, but in those of the commander of the Roman armies of the +south. Nero saw at once the full importance of the crisis. The +two sons of Hamilcar were now within two hundred miles of each +other, and if Rome were to be saved, the brothers must never meet +alive. Nero instantly ordered seven thousand picked men, a +thousand being cavalry, to hold themselves in readiness for a +secret expedition against one of Hannibal's garrisons; and as +soon as night had set in, he hurried forward on his bold +enterprise: but he quickly left the southern road towards +Lucania, and wheeling round, pressed northward with the utmost +rapidity towards Picenum. He had, during the preceding +afternoon, sent messengers to Rome, who were to lay Hasdrubal's +letters before the senate. There was a law forbidding a consul +to make war or to march his army beyond the limits of the +province assigned to him; but in such an emergency Nero did not +wait for the permission of the senate to execute his project, but +informed them that he was already on his march to join Livius +against Hasdrubal. He advised them to send the two legions which +formed the home garrison, on to Narnia, so as to defend that pass +of the Flaminian road against Hasdrubal, in case he should march +upon Rome before the consular armies could attack him. They were +to supply the place of those two legions at Rome by a levy +EN MASSE in the city, and by ordering up the reserve legion from +Capua. These were his communications to the senate. He also +sent horseman forward along his line of march, with orders to the +local authorities to bring stores of; provisions and refreshments +of every kind to the road-side, and to have relays of carriages +ready for the conveyance of the wearied soldiers. Such were the +precautions which he took for accelerating his march; and when he +had advanced some little distance from his camp, he briefly +informed his soldiers of the real object of their expedition. He +told them that there never was a design more seemingly audacious, +and more really safe. He said he was leading them to a certain +victory, for his colleague had an army large enough to balance +the enemy already, so that THEIR swords would decisively turn the +scale. The very rumour that a fresh consul and a fresh army had +come up, when heard on the battle-field (and he would take care +that they should not be heard of before they were seen and felt) +would settle the campaign. They would have all the credit of the +victory, and of having dealt the final decisive blow, He appealed +to the enthusiastic reception which they already met with on +their line of march as a proof and an omen of their good fortune. +[Livy. lib. xxvii. c. 45.] And, indeed, their whole path was +amidst the vows and prayers and praises of their countrymen. The +entire population of the districts through which they passed, +flocked to the road-side to see and bless the deliverers of their +country. Food, drink, and refreshments of every kind were +eagerly pressed on their acceptance. Each peasant thought a +favour was conferred on him, if one of Nero's chosen band would +accept aught at his hands. The soldiers caught the full spirit +of their leader. Night and day they marched forwards, taking +their hurried meals in the ranks and resting by relays in the +waggons which the zeal of the country-people provided, and which +followed in the rear of the column. + +Meanwhile, at Rome, the news of Nero's expedition had caused the +greatest excitement and alarm. All men felt the full audacity of +the enterprise, but hesitated what epithet to apply to it. It +was evident that Nero's conduct would be judged of by the event, +that most unfair criterion, as the Roman historian truly terms +it. ["Adparebat (quo nihil iniquius est) ex eventu famam +habiturum."--LIVY, lib. xxvii. c. 44.] People reasoned on the +perilous state in which Nero had left the rest of his army, +without a general, and deprived of the core of its strength, in +the vicinity of the terrible Hannibal. They speculated on how +long it would take Hannibal to pursue and overtake Nero himself, +and his expeditionary force. They talked over the former +disasters of the war, and the fall of both the consuls of the +last year. All these calamities had come on them while they had +only one Carthaginian general and army to deal with in Italy. +Now they had two Punic wars at one time. They had two +Carthaginian armies; they had almost two Hannibals in Italy, +Hasdrubal was sprung from the same father; trained up in the same +hostility to Rome; equally practised in battle against its +legions; and, if the comparative speed and success with which he +had crossed the Alps was a fair test, he was even a better +general than his brother. With fear for their interpreter of +every rumour, they exaggerated the strength of their enemy's +forces in every quarter, and criticised and distrusted their own. + +Fortunately for Rome, while she was thus a prey to terror and +anxiety, her consul's nerves were strong, and he resolutely urged +on his march towards Sena, where his colleague, Livius, and the +praetor Portius were encamped; Hasdrubal's army being in position +about half a mile to the north. Nero had sent couriers forward +to apprise his colleague of his project and of his approach; and +by the advice of Livius, Nero so timed his final march as to +reach the camp at Sena by night. According to a previous +arrangement, Nero's men were received silently into the tents of +their comrades, each according to his rank. By these means there +was no enlargement of the camp that could betray to Hasdrubal the +accession of force which the Romans had received. This was +considerable; as Nero's numbers had been increased on the march +by the volunteers, who offered themselves in crowds, and from +whom he selected the most promising men, and especially the +veterans of former campaigns. A council of war was held on the +morning after his arrival, in which some advised that time should +be given for Nero's men to refresh themselves, after the fatigue +of such a march. But Nero vehemently opposed all delay. "The +officer," said he, "who is for giving time for my men here to +rest themselves, is for giving time to Hannibal to attack my men, +whom I have left in the camp in Apulia. He is for giving time to +Hannibal and Hasdrubal to discover my march, and to manoeuvre for +a junction with each other in Cisalpine Gaul at their leisure. +We must fight instantly, while both the foe here and the foe in +the south are ignorant of our movements. We must destroy this +Hasdrubal, and I must be back In Apulia before Hannibal awakes +from his torpor." [Livy, lib. xxvii. c. 45.] Nero's advice +prevailed. It was resolved to fight directly; and before the +consuls and praetor left the tent of Livius, the red ensign, +which was the signal to prepare for immediate action, was +hoisted, and the Romans forthwith drew up in battle array outside +the camp. + +Hasdrubal had been anxious to bring Livius and Porcius to battle, +though he had not judged it expedient to attack them in their +lines. And now, on hearing that the Romans offered battle, he +also drew up his men, and advanced towards them. No spy or +deserter had informed him of Nero's arrival; nor had he received +any direct information that he had more than his old enemies to +deal with. But as he rode forward to reconnoitre the Roman +lines, he thought that their numbers seemed to have increased, +and that the armour of some-of them was unusually dull and +stained. He noticed also that the horses of some of the cavalry +appeared to be rough and out of condition, as if they had just +come from a succession of forced marches. So also, though, owing +to the precaution of Livius, the Roman camp showed no change of +size, it had not escaped the quick ear of the Carthaginian +general, that the trumpet, which gave the signal to the Roman +legions, sounded that morning once oftener than usual, as if +directing the troops of some additional superior officer. +Hasdrubal, from his Spanish campaigns, was well acquainted with +all the sounds and signals of Roman war; and from all that he +heard and saw, he felt convinced that both the Roman consuls were +before him. In doubt and difficulty as to what might have taken +place between the armies of the south, and probably hoping that +Hannibal also was approaching, Hasdrubal determined to avoid an +encounter with the combined Roman forces, and to endeavour to +retreat upon Insubrian Gaul, where he would be in a friendly +country, and could endeavour to re-open his communications with +his brother. He therefore led his troops back into their camp; +and, as the Romans did not venture on an assault upon his +entrenchments, and Hasdrubal did not choose to commence his +retreat in their sight, the day passed away in inaction. At the +first watch of the night, Hasdrubal led his men silently out of +their camp, and moved northwards towards the Metaurus, in the +hope of placing that river between himself and the Romans before +his retreat was discovered. His guides betrayed him; and having +purposely led him away from the part of the river that was +fordable, they made their escape in the dark, and left Hasdrubal +and his army wandering in confusion along the steep bank, and +seeking in vain for a spot where the stream could be safely +crossed. At last they halted; and when day dawned on them, +Hasdrubal found that great numbers of his men, in their fatigue +and impatience, had lost all discipline and subordination, and +that many of his Gallic auxiliaries had got drunk, and were lying +helpless in their quarters. The Roman cavalry was soon seen +coming up in pursuit, followed at no great distance by the +legions, which marched in readiness for an instant engagement. +It was hopeless for Hasdrubal, to think of continuing his retreat +before them. The prospect of immediate battle might recall the +disordered part of his troops to a sense of duty, and revive the +instinct of discipline. He therefore ordered his men to prepare +for action instantly, and made the best arrangement of them that +the nature of the ground would permit. + +Heeren has well described the general appearance of a +Carthaginian army. He says: "It was an assemblage of the most +opposite races of the human species, from the farthest parts of +the globe. Hordes of half-naked Gauls were ranged next to +companies of white clothed Iberians, and savage Ligurians next to +the far-travelled Nasamones and Lotophagi. Carthaginians and +Phoenici-Africans formed the centre; while innumerable troops of +Numidian horse-men, taken from all the tribes of the Desert, +swarmed about on unsaddled horses, and formed the wings; the van +was composed of Balearic slingers; and a line of colossal +elephants, with their Ethiopian guides, formed, as it were, a +chain of moving fortresses before the whole army. Such were the +usual materials and arrangements of the hosts that fought for +Carthage; but the troops under Hasdrubal were not in all respects +thus constituted or thus stationed. He seems to have been +especially deficient in cavalry, and he had few African troops, +though some Carthaginians of high rank were with him. His +veteran Spanish infantry, armed with helmets and shields, and +short cut-and-thrust swords, were the best part of his army. +These, and his few Africans, he drew up on his right wing, under +his own personal command. In the centre, he placed his Ligurian +infantry, and on the left wing he placed or retained the Gauls, +who were armed with long javelins and with huge broadswords and +targets. The rugged nature of the ground in front and on the +flank of this part of his line, made him hope that the Roman +right wing would be unable to come to close quarters with these +unserviceable barbarians, before he could make some impression +with his Spanish veterans on the Roman left. This was the only +chance that he had of victory or safety, and he seems to have +done everything that good generalship could do to secure it. He +placed his elephants in advance of his centre and right wing. He +had caused the driver of each of them to be provided with a sharp +iron spike and a mallet; and had given orders that every beast +that became unmanageable, and ran back upon his own ranks, should +be instantly killed, by driving the spike into the vertebra at +the junction of the head and the spine. Hasdrubal's elephants +were ten in number. We have no trustworthy information as to the +amount of his infantry, but it is quite clear that he was greatly +outnumbered by the combined Roman forces. + +The tactic of the Roman legions had not yet acquired the +perfection which it received from the military genius of Marius, +[Most probably during the period of his prolonged consulship, +from B.C. 104 to B.C. 101, while he was training his army against +the Cimbri and the Teutons.] and which we read of in the first +chapter of Gibbon. We possess in that great work an account of +the Roman legions at the end of the commonwealth, and during the +early ages of the empire, which those alone can adequately +admire, who have attempted a similar description. We have also, +in the sixth and seventeenth books of Polybius, an elaborate +discussion on the military system of the Romans in his time, +which was not far distant from the time of the battle of the +Metaurus. But the subject is beset with difficulties: and +instead of entering into minute but inconclusive details, I would +refer to Gibbon's first chapter, as serving for a general +description of the Roman army in its period of perfection; and +remark, that the training and armour which the whole legion +received in the time of Augustus, was, two centuries earlier, +only partially introduced. Two divisions of troops, called +Hastati and Principes, formed the bulk of each Roman legion in +the second Punic war. Each of these divisions was twelve hundred +strong. The Hastatus and the Princeps legionary bore a breast- +plate or coat of mail, brazen greaves, and a brazen helmet, with +a lofty, upright crest of scarlet or black feathers. He had a +large oblong shield; and, as weapons of offence, two javelins, +one of which was light and slender, but the other was a strong +and massive weapon, with a shaft about four feet long, and an +iron head of equal length. The sword was carried on the right +thigh, and was a short cut-and thrust weapon, like that which was +used by the Spaniards. Thus armed, the Hastati formed the front +division of the legion, and the Principes the second. Each +division was drawn up about ten deep; a space of three feet being +allowed between the files as well as the ranks, so as to give +each legionary ample room for the use of his javelins, and of his +sword and shield. The men in the second rank did not stand +immediately behind those in the first rank, but the files were +alternate, like the position of the men on a draught board. This +was termed the quincunx order. Niebuhr considers that this +arrangement enabled the legion to keep up a shower of javelins on +the enemy for some considerable time. He says: "When the first +line had hurled its pila, it probably stepped back between those +who stood behind it, who with two steps forward restored the +front nearly to its first position; a movement which, on account +of the arrangement of the quincunx, could be executed without +losing a moment. Thus one line succeeded the other in the front +till it was time to draw the swords; nay, when it was found +expedient, the lines which had already been in the front might +repeat this change, since the stores of pila were surely not +confined to the two which each soldier took with him into battle. + +"The same change must have taken place in fighting with the +sword; which, when the same tactic was adopted on both sides, was +anything but a confused MELEE; on the contrary, it was a series +of single combats." He adds, that a military man of experience +had been consulted by him on the subject, and had given it as his +opinion, "that the change of the lines as described above was by +no means impracticable; and in the absence of the deafening noise +of gunpowder, it cannot have had even any difficulty with trained +troops." + +The third division of the legion was six hundred strong, and +acted as a reserve. It was always composed of veteran soldiers, +who were called the Triarii. Their arms were the same as those +of the Principes and Hastati; except that each Triarian carried a +spear instead of javelins. The rest of the legion consisted of +light armed troops, who acted as skirmishers. The cavalry of +each legion was at this period about three hundred strong. The +Italian allies, who were attached to the legion, seem to have +been similarly armed and equipped, but their numerical proportion +of cavalry was much larger. + +Such was the nature of the forces that advanced on the Roman side +to the battle of the Metaurus. Nero commanded the right wing, +Livius the left, and the praetor Porcius had the command of the +centre. "Both Romans and Carthaginians well understood how much +depended upon the fortune of this day, and how little hope of +safety there was for the vanquished. Only the Romans herein +seemed to have had the better in conceit and opinion, that they +were to fight with men desirous to have fled from them. And +according to this presumption came Livius the consul, with a +proud bravery, to give charge on the Spaniards and Africans, by +whom he was so sharply entertained that victory seemed very +doubtful. The Africans and Spaniards were stout soldiers, and +well acquainted with the manner of the Roman fight. The +Ligurians, also, were a hardy nation, and not accustomed to give +ground; which they needed the less, or were able now to do, being +placed in the midst. Livius, therefore, and Porcius found great +opposition; and, with great slaughter on both sides, prevailed +little or nothing. Besides other difficulties, they were +exceedingly troubled by the elephants, that brake their first +ranks, and put them in such disorder, as the Roman ensigns were +driven to fall back; all this while Claudius Nero, labouring in +vain against a steep hill, was unable to come to blows with the +Gauls that stood opposite him, but out of danger. This made +Hasdrubal the more confident, who, seeing his own left wing safe, +did the more boldly and fiercely make impression on the other +side upon the left wing of the Romans." ["Historie of the +World," by Sir Walter Raleigh, p. 946.] + +But at last Nero, who found that Hasdrubal refused his left wing, +and who could not overcome the difficulties of the ground in the +quarter assigned to him, decided the battle by another stroke of +that military genius which had inspired his march. Wheeling a +brigade of his best men round the rear of the rest of the Roman +army, Nero fiercely charged the flank of the Spaniards and +Africans. The charge was as successful as it was sudden. Rolled +back in disorder upon each other, and overwhelmed by numbers, the +Spaniards and Ligurians died, fighting gallantly to the last. +The Gauls, who had taken little or no part in the strife of the +day, were then surrounded, and butchered almost without +resistance. Hasdrubal, after having, by the confession of his +enemies, done all that a general could do, when he saw that the +victory was irreparably lost, scorning to survive the gallant; +host which he had led, and to gratify, as a captive, Roman +cruelty and pride, spurred his horse into the midst of a Roman +cohort; where, sword in hand, he met the death that was worthy of +the son of Hamilcar and the brother of Hannibal. + +Success the most complete had crowned Nero's enterprise. +Returning as rapidly as he had advanced, he was again facing the +inactive enemies in the south, before they even knew of his +march. But he brought with him a ghastly trophy of what he had +done. In the true spirit of that savage brutality which deformed +the Roman national character, Nero ordered Hasdrubal's head to be +flung into his brother's camp. Eleven years had passed since +Hannibal had last gazed on those features. The sons of Hamilcar +had then planned their system of warfare against Rome, which they +had so nearly brought to successful accomplishment. Year after +year had Hannibal been struggling in Italy, in the hope of one +day hailing the arrival of him whom he had left in Spain; and of +seeing his brother's eye flash with affection and pride at the +junction of their irresistible hosts. He now saw that eye glazed +in death and, in the agony of his heart, the great Carthaginian +groaned aloud that he recognised his country's destiny. + +[Carthagini jam non ego nuntios + Mittam superbos. Occidit, occidit + Spes omnis et fortuna nostri + Nominis, Hastrubale interemto.--HORACE.] + +Rome was almost delirious with joy: [See the splendid +description in Livy, lib. xxvii. sec. 50, 51.] so agonising had +been the suspense with which the battle's verdict on that great +issue of a nation's life and death had been awaited; so +overpowering was the sudden reaction to the consciousness of +security, and to the full glow of glory and success. From the +time when it had been known at Rome that the armies were in +presence of each other, the people had never ceased to throng the +forum, the Conscript Fathers had been in permanent sitting at the +senate house. Ever and anon a fearful whisper crept among the +crowd of a second Cannae won by a second Hannibal. Then came +truer rumours that the day was Rome's; but the people were sick +at heart, and heeded them not. The shrines were thronged with +trembling women, who seemed to weary heaven with prayers to +shield them from the brutal Gaul and the savage African. +Presently the reports of good fortune assumed a more definite +form. It was said that two Narnian horseman had ridden from the +east into the Roman camp of observation in Umbria, and had +brought tidings of the utter slaughter of the foe. Such news +seemed too good to be true, Men tortured their neighbours and +themselves by demonstrating its improbability and by ingeniously +criticising its evidence. Soon, however, a letter came from +Lucius Manlius Acidinus, who commanded in Umbria, and who +announced the arrival of the Narnian horsemen in his camp, and +the intelligence which they brought thither. The letter was +first laid before the senate, and then before the assembly of the +people. The excitement grew more and more vehement. The letter +was read and re-read aloud to thousands. It confirmed the +previous rumour. But even this was insufficient to allay the +feverish anxiety that thrilled through every breast in Rome. The +letter might be a forgery: the Narnian horseman might be +traitors or impostors. "We must see officers from the army that +fought, or hear despatches from the consuls themselves, and then +only will we believe." Such was the public sentiment, though +some of more hopeful nature already permitted themselves a +foretaste of joy. At length came news that officers who really +had been in the battle were near at hand. Forthwith the whole +city poured forth to meet them, each person coveting to be the +first to receive with his own eyes and ears convincing proofs of +the reality of such a deliverance. One vast throng of human +beings filled the road from Rome to the Milvian bridge. The +three officers, Lucius Veturius Pollio, Publius Licinius Vasus, +and Quintus Caecilius Metellus came riding on, making their way +slowly through the living sea around them, As they advanced, each +told the successive waves of eager questioners that Rome was +victorious. "We have destroyed Hasdrubal and his army, our +legions are safe, and our consuls are unhurt." Each happy +listener, who caught the welcome sounds from their lips, retired +to communicate his own joy to others, and became himself the +centre of an anxious and inquiring group. When the officers had, +with much difficulty, reached the senate house, and the crowd was +with still greater difficulty put back from entering and mingling +with the Conscript Fathers, the despatches of Livius and Nero +were produced and read aloud. From the senate house the officers +proceeded to the public assembly, where the despatches were read +again; and then the senior officer, Lucius Veturius, gave in his +own words a fuller detail of how went the fight. When he had +done speaking to the people, an universal shout of rapture rent +the air. The vast assembly then separated: some hastening to +the temples to find in devotion a vent for the overflowing +excitement of their hearts; others seeking their homes to gladden +their wives and children with the good news, and to feast their +own eyes with the sight of the loved ones, who now, at last, were +safe from outrage and slaughter. The senate ordained a +thanksgiving of three days for the great deliverance which had +been vouchsafed to Rome; and throughout that period the temples +were incessantly crowded with exulting worshippers; and the +matrons, with their children round them, in their gayest attire, +and with joyous aspects and voices, offered grateful praises to +the immortal gods, as if all apprehension of evil were over, and +the war were already ended. + +With the revival of confidence came also the revival of activity +in traffic and commerce, and in all the busy intercourse of daily +life. A numbing load was taken off each heart and brain, and +once more men bought and sold, and formed their plans fleely, as +had been done before the dire Carthaginians came into Italy. +Hannibal was, certainly, still in the land; but all felt that his +power to destroy was broken, and that the crisis of the war-fever +was past. The Metaurus, indeed, had not only determined the +event of the strife between Rome and Carthage, but it had ensured +to Rome two centuries more of almost unchanged conquest. +Hannibal did actually, with almost superhuman skill, retain his +hold on Southern Italy for a few years longer, but the imperial +city, and her allies, were no longer in danger from his arms; +and, after Hannibal's downfall, the great military republic of +the ancient world met in her career of conquest no other worthy +competitor. Byron has termed Nero's march "unequalled," and, in +the magnitude of its consequences, it is so. Viewed only as a +military exploit, it remains unparalleled save by Marlborough's +bold march from Flanders to the Danube, in the campaign of +Blenheim, and perhaps also by the Archduke Charles's lateral +march in 1796, by which he overwhelmed the French under Jourdain, +and then, driving Moreau through the Black Forest and across the +Rhine, for a while freed Germany from her invaders. + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF THE METAURUS, B.C. 207, +AND ARMININIUS'S VICTORY OVER THE ROMAN LEGIONS UNDER VARUS, +A.D. 9. + +B.C. 205 to 201. Scipio is made consul, and carries the war into +Africa. He gains several victories there, and the Carthaginians +recall Hannibal from Italy to oppose him. Battle of Zama in 201: +Hannibal is defeated, and Carthage sues for peace. End of the +second Punic war, leaving Rome confirmed in the dominion of +Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, and also mistress of great +part of Spain, and virtually predominant in North Africa. + +200. Rome makes war upon Philip, king of Macedonia. She +pretends to take the Greek cities of the Achaean league and the +AEtolians under her protection as allies. Philip is defeated by +the proconsul Flaminius at Cynocephalae, 198; and begs for peace. +The Macedonian influence is now completely destroyed in Greece, +and the Roman established in its stead, though Rome nominally +acknowledged the independence of the Greek cities. + +194. Rome makes war upon Antiochus, king of Syria. He is +completely defeated at the battle of Magnesia, 192, and is glad +to accept peace on conditions which leave him dependent upon +Rome. + +200-190. "Thus, within the short; space of ten years, was laid +the foundation of the Roman authority in the East, and the +general state of affairs entirely changed. If Rome was not yet +the ruler, she was at least the arbitress of the world from the +Atlantic to the Euphrates. The power of the three principal +states was so completely humbled, that they durst not, without +the permission of Rome, begin any new war; the fourth, Egypt, had +already, in the year 201, placed herself under the guardianship +of Rome; and the lesser powers followed of themselves: esteeming +it an honour to be called the allies of Rome. With this name the +nations were lulled into security, and brought under the Roman +yoke; the new political system of Rome was founded and +strengthened partly by exciting and supporting the weaker states +against the stronger, however unjust the cause of the former +might be, and partly by factions which she found means to raise +in every state, even the smallest."--(HEEREN.) + +172. War renewed between Macedon and Rome. Decisive defeat of +Perses, the Macedonian king, by Paulus AEmilius at Pydna, 168, +Destruction of the Macedonian monarchy. + +150. Rome oppresses the Carthaginians till they are driven to +take up arms, and the third Punic war begins, Carthage is taken +and destroyed by Scipio AEmilianus, 146, and the Carthaginian +territory is made a Roman province. + +146. In the same year in which Carthage falls, Corinth is +stormed by the Roman army under Mummius. The Achaean league had +been goaded into hostilities with Rome, by means similar to those +employed against Carthage. The greater part of Southern Greece +is made a Roman province, under the name of Achaia. + +133. Numantium is destroyed by Scipio AEmilianus. "The war +against the Spaniards, who, of all the nations subdued by the +Romans, defended their liberty with the greatest obstinacy, began +in the year 200, six years after the total expulsion of the +Carthaginians from their country, 206. It was exceedingly +obstinate, partly from the natural state of the country, which +was thickly populated, and where every place became a fortress; +partly from the courage of the inhabitants; but at last all, +owing to the peculiar policy of the Romans, who yielded to employ +their allies to subdue other nations. This war continued, almost +without interruption, from the year 200 to 133, and was for the +most part carried on at the same time in Hispania Citerior, where +the Celtiberi were the most formidable adversaries, and in +Hispania Ulterior, where the Lusitani were equally powerful. +Hostilities were at the highest pitch in 195, under Cato, who +reduced Hispania Citerior to a state of tranquillity in 185-179, +when the Celtiberi were attacked in their native territory; and +155-150, when the Romans in both provinces were so often beaten, +that nothing was more dreaded by the soldiers at home than to be +sent there. The extortions and perfidy of Servius Galba placed +Viriathus, in the year 146, at the head of his nations, the +Lusitani: the war, however, soon extended itself to Hispania +Citerior, where many nations, particularly the Numantines, took +up arms against Rome, 143. Viriathus, sometimes victorious and +sometimes defeated, was never more formidable than in the moment +of defeat; because he knew how to take advantage of his knowledge +of the country and of the dispositions of his countrymen. After +his murder, caused by the treachery of Saepio, 140, Lusitania was +subdued; but the Numantine war became still more violent, and the +Numantines compelled the consul Mancinus to a disadvantageous +treaty, 137. When Scipio, in the year 133, put an end to this +war, Spain was certainly tranquil; the northern parts, however, +were still unsubdued, though the Romans penetrated as far as +Galatia."--HEEREN. + +134. Commencement of the revolutionary century at Rome, I.E. +from the time of the excitement produced by the attempts made by +the Gracchi to reform the commonwealth, to the battle of Actium +(B.C. 31), which established Octavianus Caesar as sole master of +the Roman world. Throughout this period Rome was engaged in +important foreign wars, most of which procured large accessions +to her territory. + +118-106. The Jugurthine war. Numidia is conquered, and made a +Roman province. + +113-101. The great and terrible war of the Cimbri and Teutones +against Rome. These nations of northern warriors slaughter +several Roman armies in Gaul, and in 102 attempt to penetrate +into Italy, The military genius of Marius here saves his country; +he defeats the Teutones near Aix, in Provence; and in the +following year he destroys the army of the Cimbri, who had passed +the Alps, near Vercellae. + +91-88. The war of the Italian allies against Rome. This was +caused by the refusal of Rome to concede to them the rights of +Roman citizenship. After a sanguine struggle, Rome gradually +grants it. + +89-86. First war of the Romans against Mithridates the Great, +king of Pontus, who had overrun Asia Minor, Macedonia, and +Greece. Sylla defeats his armies, and forces him to withdraw his +forces from Europe. Sylla returns to Rome to carry on the civil +war against the son and partisans of Marius. He makes himself +Dictator. + +74-64. The last Mithridatic wars. Lucullus, and after him +Pompeius, command against the great King of Pontus, who at last +is poisoned by his son, while designing to raise the warlike +tribes of the Danube against Rome, and to invade Italy from the +north-east. Great Asiatic conquests of the Romans. Besides the +ancient province of Pergamus, the maritime countries of Bithynia, +and nearly all Paphlagonia and Pontus, are formed into a Roman +province, under the name of Bithynia; while on the southern coast +Cilicia and Pamphylia form another, under the name of Cilicia; +Phoenicia and Syria compose a third, under the name of Syria. On +the other hand, Great Armenia is left to Tigranes; Cappodocia to +Ariobarzanes; the Bosphorus to Pharnaces; Judaea to Hyrcanus; and +some other small states are also given to petty princes, all of +whom remain dependent on Rome. + +58-50. Caesar conquers Gaul. + +54. Crassus attacks the Parthians with a Roman army, but is +overthrown and killed at Carrhae in Mesopotamia. His lieutenant +Cassius collects the wrecks of the army, and prevents the +Parthians from conquering Syria. + +49-45. The civil war between Caesar and the Pompeian party. +Caesar drives Pompeius out of Italy, conquers his enemy's forces +in Spain, and then passes into Greece, where Pompeius and the +other aristocratic chiefs had assembled a large army. Caesar +gives them a decisive defeat at the great battle of Pharsalia. +Pompeius flies for refuge to Alexandria, where he is +assassinated. Caesar, who had followed him thither, is involved +in a war with the Egyptians, in which he is finally victorious. +The celebrated Cleopatra is made Queen of Egypt. Caesar next +marches into Pontus, and defeats the son of Mithridates, who had +taken part in the war against him. He then proceeds to the Roman +province of Africa, where some of the Pompeian chiefs had +established themselves, aided by Juba, a native prince. He over +throws them at the battle of Thapsus. He is again obliged to +lead an army into Spain, where the sons of Pompeius had collected +the wrecks of their father's party. He crushes the last of his +enemies at the battle of Munda. Under the title of Dictator, he +is the sole master of the Roman world. + +44. Caesar is killed in the Senate-house; the Civil wars are +soon renewed, Brutus and Cassius being at the head of the +aristocratic party, and the party of Caesar being led by Mark +Antony and Octavianus Caesar, afterwards Augustus. + +42. Defeat and death of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. +Dissensions soon break out between Octavianus Caesar and Antony. + +31. Antony is completely defeated by Octavianus Caesar at +Actium. He flies to Egypt with Cleopatra. Octavianus pursues +him. Antony and Cleopatra kill themselves. Egypt becomes a +Roman province, and Octavianus Caesar is left undisputed master +of Rome, and all that is Rome's. The state of the Roman world at +this time is best described in two lines of Tacitus:--"Postquam +bellatum apud Actium, atque OMNEM POTESTATEM AD UNUM CONFERRI +PACIS INTERFUIT." (Hist. lib. i. s. 1.) + +The 44th year of the reign of Augustus, and the 1st year of the +195th Olympiad, is commonly assigned as the date of THE NATIVITY +OF OUR LORD. There is much of the beauty of holiness in the +remarks with which the American historian, Eliot, closes his +survey of the conquering career and civil downfall of the Roman +Commonwealth:-- + +"So far as humility amongst men was necessary for the preparation +of a truer freedom than could ever be known under heathenism, the +part of Rome, however dreadful was yet sublime. It was not to +unite, to discipline, or to fortify humanity, but to enervate, to +loosen, and to scatter its forces, that the people whose history +we have read were allowed to conquer the earth, and were then +themselves reduced to deep submission. Every good labour of +theirs that failed was, by reason of what we esteem its failure, +a step gained nearer to the end of the well-nigh universal evil +that prevailed; while every bad achievement that may seem to us +to have succeeded, temporarily or lastingly, with them was +equally, by reason of its success, a progress towards the good of +which the coming would have been longed and prayed for, could it +have been comprehended. Alike in the virtues and in the vices of +antiquity, we may read the progress towards its humiliation. +["The Christian revelation," says Leland, in his truly admirable +work on the subject (vol. i. p. 488), "was made to the world at a +time when it was most wanted; when the darkness and corruption of +mankind were arrived at the height. . . . if it had been +published much sooner, and before there had been a full trial +made of what was to be expected from human wisdom and philosophy, +the great need men stood in of such an extraordinary divine +dispensation would not have been so apparent."] Yet, on the +other hand, it must not seem, at the last, that the disposition +of the Romans or of mankind to submission was secured solely +through the errors, and the apparently ineffectual toils which we +have traced back to these times of old. Desires too true to have +been wasted, and strivings too humane to have been unproductive, +though all were overshadowed by passing wrongs, still gleam as if +in anticipation or in preparation of the advancing day. + +"At length, when it had been proved by ages of conflict and loss, +that no lasting joy and no abiding truth could be procured +through the power, the freedom, or the faith of mankind, the +angels sang their song in which the glory of God and the good- +will of men were together blended. The universe was wrapped In +momentary tranquillity, and 'peaceful was the night' above the +manger at Bethlehem. We may believe, that when the morning came, +the ignorance, the confusion, and the servitude of humanity had +left their darkest forms amongst the midnight clouds. It was +still, indeed, beyond the power of man to lay hold securely of +the charity and the regeneration that were henceforth to be his +law; and the indefinable terrors of the future, whether seen from +the West or from the East, were not at once to be dispelled. But +before the death of the Emperor Augustus, in the midst of his +fallen subjects, the business of THE FATHER had already been +begun in the Temple at Jerusalem; and near by, THE SON was +increasing in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and +man." [Eliot's "Liberty of Rome," vol. ii. p. 521.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +VICTORY OF ARMINIUS OVER THE ROMAN LEGIONS UNDER VARUS, A.D. 9. + +"Hac clade factum, ut Imperium quod in littore oceani non +steterat, in ripa Rheni fluminis staret."--FLORUS. + +To a truly illustrious Frenchman, whose reverses as a minister +can never obscure his achievements in the world of letters, we +are indebted for the most profound and most eloquent estimate +that we possess of the importance of the Germanic element in +European civilization, and of the extent to which the human race +is indebted to those brave warriors, who long were the +unconquered antagonists, and finally became the conquerors, of +Imperial Rome. + +Twenty-three eventful years have passed away since M. Guizot +delivered from the chair of modern history at Paris his course of +lectures on the History of Civilization in Europe. During those +years the spirit of earnest inquiry into the germs and early +developments of existing institutions has become more and more +active and universal; and the merited celebrity of M. Guizot's +work has proportionally increased. Its admirable analysis of the +complex political and social organizations of which the modern +civilized world is made up, must have led thousands to trace with +keener interest the great crises of times past, by which the +characteristics of the present were determined. The narrative of +one of these great crises, of the epoch A.D. 9, when Germany took +up arms for her independence against Roman invasion, has for us +this special attraction--that it forms part of our own national +history. Had Arminius been supine or unsuccessful, our Germanic +ancestors would have been enslaved or exterminated in their +original seats along the Eyder and the Elbe; this island would +never have borne the name of England, and "we, this great English +nation, whose race and language are now over-running the earth, +from one end of it to the other," [Arnold's Lectures on Modern +History.] would have been utterly cut off from existence. + +Arnold may, indeed, go too far in holding that we are wholly +unconnected in race with the Romans and Britons who inhabited +this country before the coming over of the Saxons; that, +"nationally speaking, the history of Caesar's invasion has no +more to do with us than the natural history of the animals which +then inhabited our forests." There seems ample evidence to prove +that the Romanized Celts, whom our Teutonic forefathers found +here, influenced materially the character of our nation. But the +main stream of our people was and is Germanic. Our language +alone decisively proves this. Arminius is far more truly one of +our national heroes than Caractacus: and it was our own primeval +fatherland that the brave German rescued, when he slaughtered the +Roman legions eighteen centuries ago in the marshy glens between +the Lippe and the Ems. [See post, remarks on the relationship +between the Cherusci and the English.] + +Dark and disheartening, even to heroic spirits, must have seemed +the prospects of Germany when Arminius planned the general rising +of his countrymen against Rome. Half the land was occupied by +Roman garrisons; and, what was worse, many of the Germans seemed +patiently acquiescent in their state of bondage. The braver +portion, whose patriotism could be relied on, was ill-armed and +undisciplined; while the enemy's troops consisted of veterans in +the highest state of equipment and training, familiarized with +victory, and commanded by officers of proved skill and valour. +The resources of Rome seemed boundless; her tenacity of purpose +was believed to be invincible. There was no hope of foreign +sympathy or aid; for "the self-governing powers that had filled +the old world, had bent one after another before the rising power +of Rome, and had vanished. The earth seemed left void of +independent nations." [Ranke.] + +The (German) chieftain knew well the gigantic power of the +oppressor. Arminius was no rude savage, fighting out of mere +animal instinct, or in ignorance of the might of his adversary. +He was familiar with the Roman language and civilization; he had +served in the Roman armies; he had been admitted to the Roman +citizenship, and raised to the dignity of the equestrian order. +It was part of the subtle policy of Rome to confer rank and +privileges on the youth of the leading families in the nations +which she wished to enslave. Among other young German +chieftains, Arminius and his brother, who were the heads of the +noblest house in the tribe of the Cherusci, had been selected as +fit objects for the exercise of this insidious system. Roman +refinements and dignities succeeded in denationalizing the +brother, who assumed the Roman name of Flavius, and adhered to +Rome throughout all her wars against his country. Arminius +remained unbought by honours or wealth, uncorrupted by refinement +or luxury. He aspired to and obtained from Roman enmity a higher +title than ever could have been given him by Roman favour. It is +in the page of Rome's greatest historian, that his name has come +down to us with the proud addition of "Liberator haud dubie +Germaniae." [Tacitus, Annals, ii. 88.] + +Often must the young chieftain, while meditating the exploit +which has thus immortalised him, have anxiously revolved in his +mind the fate of the many great men who had been crushed in the +attempt which he was about to renew,--the attempt to stay the +chariot-wheels of triumphant Rome. Could he hope to succeed +where Hannibal and Mithridates had perished? What had been the +doom of Viriathus? and what warning against vain valour was +written on the desolate site where Numantia once had fourished? +Nor was a caution wanting in scenes nearer home and in more +recent times. The Gauls had fruitlessly struggled for eight +years against Caesar; and the valiant Vercingetorix, who in the +last year of the war had roused all his countrymen to +insurrection, who had cut off Roman detachments, and brought +Caesar himself to the extreme of peril at Alesia--he, too, had +finally succumbed, had been led captive in Caesar's triumph, and +had then been butchered in cold blood in a Roman dungeon. + +It was true that Rome was no longer the great military republic +which for so many ages had shattered the kingdoms of the world. +Her system of government was changed; and, after a century of +revolution and civil war, she had placed herself under the +despotism of a single ruler. But the discipline of her troops +was yet unimpaired, and her warlike spirit seemed unabated. The +first wars of the empire had been signalised by conquests as +valuable as any gained by the republic in a corresponding period. +It is a great fallacy, though apparently sanctioned by great +authorities, to suppose that the foreign policy pursued by +Augustus was pacific. He certainly recommended such a policy to +his successors, either from timidity, or from jealousy of their +fame outshining his own; ["Incertum metu an per invidiam."--Tac. +Ann. i. 11] but he himself, until Arminius broke his spirit, had +followed a very different course. Besides his Spanish wars, his +generals, in a series of principally aggressive campaigns, had +extended the Roman frontier from the Alps to the Danube; and had +reduced into subjection the large and important countries that +now form the territories of all Austria south of that river, and +of East Switzerland, Lower Wirtemberg, Bavaria, the Valteline, +and the Tyrol. While the progress of the Roman arms thus pressed +the Germans from the south, still more formidable inroads had +been made by the Imperial legions in the west. Roman armies, +moving from the province of Gaul, established a chain of +fortresses along the right as well as the left bank of the Rhine, +and, in a series of victorious campaigns, advanced their eagles +as far as the Elbe; which now seemed added to the list of vassal +rivers, to the Nile, the Rhine, the Rhone, the Danube, the Tagus, +the Seine, and many more, that acknowledged the supremacy of the +Tiber. Roman fleets also, sailing from the harbours of Gaul +along the German coasts, and up the estuaries, co-operated with +the land-forces of the empire; and seemed to display, even more +decisively than her armies, her overwhelming superiority over the +rude Germanic tribes. Throughout the territory thus invaded, the +Romans had, with their usual military skill, established chains +of fortified posts; and a powerful army of occupation was kept on +foot, ready to move instantly on any spot where a popular +outbreak might be attempted. + +Vast however, and admirably organized as the fabric of Roman +power appeared on the frontiers and in the provinces, there was +rottenness at the core. In Rome's unceasing hostilities with +foreign foes, and, still more, in her long series of desolating +civil wars, the free middle classes of Italy had almost wholly +disappeared. Above the position which they had occupied, an +oligarchy of wealth had reared itself: beneath that position a +degraded mass of poverty and misery was fermenting. Slaves, the +chance sweepings of every conquered country, shoals of Africans, +Sardinians, Asiatics, Illyrians, and others, made up the bulk of +the population of the Italian peninsula. The foulest profligacy +of manners was general in all ranks. In universal weariness of +revolution and civil war, and in consciousness of being too +debased for self-government, the nation had submitted itself to +the absolute authority of Augustus. Adulation was now the chief +function the senate: and the gifts of genius and accomplishments +of art were devoted to the elaboration of eloquently false +panegyrics upon the prince and his favourite courtiers. With +bitter indignation must the German chieftain have beheld all +this, and contrasted with it the rough worth of his own +countrymen;--their bravery, their fidelity to their word, their +manly independence of spirit their love of their national free +institutions, and their loathing of every pollution and meanness. +Above all, he must have thought of the domestic virtues that +hallowed a German home; of the respect there shown to the female +character, and of the pure affection by which that respect was +repaid. His soul must have burned within him at the +contemplation of such a race yielding to these debased Italians. + +Still, to persuade the Germans to combine, in spite of their +frequent feuds among themselves, in one sudden outbreak against +Rome; to keep the scheme concealed from the Romans until the hour +for action had arrived; and then, without possessing a single +walled town, without military stores, without training, to teach +his insurgent countrymen to defeat veteran armies, and storm +fortifications, seemed so perilous an enterprise, that probably +Arminius would have receded from it, had not a stronger feeling +even than patriotism urged him on. Among the Germans of high +rank who had most readily submitted to the invaders, and become +zealous partisans of Roman authority, was a chieftain named +Segestes. His daughter, Thusnelda, was pre-eminent among the +noble maidens of Germany. Arminius had sought her hand in +marriage; but Segestes, who probably discerned the young chief's +disaffection to Rome, forbade his suit, and strove to preclude +all communication between him and his daughter. Thusnelda, +however, sympathised far more with the heroic spirit of her +lover, than with the time serving policy of her father. An +elopement baffled the precautions of Segestes; who, disappointed +in his hope of preventing the marriage, accused Arminius, before +the Roman governor, of having carried off his daughter, and of +planning treason against Rome. Thus assailed, and dreading to +see his bride torn from him by the officials of the foreign +oppressor, Arminius delayed no longer, but bent all his energies +to organize and execute a general insurrection of the great mass +of his countrymen, who hitherto had submitted in sullen inertness +to the Roman dominion. + +A change of governors had recently taken place, which, while it +materially favoured the ultimate success of the insurgents, +served, by the immediate aggravation of the Roman oppressions +which it produced, to make the native population more universally +eager to take arms. Tiberius, who was afterwards emperor, had +lately been recalled from the command in Germany, and sent into +Pannonia to put down a dangerous revolt which had broken out +against the Romans in that province. The German patriots were +thus delivered from the stern supervision of one of the most +auspicious of mankind, and were also relieved from having to +contend against the high military talents of a veteran commander, +who thoroughly understood their national character, and the +nature of the country, which he himself had principally subdued. +In the room of Tiberius, Augustus sent into Germany Quintilius +Varus, who had lately returned from the proconsulate of Syria. +Varus was a true representative of the higher classes of the +Romans; among whom a general taste for literature, a keen +susceptibility to all intellectual gratifications, a minute +acquaintance with the principles and practice of their own +national jurisprudence, a careful training in the schools of the +rhetoricians, and a fondness for either partaking in or watching +the intellectual strife of forensic oratory, had become generally +diffused; without, however, having humanized the old Roman spirit +of cruel indifference for human feelings and human sufferings, +and without acting as the least check on unprincipled avarice and +ambition, or on habitual and gross profligacy. Accustomed to +govern the depraved and debased natives of Syria, a country where +courage in man, and virtue in woman, had for centuries been +unknown, Varus thought that he might gratify his licentious and +rapacious passions with equal impunity among the high-minded sons +and pure-spirited daughters of Germany. When the general of an +army sets the example of outrages of this description, he is soon +faithfully imitated by his officers, and surpassed by his still +more brutal soldiery. The Romans now habitually indulged in +those violations of the sanctity of the domestic shrine, and +those insults upon honour and modesty, by which far less gallant +spirits than those of our Teutonic ancestors have often been +maddened into insurrection. + +[I cannot forbear quoting Macaulay's beautiful lines, where he +describes how similar outrages in the early times of Rome goaded +the plebeians to rise against the patricians:-- + +"Heap heavier still the fetters; bar closer still the grate; + Patient as sheep we yield us up unto your cruel hate. + But by the shades beneath us, and by the gods above, + Add not unto your cruel hate your still more cruel love. + * * * * * * + Then leave the poor plebeian his single tie to life-- + The sweet, sweet love of daughter, of sister, and of wife, + The gentle speech, the balm for all that his vext soul endures, + The kiss in which he half forgets even such a yoke as yours. + Still let the maiden's beauty swell the father's breast with +pride; + Still let the bridegroom's arms enfold an unpolluted bride. + Spare us the inexpiable wrong, the unutterable shame, + That turns the coward's heart to steel, the sluggard's blood to +flame; + Lest when our latest hope is fled ye taste of our despair, + And learn by proof in some wild hour, how much the wretched +dare."] + +Arminius found among the other German chiefs many who sympathised +with him in his indignation at their country's debasement, and +many whom private wrongs had stung yet more deeply. There was +little difficulty in collecting bold leaders for an attack on the +oppressors, and little fear of the population not rising readily +at those leaders' call. But to declare open war against Rome, +and to encounter Varus's army in a pitched battle, would have +been merely rushing upon certain destruction. Varus had three +legions under him, a force which, after allowing for detachments, +cannot be estimated at less than fourteen thousand Roman +infantry. He had also eight or nine hundred Roman cavalry, and +at least an equal number of horse and foot sent from the allied +states, or raised among those provincials who had not received +the Roman franchise. + +It was not merely the number, but the quality of this force that +made it formidable; and however contemptible Varus might be as a +general, Arminius well knew how admirably the Roman armies were +organized and officered, and how perfectly the legionaries +understood every manoeuvre and every duty which the varying +emergencies of a stricken field might require. Stratagem was, +therefore, indispensable; and it was necessary to blind Varus to +his schemes until a favourable opportunity should arrive for +striking a decisive blow. + +For this purpose the German confederates frequented the +headquarters of Varus, which seem to have been near the centre of +the modern country of Westphalia, where the Roman general +conducted himself with all the arrogant security of the governor +of a perfectly submissive province. There Varus gratified at +once his vanity, his rhetorical taste, and his avarice, by +holding courts, to which he summoned the Germans for the +settlement of all their disputes, while a bar of Roman advocates +attended to argue the cases before the tribunal of the Proconsul; +who did not omit the opportunity of exacting court-fees and +accepting bribes. Varus trusted implicitly to the respect which +the Germans pretended to pay to his abilities as a judge, and to +the interest which they affected to take in the forensic +eloquence of their conquerors. Meanwhile a succession of heavy +rains rendered the country more difficult for the operations of +regular troops; and Arminius, seeing that the infatuation of +Varus was complete, secretly directed the tribes near the Weser +and the Ems to take up arms in open revolt against the Romans. +This was represented to Varus as an occasion which required his +prompt attendance at the spot; but he was kept in studied +ignorance of its being part of a concerted national rising; and +he still looked on Arminius as his submissive vassal, whose aid +he might rely on in facilitating the march of his troops against +the rebels, and in extinguishing the local disturbance. He +therefore set his army in motion, and marched eastward in a line +parallel to the course of the Lippe. For some distance his route +lay along a level plain; but on arriving at the tract between the +curve of the upper part of that stream and the sources of the +Ems, the country assumes a very different character; and here, in +the territory of the modern little principality of Lippe, it was +that Arminius had fixed the scene of his enterprise. + +A woody and hilly region intervenes between the heads of the two +rivers, and forms the water-shed of their streams. This region +still retains the name (Teutoberger wald--Teutobergiensis saltus) +which it bore in the days of Arminius. The nature of the ground +has probably also remained unaltered. The eastern part of it, +round Detmoldt, the present capital of the principality of Lippe, +is described by a modern German scholar, Dr. Plate, as being "a +table-land intersected by numerous deep and narrow valleys, which +in some places form small plains, surrounded by steep mountains +and rocks, and only accessible by narrow defiles. All the +valleys are traversed by rapid streams, shallow in the dry +season, but subject to sudden swellings in autumn and winter. +The vast forests which cover the summits and slopes of the hills +consist chiefly of oak; there is little underwood, and both men +and horse would move with ease in the forests if the ground were +not broken by gulleys, or rendered impracticable by fallen +trees." This is the district to which Varus is supposed to have +marched; and Dr. Plate adds, that "the names of several +localities on and near that spot seem to indicate that a great +battle had once been fought there. We find the names 'das +Winnefeld' (the field of victory), 'die Knochenbahn' (the bone- +lane), 'die Knochenleke' (the bone-brook), 'der Mordkessel' (the +kettle of slaughter), and others." [I am indebted for much +valuable information on this subject to my friend Mr. Henry +Pearson.] + +Contrary to the usual strict principles of Roman discipline, +Varus had suffered his army to be accompanied and impeded by an +immense train of baggage-waggons, and by a rabble of camp +followers; as if his troops had been merely changing their +quarters in a friendly country. When the long array quitted the +firm level ground, and began to wind its way among the woods, the +marshes, and the ravines, the difficulties of the march, even +without the intervention of an armed foe, became fearfully +apparent. In many places the soil, sodden with rain, was +impracticable for cavalry and even for infantry, until trees had +been felled, and a rude causeway formed through the morass. + +The duties of the engineer were familiar to all who served in the +Roman armies. But the crowd and confusion of the columns +embarrassed the working parties of the soldiery, and in the midst +of their toil and disorder the word was suddenly passed through +their ranks that the rear-guard was attacked by the barbarians. +Varus resolved on pressing forward; but a heavy discharge of +missiles from the woods on either flank taught him how serious +was the peril, and he saw the best men falling round him without +the opportunity of retaliation; for his light-armed auxiliaries, +who were principally of Germanic race, now rapidly deserted, and +it was impossible to deploy the legionaries on such broken ground +for a charge against the enemy. Choosing one of the most open +and firm spots which they could force their way to, the Romans +halted for the night; and, faithful to their national discipline +and tactics, formed their camp amid the harassing attacks of the +rapidly thronging foes, with the elaborate toil and systematic +skill, the traces of which are impressed permanently on the soil +of so many European countries, attesting the presence in the +olden time of the imperial eagles. + +On the morrow the Romans renewed their march; the veteran +officers who served under Varus now probably directing the +operations, and hoping to find the Germans drawn up to meet them; +in which case they relied on their own superior discipline and +tactics for such a victory as should reassure the supremacy of +Rome. But Arminius was far too sage a commander to lead on his +followers, with their unwieldy broadswords and inefficient +defensive armour, against the Roman legionaries, fully armed with +helmet, cuirass, greaves, and shield; who were skilled to +commence the conflict with a murderous volley of heavy javelins, +hurled upon the foe when a few yards distant, and then, with +their short cut-and-thrust swords, to hew their way through all +opposition; preserving the utmost steadiness and coolness, and +obeying each word of command. In the midst of strife and +slaughter with the same precision and alertness as if upon +parade. [See Gibbon's description (vol. i, chap. 1) of the Roman +legions in the time of Augustus; and see the description in +Tacitus (Ann. lib. i) of the subsequent battles between Caecina +and Arminius.] Arminius suffered the Romans to march out from +their camp, to form first in line for action, and then in column +for marching, without the show of opposition. For some distance +Varus was allowed to move on, only harassed by slight skirmishes, +but struggling with difficulty through the broken ground; the +toil and distress of his men being aggravated by heavy torrents +of rain, which burst upon the devoted legions as if the angry +gods of Germany were pouring out the vials of their wrath upon +the invaders. After some little time their van approached a +ridge of high woody ground, which is one of the off-shoots of the +great Hercynian forest, and is situate between the modern +villages of Driburg and Bielefeld. Arminius had caused +barricades of hewn trees to be formed here, so as to add to the +natural difficulties of the passage. Fatigue and discouragement +now began to betray themselves in the Roman ranks. Their line +became less steady; baggage-waggons were abandoned from the +impossibility of forcing them along; and, as this happened, many +soldiers left their ranks and crowded round the waggons to secure +the most valuable portions of their property; each was busy about +his own affairs, and purposely slow in hearing the word of +command from his officers. Arminius now gave the signal for a +general attack. The fierce shouts of the Germans pealed through +the gloom of the forests, and in thronging multitudes they +assailed the flanks of the invaders, pouring in clouds of darts +on the encumbered legionaries, as they struggled up the glens or +floundered in the morasses, and watching every opportunity of +charging through the intervals of the disjointed column, and so +cutting off the communication between its several brigades. +Arminius, with a chosen band of personal retainers round him, +cheered on his countrymen by voice and example. He and his men +aimed their weapons particularly at the horses of the Roman +cavalry. The wounded animals, slipping about in the mire and +their own blood, threw their riders, and plunged among the ranks +of the legions, disordering all round them. Varus now ordered +the troops to be countermarched, in the hope of reaching the +nearest Roman garrison on the Lippe. [The circumstances of the +early part of the battle which Arminius fought with Caecina six +years afterwards, evidently resembled those of his battle with +Varus, and the result was very near being the same: I have +therefore adopted part of the description which Tacitus gives +(Ann. lib. i. c. 65) of the last mentioned engagement: "Neque +tamen Arminius, quamquam libero in cursu, statim prorupit: sed +ut haesere caeno fossisque impedimenta, turbati circum milites; +incertus signorum ordo; utque tali in tempore sibi quisque +properus, et lentae adversum imperia aures, irrumpere Germanos +jubet, clamitans 'En Varus, et eodem iterum fato victae +legiones!' Simul haec, et cum delectis scindit agmen, equisque +maxime vulnera ingerit; illi sanguine suo et lubrico paludum +lapsantes, excussis rectoribus, disjicere obvios, proterere +jacentes."] But retreat now was as impracticable as advance; and +the falling back of the Romans only augmented the courage of +their assailants, and caused fiercer and more frequent charges on +the flanks of the disheartened army. The Roman officer who +commanded the cavalry, Numonius Vala, rode off with his +squadrons, in the vain hope of escaping by thus abandoning his +comrades. Unable to keep together, or force their way across the +woods and swamps, the horsemen were overpowered in detail and +slaughtered to the last man. The Roman infantry still held +together and resisted, but more through the instinct of +discipline and bravery than from any hope of success or escape. +Varus, after being severely wounded in a charge of the Germans +against his part of the column, committed suicide to avoid +falling into the hands of those whom he had exasperated by his +oppressions. One of the lieutenant-generals of the army fell +fighting; the other surrendered to the enemy. But mercy to a +fallen foe had never been a Roman virtue, and those among her +legions who now laid down their arms in hope of quarter, drank +deep of the cup of suffering, which Rome had held to the lips of +many a brave but unfortunate enemy. The infuriated Germans +slaughtered their oppressors with deliberate ferocity; and those +prisoners who were not hewn to pieces on the spot, were only +preserved to perish by a more cruel death in cold blood. + +The bulk of the Roman army fought steadily and stubbornly, +frequently repelling the masses of the assailants, but gradually +losing the compactness of their array, and becoming weaker and +weaker beneath the incessant shower of darts and the reiterated +assaults of the vigorous and unencumbered Germans. At last, in a +series of desperate attacks the column was pierced through and +through, two of the eagles captured, and the Roman host, which on +the yester morning had marched forth in such pride and might, now +broken up into confused fragments, either fell fighting beneath +the overpowering numbers of the enemy, or perished in the swamps +and woods in unavailing efforts at flight. Few, very few, ever +saw again the left bank of the Rhine. One body of brave +veterans, arraying themselves in a ring on a little mound, beat +off every charge of the Germans, and prolonged their honourable +resistance to the close of that dreadful day. The traces of a +feeble attempt at forming a ditch and mound attested in after +years the spot where the last of the Romans passed their night of +suffering and despair. But on the morrow this remnant also, worn +out with hunger, wounds, and toil, was charged by the victorious +Germans, and either massacred on the spot, or offered up in +fearful rites at the alters of the deities of the old mythology +of the North. + +A gorge in the mountain ridge, through which runs the modern road +between Paderborn and Pyrmont, leads from the spot where the heat +of the battle raged, to the Extersteine, a cluster of bold and +grotesque rocks of sandstone; near which is a small sheet of +water, overshadowed by a grove of aged trees. According to local +tradition, this was one of the sacred groves of the ancient +Germans, and it was here that the Roman captives were slain in +sacrifice by the victorious warriors of Arminius. ["Lucis +propinquis barbarae arae, apud quas tribunos ac primorum ordinam +centuriones mactaverant."--TACITUS, Ann. lib. i. c. 61.] + +Never was victory more decisive, never was the liberation of an +oppressed people more instantaneous and complete. Throughout +Germany the Roman garrisons were assailed and cut off; and, +within a few weeks after Varus had fallen, the German soil was +freed from the foot of an invader. + +At Rome, the tidings of the battle was received with an agony of +terror, the descriptions of which we should deem exaggerated, did +they not come from Roman historians themselves. These passages +in the Roman writers not only tell emphatically how great was the +awe which the Romans felt of the prowess of the Germans, if their +various tribes could be brought to reunite for a common purpose, +but also they reveal bow weakened and debased the population of +Italy had become. [It is clear that the Romans followed the +policy of fomenting dissension and wars of the Germans among +themselves. See the thirty-third section of the "Germania" of +Tacitus, where he mentions the destruction of the Bructeri by the +neighbouring tribes: "Favore quodam erga nos deorum: nam ne +spectaculo quidem proelii invidere: super LX. millia non armis +telisque Romanis, sed, quod magnificentius est, oblectationi +oculisque ceciderunt. Maneat quaeso, duretque gentibus, si non +amor nostri at certe odium sui quando urgentibus imperii fatis, +nihil jam praestare fortuna majus potes quam hostiam +discordiam."] Dion Cassius says: [Lib. lvi. sec. 23.] "Then +Augustus, when he heard the calamity of Varus, rent his garments, +and was in great affliction for the troops he had lost, and for +terror respecting the Germans and the Gauls. And his chief alarm +was, that he expected them to push on against Italy and Rome: +and there remained no Roman youth fit for military duty, that +were worth speaking of, and the allied populations that were at +all serviceable had been wasted away. Yet he prepared for the +emergency as well as his means allowed; and when none of the +citizens of military age were willing to enlist he made them cast +lots, and punished by confiscation of goods and disfranchisement +every fifth man among those under thirty-five, and every tenth +man of those above that age. At last, when he found that not +even thus; could he make many come forward, he put some of them +to death. So he made a conscription of discharged veterans and +emancipated slaves, and collecting as large a force as he could, +sent it, under Tiberius, with all speed into Germany." + +Dion mentions, also, a number of terrific portents that were +believed to have occurred at the time; and the narration of which +is not immaterial, as it shows the state of the public mind, when +such things were so believed in, and so interpreted. The summits +of the Alps were said to have fallen, and three columns of fire +to have blazed up from them. In the Campus Martius, the temple +of the War-God, from whom the founder of Rome had sprung, was +struck by a thunderbolt. The nightly heavens glowed several +times, as if on fire. Many comets blazed forth together; and +fiery meteors shaped like spears, had shot from the northern +quarter of the sky, down into the Roman camps. It was said, too, +that a statue of Victory, which had stood at a place on the +frontier, pointing the way towards Germany, had of its own accord +turned round, and now pointed to Italy. These and other +prodigies were believed by the multitude to accompany the +slaughter of Varus's legions, and to manifest the anger of the +gods against Rome, Augustus himself was not free from +superstition; but on this occasion no supernatural terrors were +needed to increase the alarm and grief that he felt; and which +made him, even for months after the news of the battle had +arrived, often beat his head against the wall, and exclaim, +"Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!" We learn this from +his biographer, Suetonius; and, indeed, every ancient writer who +alludes to the overthrow of Varus, attests the importance of the +blow against the Roman power, and the bitterness with which it +was felt. [Florus expresses its effect most pithily: "Hac clade +factum est ut imperium quod in litore oceani non steterat, in +ripa Rheni fluminis staret" (iv. 12).] + +The Germans did not pursue their victory beyond their own +territory. But that victory secured at once and for ever the +independence of the Teutonic race. Rome sent, indeed, her +legions again into Germany, to parade a temporary superiority; +but all hopes of permanent conquest were abandoned by Augustus +and his successors. + +The blow which Arminius had struck never was forgotten, Roman +fear disguised itself under the specious title of moderation; and +the Rhine became the acknowledged boundary of the two nations +until the fifth century of our era, when the Germans became the +assailants, and carved with their conquering swords the provinces +of Imperial Rome into the kingdoms of modern Europe. + + +ARMINIUS. + +I have said above that the great Cheruscan is more truly one of +our national heroes than Caractacus is. It may be added that an +Englishman is entitled to claim a closer degree of relationship +with Arminius than can be claimed by any German of modern +Germany. The proof of this depends on the proof of four facts: +first, that the Cherusci were Old Saxons, or Saxons of the +interior of Germany; secondly, that the Anglo-Saxons, or Saxons +of the coast of Germany, were more closely akin than other German +tribes were to the Cheruscan Saxons; thirdly, that the Old Saxons +were almost exterminated by Charlemagne; fourthly, that the +Anglo-Saxons are our immediate ancestors. The last of these may +be assumed as an axiom in English history. The proofs of the +other three are partly philological, and partly historical. I +have not space to go into them here, but they will be found in +the early chapters of the great work of Dr. Robert Gordon Latham +on the "English Language;" and in the notes to his edition of the +"Germania of Tacitus." It may be, however, here remarked that +the present Saxons of Germany are of the High Germanic division +of the German race, whereas both the Anglo-Saxon and Old Saxon +were of the Low Germanic. + +Being thus the nearest heirs of the glory of Arminius, we may +fairly devote more attention to his career than, in such a work +as the present, could be allowed to any individual leader. and +it is interesting to trace how far his fame survived during the +middle ages, both among the Germans of the Continent and among +ourselves. + +It seems probable that the jealousy with which Maraboduus, the +king of the Suevi and Marcomanni, regarded Arminius, and which +ultimately broke out into open hostilities between those German +tribes and the Cherusci, prevented Arminius from leading the +confederate Germans to attack Italy after his first victory. +Perhaps he may have had the rare moderation of being content with +the liberation of his country, without seeking to retaliate on +her former oppressors. When Tiberius marched into Germany in the +year 10, Arminius was too cautious to attack him on ground +favourable to the legions, and Tiberius was too skilful, to +entangle his troops in difficult parts of the country. His march +and counter-march were as unresisted as they were unproductive. +A few years later, when a dangerous revolt of the Roman legions +near the frontier caused their generals to find them active +employment by leading them into the interior of Germany, we find +Arminius again energetic in his country's defence. The old +quarrel between him and his father-in-law, Segestes, had broken +out afresh. Segestes now called in the aid of the Roman general, +Germanicus, to whom he surrendered himself; and by his +contrivance his daughter Thusnelda, the wife of Arminius, also +came into the hands of the Romans, being far advanced in +pregnancy. She showed, as Tacitus relates, [Ann. i. 57.] more +of the spirit of her husband than of her father, a spirit that +could not be subdued into tears or supplications. She was sent +to Ravenna, and there gave birth to a son, whose life we find, +from an allusion in Tacitus, to have been eventful and unhappy; +but the part of the great historian's work which narrated his +fate has perished, and we only know from another quarter that the +son of Arminius was, at the age of four years, led captive in a +triumphal pageant along the streets of Rome. + +The high spirit of Arminius was goaded almost into frenzy by +these bereavements. The fate of his wife, thus torn from him, +and of his babe doomed to bondage even before its birth, inflamed +the eloquent invectives with which he roused his countrymen +against the home traitors, and against their invaders, who thus +made war upon women and children. Germanicus had marched his +army to the place where Varus had perished, and had there paid +funeral honours to the ghastly relics of his predecessor's +legions that he found heaped around him. [In the Museum of +Rhenish antiquities at Bonn there is a Roman sepulchral monument, +the inscription on which records that it was erected to the +memory of M. Coelius, who fell "BELLO VARIANO."] Arminius lured +him to advance a little further into the country, and then +assailed him, and fought a battle, which, by the Roman accounts, +was a drawn one. The effect of it was to make Germanicus resolve +on retreating to the Rhine. He himself, with part of his troops, +embarked in some vessels on the Ems, and returned by that river, +and then by sea; but part of his forces were entrusted to a Roman +general, named Caecina, to lead them back by land to the Rhine. +Arminius followed this division on its march, and fought several +battles with it, in which he inflicted heavy loss on the Romans, +captured the greater part of their baggage, and would have +destroyed them completely, had not his skilful system of +operations been finally thwarted by the haste of Inguiomerus, a +confederate German chief who insisted on assaulting the Romans in +their camp, instead of waiting till they were entangled in the +difficulties of the country, and assailing their columns on the +march. + +In the following year the Romans were inactive; but in the year +afterwards Germanicus led a fresh invasion. He placed his army +on ship-board, and sailed to the mouth of the Ems, where he +disembarked, and marched to the Weser, where he encamped, +probably in the neighbourhood of Minden. Arminius had collected +his army on the other side of the river; and a scene occurred, +which is powerfully told by Tacitus, and which is the subject of +a beautiful poem by Praed. It has been already mentioned that +the brother of Arminius, like himself, had been trained up, while +young, to serve in the Roman armies; but, unlike Arminius, he not +only refused to quit the Roman service for that of his country, +but fought against his country with the legions of Germanicus. +He had assumed the Roman name of Flavius, and had gained +considerable distinction in the Roman service, in which he had +lost an eye from a wound in battle. When the Roman outposts +approached the river Weser, Arminius called out to them from the +opposite bank, and expressed a wish to see his brother. Flavius +stepped forward, and Arminius ordered his own followers to +retire, and requested that the archers should be removed from the +Roman bank of the river. This was done: and the brothers, who +apparently had not seen each other for some years, began a +conversation from the opposite sides of the stream, in which +Arminius questioned his brother respecting the loss of his eye, +and what battle it had been lost in, and what reward he had +received for his wound. Flavius told him how the eye was +destroyed, and mentioned the increased pay that he had on account +of its loss, and showed the collar and other military decorations +that had been given him. Arminius mocked at these as badges of +slavery; and then each began to try to win the other over; +Flavius boasting the power of Rome, and her generosity to the +submissive; Arminius appealing to him in the name of their +country's gods, of the mother that had borne them, and by the +holy names of fatherland and freedom, not to prefer being the +betrayer to being the champion of his country. They soon +proceeded to mutual taunts and menaces, and Flavius called aloud +for his horse and his arms, that he might dash across the river +and attack his brother; nor would he have been checked from doing +so, had not the Roman general, Stertinius, run up to him, and +forcibly detained him. Arminius stood on the other bank, +threatening the renegade, and defying him to battle. + +I shall not be thought to need apology for quoting here the +stanzas in which Praed has described this scene--a scene among +the most affecting, as well as the most striking, that history +supplies. It makes us reflect on the desolate position of +Arminius, with his wife and child captives in the enemy's hands, +and with his brother a renegade in arms against him. The great +liberator of our German race stood there, with every source of +human happiness denied him, except the consciousness of doing his +duty to his country. + +"Back, back! he fears not foaming flood + Who fears not steel-clad line:-- + No warrior thou of German blood, + No brother thou of mine. + Go, earn Rome's chain to load thy neck, + Her gems to deck thy hilt; + And blazon honour's hapless wreck + With all the gauds of guilt. + +"But wouldst thou have ME share the prey? + By all that I have done,-- + The Varian bones that day by day + Lie whitening in the sun, + The legion's trampled panoply, + The eagle's shattered wing,-- + I would not be for earth or sky + So scorn'd and mean a thing. + +"Ho, call me here the wizard, boy, + Of dark and subtle skill, + To agonise but not destroy, + To curse, but not to kill. + When swords are out, and shriek and shout, + Leave little room for prayer, + No fetter on man's arm or heart + Hangs half so heavy there. + +"I curse him by the gifts the land + Hath won from him and Rome-- + The riving axe, the wasting brand, + Rent forest, blazing home. + I curse him by our country's gods, + The terrible, the dark, + The breakers of the Roman rods, + The smiters of the bark. + +"Oh misery, that such a ban + On such a brow should be! + Why comes he not in battle's van + His country's chief to be?-- + To stand a comrade by my side, + The sharer of my fame, + And worthy of a brother's pride + And of a brother's name? + +"But it is past!--where heroes press + And cowards bend the knee + Arminius is not brotherless; + His brethren are the free. + They come around: one hour, and light + Will fade from turf and tide, + Then onward, onward to the fight + With darkness for our guide. + +"To-night, to-night, when we shall meet + In combat face to face, + Then only would Arminius greet + The renegade's embrace. + The canker of Rome's guilt shall be + Upon his dying name; + And as he lived in slavery, + So shall he fall in shame. + +On the day after the Romans had reached the Weser, Germanicus led +his army across that river, and a partial encounter took place, +in which Arminius was successful. But on the succeeding day a +general action was fought, in which Arminius was severely +wounded, and the German infantry routed with heavy loss. The +horsemen of the two armies encountered without either party +gaining the advantage. But the Roman army remained master of the +ground, and claimed a complete victory. Germanicus erected a +trophy in the field, with a vaunting inscription, that the +nations between the Rhine and the Elbe had been thoroughly +conquered by his army. But that army speedily made a final +retreat to the left bank of the Rhine; nor was the effect of +their campaign more durable than their trophy. The sarcasm with +which Tacitus speaks of certain other triumphs of Roman generals +over Germans, may apply to the pageant which Germanicus +celebrated on his return to Rome from his command of the Roman +army of the Rhine. The Germans were "TRIUMPHATI POTIUS QUAM +VICTI." + +After the Romans had abandoned their attempts on Germany, we find +Arminius engaged in hostilities with Maroboduus, the king of the +Suevi and Marcomanni who was endeavouring to bring the other +German tribes into a state of dependency on him. Arminius was at +the head of the Germans who took up arms against this home +invader of their liberties. After some minor engagements, a +pitched battle was fought between the two confederacies, A.D. 16, +in which the loss on each side was equal; but Maroboduus +confessed the ascendency of his antagonist by avoiding a renewal +of the engagement, and by imploring the intervention of the +Romans in his defence. The younger Drusus then commanded the +Roman legions in the province of Illyricum, and by his mediation +a peace was concluded between Arminius and Maroboduus, by the +terms of which it is evident that the latter must have renounced +his ambitious schemes against the freedom of the other German +tribes. + +Arminius did not long survive this second war of independence, +which he successfully waged for his country. He was assassinated +in the thirty-seventh year of his age, by some of his own +kinsmen, who conspired against him. Tacitus says that this +happened while he was engaged in a civil war, which had been +caused by his attempts to make himself king over his countrymen. +It is far more probable (as one of the best biographers of +Arminius has observed) that Tacitus misunderstood an attempt of +Arminius to extend his influence as elective war-chieftain of the +Cherusci, and other tribes, for an attempt to obtain the royal +dignity. [Dr. Plate, in Biographical Dictionary commenced by +the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.] When we +remember that his father-in-law and his brother were renegades, +we can well understand that a party among his kinsmen may have +been bitterly hostile to him, and have opposed his authority with +the tribe by open violence, and when that seemed ineffectual, by +secret assassination. + +Arminius left a name, which the historians of the nation against +which he combated so long and so gloriously have delighted to +honour. It is from the most indisputable source, from the lips +of enemies, that we know his exploits. [See Tacitus, Ann. lib. +ii. sec. 88; Velleius Paterculus, lib. ii. sec. 118.] His +country men made history, but did not write it. But his memory +lived among them in the lays of their bards, who recorded + +"The deeds he did, the fields he won, + The freedom he restored." + +Tacitus, many years after the death of Arminius, says of him, +"Canitur adhuc barbaras apud gentes." As time passed on, the +gratitude of ancient Germany to her great deliverer grew into +adoration, and divine honours were paid for centuries to Arminius +by every tribe of the Low Germanic division of the Teutonic +races. The Irmin-sul, or the column of Herman, near Eresburg, +the modern Stadtberg, was the chosen object of worship to the +descendants of the Cherusci, the Old Saxons, and in defence of +which they fought most desperately against Charlemagne and his +christianized Franks. "Irmin, in the cloudy Olympus of Teutonic +belief, appears as a king and a warrior; and the pillar, the +'Irmin-sul,' bearing the statue, and considered as the symbol of +the deity, was the Palladium of the Saxon nation, until the +temple of Eresburg was destroyed by Charlemagne, and the column +itself transferred to the monastery of Corbey, where, perhaps, a +portion of the rude rock idol yet remains, covered by the +ornaments of the Gothic era." [Palgrave on the English +Commonwealth, vol. ii. p. 140.] + +Traces of the worship of Arminius are to be found among our +Anglo-Saxon ancestors, after their settlement in this island. +One of the four great highways was held to be under the +protection of the deity, and was called the "Irmin-street." The +name Arminius is, of course, the mere Latinized form of "Herman," +the name by which the hero and the deity were known by every man +of Low German blood, on either side of the German Sea. It means, +etymologically, the "War-man," the "man of hosts." No other +explanation of the worship of the "Irmin-sul," and of the name of +the "Irmin-street," is so satisfactory as that which connects +them with the deified Arminius. We know for certain of the +existence of other columns of an analogous character. Thus, +there was the Roland-seule in North Germany; there was a Thor- +seule in Sweden, and (what is more important) there was an +Athelstan-seule in Saxon England." [See Lappenburg's Anglo- +Saxons, p. 378. For nearly all the philological and +ethnographical facts respecting Arminius, I am indebted to Dr. R. +G. Latham.] + +There is at the present moment a song respecting the Irmin-sul +current in the bishopric of Minden, one version of which might +seem only to refer to Charlemagne having pulled down the Irmin- +sul:-- + +"Herman, sla dermen, + Sla pipen, sla trummen, + De Kaiser will kummen, + Met hamer un stangen, + Will Herman uphangen." + +But there is another version, which probably is the oldest, and +which clearly refers to the great Arminius:-- + +"Un Herman slaug dermen; + Slaug pipen, slaug trummen; + De fursten sind kammen, + Met all eren-mannen + Hebt VARUS uphangen." +[See Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 329.] + +About ten centuries and a half after the demolition of the Irmin- +sul, and nearly eighteen after the death of Arminius, the modern +Germans conceived the idea of rendering tardy homage to their +great hero; and, accordingly some eight or ten years ago, a +general subscription was organized in Germany, for the purpose of +erecting on the Osning--a conical mountain, which forms the +highest summit of the Teutoberger Wald, and is eighteen hundred +feet above the level of the sea--a colossal bronze statue of +Arminius. The statue was designed by Bandel. The hero was to +stand uplifting a sword in his right hand, and looking towards +the Rhine. The height of the statue was to be eighty feet from +the base to the point of the sword, and was to stand on a +circular Gothic temple, ninety feet high, and supported by oak +trees as columns. The mountain, where it was to be erected, is +wild and stern, and overlooks the scene of the battle. It was +calculated that the statue would be clearly visible at a distance +of sixty miles. The temple is nearly finished, and the statue +itself has been cast at the copper works at Lemgo. But there, +through want of funds to set it up, it has lain for some years, +in disjointed fragments, exposed to the mutilating homage of +relic-seeking travellers. The idea of honouring a hero who +belongs to ALL Germany, is not one which the present rulers of +that divided country have any wish to encourage; and the statue +may long continue to lie there, and present too true a type of +the condition of Germany herself. [On the subject of this +statue I must repeat an acknowledgment of my obligations to my +friend Mr. Henry Pearson.] + +Surely this is an occasion in which Englishmen might well prove, +by acts as well as words, that we also rank Arminius among our +heroes. + +I have quoted the noble stanzas of one of our modern English +poets on Arminius, and I will conclude this memoir with one of +the odes of the great poet of modern Germany, Klopstock, on the +victory to which we owe our freedom, and Arminius mainly owes his +fame. Klopstock calls it the "Battle of Winfield." The epithet +of "Sister of Cannae" shows that Klopstock followed some +chronologers, according to whom, Varus was defeated on the +anniversary of the day on which Paulus and Varro were defeated by +Hannibal. + +SONG OF TRIUMPH AFTER THE VICTORY OF HERRMAN, THE DELIVERER OF +GERMANY FROM THE ROMANS. + +FROM KLOPSTOCK'S "HERRMAN UND DIE FURSTEN." +Supposed to be sung by a Chorus of Bards. + +A CHORUS. + + Sister of Cannae! Winfield's fight! + We saw thee with thy streaming bloody hair, + With fiery eye, bright with the world's despair, + Sweep by Walhalla's bards from out our sight. + Herrman outspake--"Now Victory or Death!" + The Romans, . . . "Victory!" + And onward rushed their eagles with the cry. +--So ended the FIRST day. + + "Victory or Death!" began + Then, first, the Roman chief; and Herrman spake + Not, but home struck: the eagles fluttered--brake. +--So sped the SECOND day. + +TWO CHORUSES. + + And the third came. . . . The cry was "Flight or Death!" + Flight left they not for them who'd make them slaves-- + Men who stab children!--flight for THEM! . . . no! graves! +--'Twas their LAST day. + +TWO BARDS. + + Yet spared they messengers: two came to Rome. + How drooped the plume! the lance was left to trail + Down in the dust behind: their cheek was pale: + So came the messengers to Rome. + + High in his hall the Imperator sate-- + OCTAVIANUS CAESAR AUGUSTUS sate. + They filled up wine-cups, wine-cups filled they up + For him the highest, Jove of all their state. + + The flutes of Lydia hushed before their voice, + Before the messengers--the "Highest" sprung-- + The god against the marble pillars, wrung + By the dred words, striking his brow, and thrice + Cried he aloud in anguish--"Varus! Varus! + Give back my legions, Varus!" + + And now the world-wide conquerors shrunk and feared + For fatherland and home + The lance to raise; and 'mongst those false to Rome + The death-lot rolled, and still they shrunk and feared; + + "For she her face hath turned, + The victor goddess," cried these cowards--(for aye + Be it!)--"from Rome and Romans, and her day + Is done!"--And still be mourned + And cried aloud in anguish--"Varus! Varus! + Give back my legions, Varus!" + +[Notes:--The battle of Cannae, B.C. 216--Hannibal's victory over +the Romans. +Winfield--the probable site of the "Herrmanschladt. See SUPRA. +Augustus was worshipped as a deity in his lifetime. +I have taken this translation from an anonymous writer in FRASER, +two years ago.] + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN ARMINIUS'S VICTORY OVER VARUS, AND THE +BATTLE OF CHALONS. + +A.D. 43. The Romans commence the conquest of Britain, Claudius +being then Emperor of Rome. The population of this island was +then Celtic. In about forty years all the tribes south of the +Clyde were subdued, and their land made a Roman province. + +68-60. Successful campaigns of the Roman general Corbulo against +the Parthians. + +64. First persecution of the Christians at Rome under Nero. + +68-70. Civil wars in the Roman World. The emperors Nero, Galba, +Otho, and Vitellius, cut off successively by violent deaths. +Vespasian becomes emperor. + +70. Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans under Titus. + +83. Futile attack of Domitian on the Germans. + +86. Beginning of the wars between the Romans and the Dacians. + +98-117. Trajan, emperor of Rome. Under him the empire acquires +its greatest territorial extent by his conquests in Dacia and in +the East. His successor, Hadrian, abandons the provinces beyond +the Euphrates, which Trajan had conquered. + +138-180. Era of the Antonines. + +167-176. A long and desperate war between Rome and a great +confederacy of the German nations. Marcus Antoninus at last +succeeds in repelling them. + +192-197. Civil Wars throughout the Roman world. Severus becomes +emperor. He relaxes the discipline of the soldiers. After his +death in 211, the series of military insurrections, civil wars, +and murders of emperors recommences. + +226. Artaxerxes (Ardisheer) overthrows the Parthian, and +restores the Persian kingdom in Asia. He attacks the Roman +possessions in the East. + +260. The Goths invade the Roman provinces. The emperor Decius +is defeated and slain by them. + +253-260. The Franks and Alemanni invade Gaul, Spain, and Africa. +The Goths attack Asia Minor and Greece. The Persians conquer +Armenia. Their king, Sapor, defeats the Roman emperor Valerian, +and takes him prisoner. General distress of the Roman empire. + +268-283. The emperors Claudius, Aurelian, Tacitus, Probus, and +Carus defeat the various enemies of Rome, and restore order in +the Roman state. + +285. Diocletian divides and reorganizes the Roman empire. After +his abdication in 305 a fresh series of civil wars and confusion +ensues. Constantine, the first Christian emperor, reunites the +empire in 324. + +330. Constantine makes Constantinople the seat of empire instead +of Rome. + +363. The emperor Julian is killed in action against the +Persians. + +364-375. The empire is again divided, Valentinian being emperor +of the West, and Valens of the East. Valentinian repulses the +Alemanni, and other German invaders from Gaul. Splendour of the +Gothic kingdom under Hermanric, north of the Danube. + +376-395. The Huns attack the Goths, who implore the protection +of the Roman emperor of the East. The Goths are allowed to pass +the Danube, and to settle in the Roman provinces. A war soon +breaks out between them and the Romans, and the emperor Valens +and his army are destroyed by them. They ravage the Roman +territories. The emperor Theodosius reduces them to submission. +They retain settlements in Thrace and Asia Minor. + +395. Final division of the Roman empire between Arcadius and +Honorius, the two sons of Theodosius. The Goths revolt, and +under Alaric attack various parts of both the Roman empires. + +410. Alaric takes the city of Rome. + +412. The Goths march into Gaul, and in 414 into Spain, which had +been already invaded by hosts of Vandals, Suevi, Alani, and other +Germanic nations. Britain is formally abandoned by the Roman +emperor of the West. + +428. Genseric, king of the Vandals, conquers the Roman province +of North Africa. + +441. The Huns attack the Eastern empire. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE BATTLE OF CHALONS, A.D. 451. + +"The discomfiture of the mighty attempt of Attila to found a new +anti-Christian dynasty upon the wreck of the temporal power of +Rome, at the end of the term of twelve hundred years, to which +its duration had been limited by the forebodings of the +heathen."--HERBERT. + +A broad expanse of plains, the Campi Catalaunici of the ancients, +spreads far and wide around the city of Chalons, in the north- +east of France. The long rows of poplars, through which the +river Marne winds its way, and a few thinly-scattered villages, +are almost the only objects that vary the monotonous aspect of +the greater part of this region. But about five miles from +Chalons, near the little hamlets of Chaps and Cuperly, the ground +is indented and heaped up in ranges of grassy mounds and +trenches, which attest the work of man's hand in ages past; and +which, to the practised eye, demonstrate that this quiet spot has +once been the fortified position of a huge military host. + +Local tradition gives to these ancient earthworks the name of +Attila's Camp. Nor is there any reason to question the +correctness of the title, or to doubt that behind these very +ramparts it was that, 1400 years ago, the most powerful heathen +king that ever ruled in Europe mustered the remnants of his vast +army, which had striven on these plains against the Christian +soldiery of Thoulouse and Rome. Here it was that Attila prepared +to resist to the death his victors in the field; and here he +heaped up the treasures of his camp in one vast pile, which was +to be his funeral pyre should his camp be stormed. It was here +that the Gothic and Italian forces watched but dared not assail, +their enemy in his despair, after that great and terrible day of +battle, when + +"The sound + Of conflict was o'erpast, the shout of all + Whom earth could send from her remotest bounds, + Heathen or faithful;--from thy hundred mouths, + That feed the Caspian with Riphean snows, + Huge Volga! from famed Hypanis, which once + Cradled the Hun; from all the countless realms + Between Imaus and that utmost strand + Where columns of Herculean rock confront + The blown Atlantic; Roman, Goth, and Hun, + And Scythian strength of chivalry, that tread + The cold Codanian shore, or what far lands + Inhospitable drink Cimmerian floods, + Franks, Saxons, Suevic, and Sarmartian chiefs, + And who from green Armorica or Spain + Flocked to the work of death." + [Herbert's Attila, book i. line 13.] + +The victory which the Roman general Aetius, with his Gothic +allies, had then gained over the Huns, was the last victory of +Imperial Rome. But among the long Fasti of her triumphs, few can +be found that, for their importance and ultimate benefit to +mankind, are comparable with this expiring effort of her arms. +It did not, indeed, open to her any new career of conquest; it +did not consolidate the relics of her power; it did not turn the +rapid ebb of her fortunes. The mission of Imperial Rome was, in +truth, already accomplished. She had received and transmitted +through her once ample dominion the civilization of Greece. She +had broken up the barriers of narrow nationalities among the +various states and tribes that dwelt around the coast of the +Mediterranean. She had fused these and many other races into one +organized empire, bound together by a community of laws, of +government and institutions. Under the shelter of her full power +the True Faith had arisen in the earth and during the years of +her decline it had been nourished to maturity, and had overspread +all the provinces that ever obeyed her sway. [See the +Introduction to Ranke's History of the Popes.] For no beneficial +purpose to mankind could the dominion of the seven-hilled city +have been restored or prolonged. But it was all-important to +mankind what nations should divide among them Rome's rich +inheritance of empire: whether the Germanic and Gothic warriors +should form states and kingdoms out of the fragments of her +dominions, and become the free members of the commonwealth of +Christian Europe; or whether pagan savages from the wilds of +Central Asia should crush the relics of classic civilization, and +the early institutions of the christianized Germans, in one +hopeless chaos of barbaric conquest. The Christian Vistigoths of +King Theodoric fought and triumphed at Chalons, side by side with +the legions of Aetius. Their joint victory over the Hunnish host +not only rescued for a time from destruction the old age of Rome, +but preserved for centuries of power and glory the Germanic +element in the civilization of modern Europe. + +In order to estimate the full importance to mankind of the battle +of Chalons, we must keep steadily in mind who and what the +Germans were, and the important distinctions between them and the +numerous other races that assailed the Roman Empire: and it is +to be understood that the Gothic and the Scandinavian nations are +included in the German race. Now, "in two remarkable traits the +Germans differed from the Sarmatic, as well as from the Slavic +nations, and, indeed, from all those other races to whom the +Greeks and Romans gave the designation of barbarians. I allude +to their personal freedom and regards for the rights of men; +secondly, to the respect paid by them to the female sex and the +chastity for which the latter were celebrated among the people of +the North. These were the foundations of that probity of +character, self-respect, and purity of manners which may be +traced among the Germans and Goths even during pagan times, and +which, when their sentiments were enlightened by Christianity, +brought out those splendid traits of character which distinguish +the age of chivalry and romance." [See Prichard's Researches +into the Physical History of Mankind, vol iii. p. 423.] What the +intermixture of the German stock with the classic, at the fall of +the Western Empire, has done for mankind may be best felt by +watching, with Arnold, over how large a portion of the earth the +influence of the German element is now extended. + +"It affects, more or less, the whole west of Europe, from the +head of the Gulf of Bothnia to the most southern promontory of +Sicily, from the Oder and the Adriatic to the Hebrides and to +Lisbon. It is true that the language spoken over a large portion +of this space is not predominantly German; but even in France, +and Italy, and Spain, the influence of the Franks, Burgundians, +Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and Lombards, while it has coloured even +the language, has in blood and institutions left its mark legibly +and indelibly. Germany, the Low Countries, Switzerland for the +most part, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and our own islands, are +all in language, in blood, and in institutions, German most +decidedly. But all South America is peopled with Spaniards and +Portuguese; all North America, and all Australia with Englishmen. +I say nothing of the prospects and influence of the German race +in Africa and in India: it is enough to say that half of Europe, +and all America and Australia, are German, more or less +completely, in race, in language, or in institutions, or in all." +[Arnold's Lectures on Modern History, p. 35.] + +By the middle of the fifth century, Germanic nations had settled +themselves in many of the fairest regions of the Roman empire, +had imposed their yoke on the provincials, and had undergone, to +a considerable extent, that moral conquest which the arts and +refinements of the vanquished in arms have so often achieved over +the rough victor. The Visigoths held the north of Spain and Gaul +south of the Loire. Franks, Alemanni, Alans, and Burgundians had +established themselves in other Gallic provinces, and the Suevi +were masters of a large southern portion of the Spanish +peninsula. A king of the Vandals reigned in North Africa, and +the Ostrogoths had firmly planted themselves in the provinces +north of Italy. Of these powers and principalities, that of the +Visigoths, under their king Theodoric, son of Alaric, was by far +the first in power and in civilization. + +The pressure of the Huns upon Europe had first been felt in the +fourth century of our era. They had long been formidable to the +Chinese empire; but the ascendency in arms which another nomadic +tribe of Central Asia, the Sienpi gained over them, drove the +Huns from their Chinese conquests westward; and this movement +once being communicated to the whole chain of barbaric nations +that dwelt northward of the Black Sea and the Roman empire, tribe +after tribe of savage warriors broke in upon the barriers of +civilized Europe, "velut unda supervenit undam." The Huns +crossed the Tanais into Europe in 375, and rapidly reduced to +subjection the Alans, the Ostrogoths, and other tribes that were +then dwelling along the course of the Danube. The armies of the +Roman emperor that tried to check their progress were cut to +pieces by them; and Panonia and other provinces south of the +Danube were speedily occupied by the victorious cavalry of these +new invaders. Not merely the degenerate Romans, but the bold +and hardy warriors of Germany and Scandinavia were appalled at +the numbers, the ferocity, the ghastly appearance, and the +lightning-like rapidity of the Huns. Strange and loathsome +legends were coined and credited, which attributed their origin +to the union of "Secret, black, and midnight hags" with the evil +spirits of the wilderness. + +Tribe after tribe, and city after city, fell before them. Then +came a pause in their career of conquest in South-western Europe +caused probably by dissensions among their chiefs, and also by +their arms being employed in attack upon the Scandinavian +nations. But when Attila (or Atzel, as he is called in the +Hungarian language) became their ruler, the torrent of their arms +was directed with augmented terrors upon the west and the south; +and their myriads marched beneath the guidance of one master-mind +to the overthrow both of the new and the old powers of the earth. + +Recent events have thrown such a strong interest over everything +connected with the Hungarian name, that even the terrible name of +Attila now impresses us the more vividly through our sympathising +admiration of the exploits of those who claim to be descended +from his warriors, and "ambitiously insert the name of Attila +among their native kings." The authenticity of this martial +genealogy is denied by some writers, and questioned by more. But +it is at least certain that the Magyars of Arpad, who are the +immediate ancestors of the bulk of the modern Hungarians, and who +conquered the country which bears the name of Hungary in A.D. +889, were of the same stock of mankind as were the Huns of +Attila, even if they did not belong to the same subdivision of +that stock. Nor is there any improbability in the tradition, +that after Attila's death many of his warriors remained in +Hungary, and that their descendants afterwards joined the Huns of +Arpad in their career of conquest. It is certain that Attila +made Hungary the seat of his empire. It seems also susceptible +of clear proof that the territory was then called Hungvar, and +Attila's soldiers Hungvari. Both the Huns of Attila and those of +Arpad came from the family of nomadic nations, whose primitive +regions were those vast wildernesses of High Asia which are +included between the Altaic and the Himalayan mountain-chains. +The inroads of these tribes upon the lower regions of Asia and +into Europe, have caused many of the most remarkable revolutions +in the history of the world. There is every reason to believe +that swarms of these nations made their way into distant parts of +the earth, at periods long before the date of the Scythian +invasion of Asia, which is the earliest inroad of the nomadic +race that history records. The first, as far as we can +conjecture, in respect to the time of their descent were the +Finnish and Ugrian tribes, who appear to have come down from the +Asiatic border of High Asia towards the north-west, in which +direction they advanced to the Uralian mountains. There they +established themselves: and that mountain chain, with its +valleys and pasture-lands, became to them a new country, whence +they sent out colonies on every side; but the Ugrian colony, +which under Arpad occupied Hungary, and became the ancestors of +the bulk of the present Hungarian nation, did not quit their +settlements on the Uralian mountains till a very late period, not +until four centuries after the time when Attila led from the +primary seats of the nomadic races in High Asia the host with +which he advanced into the heart of France. [See Prichard's +Researches into the Physical History of Mankind.] That host was +Turkish; but closely allied in origin, language, and habits, with +the Finno-Ugrian settlers on the Ural. + +Attila's fame has not come down to us through the partial and +suspicious medium of chroniclers and poets of his own race. It +is not from Hunnish authorities that we learn the extent of his +might: It is from his enemies, from the literature and the +legends of the nations whom he afflicted with his arms, that we +draw the unquestionable evidence of his greatness. Besides the +express narratives of Byzantine, Latin, and Gothic writers, we +have the strongest proof of the stern reality of Attila's +conquests in the extent to which he and his Huns have been the +themes of the earliest German and Scandinavian lays. Wild as +many of these legends are, they bear concurrent and certain +testimony to the awe with which the memory of Attila was regarded +by the bold warriors who composed and delighted in them. +Attila's exploits, and the wonders of his unearthly steed and +magic sword, repeatedly occur in the Sagas of Norway and Iceland; +and the celebrated Niebelungen Lied, the most ancient of Germanic +poetry, is full of them. There Etsel or Attila, is described as +the wearer of twelve mighty crowns, and as promising to his bride +the lands of thirty kings, whom his irresistible sword has +subdued. He is, in fact, the hero of the latter part of this +remarkable poem; and it is at his capital city, Etselenburgh, +which evidently corresponds to the modern Buda, that much of its +action takes place. + +When we turn from the legendary to the historic Attila, we see +clearly that he was not one of the vulgar herd of barbaric +conquerors. Consummate military skill may be traced in his +campaigns; and he relied far less on the brute force of armies +for the aggrandizement of his empire, than on the unbounded +influence over the affections of friends and the fears of foes +which his genius enabled him to acquire. Austerely sober in his +private life, severely just on the judgment-seat, conspicuous +among a nation of warriors for hardihood, strength, and skill in +every martial exercise, grave and deliberate in counsel, but +rapid and remorseless in execution, he gave safety and security +to all who were under his dominion, while he waged a warfare of +extermination against all who opposed or sought to escape from +it. He matched the national passions, the prejudices, the +creeds, and the superstitions of the varied nations over which he +ruled, and of those which he sought to reduce beneath his sway: +and these feelings he had the skill to turn to his own account. +His own warriors believed him to be the inspired favourite of +their deities, and followed him with fanatic zeal: his enemies +looked on him as the pre-appointed minister of Heaven's wrath +against themselves; and, though they believed not in his creed, +their own made them tremble before him. + +In one of his early campaigns he appeared before his troops with +an ancient iron sword in his grasp, which he told them was the +god of war whom their ancestors had worshipped. It is certain +that the nomadic tribes of Northern Asia, whom Herodotus +described under the name of Scythians, from the earliest times +worshipped as their god a bare sword. That sword-God was +supposed, in Attila's time, to have disappeared from earth; but +the Hunnish king now claimed to have received it by special +revelation. It was said that a herdsman, who was tracking in the +desert a wounded heifer by the drops of blood, found the +mysterious sword standing fixed in the ground, as if it had been +darted down from heaven. The herdsman bore it to Attila, who +thenceforth was believed by the Huns to wield the Spirit of Death +in battle; and the seers prophesied that that sword was to +destroy the world. A Roman, [Priscus.] who was on an embassy to +the Hunnish camp, recorded in his memoirs Attila's acquisition of +this supernatural weapon, and the immense influence over the +minds of the barbaric tribes which its possession gave him. In +the title which he assumed, we shall see the skill with which he +availed himself of the legends and creeds of other nations as +well as of his own. He designated himself "ATTILA, Descendant of +the Great Nimrod. Nurtured in Engaddi. By the Grace of God, +King of the Huns, the Goths, the Danes, and the Medes. The Dread +of the World." + +Herbert states that Attila is represented on an old medallion +with a Teraphim, or a head, on his breast; and the same writer +adds: "We know, from the 'Hamartigenea' of Prudentius, that +Nimrod, with a snaky-haired head, was the object of adoration to +the heretical followers of Marcion; and the same head was the +palladium set up by Antiochus Epiphanes over the gates of +Antioch, though it has been called the visage of Charon. The +memory of Nimrod was certainly regarded with mystic veneration by +many; and by asserting himself to be the heir of that mighty +hunter before the Lord, he vindicated to himself at least the +whole Babylonian kingdom. + +"The singular assertion in his style, that he was nurtured in +Engaddi where he certainly, had never been, will be more easily +understood on reference to the twelfth chapter of the Book of +Revelation, concerning the woman clothed with the sun, who was to +bring forth in the wilderness--'where she hath a place prepared +of God'--a man-child, who was to contend with the dragon having +seven heads and ten horns, and rule all nations with a rod of +iron. This prophecy was at that time understood universally by +the sincere Christians to refer to the birth of Constantine, who +was to overwhelm the paganism of the city on the seven hills, and +it is still so explained; but it is evident that the heathens +must have looked on it in a different light, and have regarded it +as a foretelling of the birth of that Great One who should master +the temporal power of Rome. The assertion, therefore, that he +was nurtured in Engaddi, is a claim to be looked upon as that +man-child who was to be brought forth in a place prepared of God +in the wilderness. Engaddi means, a place of palms and vines, in +the desert; it was hard by Zoar, the city of refuge, which was +saved in the vale of Siddim, or Demons, when the rest were +destroyed by fire and brimstone from the Lord in heaven, and +might, therefore, be especially called a place prepared of God in +the wilderness." + +It is obvious enough why he styled himself "By the grace of God, +King of the Huns and Goths;" and it seems far from difficult to +see why he added the names of the Medes and the Danes. His +armies had been engaged in warfare against the Persian kingdom of +the Sassanidae; and it is certain [See the narrative of Priscus.] +that he meditated the attack and overthrow of the Medo-Persian +power. Probably some of the northern provinces of that kingdom +had been compelled to pay him tribute; and this would account for +his styling himself King of the Medes, they being his remotest +subjects to the south. From a similar cause he may have called +himself King of the Danes, as his power may well have extended +northwards as far as the nearest of the Scandinavian nations; and +this mention of Medes and Danes as his subjects would serve at +once to indicate the vast extent of his dominion." [In the +"Niebelungen-Lied," the old poet who describes the reception of +the heroine Chrimhild by Attila (Etsel) says that Attila's +dominions were so vast, that among his subject-warriors there +were Russian, Greek, Wallachian, Polish, and even DANISH +KNIGHTS.] + +The extensive territory north of the Danube and Black sea, and +eastward of Caucasus, over which Attila ruled, first in +conjunction with his brother Bleda, and afterwards alone, cannot +be very accurately defined; but it must have comprised within it, +besides the Huns, many nations of Slavic, Gothic, Teutonic, and +Finnish origin. South also of the Danube, the country from the +river Sau as far as Novi in Thrace was a Hunnish province. Such +was the empire of the Huns in A.D. 445; a memorable year, in +which Attila founded Buda on the Danube as his capital city; and +ridded himself of his brother by a crime, which seems to have +been prompted not only by selfish ambition, but also by a desire +of turning to his purpose the legends and forebodings which then +were universally spread throughout the Roman empire, and must +have been well known to the watchful and ruthless Hun. + +The year 445 of our era completed the twelfth century from the +foundation of Rome, according to the best chronologers. It had +always been believed among the Romans that the twelve vultures +which were said to have appeared to Romulus when he founded the +city, signified the time during which the Roman power should +endure. The twelve vultures denoted twelve centuries. This +interpretation of the vision of the birds of destiny was current +among learned Romans, even when there were yet many of the twelve +centuries to run, and while the imperial city was at the zenith +of its power. But as the allotted time drew nearer and nearer to +its conclusion, and as Rome grew weaker and weaker beneath the +blows of barbaric invaders, the terrible omen was more and more +talked and thought of; and in Attila's time, men watched for the +momentary extinction of the Roman state with the last beat of the +last vulture's wing. Moreover, among the numerous legends +connected with the foundation of the city, and the fratricidal +death of Remus, there was one most terrible one, which told that +Romulus did not put his brother to death in accident, or in hasty +quarrel, but that + +"He slew his gallant twin + With inexpiable sin." + +deliberately, and in compliance with the warnings of supernatural +powers. The shedding of a brother's blood was believed to have +been the price at which the founder of Rome had purchased from +destiny her twelve centuries of existence. [See a curious +justification of Attila's murder of his brother, by a zealous +Hungarian advocate, in the note to Pray's "Annales Hunnorum," +p. 117. The example of Romulus is the main authority quoted.] + +We may imagine, therefore, with what terror in this, the twelve- +hundredth year after the foundation of Rome, the inhabitants of +the Roman empire must have heard the tidings that the royal +brethren, Attila and Bleda, had founded a new capitol on the +Danube, which was designed to rule over the ancient capitol on +the Tiber; and that Attila, like Romulus, had consecrated the +foundations of his new city by murdering his brother; so that, +for the new cycle of centuries then about to commence, dominion +had been bought from the gloomy spirits of destiny in favour of +the Hun, by a sacrifice of equal awe and value with that which +had formerly obtained it for the Romans. + +It is to be remembered that not only the pagans, but also the +Christians of that age, knew and believed in these legends and +omens, however they might differ as to the nature of the +superhuman agency by which such mysteries had been made known to +mankind. And we may observe, with Herbert, a modern learned +dignitary of our Church, how remarkably this augury was +fulfilled. For, "if to the twelve centuries denoted by the +twelve vultures that appeared to Romulus, we add for the six +birds that appeared to Remus six lustra, or periods of five years +each, by which the Romans were wont to number their time, it +brings us precisely to the year 476, in which the Roman empire +was finally extinguished by Odoacer." + +An attempt to assassinate Attila, made, or supposed to have been +made, at the instigation of Theodosius the Younger, the Emperor +of Constantinople, drew the Hunnish armies, in 445, upon the +Eastern empire, and delayed for a time the destined blow against +Rome. Probably a more important cause of delay was the revolt of +some of the Hunnish tribes to the north of the Black Sea against +Attila, which broke out about this period, and is cursorily +mentioned by the Byzantine writers. Attila quelled this revolt; +and having thus consolidated his power, and having punished the +presumption of the Eastern Roman emperor by fearful ravages of +his fairest provinces, Attila, A.D. 450, prepared to set his vast +forces in motion for the conquest of Western Europe. He sought +unsuccessfully by diplomatic intrigues to detach the King of the +Visigoths from his alliance with Rome, and he resolved first to +crush the power of Theodoric, and then to advance with +overwhelming power to trample out the last sparks of the doomed +Roman empire. + +A strong invitation from a Roman princess gave him a pretext for +the war, and threw an air of chivalric enterprise over his +invasion. Honoria, sister of Valentinian III., the Emperor of +the West, had sent to Attila to offer him her hand, and her +supposed right to share in the imperial power. This had been +discovered by Romans, and Honoria had been forthwith closely +imprisoned, Attila now pretended to take up arms in behalf of his +self-promised bride, and proclaimed that he was about to march to +Rome to redress Honoria's wrongs. Ambition and spite against her +brother must have been the sole motives that led the lady to woo +the royal Hun for Attila's face and person had all the national +ugliness of his race and the description given of him by a +Byzantine ambassador must have been well known in the imperial +courts. Herbert has well versified the portrait drawn by Priscus +of the great enemy of both Byzantium and Rome:-- + +"Terrific was his semblance, in no mould + Of beautiful proportion cast; his limbs + Nothing exalted, but with sinews braced + Of Chalybaean temper, agile, lithe, + And swifter than the roe; his ample chest + Was overbrowed by a gigantic head, + With eyes keen, deeply sunk, and small, that gleam'd + Strangely in wrath, as though some spirit unclean + Within that corporal tenement installed + Look'd from its windows, but with temper'd fire + Beam'd mildly on the unresisting. Thin + His beard and hoary; his flat nostrils crown'd + A cicatrised, swart visage,--but withal + That questionable shape such glory wore + That mortals quail'd beneath him." + +Two chiefs of the Franks, who were then settled on the lower +Rhine, were at this period engaged in a feud with each other: +and while one of them appealed to the Romans for aid, the other +invoked the assistance and protection of the Huns. Attila thus +obtained an ally whose co-operation secured for him the passage +of the Rhine; and it was this circumstance which caused him to +take a northward route from Hungary for his attack upon Gaul. +The muster of the Hunnish hosts was swollen by warriors of every +tribe that they had subjugated; nor is there any reason to +suspect the old chroniclers of wilful exaggeration in estimating +Attila's army at seven hundred thousand strong. Having crossed +the Rhine, probably a little below Coblentz, he defeated the King +of the Burgundians, who endeavoured to bar his progress. He then +divided his vast forces into two armies,--one of which marched +north-west upon Tongres and Arras, and the other cities of that +part of France; while the main body, under Attila himself marched +up the Moselle, and destroyed Besancon, and other towns in the +country of the Burgundians. One of the latest and best +biographers of Attila well observes, that, "having thus conquered +the eastern part of France, Attila prepared for an invasion of +the West Gothic territories beyond the Loire. He marched upon +Orleans, where he intended to force the passage of that river; +and only a little attention is requisite to enable us to perceive +that he proceeded on a systematic plan: he had his right wing on +the north, for the protection of his Frank allies; his left wing +on the south, for the purpose of preventing the Burgundians from +rallying, and of menacing the passes of the Alps from Italy; and +he led his centre towards the chief object of the campaign--the +conquest of Orleans, and an easy passage into the West Gothic +dominion. The whole plan is very like that of the allied powers +in 1814, with this difference, that their left wing entered +France through the defiles of the Jura, in the direction of +Lyons, and that the military object of the campaign was the +capture of Paris." [Biographical Dictionary commenced by the +Useful Knowledge Society in 1844.] + +It was not until the year 451 that the Huns commenced the siege +of Orleans; and during their campaign in Eastern Gaul, the Roman +general Aetius had strenuously exerted himself in collecting and +organizing such an army as might, when united to the soldiery of +the Visigoths, be fit to face the Huns in the field. He enlisted +every subject of the Roman empire whom patriotism, courage, or +compulsion could collect beneath the standards; and round these +troops, which assumed the once proud title of the legions of +Rome, he arrayed the large forces of barbaric auxiliaries whom +pay, persuasion, or the general hate and dread of the Huns, +brought to the camp of the last of the Roman generals. King +Theodoric exerted himself with equal energy, Orleans resisted her +besiegers bravely as in after times. The passage of the Loire +was skilfully defended against the Huns; and Aetius and +Theodoric, after much manoeuvring and difficulty, effected a +junction of their armies to the south of that important river. + +On the advance of the allies upon Orleans, Attila instantly broke +up the siege of that city, and retreated towards the Marne. He +did not choose to risk a decisive battle with only the central +corps of his army against the combined power of his enemies; and +he therefore fell back upon his base of operations; calling in +his wings from Arras and Besancon, and concentrating the whole of +the Hunnish forces on the vast plains of Chalons-sur-Marne. A +glance at the map will show how scientifically this place was +chosen by the Hunnish general, as the point for his scattered +forces to converge upon; and the nature of the ground was +eminently favourable for the operations of cavalry, the arm in +which Attila's strength peculiarly lay. + +It was during the retreat from Orleans that a Christian is +reported to have approached the Hunnish king, and said to him, +"Thou art the Scourge of God for the chastisement of Christians." +Attila instantly assumed this new title of terror, which +thenceforth became the appellation by which he was most widely +and most fearfully known. + +The confederate armies of Romans and Visigoths at last met their +great adversary, face to face, on the ample battle-ground of the +Chalons plains. Aetius commanded on the right of the allies; +King Theodoric on the left; and Sangipan, king of the Alans, +whose fidelity was suspected, was placed purposely in the centre +and in the very front of the battle. Attila commanded his centre +in person, at the head of his own countrymen, while the +Ostrogoths, the Gepidae, and the other subject allies of the +Huns, were drawn up on the wings. Some manoeuvring appears to +have occurred before the engagement, in which Attila had the +advantage, inasmuch as he succeeded in occupying a sloping hill, +which commanded the left flank of the Huns. Attila saw the +importance of the position taken by Aetius on the high ground, +and commenced the battle by a furious attack on this part of the +Roman line, in which he seems to have detached some of his best +troops from his centre to aid his left. The Romans having the +advantage of the ground, repulsed the Huns, and while the allies +gained this advantage on their right, their left, under King +Theodoric, assailed the Ostrogoths, who formed the right of +Attila's army. The gallant king was himself struck down by a +javelin, as he rode onward at the head of his men, and his own +cavalry charging over him trampled him to death in the confusion. +But the Visigoths, infuriated, not dispirited, by their monarch's +fall, routed the enemies opposed to them, and then wheeled upon +the flank of the Hunnish centre, which had been engaged in a +sanguinary and indecisive contest with the Alans. + +In this peril Attila made his centre fall back upon his camp; and +when the shelter of its entrenchments and waggons had once been +gained, the Hunnish archers repulsed, without difficulty, the +charges of the vengeful Gothic cavalry. Aetius had not pressed +the advantage which he gained on his side of the field, and when +night fell over the wild scene of havoc, Attila's left was still +unbroken, but his right had been routed, and his centre forced +back upon his camp. + +Expecting an assault on the morrow, Attila stationed his best +archers in front of the cars and waggons, which were drawn up as +a fortification along his lines, and made every preparation for a +desperate resistance. But the "Scourge of God" resolved that no +man should boast of the honour of having either captured or slain +him; and he caused to be raised in the centre of his encampment a +huge pyramid of the wooden saddles of his cavalry: round it he +heaped the spoils and the wealth that he had won; on it he +stationed his wives who had accompanied him in the campaign; and +on the summit he placed himself, ready to perish in the flames, +and baulk the victorious foe of their choicest booty, should they +succeed in storming his defences. + +But when the morning broke, and revealed the extent of the +carnage, with which the plains were heaped for miles, the +successful allies saw also and respected the resolute attitude of +their antagonist. Neither were any measures taken to blockade +him in his camp, and so to extort by famine that submission which +it was too plainly perilous to enforce with the sword. Attila +was allowed to march back the remnants of his army without +molestation, and even with the semblance of success. + +It is probable that the crafty Aetius was unwilling to be too +victorious. He dreaded the glory which his allies the Visigoths +had acquired; and feared that Rome might find a second Alaric in +Prince Thorismund, who had signalized himself in the battle, and +had been chosen on the field to succeed his father Theodoric. He +persuaded the young king to return at once to his capital: and +thus relieved himself at the same time of the presence of a +dangerous friend, as well as of a formidable though beaten foe. + +Attila's attacks on the Western, empire were soon renewed; but +never with such peril to the civilized world as had menaced it +before his defeat at Chalons. And on his death, two years after +that battle, the vast empire which his genius had founded was +soon dissevered by the successful revolts of the subject nations. +The name of the Huns ceased for some centuries to inspire terror +in Western Europe, and their ascendency passed away with the life +of the great king by whom it had been so fearfully augmented. +[If I seem to have given fewer of the details of the battle +itself than its importance would warrant, my excuse must be, that +Gibbon has enriched our language with a description of it, too +long for quotation and too splendid for rivalry. I have not, +however, taken altogether the same view of it that he has. The +notes to Mr. Herbert's poem of "Attila" bring together nearly all +the authorities on the subject.] + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF CHALONS, A.D. 451, AND +THE BATTLE OF TOURS, 732. + +A.D. 476. The Roman Empire of the West extinguished by Odoacer. + +482. Establishment of the French monarchy in Gaul by Clovis. + +455-482. The Saxons, Angles, and Frisians conquer Britain +except the northern parts, and the districts along the west +coast. The German conquerors found eight independent kingdoms. + +533-568. The generals of Justinian, the Emperor of +Constantinople, conquer Italy and North Africa; and these +countries are for a short time annexed to the Roman Empire of the +East. + +568-570. The Lombards conquer great part of Italy. + +570-627. The wars between the Emperors of Constantinople and +the Kings of Persia are actively continued. + +622. The Mahometan era of the Hegira. Mahomet is driven from +Mecca, and is received as prince of Medina. + +629-632. Mahomet conquers Arabia. + +632-651. The Mahometan Arabs invade and conquer Persia. + +632-709. They attack the Roman Empire of the East. They +conquer Syria, Egypt, and Africa. + +709-713. They cross the straits of Gibraltar, and invade and +conquer Spain. + +"At the death of Mohammad, in 632, his temporal and religious +sovereignty embraced and was limited by the Arabian Peninsula. +The Roman and Persian empires, engaged in tedious and indecisive +hostility upon the rivers of Mesopotamia and the Armenian +mountains, were viewed by the ambitious fanatics of his creed as +their quarry. In the very first year of Mohammad's immediate +successor, Abubeker, each of these mighty empires was invaded. +The crumbling fabric of Eastern despotism is never secured +against rapid and total subversion; a few victories, a few +sieges, carried the Arabian arms from the Tigris to the Oxus, and +overthrew, with the Sassanian dynasty, the ancient and famous +religion they had professed. Seven years of active and unceasing +warfare sufficed to subjugate the rich province of Syria, though +defended by numerous armies and fortified cities; and the Khalif +Omar had scarcely returned thanks for the accomplishment of this +conquest, when Amrou, his lieutenant, announced to him the entire +reduction of Egypt. After some interval, the Saracens won their +way along the coast of Africa, as far as the Pillars of Hercules, +and a third province was irretrievably torn from the Greek +empire. These western conquests introduced them to fresh +enemies, and ushered in more splendid successes. Encouraged by +the disunion of the Visigoths, and invited by treachery, Musa, +the general of a master who sat beyond the opposite extremity of +the Mediterranean Sea, passed over into Spain, and within about +two years the name of Mohammad was invoked under the Pyrenees." +--[HALLAM.] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BATTLE OF TOURS, A.D. 732, + +"The events that rescued our ancestors of Britain, and our +neighbours of Gaul, from the civil and religious yoke of the +Koran."--GIBBON. + +The broad tract of champaign country which intervenes between the +cities of Poictiers and Tours is principally composed of a +succession of rich pasture lands, which are traversed and +fertilized by the Cher, the Creuse, the Vienne, the Claine, the +Indre, and other tributaries of the river Loire. Here and there, +the ground swells into picturesque eminences; and occasionally a +belt of forest land, a brown heath, or a clustering series of +vineyards, breaks the monotony of the wide-spread meadows; but +the general character of the land is that of a grassy plain, and +it seems naturally adapted for the evolutions of numerous armies, +especially of those vast bodies of cavalry which, principally +decided the fate of nations during the centuries that followed +the downfall of Rome, and preceded the consolidation of the +modern European powers. + +This region has been signalized by more than one memorable +conflict; but it is principally interesting to the historian, by +having been the scene of the great victory won by Charles Martel +over the Saracens, A.D. 732, which gave a decisive check to the +career of Arab conquest in Western Europe, rescued Christendom +from Islam, preserved the relics of ancient and the germs of +modern civilization, and re-established the old superiority of +the Indo-European over the Semitic family of mankind. + +Sismondi and Michelet have underrated the enduring interest of +this great Appeal of Battle between the champions of the Crescent +and the Cross. But, if French writers have slighted the exploits +of their national hero, the Saracenic trophies of Charles Martel +have had full justice done to them by English and German +historians. Gibbon devotes several pages of his great work to +the narrative of the battle of Tours, and to the consideration of +the consequences which probably would have resulted, if +Abderrahman's enterprise had not been crushed by the Frankish +chief. [Vol, vii. p. 11, ET SEQ. Gibbon's remark, that if the +Saracen conquest had not then been checked, "Perhaps the +interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of +Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people +the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomat," has almost +an air of regret.] Schlegel speaks of this "mighty victory" in +terms of fervent gratitude; and tells how "the arms of Charles +Martel saved and delivered the Christian nations of the West from +the deadly grasp of all-destroying Islam;" [Philosophy of +History, p. 331.] and Ranke points out, as "one of the most +important epochs in the history of the world, the commencement of +the eighth century; when, on the one side, Mahommedanism +threatened to overspread Italy and Gaul, and on the other, the +ancient idolatry of Saxony and Friesland once more forced its way +across the Rhine. In this peril of Christian institutions, a +youthful prince of Germanic race, Karl Martell, arose as their +champion; maintained them with all the energy which the necessity +for self-defence calls forth, and finally extended them into new +regions." [History of the Reformation in Germany, vol. i. p. 5.] + +Arnold ranks the victory of Charles Martel even higher than the +victory of Arminius, "among those signal deliverances which have +affected for centuries the happiness of mankind." [History of +the later Roman Commonwealth, vol ii. p. 317.] In fact, the more +we test its importance, the higher we shall be led to estimate +it; and, though the authentic details which we possess of its +circumstances and its heroes are but meagre, we can trace enough +of its general character to make us watch with deep interest this +encounter between the rival conquerors of the decaying Roman +empire. That old classic world, the history of which occupies so +large a portion of our early studies, lay, in the eighth century +of our era, utterly exanimate and overthrown. On the north the +German, on the south the Arab, was rending away its provinces. +At last the spoilers encountered one another, each striving for +the full mastery of the prey. Their conflict brought back upon +the memory of Gibbon the old Homeric simile, where the strife of +Hector and Patroclus over the dead body of Cebriones is compared +to the combat of two lions, that in their hate and hunger fight +together on the mountain-tops over the carcass of a slaughtered +stag: and the reluctant yielding of the Saracen power to the +superior might of the Northern warriors, might not inaptly recall +those other lines of the same book of the Iliad, where the +downfall of Patroclus beneath Hector is likened to the forced +yielding of the panting and exhausted wild boar, that had long +and furiously fought with a superior beast of prey for the +possession of the fountain among the rocks, at which each burned +to drink. + +Although three centuries had passed away since the Germanic +conquerors of Rome had crossed the Rhine, never to repass that +frontier stream, no settled system of institutions or government, +no amalgamation of the various races into one people, no +uniformity of language or habits, had been established in the +country, at the time when Charles Martel was called on to repel +the menacing tide of Saracenic invasion from the south. Gaul was +not yet France. In that, as in other provinces of the Roman +empire of the West, the dominion of the Caesars had been +shattered as early as the fifth century, and barbaric kingdoms +and principalities had promptly arisen on the ruins of the Roman +power. But few of these had any permanency; and none of them +consolidated the rest, or any considerable number of the rest, +into one coherent and organized civil and political society. The +great bulk of the population still consisted of the conquered +provincials, that is to say, of Romanized Celts, of a Gallic race +which had long been under the dominion of the Caesars, and had +acquired, together with no slight infusion of Roman blood, the +language, the literature, the laws, and the civilization of +Latium. Among these, and dominant over them, roved or dwelt the +German victors: some retaining nearly all the rude independence +of their primitive national character; others, softened and +disciplined by the aspect and contact of the manners and +institutions of civilized life. For it is to be borne in mind, +that the Roman empire in the West was not crushed by any sudden +avalanche of barbaric invasion. The German conquerors came +across the Rhine, not in enormous hosts, but in bands of a few +thousand warriors at a time. The conquest of a province was the +result of an infinite series of partial local invasions, carried +on by little armies of this description. The victorious warriors +either retired with their booty, or fixed themselves in the +invaded district, taking care to keep sufficiently concentrated +for military purposes, and ever ready for some fresh foray, +either against a rival Teutonic band, or some hitherto unassailed +city of the provincials. Gradually, however, the conquerors +acquired a desire for permanent landed possessions. They lost +somewhat of the restless thirst for novelty and adventure which +had first made them throng beneath the banner of the boldest +captains of their tribe, and leave their native forests for a +roving military Life on the left bank of the Rhine. They were +converted to the Christian faith; and gave up with their old +creed much of the coarse ferocity, which must have been fostered +in the spirits of the ancient warriors of the North by a +mythology which promised, as the reward of the brave on earth, an +eternal cycle of fighting and drunkenness in heaven. + +But, although their conversion and other civilizing influences +operated powerfully upon the Germans in Gaul; and although the +Franks (who were originally a confederation of the Teutonic +tribes that dwelt between the Rhine, the Maine, and the Weser) +established a decided superiority over the other conquerors of +the province, as well as over the conquered provincials, the +country long remained a chaos of uncombined and shifting +elements. The early princes of the Merovingian dynasty were +generally occupied in wars against other princes of their house, +occasioned by the frequent subdivisions of the Frank monarchy: +and the ablest and best of them had found all their energies +tasked to the utmost to defend the barrier of the Rhine against +the Pagan Germans, who strove to pass that river and gather their +share of the spoils of the empire. + +The conquests which the Saracens effected over the southern and +eastern provinces of Rome were far more rapid than those achieved +by the Germans in the north; and the new organizations of society +which the Moslems introduced were summarily and uniformly +enforced. Exactly a century passed between the death of Mohammed +and the date of the battle of Tours. During that century the +followers of the Prophet had torn away half the Roman empire; and +besides their conquests over Persia, the Saracens had overrun +Syria, Egypt, Africa, and Spain, in an unchequered and apparently +irresistible career of victory. Nor, at the commencement of the +eighth century of our era, was the Mohammedan world divided +against itself, as it subsequently became. All these vast +regions obeyed the Caliph; throughout them all, from the Pyrenees +to the Oxus, the name of Mohammed was invoked in prayer, and the +Koran revered as the book of the law. + +It was under one of their ablest and most renowned commanders, +with a veteran army, and with every apparent advantage of time, +place, and circumstance, that the Arabs made their great effort +at the conquest of Europe north of the Pyrenees. The victorious +Moslem soldiery in Spain, + +"A countless multitude; + Syrian, Moor, Saracen, Greek renegade, + Persian, and Copt, and Tartar, in one bond + Of erring faith conjoined--strong in the youth + And heat of zeal--a dreadful brotherhood," + +were eager for the plunder of more Christian cities and shrines, +and full of fanatic confidence in the invincibility of their +arms. + +"Nor were the chiefs + Of victory less assured, by long success + Elate, and proud of that o'erwhelming strength + Which surely, they believed, as it had rolled + Thus far uncheck'd, would roll victorious on, + Till, like the Orient, the subjected West + Should bow in reverence at Mahommed's name; + And pilrims from remotest Arctic shores + Tread with religious feet the burning sands + Of Araby and Mecca's stony soil." + SOUTHEY'S RODERICK. + +It is not only by the modern Christian poet, but by the old +Arabian chroniclers also, that these feelings of ambition and +arrogance are attributed to the Moslems, who had overthrown the +Visigoth power in Spain. And their eager expectations of new +wars were excited to the utmost on the re-appointment by the +Caliph of Abderrahman Ibn Abdillah Alghafeki to the government of +that country, A.D. 729, which restored them a general who had +signalized his skill and prowess during the conquests of Africa +and Spain, whose ready valour and generosity had made him the +idol of the troops, who had already been engaged in several +expeditions into Gaul, so as to be well acquainted with the +national character and tactics of the Franks; and who was known +to thirst, like a good Moslem, for revenge for the slaughter of +some detachments of the true believers, which had been cut off on +the north of the Pyrenees. + +In addition to his cardinal military virtues, Abderrahman is +described by the Arab writers as a model of integrity and +justice. The first two years of his second administration in +Spain were occupied in severe reforms of the abuses which under +his predecessors had crept into the system of government, and in +extensive preparations for his intended conquest of Gaul. +Besides the troops which he collected from his province, he +obtained from Africa a large body of chosen Barber cavalry, +officered by Arabs of proved skill and valour: and in the summer +of 732 he crossed the Pyrenees at the head of an army which some +Arab writers rate at eighty thousand strong, while some of the +Christian chroniclers swell its numbers to many hundreds of +thousands more. Probably the Arab account diminishes, but of the +two keeps nearer to the truth. It was from this formidable host, +after Eudes, the Count of Acquitaine, had vainly striven to check +it, after many strong cities had fallen before it, and half the +land been overrun, that Gaul and Christendom were at last rescued +by the strong arm of Prince Charles, who acquired a surname, +[Martel--'The Hammer.' See the Scandinavian Sagas for an account +of the favourite weapon of Thor.] like that of the war-god of +his forefathers' creed, from the might with which he broke and +shattered his enemies in the battle. + +The Merovingian kings had sunk into absolute insignificance, and +had become mere puppets of royalty before the eighth century. +Charles Martel like his father, Pepin Heristal, was Duke of the +Austrasian Franks, the bravest and most thoroughly Germanic part +of the nation: and exercised, in the name of the titular king, +what little paramount authority the turbulent minor rulers of +districts and towns could be persuaded or compelled to +acknowledge. Engaged with his national competitors in perpetual +conflicts for power, engaged also in more serious struggles for +safety against the fierce tribes of the unconverted Frisians, +Bavarians, Saxons, and Thuringians, who at that epoch assailed +with peculiar ferocity the christianized Germans on the left bank +of the Rhine, Charles Martel added experienced skill to his +natural courage, and he had also formed a militia of veterans +among the Franks. Hallam has thrown out a doubt whether, in our +admiration of his victory at Tours, we do not judge a little too +much by the event, and whether there was not rashness in his +risking the fate of France on the result of a general battle with +the invaders. But, when we remember that Charles had no standing +army, and the independent spirit of the Frank warriors who +followed his standard, it seems most probable that it was not in +his power to adopt the cautious policy of watching the invaders, +and wearing out their strength by delay. So dreadful and so +wide-spread were the ravages of the Saracenic light cavalry +throughout Gaul that it must have been impossible to restrain for +any length of time the indignant ardour of the Franks. And, even +if Charles could have persuaded his men to look tamely on while +the Arabs stormed more towns and desolated more districts, he +could not have kept an army together when the usual period of a +military expedition had expired. If, indeed, the Arab account of +the disorganization of the Moslem forces be correct, the battle +was as well-timed on the part of Charles as it was beyond all +question, well-fought. + +The monkish chroniclers, from whom we are obliged to glean a +narrative of this memorable campaign, bear full evidence to the +terror which the Saracen invasion inspired, and to the agony of +that; great struggle. The Saracens, say they, and their king, +who was called Abdirames, came out of Spain, with all their +wives, and their children, and their substance, in such great +multitudes that no man could reckon or estimate them. They +brought with them all their armour, and whatever they had, as if +they were thence forth always to dwell in France. ["Lors +issirent d'Espaigne li Sarrazins, et un leur Roi qui avoit nom +Abdirames, et ont leur fames et leur enfans at touts leur +substance an si grand plente que nus ne le prevoit nombrer ne +estimer: tout leur harnois et quanques il avoient amenement avec +ents, aussi comme si ils deussent toujours mes habiter en +France."] + +"Then Abderrahman, seeing the land filled with the multitude of +his army, pierces through the mountains, tramples over rough and +level ground plunders far into the country of the Franks, and +smites all with the sword, insomuch that when Eudo came to battle +with him at the river Garonne, and fled before him, God alone +knows the number of the slain. Then Abderrahman pursued after +Count Eudo, and while he strives to spoil and burn the holy +shrine at Tours, he encounters the chief of the Austrasian +Franks, Charles, a man of war from his youth up, to whom Eudo had +sent warning. There for nearly seven days they strive intensely, +and at last they set themselves in battle array; and the nations +of the north standing firm as a wall, and impenetrable as a zone +of ice, utterly slay the Arabs with the edge of the sword." +["Tunc Abdirrahman, multitudine sui exercitus repletam +prospiciane terram," &c.--SCRIPT. GEST. FRANC. p. 785.] + +The European writers all concur in speaking of the fall of +Abderrahman as one of the principal causes of the defeat of the +Arabs; who, according to one writer, after finding that their +leader was slain, dispersed in the night, to the agreeable +surprise of the Christians, who expected the next morning to see +them issue from their tents, and renew the combat. One monkish +chronicler puts the loss of the Arabs at 375,000 men, while he +says that only 1,007 Christians fell--a disparity of loss which +he feels bound to account for by a special interposition of +Providence. I have translated above some of the most spirited +passages of these writers; but it is impossible to collect from +them anything like a full or authentic description of the great +battle itself, or of the operations which preceded or followed +it. + +Though, however, we may have cause to regret the meagreness and +doubtful character of these narratives, we have the great +advantage of being able to compare the accounts given of +Abderrahman's expedition by the national writers of each side. +This is a benefit which the inquirer into antiquity so seldom can +obtain, that the fact of possessing it, in the instance of the +battle of Tours, makes us think the historical testimony +respecting that great event more certain and satisfactory than is +the case in many other instances, where we possess abundant +details respecting military exploits, but where those details +come to us from the annalist of one nation only; and where we +have, consequently, no safeguard against the exaggerations, the +distortions, and the fictions which national vanity has so often +put forth in the garb and under the title of history. The +Arabian writers who recorded the conquests and wars of their +countrymen in Spain, have narrated also the expedition into Gaul +of their great Emir, and his defeat and death near Tours in +battle with the host of the Franks under King Caldus, the name +into which they metamorphose Charles. [The Arabian chronicles +were compiled and translated into Spanish by Don Jose Antonio +Conde, in his "Historia de la Dominacion de los Arabos an +Espana," published at Madrid in 1820. Conde's plan, which I have +endeavoured to follow, was to present both the style and spirit +of his oriental authorities, so that we find in his pages a +genuine Saracenic narrative of the wars in Western Europe between +the Mahommedans and the Christians.] + +They tell us how there was war between the count of the Frankish +frontier and the Moslems, and how the count gathered together all +his people, and fought for a time with doubtful success. "But," +say the Arabian chroniclers, "Abderrahman drove them back; and +the men of Abderrahman were puffed up in spirit by their repeated +successes, and they were full of trust in the valour and the +practice in war of their Emir. So the Moslems smote their +enemies, and passed the river Garonne, and laid waste the +country, and took captives without number. And that army went +through all places like a desolating storm. Prosperity made +those warriors insatiable. At the passage of the river, +Abderrahman overthrew the count, and the count retired into his +stronghold, but the Moslems fought against it, and entered it by +force, and slew the count; for everything gave way to their +scimetars, which were the robbers of lives. All the nations of +the Franks trembled at that terrible army, and they betook them +to their king Caldus, and told him of the havoc made by the +Moslem horsemen, and how they rode at their will through all the +land of Narbonne Toulouse, and Bordeaux, and they told the king +of the death of their count. Then the king bade them be of good +cheer, and offered to aid them. And in the 114th year [Of the +Hegira.] he mounted his home, and he took with him a host that +could not be numbered, and went against the Moslems. And he came +upon them at the great city of Tours. And Abderrahman and other +prudent cavaliers saw the disorder of the Moslem troops, who were +loaded with spoil; but they did not venture to displease the +soldiers by ordering them to abandon everything except their arms +and war-horses. And Abderrahman trusted in the valour of his +soldiers, and in the good fortune which had ever attended him. +But (the Arab writer remarks) such defect of discipline always is +fatal to armies. So Abderrahman and his host attacked Tours to +gain still more spoil, and they fought against it so fiercely +that they stormed the city almost before the eyes of the army +that came to save it; and the fury and the cruelty of the Moslems +towards the inhabitants of the city were like the fury and +cruelty of raging tigers. It was manifest," adds the Arab, "that +God's chastisement was sure to follow such excesses; and fortune +thereupon turned her back upon the Moslems. + +"Near the river Owar, [Probably the Loire.] the two great hosts +of the two languages and the two creeds were set in array against +each other. The hearts of Abderrahman, his captains, and his men +were filled with wrath and pride, and they were the first to +begin the fight. The Moslem horseman dashed fierce and frequent +forward against the battalions of the Franks, who resisted +manfully, and many fell dead on either side, until the going down +of the sun. Night parted the two armies: but in the grey of the +morning the Moslems returned to the battle. Their cavaliers had +soon hewn their way into the centre of the Christian host. But +many of the Moslems were fearful for the safety of the spoil +which they had stored in their tents, and a false cry arose in +their ranks that some of the enemy were plundering the camp; +whereupon several squadrons of the Moslem horseman rode off to +protect their tents. But it seemed as if they fled; and all the +host was troubled. And while Abderrahman strove to check their +tumult, and to lead them back to battle, the warriors of the +Franks came around him, and he was pierced through with many +spears, so that he died. Then all the host fled before the +enemy, and many died in the flight. This deadly defeat of the +Moslems, and the loss of the great leader and good cavalier +Abderrahman, took place in the hundred and fifteenth year. + +It would be difficult to expect from an adversary a more explicit +confession of having been thoroughly vanquished, than the Arabs +here accord to the Europeans. The points on which their +narrative differs from those of the Christians,--as to how many +days the conflict lasted, whether the assailed city was actually +rescued or not, and the like,--are of little moment compared with +the admitted great fact that there was a decisive trial of +strength between Frank and Saracen, in which the former +conquered. The enduring importance of the battle of Tours in the +eyes of the Moslems, is attested not only by the expressions of +"the deadly battle," and "the disgraceful overthrow," which their +writers constantly employ when referring to it, but also by the +fact that no further serious attempts at conquest beyond the +Pyrenees were made by the Saracens. Charles Martel, and his son +and grandson, were left at leisure to consolidate and extend +their power. The new Christian Roman Empire of the West, which +the genius of Charlemagne founded, and throughout which his iron +will imposed peace on the old anarchy of creeds and races, did +not indeed retain its integrity after its great ruler's death. +Fresh troubles came over Europe; but Christendom, though +disunited, was safe. The progress of civilization, and the +development of the nationalities and governments of modern +Europe, from that time forth, went forward in not uninterrupted, +but, ultimately, certain career. + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF TOURS, A.D. 732, AND THE +BATTLE OF HASTINGS, 1066. + +A.D. 768-814. Reign of Charlemagne. This monarch has justly +been termed the principal regenerator of Western Europe, after +the destruction of the Roman empire. The early death of his +brother, Carloman, left him sole master of the dominions of the +Franks, which, by a succession of victorious wars, he enlarged +into the new Empire of the West. He conquered the Lombards, and +re-established the Pope at Rome, who, in return, acknowledged +Charles as suzerain of Italy. and in the year 800, Leo III, in +the name of the Roman people, solemnly crowned Charlemagne at +Rome, as Emperor of the Roman Empire of the West. In Spain, +Charlemagne ruled the country between the Pyrenees and the Ebro; +but his most important conquests were effected on the eastern +side of his original kingdom, over the Sclavonians of Bohemia, +the Avars of Pannonia, and over the previously uncivilized German +tribes who had remained in their fatherland. The old Saxons were +his most obstinate antagonists, and his wars with them lasted for +thirty years. Under him the greater part of Germany was +compulsorily civilized, and converted from Paganism to +Christianity, His empire extended eastward as far as the Elbe, +the Saal, the Bohemian mountains, and a line drawn from thence +crossing the Danube above Vienna, and prolonged to the Gulf of +Istria. [Hallam's Middle Ages.] + +Throughout this vast assemblage of provinces, Charlemagne +established an organized and firm government. But it is not as a +mere conqueror that he demands admiration. "In a life restlessly +active, we see him reforming the coinage, and establishing the +legal divisions of money, gathering about him the learned of +every country; founding schools and collecting libraries; +interfering, with the air of a king, in religious controversies; +attempting, for the sake of commerce, the magnificent enterprise +of uniting the Rhine and the Danube, and meditating to mould the +discordant code of Roman and barbarian laws into an uniform +system." [Hallam, UT SUPRA.] + +814-888. Repeated partitions of the empire and civil wars +between Charlemagne's descendants. Ultimately, the kingdom of +France is finally separated from Germany and Italy. In 982, Otho +the Great, of Germany, revives the imperial dignity. + +827. Egbert, king of Wessex, acquires the supremacy over the +Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. + +832. The first Danish squadron attacks part of the English +coast. The Danes, or Northmen, had begun their ravages in France +a few years earlier. For two centuries Scandinavia sends out +fleet after fleet of sea-rovers, who desolate all the western +kingdoms of Europe, and in many cases effect permanent conquests. + +871-900. Reign of Alfred in England. After a long and varied +struggle, he rescues England from the Danish invaders. + +911, The French king cedes Neustria to Hrolf the Northman. Hrolf +(or Duke Rollo, as he thenceforth was termed) and his army of +Scandinavian warriors, become the ruling class of the population +of the province, which is called after them Normandy. + +1016. Four knights from Normandy, who had been on a pilgrimage +to the Holy Land, while returning through Italy, head the people +of Salerno in repelling an attack of a band of Saracen corsairs. +In the next year many adventurers from Normandy settle in Italy, +where they conquer Apulia (1040), and afterwards (1060) Sicily. + +1017. Canute, king of Denmark, becomes king of England. On the +death of the last of his sons, in 1041, the Saxon line is +restored, and Edward the Confessor (who had been bred in the +court of the Duke of Normandy), is called by the English to the +throne of this island, as the representative of the House of +Cerdic. + +1035. Duke Robert of Normandy dies on his return from a +pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and his son William (afterwards the +conqueror of England) succeeds to the dukedom of Normandy. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS, 1066. + +"Eis vos la Bataille assemblee, + Dunc encore est grant renomee." + ROMAN DE ROU, 1. 3183. + +Arletta's pretty feet twinkling in the brook gained her a duke's +love, and gave us William the Conqueror. Had she not thus +fascinated Duke Robert, the Liberal, of Normandy, Harold would +not have fallen at Hastings, no Anglo-Norman dynasty could have +arisen, no British empire. The reflection is Sir Francis +Palgrave's: [History of Normandy and England, vol. i. p. 528.] +and it is emphatically true. If any one should write a history +of "Decisive loves that; have materially influenced the drama of +the world in all its subsequent scenes," the daughter of the +tanner of Falaise would deserve a conspicuous place in his pages. +But it is her son, the victor of Hastings, who is now the object +of our attention; and no one, who appreciates the influence of +England and her empire upon the destinies of the world, will ever +rank that victory as one of secondary importance. + +It is true that in the last century some writers of eminence on +our history and laws mentioned the Norman Conquest in terms, from +which it might be supposed that the battle of Hastings led to +little more than the substitution of one royal family for another +on the throne of this country, and to the garbling and changing +of some of our laws through the "cunning of the Norman lawyers." +But, at least since the appearance of the work of Augustin +Thierry on the Norman Conquest, these forensic fallacies have +been exploded. Thierry made his readers keenly appreciate the +magnitude of that political and social catastrophe. He depicted +in vivid colours the atrocious cruelties of the conquerors, and +the sweeping and enduring innovations that they wrought, +involving the overthrow of the ancient constitution, as well as +of the last of the Saxon kings. In his pages we see new +tribunals and tenures superseding the old ones, new divisions of +race and class introduced, whole districts devastated to gratify +the vengeance or the caprice of the new tyrant, the greater part +of the lands of the English confiscated and divided among aliens, +the very name of Englishmen turned into a reproach, the English +language rejected as servile and barbarous, and all the high +places in Church and State for upwards of a century filled +exclusively by men of foreign race. + +No less true than eloquent is Thierry's summing up of the social +effects of the Norman Conquest on the generation that witnessed +it, and on many of their successors. He tells his reader that +"if he would form a just idea of England conquered by William of +Normandy, he must figure to himself, not a mere change of +political rule, not the triumph of one candidate over another +candidate, of the man of one party over the man of another party; +but the intrusion of one people into the bosom of another people, +the violent placing of one society over another society, which it +came to destroy, and the scattered fragments of which it retained +only as personal property, or (to use the words of an old act) as +'the clothing of the soil:' he must not picture to himself on +the one hand, William, a king and a despot--on the other, +subjects of William's, high and low, rich and poor, all +inhabiting England, and consequently all English; but he must +imagine two nations, of one of which William is a member and the +chief--two nations which (if the term must be used) were both +subject to William, but as applied to which the word has quite +different senses, meaning in the one case subordinate, in the +other subjugated. He must consider that there are two countries, +two soils, included in the same geographical circumference; that +of the Normans rich and free, that of the Saxons poor and +serving, vexed by RENT and TAILLAGE; the former full of spacious +mansions, and walled and moated castles, the latter scattered +over with huts and straw, and ruined hovels; that peopled with +the happy and the idle, with men of the army and of the court, +with knights and nobles,--this with men of pain and labour, with +farmers and artizans: on the one side, luxury and insolence, on +the other, misery and envy--not the envy of the poor at the sight +of opulence they cannot reach, but the envy of the despoiled when +in presence of the despoilers." + +Perhaps the effect of Thierry's work has been to cast into the +shade the ultimate good effects on England of the Norman +Conquest. Yet these are as undeniable as are the miseries which +that conquest inflicted on our Saxon ancestors from the time of +the battle of Hastings to the time of the signing of the Great +Charter at Runnymede. That last is the true epoch of English +nationality: it is the epoch when Anglo-Norman and Anglo-Saxon +ceased to keep aloof from each other, the one in haughty scorn, +the other in sullen abhorrence; and when all the free men of the +land; whether barons, knights, yeomen, or burghers, combined to +lay the foundations of English freedom. + +Our Norman barons were the chiefs of that primary constitutional +movement; those "iron barons" whom Chatham has so nobly +eulogized. This alone should make England remember her +obligations to the Norman Conquest, which planted far and wide, +as a dominant class in her land, a martial nobility of the +bravest and most energetic race that ever existed. + +It may sound paradoxical, but it is in reality no exaggeration to +say, with Guizot, [Essais sur l'Histoirs de France, p. 273, et +seq.] that England owes her liberties to her having been +conquered by the Normans. It is true that the Saxon institutions +were the primitive cradle of English liberty, but by their own +intrinsic force they could never have founded the enduring free +English constitution. It was the Conquest that infused into them +a new virtue; and the political liberties of England arose from +the situation in which the Anglo-Saxon and the Anglo-Norman +populations and laws found themselves placed relatively to each +other in this island. The state of England under her last Anglo- +Saxon kings closely resembled the state of France under the last +Carlovingian, and the first Capetian princes. The crown was +feeble, the great nobles were strong and turbulent. And although +there was more national unity in Saxon England than in France; +although the English local free institutions had more reality and +energy than was the case with anything analogous to them on the +Continent in the eleventh century, still the probability is that +the Saxon system of polity, if left to itself, would have fallen +into utter confusion, out of which would have arisen first an +aristocratic hierarchy like that which arose in France, next an +absolute monarchy, and finally a series of anarchical +revolutions, such as we now behold around, but not among us. +[See Guizot, UT SUPRA.] + +The latest conquerors of this island were also the bravest and +the best. I do not except even the Romans. And, in spite of our +sympathies with Harold and Hereward, and our abhorrence of the +founder of the New Forest, and the desolator of Yorkshire, we +must confess the superiority of the Normans to the Anglo-Saxons +and Anglo-Danes, whom they met here in 1066, as well as to the +degenerate Frank noblesse and the crushed and servile Romanesque +provincials, from whom, in 912, they had wrested the district in +the north of Gaul which still bears the name of Normandy. + +It was not merely by extreme valour and ready subordination or +military discipline, that the Normans were pre-eminent among all +the conquering races of the Gothic stock, but also by their +instinctive faculty of appreciating and adopting the superior +civilizations which they encountered. Thus Duke Rollo and his +Scandinavian warriors readily embraced the creed, the language, +the laws, and the arts which France, in those troubled and evil +times with which the Capetian dynasty commenced, still inherited +from imperial Rome and imperial Charlemagne. They adopted the +customs, the duties, the obedience that the capitularies of +emperors and kings had established; but that which they brought +to the application of those laws, was the spirit of life, the +spirit of liberty--the habits also of military subordination, and +the aptness for a state politic, which could reconcile the +security of all with the independence of each. [Sismondi, +Histoire des Francais, vol. iii. p. 174.] So also in all +chivalric feelings, in enthusiastic religious zeal, in almost +idolatrous respect to females of gentle birth, in generous +fondness for the nascent poetry of the time, in a keen +intellectual relish for subtle thought and disputation, in a +taste for architectural magnificence, and all courtly refinement +and pageantry, the Normans were the Paladins of the world. Their +brilliant qualities were sullied by many darker traits of pride, +of merciless cruelty, and of brutal contempt for the industry, +the rights, and the feelings of all whom they considered the +lower classes of mankind. + +Their gradual blending with the Saxons softened these harsh and +evil points of their national character, and in return they fired +the duller Saxon mass with a new spirit of animation and power. +As Campbell boldly expressed it, "THEY HIGH-METTLED THE BLOOD OF +OUR VEINS." Small had been the figure which England made in the +world before the coming over of the Normans; and without them she +never would have emerged from insignificance. The authority of +Gibbon may be taken as decisive when he pronounces that, +"Assuredly England was a gainer by the Conquest." and we may +proudly adopt the comment of the Frenchman Rapin, who, writing of +the battle of Hastings more than a century ago, speaks of the +revolution effected by it, as "the first step by which England +has arrived to that height of grandeur and glory we behold it in +at present." [Rapin, Hist. England, p. 164. See also Sharon +Turner, vol. iv. p. 72; and, above all, Palgrave's Normandy and +England.] + +The interest of this eventful struggle, by which William of +Normandy became King of England, is materially enhanced by the +high personal characters of the competitors for our crown. They +were three in number. One was a foreign prince from the North. +One was a foreign prince from the South: and one was a native +hero of the land. Harald Hardrada, the strongest and the most +chivalric of the kings of Norway, was the first; [See in Snerre +the Saga of Harald Hardrada.] Duke William of Normandy was the +second; and the Saxon Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, was the +third. Never was a nobler prize sought by nobler champions, or +striven for more gallantly. The Saxon triumphed over the +Norwegian, and the Norman triumphed over the Saxon: but Norse +valour was never more conspicuous than when Harald Hardrada and +his host fought and fell at Stamford Bridge; nor did Saxons ever +face their foes more bravely than our Harold and his men on the +fatal day of Hastings. + +During the reign of King Edward the Confessor over this land, the +claims of the Norwegian king to our Crown were little thought of; +and though Hardrada's predecessor, King Magnus of Norway had on +one occasion asserted that, by virtue of a compact with our +former king, Hardicanute, he was entitled to the English throne, +no serious attempt had been made to enforce his pretensions. But +the rivalry of the Saxon Harold and the Norman William was +foreseen and bewailed by the Confessor, who was believed to have +predicted on his death-bed the calamities that were pending over +England. Duke William was King Edward's kinsman. Harold was the +head of the most powerful noble house, next to the royal blood, +in England; and personally, he was the bravest and most popular +chieftain in the land. King Edward was childless, and the +nearest collateral heir was a puny unpromising boy. England had +suffered too severely during royal minorities, to make the +accession of Edgar Atheling desirable; and long before King +Edward's death, Earl Harold was the destined king of the nation's +choice, though the favour of the Confessor was believed to lean +towards the Norman duke. + +A little time before the death of King Edward, Harold was in +Normandy. The causes of the voyage of the Saxon earl to the +continent are doubtful; but the fact of his having been, in 1065, +at the ducal court, and in the power of his rival, is +indisputable. William made skilful and unscrupulous use of the +opportunity. Though Harold was treated with outward courtesy and +friendship, he was made fully aware that his liberty and life +depended on his compliance with the Duke's requests. William +said to him, in apparent confidence and cordiality, "When King +Edward and I once lived like brothers under the same roof, he +promised that if ever be became King of England, he would make me +heir to his throne. Harold, I wish that thou wouldst assist me +to realize this promise." Harold replied with expressions of +assent: and further agreed, at William's request, to marry +William's daughter Adela, and to send over his own sister to be +married to one of William's barons. The crafty Norman was not +content with this extorted promise; he determined to bind Harold +by a more solemn pledge, which if broken, would be a weight on +the spirit of the gallant Saxon, and a discouragement to others +from adopting his cause. Before a full assembly of the Norman +barons, Harold was required to do homage to Duke William, as the +heir-apparent of the English crown. Kneeling down, Harold placed +his hands between those of the Duke, and repeated the solemn +form, by which he acknowledged the Duke as his lord, and promised +to him fealty and true service. But William exacted more. He +had caused all the bones and relics of saints, that were +preserved in the Norman monasteries and churches, to be collected +into a chest, which was placed in the council-room, covered over +with a cloth of gold. On the chest of relics, which were thus +concealed, was laid a missal. The Duke then solemnly addressed +his titular guest and real captive, and said to him, "Harold, I +require thee, before this noble assembly, to confirm by oath the +promises which thou hast made me, to assist me in obtaining the +crown of England after King Edward's death, to marry my daughter +Adela, and to send me thy sister, that I may give her in marriage +to one of my barons." Harold, once more taken by surprise, and +not able to deny his former words, approached the missal, and +laid his hand on it, not knowing that the chest of relics was +beneath. The old Norman chronicler, who describes the scene most +minutely, [Wace, Roman de Rou. I have nearly followed his +words.] says, when Harold placed his hand on it, the hand +trembled, and the flesh quivered; but he swore, and promised upon +his oath, to take Ele [Adela] to wife, and to deliver up England +to the Duke, and thereunto to do all in his power, according to +his might and wit, after the death of Edward, if he himself +should live: so help him God. Many cried, "God grant it!" and +when Harold rose from his knees, the Duke made him stand close to +the chest, and took off the pall that had covered it, and showed +Harold upon what holy relics he had sworn; and Harold was sorely +alarmed at the sight. + +Harold was soon, after this permitted to return to England; and, +after a short interval, during which he distinguished himself by +the wisdom and humanity with which he pacified some formidable +tumults of the Anglo-Danes in Northumbria, he found himself +called on to decide whether he would keep the oath which the +Norman had obtained from him, or mount the vacant throne of +England in compliance with the nation's choice. King Edward the +Confessor died on the 5th of January, 1066, and on the following +day an assembly of the thanes and prelates present in London, and +of the citizens of-the metropolis, declared that Harold should be +their king. It was reported that the dying Edward had nominated +him as his successor; but the sense which his countrymen +entertained of his pre-eminent merit was the true foundation of +his title to the crown. Harold resolved to disregard the oath +which he made in Normandy, as violent and void, and on the 7th +day of that January he was anointed King of England, and received +from the archbishop's hands the golden crown and sceptre of +England, and also an ancient national symbol, a weighty battle- +axe. He had deep and speedy need of this significant part of the +insignia of Saxon royalty. + +A messenger from Normandy soon arrived to remind Harold of the +oath which he had sworn to the Duke "with his mouth, and his hand +upon good and holy relics." "It is true," replied the Saxon +king, "that I took an oath to William; but I took it under +constraint: I promised what did not belong to me--what I could +not in any way hold: my royalty is not my own; I could not lay +it down against the will of the country, nor can I against the +will of the country take a foreign wife. As for my sister, whom +the Duke claims that he may marry her to one of his chiefs, she +has died within the year; would he have me send her corpse?" + +William sent another message, which met with a similar answer; +and then the Duke published far and wide through Christendom what +he termed the perjury and bad faith of his rival; and proclaimed +his intention of asserting his rights by the sword before the +year should expire, and of pursuing and punishing the perjurer +even in those places where he thought he stood most strongly and +most securely. + +Before, however, he commenced hostilities, William, with deep +laid policy submitted his claims to the decision of the Pope. +Harold refused to acknowledge this tribunal, or to answer before +an Italian priest for his title as an English king. After a +formal examination of William's complaints by the Pope and the +cardinals, it was solemnly adjudged at Rome that England belonged +to the Norman duke; and a banner was sent to William from the +holy see, which the Pope himself had consecrated and blessed for +the invasion of this island. The clergy throughout the continent +were now assiduous and energetic in preaching up William's +enterprise as undertaken in the cause of God. Besides these +spiritual arms (the effect of which in the eleventh century must +not be measured by the philosophy or the indifferentism of the +nineteenth), the Norman duke applied all the energies of his mind +and body, all the resources of his duchy, and all the influence +he possessed among vassals or allies, to the collection of "the +most remarkable and formidable armament which the Western nations +had witnessed." [Sir James Mackintosh's History of England, vol. +i. p. 97.] All the adventurous spirits of Christendom flocked +to the holy banner, under which Duke William, the most renowned +knight and sagest general of the age, promised to lead them to +glory and wealth in the fair domains of England. His army was +filled with the chivalry of continental Europe, all eager to save +their souls by fighting at the Pope's bidding, ardent to +signalise their valour in so great an enterprise, and longing +also for the pay and the plunder which William liberally +promised. But the Normans themselves were the pith and the +flower of the army; and William himself was the strongest, the +sagest, and fiercest spirit of them all. + +Throughout the spring and summer of 1066, all the seaports of +Normandy, Picardy, and Brittany rang with the busy sound of +preparation. On the opposite side of the Channel, King Harold +collected the army and the fleet with which he hoped to crush the +southern invaders. But the unexpected attack of King Harald +Hardrada of Norway upon another part of England, disconcerted the +skilful measures which the Saxon had taken against the menacing +armada of Duke William. + +Harold's renegade brother, Earl Tostig, had excited the Norse +king to this enterprise, the importance of which has naturally +been eclipsed by the superior interest attached to the victorious +expedition of Duke William, but which was on a scale of grandeur +which the Scandinavian ports had rarely, if ever, before +witnessed. Hardrada's fleet consisted of two hundred war-ships, +and three hundred other vessels, and all the best warriors of +Norway were in his host. He sailed first to the Orkneys, where +many of the islanders joined him, and then to Yorkshire. After a +severe conflict near York, he completely routed Earls Edwin and +Morcar, the governors of Northumbria. The city of York opened +its gates, and all the country, from the Tyne to the Humber, +submitted to him. The tidings of the defeat of Edwin and Morcar +compelled Harold to leave his position an the southern coast, and +move instantly against the Norwegians. By a remarkably rapid, +march, he reached Yorkshire in four days, and took the Norse king +and his confederates by surprise. Nevertheless, the battle which +ensued, and which was fought near Stamford Bridge, was desperate, +and was long doubtful. Unable to break the ranks of the +Norwegian phalanx by force, Harold at length tempted them to quit +their close order by a pretended flight. Then the English +columns burst in among them, and a carnage ensued, the extent of +which may be judged of by the exhaustion and inactivity of Norway +for a quarter of a century afterwards. King Harald Hardrada, and +all the flower of his nobility, perished on the 25th of +September, 1066, at Stamford Bridge; a battle which was a Flodden +to Norway. + +Harold's victory was splendid; but he had bought it dearly by the +fall of many of his best officers and men; and still more dearly +by the opportunity which Duke William had gained of effecting an +unopposed landing on the Sussex coast. The whole of William's +shipping had assembled at the mouth of the Dive, a little river +between the Seine and the Orme, as early as the middle of August. +The army which he had collected, amounted to fifty thousand +knights, and ten thousand soldiers of inferior degree. Many of +the knights were mounted, but many must have served on foot; as +it is hardly possible to believe that William could have found +transports for the conveyance of fifty thousand war-horses across +the Channel. For a long time the winds were adverse; and the +Duke employed the interval that passed before he could set sail +in completing the organization and in improving the discipline of +his army; which he seems to have brought into the same state of +perfection, as was seven centuries and a half afterwards the +boast of another army assembled on the same coast, and which +Napoleon designed (but providentially in vain) for a similar +descent upon England. + +It was not till the approach of the equinox that the wind veered +from the north-east to the west, and gave the Normans an +opportunity of quitting the weary shores of the Dive. They +eagerly embarked, and set sail; but the wind soon freshened to a +gale, and drove them along the French coast to St. Valery, where +the greater part of them found shelter; but many of their vessels +were wrecked and the whole coast of Normandy was strewn with the +bodies of the drowned. William's army began to grow discouraged +and averse to the enterprise, which the very elements thus seemed +to fight against; though in reality the north-east wind which had +cooped them so long at the mouth of the Dive, and the western +gale which had forced them into St. Valery, were the best +possible friends to the invaders. They prevented the Normans +from crossing the Channel until the Saxon king and his army of +defence had been called away from the Sussex coast to encounter +Harald Hardrada in Yorkshire: and also until a formidable +English fleet, which by King Harold's orders had been cruising in +the Channel to intercept the Normans, had been obliged to +disperse temporarily for the purpose of refitting and taking in +fresh stores of provisions. + +Duke William used every expedient to re-animate the drooping +spirits of his men at St. Valery; and at last he caused the body +of the patron saint of the place to be exhumed and carried in +solemn procession, while the whole assemblage of soldiers, +mariners, and appurtenant priests implored the saint's +intercession for a change of wind. That very night the wind +veered, and enabled the mediaeval Agamemnon to quit his Aulia. + +With full sails, and a following southern breeze, the Norman +armada left the French shores and steered for England. The +invaders crossed an undefended sea, and found an undefended +coast. It was in Pevensey Bay in Sussex, at Bulverhithe, between +the castle of Pevensey and Hastings, that the last conquerors of +this island landed, on the 29th of September, 1066. + +Harold was at York, rejoicing over his recent victory, which had +delivered England from her ancient Scandinavian foes, and +resettling the government of the counties which Harald Hardrada +had overrun, when the tidings reached him that Duke William of +Normandy and his host had landed on the Sussex shore. Harold +instantly hurried southward to meet this long-expected enemy. +The severe loss which his army had sustained in the battle with +the Norwegians must have made it impossible for any large number +of veteran troops to accompany him in his forced march to London, +and thence to Sussex. He halted at the capital only six days; +and during that time gave orders for collecting forces from his +southern and midland counties, and also directed his fleet to +reassemble off the Sussex coast. Harold was well received in +London, and his summons to arms was promptly obeyed by citizen, +by thane, by sokman, and by ceorl; for he had shown himself +during his brief reign a just and wise king, affable to all men, +active for the good of his country, and (in the words of the old +historian) sparing himself from no fatigue by land or sea. [See +Roger de Hoveden and William of Malmesbury, cited in Thierry, +book iii.] He might have gathered a much more numerous force +than that of William, but his recent victory had made, him over- +confident, and he was irritated by the reports of the country +being ravaged by the invaders. As soon therefore, as he had +collected a small army in London, he marched off towards the +coast: pressing forward as rapidly as his men could traverse +Surrey and Sussex in the hope of taking the Normans unawares, as +he had recently by a similar forced march succeeded in surprising +the Norwegians. But he had now to deal with a foe equally brave +with Harald Hardrada, and far more skilful and wary. + +The old Norman chroniclers describe the preparations of William +on his landing, with a graphic vigour, which would be wholly lost +by transfusing their racy Norman couplets and terse Latin prose +into the current style of modern history. It is best to follow +them closely, though at the expense of much quaintness and +occasional uncouthness of expression. They tell us how Duke +William's own ship was the first of the Norman fleet. "It was +called the Mora, and was the gift of his duchess, Matilda. On +the head of the ship in the front, which mariners call the prow, +there was a brazen child bearing an arrow with a bended bow. His +face was turned towards England, and thither he looked, as though +he was about to shoot. The breeze became soft and sweet, and the +sea was smooth for their landing. The ships ran on dry land, and +each ranged by the other's side. There you might see the good +sailors, the sergeants, and squires sally forth and unload the +ships; cast the anchors, haul the ropes, bear out shields and +saddles, and land the war-horses and palfreys. The archers came +forth, and touched land the first, each with his bow strong and +with his quiver full of arrows, slung at his side. All were +shaven and shorn; and all clad in short garments, ready to +attack, to shoot, to wheel about and skirmish. All stood well +equipped, and of good courage for the fight; and they scoured the +whole shore, but found not an armed man there. After the archers +had thus gone forth, the knights landed all armed, with their +hauberks on, their shields slung at their necks, and their +helmets laced. They formed together on the shore, each armed, +and mounted on his war-horse: all had their swords girded on, +and rode forward into the country with their lances raised. Then +the carpenters landed, who had great axes in their hands, and +planes and adzes hung at their sides. They took counsel +together, and sought for a good spot to place a castle on. They +had brought with them in the fleet, three wooden castles from +Normandy, in pieces, all ready for framing together, and they +took the materials of one of these out of the ships, all shaped +and pierced to receive the pins which they had brought cut and +ready in large barrels; and before evening had set in, they had +finished a good fort on the English ground, and there they placed +their stores. All then ate and drank enough, and were right glad +that they were ashore. + +"When Duke William himself landed, as he stepped on the shore, he +slipped and fell forward upon his two hands. Forthwith all +raised a loud cry of distress. 'An evil sign,' said they, 'is +here.' But he cried out lustily, 'See, my lords! by the +splendour of God, [William's customary oath.] I have taken +possession of England with both my hands. It is now mine; and +what is mine is yours.' + +"The next day they marched along the sea-shore to Hastings. Near +that place the Duke fortified a camp, and set up the two other +wooden castles. The foragers, and those who looked out for +booty, seized all the clothing and provisions they could find, +lest what had been brought by the ships should fail them. And +the English were to be seen fleeing before them, driving off +their cattle, and quitting their houses. Many took shelter in +burying-places, and even there they were in grievous alarm." + +Besides the marauders from the Norman camp, strong bodies of +cavalry were detached by William into the country, and these, +when Harold and his army made their rapid march from London +southward, fell, back in good order upon the main body of the +Normans, and reported that the Saxon king was rushing on like a +madman. But Harold, when he found that his hopes of surprising +his adversary were vain changed his tactics, and halted about +seven miles from the Norman lines. He sent some spies, who spoke +the French language, to examine the number and preparations of +the enemy, who, on their return, related with astonishment that +there were more priests in William's camp than there were +fighting men in the English army. They had mistaken for priests +all the Norman soldiers who had short hair and shaven chins; for +the English layman were then accustomed to wear long hair and +mustachios, Harold, who knew the Norman usages, smiled at their +words and said, "Those whom you have seen in such numbers are not +priests, but stout soldiers, as they will soon make us feel." + +Harold's army was far inferior in number to that of the Normans, +and some of his captains advised him to retreat upon London, and +lay waste the country, so as to starve down the strength, of the +invaders. The policy thus recommended was unquestionably the +wisest; for the Saxon fleet had now reassembled, and intercepted +all William's communications with Normandy; so that as soon as +his stores of provisions were exhausted he must have moved +forward upon London; where Harold, at the head of the full +military strength of the kingdom, could have defied his assault, +and probably might have witnessed his rival's destruction by +famine and disease, without having to strike a single blow. But +Harold's bold blood was up, and his kindly heart could not endure +to inflict on his South Saxon subjects even the temporary misery +of wasting the country. "He would not burn houses and villages, +neither would he take away the substance of his people." + +Harold's brothers, Gurth and Leofwine, were with him in the camp, +and Gurth endeavoured to persuade him to absent himself from the +battle. The incident shows how well devised had been William's +scheme of binding Harold by the oath on the holy relics. "My +brother", said the young Saxon prince, "thou canst not deny that +either by force or free-will thou hast made Duke William an oath +on the bodies of saints. Why then risk thyself in the battle +with a perjury upon thee? To us, who have sworn nothing, this is +a holy and a just war, for we are fighting for our country. +Leave us then, alone to fight this battle, and he who has the +right will win." Harold replied that he would not look on while +others risked their lives for him. Men would hold him a coward, +and blame him for sending his best friends where he dared not go +himself. He resolved, therefore, to fight, and to fight in +person: but he was still too good a general to be the assailant +in the action. He strengthened his position on the hill where he +had halted, by a palisade of stakes interlaced with osier +hurdles, and there, he said, he would defend himself against +whoever should seek him. + +The ruins of Battle Abbey at this hour attest the place where +Harold's army was posted. The high altar of the abbey stood on +the very spot where Harold's own standard was planted during the +fight, and where the carnage was the thickest. Immediately after +his victory William vowed to build an abbey on the site; and a +fair and stately pile soon rose there, where for many ages the +monks prayed, and said masses for the souls of those who were +slain in the battle, whence the abbey took its name. Before that +time the place was called Senlac. Little of the ancient edifice +now remains: but it is easy to trace among its relics and in the +neighbourhood the scenes of the chief incidents in the action; +and it is impossible to deny the generalship shown by Harold in +stationing his men; especially when we bear in mind that he was +deficient in cavalry, the arm in which his adversary's main +strength consisted. + +A neck of hills trends inwards for nearly seven miles from the +high ground immediately to the north-east of Hastings. The line +of this neck of hills is from south-east to north-west, and the +usual route from Hastings to London must, in ancient as in modern +times, have been along its summits. At the distance from +Hastings which has been mentioned, the continuous chain of hills +ceases. A valley must be crossed, and on the other side of it, +opposite to the last of the neck of hills, rises a high ground of +some extent, facing to the south-east. This high ground, then +termed Senlac, was occupied by Harold's army. It could not be +attacked in front without considerable disadvantage to the +assailants, and could hardly be turned without those engaged in +the manoeuvre exposing themselves to a fatal charge in flank, +while they wound round the base of the height, and underneath the +ridges which project from it on either side. There was a rough +and thickly-wooded district in the rear, which seemed to offer +Harold great facilities for rallying his men, and checking the +progress of the enemy, if they should succeed in forcing him back +from his post. And it seemed scarcely possible that the Normans, +if they met with any repulse, could save themselves from utter +destruction. With such hopes and expectations (which cannot be +termed unreasonable, though "Successum Dea dira negavit,") King +Harold bade his standard be set up a little way down the slope of +Senlac-hill, at the point where the ascent from the valley was +least steep, and on which the fiercest attacks of the advancing +enemy were sure to be directed. + +The foundation-stones of the high altar of Battle Abbey have, +during late years, been discovered; and we may place our feet on +the very spot where Harold stood with England's banner waving +over him; where, when the battle was joined, he defended himself +to the utmost; where the fatal arrow came down on him; where he +"leaned in agony on his shield;" and where at last he was beaten +to the earth, and with him the Saxon banner was beaten down, like +him never to rise again. The ruins of the altar are a little to +the west of the high road, which leads from Hastings along the +neck of hills already described, across the valley, and through +the modern town of Battle, towards London. Before a railway was +made along this valley, some of the old local features were more +easy than now to recognise. The eye then at once saw that the +ascent from the valley was least steep at the point which Harold +selected for his own post in the engagement. But this is still +sufficiently discernible; and we can fix the spot, a little lower +down the slope, immediately in front of the high altar, where the +brave Kentish men stood, "whose right it was to strike first when +ever the king went to battle," and who, therefore, were placed +where the Normans would be most likely to make their first +charge. Round Harold himself, and where the plantations wave +which now surround the high altar's ruins, stood the men of +London, "whose privilege it was to guard the king's body, to +place themselves around it, and to guard his standard." On the +right and left were ranged the other warriors of central and +southern England, whose shires the old Norman chronicler distorts +in his French nomenclature. Looking thence in the direction of +Hastings, we can distinguish the "ridge of the rising ground over +which the Normans appeared advancing." It is the nearest of the +neck of hills. It is along that hill that Harold and his +brothers saw approach in succession the three divisions of the +Norman army. The Normans came down that slope, and then formed +in the valley, so as to assault the whole front of the English +position. Duke William's own division, with "the best men and +greatest strength of the army, made the Norman centre, and +charged the English immediately in front of Harold's banner, as +the nature of the ground had led the Saxon king to anticipate. + +There are few battles the localities of which can be more +completely traced; and the whole scene is fraught with +associations of deep interest: but the spot which, most of all, +awakens our sympathy and excites our feelings, is that where +Harold himself fought and fell. The crumbling fragments of the +grey altar-stones, with the wild flowers that cling around their +base, seem fitting memorials of the brave Saxon who there bowed +his head in death; while the laurel-trees that are planted near, +and wave over the ruins, remind us of the Conqueror, who there, +at the close of that dreadful day, reared his victorious standard +high over the trampled banner of the Saxon, and held his +triumphant carousal amid the corses of the slain, with his Norman +chivalry exulting around him. + +When it was known in the invaders' camp at Hastings that King +Harold had marched southward with his power, but a brief interval +ensued before the two hosts met in decisive encounter. + +William's only chance of safety lay in bringing on a general +engagement; and he joyfully advanced his army from their camp on +the hill over Hastings, nearer to the Saxon position. But he +neglected no means of weakening his opponent, and renewed his +summonses and demands on Harold with an ostentatious air of +sanctity and moderation. + +"A monk named Hugues Maigrot came in William's name to call upon +the Saxon king to do one of three things--either to resign his +royalty in favour of William, or to refer it to the arbitration +of the Pope to decide which of the two ought to be king, or to +let it be determined by the issue of a single combat. Harold +abruptly replied, 'I will not resign my title, I will not refer +it to the Pope, nor will I accept the single combat.' He was far +from being deficient in bravery; but he was no more at liberty to +stake the crown which he had received from a whole people on the +chance of a duel, than to deposit it in the hands of an Italian +priest. William was not at all ruffled by the Saxon's refusal, +but steadily pursuing the course of his calculated measures, sent +the Norman monk again, after giving him these instructions:--'Go +and tell Harold, that if he will keep his former compact with me, +I will leave to him all the country which is beyond the Humber, +and will give his brother Gurth all the lands which Godwin held. +If he still persist in refusing my offers, then thou shalt tell +him, before all his people, that he is a perjurer and a liar; +that he, and all who shall support him, are excommunicated by the +mouth of the Pope; and that the bull to that effect is in my +hands.' + +"Hugues Maigrot delivered this message in a solemn tone; and the +Norman chronicle says that at the word EXCOMMUNICATION, the +English chiefs looked at one another as if some great danger were +impending. One of them then spoke as follows: 'We must fight, +whatever may be the danger to us; for what we have to consider is +not whether we shall accept and receive a new lord as if our king +were dead: the case is quite otherwise. The Norman has given +our lands to his captains, to his knights, to all his people, the +greater part of whom have already done homage to him for them; +they will all look for their gift, if their Duke become our king; +and he himself is bound to deliver up to them our goods, our +wives, and our daughters: all is promised to them beforehand. +They come, not only to ruin us, but to ruin our descendants also, +and to take from us the country of our ancestors and what shall +we do--whither shall we go--when we have no longer a country?' +The English promised by a unanimous oath, to make neither peace, +nor truce nor treaty, with the invader, but to die, or drive away +the Normans." [Thierry.] + +The 13th of October was occupied in these negotiations; and at +night the Duke announced to his men that the next day would, be +the day of battle. That night is said to have been passed by the +two armies in very different manners. The Saxon soldiers spent +it in joviality, singing their national songs, and draining huge +horns of ale and wine round their camp-fires. The Normans, when +they had looked to their arms and horses, confessed themselves to +the priests, with whom their camp was thronged, and received the +sacrament by thousands at a time. + +On Saturday, the 14th of October, was fought the great battle. + +It is not difficult to compose a narrative of its principal +incidents, from the historical information which we possess, +especially if aided by an examination of the ground. But it is +far better to adopt the spirit-stirring words of the old +chroniclers, who wrote while the recollections of the battle were +yet fresh, and while the feelings and prejudices of the +combatants yet glowed in the bosoms of their near descendants. +Robert Wace, the Norman poet, who presented his "Roman de Rou" to +our Henry II., is the most picturesque and animated of the old +writers; and from him we can obtain a more vivid and full +description of the conflict, than even the most brilliant +romance-writer of the present time can supply. We have also an +antique memorial of the battle, more to be relied on than either +chronicler or poet (and which confirms Wace's narrative +remarkably), in the celebrated Bayeux tapestry, which represents +the principal scenes of Duke William's expedition, and of the +circumstances connected with it, in minute though occasionally +grotesque details, and which was undoubtedly the production of +the same age in which the battle took place; whether we admit or +reject the legend that Queen Matilda and the ladies of her court +wrought it with their own hands in honour of the royal Conqueror. + +Let us therefore suffer the old Norman chronicler to transport +our imaginations to the fair Sussex scenery, north-west of +Hastings, with its breezy uplands, its grassy slopes, and ridges +of open down swelling inland from the sparkling sea, its +scattered copses, and its denser glades of intervening forests, +clad in all the varied tints of autumn, as they appeared on the +morning of the fourteenth of October, seven hundred and eighty- +five years ago. The Norman host is pouring forth from its tents; +and each troop, and each company, is forming fast under the +banner of its leader. The masses have been sung, which were +finished betimes in the morning; the barons have all assembled +round Duke William; and the Duke has ordered that the army shall +be formed in three divisions, so as to make the attack upon the +Saxon position in three places. The Duke stood on a hill where +he could best see his men; the barons surrounded him, and he +spake to them proudly. He told them how he trusted them, and how +all that he gained should be theirs; and how sure he felt of +conquest, for in all the world there was not so brave an army or +such good men and true as were then forming around him. Then +they cheered him in turn, and cried out, "'You will not see one +coward; none here will fear to die for love of you, if need be.' +And he answered them, 'I thank you well. For God's sake spare +not; strike hard at the beginning; stay not to take spoil; all +the booty shall be in common, and there will be plenty for +everyone. There will be no safety in asking quarter or in fight: +the English will never love or spare a Norman. Felons they were, +and felons they are; false they were, and false they will be. +Show no weakness towards them, for they will have no pity on you. +Neither the coward for running well, nor the bold man for smiting +well, will be the better liked by the English, nor will any be +the more spared on either account. You may fly to the sea, but +you can fly no further; you will find neither ships nor bridge +there; there will be no sailors to receive you; and the English +will overtake you there and slay you in your shame. More of you +will die in flight than in the battle. Then, as flight will not +secure you, fight, and you will conquer. I have no doubt of the +victory: we are come for glory, the victory is in our hands, and +we may make sure of obtaining it if we so please.' As the Duke +was speaking thus, and would yet have spoken more, William Fitz +Osber rode up with his horse all coated with iron: 'Sire,' said +he, 'we tarry here too long, let us all arm ourselves. ALLONS! +ALLONS!' + +"Then all went to their tents and armed themselves as they best +might; and the Duke was very busy, giving every one his orders; +and he was courteous to all the vassals, giving away many arms +and horses to them. When he prepared to arm himself, he called +first for his good hauberk, and a man brought it on his arm, and +placed it before him, but in putting his head in, to get it on, +he unawares turned it the wrong way, with the back part in front. +He soon changed it, but when he saw that those who stood by were +sorely alarmed, he said, 'I have seen many a man who, if such a +thing had happened to him, would not have borne arms, or entered +the field the same day; but I never believed in omens, and I +never will. I trust in God, for He does in all things His +pleasure, and ordains what is to come to pass, according to His +will. I have never liked fortune-tellers, nor believed in +diviners; but I commend myself to our Lady. Let not this +mischance give you trouble. The hauberk which was turned wrong, +and then set right by me, signifies that a change will arise out +of the matter which we are now stirring. You shall see the name +of duke changed into king. Yea, a king shall I be, who hitherto +have been but duke.' Then he crossed himself and straightway took +his hauberk, stooped his head, and put it on aright, and laced +his helmet, and girt on his sword, which a varlet brought him. +Then the Duke called for his good horse--a better could not be +found. It had been sent him by a king of Spain, out of very +great friendship. Neither arms nor the press of fighting men did +it fear, if its lord spurred it on. Walter Giffard brought it. +The Duke stretched out his hand, took the reins, put foot in +stirrup, and mounted; and the good horse pawed, pranced, reared +himself up, and curvetted. The Viscount of Toarz saw how the +Duke bore himself in arms, and said to his people that were +around him, 'Never have I seen a man so fairly armed, nor one who +rods so gallantly, or bore his arms or became his hauberk so +well; neither any one who bore his lance so gracefully, or sat +his horse and managed him so nobly. There is no such knight +under heaven! a fair count he is, and fair king he will be. Let +him fight, and he shall overcome: shame be to the man who shall +fail him.' + +"Then the Duke called for the standard which the Pope had sent +him, and he who bore it having unfolded it, the Duke took it, +and, called to Raol de Conches. 'Bear my standard,' said he, +'for I would not but do you right; by right and by ancestry your +line are standard-bearers of Normandy, and very good knights have +they all been.' But Raol said that he would serve the Duke that +day in other guise, and would fight the English with his hand as +long as life should last. Then the Duke bade Galtier Giffart +bear the standard. But he was old and white-headed, and bade the +Duke give the standard to some younger and stronger man to carry. +Then the Duke said fiercely, 'By the splendour of God, my lords, +I think you mean to betray and fail me in this great need.'-- +'Sire,' said Giffart, 'not so! we have done no treason, nor do I +refuse from any felony towards you; but I have to lead a great +chivalry, both hired men and the men of my fief. Never had I +such good means of serving you as I now have; and if God please, +I will serve you; if need be, I will die for you, and will give +my own heart for yours. + +"'By my faith,' quoth the Duke, 'I always loved thee, and now I +love thee more; if I survive this day, thou shalt be the better +for it all thy days.' Then he called out a knight, whom he had +heard much praised, Tosteins Fitz-Rou le Blanc by name, whose +abode was at Bec-en-Caux. To him he delivered the standard; and +Tosteins took it right cheerfully, and bowed low to him in +thanks, and bore it gallantly, and with good heart. His kindred +still have quittance of all service for their inheritance on that +account, and their heirs are entitled so to hold their +inheritance for ever. + +"William sat on his war-horse, and called on Rogier, whom they +call De Mongomeri. 'I rely much upon you,' said he: 'lead your +men thitherward, and attack them from that side. William, the +son of Osber the seneschal, a right good vassal, shall go with +you and help in the attack, and you shall have the men of +Boulogne and Poix, and all my soldiers. Alain Fergert and Ameri +shall attack on the other side; they shall lead the Poitevins and +the Bretons, and all the Barons of Maine; and I, with my own +great men, my friends and kindred, will fight in the middle +throng, where the battle shall be the hottest.' + +"The barons, and knights, and men-at-arms were all now armed; the +foot-soldiers were well equipped, each bearing bow and sword; on +their heads were caps, and to their feet were bound buskins. +Some had good hides which they had bound round their bodies; and +many were clad in frocks, and had quivers and bows hung to their +girdles. The knights had hauberks and swords, boots of steel and +shining helmets; shields at their necks, and in their hands +lances. And all had their cognizances, so that each might know +his fellow, and Norman might not strike Norman, nor Frenchman +kill his countryman by mistake. Those on foot led the way, with +serried ranks, bearing their bows. The knights rode next, +supporting the archers from behind. Thus both horse and foot +kept their course and order of march as they began; in close +ranks at a gentle pace, that the one might not pass or separate +from the other. All went firmly and compactly, bearing +themselves gallantly. + +"Harold had summoned his men, earls, barons, and vavassours, +from, the castles and the cities; from the ports, the villages, +and boroughs. The peasants were also called together from the +villages, bearing such arms as they found; clubs and great picks, +iron forge and stages. The English had enclosed the place where +Harold was, with his friends and the barons of the country whom +he had summoned and called together. + +"Those of London had come at once, and those of Kent, Hartfort, +and of Essesse; those of Suree and Susesse, of St. Edmund and +Sufoc; of Norwis and Norfoc; of Cantorbierre and Stanfort +Bedefort and Hundetone. The men of Northanton also came; and +those of Eurowic and Bokingkeham, of Bed and Notinkeham, Lindesie +and Nichole. There came also from the west all, who heard the +summons; and very many were to be seen coming from Salebiere and +Dorset, from Bat and from Somerset. Many came, too, from about +Glocestre, and many from Wirecestre, from Wincestre, Hontesire, +and Brichesire; and many more from other counties that we have +not named, and cannot indeed recount. All who could bear arms, +and had learnt the news of the Duke's arrival, came to defend the +land. But none came from beyond Humbre, for they had other +business upon their hands; the Danes and Tosti having much +damaged and weakened them. + +"Harold knew that the Normans would come and attack him hand to +hand; so he had early enclosed the field in which he placed his +men. He made them arm early, and range themselves for the +battle; he himself having put on arms and equipments that became +such a lord. The Duke, he said, ought to seek him, as he wanted +to conquer England; and it became him to abide the attack who had +to defend the land. He commanded the people, and counselled his +barons to keep themselves altogether, and defend themselves in a +body; for if they once separated, they would with difficulty +recover themselves. 'The Normans,' he said, 'are good vassals, +valiant on foot and on horseback; good knights are they on +horseback, and well used to battle; all is lost if they once +penetrate our ranks. They have brought long lances and swords, +but you have pointed lances and keen-edged bills; and I do not +expect that their arms can stand against yours. Cleave wherever +you can; it will be ill done if you spare aught.' + +"The English had built up a fence before them with their shields, +and with ash and other wood; and had well joined and wattled in +the whole work, so as not to leave even a crevice; and thus they +had a barricade in their front, through which any Norman who +would attack them must first pass. Being covered in this way by +their shields and barricades, their aim was to defend themselves: +and if they had remained steady for that purpose, they would not +have been conquered that day; for every Norman who made his way +in, lost his life, either by hatchet, or bill, by club, or other +weapons. They wore short and close hauberks, and helmets that +hung over their garments. King Harold issued orders and made +proclamation round, that all should be ranged with their faces +towards the enemy; and that no one should move from where he was; +so that, whoever came, might find them ready; and that whatever +any one, be he Norman or other, should do, each should do his +best to defend his own place. Then he ordered the men of Kent to +go where the Normans were likely to make the attack; for they say +that the men of Kent are entitled to strike first; and that +whenever the king goes to battle, the first blow belongs to them. +The right of the men of London is to guard the king's body, to +place themselves around him, and to guard his standard; and they +were accordingly placed by the standard to watch and defend it. + +"When Harold had made his reply, and given his orders, he came +into the midst of the English, and dismounted by the side of the +standard: Leofwin and Gurth, his brothers, were with him, and +around him he had barons enough, as he stood by his standard, +which was in truth a noble one, sparkling with gold and precious +stones. After the victory, William sent it to the Pope, to prove +and commemorate his great conquest and glory. The English stood +in close ranks, ready and eager for the fight; and they moreover +made a fosse, which went across the field, guarding one side of +their army, + +"Meanwhile the Normans appeared advancing over the ridge of a +rising ground; and the first division of their troops moved +onwards along the hill and across a vallley. And presently +another division, still larger, came in sight, close following +upon the first, and they were led towards another part of the +field, forming together as the first body had done. And while +Harold saw and examined them, and was pointing them out to Gurth, +a fresh company came in sight, covering all the plain; and in the +midst of them was raised the standard that came from Rome. Near +it was the Duke, and the best men and greatest strength of the +army were there. The good knights, the good vassals, and brave +warriors were there; and there were gathered together the gentle +barons, the good archers, and the men-at-arms, whose duty it was +to guard the Duke, and range themselves around him. The youths +and common herd of the camp, whose business was not to join in +the battle, but to take care of the harness and stores, moved on +towards a rising ground. The priests and the clerks also +ascended a hill, there to offer up prayers to God, and watch the +event of the battle. + +"The English stood firm on foot in close ranks, and carried +themselves right boldly. Each man had his hauberk on, with his +sword girt, and his shield at his neck. Great hatchets were also +slung at their necks, with which they expected to strike heavy +blows. + +"The Normans brought on the three divisions of their army to +attack at different places. They set out in three companies, and +in three companies did they fight. The first and second had come +up, and then advanced the third, which was the greatest; with +that came the Duke with his own men, and all moved boldly +forward. + +"As soon as the two armies were in full view of each other, great +noise and tumult arose. You might hear the sound of many +trumpets, of bugles, and of horns: and then you might see men +ranging themselves in line, lifting their shields, raising their +lances, bending their bows, handling their arrows, ready for +assault and defence. + +"The English stood ready to their post, the Normans still moved +on; and when they drew near, the English were to be seen stirring +to and fro; were going and coming; troops ranging themselves in +order; some with their colour rising, others turning pale; some +making ready their arms, others raising their shields; the brave +man rousing himself to fight, the coward trembling at the +approach of danger. + +"Then Taillefer, who sang right well, rode mounted on a swift +horse, before the Duke, singing of Charlemagne and of Roland, of +Olivier and the Peers who died in Roncesvalles. and when they +drew nigh to the English, 'A boon, sire !' cried Taillefer; 'I +have long served you, and you owe me for all such service. To- +day, so please you, you shall repay it. I ask as my guerdon, and +beseech you for it earnestly, that you will allow me to strike +the first blow in the battle!' And the Duke answered, 'I grant +it.' Then Taillefer put his horse to a gallop, charging before +all the rest, and struck an Englishman dead, driving his lance +below the breast into his body, and stretching him upon the +ground. Then he drew his sword, and struck another, crying out, +'Come on, come on! What do ye, sirs! lay on, lay on!' At the +second blow he struck, the English pushed forward, and surrounded +and slew him. Forthwith arose the noise and cry of war, and on +either side the people put themselves in motion. + +"The Normans moved on to the assault, and the English defended +themselves well. Some were striking, others urging onwards; all +were bold, and cast aside fear. And now, behold, that battle was +gathered, whereof the fame is yet mighty. + +"Loud and far resounded the bray of the horns; and the shocks of +the lances, the mighty strokes of maces, and the quick clashing +of swords. One while the Englishmen rushed on, another while +they fell back; one while the men from over the sea charged +onwards, and again at other times retreated. The Normans shouted +'Dex aie,' the English people 'Out.' Then came the cunning +manoeuvres, the rude shocks and strokes of the lance and blows of +the swords, among the sergeants and soldiers, both English and +Norman. + +"When the English fall, the Normans shout. Each side taunts and +defies the other, yet neither knoweth what the other saith; and +the Normans say the English bark, because they understand not +their speech. + +"Some wax strong, others weak: the brave exult, but the cowards +tremble, as men who are sore dismayed. The Normans press on the +assault, and the English defend their post well: they pierce the +hauberks, and cleave the shields, receive and return mighty +blows. Again, some press forwards, others yield; and thus in +various ways the struggle proceeds. In the plain was a fosse, +which the Normans had now behind them, having passed it in the +fight without regarding it. But the English charged, and drove +the Normans before them till they made them fall back upon this +fosse, overthrowing into it horses and men. Many were to be seen +falling therein, rolling one over the other, with their faces to +the earth, and unable to rise. Many of the English, also, whom +the Normans drew down along with them, died there. At no time +during the day's battle did so many Normans die as perished in +that fosse. So those said who saw the dead. + +"The varlets who were set to guard the harness began to abandon +it as they saw the loss of the Frenchmen, when thrown back upon +the fosse without power to recover themselves. Being greatly +alarmed at seeing the difficulty in restoring order, they began +to quit the harness, and sought around, not knowing where to find +shelter. Then Duke William's brother, Odo, the good priest, the +Bishop of Bayeux, galloped up, and said to them, 'Stand fast! +stand fast! be quiet and move not! fear nothing, for if God +please, we shall conquer yet.' So they took courage, and rested +where they were; and Odo returned galloping back to where the +battle was most fierce, and was of great service on that day. He +had put hauberk on, over a white aube, wide in the body, with the +sleeve tight; and sat on a white horse, so that all might +recognise him. In his hand he held a mace, and wherever he saw +most need he held up and stationed the knights, and often urged +them on to assault and strike the enemy. + +"From nine o'clock in the morning, when the combat began, till +three o'clock came, the battle was up and down, this way and +that, and no one knew who would conquer and win the land. Both +sides stood so firm and fought so well, that no one could guess +which would prevail. The Norman archers with their bows shot +thickly upon the English; but they covered themselves with their +shields, so that the arrows could not reach their bodies, nor do +any mischief, how true soever was their aim, or however well they +shot. Then the Normans determined to shoot their arrows upwards +into the air, so that they might fall on their enemies' heads, +and strike their faces. The archers adopted this scheme, and +shot up into the air towards the English; and the arrows in +falling struck their heads and faces, and put out the eyes of +many; and all feared to open their eyes, or leave their faces +unguarded. + +"The arrows now flew thicker than rain before the wind; fast sped +the shafts that the English called 'wibetes.' Then it was that +an arrow, that had been thus shot upwards, struck Harold above his +right eye and put it out. In his agony he drew the arrow and +threw it away, breaking it with his hands; and the pain to his +head was so great, that he leaned upon his shield. So the +English were wont to say, and still say to the French, that the +arrow was well shot which was so sent up against their king; and +that the archer won them great glory, who thus put out Harold's +eye. + +"The Normans saw that the English defended themselves well, and +were so strong in their position that they could do little +against them. So they consulted together privily, and arranged +to draw off, and pretend to flee, till the English should pursue +and scatter themselves over the field; for they saw that if they +could once get their enemies to break: their ranks, they might +be attacked and discomfited much more easily. As they had said, +so they did. The Normans by little and little fled, the English +following them. As the one fell back, the other pressed after; +and when the Frenchmen retreated, the English thought and cried +out that the men of France fled, and would never return. + +"Thus they were deceived by the pretended flight, and great +mischief thereby befell them; for if they had not moved from +their position, it is not likely that they would have been +conquered at all; but like fools they broke their lines and +pursued. + +"The Normans were to be seen following up their stratagem, +retreating slowly so as to draw the English further on. As they +still flee, the English pursue; they push out their lances and +stretch forth their hatchets: following the Normans, as they go +rejoicing in the success of their scheme, and scattering +themselves over the plain. And the English meantime jeered and +insulted their foes with words. 'Cowards,' they cried, 'you came +hither in an evil hour, wanting our lands, and seeking to seize +our property, fools that ye were to come! Normandy is too far +off and you will not easily reach it. It is of little use to run +back; unless you can cross the sea at a leap, or can drink it +dry, your sons and daughters are lost to you. + +"The Normans bore it all, but in fact they knew not what the +English said: their language seemed like the baying of dogs, +which they could not understand. At length they stopped and +turned round, determined to recover their ranks; and the barons +might be heard crying 'Dex aie!' for a halt. Then the Normans +resumed their former position, turning their faces towards the +enemy; and their men were to be seen facing round and rushing +onwards to a fresh MELEE; the one party assaulting the other; +this man striking, another pressing onwards. One hits, another +misses; one flies, another pursues; one is aiming a stroke, while +another discharges his blow. Norman strives with Englishman +again, and aims his blows afresh. One flies, another pursues +swiftly: the combatants are many, the plain wide, the battle and +the MELEE fierce. On every hand they fight hard, the blows are +heavy, and the struggle becomes fierce. + +"The Normans were playing their part well, when an English knight +came rushing up, having in his company a hundred men, furnished +with various arms. He wielded a northern hatchet, with the blade +a full foot long; and was well armed after his manner, being +tall, bold, and of noble carriage. In the front of the battle +where the Normans thronged most, he came bounding on swifter than +the stag, many Normans falling before him and his company. He +rushed straight upon a Norman who was armed and riding on a war- +horse, and tried with, his hatchet of steel to cleave his helmet; +but the blow miscarried and the sharp blade glanced down before +the saddle-bow, driving through the horse's neck down to the +ground, so that both horse and master fell together to the earth. +I know not whether the Englishman struck another blow; but the +Normans who saw the stroke were astonished and about to abandon +the assault, when Roger de Mongomeri came galloping up, with his +lance set, and heeding not the long-handled axe, which the +English-man wielded aloft, struck him down, and left him +stretched upon the ground. Then Roger cried out, 'Frenchmen, +strike! the day is ours!' and again a fierce MELEE was to be +seen, with many a blow of lance and sword; the English still +defending themselves, killing the horses and cleaving the +shields. + +"There was a French soldier of noble mien, who sat his horse +gallantly. He spied two Englishmen who were also carrying +themselves boldly. They were both men of great worth, and had +become companions in arms and fought together, the one protecting +the other. They bore two long and broad bills, and did great +mischief to the Normans, killing both horses and men. The French +soldier looked at them and their bills, and was sore alarmed, for +he was afraid of losing his good horse, the best that he had; and +would willingly have turned to some other quarter, if it would +not have looked like cowardice. He soon, however, recovered his +courage, and spurring his horse gave him the bridle, and galloped +swiftly forward. Fearing the two bills, he raised his shield, +and struck one of the Englishmen with his lance on the breast, so +that the iron passed out at his back; at the moment that he fell +the lance broke, and the Frenchmen seized the mace that hung at +his right side, and struck the other Englishman a blow that +completely broke his skull. + +"On the other side was an Englishman who much annoyed the French, +continually assaulting them with a keen-edged hatchet. He had a +helmet made of wood, which he had fastened down to his coat, and +laced round his neck, so that no blows could reach his head. The +ravage he was making was seen by a gallant Norman knight, who +rode a horse that neither fire nor water could stop in its +career, when its master urged it on. The knight spurred, and his +horse carried him on well till he charged the Englishman, +striking him over the helmet, so that it fell down over his eyes; +and as he stretched out his hand to raise it and uncover the +face, the Norman cut off his right hand, so that his hatchet fell +to the ground. Another Norman sprang forward and eagerly seized +the prize with both his hands, but he kept it little space, and +paid dearly for it, for as he stooped to pick up the hatchet, an +Englishman with his long-handled axe struck him over the back, +breaking all his bones, so that his entrails and lungs gushed +forth. The knight of the good horse meantime returned without +injury; but on his way he met another Englishman, and bore him +down under his his horse, wounding him grievously, and trampling +him altogether under foot. + +"And now might be heard the loud clang and cry of battle, and the +clashing of lances. The English stood firm in their barricades, +and shivered the lances, beating them into pieces with their +bills and maces. The Normans drew their swords, and hewed down +the barricades, and the English in great trouble fell back upon +their standard, where were collected the maimed and wounded. + +"There were many knights of Chauz, who jousted and made attacks. +The English knew not how to joust, or bear arms on horseback but +fought with hatchets and bills. A man when he wanted to strike +with one of their hatchets, was obliged to hold it with both his +hands, and could not at the same time, as it seems to me, both +cover himself and strike with any freedom. + +"The English fell back towards the standard, which was upon a +rising ground, and the Normans followed them across the valley, +attacking them on foot and horseback. Then Hue de Mortemer, with +the sires D'Auviler, D'Onebac, and St. Cler, rode up and charged, +overthrowing many. + +"Robert Fitz Erneis fixed his lance, took his shield, and, +galloping towards the standard, with his keen-edged sword struck +an Englishman who was in front, killed him, and then drawing back +his sword, attacked many others, and pushed straight for the +standard, trying to beat it down, but the English surrounded it, +and killed him with their bills. He was found on the spot, when +they afterwards sought for him, dead, and lying at the standard's +foot. + +"Duke William pressed close upon the English with his lance; +striving hard to reach the standard with the great troop he led; +and seeking earnestly for Harold, on whose account the whole war +was. The Normans follow their lord, and press around him; they +ply their blows upon the English; and these defend themselves +stoutly, striving hard with their enemies, returning blow for +blow. + +"One of them was a man of great strength, a wrestler, who did +great mischief to the Normans with his hatchet; all feared him, +for he struck down a great many Normans. The Duke spurred on his +horse, and aimed a blow at him, but he stooped, and so escaped +the stroke; then jumping on one side, he lifted his hatchet +aloft, and as the Duke bent to avoid the blow the Englishman +boldly struck him on the head, and beat in his helmet, though +without doing much injury. He was very near falling, however, +but bearing on his stirrups he recovered himself immediately; and +when he thought to have revenged himself upon the churl by +killing him, he had escaped, dreading the Duke's blow. He ran +back in among the English, but he was not safe even there; for +the Normans seeing him, pursued and caught him; and having +pierced him through and through with their lances, left him dead +on the ground. + +"Where the throng of the battle was greatest, the men of Kent and +Essex fought wondrously well, and made the Normans again retreat, +but without doing them much injury. And when the Duke saw his +men fall back and the English triumphing over them, his spirit +rose high, and he seized his shield and his lance, which a vassal +handed to him, and took his post by his standard. + +"Then those who kept close guard by him and rode where he rode, +being about a thousand armed men, came and rushed with closed +ranks upon the English; and with the weight of their good horses, +and the blows the knights gave, broke the press of the enemy, and +scattered the crowd before them, the good Duke leading them on in +front. Many pursued and many fled; many were the Englishmen who +fell around, and were trampled under the horses, crawling upon +the earth, and not able to rise. Many of the richest and noblest +men fell in that rout, but the English still rallied in places; +smote down those whom they reached, and maintained the combat the +best they could; beating down the men and killing the horses. +One Englishman watched the Duke, and plotted to kill him; he +would have struck him with his lance, but he could not, for the +Duke struck him first, and felled him to the earth. + +"Loud was now the clamour, and great the slaughter; many a soul +then quitted the body it inhabited. The living marched over the +heaps of dead, and each side was weary of striking. He charged +on who could, and he who could no longer strike still pushed +forward. The strong struggled with the strong; some failed, +others triumphed; the cowards fell back, the brave pressed on; +and sad was his fate who fell in the midst, for he had little +chance of rising again; and many in truth fell, who never rose at +all, being crushed under the throng. + +"And now the Normans pressed on so far, that at last they had +reached the standard. There Harold had remained, defending +himself to the utmost; but he was sorely wounded in his eye by +the arrow, and suffered grievous pain from the blow. An armed +man came in the throng of the battle, and struck him on the +ventaille of his helmet, and beat him to the ground; and as he +sought to recover himself, a knight beat him down again, striking +him on the thick of his thigh, down to the bone. + +"Gurth saw the English falling around, and that there was no +remedy. He saw his race hastening to ruin, and despaired of any +aid; he would have fled but could not, for the throng continually +increased and the Duke pushed on till he reached him, and struck +him with great force. Whether he died of that blow I know not, +but it was said that he fell under it, and rose no more. + +"The standard was beaten down, the golden standard was taken, and +Harold and the best of his friends were slain; but there was so +much eagerness, and throng of so many around, seeking to kill +him, that I know not who it was that slew him. + +"The English were in great trouble at having lost their king, and +at the Duke's having conquered and beat down the standard; but +they still fought on, and defended themselves long, and in fact +till the day drew to a close. Then it clearly appeared to all +that the standard was lost, and the news had spread throughout +the army that Harold for certain was dead; and all saw that there +was no longer any hope, so they left the field, and those fled +who could. + +"William fought well; many an assault did he lead, many a blow +did he give, and many receive, and many fell dead under his hand. +Two horses were killed under him, and he took a third at time of +need, so that he fell not to the ground; and he lost not a drop +of blood. But whatever any one did, and whoever lived or died, +this is certain, that William conquered, and that many of the +English fled from the field, and many died on the spot. Then he +returned thanks to God, and in his pride ordered his standard to +be brought and set up on high where the English standard had +stood; and that was the signal of his having conquered and beaten +down the foe. And he ordered his tent to be raised on the spot +among the dead, and had his meat brought thither, and his supper +prepared there. + +"Then he took off his armour; and the barons and knights, pages +and squires came, when he had unstrung his shield: and they took +the helmet from his head, and the hauberk from his back, and saw +the heavy blows upon his shield, and how his helmet was dinted +in. And all greatly wondered, and said, 'Such a baron never +bestrode war-horse, or dealt such blows, or did such feats of +arms; neither has there been on earth such a knight since Rollant +and Olivier.' + +"Thus they lauded and extolled him greatly, and rejoiced in what +they saw; but grieving also for their friends who were slain in +the battle. And the Duke stood meanwhile among them of noble +stature and mien; and rendered thanks to the King of Glory, +through whom he had the victory; and thanked the knights around +him, mourning also frequently for the dead. And he ate and drank +among the dead, and made his bed that night upon the field. + +"The morrow was Sunday; and those who had slept upon the field of +battle, keeping watch around, and suffering great fatigue, +bestirred themselves at break of day and sought out and buried +such of the bodies of their dead friends as they might find. The +noble ladies of the land also came, some to seek their husbands, +and others their fathers, sons, or brothers. They bore the +bodies to their villages, and interred them at the churches; and +the clerks and priests of the country were ready, and at the +request of their friends, took the bodies that were found, and +prepared graves and laid them therein. + +"King Harold was carried and buried at Varham; but I know not who +it was that bore him thither, neither do I know who buried him. +Many remained on the field, and many had fled in the night." + +Such is a Norman account of the battle of Hastings, which does +full justice to the valour of the Saxons, as well as to the skill +and bravery of the victors. [In the preceding pages, I have +woven together the "purpureos pannos" of the old chronicler. In +so doing, I have largely availed myself of Mr. Edgar Taylor's +version of that part of the "Roman de Rou" which describes the +conquest. By giving engravings from the Bayeux Tapestry, and +excellent notes, Mr. Taylor has added much to the value and +interest of his volume.] It is indeed evident that the loss of +the battle to the English was owing to the wound which Harold +received in the afternoon, and which must have incapacitated him +from effective command. When we remember that he had himself +just won the battle of Stamford Bridge over Harald Hardrada by +the manoeuvre of a feigned flight, it is impossible to suppose +that he could be deceived by the same stratagem on the part of +the Normans at Hastings. But his men, when deprived of his +control would very naturally be led by their inconsiderate ardour +into the pursuit that proved so fatal to them. All the +narratives of the battle, however much they may vary as to the +precise time and manner of Harold's fall, eulogise the +generalship and the personal prowess which he displayed, until +the fatal arrow struck him. The skill with which he had posted +his army was proved, both by the slaughter which it cost the +Normans to force the position, and also by the desperate rally +which some of the Saxons made, after the battle, in the forest in +the rear, in which they cut off a large number of the pursuing +Normans. This circumstance is particularly mentioned by William +of Poictiers, the Conqueror's own chaplain. Indeed, if Harold, +or either of his brothers, had survived, the remains of the +English army might have formed again in the wood, and could at +least have effected an orderly retreat, and prolonged the war. +But both Gurth and Leofwine, and all the bravest thanes of +Southern England, lay dead on Senlac, around their fallen king +and the fallen standard of their country. The exact number of +the slain on the Saxon side is unknown; but we read that on the +side of the victors, out of sixty thousand men who had been +engaged, no less than a fourth perished: so well had the English +bill-men "plied the ghastly blow" and so sternly had the Saxon +battle-axe cloven Norman casque and mail. [The Conqueror's +chaplain calls the Saxon battle-axes "saevissimas secures."] The +old historian Daniel justly as well as forcibly remarks, [As +cited in the "Pictorial History."] "Thus was tried, by the great +assize of God's judgment in battle, the right of power between +the English and Norman nations; a battle the most memorable of +all others; and, however miserably lost, yet most nobly fought on +the part of England." + +Many a pathetic legend was told in after years respecting the +discovery and the burial of the corpse of our last Saxon king. +The main circumstances, though they seem to vary, are perhaps +reconcilable. [See them collected in Lingard, vol. i p. 452, ET +SEQ.; Thierry, vol i. p. 299; Sharon Turner, Vol. i. p. 82; and +Histoire de Normandie par Lieguet, p. 242.] Two of the monks of +Waltham abbey, which Harold had founded a little time before his +election to the throne, had accompanied him to the battle. On +the morning after the slaughter they begged and gained permission +of the Conqueror to search for the body of their benefactor. The +Norman soldiery and camp-followers had stripped and gashed the +slain; and the two monks vainly strove to recognise from among +the mutilated and gory heaps around them the features of their +former king. They sent for Harold's mistress, Edith, surnamed +"the Fair" and the "Swan-necked," to aid them. The eye of love +proved keener than the eye of gratitude, and the Saxon lady, even +in that Aceldama, knew her Harold. + +The king's mother now sought the victorious Norman, and begged +the dead body of her son. But William at first answered in his +wrath, and in the hardness of his heart, that a man who had been +false to his word and his religion should have no other sepulchre +than the sand of the shore. He added, with a sneer, "Harold +mounted guard on the coast while he was alive; he may continue +his guard now he is dead." The taunt was an unintentional +eulogy; and a grave washed by the spray of the Sussex waves would +have been the noblest burial-place for the martyr of Saxon +freedom. But Harold's mother was urgent in her lamentations and +her prayers: the Conqueror relented: like Achilles, he gave up +the dead body of his fallen foe to a parent's supplications; and +the remains of King Harold were deposited with regal honours in +Waltham Abbey. + +On Christmas day of the same year, William the Conqueror was +crowned at London, King of England. + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS, A.D. 1066, AND +JOAN OF ARC'S VICTORY AT ORLEANS, 1429. + +A.D. 1066-1087. Reign of William the Conqueror. Frequent +risings of the English against him, which are quelled with +merciless rigour. + +1096. The first Crusade. + +1112. Commencement of the disputes about investitures between +the emperors and the popes. + +1140. Foundation of the city of Lubeck, whence originated the +Hanseatic League. Commencement of the feuds in Italy between the +Guelphs and Ghibellines. + +1146. The second Crusade. + +1154. Henry II. becomes King of England. Under him Thomas a +Becket is made Archbishop of Canterbury: the first instance of +any man of the Saxon race being raised to high office in Church +or State since the Conquest. + +1170. Strongbow, earl of Pembroke, lands with an English army in +Ireland. + +1189. Richard Coeur de Lion becomes King of England. He and +King Philip Augustus of France join in the third Crusade. + +1199-1204. On the death of King Richard, his brother John claims +and makes himself master of England and Normandy and the other +large continental possessions of the early Plantagenet princes. +Philip Augustus asserts the cause of Prince Arthur, John's +nephew, against him. Arthur is murdered, but the French king +continues the war against John, and conquers from him Normandy, +Brittany, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and Poictiers. + +1216. The barons, the freeholders, the citizens, and the yeomen +of England rise against the tyranny of John and his foreign +favourites. They compel him to sign Magna Charta. This is the +commencement of our nationality: for our history from this time +forth is the history of a national life, then complete, and still +in being. All English history before this period is a mere +history of elements, of their collisions, and of the processes of +their fusion. For upwards of a century after the Conquest, +Anglo-Norman and Anglo-Saxon had kept aloof from each other: the +one in haughty scorn, the other in sullen abhorrence. They were +two peoples, though living in the same land. It is not until the +thirteenth century, the period of the reigns of John and his son +and grandson, that we can perceive the existence of any feeling +of common patriotism among them. But in studying the history of +these reigns, we read of the old dissensions no longer. The +Saxon no more appears in civil war against the Norman; the Norman +no longer scorns the language of the Saxon, or refuses to bear +together with him the name of Englishman. No part of the +community think themselves foreigners to another part. They feel +that they are all one people, and they have learned to unite +their efforts for the common purpose of protecting the rights and +promoting the welfare of all. The fortunate loss of the Duchy of +Normandy in John's reign greatly promoted these new feelings. +Thenceforth our barons' only homes were in England. One language +had, in the reign of Henry III., become the language of the land; +and that, also, had then assumed the form in which we still +possess it. One law, in the eye of which all freemen are equal +without distinction of race, was modelled, and steadily enforced, +and still continues to form the groundwork of our judicial +system. [Creasy's Text-book of the Constitution, p. 4.] + +1273. Rudolph of Hapsburg chosen Emperor of Germany. + +1283. Edward I. conquers Wales. + +1346. Edward III. invades France, and gains the battle of +Cressy. + +1356. Battle of Poictiers. + +1360. Treaty of Bretigny between England and France. By it +Edward III. renounces his pretensions to the French crown. The +treaty is ill kept, and indecisive hostilities continue between +the forces of the two countries. + +1414. Henry V. of England claims the crown of France, and +resolves to invade and conquer that kingdom. At this time France +was in the most deplorable state of weakness and suffering, from +the factions that raged among her nobility, and from the cruel +oppressions which the rival nobles practised on the mass of the +community. "The people were exhausted by taxes, civil wars, and +military executions; and they had fallen into that worst of all +states of mind, when the independence of one's country is thought +no longer a paramount and sacred object. 'What can the English +do to us worse than the things we suffer at the hands of our own +princes?' was a common exclamation among the poor people of +France." [Pictorial Hist. of England, vol. i. p. 28.] + +1415. Henry invades France, takes Harfleur, and wins the great +battle of Agincourt. + +1417-1419. Henry conquers Normandy. The French Dauphin +assassinates the Duke of Burgundy, the most powerful of the +French nobles, at Montereau. The successor of the murdered duke +becomes the active ally of the English. + +1420. The Treaty of Troyes is concluded between Henry V. of +England and Charles VI. of France, and Philip, duke of Burgundy. +By this treaty it was stipulated that Henry should marry the +Princess Catherine of France; that King Charles, during his life- +time, should keep the title and dignity of King of France, but +that Henry should succeed him, and should at once be entrusted +with the administration of the government, and that the French +crown should descend to Henry's heirs; that France and England +should for ever be united under one king, but should still retain +their several usages, customs, and privileges; that all the +princes, peers, vassals, and communities of France should swear +allegiance to Henry as their future king, and should pay him +present obedience as regent; that Henry should unite his arms to +those of King Charles and the Duke of Burgundy, in order to +subdue the adherents of Charles, the pretended dauphin; and that +these three princes should make no truce or peace with the +Dauphin, but by the common consent of all three. + +1421. Henry V. gains several victories over the French, who +refuse to acknowledge the treaty of Troyes. His son, afterwards +Henry VI., is born. + +1422. Henry V. and Charles VI. of France die. Henry VI. is +proclaimed at Paris, King of England and France. The followers +of the French Dauphin proclaim him Charles VII., King of France. +The Duke of Bedford, the English Regent in France, defeats the +army of the Dauphin at Crevant. + +1424. The Duke of Bedford gains the great victory of Verneuil +over the French partizans of the Dauphin, and their Scotch +auxiliaries. + +1428. The English begin the siege of Orleans. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +JOAN OF ARC'S VICTORY OVER THE ENGLISH AT ORLEANS, A.D. 1429. + +"The eyes of all Europe were turned towards this scene; where, it +was reasonably supposed, the French were to make their last stand +for maintaining the independence of their monarchy and the rights +of their; sovereign"--HUME. + +When, after their victory at Salamis, the generals of the various +Greek states voted the prizes for distinguished individual merit, +each assigned the first place of excellence to himself, but they +all concurred in giving their second votes to Themistocles. +[Plutarch, Vit. Them. 17.] This was looked on as a decisive +proof that Themistocles ought to be ranked first of all. If we +were to endeavour, by a similar test, to ascertain which European +nation has contributed the most to the progress of European +civilization, we should find Italy, Germany, England, and Spain, +each claiming the first degree, but each also naming France as +clearly next in merit. It is impossible to deny her paramount +importance in history. Besides the formidable part that she has +for nearly three centuries played, as the Bellona of the European +commonwealth of states, her influence during all this period over +the arts, the literature, the manners and the feelings of +mankind, has been such as to make the crisis of her earlier +fortunes a point of world-wide interest; and it may be asserted +without exaggeration, that the future career of every nation was +involved in the result of the struggle by which the unconscious +heroine of France, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, +rescued her country from becoming a second Ireland under the yoke +of the triumphant English. + +Seldom has the extinction of a a nation's independence appeared +more inevitable than was the case in France, when the English +invaders completed their lines round Orleans, four hundred and +twenty-three years ago. A series of dreadful defeats had thinned +the chivalry of France, and daunted the spirits of her soldiers. +A foreign King had been proclaimed in her capital; and foreign +armies of the bravest veterans, and led by the ablest captains +then known in the world, occupied the fairest portions of her +territory. Worse to her even than the fierceness and the +strength of her foes were the factions, the vices, and the crimes +of her own children. Her native prince was a dissolute trifler, +stained with the assassination of the most powerful noble of the +land, whose son, in revenge, had leagued himself with the enemy. +Many more of her nobility, many of her prelates, her magistrates, +and rulers, had sworn fealty to the English king. The condition +of the peasantry amid the general prevalence of anarchy and +brigandage, which were added to the customary devastations of +contending armies, was wretched beyond the power of language to +describe. The sense of terror and suffering seemed to have +extended itself even to the brute creation. + +"In sooth, the estate of France was then most miserable. There +appeared nothing but a horrible face, confusion, poverty, +desolation, solitarinesse, and feare. The lean and bare +labourers in the country did terrifie even theeves themselves, +who had nothing left them to spoile but the carkasses of these +poore miserable creatures, wandering up and down like ghostes +drawne out of their graves. The least farmes and hamlets were +fortified by these robbers, English, Bourguegnons, and French, +every one striving to do his worst; all men-of-war were well +agreed to spoile the countryman and merchant. EVEN THE CATTELL, +ACCUSTOMED TO THE LARUME BELL, THE SIGNE OF THE ENEMY'S APPROACH, +WOULD RUN HOME OF THEMSELVES WITHOUT ANY GUIDE BY THIS ACCUSTOMED +MISERY." [De Serres, quoted in the notes to Southey's Joan of +Arc.] + +In the autumn of 1428, the English, who were already masters of +all France north of the Loire, prepared their forces for the +conquest of the southern provinces, which yet adhered to the +cause of the Dauphin. The city of Orleans, on the banks of that +river, was looked upon as the last stronghold of the French +national party. If the English could once obtain possession of +it, their victorious progress through the residue of the kingdom +seemed free from any serious obstacle. Accordingly, the Earl of +Salisbury, one of the bravest and most experienced of the English +generals, who had been trained under Henry V., marched to the +attack of the all-important city; and, after reducing several +places of inferior consequence in the neighbourhood, appeared +with his army before its walls on the 12th of October, 1428. + +The city of Orleans itself was on the north side of the Loire, +but its suburbs extended far on the southern side, and a strong +bridge connected them with the town. A fortification which in +modern military phrase would be termed a tete-du-pont, defended +the bridge-head on the southern side, and two towers, called the +Tourelles, were built on the bridge itself, where it rested on an +island at a little distance from the tete-du-pont. Indeed, the +solid masonry of the bridge terminated at the Tourelles; and the +communication thence with the tete-du-pont on the southern shore +was by means of a drawbridge. The Tourelles and the tete-du-pont +formed together a strong fortified post, capable of containing a +garrison of considerable strength; and so long as this was in +possession of the Orleannais, they could communicate freely with +the southern provinces, the inhabitants of which, like the +Orleannais themselves, supported the cause of their Dauphin +against the foreigners. Lord Salisbury rightly judged the +capture of the Tourelles to be the most material step towards the +reduction of the city itself. Accordingly he directed his +principal operations against this post, and after some severe +repulses, he carried the Tourelles by storm, on the 23d of +October. The French, however, broke down the part of the bridge +which was nearest to the north bank and thus rendered a direct +assault from the Tourelles upon the city impossible. But the +possession of this post enabled the English to distress the town +greatly by a battery of cannon which they planted there, and +which commanded some of the principal streets. + +It has been observed by Hume, that this is the first siege in +which any important use appears to have been made of artillery. +And even at Orleans both besiegers and besieged seem to have +employed their cannons more as instruments of destruction against +their enemy's men, than as engines of demolition against their +enemy's walls and works. The efficacy of cannon in breaching +solid masonry was taught Europe by the Turks, a few years after +wards, at the memorable siege of Constantinople. In our French +wars, as in the wars of the classic nations, famine was looked on +as the surest weapon to compel the submission of a well-walled +town and the great object of the besiegers was to effect a +complete circumvallation. The great ambit of the walls of +Orleans, and the facilities which the river gave for obtaining +succour and supplies, rendered the capture of the place by this +process a matter of great difficulty. Nevertheless, Lord +Salisbury, and Lord Suffolk, who succeeded him in command of the +English after his death by a cannon-ball, carried on the +necessary works with great skill and resolution. Six strongly +fortified posts, called bastillos, were formed at certain +intervals round the town and the purpose of the English engineers +was to draw strong lines between them. During the winter little +progress was made with the entrenchments, but when the spring of +1429 came, the English resumed their works with activity; the +communications between the city and the country became more +difficult, and the approach of want began already to be felt in +Orleans. + +The besieging force also fared hardly for stores and provisions, +until relieved by the effects of a brilliant victory which Sir +John Fastolfe, one of the best English generals, gained at +Rouvrai, near Orleans, a few days after Ash Wednesday, 1429. +With only sixteen hundred fighting men, Sir John completely +defeated an army of French and Scots, four thousand strong, which +had been collected for the purpose of aiding the Orleannais, and +harassing the besiegers. After this encounter, which seemed +decisively to confirm the superiority of the English in battle +over their adversaries, Fastolfe escorted large supplies of +stores and food to Suffolk's camp, and the spirits of the English +rose to the highest pitch at the prospect of the speedy capture +of the city before them, and the consequent subjection of all +France beneath their arms. + +The Orleannais now in their distress offered to surrender the +city into the hands of the Duke of Burgundy, who, though the ally +of the English, was yet one of their native princes. The Regent +Bedford refused these terms, and the speedy submission of the +city to the English seemed inevitable. The Dauphin Charles, who +was now at Chinon with his remnant of a court, despaired of +maintaining any longer the struggle for his crown; and was only +prevented from abandoning the country by the more masculine +spirits of his mistress and his queen. Yet neither they, nor the +boldest of Charles's captains, could have shown him where to find +resources for prolonging the war; and least of all could any +human skill have predicted the quarter whence rescue was to come +to Orleans and to France. + +In the village of Domremy, on the borders of Lorraine, there was +a poor peasant of the name of Jacques d'Arc, respected in his +station of life, and who had reared a family in virtuous habits +and in the practice of the strictest devotion. His eldest +daughter was named by her parents Jeannette, but she was called +Jeanne by the French, which was Latinised into Johanna, and +anglicised into Joan. ["Respondit quod in partibus suis +vocabatur Johanneta, et postquam venit in Franciam vocata est +Johanna."--PROCES DE JEANNE D'ARC, vol i. p. 46.] + +At the time when Joan first attracted attention, she was about +eighteen years of age. She was naturally of a susceptible +disposition, which diligent attention to the legends of saints, +and tales of fairies, aided by the dreamy loneliness of her life +while tending her father's flocks, had made peculiarly prone to +enthusiastic fervour. At the same time she was eminent for piety +and purity of soul, and for her compassionate gentleness to the +sick and the distressed. + +[Southey, in one of the speeches which he puts in the mouth of +his Joan of Arc, has made her beautifully describe the effect; on +her mind of the scenery in which she dwelt:- + +"Here in solitude and peace + My soul was nurst, amid the loveliest scenes + Of-unpolluted nature. Sweet it was, + As the white mists of morning roll'd away, + To see the mountain's wooded heights appear + Dark in the early dawn, and mark its slope + With gorse-flowers glowing, as the rising sun + On the golden ripeness pour'd a deepening light. + Pleasant at noon beside the vocal brook + To lay me down, and watch the the floating clouds, + And shape to Fancy's wild similitudes + Their ever-varying forms; and oh, how sweet, + To drive my flock at evening to the fold, + And hasten to our little hut, and hear + The voice of kindness bid me welcome home!" + +The only foundation for the story told by the Burgundian partisan +Monstrelet, and adopted by Hume, of Joan having been brought up +as servant at an inn, is the circumstance of her having been +once, with the rest of her family, obliged to take refuge in an +AUBERGE in Neufchateau for fifteen days, when a party of +Burgundian cavalry made an incursion into Domremy. (See the +Quarterly Review, No. 138.)] + +The district where she dwelt had escaped comparatively free from +the ravages of war, but the approach of roving bands of +Burgundian or English troops frequently spread terror through +Domremy. Once the village had been plundered by some of these +marauders, and Joan and her family had been driven from their +home, and forced to seek refuge for a time at Neufchateau. The +peasantry in Domremy were principally attached to the House of +Orleans and the Dauphin; and all the miseries which France +endured, were there imputed to the Burgundian faction and their +allies, the English, who were seeking to enslave unhappy France. + +Thus from infancy to girlhood Joan had heard continually of the +woes of the war, and she had herself witnessed some of the +wretchedness that it caused. A feeling of intense patriotism +grew in her with her growth. The deliverance of France from the +English was the subject of her reveries by day and her dreams by +night. Blended with these aspirations were recollections of the +miraculous interpositions of Heaven in favour of the oppressed, +which she had learned from the legends of her Church. Her faith +was undoubting; her prayers were fervent. "She feared no danger, +for she felt no sin;" and at length she believed herself to have +received the supernatural inspiration which, she sought. + +According to her own narrative, delivered by her to her merciless +inquisitors in the time of her captivity and approaching death, +she was about thirteen years old when her revelations commenced. +Her own words describe them best: [Proces de Jeanne d'Arc, +vol. i. p. 52.] "At the age of thirteen, a voice from God came +near to her to help her in ruling herself, and that voice came to +her about the hour of noon, in summer time, while she was in her +father's garden. And she had fasted the day before. And she +heard the voice on her right, in the direction of the church; and +when she heard the voice she also saw a bright light. +Afterwards, St. Michael and St. Margaret and St. Catherine +appeared to her. They were always in a halo of glory; she could +see that their heads were crowned with jewels: and she heard +their voices, which were sweet and mild. She did not distinguish +their arms or limbs. She heard them more frequently than she saw +them; and the usual time when she heard them was when the church +bells were sounding for prayer. And if she was in the woods when +she heard them, she could plainly distinguish their voices +drawing near to her. When she thought that she discerned the +Heavenly Voices, she knelt down, and bowed herself to the ground. +Their presence gladdened her even to tears; and after they +departed she wept because they had not taken her with them back +to Paradise. They always spoke soothingly to her. They told her +that France would be saved, and that she was to save it." Such +were the visions and the Voices that moved the spirit of the girl +of thirteen; and as she grew older they became more frequent and +more clear. At last the tidings of the siege of Orleans reached +Domremy, Joan heard her parents and neighbours talk of the +sufferings of its population, of the ruin which its capture would +bring on their lawful sovereign, and of the distress of the +Dauphin and his court. Joan's heart was sorely troubled at the +thought of the fate of Orleans; and her Voices now ordered her to +leave her home; and warned her that she was the instrument chosen +by Heaven for driving away the English from that city, and for +taking the Dauphin to be anointed king at Rheims. At length she +informed her parents of her divine mission, and told them that +she must go to the Sire de Baudricourt, who commanded at +Vaucouleurs, and who was the appointed person to bring her into +the presence of the king, whom she was to save. Neither the +anger nor the grief of her parents, who said that they would +rather see her drowned than exposed to the contamination of the +camp, could move her from her purpose. One of her uncles +consented to take her to Vaucouleurs, where De Baudricourt at +first thought her mad, and derided her; but by degrees was led to +believe, if not in her inspiration, at least in her enthusiasm +and in its possible utility to the Dauphin's cause. + +The inhabitants of Vaucouleurs were completely won over to her +side, by the piety and devoutness which she displayed and by her +firm assurance in the truth of her mission. She told them that +it was God's will that she should go to the King, and that no one +but her could save the kingdom of France. She said that she +herself would rather remain with her poor mother and spin; but +the Lord had ordered her forth. The fame of "The Maid," as she +was termed, the renown of her holiness, and of her mission, +spread far and wide. Baudricourt sent her with an escort to +Chinon, where the Dauphin Charles was dallying away his time. +Her Voices had bidden her assume the arms and the apparel of a +knight; and the wealthiest inhabitants of Vaucouleurs had vied +with each other in equipping her with warhorse, armour, and +sword. On reaching Chinon, she was, after some delay, admitted +into the presence of the Dauphin. Charles designedly dressed +himself far less richly than many of his courtiers were +apparelled, and mingled with them, when Jean was introduced, in +order to see if the Holy Maid would address her exhortations to +the wrong person. But she instantly singled him out, and +kneeling before him, said, "Most noble Dauphin, the King of +Heaven announces to you by me, that you shall be anointed and +crowned king in the city of Rheims, and that you shall be His +viceregent in France." His features may probably have been seen +by her previously in portraits, or have been described to her by +others; but she herself believed that her Voices inspired her +when she addressed the King; [Proces de Jeanne d'Arc, vol. i. +p. 56.] and the report soon spread abroad that the Holy Maid had +found the King by a miracle; and this, with many other similar +rumours, augmented the renown and influence that she now rapidly +acquired. + +The state of public feeling in France was not favourable to an +enthusiastic belief in Divine interposition in favour of the +party that had hitherto been unsuccessful and oppressed. The +humiliations which had befallen the French royal family and +nobility were looked on as the just judgments of God upon them +for their vice and impiety. The misfortunes that had come upon +France as a nation, were believed to have been drawn down by +national sins. The English, who had been the instruments of +Heaven's wrath against France, seemed now by their pride and +cruelty to be fitting objects of it themselves. France in that +age was a profoundly religious country. There was ignorance, +there was superstition there was bigotry; but there was Faith--a +Faith that itself worked true miracles, even while it believed in +unreal ones. At this time, also, one of those devotional +movements began among the clergy in France, which from time to +time occur in national Churches, without it being possible for +the historian to assign any adequate human cause for their +immediate date or extension. Numberless friars and priests +traversed the rural districts and towns of France, preaching to +the people that they must seek from Heaven a deliverance from the +pillages of the soldiery, and the insolence of the foreign +oppressors. [See, Sismondi vol. xiii. p. 114; Michelet, vol. v. +Livre x.] The idea of a Providence that works only by general +laws was wholly alien to the feelings of the age. Every +political event, as well as every natural phenomenon, was +believed to be the immediate result of a special mandate of God. +This led to the belief that His holy angels and saints were +constantly employed in executing His commands and mingling in the +affairs of men. The Church encouraged these feelings; and at the +same time sanctioned; the concurrent popular belief that hosts of +evil spirits were also ever actively interposing in the current +of earthly events, with whom sorcerers and wizards could league +themselves, and thereby obtain the exercise of supernatural +power. + +Thus all things favoured the influence which Joan obtained both +over friends and foes. The French nation, as well as the English +and the Burgundians, readily admitted that superhuman beings +inspired her: the only question was, whether these beings were +good or evil angels; whether she brought with her "airs from +heaven, or blasts from hell." This question seemed to her +countrymen to be decisively settled in her favour, by the austere +sanctity of her life, by the holiness of her conversation, but, +still more, by her exemplary attention to all the services and +rites of the Church. The dauphin at first feared the injury that +might be done to his cause if he had laid himself open to the +charge of having leagued himself with a sorceress. Every +imaginable test, therefore, was resorted to in order to set +Joan's orthodoxy and purity beyond suspicion. At last Charles +and his advisers felt safe in accepting her services as those of +a true and virtuous daughter of the Holy Church. + +It is indeed probable that Charles himself, and some of his +counsellors, may have suspected Joan of being a mere enthusiast; +and it is certain that Dunois, and others of the best generals, +took considerable latitude in obeying or deviating from the +military orders that she gave. But over the mass of the people +and the soldiery, her influence was unbounded. While Charles and +his doctors of theology, and court ladies, had been deliberating +as to recognising or dismissing the Maid, a considerable period +had passed away, during which a small army, the last gleanings, +as it seemed, of the English sword, had been assembled at Blois, +under Dunois, La Hire, Xaintrailles, and other chiefs, who to +their natural valour were now beginning to unite the wisdom that +is taught by misfortune. It was resolved to send Joan with this +force and a convoy of provisions to Orleans. The distress of +that city had now become urgent. But the communication with the +open country was not entirely cut off: the Orleannais had heard +of the Holy Maid whom Providence had raised up for their +deliverance, and their messengers urgently implored the dauphin +to send her to them without delay. + +Joan appeared at the camp at Blois, clad in a new suit of +brilliant white armour, mounted on a stately black war-horse, and +with a lance in her right hand, which she had learned to wield +with skill and grace. [See the description of her by Gui de +Laval, quoted in the note to Michelet, p. 69; and see the +account of the banner at Orleans, which is believed to bear an +authentic portrait of the Maid, in Murray's Handbook for France, +p. 175.] Her head was unhelmeted; so that all could behold her +fair and expressive features, her deep-set and earnest eyes, and +her long black hair, which was parted across her forehead, and +bound by a ribbon behind her back. She wore at her side a small +battle-axe, and the consecrated sword, marked on the blade with +five crosses, which had at her bidding been taken for her from +the shrine of St. Catherine at Fierbois. A page carried her +banner, which she had caused to be made and embroidered as her +Voices enjoined. It was white satin [Proces de Jeanne d'Arc, +vol. i. p. 238.] strewn with fleur-de-lis; and on it were the +words "JHESUS MARIA," and the representation of the Saviour in +His glory. Joan afterwards generally bore her banner herself in +battle; she said that though she loved her sword much, she loved +her banner forty times as much; and she loved to carry it because +it could not kill any one. + +Thus accoutred, she came to lead the troops of France, who looked +with soldierly admiration on her well-proportioned and upright +figure, the skill with which she managed her war-horse, and the +easy grace with which she handled her weapons. Her military +education had been short, but she had availed herself of it well. +She had also the good sense to interfere little with the +manoeuvres of the troops, leaving those things to Dunois, and +others whom she had the discernment to recognise as the best +officers in the camp. Her tactics in action were simple enough. +As she herself described it--"I used to say to them, 'Go boldly +in among the English,' and then I used to go boldly in myself." +[Ibid.] Such, as she told her inquisitors, was the only spell +she used; and it was one of power. But while interfering little +with the military discipline of the troops, in all matters of +moral discipline she was inflexibly strict. All the abandoned +followers of the camp were driven away. She compelled both +generals and soldiers to attend regularly at confessional. Her +chaplain and other priests marched with the army under her +orders; and at every halt, an altar was set up and the sacrament +administered. No oath or foul language passed without punishment +or censure. Even the roughest and most hardened veterans obeyed +her. They put off for a time the bestial coarseness which had +grown on them during a life of bloodshed and rapine; they felt +that they must go forth in a new spirit to a new career, and +acknowledged the beauty of the holiness in which the heaven-sent +Maid was leading them to certain victory. + +Joan marched from Blois on the 26th of April with a convoy of +provisions for Orleans, accompanied by Dunois, La Hire, and the +other chief captains of the French; and on the evening of the +28th they approached the town. In the words of the old +chronicler Hall: [Hall, f. 127.] "The Englishmen, perceiving +that they within could not long continue for faute of vitaile and +pouder, kepte not their watche so diligently as thei were +accustomed, nor scoured now the countrey environed as thei before +had ordained. Whiche negligence the citizens shut in perceiving, +sente worde thereof to the French captaines, which with Pucelle +in the dedde tyme of the nighte, and in a greats rayne and +thunders, with all their vitaile and artillery entered into the +citie." + +When it was day, the Maid rode in solemn procession through the +city, clad in complete armour, and mounted on a white horse. +Dunois was by her side, and all the bravest knights of her army +and of the garrison followed in her train. The whole population +thronged around her; and men, women, and children strove to touch +her garments, or her banner, or her charger. They poured forth +blessings on her, whom they already considered their deliverer. +In the words used by two of them afterwards before the tribunal, +which reversed the sentence, but could not restore the life of +the Virgin-martyr of France, "the people of Orleans, when they +first saw her in their city, thought that it was an angel from +heaven that had come down to save them." Joan spoke gently in +reply to their acclamations and addresses. She told them to fear +God, and trust in Him for safety from the fury of their enemies. +She first went to the principal church, where TE DEUM was +chaunted; and then she took up her abode in the house of Jacques +Bourgier, one of the principal citizens, and whose wife was a +matron of good repute. She refused to attend a splendid banquet +which had been provided for her, and passed nearly all her time +in prayer. + +When it was known by the English that the Maid was in Orleans, +their minds were not less occupied about her than were the minds +of those in the city; but it was in a very different spirit. The +English believed in her supernatural mission as firmly as the +French did; but they thought her a sorceress who had come to +overthrow them by her enchantments. An old prophecy, which told +that a damsel from Lorraine was to save France, had long been +current; and it was known and applied to Joan by foreigners as +well as by the natives. For months the English had heard of the +coming Maid; and the tales of miracles which she was said to have +wrought, had been listened to by the rough yeomen of the English +camp with anxious curiosity and secret awe. She had sent a +herald to the English generals before she marched for Orleans; +and he had summoned the English generals in the name of the Most +High to give up to the Maid who was sent by Heaven, the keys of +the French cities which they had wrongfully taken: and he also +solemnly adjured the English troops, whether archers, or men of +the companies of war, or gentlemen, or others, who were before +the city of Orleans, to depart thence to their homes, under peril +of being visited by the judgment of God. On her arrival in +Orleans, Joan sent another similar message; but the English +scoffed at her from their towers, and threatened to burn her +heralds. She determined before she shed the blood of the +besiegers, to repeat the warning with her own voice; and +accordingly she mounted one of the boulevards of the town, which +was within hearing of the Tourelles; and thence she spoke to the +English, and bade them depart, otherwise they would meet with +shame and woe. Sir William Gladsdale (whom the French call +GLACIDAS) commanded the English post at the Tourelles, and he and +another English officer replied by bidding her go home and keep +her cows, and by ribald jests, that brought tears of shame and +indignation into her eyes. But though the English leaders +vaunted aloud, the effect produced on their army by Joan's +presence in Orleans, was proved four days after her arrival; +when, on the approach of reinforcements and stores to the town, +Joan and La Hire marched out to meet them, and escorted the long +train of provision waggons safely into Orleans, between the +bastilles of the English, who cowered behind their walls, instead +of charging fiercely and fearlessly, as had been their wont, on +any French band that dared to show itself within reach. + +Thus far she had prevailed without striking a blow; but the time +was now come to test her courage amid the horrors of actual +slaughter. On the afternoon of the day on which she had escorted +the reinforcements into the city, while she was resting fatigued +at home, Dunois had seized an advantageous opportunity of +attacking the English bastille of St. Loup: and a fierce assault +of the Orleannais had been made on it, which the English garrison +of the fort stubbornly resisted. Joan was roused by a sound +which she believed to be that of Her Heavenly Voices; she called +for her arms and horse, and quickly equipping herself she mounted +to ride off to where the fight was raging. In her haste she had +forgotten her banner; she rode back, and, without dismounting, +had it given to her from the window, and then she galloped to the +gate, whence the sally had been made. On her way she met some of +the wounded French who had been carried back from the fight. +"Ha," she exclaimed, "I never can see French blood flow, without +my hair standing on end." She rode out of the gate, and met the +tide of her countrymen, who had been repulsed from the English +fort, and were flying back to Orleans in confusion. At the sight +of the Holy Maid and her banner they rallied and renewed the +assault. Joan rode forward at their head, waving her banner and +cheering them on. The English quailed at what they believed to +be the charge of hell; St. Loup was stormed, and its defenders +put to the sword, except some few, whom Jean succeeded in saving. +All her woman's gentleness returned when the combat was over. It +was the first time that she had ever seen a battle-field. She +wept at the sight of so many blood-stained and mangled corpses; +and her tears flowed doubly when she reflected that they were the +bodies of Christian men who had died without confession. + +The next day was ascension-day, and it was passed by Joan in +prayer. But on the following morrow it was resolved by the +chiefs of the garrison to attack the English forts on the south +of the river. For this purpose they crossed the river in boats, +and after some severe fighting, in which the Maid was wounded in +the heel, both the English bastilles of the Augustins and St. +Jean de Blanc were captured. The Tourelles were now the only +post which the besiegers held on the south of the river. But +that post was formidably strong, and by its command of the +bridge, it was the key to the deliverance of Orleans. It was +known that a fresh English army was approaching under Falstolfe +to reinforce the besiegers, and should that army arrive, while +the Tourelles were yet in the possession of their comrades, there +was great peril of all the advantages which the French had gained +being nullified, and of the siege being again actively carried +on. + +It was resolved, therefore, by the French, to assail the +Tourelles at once, while the enthusiasm which the presence and +the heroic valour of the Maid had created was at its height. But +the enterprise was difficult. The rampart of the tete-du-pont, +or landward bulwark, of the Tourelles was steep and high; and Sir +John Gladsdale occupied this all-important fort with five hundred +archers and men-at-arms, who were the very flower of the English +army. + +Early in the morning of the 7th of May, some thousands of the +best French troops in Orleans heard mass and attended the +confessional by Joan's orders; and then crossing the river in +boats, as on the preceding day they assailed the bulwark of the +Tourelles, "with light hearts and heavy hands." But Gladsdale's +men, encouraged by their bold and skilful leader, made a resolute +and able defence. The Maid planted her banner on the edge of the +fosse, and then springing down into the ditch, she placed the +first ladder against the wall, and began to mount. An English +archer sent an arrow at her, which pierced her corslet and +wounded her severely between the neck and shoulder. She fell +bleeding from the ladder; and the English were leaping down from +the wall to capture her, but her followers bore her off. She was +carried to the rear, and laid upon the grass; her armour was +taken off, and the anguish of her wound and the sight of her +blood, made her at first tremble and weep. But her confidence in +her celestial mission soon returned: her patron saints seemed to +stand before her and reassure her. She sate up and drew the +arrow out with her own hands. Some of the soldiers who stood by +wished to stanch the blood, by saying a charm over the wound; but +she forbade them, saying, that she did not wish to be cured by +unhallowed means. She had the wound dressed with a little oil, +and then bidding her confessor come to her, she betook herself to +prayer. + +In the meanwhile, the English in the bulwark of the Tourelles, +had repulsed the oft-renewed efforts of the French to scale the +wall. Dunois, who commanded the assailants, was at first +discouraged, and gave orders for a retreat to be sounded, Joan +sent for him and the other generals, and implored them not to +despair. "By my God" she said to them, "you shall soon enter in +there. Do not doubt it. When you see my banner wave again up to +the wall, to your arms again! the fort is yours. For the +present rest a little, and take some food and drink. They did +so," says the old chronicler of the siege, [Journal du Siege +d'Orleans, p. 87.] "for they obeyed her marvellously." The +faintness caused by her wound had now passed off, and she headed +the French in another rush against the bulwark. The English, who +had thought her slain, were alarmed at her reappearance; while +the French pressed furiously and fanatically forward. A Biscayan +soldier was carrying Joan's banner. She had told the troops that +directly the banner touched the wall they should enter. The +Biscayan waved the banner forward from the edge of the fosse, and +touched the wall with it; and then all the French host swarmed +madly up the ladders that now were raised in all directions +against the English fort. At this crisis, the efforts of the +English garrison were distracted by an attach from another +quarter. The French troops who had been left in Orleans, had +placed some planks over the broken part of the bridge, and +advanced across them to the assault of the Tourelles on the +northern side. Gladsdale resolved to withdraw his men from the +landward bulwark, and concentrate his whole force in the +Tourelles themselves. He was passing for this purpose across the +drawbridge that connected the Tourelles and the tete-du-pont, +when Joan, who by this time had scaled the wall of the bulwark, +called out to him, "Surrender, surrender to the King of Heaven. +Ah, Glacidas, you have foully wronged me with your words, but I +have great pity on your soul and the souls of your men." The +Englishman, disdainful of her summons, was striding on across the +drawbridge, when a cannon-shot from the town carried it away, and +Gladsdale perished in the water that ran beneath. After his +fall, the remnant of the English abandoned all further +resistance. Three hundred of them had been killed in the battle, +and two hundred were made prisoners. + +The broken arch was speedily repaired by the exulting Orleannais; +and Joan made her triumphal re-entry into the city by the bridge +that had so long been closed. Every church in Orleans rang out +its gratulating peal; and throughout the night the sounds of +rejoicing echoed, and the bonfires blazed up from the city. But +in the lines and forts which the besiegers yet retained on the +northern shore, there was anxious watching of the generals, and +there was desponding gloom among the soldiery. Even Talbot now +counselled retreat. On the following morning, the Orleannais, +from their walls, saw the great forts called "London" and "St. +Lawrence," in flames; and witnessed their invaders busy in +destroying the stores and munitions which had been relied on for +the destruction of Orleans. Slowly and sullenly the English army +retired; but not before it had drawn up in battle array opposite +to the city, as if to challenge the garrison to an encounter. +The French troops were eager to go out and attack, but Joan +forbade it. The day was Sunday. "In the name of God," she said, +"let them depart, and let us return thanks to God." She led the +soldiers and citizens forth from Orleans, but not for the +shedding of blood. They passed in solemn procession round the +city walls; and then, while their retiring enemies were yet in +sight, they knelt in thanksgiving to God for the deliverance +which he had vouchsafed them. + +Within three months from the time of her first interview with the +Dauphin, Joan had fulfilled the first part of her promise, the +raising of the siege of Orleans. Within three months more she +fulfilled the second part also; and she stood with her banner in +her hand by the high altar at Rheims while he was anointed and +crowned as King Charles VII. of France. In the interval she had +taken Jargeau, Troyes, and other strong places; and she had +defeated an English army in a fair field at Patay. The +enthusiasm of her countrymen knew no bounds; but the importance +of her services, and especially of her primary achievement at +Orleans, may perhaps be best proved by the testimony of her +enemies. There is extant a fragment of a letter from the Regent +Bedford to his royal nephew, Henry VI., in which he bewails the +turn that the war had taken, and especially attributes it to the +raising of the siege of Orleans by Joan. Bedford's own words, +which are preserved in Rymer, [Vol. x. p. 403.] are as follows:-- + +"AND ALLE THING THERE PROSPERED FOR YOU TIL THE TYME OF THE SIEGE +OF ORLEANS, TAKEN IN HAND, GOD KNOWETH BY WHAT ADVIS. + +"AT THE WHICHE TYME, AFTER THE ADVENTURE FALLEN TO THE PERSONE OF +MY COUSIN OF SALISBURY, WHOM GOD ASSOILLE, THERE FELLE, BY THE +HAND OF GOD AS IT SEEMETH, A GREAT STROOK UPON YOUR PEUPLE THAT +WAS ASSEMBLED THERE IN GRETE NOMBRE, CAUSED IN GRETE PARTIE, AS Y +TROWE, OF LAKKE OF SADDE BELEVE, AND OF UNLEVEFULLE DOUBTE, THAT +THEI HADDE OF A DISCIPLE AND LYME OF THE FEENDE, CALLED THE +PUCELLE, THAT USED FALS ENCHANTMENTS AND SORCERIE. + +"THE WHICHE STROOKE AND DISCOMFITURE NOT OONLY LESSED IN GRETE +PARTIE THE NOMBRE OF YOUR PEUPLE THERE, BUT AS WELL WITHDREWE THE +COURAGE OF THE REMENANT IN MERVEILLOUS WYSE, AND COURAIGED YOUR +ADVERSE PARTIE AND ENNEMYS TO ASSEMBLE THEM FORTHWITH IN GRETE +NOMBRE." + +When Charles had been anointed King of France, Joan believed that +her mission was accomplished. And in truth the deliverance of +France from the English, though not completed for many years +afterwards, was then insured. The ceremony of a royal coronation +and anointment was not in those days regarded as a mere costly +formality. It was believed to confer the sanction and the grace +of heaven upon the prince, who had previously ruled with mere +human authority. Thenceforth he was the Lord's Anointed. +Moreover, one of the difficulties that had previously lain in the +way of many Frenchman when called on to support Charles VII. was +now removed. He had been publicly stigmatised, even by his own +parents, as no true son of the royal race of France. The queen- +mother, the English, and the partisans of Burgundy, called him +the "Pretender to the title of Dauphin;" but those who had been +led to doubt his legitimacy, were cured of their scepticism by +the victories of the Holy Maid, and by the fulfilment of her +pledges. They thought that heaven had now declared itself in +favour of Charles as the true heir of the crown of St. Louis; and +the tales about his being spurious were thenceforth regarded as +mere English calumnies. With this strong tide of national +feeling in his favour, with victorious generals and soldiers +round him, and a dispirited and divided enemy before him, he +could not fail to conquer; though his own imprudence and +misconduct, and the stubborn valour which some of the English +still displayed, prolonged the war in France nearly to the time +when the civil war of the Roses broke out in England, and insured +for France peace and repose. + +Joan knelt before the new-crowned king in the cathedral of +Rheims, and shed tears of joy. She said that she had then +fulfilled the work which the Lord had commanded her. The young +girl now asked for her dismissal. She wished to return to her +peasant home, to tend her parent's flocks again, and to live at +her own will in her native village. ["Je voudrais bien qu'il +voulut me faire ramener aupres mes pere et mere, et garder leurs +brebis et betail, et faire ce que je voudrois faire."] She had +always believed that her career would be a short one. But +Charles and his captains were loth to lose the presence of one +who had such an influence upon the soldiery and the people. They +persuaded her to stay with the army. She still showed the same +bravery and zeal for the cause of France. She was as fervent as +before in her prayers, and as exemplary in all religious duties. +She still heard her Heavenly Voices, but; she now no longer +thought herself the appointed minister of heaven to lead her +countrymen to certain victory. Our admiration for her courage +and patriotism ought to be increased a hundred-fold by her +conduct throughout the latter part of her career, amid dangers, +against which she no longer believed herself to be divinely +secured. Indeed she believed herself doomed to perish in little +more than a year; ["Des le commencement elle avait dit, 'Il me +faut employer: je ne durerai qu'un an, ou guere plus."-- +MICHELAIT v. p. 101.] but she still fought on as resolutely, if +not as exultingly as ever. + +As in the case of Arminius, the interest attached to individual +heroism and virtue makes us trace the fate of Joan of Arc after +she had saved her country. She served well with Charles's army +in the capture of Laon, Soissons, Compeigne, Beauvais, and other +strong places; but in a premature attack on Paris, in September +1429, the French were repulsed, and Joan was severely wounded in +the winter she was again in the field with some of the French +troops; and in the following spring she threw herself into the +fortress of Compeigne, which she had herself won for the French +king in the preceding autumn, and which was now besieged by a +strong Burgundian force. + +She was taken prisoner in a sally from Compeigne, on the 24th of +May, and was imprisoned by the Burgundians first at Arras, and +then at a place called Crotoy, on the Flemish coast, until +November, when for payment of a large sum of money, she was given +up to the English, and taken to Rouen, which was then their main +stronghold in France. + +"Sorrow it were, and shame to tell, + The butchery that there befell:" + +And the revolting details of the cruelties practised upon this +young girl may be left to those, whose duty as avowed +biographers, it is to describe them. [The whole of the "Proces +de Condamnation at de Rehabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc" has been +published in five volumes, by the Societe de l'Histoire de +France. All the passages from contemporary chroniclers and poets +are added; and the most ample materials are thus given for +acquiring full information on a subject which is, to an +Englishman, one of painful interest. There is an admirable essay +on Joan of Arc, in the 138th number of the QUARTERLY.] She was +tried before an ecclesiastical tribunal on the charge of +witchcraft, and on the 30th of May, 1431, she was burnt alive in +the market-place at Rouen. + +I will add but one remark on the character of the truest heroine +that the world has ever seen. + +If any person can be found in the present age who would join in +the scoffs of Voltaire against the Maid of Orleans and the +Heavenly Voices by which she believed herself inspired, let him +read the life of the wisest and best man that the heathen nations +ever produced. Let him read of the Heavenly Voice, by which +Socrates believed himself to be constantly attended; which +cautioned him on his way from the field of battle at Delium, and +which from his boyhood to the time of his death visited him with +unearthly warnings. [See Cicero, de Divinatione, lib. i. sec. +41; and see the words of Socrates himself, in Plato, Apol. Soc.] +Let the modern reader reflect upon this; and then, unless he is +prepared to term Socrates either fool or impostor, let him not +dare to deride or vilify Joan of Arc. + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN JOAN OF ARC'S VICTORY AT ORLEANS, A.D. +1429, AND THE DEFEAT OP THE SPANISH ARMADA, A.D. 1588. + +A.D. 1452. Final expulsion of the English from France. + +1453. Constantinople taken, and the Roman empire of the East +destroyed by the Turkish Sultan Mahomet II. + +1455. Commencement of the civil wars in England between the +Houses of York and Lancaster. + +1479. Union of the Christian kingdoms of Spain under Ferdinand +and Isabella. + +1492. Capture of Grenada by Ferdinand and Isabella, and end of +the Moorish dominion in Spain. + +1492. Columbus discovers the New World. + +1494. Charles VIII. of France invades Italy. + +1497. Expedition of Vasco di Gama to the East Indies round the +Cape of Good Hope. + +1503. Naples conquered from the French by the great Spanish +general, Gonsalvo of Cordova. + +1508. League of Cambray, by the Pope, the Emperor, and the King +of France, against Venice. + +1509. Albuquerque establishes the empire of the Portuguese in +the East Indies. + +1516. Death of Ferdinand of Spain; he is succeeded by his +grandson Charles, afterwards the Emperor Charles V. + +1517. Dispute between Luther and Tetzel respecting the sale of +indulgences, which is the immediate cause of the Reformation. + +1519. Charles V. is elected Emperor of Germany. + +1520. Cortez conquers Mexico. + +1525. Francis I. of France defeated and taken prisoner by the +imperial army at Pavia. + +1529. League of Smalcald formed by the Protestant princes of +Germany. + +1533. Henry VIII. renounces the Papal supremacy. + +1533. Pizarro conquers Peru. + +1556. Abdication of the Emperor Charles V. Philip II. becomes +King of Spain, and Ferdinand I. Emperor of Germany. + +1557.[sic] Elizabeth becomes Queen of England. + +1557. The Spaniards defeat the French at the battle of St. +Quentin. + +1571. Don John of Austria at the head of the Spanish fleet, +aided by the Venetian and the Papal squadrons, defeats the Turks +at Lepanto. + +1572. Massacre of the Protestants in France on St. Bartholomew's +day. + +1579. The Netherlands revolt against Spain. + +1580. Philip II. conquers Portugal. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE DEFEAT OF THE SPANISH ARMADA, A.D. 1588. + +"In that memorable year, when the dark cloud gathered round our +coasts, when Europe stood by in fearful suspense to behold what +should be the result of that great cast in the game of human +politics, what the craft of Rome, the power of Philip, the genius +of Farnese, could achieve against the island-queen, with her +Drakes and Cecils,--in that agony of the Protestant faith and +English name."--HALLAM, CONST. HIST. vol. i. p. 220. + +On the afternoon of the 19th of July, A.D. 1588, a group of +English captains was collected at the Bowling Green on the Hoe at +Plymouth, whose equals have never before or since been brought +together, even at that favourite mustering-place of the heroes of +the British navy. There was Sir Francis Drake, the first English +circumnavigator of the globe, the terror of every Spanish coast +in the Old World and the New; there was Sir John Hawkins, the +rough veteran of many a daring voyage on the African and American +seas, and of many a desperate battle; there was Sir Martin +Frobisher, one of the earliest explorers of the Arctic seas in +search of that North-West Passage which is still the darling +object of England's boldest mariners. There was the high-admiral +of England, Lord Howard of Effingham, prodigal of all things in +his country's cause, and who had recently had the noble daring to +refuse to dismantle part of the fleet, though the Queen had sent +him orders to do so, in consequence of an exaggerated report that +the enemy had been driven back and shattered by a storm. Lord +Howard (whom contemporary writers describe as being of a wise and +noble courage, skilful in sea matters, wary and provident, and of +great esteem among the sailors) resolved to risk his sovereign's +anger, and to keep the ships afloat at his own charge, rather +than that England should run the peril of losing their +protection. + +Another of our Elizabethan sea-kings, Sir Walter Raleigh, was at +that time commissioned to raise and equip the land-forces of +Cornwall; but, as he was also commander of Plymouth, we may well +believe that he must have availed himself of the opportunity of +consulting with the lord-admiral and other high officers which +was offered by the English fleet putting into that port; and we +may look on Raleigh as one of the group that was assembled at the +Bowling Green on the Hoe. Many other brave men and skilful +mariners, besides the chiefs whose names have been mentioned, +were there, enjoying, with true sailor-like merriment, their +temporary relaxation from duty. In the harbour lay the English +fleet with which they had just returned from a cruise to Corunna +in search of information respecting the real condition and +movements of the hostile, Armada. Lord Howard had ascertained +that our enemies, though tempest-tost, were still formidably +strong; and fearing that part of their fleet might make for +England in his absence, he had hurried back to the Devonshire +coast. He resumed his station at Plymouth, and waited there for +certain tidings of the Spaniard's approach. + +A match at bowls was being played, in which Drake and other high +officers of the fleet were engaged, when a small armed vessel was +seen running before the wind into Plymouth harbour, with all +sails set. Her commander landed in haste, and eagerly sought the +place where the English lord-admiral and his captains were +standing. His name was Fleming; he was the master of a Scotch +privateer; and he told the English officers that he had that +morning seen the Spanish Armada off the Cornish coast. At this +exciting information the captains began to hurry down to the +water, and there was a shouting for the ship's boats: but Drake +coolly checked his comrades, and insisted that the match should +be played out. He said that there was plenty of time both to win +the game and beat the Spaniards. The best and bravest match that +ever was scored was resumed accordingly. Drake and his friends +aimed their last bowls with the same steady calculating coolness +with which they were about to point their guns. The winning cast +was made; and then they went on board and prepared for action, +with their hearts as light and their nerves as firm as they had +been on the Hoe Bowling Green. + +Meanwhile the messengers and signals had been despatched fast and +far through England, to warn each town and village that the enemy +had come at last. In every seaport there was instant making +ready by land and by sea; in every shire and every city there was +instant mustering of horse and man. [In Macaulay's Ballad on the +Spanish Armada, the transmission of the tidings of the Armada's +approach, and the arming of the English nation, are magnificently +described. The progress of the fire-signals is depicted in lines +which are worthy of comparison with the renowned passage in the +Agamemnon, which describes the transmission of the beacon-light +announcing the fall of Troy, from Mount Ida to Argos.] But +England's best defence then, as ever, was her fleet; and after +warping laboriously out of Plymouth harbour against the wind, the +lord-admiral stood westward under easy sail, keeping an anxious +look-out for the Armada, the approach of which was soon announced +by Cornish fishing-boats, and signals from the Cornish cliffs. + +The England of our own days is so strong, and the Spain of our +own days is so feeble, that it is not possible, without some +reflection and care, to comprehend the full extent of the peril +which England then ran from the power and the ambition of Spain, +or to appreciate the importance of that crisis in the history of +the world. We had then no Indian or Colonial Empire save the +feeble germs of our North American settlements, which Raleigh and +Gilbert had recently planted. Scotland was a separate kingdom; +and Ireland was then even a greater source of weakness, and a +worse nest of rebellion than she has been in after times. Queen +Elizabeth had found at her accession an encumbered revenue, a +divided people and an unsuccessful foreign war, in which the last +remnant of our possessions in France had been lost; she had also +a formidable pretender to her crown, whose interests were +favoured by all the Roman Catholic powers; and even some of her +subjects were warped by religious bigotry to deny her title, and +to look on her as an heretical usurper. It is true that during +the years of her reign which had passed away before the attempted +invasion of 1588, she had revived the commercial prosperity, the +national spirit, and the national loyalty of England. But her +resources, to cope with the colossal power of Philip II., still +seemed most scanty; and she had not a single foreign ally, except +the Dutch, who were themselves struggling hard, and, as it +seemed, hopelessly, to maintain their revolt against Spain. + +On the other hand Philip II, was absolute master of an empire so +superior to the other states of the world in extent, in resources +and especially in military and naval forces, as to make the +project of enlarging that empire into a universal monarchy seem a +perfectly feasible scheme; and Philip had both the ambition to +form that project, and the resolution to devote all his energies, +and all his means, to its realization. Since the downfall of the +Roman empire no such preponderating power had existed in the +world. During the mediaeval centuries the chief European +kingdoms were slowly moulding themselves out of the feudal chaos. +And, though their wars with each other were numerous and +desperate, and several of their respective kings figured for a +time as mighty conquerors, none of them in those times acquired +the consistency and perfect organization which are requisite for +a long-sustained career of aggrandizement. After the +consolidation of the great kingdoms, they for some time kept each +other in mutual check. During the first half of the sixteenth +century, the balancing system was successfully practised by +European statesmen. But when Philip II. reigned, France had +become so miserably weak through her civil wars, that he had +nothing to dread from the rival state, which had so long curbed +his father the Emperor Charles V. In Germany, Italy, and Poland +he had either zealous friends and dependents, or weak and divided +enemies. Against the Turks he had gained great and glorious +successes; and he might look round the continent of Europe +without discerning a single antagonist of whom he could stand in +awe. Spain, when he acceded to the throne, was at the zenith of +her power. The hardihood and spirit which the Arragonese, the +Castilians, and the other nations of the peninsula had acquired +during centuries of free institutions and successful war against +the Moors, had not yet become obliterated. Charles V. had, +indeed, destroyed the liberties of Spain; but that had been done +too recently for its full evil to be felt in Philip's time. A +people cannot be debased in a single generation; and the +Spaniards under Charles V. and Philip II. proved the truth of the +remark, that no nation is ever so formidable to its neighbours, +for a time, as is a nation, which, after being trained up in +self-government, passes suddenly under a despotic ruler. The +energy of democratic institutions survives for a few generations, +and to it are superadded the decision and certainty which are the +attributes of government, when all its powers are directed by a +single mind. It is true that this preter-natural vigour is +short-lived: national corruption and debasement gradually follow +the loss of the national liberties; but there is an interval +before their workings are felt, and in that interval the most +ambitious schemes of foreign conquest are often successfully +undertaken. + +Philip had also the advantage of finding himself at the head of a +large standing army in a perfect state of discipline and +equipment, in an age when, except some few insignificant corps, +standing armies were unknown in Christendom. The renown of the +Spanish troops was justly high, and the infantry in particular +was considered the best in the world. His fleet, also, was far +more numerous, and better appointed, than that of any other +European power; and both his soldiers and his sailors had the +confidence in themselves and their commanders, which a long +career of successful warfare alone can create. + +Besides the Spanish crown, Philip succeeded to the kingdom, of +Naples and Sicily, the Duchy of Milan, Franche-Comte, and the +Netherlands. In Africa he possessed Tunis, Oran, the Cape Verde +and the Canary Islands; and in Asia, the Philippine and Sunda +Islands and a part of the Moluccas. Beyond the Atlantic he was +lord of the most splendid portions of the New world which +"Columbus found for Castile and Leon." The empire of Peru and +Mexico, New Spain, and Chili, with their abundant mines of the +precious metals, Hispaniola and Cuba, and many other of the +American Islands, were provinces of the sovereign of Spain. + +Philip had, indeed, experienced the mortification of seeing the +inhabitants of the Netherlands revolt against his authority, nor +could he succeed in bringing back beneath the Spanish sceptre all +the possessions which his father had bequeathed to him. But he +had reconquered a large number of the towns and districts that +originally took up arms against him. Belgium was brought more +thoroughly into implicit obedience to Spain than she had been +before her insurrection, and it was only Holland and the six +other Northern States that still held out against his arms. The +contest had also formed a compact and veteran army on Philip's +side, which, under his great general, the Prince of Parma, had +been trained to act together under all difficulties and all +vicissitudes of warfare; and on whose steadiness and loyalty +perfect reliance might be placed throughout any enterprise, +however difficult and tedious. Alexander Farnese, Prince of +Parma, captain-general of the Spanish armies, and governor of the +Spanish possessions in the Netherlands was beyond all comparison +the greatest military genius of his age. He was also highly +distinguished for political wisdom and sagacity, and for his +great administrative talents. He was idolised by his troops, +whose affections he knew how to win without relaxing their +discipline or diminishing his own authority. Pre-eminently cool +and circumspect in his plans, but swift and energetic when the +moment arrived for striking a decisive blow, neglecting no risk +that caution could provide against, conciliating even the +populations of the districts which he attacked by his scrupulous +good faith, his moderation, and his address, Farnese was one of +the most formidable generals that ever could be placed at the +head of an army designed not only to win battles, but to effect +conquests. Happy it is for England and the world that this +island was saved from becoming an arena for the exhibition of his +powers. + +Whatever diminution the Spanish empire might have sustained in +the Netherlands, seemed to be more than compensated by the +acquisition of Portugal, which Philip had completely conquered in +1580. Not only that ancient kingdom itself, but all the fruits +of the maritime enterprises of the Portuguese had fallen into +Philip's hands. All the Portuguese colonies in America, Africa, +and the East Indies, acknowledged the sovereignty of the King of +Spain; who thus not only united the whole Iberian peninsula under +his single sceptre, but had acquired a transmarine empire, little +inferior in wealth and extent to that which he had inherited at +his accession. The splendid victory which his fleet, in +conjunction with the Papal and Venetian galleys, had gained at +Lepanto over the Turks, had deservedly exalted the fame of the +Spanish marine throughout Christendom; and when Philip had +reigned thirty-five years, the vigour of his empire seemed +unbroken, and the glory of the Spanish arms had increased, and +was increasing throughout the world. + +One nation only had been his active, his persevering, and his +successful foe. England had encouraged his revolted subjects in +Flanders against him, and given them the aid in men and money +without which they must soon have been humbled in the dust. +English ships had plundered his colonies; had denied his +supremacy in the New World, as well as the Old; they had +inflicted ignominious defeats on his squadrons; they had captured +his cities, and burned his arsenals on the very coasts of Spain. +The English had made Philip himself the object of personal +insult. He was held up to ridicule in their stage plays and +masks, and these scoffs at the man had (as is not unusual in such +cases) excited the anger of the absolute king, even more +vehemently than the injuries inflicted on his power. [See +Ranke's Hist. Popes, vol. ii. p. 170.] Personal as well as +political revenge urged him to attack England. Were she once +subdued, the Dutch must submit; France could not cope with him, +the empire would not oppose him; and universal dominion seemed +sure to be the result of the conquest of that malignant island. + +There was yet another and a stronger feeling which armed King +Philip against England. He was one of the sincerest and sternest +bigots of his age. He looked on himself, and was looked on by +others, as the appointed champion to extirpate heresy and re- +establish the Papal power throughout Europe. A powerful reaction +against Protestantism had taken place since the commencement of +the second half of the sixteenth century, and Philip believed +that he was destined to complete it. The Reform doctrines had +been thoroughly rooted out from Italy and Spain. Belgium, which +had previously been half Protestant, had been reconquered both in +allegiance and creed by Philip, and had become one of the most +Catholic countries in the world. Half Germany had been won back +to the old faith. In Savoy, in Switzerland and many other +countries, the progress of the counter-Reformation had been rapid +and decisive. The Catholic league seemed victorious in France. +The Papal Court itself had shaken off the supineness of recent +centuries; and, at the head of the Jesuits and the other new +ecclesiastical orders, was displaying a vigour and a boldness +worthy of the days of Hildebrand or Innocent III. + +Throughout continental Europe, the Protestants, discomfited and +dismayed, looked to England as their protector and refuge. +England was the acknowledged central point of Protestant power +and policy; and to conquer England was to stab Protestantism to +the very heart. Sixtus V., the then reigning pope, earnestly +exhorted Philip to this enterprise. And when the tidings reached +Italy and Spain that the Protestant Queen of England had put to +death her Catholic prisoner, Mary Queen of Scots, the fury of the +Vatican and Escurial knew no bounds. + +The Prince of Parma, who was appointed military chief of the +expedition, collected on the coast of Flanders a veteran force +that was to play a principal part in the conquest of England. +Besides the troops who were in his garrisons, or under his +colours, five thousand infantry were sent to him from northern +and central Italy, four thousand from the kingdom of Naples, six +thousand from Castile, three thousand from Arragon, three +thousand from Austria and Germany, together with four squadrons +of heavy-armed horse; besides which he received forces from the +Franche-Comte and the Walloon country. By his command, the +forest of Waes was felled for the purpose of building flat- +bottomed boats, which, floating down the rivers and canals to +Meinport and Dunkerque, were to carry this large army of chosen +troops to the mouth of the Thames, under the escort of the great +Spanish fleet. Gun-carriages, fascines, machines used in sieges, +together with every material requisite for building bridges, +forming camps, and raising fortresses, were to be placed on board +the flotillas of the Prince of Parma, who followed up the +conquest of the Netherlands, whilst he was making preparations +for the invasion of this island. Favoured by the dissensions +between the insurgents of the United Provinces and Leicester, the +Prince of Parma had recovered Deventer, as well as a fort before +Zutphen, which the English commanders, Sir William Stanley, the +friend of Babbington, and Sir Roland York, had surrendered to +him, when with their troops they passed over to the service of +Philip II., after the death of Mary Stuart, and he had also made +himself master of the Sluys. His intention was to leave to the +Count de Mansfeldt sufficient forces to follow up the war with +the Dutch, which had now become a secondary object, whilst he +himself went at the head of fifty thousand men of the Armada and +the flotilla, to accomplish the principal enterprise--that +enterprise, which, in the highest degree, affected the interests +of the pontifical authority. In a bull, intended to be kept +secret until the day of landing, Sixtus V., renewing the anathema +fulminated against Elizabeth by Pius V. and Gregory XIII., +affected to depose her from our throne. [See Mignet's Mary Queen +of Scots vol. ii.] + +Elizabeth was denounced as a murderous heretic whose destruction +was an instant duty. A formal treaty was concluded (in June, +1587), by which the pope bound himself to contribute a million of +scudi to the expenses of the war; the money to be paid as soon as +the king had actual possession of an English port. Philip, on +his part, strained the resources of his vast empire to the +utmost. The French Catholic chiefs eagerly co-operated with him. +In the sea-ports of the Mediterranean, and along almost the whole +coast from Gibraltar to Jutland, the preparations for the great +armament were urged forward with all the earnestness of religious +zeal, as well as of angry ambition.--"Thus," says the German +historian of the Popes, [Ranke, vol ii. p. 172.] "thus did the +united powers of Italy and Spain, from which such mighty +influences had gone forth over the whole world, now rouse +themselves for an attack upon England! The king had already +compiled, from the archives of Simancas, a statement of the +claims which he had to the throne of that country on the +extinction of the Stuart line; the most brilliant prospects, +especially that of an universal dominion of the seas, were +associated in his mind with this enterprise. Everything seemed +to conspire to such end; the predominance of Catholicism in +Germany, the renewed attack upon the Huguenots in France, the +attempt upon Geneva, and the enterprise against England. At the +same moment a thoroughly Catholic prince, Sigismund III., +ascended the throne of Poland, with the prospect also of future +succession to the throne of Sweden. But whenever any principle +or power, be it what it may, aims at unlimited supremacy in +Europe, some vigorous resistance to it, having its origin in the +deepest springs of human nature, invariably arises. Philip II. +had had, to encounter newly-awakened powers, braced by the vigour +of youth, and elevated by a sense of their future destiny. The +intrepid corsairs, who had rendered every sea insecure, now +clustered round the coasts of their native island. The +Protestants in a body,--even the Puritans, although they had been +subjected to as severe oppressions as the Catholics,--rallied +round their queen, who now gave admirable proof of her masculine +courage, and her princely talent of winning the affections, and +leading the minds, and preserving the allegiance of men." + +Ranke should have added that the English Catholics at this crisis +proved themselves as loyal to their queen, and true to their +country, as were the most vehement anti-Catholic zealots in the +island. Some few traitors there were; but, as a body, the +Englishmen who held the ancient faith, stood the trial of their +patriotism nobly. The lord-admiral himself was a Catholic, and +(to adopt the words of Hallam) "then it was that the Catholics in +every county repaired to the standard of the lord-lieutenant, +imploring that they might not be suspected of bartering the +national independence for their religion itself." The Spaniard +found no partisans in the country which he assailed, nor did +England, self-wounded, + + "Lie at the proud foot of her enemy." + +For some time the destination of the enormous armament of Philip +was not publicly announced. Only Philip himself, the Pope +Sixtus, the Duke of Guise, and Philip's favourite minister, +Mendoza, at first knew its real object. Rumours were sedulously +spread that it was designed to proceed to the Indies to realize +vast projects of distant conquest. Sometimes hints were dropped +by Philip's ambassadors in foreign courts, that his master had +resolved on a decisive effort to crush his rebels in the Low +Countries. But Elizabeth and her statesmen could not view the +gathering of such a storm without feeling the probability of its +bursting on their own shores. As early as the spring of 1587, +Elizabeth sent Sir Francis Drake to cruise off the Tagus. Drake +sailed into the Bay of Cadiz and the Lisbon Roads, and burnt much +shipping and military stores, causing thereby an important delay +in the progress of the Spanish preparations. Drake called this +"Singeing the King of of Spain's beard." Elizabeth also +increased her succours of troops to the Netherlanders, to prevent +the Prince of Parma from overwhelming them, and from thence being +at full leisure to employ his army against her dominions. + +Each party at this time thought it politic to try to amuse its +adversary by pretending to treat for peace, and negotiations were +opened at Ostend in the beginning of 1588, which were prolonged +during the first six months of that year. Nothing real was +effected, and probably nothing real had been intended to be +effected by them. But, in the meantime, each party had been +engaged in important communications with the chief powers in +France, in which Elizabeth seemed at first to have secured a +great advantage, but in which Philip ultimately prevailed. +"Henry III. of France was alarmed at the negotiations that were +going on at Ostend; and he especially dreaded any accommodation +between Spain and England, in consequence of which Philip II. +might be enabled to subdue the United Provinces, and make himself +master of France. In order, therefore, to dissuade Elizabeth +from any arrangement, he offered to support her, in case she were +attacked by the Spaniards, with twice the number of troops, which +he was bound by the treaty of 1574 to send to her assistance. He +had a long conference with her ambassador, Stafford, upon this +subject, and told him that the Pope and the Catholic King had +entered into a league against the queen, his mistress, and had +invited himself and the Venetians to join them, but they had +refused to do so. 'If the Queen of England,' he added, +'concludes a peace with the Catholic king, that peace will not +last three months, because the Catholic king will aid the League +with all his forces to overthrow her, and you may imagine what +fate is reserved for your mistress after that.' On the other +hand, in order most effectually to frustrate this negotiation, he +proposed to Philip II. to form a still closer union between the +two crowns of France and Spain: and, at the same time, he +secretly despatched a confidential envoy to Constantinople to +warn the Sultan, that if he did not again declare war against the +Catholic King, that monarch, who already possessed the +Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the Indies, and nearly all Italy, +would soon make himself master of England, and would then turn +the forces of all Europe against the Turks." [Mignet's History +of Mary Queen of Scots. vol. ii.] + +But Philip had an ally in France, who was far more powerful than +the French king. This was the Duke of Guise, the chief of the +League, and the idol of the fanatic partisans of the Romish +faith. Philip prevailed on Guise openly to take up arms against +Henry III. (who was reviled by the Leaguers as a traitor to the +true Church, and a secret friend to the Huguenots); and thus +prevent the French king from interfering in favour of Queen +Elizabeth. "With this object, the commander, Juan Iniguez Moreo, +was despatched by him in the early part of April to the Duke of +Guise at Soissons. He met with complete success. He offered the +Duke of Guise, as soon as he took the field against Henry III., +three hundred thousand crowns, six thousand infantry, and twelve +hundred pikemen, on behalf of the king his master, who would, in +addition, withdraw his ambassador from the court of France, and +accredit an envoy to the Catholic party. A treaty was concluded +on these conditions, and the Duke of Guise entered Paris, where +he was expected by the Leaguers, and whence he expelled Henry +III. on the 12th of May, by the insurrection of the barricades. +A fortnight after this insurrection, which reduced Henry III. to +impotence, and, to use the language of the Prince of Parma, did +not even 'permit him to assist the Queen of England with his +tears, as he needed them all to weep over his own misfortunes,' +the Spanish fleet left the Tagus and sailed towards the British +isles." [Mignet.] + +Meanwhile in England, from the sovereign on the throne to the +peasant in the cottage, all hearts and hands made ready to meet +the imminent deadly peril. Circular letters from the queen were +sent round to the lord-lieutenants of the several counties +requiring them "to call together the best sort of gentlemen under +their lieutenancy, and to declare unto them these great +preparations and arrogant threatenings, now burst forth in action +upon the seas, wherein every man's particular state, in the +highest degree, could be touched in respect of country, liberty, +wives, children, lands, lives, and (which was specially to be +regarded) the profession of the true and sincere religion of +Christ: and to lay before them the infinite and unspeakable +miseries that would fall out upon any such change, which miseries +were evidently seen by the fruits of that hard and cruel +government holden in countries not far distant. We do look," +said the queen, "that the most part of them should have, upon +this instant extraordinary occasion, a larger proportion of +furniture, both for horseman and footmen, but especially +horsemen, than hath been certified; thereby to be in their best +strength against any attempt, or to be employed about our own +person, or otherwise. Hereunto as we doubt not but by your good +endeavours they will be the rather conformable, so also we assure +ourselves, that Almighty God will so bless these their loyal +hearts borne towards us, their loving sovereign, and their +natural country, that all the attempts of any enemy whatsoever +shall he made void and frustrate, to their confusion, your +comfort, and to God's high glory." [Strype, cited in Southey's +Naval History.] + +Letters of a similar kind were also sent by the council to each +of the nobility, and to the great cities. The primate called on +the clergy for their contributions; and by every class of the +community the appeal was responded to with liberal zeal, that +offered more even than the queen required. The boasting threats +of the Spaniards had roused the spirit of the nation; and the +whole people "were thoroughly irritated to stir up their whole +forces for their defence against such prognosticated conquests; +so that, in a very short time, all the whole realm, and every +corner were furnished with armed men, on horseback and on foot; +and these continually trained, exercised, and put into bands, in +warlike manner, as in no age ever was before in this realm. +There was no sparing of money to provide horse, armour, weapons, +powder, and all necessaries; no, nor want of provision of +pioneers, carriages, and victuals, in every county of the realm, +without exception, to attend upon the armies. And to this +general furniture every man voluntarily offered, very many their +services personally without wages, others money for armour and +weapons, and to wage soldiers: a matter strange, and never the +like heard of in this realm or else where. And this general +reason moved all men to large contributions, that when a conquest +was to be withstood wherein all should be lost, it was no time to +spare a portion." [Copy of contemporary letter in the Harleian +Collection, quoted by Southey.] + +Our lion-hearted queen showed herself worthy of such a people. A +camp was formed at Tilbury; and there Elizabeth rode through the +ranks, encouraging her captains and her soldiers by her presence +and her words. One of the speeches which she addressed to them +during this crisis has been preserved; and, though often quoted, +it must not be omitted here. + +"My loving people," she said, "we have been persuaded by some +that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit +ourselves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but I assure +you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving +people. Let tyrants fear! I have always so behaved myself, +that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard +in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects; and, therefore, +I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my +recreation or disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat +of the battle, to live or die amongst you all, to lay down for my +God, for my kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood, +even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and +feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of +a King of England too; and think it foul scorn that Parma, or +Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders +of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonour shall grow by +me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, +judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I +know already for your forwardness you have deserved rewards and +crowns; and we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall +be duly paid you. In the meantime, my lieutenant-general shall +be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or +worthy subject, not doubting but by your obedience to my general, +by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we +shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, +of my kingdom, and of my people." + +We have minute proofs of the skill with which the government of +Elizabeth made its preparations; for the documents still exist +which were drawn up at that time by the ministers and military +men who were consulted by Elizabeth respecting the defence of the +country. [See note in Tytler's Life of Raleigh, p. 71.] Among +those summoned to the advice of their queen at this crisis, were +Sir Walter Raleigh, Lord Grey, Sir Francis Knolles, Sir Thomas +Leighton, Sir John Norris, Sir Richard Grenville, Sir Richard +Bingham, and Sir Roger Williams; and the biographer of Sir Walter +Raleigh observes that "These councillors were chosen by the +queen, as being not only men bred to arms, and some of them, as +Grey, Norris, Bingham, and Grenville, of high military talents, +but of grave experience in affairs of state, and in the civil +government of provinces,--qualities by no means means +unimportant, when the debate referred not merely to the leading +of an army or the plan of a campaign, but to the organization of +a militia, and the communication with the magistrates for arming +the peasantry, and encouraging them to a resolute and +simultaneous resistance. From some private papers of Lord +Burleigh, it appears that Sir Walter took a principal share in +these deliberations; and the abstract of their proceedings, a +document still preserved, is supposed to have been drawn up by +him. They first prepared a list of places where it was likely +the Spanish army might attempt a descent, as well as of those +which lay most exposed to the forces under the Duke of Parma. +They next considered the speediest and most effectual means of +defence, whether by fortification or the muster of a military +array; and, lastly, deliberated on the course to be taken for +fighting the enemy if he should land." + +Some of Elizabeth's advisers recommended that the whole care and +resources of the government should be devoted to the equipment of +the armies, and that the enemy, when he attempted to land, should +be welcomed with a battle on the shore. But the wiser counsels +of Raleigh and others prevailed, who urged the importance of +fitting out a fleet, that should encounter the Spaniards at sea, +and, if possible, prevent them from approaching the land at all. +In Raleigh's great work on the "History of the World," he takes +occasion, when discussing some of the events of the first Punic +war, to give his reasonings on the proper policy of England when +menaced with invasion. Without doubt, we have there the +substance of the advice which he gave to Elizabeth's council; and +the remarks of such a man, on such a subject, have a general and +enduring interest, beyond the immediate peril which called them +forth. Raleigh [Historie of the World pp. 799--801.] says:-- +"Surely I hold that the best way is to keep our enemies from +treading upon our ground: wherein if we fail, then must we seek +to make him wish that he had stayed at his own home. In such a +case if it should happen, our judgments are to weigh many +particular circumstances, that belongs not unto this discourse. +But making the question general, the positive, WHETHER England, +WITHOUT THE HELP OF HER FLEET, BE ABLE TO DEBAR AN ENEMY FROM +LANDING; I hold that it is unable so to do; and therefore I think +it most dangerous to make the adventure. For the encouragement +of a first victory to an enemy, and the discouragement of being +beaten, to the invaded, may draw after it a most perilous +consequence. + +"Great difference I know there is, and a diverse consideration to +be had, between such a country as France is, strengthened with +many fortified places; and this of ours, where our ramparts are +but the bodies of men. But I say that an army to be transported +over sea, and to be landed again in an enemy's country, and the +place left to the choice of the invader, cannot be resisted on +the coast of England, without a fleet to impeach it; no, nor on +the coast of France, or any other country; except every creek, +port, or sandy bay, had a powerful army, in each of them, to make +opposition. For let the supposition be granted that Kent is able +to furnish twelve thousand foot, and that those twelve thousand +be layed in the three best landing-places within that country, to +wit, three thousand at Margat, three thousand at the Nesse, and +six thousand at Foulkstone, that is, somewhat equally distant +from them both; as also that two of these troops (unless some +other order be thought more fit) be directed to strengthen the +third, when they shall see the enemies' fleet to head towards it: +I say, that notwithstanding this provision, if the enemy, setting +sail from the Isle of Wight, in the first watch of the night, and +towing their long boats at their sterns, shall arrive by dawn of +day at the Nesse, and thrust their army on shore there, it will +be hard for those three thousand that are at Margat (twenty-and- +four long miles from thence), to come time enough to reinforce +their fellows at the Nesse. Nay, how shall they at Foulkstone be +able to do it, who are nearer by more than half the way? seeing +that the enemy, at his first arrival, will either make his +entrance by force, with three or four shot of great artillery, +and quickly put the first three thousand that are entrenched at +the Nesse to run, or else give them so much to do that they shall +be glad to send for help to Foulkstone, and perhaps to Margat, +whereby those places will be left bare. Now let us suppose that +all the twelve thousand Kentish soldiers arrive at the Nesse, ere +the enemy can be ready to disembarque his army, so that he will +find it unsafe to land in the face of so many prepared to +withstand him, yet must we believe that he will play the best of +his own game (having liberty to go which way he list), and under +covert of the night, set sail towards the east, where what shall +hinder him to take ground either at Margat, the Downes, or +elsewhere, before they, at the Nesse, can be well aware of his +departure? Certainly there is nothing more easy than to do it. +Yea, the like may be said of Weymouth, Purbeck, Poole, and of all +landing-places on the south-west. For there is no man ignorant, +that ships without putting themselves out of breath, will easily +outrun the souldiers that coast them. 'LES ARMEES NE VOLENT +POINT EN POSTE;'--'Armies neither flye, nor run post,' saith a +marshal of France. And I know it to be true, that a fleet of +ships may be seen at sunset, and after it at the Lizard, yet by +the next morning they may recover Portland, whereas an army of +foot shall not be able to march it in six dayes. Again, when +those troops lodged on the sea-shores, shall be forced to run +from place to place in vain, after a fleet of ships, they will at +length sit down in the midway, and leave all at adventure. But +say it were otherwise, that the invading enemy will offer to land +in some such place, where there shall be an army of ours ready to +receive him; yet it cannot be doubted, but that when the choice +of all our trained bands, and the choice of our commanders and +captains, shall be drawn together (as they were at Tilbury in the +year 1588) to attend the person of the prince, and for the +defence of the city of London; they that remain to guard the +coast can be of no such force as to encounter an army like unto +that wherewith it was intended that the Prince of Parma should +have landed in England. + +"For end of this digression, I hope that this question shall +never come to trial; his majestie's many moveable forts will +forbid the experience. And although the English will no less +disdain that any nation under heaven can do, to be beaten, upon +their own ground, or elsewhere, by a foreign enemy; yet to +entertain those that shall assail us with their own beef in their +bellies, and before they eat of our Kentish capons, I take it to +be the wisest way; to do which his majesty, after God, will +employ his good ships on the sea, and not trust in any +intrenchment upon the shore." + +The introduction of steam as a propelling power at sea, has added +tenfold weight to these arguments of Raleigh, On the other hand, +a well-constructed system of railways, especially of coast-lines, +aided by the operation or the electric telegraph, would give +facilities for concentrating a defensive army to oppose an enemy +on landing, and for moving troops from place to place in +observation of the movements of the hostile fleet, such as would +have astonished Sir Walter even more than the sight of vessels +passing rapidly to and fro without the aid of wind or tide. The +observation of the French marshal, whom he quotes, is now no +longer correct. Armies can be made to pass from place to place +almost with the speed of wings, and far more rapidly than any +post-travelling that was known in the Elizabethan or any other +age. Still, the presence of a sufficient armed force at the +right spot, at the right time, can never be made a matter of +certainty; and even after the changes that have taken place, no +one can doubt but that the policy of Raleigh is that which +England should ever seek to follow in defensive war. At the time +of the Armada, that policy certainly saved the country, if not +from conquest, at least from deplorable calamities. If indeed +the enemy had landed, we may be sure that be would have been +heroically opposed. But history shows us so many examples of the +superiority of veteran troops over new levies, however numerous +and brave, that without disparaging our countrymen's soldierly +merits, we may well be thankful that no trial of them was then +made on English land. Especially must we feel this, when we +contrast the high military genius of the Prince of Parma, who +would have headed the Spaniards, with the imbecility of the Earl +of Leicester, to whom the deplorable spirit of favouritism, which +formed the greatest blemish in Elizabeth's character, had then +committed the chief command of the English armies. + +The ships of the royal navy at this time amounted to no more than +thirty-six; but the most serviceable merchant vessels were +collected from all the ports of the country; and the citizens of +London, Bristol, and the other great seats of commerce, showed as +liberal a zeal in equipping and manning vessels as the nobility +and gentry displayed in mustering forces by land. The seafaring +population of the coast, of every rank and station, was animated +by the same ready spirit; and the whole number of seamen who came +forward to man the English fleet was 17,472. The number of the +ships that were collected was 191; and the total amount of their +tonnage 31,985. There was one ship in the fleet (the Triumph) of +1100 tons, one of 1000, one of 900, two of 800 each, three of +600, five of 600, five of 400, six of 300, six of 250, twenty of +200, and the residue of inferior burden. Application was made to +the Dutch for assistance; and, as Stows expresses it, "The +Hollanders came roundly in, with threescore sail, brave ships of +war, fierce and full of spleen, not so much for England's aid, as +in just occasion for their own defence; these men foreseeing the +greatness of the danger that might ensue, if the Spaniards should +chance to win the day and get the mastery over them; in due +regard whereof their manly courage was inferior to none." + +We have more minute information of the numbers and equipment of +the hostile forces than we have of our own. In the first volume +of Hakluyt's "Voyages," dedicated to Lord Effingham, who +commanded against the Armada, there is given (from the +contemporary foreign writer, Meteran) a more complete and +detailed catalogue than has perhaps ever appeared of a similar +armament. + +"A very large and particular description of this navie was put in +print and published by the Spaniards; wherein was set downe the +number, names, and burthens of the shippes, the number of +mariners and soldiers throughout the whole fleete; likewise the +quantitie of their ordinance, of their armour of bullets, of +match, of gun-poulder, of victuals, and of all their navall +furniture, was in the saide description particularized. Unto all +these were added the names of the governours, captaines, +noblemen, and gentlemen voluntaries, of whom there was so great a +multitude, that scarce was there any family of accompt, or any +one principall man throughout all Spaine, that had not a brother, +sonne, or kinsman in that fleete; who all of them were in good +hope to purchase unto themselves in that navie (as they termed +it) invincible, endless glory and renown, and to possess +themselves of great seigniories and riches in England, and in the +Low Countreys. But because the said description was translated +and published out of Spanish into divers other languages, we will +here only make an abridgement or brief rehearsal thereof. + +"Portugal furnished and set foorth under the conduct of the Duke +of Medina Sidonia, generall of the fleete, ten galeons, two +zabraes, 1300 mariners, 3300 souldiers, 300 great pieces, with +all requisite furniture. + +"Biscay, under the conduct of John Martines de Ricalde, admiral +of the whole fleete, set forth tenne galeons, four pataches, 700 +mariners, 2000 souldiers, 260 great pieces, &c. + +"Guipusco, under the conduct of Michael de Orquendo, tenne +galeons, four pataches, 700 mariners, 2000 souldiers, 310 great +pieces. + +"Italy with the Levant Islands, under Martine de Vertendona, ten +galeons, 800 mariners, 2000 souldiers, 310 great pieces, &c. + +"Castile, under Diego Flores de Valdez, fourteen galeons, two +pataches, 1700 mariners, 2400 souldiers, and 388 great pieces, +&c. + +"Andaluzia, under the conduct of Petro de Valdez, ten galeons, +one patache, 800 mariners, 2400 souldiers, 280 great pieces, &c. + +"Item, under the conduct of John Lopez de Medina, twenty-three +great Flemish hulkes, with 700 mariners, 3200 souldiers, and 400 +great pieces, + +"Item, under Hugo de Moncada, fours galliasses, containing 1200 +gally-slaves, 460 mariners, 870 souldiers, 200 great pieces, &c. + +"Item, under Diego de Mandrana, fours gallies of Portugall with +888 gally-slaves, 360 mariners, twenty great pieces, and other +requisite furniture. + +"Item, under Anthonie de Mendoza, twenty-two pataches and +zabraes, with 574 mariners, 488 souldiers, and 193 great pieces. + +"Besides the ships aforementioned, there were twenty caravels +rowed with oares, being appointed to perform necessary services +under the greater ships, insomuch that all the ships appertayning +to this navie amounted unto the summe of 150, eche one being +sufficiently provided of furniture and victuals. + +"The number of mariners in the saide fleete were above 8000, of +slaves 2088, of souldiers 20,000 (besides noblemen and gentlemen +voluntaries), of great cast pieces 2600. The aforesaid ships +were of an huge and incredible capacitie and receipt: for the +whole fleete was large enough to contains the burthen of 60,000 +tunnes. + +"The galeons were 64 in number, being of an huge bignesse, and +very flately built, being of marveilous force also, and so high, +that they resembled great castles, most fit to defend themselves +and to withstand any assault, but in giving any other ships the +encounter farr inferiour unto the English and Dutch ships, which +can with great dexteritie weild and turne themselves at all +assayes. The upperworke of the said galeons was of thicknesse +and strength sufficient to bear off musket-shot. The lower works +and the timbers thereof were out of measure strong, being framed +of plankes and ribs fours or five foote in thicknesse, insomuch +that no bullets could pierce them, but such as were discharged +hard at hand; which afterward prooved true, for a great number of +bullets were found to sticke fast within the massie substance of +those thicke plankes. Great and well pitched cables were twined +about the masts of their shippes, to strengthen them against the +battery of shot. + +"The galliasses were of such bignesse, that they contained within +them chambers, chapels, turrets, pulpits, and other commodities +of great houses. The galliasses were rowed with great oares, +there being in eche one of them 300 slaves for the same purpose +and were able to do great service with the force of their +ordinance. All these, together with the residue aforenamed, were +furnished and beautified with trumpets, streamers, banners, +warlike ensignes, and other such like ornaments. + +"Their pieces of brazen ordinance were 1600, and of yron 1000. + +"The bullets thereto belonging were 120 thousand. + +"Item of gun-poulder, 5600 quintals. Of matche, 1200 quintals. +Of muskets and kaleivers, 7000. Of haleberts and partisans, +10,000. + +"Moreover they had great store of canons, double-canons, +culverings and field-pieces for land services. + +"Likewise they were provided of all instruments necessary on land +to conveigh and transport their furniture from place to place; as +namely of carts, wheeles, wagons, &c. Also they had spades, +mattocks, and baskets, to set pioners to works. They had in like +sort great store of mules and horses, and whatsoever else was +requisite for a land-armie. They were so well stored of biscuit, +that for the space of halfe a yeere, they might allow eche person +in the whole fleete halfe a quintall every month; whereof the +whole summe amounteth unto an hundreth thousand quintals. + +"Likewise of wine they had 147 thousand pipes, sufficient also +for halfe a yeeres expedition. Of bacon, 6500 quintals. Of +cheese, three thousand quintals. Besides fish, rise, beanes, +pease, oils, vinegar, &c. + +"Moreover they had 12,000 pipes of fresh water, and all other +necessary provision, as, namely, candles, lanternes, lampes, +sailes, hempe, oxe-hides, and lead to stop holes that should be +made with the battery of gun-shot. To be short, they brought all +things expedient, either for a fleete by sea, or for an armie by +land. + +"This navie (as Diego Pimentelli afterward confessed) was +esteemed by the king himselfe to containe 32,000 persons, and to +cost him every day 30 thousand ducates. + +"There were in the said navie five terzaes of Spaniards (which +terzaes the Frenchmen call regiments), under the command of five +governours, termed by the Spaniards masters of the field, and +amongst the rest there were many olde and expert souldiers chosen +out of the garisons of Sicilie, Naples, and Tercera. Their +captaines or colonels were Diego Pimentelli, Don Francisco de +Toledo, Don Alonco de Lucon, Don Nicolas de Isla, Don Augustin de +Mexia; who had each of them thirty-two companies under their +conduct. Besides the which companies, there were many bands also +of Castilians and Portugals, every one of which had their +peculiar governours, captains, officers, colours, and weapons." + +While this huge armada was making ready in the southern ports of +the Spanish dominions, the Prince of Parma, with almost +incredible toil and skill, collected a squadron of war-ships at +Dunkirk, and his flotilla of other ships and of flat-bottomed +boats for the transport to England of the picked troops, which +were designed to be the main instruments in subduing England. +Thousands of workmen were employed, night and day, in the +construction of these vessels, in the ports of Flanders and +Brabant. One hundred of the kind called hendes, built at +Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent, and laden with provision and +ammunition, together with sixty flat-bottomed boats, each capable +of carrying thirty horses, were brought, by means of canals and +fosses, dug expressly for the purpose, to Nieuport and Dunkirk. +One hundred smaller vessels were equipped at the former place, +and thirty-two at Dunkirk, provided with twenty thousand empty +barrels, and with materials for making pontoons, for stopping up +the harbours, and raising forts and entrenchments. The army +which these vessels were designed to convey to England amounted +to thirty thousand strong, besides a body of four thousand +cavalry, stationed at Courtroi, composed chiefly of the ablest +veterans of Europe; invigorated by rest, (the siege of Sluys +having been the only enterprise in which they were employed +during the last campaign,) and excited by the hopes of plunder +and the expectation of certain conquest. [Davis's Holland, vol. +ii. p. 219.] And "to this great enterprise and imaginary +conquest, divers princes and noblemen came from divers countries; +out of Spain came the Duke of Pestrana, who was said to be the +son of Ruy Gomez de Silva, but was held to be the king's bastard; +the Marquis of Bourgou, one of the Archduke Ferdinand's sons, by +Philippina Welserine; Don Vespasian Gonzaga, of the house of +Mantua, a great soldier, who had been viceroy in Spain; Giovanni +de Medici, Bastard of Florence; Amedo, Bastard of Savoy, with +many such like, besides others of meaner quality." [Grimstone, +cited in Southey.] + +Philip had been advised by the deserter, Sir William Stanley, not +to attack England in the first instance, but first to effect a +landing and secure a strong position in Ireland; his admiral, +Santa Cruz, had recommended him to make sure, in the first +instance, of some large harbour on the coast of Holland or +Zealand, where the Armada, having entered the Channel, might find +shelter in case of storm, and whence it could sail without +difficulty for England; but Philip rejected both these counsels, +and directed that England itself should be made the immediate +object of attack; and on the 20th of May the Armada left the +Tagus, in the pomp and pride of supposed invincibility, and +amidst the shouts of thousands, who believed that England was +already conquered. But steering to the northward, and before it +was clear of the coast of Spain, the Armada, was assailed by a +violent storm, and driven back with considerable damage to the +ports of Biscay and Galicia. It had, however, sustained its +heaviest loss before it left the Tagus, in the death of the +veteran admiral Santa Cruz, who had been destined to guide it +against England. + +This experienced sailor, notwithstanding his diligence and +success, had been unable to keep pace with the impatient ardour +of his master. Philip II. had reproached him with his +dilatoriness, and had said with ungrateful harshness, "You make +an ill return for all my kindness to you." These words cut the +veteran's heart, and proved fatal to Santa Cruz. Overwhelmed +with fatigue and grief, he sickened and died. Philip II. had +replaced him by Alonzo Perez de Gusman, Duke of Medina Sidonia, +one of the most powerful of the Spanish grandees, but wholly +unqualified to command such an expedition. He had, however, as +his lieutenants, two sea men of proved skill and bravery, Juan de +Martinez Recalde of Biscay, and Miguel Orquendo of Guipuzcoa. + +The report of the storm which had beaten back the Armada reached +England with much exaggeration, and it was supposed by some of +the queen's counsellors that the invasion would now be deferred +to another year. But Lord Howard of Effingham, the lord high- +admiral of the English fleet, judged more wisely that the danger +was not yet passed, and, as already mentioned, had the moral +courage to refuse to dismantle his principal ships, though he +received orders to that effect. But it was not Howard's design +to keep the English fleet in costly inaction, and to wait +patiently in our own harbours, till the Spaniards had recruited +their strength, and sailed forth again to attack us. The English +seamen of that age (like their successors) loved to strike better +than to parry, though, when emergency required, they could be +patient and cautious in their bravery. It was resolved to +proceed to Spain, to learn the enemy's real condition, and to +deal him any blow for which there might be opportunity. In this +bold policy we may well believe him to have been eagerly seconded +by those who commanded under him. Howard and Drake sailed +accordingly to Corunna, hoping to surprise and attack some part +of the Armada in that harbour; but when near the coast of Spain, +the north wind, which had blown up to that time, veered suddenly +to the south; and fearing that the Spaniards might put to sea and +pass him unobserved, Howard returned to the entrance of the +Channel, where he cruised for some time on the look-out for the +enemy. In part of a letter written by him at this period, he +speaks of the difficulty of guarding so large a breadth of sea--a +difficulty that ought not to be forgotten when modern schemes of +defence against hostile fleets from the south are discussed. "I +myself," he wrote, "do lie in the midst of the Channel, with the +greatest force; Sir Francis Drake hath twenty ships, and four or +five pinnaces, which lie towards Ushant; and Mr. Hawkins, with as +many more, lieth towards Scilly. Thus we are fain to do, or else +with this wind they might pass us by, and we never the wiser. +The SLEEVE is another manner of thing than it was taken for: we +find it by experience and daily observation to be 100 miles over: +a large room for me to look unto!" But after some time further +reports that the Spaniards were inactive in their harbour, where +they were suffering severely from sickness, caused Howard also to +relax in his vigilance; and he returned to Plymouth with the +greater part of his fleet. + +On the 12th of July, the Armada having completely refitted, +sailed again for the Channel, and reached it without obstruction +or observation by the English. + +The design of the Spaniards was, that the Armada should give +them, at least for a time, the command of the sea, and that it +should join the squadron which Parma had collected, off Calais. +Then, escorted by an overpowering naval force, Parma and his army +were to embark in their flotilla, and cross the sea to England +where they were to be landed, together with the troops which the +Armada brought from the ports of Spain. The scheme was not +dissimilar to one formed against England a little more than two +centuries afterwards. + +As Napoleon, in 1805, waited with his army and flotilla at +Boulogne, looking for Villeneuve to drive away the English +cruisers, and secure him a passage across the Channel, so Parma, +in 1588, waited for Medina Sidonia to drive away the Dutch and +English squadrons that watched his flotilla, and to enable his +veterans to cross the sea to the land that they were to conquer. +Thanks to Providence, in each case England's enemy waited in +vain! + +Although the numbers of sail which the queen's government, and +the patriotic zeal of volunteers, had collected for the defence +of England exceeded the number of sail in the Spanish fleet, the +English ships were, collectively, far inferior in size to their +adversaries; their aggregate tonnage being less by half than that +of the enemy. In the number of guns, and weight of metal, the +disproportion was still greater. The English admiral was also +obliged to subdivide his force; and Lord Henry Seymour, with +forty of the best Dutch and English ships, was employed in +blockading the hostile ports in Flanders, and in preventing the +Prince of Parma from coming out of Dunkirk. + +The orders of King Philip to the Duke de Medina Sidonia were, +that he should, on entering the Channel, keep near the French +coast, and, if attacked by the English ships, avoid an action, +and steer on to Calais roads, where the Prince of Parma's +squadron was to join him. The hope of surprising and destroying +the English fleet in Plymouth, led the Spanish admiral to deviate +from these orders, and to stand across to the English shore; but, +on finding that Lord Howard was coming out to meet him, he +resumed the original plan, and determined to bend his way +steadily towards Calais and Dunkirk, and to keep merely on the +defensive against such squadrons of the English as might come up +with him. + +It was on Saturday, the 20th of July, that Lord Effingham came in +sight of his formidable adversaries. The Armada was drawn up in +form of a crescent, which from horn to horn measured some seven +miles. There was a south-west wind; and before it the vast +vessels sailed slowly on. The English let them pass by; and +then, following in the rear, commenced an attack on them. A +running fight now took place, in which some of the best ships of +the Spaniards were captured; many more received heavy damage; +while the English vessels, which took care not to close with +their huge antagonists, but availed themselves of their superior +celerity in tacking and manoeuvring, suffered little comparative +loss. Each day added not only to the spirit, but to the number +of Effingham's force. Raleigh, Oxford, Cumberland, and Sheffield +joined him; and "the gentlemen of England hired ships from all +parts at their own charge, and with one accord came flocking +thither as to a set field, where glory was to be attained, and +faithful service performed unto their prince and their country." + +Raleigh justly praises the English admiral for his skilful +tactics. He says, [Historie of the World, p. 791.] "Certainly, +he that will happily perform a fight at sea, must be skillful in +making choice of vessels to fight in; he must believe that there +is more belonging to a good man-of-war, upon the waters, than +great daring; and must know that there is a great deal of +difference between fighting loose or at large and grappling. The +guns of a slow ship pierce as well, and make as great holes, as +those in a swift. To clap ships together, without consideration, +belongs rather to a madman than to a man of war; for by such an +ignorant bravery was Peter Strossie lost at the Azores, when he +fought against the Marquis of Santa Cruza. In like sort had the +Lord Charles Howard, admiral of England, been lost in the year +1588, if he had not been better advised, than a great many +malignant fools were, that found fault with his demeanour. The +Spaniards had an army aboard them, and he had none; they had more +ships than he had, and of higher building and charging; so that, +had he entangled himself with those great and powerful vessels, +he had greatly endangered this kingdom of England. For, twenty +men upon the defences are equal to a hundred that board and +enter; whereas then, contrariwise, the Spaniards had a hundred, +for twenty of ours, to defend themselves withall. But our +admiral knew his advantage, and held it: which had he not done, +he had not been worthy to have held his head." + +The Spanish admiral also showed great judgment and firmness in +following the line of conduct that had been traced out for him; +and on the 27th of July he brought his fleet unbroken, though +sorely distressed, to anchor in Calais roads. But the King of +Spain, had calculated ill the number and activity of the English +and Dutch fleets; as the old historian expresses it, "It seemeth +that the Duke of Parma and the Spaniards grounded upon a vain and +presumptuous expectation, that all the ships of England and of +the Low Countreys would at the first sight of the Spanish and +Dunkerk navie have betaken themselves to flight, yeelding them +sea-room, and endeavouring only to defend themselves, their +havens, and sea-coasts from invasion. Wherefore their intent and +purpose was, that the Duke of Parma, in his small and flat- +bottomed ships should, as it were, under the shadow and wing of +the Spanish fleet, convey over all his troupes, armour, and +warlike provisions, and with their forces so united, should +invade England; or, while the English fleet were busied in fight +against the Spanish, should enter upon any part of the coast +which he thought to be most convenient. Which invasion (as the +captives afterwards confessed) the Duke of Parma thought first to +have attempted by the river of Thames; upon the banks whereof, +having at the first arrivall landed twenty or thirty thousand of +his principall souldiers, he supposed that he might easily have +wonne the citie of London; both because his small shippes should +have followed and assisted his land-forces, and also for that the +citie itselfe was but meanely fortified and easie to overcome, by +reason of the citizens' delicacie and discontinuance from the +warres, who, with continuall and constant labour, might be +vanquished, if they yielded not at the first assault." +[Hakluyt's Voyages, vol. i. 601.] + +But the English and Dutch found ships and mariners enough to keep +the Armada itself in check, and at the same time to block up +Parma's flotilla. The greater part of Seymour's squadron left +its cruising ground off Dunkirk to join the English admiral off +Calais; but the Dutch manned about five-and-thirty sail of good +ships, with a strong force of soldiers on board, all well +seasoned to the sea-service, and with these they blockaded the +Flemish ports that were in Parma's power. Still it was resolved +by the Spanish admiral and the prince to endeavour to effect a +junction, which the English seamen were equally resolute to +prevent: and bolder measures on our side now became necessary. + +The Armada lay off Calais, with its largest ships ranged outside, +"like strong castles fearing no assault; the lesser placed in the +middle ward." The English admiral could not attack them in their +position without great disadvantage, but on the night of the +29th he sent eight fire-ships among them, with almost equal +effect to that of the fire-ships which the Greeks so often +employed against the Turkish fleets in their late war of +independence. The Spaniards cut their cables and put to sea in +confusion. One of the largest galeasses ran foul of another +vessel and was stranded. The rest of the fleet was scattered +about on the Flemish coast, and when the morning broke, it was +with difficulty and delay that they obeyed their admiral's signal +to range themselves round him near Gravelines. Now was the +golden opportunity for the English to assail them, and prevent +them from ever letting loose Parma's flotilla against England; +and nobly was that opportunity used. Drake and Fenner were the +first English captains who attacked the unwieldy leviathans: +then came Fenton, Southwell, Burton, Cross, Raynor, and then the +lord admiral, with Lord Thomas Howard and Lord Sheffield. The +Spaniards only thought of forming and keeping close together, and +were driven by the English past Dunkirk, and far away from the +Prince of Parma, who in watching their defeat from the coast, +must, as Drake expressed it, have chafed like a bear robbed of +her whelps. This was indeed the last and the decisive battle +between the two fleets. It is, perhaps, best described in the +very words of the contemporary writer as we may read them in +Hakluyt. [Vol. i. p. 602.] + +"Upon the 29th of July in the morning, the Spanish fleet after +the forsayd tumult, having arranged themselves againe into order, +were, within sight of Greveling, most bravely and furiously +encountered by the English; where they once again got the wind of +the Spaniards; who suffered themselves to be deprived of the +commodity of the place in Calais road, and of the advantage of +the wind neer unto Dunkerk, rather than they would change their +array or separate their forces now conjoyned and united together, +standing only upon their defence. + +"And howbeit there were many excellent and warlike ships in the +English fleet, yet scarce were there 22 or 23 among them all, +which matched 90 of the Spanish ships in the bigness, or could +conveniently assault them. Wherefore the English ships using +their prerogative of nimble steerage, whereby they could turn and +wield themselves with the wind which way they listed, came often +times very near upon the Spaniards, and charged them so sore, +that now and then they were but a pike's length asunder: and so +continually giving them one broadside after another, they +discharged all their shot both great and small upon them, +spending one whole day from morning till night in that violent +kind of conflict, untill such time as powder and bullets failed +them. In regard of which want they thought it convenient not to +pursue the Spaniards any longer, because they had many great +vantages of the English, namely, for the extraordinary bigness of +their ships, and also for that they were so neerley conjoyned, +and kept together in so good array, that they could by no meanes +be fought withall one to one. The English thought, therefore, +that they had right well acquitted themselves, in chasing the +Spaniards first from Caleis, and then from Dunkerk, and by that +meanes to have hindered them from joyning with the Duke of Parma +his forces, and getting the wind of them, to have driven them +from their own coasts. + +"The Spaniards that day sustained great loss and damage, having +many of their shippes shot thorow and thorow, and they discharged +likewise great store of ordinance against the English; who, +indeed, sustained some hindrance, but not comparable to the +Spaniard's loss: for they lost not any one ship or person of +account, for very diligent inquisition being made, the English +men all that time wherein the Spanish navy sayled upon their +seas, are not found to have wanted aboue one hundred of their +people: albeit Sir Francis Drake's ship was pierced with shot +above forty times, and his very cabben was twice shot thorow, and +about the conclusion of the fight, the bed of a certaine +gentleman, lying weary thereupon, was taken quite from under him +with the force of a bullet. Likewise, as the Earle of +Northumberland and Sir Charles Blunt were at dinner upon a time, +the bullet of a demy-culverin brake thorow the middest of their +cabben, touched their feet, and strooke downe two of the standers +by, with many such accidents befalling the English shippes, which +it were tedious to rehearse." + +It reflects little credit on the English Government that the +English fleet was so deficiently supplied with ammunition, as to +be unable to complete the destruction of the invaders. But +enough was done to ensure it. Many of the largest Spanish ships +were sunk or captured in the action of this day. And at length +the Spanish admiral, despairing of success, fled northward with a +southerly wind, in the hope of rounding Scotland, and so +returning to Spain without a farther encounter with the English +fleet. Lord Effingham left a squadron to continue the blockade +of the Prince of Parma's armament; but that wise general soon +withdrew his troops to more promising fields of action. +Meanwhile the lord-admiral himself and Drake chased the vincible +Armada, as it was now termed, for some distance northward; and +then, when it seemed to bend away from the Scotch coast towards +Norway, it was thought best, in the words of Drake, "to leave +them to those boisterous and uncouth northern seas." + +The sufferings and losses which the unhappy Spaniards sustained +in their flight round Scotland and Ireland, are well known. Of +their whole Armada only fifty-three shattered vessels brought +back their beaten and wasted crews to the Spanish coast which +they had quitted in such pageantry and pride. + +Some passages from the writings of those who took part in the +struggle, have been already quoted; and the most spirited +description of the defeat of the Armada which ever was penned, +may perhaps be taken from the letter which our brave vice-admiral +Drake wrote in answer to some mendacious stories by which the +Spaniards strove to hide their shame. Thus does he describe the +scenes in which he played so important a part: [See Strypo, and +the notes to the Life of Drake. in the "Biographia +Britannica."] + +"They were not ashamed to publish, in sundry languages in print, +great victories in words, which they pretended to have obtained +against this realm, and spread the same in a most false sort over +all parts of France, Italy, and elsewhere; when, shortly +afterwards, it was happily manifested in very deed to all +nations, how their navy, which they termed invincible, consisting +of one hundred and forty sail of ships, not only of their own +kingdom, but strengthened with the greatest argosies, Portugal +carracks, Florentines, and large hulks of other countries, were +by thirty of her majesty's own ships of war, and a few of our own +merchants, by the wise, valiant, and advantageous conduct of the +Lord Charles Howard, high-admiral of England, beaten and shuffled +together even from the Lizard in Cornwall, first to Portland, +when they shamefully left Don Pedro de Valdez with his mighty +ship; from Portland to Calais, where they lost Hugh de Moncado, +with the galleys of which he was captain; and from Calais driven +with squibs from their anchors, were chased out of the sight of +England, round about Scotland and Ireland. Where, for the +sympathy of their religion, hoping to find succour and +assistance, a great part of them were crushed against the rocks, +and those others that landed, being very many in number, were, +notwithstanding, broken, slain, and taken; and so sent from +village to village, coupled in halters, to be shipped into +England, where her majesty, of her princely and invincible +disposition, disdaining to put them to death, and scorning either +to retain or to entertain them, they were all sent back again to +their countries, to witness and recount the worthy achievement of +their invincible and dreadful navy. Of which the number of +soldiers, the fearful burthen of their ships, the commanders' +names of every squadron, with all others, their magazines of +provision were put in print, as an army and navy irresistible and +disdaining prevention: with all which their great and terrible +ostentation, they did not in all their sailing round about +England so much as sink or take one ship, bark, pinnace, or +cockboat of ours, or even burn so much as one sheep-cote on this +land." + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE DEFEAT OF THE SPANISH ARMADA, A.D. +1588; AND THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM, A.D. 1704. + +A.D. 1594. Henry IV. of France conforms to the Roman Catholic +Church, and ends the civil wars that had long desolated France. + +1598. Philip II. of Spain dies, leaving a ruined navy and an +exhausted kingdom. + +1603. Death of Queen Elizabeth. The Scotch dynasty of the +Stuarts succeeds to the throne of England. + +1619. Commencement of the Thirty Years' War in Germany. + +1624-1642. Cardinal Richelieu is minister of France. He breaks +the power of the nobility, reduces the Huguenots to complete +subjection; and by aiding the Protestant German princes in the +latter part of the Thirty Years' War, he humiliates France's +ancient rival, Austria. + +1630. Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, marches into Germany to +the assistance of the Protestants, who ware nearly crushed by the +Austrian armies. He gains several great victories, and, after +his death, Sweden, under his statesmen and generals, continues to +take a leading part in the war. + +1640. Portugal throws off the Spanish yoke: and the House of +Braganza begins to reign. + +1642. Commencement of the civil war in England between Charles +I. and his parliament. + +1648. The Thirty Years' War in Germany ended by the treaty of +Westphalia. + +1653. Oliver Cromwell lord-protector of England. + +1660. Restoration of the Stuarts to the English throne. + +1661. Louis XIV. takes the administration of affairs in France +into his own hands. + +1667-1668. Louis XVI. makes war in Spain, and conquers a large +part of the Spanish Netherlands. + +1672. Louis makes war upon Holland, and almost overpowers it, +Charles II. of England is his pensioner, and England helps the +French in their attacks upon Holland until 1674. Heroic +resistance of the Dutch under the Prince of Orange. + +1674. Louis conquers Franche-Comte. + +1679. Peace of Nimeguen. + +1681. Louis invades and occupies Alsace. + +1682. Accession of Peter the Great to the throne of Russia. + +1685. Louis commences a merciless persecution of his Protestant +subjects. + +1688. The glorious Revolution in England. Expulsion of James +II. William of Orange is made King of England. James takes +refuge at the French court, and Louis undertakes to restore him. +General war in the west of Europe. + +1691. Treaty of Ryswick. Charles XII. becomes King of Sweden. + +1700. Charles II. of Spain dies, having bequeathed his dominions +to Philip of Anjou, Louis XIV.'s grandson. Defeat of the +Russians at Narva, by Charles XII. + +1701. William III. forms a "Grand Alliance" of Austria, the +Empire, the United Provinces, England, and other powers, against +France. + +1702. King William dies; but his successor, Queen Anne, adheres +to the Grand Alliance, and war is proclaimed against France. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM, 1704. + +"The decisive blow struck at Blenheim resounded through every +part of Europe: it at once destroyed the vast fabric of power +which it had taken Louis XIV., aided by the talents of Turenne, +and the genius of Vauban, so long to construct."--ALISON. + +Though more slowly moulded and less imposingly vast than the +empire of Napoleon, the power which Louis XIV. had acquired and +was acquiring at the commencement of the eighteenth century, was +almost equally menacing to the general liberties of Europe. If +tested by the amount of permanent aggrandisement which each +procured for France, the ambition of the royal Bourbon was more +successful than were the enterprises of the imperial Corsican. +All the provinces that Bonaparte conquered, were rent again from +France within twenty years from the date when the very earliest +of them was acquired. France is not stronger by a single city or +a single acre for all the devastating wars of the Consulate and +the Empire. But she still possesses Franche-Comte, Alsace, and +part of Flanders. She has still the extended boundaries which +Louis XIV. gave her. And the royal Spanish marriages, a few +years ago, proved clearly how enduring has been the political +influence which the arts and arms of France's "Grand Monarque" +obtained for her southward of the Pyrenees. + +When Louis XIV. took the reins of government into his own hands, +after the death of Cardinal Mazarin, there was a union of ability +with opportunity, such as France had not seen since the days of +Charlemagne. Moreover, Louis's career was no brief one. For +upwards of forty years, for a period nearly equal to the duration +of Charlemagne's reign, Louis steadily followed an aggressive and +a generally successful policy. He passed a long youth and +manhood of triumph, before the military genius of Marlborough +made him acquainted with humiliation and defeat. The great +Bourbon lived too long. He should not have outstayed our two +English kings--one his dependent, James II., the other his +antagonist, William III. Had he died in the year within which +they died, his reign would be cited as unequalled in the French +annals for its prosperity. But he lived on to see his armies +beaten, his cities captured, and his kingdom wasted by disastrous +war. It is as if Charlemagne had survived to be defeated by the +Northmen, and to witness the misery and shame that actually fell +to the lot of his descendants. + +Still, Louis XIV. had forty years of success; and from the +permanence of their fruits we may judge what the results would +have been if the last fifteen years of his reign had been equally +fortunate. Had it not been for Blenheim, all Europe might at +this day suffer under the effect of French conquests resembling +those of Alexander in extent, and those of the Romans in +durability. + +When Louis XIV. began to govern, he found all the materials for a +strong government ready to his hand. Richelieu had completely +tamed the turbulent spirit of the French nobility, and had +subverted the "imperium in imperio" of the Huguenots. The +faction of the Frondeurs in Mazarin's time had had the effect of +making the Parisian parliament utterly hateful and contemptible +in the eyes of the nation. The assemblies of the States-General +were obsolete. The royal authority alone remained. The King was +the State. Louis knew his position. He fearlessly avowed it, +and he fearlessly acted up to it. ["Quand Louis XIV. dit, +'L'etat, c'est moi:' il n'y eut dans cette parole ni enflure, ni +vanterie, mais la simple enonciation d'un fait."--MICHELET, +HISTOIRE MODERNE vol. ii. p. 106.] + +Not only was his government a strong one, but the country which +he governed was strong: strong in its geographical situation, in +the compactness of its territory, in the number and martial +spirit of its inhabitants, and in their complete and undivided +nationality. Louis had neither a Hungary nor an Ireland in his +dominions. and it was not till late in his reign, when old age +had made his bigotry more gloomy, and had given fanaticism the +mastery over prudence, that his persecuting intolerance caused +the civil war in the Cevennes. + +Like Napoleon in after-times, Louis XIV. saw clearly that the +great wants of France were "ships, colonies, and commerce." But +Louis did more than see these wants: by the aid of his great +minister, Colbert, he supplied them. One of the surest proofs of +the genius of Louis was his skill in finding out genius in +others, and his promptness in calling it into action. Under him, +Louvois organized, Turenne, Conde, Villars and Berwick, led the +armies of France; and Vauban fortified her frontiers. Throughout +his reign, French diplomacy was marked by skilfulness and +activity, and also by comprehensive far-sightedness, such as the +representatives of no other nation possessed. Guizot's testimony +to the vigour that was displayed through every branch of Louis +XIV.'s government, and to the extent to which France at present +is indebted to him, is remarkable. He says, that, "taking the +public services of every kind, the finances, the departments of +roads and public works, the military administration, and all the +establishments which belong to every branch of administration, +there is not one that will not be found to have had its origin, +its development, or its greatest perfection, under the reign of +Louis XIV." [History of European Civilization, Lecture 13.] And +he points out to us, that "the government of Louis XIV. was the +first that presented itself to the eyes of Europe as a power +acting upon sure grounds, which had not to dispute its existence +with inward enemies, but was at ease as to its territory and its +people, and solely occupied with the task of administering +government, properly so called. All the European governments had +been previously thrown into incessant wars, which deprived them +of all security as well as of all leisure, or so harassed by +internal parties or antagonists, that their time was passed in +fighting for existence. The government of Louis XIV. was the +first to appear as a busy thriving administration of affairs, as +a power at once definitive and progressive, which was not afraid +to innovate, because it could reckon securely on the future. +There have been in fact very few governments equally innovating. +Compare it with a government of the same nature, the unmixed +monarchy of Philip II. in Spain; it was more absolute than that +of Louis XIV., and yet it was far less regular and tranquil. How +did Philip II. succeed in establishing absolute power in Spain? +By stifling all activity in the country, opposing himself to +every species of amelioration, and rendering the state of Spain +completely stagnant. The government of Louis XIV., on the +contrary, exhibited alacrity for all sorts of innovations, and +showed itself favourable to the progress of letters, arts, wealth +in short, of civilization. This was the veritable cause of its +preponderance in Europe, which arose to such a pitch, that it +became the type of a government not only to sovereigns, but also +to nations, during the seventeenth century." + +While France was thus strong and united in herself, and ruled by +a martial, an ambitious, and (with all his faults) an enlightened +and high-spirited sovereign, what European power was there fit to +cope with her, or keep her in check? + +"As to Germany, the ambitious projects of the German branch of +Austria had been entirely defeated, the peace of the empire had +been restored, and almost a new constitution formed, or an old +revived, by the treaties of Westphalia; NAY, THE IMPERIAL EAGLE +WAS NOT ONLY FALLEN, BUT HER WINGS WERE CLIPPED." [Bolingbroke, +vol. ii. p. 378. Lord Bolingbroke's "Letters on the Use of +History," and his " Sketch of the History and State of Europe," +abound with remarks on Louis XIV. and his contemporaries, of +which the substance is as sound as the style is beautiful. +Unfortunately, like all his other works, they contain also a +large proportion of sophistry and misrepresentation. The best +test to use before we adopt any opinion or assertion of +Bolingbroke's, is to consider whether in writing it he was +thinking either of Sir Robert Walpole or of Revealed Religion. +When either of these objects of his hatred was before his mind, +he scrupled at no artifice or exaggeration that; might serve the +purpose of his malignity. On most other occasions he may be +followed with advantage, as he always may be read with pleasure.] + +As to Spain, the Spanish branch of the Austrian house had sunk +equally low. Philip II. left his successors a ruined monarchy. +He left them something worse; he left them his example and his +principles of government, founded in ambition, in pride, in +ignorance, in bigotry, and all the pedantry of state." +[Bolingbroke, vol. ii. p. 378.] + +It is not, therefore, to be wondered at, that France, in the +first war of Louis XIV., despised the opposition of both branches +of the once predominant house of Austria. Indeed, in Germany the +French king acquired allies among the princes of the Empire +against the emperor himself. He had a still stronger support in +Austria's misgovernment of her own subjects. The words of +Bolingbroke on this are remarkable, and some of them sound as if +written within the last three years. Bolingbroke says, "It was +not merely the want of cordial co-operation among the princes of +the Empire that disabled the emperor from acting with vigour in +the cause of his family then, nor that has rendered the house of +Austria a dead weight upon all her allies ever since. Bigotry, +and its inseparable companion, cruelty, as well as the tyranny +and avarice of the court of Vienna, created in those days, and +has maintained in ours, almost a perpetual diversion of the +imperial arms from all effectual opposition to France. I MEAN TO +SPEAK OF THE TROUBLES IN HUNGARY. WHATEVER THEY BECAME IN THEIR +PROGRESS, THEY WERE CAUSED ORIGINALLY BY THE USERPATIONS AND +PERSECUTIONS OF THE EMPEROR; AND WHEN THE HUNGARIANS WERE CALLED +REBELS FIRST, THEY WERE CALLED SO FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN THIS, +THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE SLAVES. The dominion of the emperor being +less supportable than that of the Turks, this unhappy people +opened a door to the latter to infest the empire, instead of +making their country, what it had been before, a barrier against +the Ottoman power. France became a sure though secret ally of +the Turks, as well as the Hungarians, and has found her account +in it, by keeping the emperor in perpetual alarms on that side, +while she has ravaged the Empire and the Low Countries on the +other." [Bolingbroke, vol. ii. p. 397.] + +If, after having seen the imbecility of Germany and Spain against +the France of Louis XIV., we turn to the two only remaining +European powers of any importance at that time, to England and to +Holland, we find the position of our own country as to European +politics, from 1660 to 1688, most painful to contemplate. From +1660 to 1688, "England, by the return of the Stuarts, was reduced +to a nullity." The words are Michelet's, [Histoire Moderne, vol. +ii. p.106.] and though severe they are just. They are, in fact, +not severe enough: for when England, under her restored dynasty +of the Stuarts, did take any part in European politics, her +conduct, or rather her king's conduct, was almost invariably +wicked and dishonourable. + +Bolingbroke rightly says that, previous to the Revolution of +1688, during the whole progress that Louis XIV. made in obtaining +such exorbitant power, as gave him well-grounded hopes of +acquiring at last to his family the Spanish monarchy, England had +been either an idle spectator of what passed on the continent, or +a faint and uncertain ally against France, or a warm and sure +ally on her side, or a partial mediator between her and the +powers confederated together in their common defence. But though +the court of England submitted to abet the usurpations of France, +and the King of England stooped to be her pensioner, the crime +was not national. On the contrary, the nation cried out loudly +against it even whilst it was being committed." [Bolingbroke, +vol. ii p. 418.] + +Holland alone, of all the European powers, opposed from the very +beginning a steady and uniform resistance to the ambition and +power of the French king. It was against Holland that the +fiercest attacks of France were made, and though often apparently +on the eve of complete success, they were always ultimately +baffled by the stubborn bravery of the Dutch, and the heroism of +their leader, William of Orange. When he became king of England, +the power of this country was thrown decidedly into the scale +against France; but though the contest was thus rendered less +unequal, though William acted throughout "with invincible +firmness, like a patriot and a hero," [Bolingbroke, vol, ii, +p.404.] France had the general superiority in every war and in +every treaty: and the commencement of the eighteenth century +found the last league against her dissolved, all the forces of +the confederates against her dispersed, and many disbanded; while +France continued armed, with her veteran forces by sea and land +increased, and held in readiness to act on all sides, whenever +the opportunity should arise for seizing on the great prizes +which, from the very beginning of his reign, had never been lost +sight of by her king. + +This is not the place for any narrative of the first essay which +Louis XIV. made of his power in the war of 1667; of his rapid +conquest of Flanders and Franche-Comte; of the treaty of Aix-la- +Chapelle, which "was nothing more than a composition between the +bully and the bullied;" [Ibid p. 399.] of his attack on Holland +in 1672; of the districts and barrier-towns of the Spanish +Netherlands which were secured to him by the treaty of Nimeguen +in 1678; of how, after this treaty, he "continued to vex both +Spain and the Empire, and to extend his conquests in the Low +Countries and on the Rhine, both by the pen and the sword; how he +took Luxembourg by force, stole Strasburg, and bought Casal;" of +how the league of Augsburg was formed against him in 1686, and +the election of William of Orange to the English throne in 1688, +gave a new spirit to the opposition which France encountered; of +the long and chequered war that followed, in which the French +armies were generally victorious on the continent, though his +fleet was beaten at La Hogue, and his dependent, James II,, was +defeated at the Boyne, or of the treaty of Ryswick, which left +France in possession of Roussillon, Artois, and Strasburg, which +gave Europe no security against her claims on the Spanish +succession, and which Louis regarded as a mere truce, to gain +breathing-time before a more decisive struggle. It must be borne +in mind that the ambition of Louis in these wars was twofold. It +had its immediate and its ulterior objects. Its immediate object +was to conquer and annex to France the neighbouring provinces and +towns that were most convenient for the increase of her strength; +but the ulterior object of Louis, from the time of his marriage +to the Spanish Infanta in 1659, was to acquire for the house of +Bourbon the whole empire of Spain. A formal renunciation of all +right to the Spanish succession had been made at the time of the +marriage; but such renunciations were never of any practical +effect, and many casuists and jurists of the age even held them +to be intrinsically void, as time passed on, and the prospect of +Charles II. of Spain dying without lineal heirs became more and +more certain, so did the claims of the house of Bourbon to the +Spanish crown after his death become matters of urgent interest +to French ambition on the one hand, and to the other powers of +Europe on the other. At length the unhappy King of Spain died. +By his will he appointed Philip, Duke of Anjou, one of Louis +XIV.'s grandsons, to succeed him on the throne of Spain, and +strictly forbade any partition of his dominions. Louis well knew +that a general European war would follow if he accepted for his +house the crown thus bequeathed. But he had been preparing for +this crisis throughout his reign. He sent his grandson into +Spain as King Philip V. of that country, addressing to him on his +departure the memorable words, "There are no longer any +Pyrenees." + +The empire, which now received the grandson of Louis as its king, +comprised, besides Spain itself, the strongest part of the +Netherlands, Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, the principality of Milan, +and other possessions in Italy, the Philippines and Marilla +Islands in Asia, and, in the New World, besides California and +Florida the greatest part of Central and of Southern America. +Philip was well received in Madrid, where he was crowned as King +Philip V. in the beginning of 1701. The distant portions of his +empire sent in their adhesion; and the house of Bourbon, either +by its French or Spanish troops, now had occupation both of the +kingdom of Francis I., and of the fairest and amplest portion of +the empire of the great rival of Francis, Charles V. + +Loud was the wrath of Austria, whose princes were the rival +claimants of the Bourbons for the empire of Spain. The +indignation of William III., though not equally loud, was far +more deep and energetic. By his exertions a league against the +house of Bourbon was formed between England, Holland, and the +Austrian Emperor, which was subsequently joined by the kings of +Portugal and Prussia, by the Duke of Savoy, and by Denmark. +Indeed, the alarm throughout Europe was now general and urgent. +It was clear that Louis aimed a consolidating France and the +Spanish dominions into one preponderating empire. At the moment +when Philip was departing to take possession of Spain, Louis had +issued letters-patent in his favour to the effect of preserving +his rights to the throne of France. And Louis had himself +obtained possession of the important frontier of the Spanish +Netherlands, with its numerous fortified cities, which were given +up to his troops under pretence of securing them for the young +King of Spain. Whether the formal union of the two crowns was +likely to take place speedily or not, it was evident that the +resources of the whole Spanish monarchy were now virtually at the +French king's disposal. + +The peril that seemed to menace the empire, England, Holland, and +the other independent powers, is well summed up by Alison: +"Spain had threatened the liberties of Europe in the end of the +sixteenth century, France had all but overthrown them in the +close of the seventeenth. What hope was there of their being +able to make head against them both, united under such a monarch +as Louis XIV.?" [Military History of the Duke of Marlborough, p. +32.] + +Our knowledge of the decayed state into which the Spanish power +had fallen, ought not to make us regard their alarms as +chimerical. Spain possessed enormous resources, and her strength +was capable of being regenerated by a vigorous ruler. We should +remember what Alberoni effected, even after the close of the War +of Succession. By what that minister did in a few years, we may +judge what Louis XIV. would have done in restoring the maritime +and military power of that great country which nature has so +largely gifted, and which man's misgovernment has so debased. + +The death of King William on the 8th of March, 1702, at first +seemed likely to paralyse the league against France, for +"notwithstanding the ill-success with which he made war +generally, he was looked upon as the sole centre of union that +could keep together the great confederacy then forming; and how +much the French feared from his life, had appeared a few years +before, in the extravagant and indecent joy they expressed on a +false report of his death. A short time showed how vain the +fears of some, and the hopes of others were." [Bolingbroke, +vol. ii. p. 445.] Queen Anne, within three days after her +accession, went down to the House of Lords, and there declared +her resolution to support the measures planned by her +predecessor, who had been "the great support, not only of these +kingdoms, but of all Europe." Anne was married to Prince George +of Denmark, and by her accession to the English throne the +confederacy against Louis obtained the aid of the troops of +Denmark; but Anne's strong attachment to one of her female +friends led to far more important advantages to the anti-Gallican +confederacy, than the acquisition of many armies, for it gave +them MARLBOROUGH as their Captain-General. + +There are few successful commanders on whom Fame has shone so +unwillingly as upon John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, Prince +of the Holy Roman Empire,--victor of Blenheim, Ramilies, +Oudenarde, and Malplaquet,--captor of Liege, Bonn, Limburg, +Landau, Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, Oudenarde, Ostend, Menin, +Dendermonde, Ath, Lille, Tourney, Mons, Douay, Aire, Bethune, and +Bouchain; who never fought a battle that he did not win, and +never besieged a place that he did not take. Marlborough's own +private character is the cause of this. Military glory may, and +too often does, dazzle both contemporaries and posterity, until +the crimes as well as the vices of heroes are forgotten. But +even a few stains of personal meanness will dim a soldier's +reputation irreparably; and Marlborough's faults were of a +peculiarly base and mean order. Our feelings towards historical +personages are in this respect like our feelings towards private +acquaintances. There are actions of that shabby nature, that, +however much they may be outweighed by a man's good deeds on a +general estimate of his character, we never can feel any cordial +liking for the person who has been guilty of them. Thus, with +respect to the Duke of Marlborough, it goes against our feelings +to admire the man, who owed his first advancement in life to the +court-favour which he and his family acquired through his sister +becoming one of the mistresses of the Duke of York. It is +repulsive to know that Marlborough laid the foundation of his +wealth by being the paid lover of one of the fair and frail +favourites of Charles II. His treachery and ingratitude to his +patron and benefactor, James II., stand out in dark relief, even +in that age of thankless perfidy. He was almost equally disloyal +to his new master, King William; and a more un-English act cannot +be recorded than Godolphin's and Marlborough's betrayal to the +French court in 1694 of the expedition then designed against +Brest, an act of treason which caused some hundreds of English +soldiers and sailors to be helplessly slaughtered on the beach in +Camaret Bay. + +It is, however, only in his military career that we have now to +consider him; and there are very few generals, of either ancient +or modern times, whose campaigns will bear a comparison with +those of Marlborough, either for the masterly skill with which +they were planned, or for the bold yet prudent energy with which +each plan was carried into execution. Marlborough had served +while young under Turenne, and had obtained the marked praise of +that great tactician. It would be difficult, indeed, to name a +single quality which a general ought to have, and with which +Marlborough was not eminently gifted. What principally attracted +the notice of contemporaries, was the imperturbable evenness of +his spirit. Voltaire [Siecle de Louis Quatorze.] says of him:-- +"He had, to a degree above all other generals of his time, that +calm courage in the midst of tumult, that serenity of soul in +danger, which the English call a COOL HEAD (que les Anglais +appellant COOL HEAD, TETE FROID), and it was perhaps this +quality, the greatest gift of nature for command, which formerly +gave the English so many advantages over the French in the plains +of Cressy, Poictiers, and Agincourt." + +King William's knowledge of Marlborough's high abilities, though +he knew his faithlessness equally well, is said to have caused +that sovereign in his last illness to recommend Marlborough to +his successor as the fittest person to command her armies: but +Marlborough's favour with the new queen by means of his wife was +so high, that he was certain of obtaining the highest employment: +and the war against Louis opened to him a glorious theatre for +the display of those military talents, which he had before only +had an opportunity of exercising in a subordinate character, and +on far less conspicuous scenes. + +He was not only made captain-general of the English forces at +home and abroad, but such was the authority of England in the +council of the Grand Alliance, and Marlborough was so skilled in +winning golden opinions from all whom he met with, that, on his +reaching the Hague, he was received with transports of joy by the +Dutch, and it was agreed by the heads of that republic, and the +minister of the emperor, that Marlborough should have the chief +command of all the allied armies. + +It must indeed, in justice to Marlborough, be borne in mind, that +mere military skill was by no means all that was required of him +in this arduous and invidious station. Had it not been for his +unrivalled patience and sweetness of temper, and his marvellous +ability in discerning the character of those with whom he had to +act, his intuitive perception of those who were to be thoroughly +trusted, and of those who were to be amused with the mere +semblance of respect and confidence,--had not Marlborough +possessed and employed, while at the head of the allied armies, +all the qualifications of a polished courtier and a great +statesman, he never would have led the allied armies to the +Danube. The Confederacy would not have held together for a +single year. His great political adversary, Bolingbroke, does +him ample justice here. Bolingbroke, after referring to the loss +which King William's death seemed to inflict on the cause of the +Allies, observes that, "By his death the Duke of Marlborough was +raised to the head of the army, and, indeed, of the Confederacy; +where he, a new, a private man, a subject, acquired by merit and +by management, a more deciding influence, than high birth, +confirmed authority, and even the crown of Great Britain, had +given to King William. Not only all the parts of that vast +machine, the Grand Alliance, were kept more compact and entire; +but a more rapid and vigorous motion was given to the whole; and +instead of languishing and disastrous campaigns, we saw every +scene of the war full of action. All those wherein he appeared +and many of those wherein he was not then an actor, but abettor, +however, of their action, were crowned with the most triumphant +success. + +"I take with pleasure this opportunity of doing justice to that +great man, whose faults I knew, whose virtues I admired; and +whose memory, as the greatest general and as the greatest +minister that our country, or perhaps any other, has produced, I +honour." [Bolingbroke, vol. ii. p. 445.] + +War, was formally declared by the allies against France on the +4th of May, 1702. The principal scenes of its operation were, at +first, Flanders, the Upper Rhine, and North Italy. Marlborough +headed the allied troops in Flanders during the first two years +of the war, and took some towns from the enemy, but nothing +decisive occurred. Nor did any actions of importance take place +during this period, between the rival armies in Italy. But in +the centre of that line from north to south, from the mouth of +the Scheldt to the mouth of the Po, along which the war was +carried on, the generals of Louis XIV. acquired advantages in +1703, which threatened one chief member of the Grand Alliance +with utter destruction. France had obtained the important +assistance of Bavaria, as her confederate in the war. The +Elector of this powerful German state made himself master of the +strong fortress of Ulm, and opened a communication with the +French armies on the Upper Rhine. By this junction, the troops +of Louis were enabled to assail the Emperor in the very heart of +Germany. In the autumn of the year 1703, the combined armies of +the Elector and French king completely defeated the Imperialists +in Bavaria; and in the following winter they made themselves +masters of the important cities of Augsburg and Passau. +Meanwhile the French army of the Upper Rhine and Moselle had +beaten the allied armies opposed to them, and taken Treves and +Landau. At the same time the discontents in Hungary with Austria +again broke out into open insurrection, so as to distract the +attention, and complete the terror of the Emperor and his council +at Vienna. + +Louis XIV. ordered the next campaign to be commenced by his +troops on a scale of grandeur and with a boldness of enterprise, +such as even Napoleon's military schemes have seldom equalled. +On the extreme left of the line of the war, in the Netherlands, +the French armies were to act only on the defensive. The +fortresses in the hands of the French there, were so many and so +strong that no serious impression seemed likely to be made by the +Allies on the French frontier in that quarter during one +campaign; and that one campaign was to give France such triumphs +elsewhere as would (it was hoped) determine the war. Large +detachments were, therefore, to be made from the French force in +Flanders, and they were to be led by Marshal Villeroy to the +Moselle and Upper Rhine. The French army already in the +neighbourhood of those rivers was to march under Marshal Tallard +through the Black Forest, and join the Elector of Bavaria and the +French troops that were already with the Elector under Marshal +Marsin. Meanwhile the French army of Italy was to advance +through the Tyrol into Austria, and the whole forces were to +combine between the Danube and the Inn. A strong body of troops +was to be despatched into Hungary, to assist and organize the +insurgents in that kingdom; and the French grand army of the +Danube was then, in collected and irresistible might, to march +upon Vienna, and dictate terms of peace to the Emperor. High +military genius was shown in the formation of this plan, but it +was met and baffled by a genius higher still. + +Marlborough had watched, with the deepest anxiety, the progress +of the French arms on the Rhine and in Bavaria, and he saw the +futility of carrying on a war of posts and sieges in Flanders, +while death-blows to the empire were being dealt on the Danube. +He resolved therefore to let the war in Flanders languish for a +year, while he moved with all the disposable forces that he could +collect to the central scenes of decisive operations. Such a +march was in itself difficult, but Marlborough had, in the first +instance, to overcome the still greater difficulty of obtaining +the consent and cheerful co-operation of the Allies, especially +of the Dutch, whose frontier it was proposed thus to deprive of +the larger part of the force which had hitherto been its +protection. Fortunately, among the many slothful, the many +foolish, the many timid, and the not few treacherous rulers, +statesmen, and generals of different nations with whom he had to +deal, there were two men, eminent both in ability and integrity, +who entered fully into Marlborough's projects, and who, from the +stations which they occupied, were enabled materially to forward +them. One of these was the Dutch statesman Heinsius, who had +been the cordial supporter of King William, and who now, with +equal zeal and good faith, supported Marlborough in the councils +of the Allies; the other was the celebrated general Prince +Eugene, whom the Austrian cabinet had recalled from the Italian +frontier, to take the command of one of the Emperor's armies in +Germany. To these two great men, and a few more, Marlborough +communicated his plan freely and unreservedly; but to the general +councils of his allies he only disclosed part, of his daring +scheme. He proposed to the Dutch that he should march from +Flanders to the Upper Rhine and Moselle, with the British troops +and part of the Foreign auxiliaries, and commence vigorous +operations against the French armies in that quarter, whilst +General Auverquerque, with the Dutch and the remainder of the +auxiliaries, maintained a defensive war in the Netherlands. +Having with difficulty obtained the consent of the Dutch to this +portion of his project, he exercised the same diplomatic zeal, +with the same success, in urging the King of Prussia, and other +princes of the empire, to increase the number of the troops which +they supplied, and to post them in places convenient for his own +intended movements. + +Marlborough commenced his celebrated march on the 19th of May. +The army, which he was to lead, had been assembled by his +brother, General Churchill, at Bedburg, not far from Maestricht +on the Meuse: it included sixteen thousand English troops, and +consisted of fifty-one battalions of foot, and ninety-two +squadrons of horse. Marlborough was to collect and join with him +on his march the troops of Prussia, Luneburg, and Hesse, +quartered on the Rhine, and eleven Dutch battalions that were +stationed at Rothweil. [Coxe's Life of Marlborough.] He had +only marched a single day, when the series of interruptions, +complaints, and requisitions from the other leaders of the Allies +began, to which he seemed doomed throughout his enterprise, and +which would have caused its failure in the hands of any one not +gifted with the firmness and the exquisite temper of Marlborough. +One specimen of these annoyances and of Marlborough's mode of +dealing with them may suffice. On his encamping at Kupen, on the +20th, he received an express from Auverquerque pressing him to +halt, because Villeroy, who commanded the French army in +Flanders, had quitted the lines, which he had been occupying, and +crossed the Meuse at Namur with thirty-six battalions and forty- +five squadrons, and was threatening the town of Huys. At the +same time Marlborough received letters from the Margrave of Baden +and Count Wratislaw, who commanded the Imperialist forces at +Stollhoffen near the left bank of the Rhine, stating that Tallard +had made a movement, as if intending to cross the Rhine, and +urging him to hasten his march towards the lines of Stollhoffen. +Marlborough was not diverted by these applications from the +prosecution of his grand design. Conscious that the army of +Villeroy would be too much reduced to undertake offensive +operations, by the detachments which had already been made +towards the Rhine, and those which must follow his own march, he +halted only a day to quiet the alarms of Auverquerque. To +satisfy also the margrave he ordered the troops of Hompesch and +Bulow to draw towards Philipsburg, though with private +injunctions not to proceed beyond a certain distance. He even +exacted a promise to the same effect from Count Wratislaw, who at +this juncture arrived at the camp to attend him during the whole +campaign. [Coxe.] + +Marlborough reached the Rhine at Coblentz, where he crossed that +river, and then marched along its right bank to Broubach and +Mentz. His march, though rapid, was admirably conducted, so as +to save the troops from all unnecessary fatigue; ample supplies +of provisions were ready, and the most perfect discipline was +maintained. By degrees Marlborough obtained more reinforcements +from the Dutch and the other confederates, and he also was left +more at liberty by them to follow his own course. Indeed, before +even a blow was struck, his enterprise had paralysed the enemy, +and had materially relieved Austria from the pressure of the war. +Villeroy, with his detachments from the French-Flemish army, was +completely bewildered by Marlborough's movements; and, unable to +divine where it was that the English general meant to strike his +blow, wasted away the early part of the summer between Flanders +and the Moselle without effecting anything. ["Marshal +Villeroy," says Voltaire, "who had wished to follow Marlborough +on his first marches, suddenly lost sight of him altogether, and +only learned where he really was, on hearing of his victory at +Donauwert."--SIECLE DE LOUIS XIV.] + +Marshal Tallard, who commanded forty-five thousand men at +Strasburg, and who had been destined by Louis to march early in +the year into Bavaria, thought that Marlborough's march along the +Rhine was preliminary to an attack upon Alsace; and the marshal +therefore kept his forty-five thousand men back in order to +support France in that quarter. Marlborough skilfully encouraged +his apprehensions by causing a bridge to be constructed across +the Rhine at Philipsburg, and by making the Landgrave of Hesse +advance his artillery at Manheim, as if for a siege of Landau. +Meanwhile the Elector of Bavaria and Marshal Marsin, suspecting +that Marlborough's design might be what it really proved to be, +forbore to press upon the Austrians opposed to them, or to send +troops into Hungary; and they kept back so as to secure their +communications with France. Thus, when Marlborough, at the +beginning of June, left the Rhine and marched for the Danube, the +numerous hostile armies were uncombined, and unable to check him. + +"With such skill and science had this enterprise been concerted, +that at the very moment when it assumed a specific direction, the +enemy was no longer enabled to render it abortive. As the march +was now to be bent towards the Danube, notice was given for the +Prussians, Palatines, and Hessians, who were stationed on the +Rhine, to order their march so as to join the main body in its +progress. At the same time directions were sent to accelerate +the advance of the Danish auxiliaries, who were marching from the +Netherlands." [Coxe.] + +Crossing the river Neckar, Marlborough marched in a south-eastern +direction to Mundelshene, where he had his first personal +interview with Prince Eugene, who was destined to be his +colleague on so many glorious fields. Thence, through a +difficult and dangerous country, Marlborough continued his march +against the Bavarians, whom he encountered on the 2d of July, on +the heights of the Schullenberg near Donauwert. Marlborough +stormed their entrenched camp, crossed the Danube, took several +strong places in Bavaria, and made himself completely master of +the Elector's dominions, except the fortified cities of Munich +and Augsburg. But the Elector's army, though defeated at +Donauwert, was still numerous and strong; and at last Marshal +Tallard, when thoroughly apprised of the real nature of +Marlborough's movements, crossed the Rhine. He was suffered +through the supineness of the German general at Stollhoffen, to +march without loss through the Black Forest, and united his +powerful army at Biberach near Augsburg, with that of the Elector +and the French troops under Marshal Marsin, who had previously +been co-operating with the Bavarians. On the other hand, +Marlborough re-crossed the Danube, and on the 11th of August +united his army with the Imperialist forces under Prince Eugene. +The combined armies occupied a position near Hochstadt, a little +higher up the left bank of the Danube than Donauwert, the scene +of Marlborough's recent victory, and almost exactly on the ground +where Marshal Villars and the Elector had defeated an Austrian +army in the preceding year. The French marshals and the Elector +were now in position a little farther to the east, between +Blenheim and Lutzingen, and with the little stream of the Nebel +between them and the troops of Marlborough and Eugene. The +Gallo-Bavarian army consisted of about sixty thousand men, and +they had sixty-one pieces of artillery. The army of the Allies +was about fifty-six thousand strong, with fifty-two guns." [A +short time before the War of the Succession the musquet and +bayonet had been made the arms of all the French infantry. It +had formerly been usual to mingle pike-men with musqueteers. The +other European nations followed the example of France, and the +weapons used at Blenheim were substantially the same as those +still employed.] + +Although the French army of Italy had been unable to penetrate +into Austria, and although the masterly strategy of Marlborough +had hitherto warded off the destruction with which the cause of +the Allies seemed menaced at the beginning of the campaign, the +peril was still most serious. It was absolutely necessary for +Marlborough to attack the enemy, before Villeroy should be roused +into action. There was nothing to stop that general and his army +from marching into Franconia, whence the Allies drew their +principal supplies; and besides thus distressing them, he might, +by marching on and joining his army to those of Tallard and the +Elector, form a mass which would overwhelm the force under +Marlborough and Eugene. On the other hand, the chances of a +battle seemed perilous, and the fatal consequences of a defeat +were certain. The inferiority of the Allies in point of number +was not very great, but still it was not to be disregarded; and +the advantage which the enemy seemed to have in the composition +of their troops was striking. Tallard and Marsin had forty-five +thousand Frenchmen under them, all veterans, and all trained to +act together: the Elector's own troops also were good soldiers. +Marlborough, like Wellington at Waterloo, headed an army, of +which the larger proportion consisted not of English, but of men +of many different nations, and many different languages. He was +also obliged to be the assailant in the action, and thus to +expose his troops to comparatively heavy loss at the commencement +of the battle, while the enemy would fight under the protection +of the villages and lines which they were actively engaged in +strengthening. The consequences of a defeat of the confederated +army must have broken up the Grand Alliance, and realised the +proudest hopes of the French king. Mr. Alison, in his admirable +military history of the Duke of Marlborough, has truly stated the +effects which would have taken place if France had been +successful in the war. And, when the position of the +Confederates at the time when Blenheim was fought is remembered; +when we recollect the exhaustion of Austria, the menacing +insurrection of Hungary, the feuds and jealousies of the German +princes, the strength and activity of the Jacobite party in +England, the imbecility of nearly all the Dutch statesmen of the +time, and the weakness of Holland if deprived of her allies, we +may adopt his words in speculating on what would have ensued, if +France had been victorious in the battle, and "if a power, +animated by the ambition, guided by the fanaticism and directed +by the ability of that of Louis XIV., had gained the ascendancy +in Europe. Beyond all question, a universal despotic dominion +would have been established over the bodies, a cruel spiritual +thraldom over the minds of men. France and Spain united under +Bourbon princes, and in a close family alliance--the empire of +Charlemagne with that of Charles V.--the power which revolted the +edict of Nantes, and perpetrated the massacre of St. Bartholomew, +with that which banished the Moriscoes, and established the +Inquisition, would have proved irresistible, and beyond example +destructive to the best interests of mankind. + +"The Protestants might have been driven, like the Pagan heathens +of old by the son of Pepin, beyond the Elbe; the Stuart race, and +with them Romish, ascendancy, might have been re-established in +England; the fire lighted by Latimer and Ridley might have been +extinguished in blood; and the energy breathed by religious +freedom into the Anglo-Saxon race might have expired. The +destinies of the world would have been changed. Europe, instead +of a variety of independent states, whose mutual, hostility kept +alive courage, while their national rivalry stimulated talent, +would have sunk into the slumber attendant on universal dominion. +The colonial empire of England would have withered away and +perished, as that of Spain has done in the grasp of the +Inquisition. The Anglo-Saxon race would have been arrested in +its mission to overspread the earth and subdue it. The +centralised despotism of the Roman empire would have been renewed +on Continental Europe; the chains of Romish tyranny, and with +them the general infidelity of France before the Revolution, +would have extinguished or perverted thought in the British +islands." [Alison's Life of Marlborough, p. 248.] + +Marlborough's words at the council of war, when a battle was +resolved on, are remarkable, and they deserve recording. We know +them on the authority of his chaplain, Mr. (afterwards Bishop) +Hare, who accompanied him throughout the campaign, and in whose +journal the biographers of Marlborough have found many of their +best materials. Marborough's words to the officers who +remonstrated with him on the seeming temerity of attacking the +enemy in their position, were--"I know the danger, yet a battle +is absolutely necessary; and I rely on the bravery and discipline +of the troops, which will make amends for our disadvantages." In +the evening orders were issued for a general engagement, and +received by the army with an alacrity which justified his +confidence. + +The French and Bavarians were posted behind a little stream +called the Nebel, which runs almost from north to south into the +Danube immediately in front of the village of Blenheim. The +Nebel flows along a little valley, and the French occupied the +rising ground to the west of it. The village of Blenheim was the +extreme right of their position, and the village of Lutzingen, +about three miles north of Blenheim, formed their left. Beyond +Lutzingen are the rugged high grounds of the Godd Berg, and Eich +Berg, on the skirts of which some detachments were posted so as +to secure the Gallo-Bavarian position from being turned on the +left flank. The Danube protected their right flank; and it was +only in front that they could be attacked. The villages of +Blenheim and Lutzingen had been strongly palisadoed and +entrenched. Marshal Tallard, who held the chief command, took +his station at Blenheim: Prince Maximilian the Elector, and +Marshal Marsin commanded on the left. Tallard garrisoned +Blenheim with twenty-six battalions of French infantry, and +twelve squadrons of French cavalry. Marsin and the Elector had +twenty-two battalions of infantry, and thirty-six squadrons of +cavalry in front of the village of Lutzingen. The centre was +occupied by fourteen battalions of infantry, including the +celebrated Irish Brigade. These were posted in the little hamlet +of Oberglau, which lies somewhat nearer to Lutzingen than to +Blenheim. Eighty squadrons of cavalry and seven battalions of +foot were ranged between Oberglau and Blenheim. Thus the French +position was very strong at each extremity, but was comparatively +weak in the centre. Tallard seems to have relied on the swampy +state of the part of the valley that reaches from below Oberglau +to Blenheim, for preventing any serious attack on this part of +his line. + +The army of the Allies was formed into two great divisions: the +largest being commanded by the Duke in person, and being destined +to act against Tallard, while Prince Eugene led the other +division, which consisted chiefly of cavalry, and was intended to +oppose the enemy under Marsin and the Elector. As they +approached the enemy, Marlborough's troops formed the left and +the centre, while Eugene's formed the right of the entire army. +Early in the morning of the 13th of August, the Allies left their +own camp and marched towards the enemy. A thick haze covered the +ground, and it was not until the allied right and centre had +advanced nearly within cannon-shot of the enemy that Tallard was +aware of their approach. He made his preparations with what +haste he could, and about eight o'clock a heavy fire of artillery +was opened from the French right on the advancing left wing of +the British. Marlborough ordered up some of his batteries to +reply to it, and while the columns that were to form the allied +left and centre deployed, and took up their proper stations in +the line, a warm cannonade was kept up by the guns on both sides. + +The ground which Eugene's columns had to traverse was peculiarly +difficult, especially for the passage of the artillery; and it +was nearly mid-day before he could get his troops into line +opposite to Lutzingen. During this interval, Marlborough ordered +divine service to be performed by the chaplains at the head of +each regiment; and then rode along the lines, and found both +officers and men in the highest spirits, and waiting impatiently +for the signal for the the attack. At length an aide-de-camp +galloped up from the right with the welcome news that Eugene was +ready. Marlborough instantly sent Lord Cutts, with a strong +brigade of infantry, to assault the village of Blenheim, while he +himself led the main body down the eastward slope of the valley +of the Nebel, and prepared to effect the passage of the stream. + +The assault on Blenheim, though bravely made, was repulsed with +severe loss; and Marlborough, finding how strongly that village +was garrisoned, desisted from any further attempts to carry it, +and bent all his energies to breaking the enemy's line between +Blenheim and Oberglau. Some temporary bridges had been prepared, +and planks and fascinas had been collected; and by the aid of +these and a little stone bridge which crossed the Nebel, near a +hamlet called Unterglau, that lay in the centre of the valley, +Marlborough succeeded in getting several squadrons across the +Nebel, though it was divided into several branches, and the +ground between them was soft, and in places, little better than a +mere marsh. But the French artillery was not idle. The cannon +balls plunged incessantly among the advancing squadrons of the +allies; and bodies of French cavalry rode frequently down from +the western ridge, to charge them before they had time to form on +the firm ground. It was only by supporting his men by fresh +troops, and by bringing up infantry, who checked the advance of +the enemy's horse by their steady fire, that Marlborough was able +to save his army in this quarter from a repulse, which, following +the failure of the attack upon Blenheim, would probably have been +fatal to the Allies. By degrees, his cavalry struggled over the +blood-stained streams; the infantry were also now brought across, +so as to keep in check the French troops who held Blenheim, and +who, when no longer assailed in front, had begun to attack the +Allies on their left with considerable effect. + +Marlborough had thus at last succeeded in drawing up the whole +left wing of his army beyond the Nebel, and was about to press +forward with it, when he was called away to another part of the +field by a disaster that had befallen his centre. The Prince of +Holstein-Beck had, with eleven Hanoverian battalions, passed the +Nebel opposite to Oberglau, when he was charged and utterly +routed by the Irish brigade which held that village. The Irish +drove the Hanoverians back with heavy slaughter, broke completely +through the line of the Allies, and nearly achieved a success as +brilliant as that which the same brigade afterwards gained at +Fontenoy. But at Blenheim their ardour in pursuit led them too +far. Marlborough came up in person, and dashed in upon their +exposed flank with some squadrons of British cavalry. The Irish +reeled back, and as they strove to regain the height of Oberglau, +their column was raked through and through by the fire of three +battalions of the Allies, which Marlborough had summoned up from +the reserve. Marlborough having re-established the order and +communication of the Allies in this quarter, now, as he returned +to his own left wing, sent to learn how his colleague fared +against Marsin and the Elector, and to inform Eugene of his own +success. + +Eugene had hitherto not been equally fortunate. He had made +three attacks on the enemy opposed to him, and had been thrice +driven back. It was only by his own desperate personal +exertions, and the remarkable steadiness of the regiments of +Prussian infantry which were under him, that he was able to save +his wing from being totally defeated. But it was on the southern +part of the battle-field, on the ground which Marlborough had won +beyond the Nebel with such difficulty, that the crisis of the +battle was to be decided. + +Like Hannibal, Marlborough relied principally on his cavalry for +achieving his decisive successes, and it was by his cavalry that +Blenheim, the greatest of his victories, was won. The battle had +lasted till five in the afternoon. Marlborough had now eight +thousand horseman drawn up in two lines, and in the most perfect +order for a general attack on the enemy's line along the space +between Blenheim and Oberglau. The infantry was drawn up in +battalions in their rear, so as to support them if repulsed, and +to keep in check the large masses of the French that still +occupied the village of Blenheim. Tallard now interlaced his +squadrons of cavalry with battalions of infantry; and Marlborough +by a corresponding movement, brought several regiments of +infantry, and some pieces of artillery, to his front line, at +intervals between the bodies of horse. A little after five, +Marlborough commenced the decisive movement, and the allied +cavalry, strengthened and supported by foot and guns, advanced +slowly from the lower ground near the Nebel up the slope to where +the French cavalry, ten thousand strong, awaited them. On riding +over the summit of the acclivity, the Allies were received with +so hot a fire from the French artillery and small arms, that at +first the cavalry recoiled, but without abandoning the high +ground. The guns and the infantry which they had brought with +them, maintained the contest with spirit and effect. The French +fire seemed to slacken Marlborough instantly ordered a charge +along the line. The allied cavalry galloped forward at the +enemy's squadrons, and the hearts of the French horseman failed +them. Discharging their carbines at an idle distance, they +wheeled round and spurred from the field, leaving the nine +infantry battalions of their comrades to be ridden down by the +torrent of the allied cavalry. The battle was now won. Tallard +and Marsin, severed from each other, thought only of retreat. +Tallard drew up the squadrons of horse which he had left in a +line extended towards Blenheim, and sent orders to the infantry +in that village to leave and join him without delay. But long +ere his orders could be obeyed, the conquering squadrons of +Marlborough had wheeled to the left and thundered down on the +feeble army of the French marshal. Part of the force which +Tallard had drawn up for this last effort was driven into the +Danube; part fled with their general to the village of +Sonderheim, where they were soon surrounded by the victorious +Allies, and compelled to surrender. Meanwhile, Eugene had +renewed his attack upon the Gallo-Bavarian left, and Marsin, +finding his colleague utterly routed, and his own right flank +uncovered, prepared to retreat. He and the Elector succeeded in +withdrawing a considerable part of their troops in tolerable +order to Dillingen; but the large body of French who garrisoned +Blenheim were left exposed to certain destruction. Marlborough +speedily occupied all the outlets from the village with his +victorious troops, and then, collecting his artillery round it, +he commenced a cannonade that speedily would have destroyed +Blenheim itself and all who were in it. After several gallant +but unsuccessful attempts to cut their way through the Allies, +the French in Blenheim were at length compelled to surrender at +discretion; and twenty-four battalions, and twelve squadrons, +with all their officers, laid down their arms, and became the +captives of Marlborough. + +"Such," says Voltaire, "was the celebrated battle, which the +French call the battle of Hochstet, the Germans Plentheim, and +the English Blenheim, The conquerors had about five thousand +killed, and eight thousand wounded, the greater part being on the +side of Prince Eugene. The French army was almost entirely +destroyed: of sixty thousand men, so long victorious, there +never reassembled more than twenty thousand effective. About +twelve thousand killed, fourteen thousand prisoners, all the +cannon, a prodigious number of colours and standards, all the +tents and equipages, the general of the army, and one thousand +two hundred officers of mark, in the power of the conqueror, +signalised that day!" + +Ulm, Landau, Treves, and Traerbach surrendered to the allies +before the close of the year. Bavaria submitted to the emperor, +and the Hungarians laid down their arms. Germany was completely +delivered from France; and the military ascendancy of the arms of +the Allies was completely established. Throughout the rest of +the war Louis fought only in defence. Blenheim had dissipated +for ever his once proud visions of almost universal conquest. + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM, 1704, AND THE +BATTLE OF PULTOWA, 1709. + +A.D. 1705. The Archduke Charles lands in Spain with a small +English army under Lord Peterborough, who takes Barcelona. + +1706. Marlborough's victory at Ramilies. + +1707. The English army in Spain is defeated at the battle of +Almanza. + +1708. Marlborough's victory at Oudenarde. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE BATTLE OF PULTOWA, 1709. + +"Dread Pultowa's day, + When fortune left the royal Swede, + Around a slaughtered army lay, + No more to combat and to bleed. + The power and fortune of the war + Had passed to the triumphant Czar."--BYRON. + +Napoleon prophesied at St. Helena, that all Europe would soon be +either Cossack or Republican. Four years ago, the fulfilment of +the last of these alternatives appeared most probable. But the +democratic movements of 1848 were sternly repressed in 1849. The +absolute authority of a single ruler, and the austere stillness +of martial law, are now paramount in the capitals of the +continent, which lately owned no sovereignty save the will of the +multitude; and where that which the democrat calls his sacred +right of insurrection, was so loudly asserted and so often +fiercely enforced. Many causes have contributed to bring about +this reaction, but the most effective and the most permanent have +been Russian influence and Russian arms. Russia is now the +avowed and acknowledged champion of Monarchy against Democracy; +--of constituted authority, however acquired, against revolution +and change for whatever purpose desired;--of the imperial +supremacy of strong states over their weaker neighbours against +all claims for political independence, and all striving for +separate nationality. She has crushed the heroic Hungarians; and +Austria, for whom nominally she crushed them, is now one of her +dependents. Whether the rumours of her being about to engage in +fresh enterprises be well or ill founded, it is certain that +recent events must have fearfully augmented the power of the +Muscovite empire, which, even previously, had been the object of +well-founded anxiety to all Western Europe. + +It was truly stated, twelve years ago, that "the acquisitions +which Russia has made within the [then] last sixty-four years, +are equal in extent and importance to the whole empire she had in +Europe before that time; that the acquisitions she had made from +Sweden are greater than what remains of that ancient kingdom; +that her acquisitions from Poland are as large as the whole +Austrian empire; that the territory she has wrested from Turkey +in Europe is equal to the dominions of Prussia, exclusive of her +Rhenish provinces; and that her acquisitions from Turkey in Asia +are equal in extent to all the smaller states of Germany, the +Rhenish provinces of Prussia, Belgium, and Holland taken +together; that the country she has conquered from Persia is about +the size of England; that her acquisitions in Tartary have an +area equal to Turkey in Europe, Greece, Italy, and Spain. In +sixty-four years she has advanced her frontier eight hundred and +fifty miles towards Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, Munich, and Paris; +she has approached four hundred and fifty miles nearer to +Constantinople; she has possessed herself of the capital of +Poland, and has advanced to within a few miles of the capital of +Sweden, from which, when Peter the Great mounted the throne, her +frontier was distant three hundred miles. Since that time she +has stretched herself forward about one thousand miles towards +India, and the same distance towards the capital of Persia." +[Progress of Russia in the East. p. 142.] + +Such, at that period, had been the recent aggrandisement of +Russia; and the events of the last few years, by weakening and +disuniting all her European neighbours, have immeasurably +augmented the relative superiority of the Muscovite empire over +all the other continental powers. + +With a population exceeding sixty millions, all implicitly +obeying the impulse of a single ruling mind; with a territorial +area of six millions and a half of square miles; with a standing +army eight hundred thousand strong; with powerful fleets on the +Baltic and Black Seas; with a skilful host of diplomatic agents +planted in every court, and among every tribe; with the +confidence which unexpected success creates, and the sagacity +which long experience fosters, Russia now grasps with an armed +right hand the tangled thread of European politics, and issues +her mandate as the arbitress of the movements of the age. Yet a +century and a half have hardly elapsed since she was first +recognised as a member of the drama of modern European history-- +previously to the battle of Pultowa, Russia played no part. +Charles V. and his great rival our Elizabeth and her adversary +Philip of Spain, the Guises, Sully, Richelieu, Cromwell, De Witt, +William of Orange, and the other leading spirits of the sixteenth +and seventeenth centuries, thought no more about the Muscovite +Czar than we now think about the King of Timbuctoo. Even as late +as 1735, Lord Bollingbroke, in his admirable "Letters on +History," speaks of the history of the Muscovites, as having no +relation to the knowledge which a practical English statesman +ought to acquire. [Bolingbroke's Works, vol ii. p. 374. In the +same page he observes how Sweden had often turned her arms +southwards with prodigious effect.] It may be doubted whether a +cabinet council often takes place now in our Foreign Office, +without Russia being uppermost in every English statesman's +thoughts. + +But though Russia remained thus long unheeded amid her snows, +there was a northern power, the influence of which was +acknowledged in the principal European quarrels, and whose good +will was sedulously courted by many of the boldest chiefs and +ablest councillors of the leading states. This was Sweden; +Sweden, on whose ruins Russia has risen; but whose ascendancy +over her semi-barbarous neighbours was complete, until the fatal +battle that now forms our subject. + +As early as 1542 France had sought the alliance of Sweden to aid +her in her struggle against Charles V. And the name of Gustavus +Adolphus is of itself sufficient to remind us, that in the great +contest for religious liberty, of which Germany was for thirty +years the arena, it was Sweden that rescued the falling cause of +Protestantism; and it was Sweden that principally dictated the +remodelling of the European state system at the peace of +Westphalia. + +From the proud pre-eminence in which the valour of the "Lion of +the North" and of Torstenston, Bannier, Wrangel and the other +Generals of Gustavus, guided by the wisdom of Oxenstiern, had +placed Sweden, the defeat of Charles XII. at Pultowa hurled her +down at once and for ever. Her efforts during the wars of the +French revolution to assume a leading part in European politics, +met with instant discomfiture, and almost provoked derision. But +the Sweden, whose sceptre was bequeathed to Christina, and whose +alliance Cromwell valued so highly, was a different power from +the Sweden of the present day. Finland, Ingria, Livonia, +Esthonia, Carelia, and other districts east of the Baltic, then +were Swedish provinces; and the possession of Pomerania, Rugen, +and Bremen, made her an important member of the Germanic empire. +These territories are now all reft from her; and the most +valuable of them form the staple of her victorious rival's +strength. Could she resume them, could the Sweden of 1648 be +reconstructed, we should have a first-class Scandinavian State in +the North, well qualified to maintain the balance of power, and +check the progress of Russia; whose power, indeed, never could +have become formidable to Europe, save by Sweden becoming weak. + +The decisive triumph of Russia over Sweden at Pultowa was +therefore all-important to the world, on account of what it +overthrew as well as for what it established; and it is the more +deeply interesting because it was not merely the crisis of a +struggle between two states, but it was a trial of strength +between two great races of mankind. We must bear in mind, that +while the Swedes, like the English, the Dutch, and others, belong +to the Germanic race, the Russians are a Sclavonic people. +Nations of Sclavonian origin have long occupied the greater part +of Europe eastward of the Vistula, and the populations also of +Bohemia, Croatia, Servia, Dalmatia, and other important regions +westward of that river, are Sclavonic. In the long and varied +conflicts between them and the Germanic nations that adjoin them, +the Germanic race had, before Pultowa, almost always maintained a +superiority. With the single but important exception of Poland, +no Sclavonic state had made any considerable figure in history +before the time when Peter the Great won his great victory over +the Swedish king. [The Hussite wars may, perhaps, entitle +Bohemia to be distinguished.] What Russia has done since that +time we know and we feel. And some of the wisest and best men of +our own age and nation, who have watched with deepest care the +annals and the destinies of humanity, have believed that the +Sclavonic element in the population of Europe has as yet only +partially developed its powers: that, while other races of +mankind (our own, the Germanic, included) have exhausted their +creative energies, and completed their allotted achievements, the +Sclavonic race has yet a great career to run: and, that the +narrative of Sclavonic ascendancy is the remaining page that; +will conclude the history of the world. [See Arnold's Lectures +on Modern History, pp. 36-39.] + +Let it not be supposed that in thus regarding the primary triumph +of Russia over Sweden as a victory of the Sclavonic over the +Germanic race, we are dealing with matters of mere ethnological +pedantry, or with themes of mere speculative curiosity. The fact +that Russia is a Sclavonic empire, is a fact of immense practical +influence at the present moment. Half the inhabitants of the +Austrian empire are Sclavonian. The population of the larger +part of Turkey in Europe is of the same race. Silesia, Posen, +and other parts of the Prussian dominions are principally +Sclavonic. And during late years an enthusiastic zeal for +blending all Sclavonians into one great united Sclavonic empire, +has been growing up in these countries, which, however we may +deride its principle, is not the less real and active, and of +which Russia, as the head and champion of the Sclavonic race, +knows well how to take her advantage. + +["The idea of Panslavism had a purely literary origin. It was +started by Pollar, a Protestant clergyman of the Sclavonic +congregation at Pesth, in Hungary, who wished to establish a +national literature, by circulating all works, written in the +various Sclavonic dialects, through every country where any of +them are spoken. He suggested, that all the Slavonic literati +should become acguainted with the sister dialects, so that a +Bohemian, or other work, might be read on the shores of the +Adriatic, as well as on the banks of the Volga, or any other +place where a Sclavonic language was spoken; by which means an +extensive literature might be created, tending to advance +knowledge in all Sclavonic countries; and he supported his +arguments by observing, that the dialects of ancient Greece +differed from each other, like those of his own language, and yet +that they formed only one Hellenic literature. The idea of an +intellectual union of all those nations naturally led to that of +a political one; and the Sclavonians, seeing that their numbers +amounted to about one-third part of the whole population of +Europe, and occupied more than half its territory, began to be +sensible that they might claim for themselves a position, to +which they had not hitherto aspired. + +"The opinion gained ground; and the question now is, whether the +Slavonians can form a nation independent of Russia; or whether +they ought to rest satisfied in being part of one great race, +with the most powerful member of it as their chief. The latter, +indeed, is gaining ground amongst them; and some Poles are +disposed to attribute their sufferings to the arbitrary will of +the Czar, without extending the blame to the Russians themselves. +These begin to think that, if they cannot exist as Poles, the +best thing to be done is to rest satisfied with a position in the +Sclavonic empire, and they hope that, when once they give up the +idea of restoring their country, Russia may grant some +concessions to their separate nationality. + +"The same idea has been put forward by writers in the Russian +interest; great efforts are making among other Sclavonic people, +to induce them to look upon Russia as their future head; and she +has already gained considerable influence over the Sclavonic +populations of Turkey.--WILKINSON'S DALMATIA.] + +It is a singular fact that Russia owes her very name to a band of +Swedish invaders who conquered her a thousand years ago. They +were soon absorbed in the Sclavonic population, and every trace +of the Swedish character had disappeared in Russia for many +centuries before her invasion by Charles XII. She was long the +victim and the slave of the Tartars; and for many considerable +periods of years the Poles held her in subjugation. Indeed, if +we except the expeditions of some of the early Russian chiefs +against Byzantium, and the reign of Ivan Vasilovitch, the history +of Russia before the time of Peter the Great is one long tale of +suffering and degradation. + +But whatever may have been the amount of national injuries that +she sustained from Swede, from Tartar, or from Pole in the ages +of her weakness, she has certainly retaliated ten-fold during the +century and a half of her strength. Her rapid transition at the +commencement of that period from being the prey of every +conqueror to being the conqueror of all with whom she comes into +contact, to being the oppressor instead of the oppressed, is +almost without a parallel in the history of nations. It was the +work of a single ruler; who, himself without education, promoted +science and literature among barbaric millions; who gave them +fleets, commerce, arts, and arms; who, at Pultowa, taught them to +face and beat the previously invincible Swedes: and who made +stubborn valour, and implicit subordination, from that time forth +the distinguishing characteristics of the Russian soldiery, which +had before his time been a mere disorderly and irresolute rabble. + +The career of Philip of Macedon resembles most nearly that of the +great Muscovite Czar: but there is this important difference, +that Philip had, while young, received in Southern Greece the +best education in all matters of peace and war that the ablest +philosophers and generals of the age could bestow. Peter was +brought up among barbarians, and in barbaric ignorance. He +strove to remedy this when a grown man, by leaving all the +temptations to idleness and sensuality, which his court offered, +and by seeking instruction abroad. He laboured with his own +hands as a common artisan in Holland and in England, that he +might return and teach his subjects how ships, commerce, and +civilization could be acquired. There is a degree of heroism +here superior to anything that we know of in the Macedonian king. +But Philip's consolidation of the long disunited Macedonian +empire,--his raising a people which he found the scorn of their +civilized southern neighbours, to be their dread,--his +organization of a brave and well-disciplined army, instead of a +disorderly militia,--his creation of a maritime force, and his +systematic skill in acquiring and improving sea-ports and +arsenals,--his patient tenacity of purpose under reverses,--his +personal bravery,--and even his proneness to coarse amusements +and pleasures,--all mark him out as the prototype of the imperial +founder of the Russian power. In justice, however, to the +ancient hero, it ought to be added, that we find in the history +of Philip no examples of that savage cruelty which deforms so +grievously the character of Peter the Great. + +In considering the effects of the overthrow which the Swedish +arms sustained at Pultowa, and in speculating on the probable +consequences that would have followed if the invaders had been +successful we must not only bear in mind the wretched state In +which Peter found Russia at his accession, compared with her +present grandeur, but we must also keep in view the fact, that, +at the time when Pultowa was fought, his reforms were yet +incomplete, and his new institutions immature. He had broken up +the old Russia; and the New Russia, which he ultimately created, +was still in embryo. Had he been crushed at Pultowa, his mighty +schemes would have been buried with him; and (to use the words of +Voltaire) "the most extensive empire in the world would have +relapsed into the chaos from which it had been so lately taken." +It is this fact that makes the repulse of Charles XII. the +critical point in the fortunes of Russia. The danger which she +incurred a century afterwards from her invasion by Napoleon was +in reality far less than her peril when Charles attacked her; +though the French Emperor, as a military genius, was infinitely +superior to the Swedish King, and led a host against her, +compared with which the armies of Charles seem almost +insignificant. But, as Fouche well warned his imperial master, +when he vainly endeavoured to dissuade him from his disastrous +expedition against the empire of the Czars, the difference +between the Russia of 1812 and the Russia of 1709 was greater, +than the disparity between the power of Charles and the might of +Napoleon. "If that heroic king," said Fouche, "had not, like +your imperial Majesty, half Europe in arms to back him, neither +had his opponent, the Czar Peter, 400,000 soldiers, and 60,000 +Cossacks." The historians, who describe the state of the +Muscovite empire when revolutionary and imperial France +encountered it, narrate with truth and justice, how "at the epoch +of the French Revolution this immense empire, comprehending +nearly half of Europe and Asia within its dominions, inhabited by +a patient and indomitable race, ever ready to exchange the luxury +and adventure of the south for the hardships and monotony of the +north, was daily becoming more formidable to the liberties of +Europe. The Russian infantry had then long been celebrated for +its immoveable firmness. Her immense population, amounting then +in Europe alone to nearly thirty-five millions, afforded an +inexhaustible supply of men. Her soldiers, inured to heat and +cold from their infancy, and actuated by a blind devotion to +their Czar, united the steady valour of the English to the +impetuous energy of the French troops." [Alison.] So, also, we +read how the haughty aggressions of Bonaparte "went to excite a +national feeling, from the banks of the Borysthenes to the wall +of China, and to unite against him the wild and uncivilized +inhabitants of an extended empire, possessed by a love to their +religion, their government, and their country, and having a +character of stern devotion, which he was incapable of +estimating." [Scott's Life of Napoleon] But the Russia of 1709 +had no such forces to oppose to an assailant. Her whole +population then was below sixteen millions; and, what is far more +important, this population had neither acquired military spirit, +nor strong nationality; nor was it united in loyal attachment to +its ruler. + +Peter had wisely abolished the old regular troops of the empire, +the Strelitzes; but the forces which he had raised in their stead +on a new and foreign plan, and principally officered with +foreigners, had, before the Swedish invasion, given no proof that +they could be relied on. In numerous encounters with the Swedes, +Peter's soldiery had run like sheep before inferior numbers. +Great discontent, also, had been excited among all classes of the +community by the arbitrary changes which their great emperor +introduced, many of which clashed with the most cherished +national prejudices of his subjects. A career of victory and +prosperity had not yet raised Peter above the reach of that +disaffection, nor had superstitious obedience to the Czar yet +become the characteristic of the Muscovite mind. The victorious +occupation of Moscow by Charles XII. would have quelled the +Russian nation as effectually, as had been the case when Batou +Khan, and other ancient invaders, captured the capital of +primitive Muscovy. How little such a triumph could effect +towards subduing modern Russia, the fate of Napoleon demonstrated +at once and for ever. + +The character of Charles XII. has been a favourite theme with +historians, moralists, philosophers, and poets. But it is his +military conduct during the campaign in Russia that alone +requires comment here. Napoleon, in the memoirs dictated by him +at St. Helena, has given us a systematic criticism on that, among +other celebrated campaigns, his own Russian campaign included. +He labours hard to prove that he himself observed all the true +principles of offensive war: and probably his censures of +Charles's generalship were rather highly coloured, for the sake +of making his own military skill stand out in more favourable +relief. Yet, after making all allowances, we must admit the +force of Napoleon's strictures on Charles's tactics, and own that +his judgment, though severe, is correct, when he pronounces that +the Swedish king, unlike his great predecessor Gustavus, knew +nothing of the art of war, and was nothing more than a brave and +intrepid soldier. Such, however, was not the light in which +Charles was regarded by his contemporaries at the commencement of +his Russian expedition. His numerous victories, his daring and +resolute spirit, combined with the ancient renown of the Swedish +arms, then filled all Europe with admiration and anxiety. As +Johnson expresses it, his name was then one at which the world +grew pale. Even Louis le Grand earnestly solicited his +assistance; and our own Marlborough, then in the full career of +his victories, was specially sent by the English court to the +camp of Charles, to propitiate the hero of the north in favour of +the cause of the allies and to prevent the Swedish sword from +being flung into the scale in the French king's favour. But +Charles at that time was solely bent on dethroning the sovereign +of Russia, as he had already dethroned the sovereign of Poland, +and all Europe fully believed that he would entirely crush the +Czar, and dictate conditions of peace in the Kremlin. [Voltaire +attests, from personal inspection of the letters of several +public ministers to their respective courts, that such was the +general expectation.] Charles himself looked on success as a +matter of certainty; and the romantic extravagance of his views +was continually increasing. "One year, he thought, would suffice +for the conquest of Russia. The court of Rome was next to feel +his vengeance, as the pope had dared to oppose the concession of +religious liberty to the Silesian Protestants. No enterprise at +that time appeared impossible to him. He had even dispatched +several officers privately into Asia and Egypt, to take plans of +the towns, and examine into the strength and resources of those +countries." [Crighton's Scandinavia.] + +Napoleon thus epitomises the earlier operations of Charles's +invasion of Russia:-- +"That prince set out from his camp at Aldstadt, near Leipsic, in +September 1707, at the head of 46,000 men, and traversed Poland; +20,000 men, under Count Lewenhaupt, disembarked at Riga; and +15,000 were in Finland. He was therefore in a condition to have +brought together 80,000 of the best troops in the world. He left +10,000 men at Warsaw to guard King Stanislaus, and in January +1708, arrived at Grodno, where he wintered. In June he crossed +the forest of Minsk, and presented himself before Borisov; forced +the Russian army, which occupied the left bank of the Beresina; +defeated 20,000 Russians who were strongly entrenched behind +marshes; passed the Borysthenes at Mohiloev, and vanquished a +corps of 16,000 Muscovites near Smolensko, on the 22d of +September. He was now advanced to the confines of Lithuania, and +was about to enter Russia Proper: the Czar, alarmed at his +approach, made him proposals of peace. Up to this time all his +movements mere conformable to rule, and his communications were +well secured. He was master of Poland and Riga, and only ten +days' march distant from Moscow: and it is probable that he +would have reached that capital, had he not quitted the high road +thither, and directed his steps towards the Ukraine, in order to +form a junction with Mazeppa, who brought him only 6,000 men. By +this movement his line of operations, beginning at Sweden, +exposed his flank to Russia for a distance of four hundred +leagues, and he was unable to protect it, or to receive either +reinforcements or assistance." + +Napoleon severely censures this neglect of one of the great rules +of war. He points out that Charles had not organized his war +like Hannibal, on the principle of relinquishing all +communications with home, keeping all his forces concentrated, +and creating a base of operations in the conquered country. Such +had been the bold system of the Carthaginian general; but Charles +acted on no such principle, inasmuch as he caused Lewenhaupt, one +of his generals who commanded a considerable detachment, and +escorted a most important convoy, to follow him at a distance of +twelve days' march. By this dislocation of his forces he exposed +Lewenhaupt to be overwhelmed separately by the full force of the +enemy, and deprived the troops under his own command of the aid +which that general's men and stores might have afforded, at the +very crisis of the campaign. + +The Czar had collected an army of about a hundred thousand +effective men; and though the Swedes, in the beginning of the +invasion, were successful in every encounter, the Russian troops +were gradually acquiring discipline; and Peter and his officers +were learning generalship from their victors, as the Thebans of +old learned it from the Spartans. When Lewenhaupt, in the +October of 1708, was striving to join Charles in the Ukraine, the +Czar suddenly attacked him near the Borysthenes with an +overwhelming force of fifty thousand Russians. Lewenhaupt fought +bravely for three days, and succeeded in cutting his way through +the enemy, with about four thousand of his men, to where Charles +awaited him near the river Desna; but upwards of eight thousand +Swedes fell in these battles; Lewenhaupt's cannon and ammunition +were abandoned; and the whole of his important convoy of +provisions, on which Charles and his half-starved troops were +relying, fell into the enemy's hands. Charles was compelled to +remain in the Ukraine during the winter; but in the spring of +1709 he moved forward towards Moscow, and invested the fortified +town of Pultowa, on the river Vorskla, a place where the Czar had +stored up large supplies of provisions and military stores, and +which commanded the roads leading towards Moscow. The possession +of this place would have given Charles the means of supplying all +the wants of his suffering army, and would also have furnished +him with a secure base of operations for his advance against the +Muscovite capital. The siege was therefore hotly pressed by the +Swedes; the garrison resisted obstinately; and the Czar, feeling +the importance of saving the town, advanced in June to its +relief, at the head of an army from fifty to sixty thousand +strong. + +Both sovereigns now prepared for the general action, which each +perceived to be inevitable, and which each felt would be decisive +of his own and of his country's destiny. The Czar, by some +masterly manoeuvres, crossed the Vorskla, and posted his army on +the same side of that river with the besiegers, but a little +higher up. The Vorskla falls into the Borysthenes about fifteen +leagues below Pultowa, and the Czar arranged his forces in two +lines, stretching from one river towards the other; so that if +the Swedes attacked him and were repulsed, they would be driven +backwards into the acute angle formed by the two streams at their +junction. He fortified these lines with several redoubts, lined +with heavy artillery; and his troops, both horse and foot, were +in the best possible condition, and amply provided with stores +and ammunition. Charles's forces were about twenty-four thousand +strong. But not more than half of these were Swedes; so much had +battle, famine, fatigue, and the deadly frosts of Russia, thinned +the gallant bands which the Swedish king and Lewenhaupt had led +to the Ukraine. The other twelve thousand men under Charles were +Cossacks and Wallachians, who had joined him in that country. On +hearing that the Czar was about to attack him, he deemed that his +dignity required that he himself should be the assailant; and +leading his army out of their entrenched lines before the town, +he advanced with them against the Russian redoubts. + +He had been severely wounded in the foot in a skirmish a few days +before; and was borne in a litter along the ranks, into the thick +of the fight. Notwithstanding the fearful disparity of numbers +and disadvantage of position, the Swedes never showed their +ancient valour more nobly than on that dreadful day. Nor do +their Cossack and Wallachian allies seem to have been unworthy of +fighting side by side with Charles's veterans. Two of the +Russian redoubts were actually entered, and the Swedish infantry +began to raise the cry of victory. But on the other side, +neither general nor soldiers flinched in their duty. The Russian +cannonade and musketry were kept up; fresh masses of defenders +were poured into the fortifications, and at length the exhausted +remnants of the Swedish columns recoiled from the blood-stained +redoubts. Then the Czar led the infantry and cavalry of his +first line outside the works, drew them up steadily and +skilfully, and the action was renewed along the whole fronts of +the two armies on the open ground. Each sovereign exposed his +life freely in the world-winning battle; and on each side the +troops fought obstinately and eagerly under their ruler's eye. +It was not till two hours from the commencement of the action +that, overpowered by numbers, the hitherto invincible Swedes gave +way. All was then hopeless disorder and irreparable rout. +Driven downward to where the rivers join, the fugitive Swedes +surrendered to their victorious pursuers, or perished in the +waters of the Borysthenes. Only a few hundreds swam that river +with their king and the Cossack Mazeppa, and escaped into the +Turkish territory. Nearly ten thousand lay killed and wounded in +the redoubts and on the field of battle. + +In the joy of his heart the Czar exclaimed, when the strife was +over, "That the son of the morning had fallen from heaven; and +that the foundations of St. Petersburg at length stood firm." +Even on that battle-field, near the Ukraine, the Russian +emperor's first thoughts were of conquests and aggrandisement on +the Baltic. The peace of Nystadt, which transferred the fairest +provinces of Sweden to Russia, ratified the judgment of battle +which was pronounced at Pultowa. Attacks on Turkey and Persia by +Russia commenced almost directly after that victory. And though +the Czar failed in his first attempts against the Sultan, the +successors of Peter have, one and all, carried on an uniformly +aggressive and uniformly successful system of policy against +Turkey, and against every other state, Asiatic as well as +European, which has had the misfortune of having Russia for a +neighbour. + +Orators and authors, who have discussed the progress of Russia, +have often alluded to the similitude between the modern extension +of the Muscovite empire and the extension of the Roman dominions +in ancient times. But attention has scarcely been drawn to the +closeness of the parallel between conquering Russia and +conquering Rome, not only in the extent of conquests, but in the +means of effecting conquest. The history of Rome during the +century and a half which followed the close of the second Punic +war, and during which her largest acquisitions of territory were +made, should be minutely compared with the history of Russia for +the last one hundred and fifty years. The main points of +similitude can only be indicated in these pages; but they deserve +the fullest consideration. Above all, the sixth chapter of +Montesquieu's great Treatise on Rome, the chapter "DE LA CONDUITE +QUE LES ROMAINS TINRENT POUR SOUMETTRE LES PEUPLES," should be +carefully studied by every one who watches the career and policy +of Russia. The classic scholar will remember the state-craft of +the Roman Senate, which took care in every foreign war to appear +in the character of a PROTECTOR. Thus Rome PROTECTED the +AEtolians, and the Greek cities, against Macedon; she PROTECTED +Bithynia, and other small Asiatic states, against the Syrian +kings; she protected Numidia against Carthage; and in numerous +other instances assumed the same specious character. But, "Woe +to the people whose liberty depends on the continued forbearance +of an over-mighty protector." [Malkin's History of Greece.] +Every state which Rome protected was ultimately subjugated and +absorbed by her. And Russia has been the protector of Poland, +the protector of the Crimea,--the protector of Courland,--the +protector of Georgia, Immeritia, Mingrelia, the Tcherkessian and +Caucasian tribes. She has first protected, and then appropriated +them all. She protects Moldavia and Wallachia. A few years ago +she became the protector of Turkey from Mehemet Ali; and since +the summer of 1849 she has made herself the protector of Austria. + +When the partisans of Russia speak of the disinterestedness with +which she withdrew her protecting troops from Constantinople, and +from Hungary, let us here also mark the ominous exactness of the +parallel between her and Rome. While the ancient world yet +contained a number of independent states, which might have made a +formidable league against Rome if she had alarmed them by openly +avowing her ambitious schemes, Rome's favourite policy was +seeming disinterestedness and moderation. After her first war +against Philip, after that against Antiochus, and many others, +victorious Rome promptly withdrew her troops from the territories +which they occupied. She affected to employ her arms only for +the good of others; but, when the favourable moment came, she +always found a pretext for marching her legions back into each +coveted district, and making it a Roman province. Fear, not +moderation, is the only effective check on the ambition of such +powers as Ancient Rome and Modern Russia. The amount of that +fear depends on the amount of timely vigilance and energy which +other states choose to employ against the common enemy of their +freedom and national independence. + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS FROM THE BATTLE OF PULTOWA, 1709, AND THE +DEFEAT OF BURGOYNE AT SARATOGA, 1777. + +A.D. 1713. Treaty of Utrecht. Philip is left by it in +possession of the throne of Spain. But Naples, Milan, the +Spanish territories on the Tuscan coast, the Spanish Netherlands, +and some parts of the French Netherlands, are given to Austria. +France cedes to England Hudson's Bay and Straits, the Island of +St. Christopher, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland in America, Spain +cedes to England Gibraltar and Minorca, which the English had +taken during the war. The King of Prussia and the Duke of Savoy +both obtain considerable additions of territory to their +dominions. + +1714. Death of Queen Anne. The House of Hanover begins to reign +in England. A rebellion in favour of the Stuarts is put down. +Death of Louis XIV. + +1718. Charles XII. killed at the siege of Frederickshall. + +1725. Death of Peter the Great of Russia. + +1740. Frederick II, King of Prussia, begins his reign. He +attacks the Austrian dominions, and conquers Silesia. + +1742. War between France and England. + +1743. Victory of the English at Dettingen. + +1745. Victory of the French at Fontenoy. Rebellion in Scotland +in favour of the House of Stuart: finally quelled by the battle +of Culloden in the next year. + +1748. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. + +1756-1763. The Seven Years' War, during which Prussia makes an +heroic resistance against the allies of Austria, Russia, and +France. England, under the administration of the elder Pitt +(afterwards Lord Chatham), takes a glorious part in the war in +opposition to France and Spain. Wolfe wins the battle of Quebec, +and the English conquer Canada, Cape Breton, and St. John. Clive +begins his career of conquest in India. Cuba, is taken by the +English from Spain. + +1763. Treaty of Paris: which leaves the power of Prussia +increased, and its military reputation greatly exalted. + +"France, by the treaty of Paris, ceded to England Canada, and the +island of Cape Breton, with the islands and coasts of the gulf +and river of St. Lawrence. The boundaries between the two +nations in North America were fixed by a line drawn along the +middle of the Mississippi, from its source to its mouth. All on +the left or eastern bank of that river, was given up to England, +except the city of New Orleans, which was reserved to France; as +was also the liberty of the fisheries on a part of the coasts of +Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The islands of St. +Peter and Miquelon were given them as a shelter for their +fishermen, but without permission to raise fortifications. The +islands of Martinico, Guadaloupe, Mariegalante, Desirada, and St. +Lucia, were surrendered to France; while Grenada, the Grenadines, +St. Vincent, Dominica, and Tobago, were ceded to England. This +latter power retained her conquests on the Senegal, and restored +to France the island of Gores, on-the coast of Africa. France +was put in possession of the forts and factories which belonged +to her in the East Indies, on the coasts of Coromandel, Orissa, +Malabar, and Bengal under the restriction of keeping up no +military force in Bengal. + +"In Europe, France restored all the conquests she had made in +Germany; as also the island, of Minorca, England gave up to her +Belleisle, on the coast of Brittany; while Dunkirk was kept in +the same condition as had been determined by the peace of Aix-la- +Chapelle. The island of Cuba, with the Havannah, were restored +to the King of Spain, who, on his part, ceded to England Florida, +with Port-Augustine and the Bay of Pensacola. The King of +Portugal was restored to the same state in which he had been +before the war. The colony of St. Sacrament in America, which +the Spaniards had conquered, was given back to him. + +"The peace of Paris, of which we have just now spoken, was the +era of England's greatest prosperity. Her commerce and +navigation extended over all parts of the globe, and were +supported by a naval force so much the more imposing, as it was +no longer counter-balanced by the maritime power of France, which +had been almost annihilated in the preceding war. The immense +territories which that peace had secured her, both in Africa and +America, opened up new channels for her industry: and what +deserves specially to be remarked is, that she acquired at the +same time vast and important possessions in the East Indies." +[Koch's Revolutions of Europe.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +VICTORY OF THE AMERICANS OVER BURGOYNE AT SARATOGA, A.D. 1777. + +"Westward the course of empire takes its way; + The first four acts already past, + A fifth shall close the drama with the day: + TIME'S NOBLEST OFFSPRING IS ITS LAST." + BISHOP BERKELEY. + +"Even of those great conflicts, in which hundreds of thousands +have been engaged and tens of thousands have fallen, none has +been more fruitful of results than this surrender of thirty-five +hundred fighting-men at Saratoga. It not merely changed the +relations of England and the feelings of Europe towards these +insurgent colonies, but it has modified, for all times to come, +the connexion between every colony and every parent state."--LORD +MAHON. + +Of the four great powers that now principally rule the political +destinies of the world, France and England are the only two whose +influence can be dated back beyond the last century and a half. +The third great power, Russia, was a feeble mass of barbarism +before the epoch of Peter the Great; and the very existence of +the fourth great power, as an independent nation, commenced +within the memory of living men. By the fourth great power of +the world I mean the mighty commonwealth of the western +continent, which now commands the admiration of mankind. That +homage is sometimes reluctantly given, and accompanied with +suspicion and ill-will. But none can refuse it. All the +physical essentials for national strength are undeniably to be +found in the geographical position and amplitude of territory +which the United States possess: in their almost inexhaustible +tracts of fertile, but hitherto untouched soil; in their stately +forests, in their mountain-chains and their rivers, their beds of +coal, and stores of metallic wealth; in their extensive seaboard +along the waters of two oceans, and in their already numerous and +rapidly increasing population. And, when we examine the +character of this population, no one can look on the fearless +energy, the sturdy determination, the aptitude for local self +government, the versatile alacrity, and the unresting spirit of +enterprise which characterise the Anglo-Americans, without +feeling that he here beholds the true moral elements of +progressive might. + +Three quarters of a century have not yet passed away since the +United States ceased to be mere dependencies of England. And +even if we date their origin from the period when the first +permanent European settlements, out of which they grew, were made +on the western coast of the North Atlantic, the increase of their +strength is unparalleled, either in rapidity or extent. + +The ancient Roman boasted, with reason, of the growth of Rome +from humble beginnings to the greatest magnitude which the world +had then ever witnessed. But the citizen of the United States is +still more justly entitled to claim this praise. In two +centuries and a half his country has acquired ampler dominion +than the Roman gained in ten. And even if we credit the legend +of the band of shepherds and outlaws with which Romulus is said +to have colonized the Seven Hills, we find not there so small a +germ of future greatness, as we find in the group of a hundred +and five ill-chosen and disunited emigrants who founded Jamestown +in 1607, or in the scanty band of the Pilgrim-Fathers, who, a few +years later, moored their bark on the wild and rock-bound coast +of the wilderness that was to become New England. The power of +the United States is emphatically the "Imperium quo neque ab +exordio ullum fere minus, neque incrementis toto orbe amplius +humans potest memoria recordari." [Eutropius, lib. i. +(exordium).] + +Nothing is more calculated to impress the mind with a sense of +the rapidity with which the resources of the American republic +advance, than the difficulty which the historical inquirer finds +in ascertaining their precise amount. If he consults the most +recent works, and those written by the ablest investigators of +the subject, he finds in them admiring comments on the change +which the last few years, before those books were written, had +made; but when he turns to apply the estimates in those books to +the present moment, he finds them wholly inadequate. Before a +book on the subject of the United States has lost its novelty, +those states have outgrown the description which it contains. +The celebrated work of the French statesman, De Tocqueville, +appeared about fifteen years ago. In the passage which I am +about to quote, it will be seen that he predicts the constant +increase of the Anglo-American power, but he looks on the Rocky +Mountains as their extreme western limit for many years to come. +He had evidently no expectation of himself seeing that power +dominant along the Pacific as well as along the Atlantic coast. +He says:-- + +"The distance from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico extends +from the 47th to the 30th degree of latitude, a distance of more +than 1,200 miles, as the bird flies. The frontier of the United +States winds along the whole of this immense line; sometimes +falling within its limits, but more frequently extending far +beyond it into the waste. It has been calculated that the +Whites, advance every year a mean distance of seventeen miles +along the whole of this vast boundary. Obstacles, such as an +unproductive district, a lake, or an Indian nation unexpectedly +encountered, are sometimes met with. The advancing column then +halts for a while; its two extremities fall back upon themselves, +and as soon as they are re-united they proceed onwards. This +gradual and continuous progress of the European race towards the +Rocky Mountains has the solemnity of a Providential event: it is +like a deluge of men rising unabatedly, and daily driven onwards +by the hand of God. + +"Within this first line of conquering settlers towns are built, +and vast estates founded. In 1790 there were only a few thousand +pioneers sprinkled along the valleys of the Mississippi: and at +the present day these valleys contain as many inhabitants as were +to be found in the whole Union in 1790. Their population amounts +to nearly four millions. The city of Washington was founded in +1800, in the very centre of the Union; but such are the changes +which have taken place, that it now stands at one of the +extremities; and the delegates of the most remote Western States +are already obliged to perform a journey as long so that from +Vienna to Paris. + +"It must not, then, be imagined that the impulse of the British +race in the New World can be arrested. The dismemberment of the +Union, and the hostilities which might ensue, the abolition of +republican institutions, and the tyrannical government which +might succeed it, may retard this impulse, but they cannot +prevent it from ultimately fulfilling the destinies to which that +race is reserved. No power upon earth can close upon the +emigrants that fertile wilderness, which offers resources to all +industry, and a refuge from all want. Future events, of whatever +nature they may be, will not deprive the Americans of their +climate or of their inland seas, or of their great rivers, or of +their exuberant soil. Nor will bad laws, revolutions, and +anarchy be able to obliterate that love of prosperity and that +spirit of enterprise which seem to be the distinctive +characteristics of their race, or to extinguish that knowledge +which guides them on their way. + +"Thus, in the midst of the uncertain future, one event at least +is sure. At a period which may be said to be near (for we are +speaking of the life of a nation), the Anglo-Americans will alone +cover the immense space contained between the Polar regions and +the Tropics, extending from the coast of the Atlantic to the +shores of the Pacific Ocean; the territory which will probably be +occupied by the Anglo-Americans at some future time, may be +computed to equal three-quarters of Europe in extent. The +climate of the Union is upon the whole preferable to that of +Europe, and its natural advantages are not less great; it is +therefore evident that its population will at some future time be +proportionate to our own. Europe, divided as it is between so +many different nations, and torn as it has been by incessant wars +and the barbarous manners of the Middle Ages, has notwithstanding +attained a population of 410 inhabitants to the square league. +What cause can prevent the United States from having as numerous +a population in time? + +"The time will therefore come when one hundred and fifty millions +of men will be living in North America, equal in condition, the +progeny of one race, owing their origin to the same cause, and +preserving the same civilization, the same language, the same +religion, the same habits, the same manners, and imbued with the +same opinions, propagated under the same forms. The rest is +uncertain, but this is certain; and it is a fact new to the +world, a fact fraught with such portentous consequences as to +baffle the efforts even of the imagination." + +[The original French of these passages will be found in the +chapter on "Quelles sont les chances de duree de l'Union +Americaine--Quels dangers la menacent." in the third volume of +the first part of De Tocqueville, and in the conclusion of the +first part. They are (with others) collected and translated by +Mr. Alison, in his "Essays," vol. iii. p. 374.] + +Let us turn from the French statesman writing in 1835, to an +English statesman, who is justly regarded as the highest +authority on all statistical subjects, and who described the +United States only seven years ago. Macgregor [Macgregor's +Commercial Statistics.] tells us-- + +"The States which, on the ratification of independence, formed +the American Republican Union, were thirteen, viz.:-- + +"Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New +York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, +North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. "The foregoing +thirteen states (THE WHOLE INHABITED TERRITORY OF WHICH, WITH THE +EXCEPTION OF A FEW SMALL SETTLEMENTS, WAS CONFINED TO THE REGION +EXTENDING BETWEEN THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS AND THE ATLANTIC) were +those which existed at the period when they became an +acknowledged separate and independent federal sovereign power. +The thirteen stripes of the standard or flag of the United +States, continue to represent the original number, The stars have +multiplied to twenty-six, [Fresh stars have dawned since this was +written.] according as the number of States have increased. + +"The territory of the thirteen original States of the Union, +including Maine and Vermont, comprehended a superficies of +371,124 English square miles; that of the whole United Kingdom of +Great Britain and Ireland, 120,354; that of France, including +Corsica, 214,910; that of the Austrian Empire, including Hungary +and all the Imperial States, 257,540 English square miles. + +"The present superficies of the twenty-six constitutional States +of the Anglo-American Union, and the district of Columbia, and +territories of Florida, include 1,029,025 square miles; to which +if we add the north-west, or Wisconsin territory, east of the +Mississippi, and bounded by Lake Superior on the north, and +Michigan on the east, and occupying at least 100,000 square +miles, and then add the great western region, not yet well- +defined territories, but at the most limited calculation +comprehending 700,000 square miles, the whole unbroken in its +vast length and breadth by foreign nations, comprehends a portion +of the earth's surface equal to 1,729,025 English, or 1,296,770 +geographical square miles." + +We may add that the population of the States, when they declared +their independence, was about two millions and a half; it is now +twenty-three millions. + +I have quoted Macgregor, not only on account of the clear and +full view which he gives of the progress of America to the date +when he wrote, but because his description may be contrasted with +what the United States have become even since his book appeared. +Only three years after the time when Macgregor thus wrote, the +American President truly stated:-- + +"Within less than four years the annexation of Texas to the Union +has been consummated; all conflicting title to the Oregon +territory, south of the 49th degree of north latitude, adjusted; +and New Mexico and Upper California have been acquired by treaty. +The area of these several territories contains 1,193,061 square +miles, or 763,559,040 acres; while the area of the remaining +twenty-nine States, and the territory not yet organized into +States east of the Rocky Mountains, contains 2,059,513 square +miles, or 1,318,126,058 acres. These estimates show that the +territories recently acquired, and over which our exclusive +jurisdiction and dominion have been extended, constitute a +country more than half as large as all that which was held by the +United States before their acquisition. If Oregon be excluded +from the estimate, there will still remain within the limits of +Texas, New Mexico, and California, 851,598 square miles, or +545,012,720 acres; being an addition equal to more than one-third +of all the territory owned by the United States before their +acquisition; and, including Oregon, nearly as great an extent of +territory as the whole of Europe, Russia only excepted. THE +MISSISSIPPI, SO LATELY THE FRONTIER OF OUR COUNTRY, IS NOW ONLY +ITS CENTRE. With the addition of the late acquisitions, the +United States are now estimated to be nearly as large as the +whole of Europe. The extent of the sea-coast of Texas, on the +Gulf of Mexico, is upwards of 400 miles; of the coast of Upper +California, on the Pacific, of 970 miles; and of Oregon, +including the Straits of Fuca, of 650 miles; MAKING THE WHOLE +EXTENT OF SEA-COAST ON THE PACIFIC 1,620 MILES; and the whole +extent on both the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, 2,020 miles. +The length of the coast on the Atlantic, from the northern limits +of the United States, round the Capes of Florida to the Sabine on +the eastern boundary of Texas, is estimated to be 3,100 miles, so +that the addition of sea-coast, including Oregon, is very nearly +two-thirds as great as all we possessed before; and, excluding +Oregon, is an addition of 1,370 miles; being nearly equal to one- +half of the extent of coast which we possessed before these +acquisitions. We have now three great maritime fronts--on the +Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific; making, in the +whole, an extent of sea-coast exceeding 5,000 miles. This is the +extent of the sea-coast of the United States, not including bays, +sounds, and small irregularities of the main shore, and of the +sea islands. If these be included, the length of the shore line +of coast, as estimated by the superintendent of the Coast Survey, +in his report, would be 33,063 miles." + +The importance of the power of the United States being then +firmly planted along the Pacific applies not only to the New +World, but to the Old. Opposite to San Francisco, on the coast +of that ocean, lie the wealthy but decrepit empires of China and +Japan. Numerous groups of islets stud the larger part of the +intervening sea, and form convenient stepping-stones for the +progress of commerce or ambition. The intercourse of traffic +between these ancient Asiatic monarchies, and the young Anglo- +American Republic, must be rapid and extensive. Any attempt of +the Chinese or Japanese rulers to check it, will only accelerate +an armed collision. The American will either buy or force his +way. Between such populations as that of China and Japan on the +one side, and that of the United States on the other--the former +haughty, formal, and insolent, the latter bold, intrusive, and +unscrupulous--causes of quarrel must, sooner or later, arise, The +results of such a quarrel cannot be doubted. America will +scarcely imitate the forbearance shown by England at the end of +our late war with the Celestial Empire; and the conquests of +China and Japan by the fleets and armies of the United States, +are events which many now living are likely to witness. Compared +with the magnitude of such changes in the dominion of the Old +World, the certain ascendancy of the Anglo-Americans over Central +and Southern America, seems a matter of secondary importance. +Well may we repeat De Tocqueville's words, that the growing power +of this commonwealth is, "Un fait entierement nouveau dans le +monde, et dont l'imagination ellememe ne saurait saisir la +portee." [These remarks were written in May 1851, and now, in +May 1852, a powerful squadron of American war-steamers has been +sent to Japan, for the ostensible purpose of securing protection +for the crews of American vessels shipwrecked on the Japanese +coasts, but also evidently for important ulterior purposes.] + +An Englishman may look, and ought to look, on the growing +grandeur of the Americans with no small degree of generous +sympathy and satisfaction. They, like ourselves, are members of +the great Anglo-Saxon nation "whose race and language are now +overrunning the world from one end of it to the other." [Arnold.] +and whatever differences of form of government may exist between +us and them; whatever reminiscences of the days when, though +brethren, we strove together, may rankle in the minds of us, the +defeated party; we should cherish the bonds of common nationality +that still exist between us. We should remember, as the +Athenians remembered of the Spartans at a season of jealousy and +temptation, that our race is one, being of the same blood, +speaking the same language, having an essential resemblance in +our institutions and usages, and worshipping in the temples of +the same God. [HERODOTUS, viii. 144.] All this may and should +be borne in mind. And yet an Englishman can hardly watch the +progress of America, without the regretful thought that America +once was English, and that, but for the folly of our rulers, she +might be English still. It is true that the commerce between the +two countries has largely and beneficially increased; but this is +no proof that the increase would not have been still greater, had +the States remained integral portions of the same great empire. +By giving a fair and just participation in political rights, +these, "the fairest possessions" of the British crown, might have +been preserved to it. "This ancient and most noble monarchy" +[Lord Chatham.] would not have been dismembered; nor should we +see that which ought to be the right arm of our strength, now +menacing us in every political crisis, as the most formidable +rival of our commercial and maritime ascendancy. + +The war which rent away the North American colonies of England +is, of all subjects in history, the most painful for an +Englishman to dwell on. It was commenced and carried on by the +British ministry in iniquity and folly, and it was concluded in +disaster and shame. But the contemplation of it cannot be evaded +by the historian, however much it may be abhorred. Nor can any +military event be said to have exercised more important influence +on the future fortunes of mankind, than the complete defeat of +Burgoyne's expedition in 1777; a defeat which rescued the +revolted colonists from certain subjection; and which, by +inducing the courts of France and Spain to attack England in +their behalf, ensured the independence of the United States, and +the formation of that trans-Atlantic power which, not only +America, but both Europe and Asia, now see and feel. + +Still, in proceeding to describe this "decisive battle of the +world," a very brief recapitulation of the earlier events of the +war may be sufficient; nor shall I linger unnecessarily on a +painful theme. + +The five northern colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode +Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont, usually classed together as +the New England colonies, were the strongholds of the +insurrection against the mother-country. The feeling of +resistance was less vehement and general in the central +settlement of New York; and still less so in Pennsylvania, +Maryland, and the other colonies of the south, although +everywhere it was formidably active. Virginia should, perhaps, +be particularised for the zeal which its leading men displayed in +the American cause; but it was among the descendants of the stern +Puritans that the spirit of Cromwell and Vane breathed in all its +fervour; it was from the New Englanders that the first armed +opposition to the British crown had been offered; and it was by +them that the most stubborn determination to fight to the last, +rather than waive a single right or privilege, had been +displayed. In 1775, they had succeeded in forcing the British +troops to evacuate Boston; and the events of 1776 had made New +York (which the royalists captured in that year) the principal +basis of operations for the armies of the mother-country. + +A glance at the map will show that the Hudson river, which falls +into the Atlantic at New York, runs down from the north at the +back of the New England States, forming an angle of about forty- +five degrees with the line of the coast of the Atlantic, along +which the New England states are situate. Northward of the +Hudson, we see a small chain of lakes communicating with the +Canadian frontier. It is necessary to attend closely to these +geographical points, in order to understand the plan of the +operations which the English attempted in 1777, and which the +battle of Saratoga defeated. + +The English had a considerable force in Canada; and in 1776 had +completely repulsed an attack which the Americans had made upon +that province. The British ministry resolved to avail +themselves, in the next year, of the advantage which the +occupation of Canada gave them, not merely for the purpose of +defence, but for the purpose of striking a vigorous and crushing +blow against the revolted colonies. With this view, the army in +Canada was largely reinforced. Seven thousand veteran troops +were sent out from England, with a corps of artillery abundantly +supplied, and led by select and experienced officers. Large +quantities of military stores were also furnished for the +equipment of the Canadian volunteers, who were expected to join +the expedition. It was intended that the force thus collected +should march southward by the line of the lakes, and thence along +the banks of the Hudson river. The British army in New York (or +a large detachment of it) was to make a simultaneous movement +northward, up the line of the Hudson, and the two expeditions +were to unite at Albany, a town on that river. By these +operations all communication between the northern colonies and +those of the centre and south would be cut off. An irresistible +force would be concentrated, so as to crush all further +opposition in New England; and when this was done, it was +believed that the other colonies would speedily submit. The +Americans had no troops in the field that seemed able to baffle +these movements. Their principal army, under Washington, was +occupied in watching over Pennsylvania and the south. At any +rate it was believed that, in order to oppose the plan intended +for the new campaign, the insurgents must risk a pitched battle, +in which the superiority of the royalists, in numbers, in +discipline, and in equipment, seemed to promise to the latter a +crowning victory. Without question the plan was ably formed; and +had the success of the execution been equal to the ingenuity of +the design, the re-conquest or submission of the thirteen United +States must, in all human probability, have followed; and the +independence which they proclaimed in 1776 would have been +extinguished before it existed a second year. No European power +had as yet come forward to aid America. It is true that England +was generally regarded with jealousy and ill-will, and was +thought to have acquired, at the treaty of Paris, a preponderance +of dominion which was perilous to the balance of power; but +though many were willing to wound, none had yet ventured to +strike; and America, if defeated in 1777, would have been +suffered to fall unaided. + +[In Lord Albemarle's "Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham." is +contained the following remarkable state paper, drawn up by King +George III himself respecting the plan of Burgoyne's expedition. +The original is in the king's own hand. + +"REMARKS ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR FROM CANADA. + +"The outlines of the plan seem to be on a proper foundation. The +rank and file of the army now in Canada (including the 11th +Regiment of British, M'Clean's corps, the Brunswicks and +Hanover), amount to 10,527; add the eleven additional companies +and four hundred Hanover Chasseurs, the total will be 11,443. + +"As sickness and other contingencies must be expected, I should +think not above 7,000 effectives can be spared over Lake +Champlain; for it would be highly imprudent to run any risk in +Canada. + +"The fixing the stations of those left in the province may not be +quite right, though the plan proposed may be recommended. +Indians must be employed, and this measure must be avowedly +directed, and Carleton must be in the strongest manner directed +that the Apollo shall be ready by that day, to receive Burgoyne. + +"The magazines must be formed with the greatest expedition, at +Crown Point. + +"If possible, possession must be taken of Lake George, and +nothing but an absolute impossibility of succeeding in this, can +be an excuse for proceeding by South Bay and Skeenborough. + +"As Sir W. Howe does not think of acting from Rhode island into +the Massachusets, the force from Canada must join him in Albany. + +"The diversion on the Mohawk River ought at least to be +strengthened by the addition of the four hundred Hanover +Chasseurs. + +"The Ordnance ought to furnish a complete proportion of +intrenching tools. + +"The provisions ought to be calculated for a third more than the +effective soldiery, and the General ordered to avoid delivering +these when the army can be subsisted by the country. Burgoyne +certainly greatly undervalues the German recruits. + +"The idea of carrying the army by sea to Sir W. Howe, would +certainly require the leaving a much larger part of it in Canada, +as in that case the rebel army would divide that province from +the immense one under Sir W. Howe. I greatly dislike this last +idea."] + +Burgoyne had gained celebrity by some bold and dashing exploits +in Portugal during the last war; he was personally as brave an +officer as ever headed British troops; he had considerable skill +as a tactician; and his general intellectual abilities and +acquirements were of a high order. He had several very able and +experienced officers under him, among whom were Major-General +Phillips and Brigadier-General Fraser. His regular troops +amounted, exclusively of the corps of artillery, to about seven +thousand two hundred men, rank and file. Nearly half of these +were Germans. He had also an auxiliary force of from two to +three thousand Canadians. He summoned the warriors of several +tribes of the Red Indians near the western lakes to join his +army. Much eloquence was poured forth, both in America and in +England, in denouncing the use of these savage auxiliaries. Yet +Burgoyne seems to have done no more than Montcalm, Wolfe, and +other French, American, and English generals had done before him. +But, in truth, the lawless ferocity of the Indians, their +unskilfulness in regular action, and the utter impossibility of +bringing them under any discipline, made their services of little +or no value in times of difficulty: while the indignation which +their outrages inspired, went far to rouse the whole population +of the invaded districts into active hostilities against +Burgoyne's force. + +Burgoyne assembled his troops and confederates near the river +Bouquet, on the west side of Lake Champlain. He then, on the +21st of June, 1777, gave his Red Allies a war-feast, and +harangued them on the necessity of abstaining from their usual +cruel practices against unarmed people and prisoners. At the +same time he published a pompous manifesto to the Americans, in +which he threatened the refractory with all the horrors of war, +Indian as well as European. The army proceeded by water to Crown +Point, a fortification which the Americans held at the northern +extremity of the inlet by which the water from Lake George is +conveyed to Lake Champlain. He landed here without opposition; +but the reduction of Ticonderoga, a fortification about twelve +miles to the south of Crown Point, was a more serious matter, and +was supposed to be the critical part of the expedition. +Ticonderoga commanded the passage along the lakes, and was +considered to be the key to the route which Burgoyne wished to +follow. The English had been repulsed in an attack on it in the +war with the French in 1768 with severe loss. But Burgoyne now +invested it with great skill; and the American general, St. +Clair, who had only an ill-equipped army of about three thousand +men, evacuated it on the 5th of July. It seems evident that a +different course would have caused the destruction or capture of +his whole army; which, weak as it was, was the chief force then +in the field for the protection of the New England states. When +censured by some of his countrymen for abandoning Ticonderoga, +St. Clair truly replied, "that he had lost a post, but saved a +province." Burgoyne's troops pursued the retiring Americans, +gained several advantages over them, and took a large part of +their artillery and military stores. + +The loss of the British in these engagements was trifling. The +army moved southward along Lake George to Skenesborough; and +thence slowly, and with great difficulty, across a broken +country, full of creeks and marshes, and clogged by the enemy +with felled trees and other obstacles, to Fort Edward, on the +Hudson river, the American troops continuing to retire before +them. + +Burgoyne reached the left bank of the Hudson river on the 30th of +July. Hitherto he had overcome every difficulty which the enemy +and the nature of the country had placed in his way. His army +was in excellent order and in the highest spirits; and the peril +of the expedition seemed over, when they were once on the bank of +the river which was to be the channel of communication between +them and the British army in the south. But their feelings, and +those of the English nation in general when their successes were +announced, may best be learned from a contemporary writer. +Burke, in the "Annual Register" for 1777, describes them thus:-- + +"Such was the rapid torrent of success, which swept everything +away before the northern army in its onset. It is not to be +wondered at, if both officers and private men were highly elated +with their good fortune, and deemed that and their prowess to be +irresistible; if they regarded their enemy with the greatest +contempt; considered their own toils to be nearly at an end; +Albany to be already in their hands; and the reduction of the +northern provinces to be rather a matter of some time, than an +arduous task full of difficulty and danger. + +"At home, the joy and exultation was extreme; not only at court, +but with all those who hoped or wished the unqualified +subjugation, and unconditional submission of the colonies. The +loss in reputation was greater to the Americans, and capable of +more fatal consequences, than even that of ground, of posts, of +artillery, or of men. All the contemptuous and most degrading +charges which had been made by their enemies, of their wanting +the resolution and abilities of men, even in their defence of +whatever was dear to them, were now repeated and believed. Those +who still regarded them as men, and who had not yet lost all +affection to them as brethren, who also retained hopes that a +happy reconciliation upon constitutional principles, without +sacrificing the dignity or the just authority of government on +the one side, or a dereliction of the rights of freemen on the +other, was not even now impossible, notwithstanding their +favourable dispositions in general, could not help feeling upon +this occasion that the Americans sunk not a little in their +estimation. It was not difficult to diffuse an opinion that the +war in effect was over; and that any further resistance could +serve only to render the terms of their submission the worse. +Such were some of the immediate effects of the loss of those +grand keys of North America, Ticonderoga and the lakes." + +The astonishment and alarm which these events produced among the +Americans were naturally great; but in the midst of their +disasters none of the colonists showed any disposition to submit. +The local governments of the New England States, as well as the +Congress, acted with vigour and firmness in their efforts to +repel the enemy. General Gates was sent to take command of the +army at Saratoga; and Arnold, a favourite leader of the +Americans, was despatched by Washington to act under him, with +reinforcements of troops and guns from the main American army. +Burgoyne's employment of the Indians now produced the worst +possible effects. Though he laboured hard to check the +atrocities which they were accustomed to commit, he could not +prevent the occurrence of many barbarous outrages, repugnant both +to the feelings of humanity and to the laws of civilized warfare. +The American commanders took care that the reports of these +excesses should be circulated far and wide, well knowing that +they would make the stern New Englanders not droop, but rage. +Such was their effect; and though, when each man looked upon his +wife, his children, his sisters, or his aged parents, the thought +of the merciless Indian "thirsting for the blood of man, woman, +and child," of "the cannibal savage torturing, murdering, +roasting, and eating the mangled victims of his barbarous +battles," [Lord Chatham's speech on the employment of Indians in +the war.] might raise terror in the bravest breasts; this very +terror produced a directly contrary effect to causing submission +to the royal army. It was seen that the few friends of the royal +cause, as well as its enemies, were liable to be the victims of +the indiscriminate rage of the savages;" [See in the "Annual +Register" for 1777, p.117, the "Narrative of the Murder of Miss +M'Crea, the daughter of an American loyalist."] and thus "the +inhabitants of the open and frontier countries had no choice of +acting: they had no means of security left, but by abandoning +their habitations and taking up arms. Every man saw the +necessity of becoming a temporary soldier, not only for his own +security, but for the protection and defence of those connexions +which are dearer than life itself. Thus an army was poured forth +by the woods, mountains, and marshes, which in this part were +thickly sown with plantations and villages. The Americans +recalled their courage; and when their regular army seemed to be +entirely wasted, the spirit of the country produced a much +greater and more formidable force." [Burke.] + +While resolute recruits, accustomed to the use of fire-arms, and +all partially trained by service in the provincial militias, were +thus flocking to the standard of Gates and Arnold at Saratoga; +and while Burgoyne was engaged at Port Edward in providing the +means for the further advance of his army through the intricate +and hostile country that still lay before him, two events +occurred, in each of which the British sustained loss, and the +Americans obtained advantage, the moral effects of which were +even more important than the immediate result of the encounters. +When Burgoyne left Canada, General St. Leger was detached from +that province with a mixed force of about one thousand men, and +some light field-pieces, across Lake Ontario against Fort +Stanwix, which the Americans held. After capturing this, he was +to march along the Mohawk river to its confluence with the +Hudson, between Saratoga and Albany, where his force and that of +Burgoyne were to unite. But, after some successes, St. Leger was +obliged to retreat, and to abandon his tents and large quantities +of stores to the garrison. At the very time that General +Burgoyne heard of this disaster, he experienced one still more +severe in the defeat of Colonel Baum with a large detachment of +German troops at Benington, whither Burgoyne had sent them for +the purpose of capturing some magazines of provisions, of which +the British army stood greatly in need. The Americans, augmented +by continual accessions of strength, succeeded, after many +attacks, in breaking this corps, which fled into the woods, and +left its commander mortally wounded on the field: they then +marched against a force of five hundred grenadiers and light +infantry, which was advancing to Colonel Baum's assistance under +Lieutenant-Colonel Breyman; who, after a gallant resistance, was +obliged to retreat on the main army. The British loss in these +two actions exceeded six hundred men: and a party of American +loyalists, on their way to join the army, having attached +themselves to Colonel Baum's corps, were destroyed with it. + +Notwithstanding these reverses, which added greatly to the spirit +and numbers of the American forces, Burgoyne determined to +advance. It was impossible any longer to keep up his +communications with Canada by way of the lakes, so as to supply +his army on his southward march; but having by unremitting +exertions collected provisions for thirty days, he crossed the +Hudson by means of a bridge of rafts, and, marching a short +distance along its western bank, he encamped on the 14th of +September on the heights of Saratoga, about sixteen miles from +Albany. The Americans had fallen back from Saratoga, and were +now strongly posted near Stillwater, about half way between +Saratoga and Albany, and showed a determination to recede no +farther. + +Meanwhile Lord Howe, with the bulk of the British army that had +lain at New York, had sailed away to the Delaware, and there +commenced a campaign against Washington, in which the English +general took Philadelphia, and gained other showy, but +unprofitable successes, But Sir Henry Clinton, a brave and +skilful officer, was left with a considerable force at New York; +and he undertook the task of moving up the Hudson to co-operate +with Burgoyne. Clinton was obliged for this purpose to wait for +reinforcements which had been promised from England, and these +did not arrive till September. As soon as he received them, +Clinton embarked about 3,000 of his men on a flotilla, convoyed +by some ships of war under Commander Hotham, and proceeded to +force his may up the river, but it was long before he was able to +open any communication with Burgoyne. + +The country between Burgoyne's position at Saratoga and that of +the Americans at Stillwater was rugged, and seamed with creeks +and water-courses; but after great labour in making bridges and +temporary causeways, the British army moved forward. About four +miles from Saratoga, on the afternoon of the 19th of September, a +sharp encounter took place between part of the English right +wing, under Burgoyne himself, and a strong body of the enemy, +under Gates and Arnold. The conflict lasted till sunset. The +British remained masters of the field; but the loss on each side +was nearly equal (from five hundred to six hundred men); and the +spirits of the Americans were greatly raised by having withstood +the best regular troops of the English army. Burgoyne now halted +again, and strengthened his position by field-works and redoubts; +and the Americans also improved their defences. The two armies +remained nearly within cannon-shot of each other for a +considerable time, during which Burgoyne was anxiously looking +for intelligence of the promised expedition from New York, which, +according to the original plan, ought by this time to have been +approaching Albany from the south. At last, a messenger from +Clinton made his way, with great difficulty, to Burgoyne's camp, +and brought the information that Clinton was on his way up the +Hudson to attack the American forts which barred the passage up +that river to Albany. Burgoyne, in reply, on the 30th of +September, urged Clinton to attack the forts as speedily as +possible, stating that the effect of such an attack, or even the +semblance of it, would be to move the American army from its +position before his own troops. By another messenger, who +reached Clinton on the 5th of October, Burgoyne informed his +brother general that he had lost his communications with Canada, +but had provisions which would last him till the 20th. Burgoyne +described himself as strongly posted, and stated that though the +Americans in front of him were strongly posted also, he made no +doubt of being able to force them, and making his way to Albany; +but that he doubted whether he could subsist there, as the +country was drained of provisions. He wished Clinton to meet him +there, and to keep open a communication with New York. [See the +letters of General Clinton to General Harvey, published by Lord +Albemarle in his "Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham," vol. ii. +p. 335, ET SEQ.] + +Burgoyne had over-estimated his resources, and in the very +beginning of October found difficulty and distress pressing him +hard. + +The Indians and Canadians began to desert him; while, on the +other hand, Gates's army was continually reinforced by fresh +bodies of the militia. An expeditionary force was detached by +the Americans, which made a bold, though unsuccessful, attempt to +retake Ticonderoga. And finding the number and spirit of the +enemy to increase daily, and his own stores of provision to +diminish, Burgoyne determined on attacking the Americans in front +of him, and by dislodging them from their position, to gain the +means of moving upon Albany, or at least of relieving his troops +from the straitened position in which they were cooped up. + +Burgoyne's force was now reduced to less than 6,000 men. The +right of his camp was on some high ground a little to the west of +the river; thence his entrenchments extended along the lower +ground to the bank of the Hudson, the line of their front being +nearly at a right angle with the course of the stream. The lines +were fortified with redoubts and field-works, and on a height on +the bank of the extreme right a strong redoubt was reared, and +entrenchments, in a horse-shoe form, thrown up. The Hessians, +under Colonel Breyman, were stationed here, forming a flank +defence to Burgoyne's main army. The numerical force of the +Americans was now greater than the British even in regular +troops, and the numbers of the militia and volunteers which had +joined Gates and Arnold were greater still. + +General Lincoln with 2,000 New England troops, had reached the +American camp on the 29th of September. Gates gave him the +command of the right wing, and took in person the command of the +left wing, which was composed of two brigades under Generals Poor +and Leonard, of Colonel Morgan's rifle corps, and part of the +fresh New England Militia. The whole of the American lines had +been ably fortified under the direction of the celebrated Polish +general, Kosciusko, who was now serving as a volunteer in Gates's +army. The right of the American position, that is to say, the +part of it nearest to the river, was too strong to be assailed +with any prospect of success: and Burgoyne therefore determined +to endeavour to force their left. For this purpose he formed a +column of 1,500 regular troops, with two twelve-pounders, two +howitzers and six six-pounders. He headed this in person, having +Generals Phillips, Reidesel, and Fraser under him. The enemy's +force immediately in front of his lines was so strong that he +dared not weaken the troops who guarded them, by detaching any +more to strengthen his column of attack. + +It was on the 7th of October that Burgoyne led his column +forward; and on the preceding day, the 6th, Clinton had +successfully executed a brilliant enterprise against the two +American forts which barred his progress up the Hudson. He had +captured them both, with severe loss to the American forces +opposed to him; he had destroyed the fleet which the Americans +had been forming on the Hudson, under the protection of their +forts; and the upward river was laid open to his squadron. He +had also, with admirable skill and industry, collected in small +vessels, such as could float within a few miles of Albany, +provisions sufficient to supply Burgoyne's Army for six months. +[See Clinton's letters in Lord Albemarle, p. 337.] He was now +only a hundred and fifty-six miles distant from Burgoyne; and a +detachment of 1,700 men actually advanced within forty miles of +Albany. Unfortunately Burgoyne and Clinton were each ignorant of +the other's movements; but if Burgoyne had won his battle on the +7th, he must on advancing have soon learned the tidings of +Clinton's success, and Clinton would have heard of his. A +junction would soon have been made of the two victorious armies, +and the great objects of the campaign might yet have been +accomplished. All depended on the fortune of the column with +which Burgoyne, on the eventful 7th of October, 1777, advanced +against the American position. There were brave men, both +English and German, in its ranks; and in particular it comprised +one of the best bodies of grenadiers in the British service. [I +am indebted for many of the details of the battle, to Mr +Lossing's "Field-book of the Revolution."] + +Burgoyne pushed forward some bodies of irregular troops to +distract the enemy's attention; and led his column to within +three-quarters of a mile from the left of Gates's camp, and then +deployed his men into line. The grenadiers under Major Ackland, +and the artillery under Major Williams, were drawn up on the +left; a corps of Germans under General Reidesel, and some British +troops under General Phillips, were in the centre; and the +English light infantry, and the 24th regiment under Lord +Balcarres and General Fraser, were on the right. But Gates did +not wait to be attacked; and directly the British line was formed +and began to advance, the American general, with admirable skill, +caused General Poor's brigade of New York and New Hampshire +troops, and part of General Leonard's brigade, to make a sudden +and vehement rush against its left, and at the same time sent +Colonel Morgan, with his rifle corps and other troops, amounting +to 1,500, to turn the right of the English. The grenadiers under +Ackland sustained the charge of superior numbers nobly. But +Gates sent more Americans forward, and in a few minutes the +action became general along the centre, so as to prevent the +Germans from detaching any help to the grenadiers. Morgan, with +his riflemen, was now pressing Lord Balcarres and General Fraser +hard, and fresh masses of the enemy were observed advancing from +their extreme left, with the evident intention of forcing the +British right, and cutting off its retreat. The English light +infantry and the 24th now fell back, and formed an oblique second +line, which enabled them to baffle this manoeuvre, and also to +succour their comrades in the left wing, the gallant grenadiers, +who were overpowered by superior numbers, and, but for this aid, +must have been cut to pieces. + +The contest now was fiercely maintained on both sides. The +English cannon were repeatedly taken and retaken; but when the +grenadiers near them were forced back by the weight of superior +numbers, one of the guns was permanently captured by the +Americans, and turned upon the English. Major Williams and Major +Ackland were both made prisoners, and in this part of the field +the advantage of the Americans was decided. The British centre +still held its ground; but now it was that the American general +Arnold appeared upon the scene, and did more for his countrymen +than whole battalions could have effected. Arnold, when the +decisive engagement of the 7th of October commenced, had been +deprived of his command by Gates, in consequence of a quarrel +between them about the action of the 19th of September. He had +listened for a short time in the American camp to the thunder of +the battle, in which he had no military right to take part, +either as commander or as combatant. But his excited spirit +could not long endure such a state of inaction. He called for +his horse, a powerful brown charger, and springing on it, +galloped furiously to where the fight seemed to be the thickest. +Gates saw him, and sent an aide-de-camp to recall him; but Arnold +spurred far in advance, and placed himself at the head of three +regiments which had formerly been under him, and which welcomed +their old commander with joyous cheers. He led them instantly +upon the British centre; and then galloping along the American +line, he issued orders for a renewed and a closer attack, which +were obeyed with alacrity, Arnold himself setting the example of +the most daring personal bravery, and charging more than once, +sword in hand, into the English ranks. On the British side the +officers did their duty nobly; but General Fraser was the most +eminent of them all, restoring order wherever the line began to +waver, and infusing fresh courage into his men by voice and +example. Mounted on an iron-grey charger, and dressed in the +full uniform of a general officer, he was conspicuous to foes as +well as to friends. The American Colonel Morgan thought that the +fate of the battle rested on this gallant man's life, and calling +several of his best marksman round him, pointed Fraser out, and +said: "That officer is General Fraser; I admire him, but he must +die. Our victory depends on it. Take your stations in that +clump of bushes, and do your duty." Within five minutes Fraser +fell mortally wounded, and was carried to the British camp by two +grenadiers. Just previously to his being struck by the fatal +bullet, one rifle-ball had cut the crupper of his saddle and +smother had passed through his horse's mane close behind the +ears. His aide-de-camp had noticed this, and said: "It is +evident that you are marked out for particular aim; would it not +be prudent; for you to retire from this place?" Fraser replied: +"My duty forbids me to fly from danger;" and the next moment he +fell. [Lossing.] + +Burgoyne's whole force was now compelled to retreat towards their +camp; the left and centre were in complete disorder, but the +light infantry and the 24th checked the fury of the assailants, +and the remains of the column with great difficulty effected +their return to their camp; leaving six of their cannons in the +possession of the enemy, and great numbers of killed and wounded +on the field; and especially a large proportion of the +artillerymen, who had stood to their guns until shot down or +bayoneted beside them by the advancing Americans. + +Burgoyne's column had been defeated, but the action was not yet +over. The English had scarcely entered the camp, when the +Americans, pursuing their success, assaulted it in several places +with remarkable impetuosity, rushing in upon the intrenchments +and redoubts through a severe fire of grape-shot and musketry. +Arnold especially, who on this day appeared maddened with the +thirst of combat and carnage, urged on the attack against a part +of the intrenchments which was occupied by the light infantry +under Lord Balcarres. [Botta's American War, book viii.] But +the English received him with vigour and spirit. The struggle +here was obstinate and sanguinary. At length, as it grew towards +evening, Arnold, having forced all obstacles, entered the works +with some of the most fearless of his followers. But in this +critical moment of glory and danger, he received a painful wound +in the same leg which had already been injured at the assault on +Quebec. To his bitter regret he was obliged to be carried back. +His party still continued the attack, but the English also +continued their obstinate resistance, and at last night fell, and +the assailants withdrew from this quarter of the British +intrenchments. But, in another part the attack had been more +successful. A body of the Americans, under Colonel Brooke, +forced their way in through a part of the horse-shoe +intrenchments on the extreme right, which was defended by the +Hessian reserve under Colonel Breyman. The Germans resisted +well, and Breyman died in defence of his post; but the Americans +made good the ground which they had won, and captured baggage, +tents, artillery, and a store of ammunition, which they were +greatly in need of. They had by establishing themselves on this +point, acquired the means of completely turning the right flank +of the British, and gaining their rear. To prevent this +calamity, Burgoyne effected during the night an entire change of +position. With great skill he removed his whole army to some +heights near the river, a little northward of the former camp, +and he there drew up his men, expecting to be attacked on the +following day. But Gates was resolved not to risk the certain +triumph which his success had already secured for him. He +harassed the English with skirmishes, but attempted no regular +attack. Meanwhile he detached bodies of troops on both sides of +the Hudson to prevent the British from recrossing that river, and +to bar their retreat. When night fell, it became absolutely +necessary for Burgoyne to retire again, and, accordingly, the +troops were marched through a stormy and rainy night towards +Saratoga, abandoning their sick and wounded, and the greater part +of their baggage to the enemy. + +Before the rear-guard quitted the camp, the last sad honours were +paid to the brave General Fraser, who expired on the day after +the action. + +He had, almost with his last breath, expressed a wish to be +buried in the redoubt which had formed the part of the British +lines where he had been stationed, but which had now been +abandoned by the English, and was within full range of the cannon +which the advancing Americans were rapidly placing in position to +bear upon Burgoyne's force. Burgoyne resolved, nevertheless, to +comply with the dying wish of his comrade; and the interment took +place under circumstances the most affecting that have ever +marked a soldier's funeral. Still more interesting is the +narrative of Lady Ackland's passage from the British to the +American camp, after the battle, to share the captivity and +alleviate the sufferings of her husband who had been severely +wounded, and left in the enemy's power. The American historian, +Lossing, has described both these touching episodes of the +campaign, in a spirit that does honour to the writer as well as +to his subject. After narrating the death of General Fraser on +the 8th of October, he says that "It was just at sunset, on that +calm October evening, that the corpse of General Fraser was +carried up the hill to the place of burial within the 'great +redoubt.' It was attended only by the military members of his +family and Mr. Brudenell, the chaplain; yet the eyes of hundreds +of both armies followed the solemn procession, while the +Americans, ignorant of its true character, kept up a constant +cannonade upon the redoubt. The chaplain, unawed by the danger +to which he was exposed, as the cannon-balls that struck the hill +threw the loose soil over him, pronounced the impressive funeral +service of the Church of England with an unfaltering voice. The +growing darkness added solemnity to the scene. Suddenly the +irregular firing ceased, and the solemn voice of a single cannon, +at measured intervals, boomed along the valley, and awakened the +responses of the hills. It was a minute gun fired by the +Americans in honour of the gallant dead. The moment the +information was given that the gathering at the redoubt was a +funeral company, fulfilling, at imminent peril, the last-breathed +wishes of the noble Fraser, orders were issued to withhold the +cannonade with balls, and to render military homage to the fallen +brave. + +"The case of Major Ackland and his heroic wife presents kindred +features. He belonged to the grenadiers, and was an accomplished +soldier. His wife accompanied him to Canada in 1776; and during +the whole campaign of that year, and until his return to England +after the surrender of Burgoyne, in the autumn of 1777, endured +all the hardships, dangers, and privations of an active campaign +in an enemy's country. At Chambly, on the Sorel, she attended +him in illness, in a miserable hut; and when he was wounded in +the battle of Hubbardton, Vermont she hastened to him at +Henesborough from Montreal, where she had been persuaded to +remain, and resolved to follow the army hereafter. Just before +crossing the Hudson, she and her husband had had a narrow escape +from losing their lives in consequence of their tent accidentally +taking fire. + +"During the terrible engagement of the 7th October, she heard all +the tumult and dreadful thunder of the battle in which her +husband was engaged; and when, on the morning of the 8th, the +British fell back in confusion to their new position, she, with +the other women, was obliged to take refuge among the dead and +dying; for the tents were all struck, and hardly a shed was left +standing. Her husband was wounded, and a prisoner in the +American camp. That gallant officer was shot through both legs. +When Poor and Learned's troops assaulted the grenadiers and +artillery on the British left, on the afternoon of the 7th, +Wilkinson, Gates's adjutant-general, while pursuing the flying +enemy when they abandoned their battery, heard a feeble voice +exclaim 'Protect me, sir, against that boy.' He turned and saw +a lad with a musket taking deliberate aim at a wounded British +officer, lying in a corner of a low fence. Wilkinson ordered the +boy to desist, and discovered the wounded man to be Major +Ackland. He had him conveyed to the quarters of General Poor +(now the residence of Mr. Neilson) on the heights, where every +attention was paid to his wants. + +"When the intelligence that he was wounded and a prisoner reached +his wife, she was greatly distressed, and, by the advice of her +friend, Baron Reidesel, resolved to visit the American camp, and +implore the favour of a personal attendance upon her husband. On +the 9th she sent a message to Burgoyne by Lord Petersham, his +aide-de-camp, asking permission to depart. 'Though I was ready +to believe,' says Burgoyne, 'that patience and fortitude, in a +supreme degree, were to be found, as well as every other virtue, +under the most tender forms, I was astonished at this proposal. +After so long an agitation of spirits, exhausted not only for +want of rest, but absolutely want of food, drenched in rain for +twelve hours together, that a woman should be capable of such an +undertaking as delivering herself to an enemy, probably in the +night, and uncertain of what hands she might fall into, appeared +an effort above human nature. The assistance I was able to give +was small indeed. I had not even a cup of wine to offer her. +All I could furnish her with was an open boat, and a few lines, +written upon dirty wet paper, to General Gates, recommending her +to his protection.' The following is a copy of the note sent by +Burgoyne to General Gates:--'Sir,--Lady Harriet Ackland, a lady +of the first distinction of family, rank, and personal virtues, +is under such concern on account of Major Ackland, her husband, +wounded and a prisoner in your hands, that I cannot refuse her +request to commit her to your protection. Whatever general +impropriety there may be in persons of my situation and yours to +solicit favours, I cannot see the uncommon perseverance in every +female grace, and the exaltation of character of this lady, and +her very hard fortune, without testifying that your attentions to +her will lay me under obligations. I am, sir, your obedient +servant, J. Burgoyne.' She set out in an open boat upon the +Hudson, accompanied by Mr. Brudenell, the chaplain, Sarah +Pollard, her waiting maid, and her husband's valet, who had been +severely wounded while searching for his master upon the battle- +field. It was about sunset when they started, and a violent +storm of rain and wind, which had been increasing since the +morning, rendered the voyage tedious and perilous in the extreme. +It was long after dark when they reached the American out-posts; +the sentinel heard their oars, and hailed them, Lady Harriet +returned the answer herself. The clear, silvery tones of a +woman's voice amid the darkness, filled the soldier on duty with +superstitious fear, and he called a comrade to accompany him to +the river bank. The errand of the voyagers was made known, but +the faithful guard, apprehensive of treachery, would not allow +them to laud until they sent for Major Dearborn. They were +invited by that officer to his quarters, where every attention +was paid to them, and Lady Harriet was comforted by the joyful +tidings that her husband was safe. In the morning she +experienced parental tenderness from General Gates who sent her +to her husband, at Poor's quarters, under a suitable escort. +There she remained until he was removed to Albany." + +Burgoyne now took up his last position on the heights near +Saratoga; and hemmed in by the enemy, who refused any encounter, +and baffled in all his attempts at finding a path of escape, he +there lingered until famine compelled him to capitulate. The +fortitude of the British army during this melancholy period has +been justly eulogised by many native historians, but I prefer +quoting the testimony of a foreign writer, as free from all +possibility of partiality. Botta says: [Botta, book viii.] + +"It exceeds the power of words to describe the pitiable condition +to which the British army was now reduced. The troops were worn +down by a series of toil, privation, sickness, and desperate +fighting. They were abandoned by the Indians and Canadians; and +the effective force of the whole army was now diminished by +repeated and heavy losses, which had principally fallen on the +best soldiers and the most distinguished officers, from ten +thousand combatants to less than one-half that number. Of this +remnant little more than three thousand were English. + +"In these circumstances, and thus weakened, they were invested by +an army of four times their own number, whose position extended +three parts of a circle round them; who refused to fight them, as +knowing their weakness, and who, from the nature of the ground, +could not be attacked in any part. In this helpless condition, +obliged to be constantly under arms, while the enemy's cannon +played on every part of their camp, and even the American rifle- +balls whistled in many parts of the lines, the troops of Burgoyne +retained their customary firmness, and, while sinking under a +hard necessity, they showed themselves worthy of a better fate. +They could not be reproached with an action or a word, which +betrayed a want of temper or of fortitude." + +At length the 13th of October arrived, and as no prospect of +assistance appeared, and the provisions were nearly exhausted, +Burgoyne, by the unanimous advice of a council of war, sent a +messenger to the American camp to treat of a convention. + +General Gates in the first instance demanded that the royal army +should surrender prisoners of war. He also proposed that the +British should ground their arms. Burgoyne replied, "This +article is inadmissible in every extremity; sooner than this army +will consent to ground their arms in their encampment, they will +rush on the enemy, determined to take no quarter." After various +messages, a convention for the surrender of the army was settled, +which provided that "The troops under General Burgoyne were to +march out of their camp with the honours of war, and the +artillery of the intrenchments, to the verge of the river, where +the arms and artillery were to be left. The arms to be piled by +word of command from their own officers. A free passage was to +be granted to the army under Lieutenant-General Burgoyne to Great +Britain, upon condition of not serving again in North America +during the present contest." + +The articles of capitulation were settled on the 15th of October: +and on that very evening a messenger arrived from Clinton with an +account of his successes, and with the tidings that part of his +force had penetrated as far as Esopus, within fifty miles of +Burgoyne's camp. But it was too late. The public faith was +pledged; and the army was, indeed, too debilitated by fatigue and +hunger to resist an attack if made; and Gates certainly would +have made it, if the convention had been broken off. +Accordingly, on the 17th, the convention of Saratoga was carried +into effect. By this convention 5,790 men surrendered themselves +as prisoners. The sick and wounded left in the camp when the +British retreated to Saratoga, together with the numbers of the +British, German, and Canadian troops, who were killed, wounded, +or taken, and who had deserted in the preceding part of the +expedition, were reckoned to be 4,689. + +The British sick and wounded who had fallen into the hands of the +Americans after the battle of the 7th, were treated with +exemplary humanity; and when the convention was executed, General +Gates showed a noble delicacy of feeling which deserves the +highest degree of honour. Every circumstance was avoided which +could give the appearance of triumph. The American troops +remained within their lines until the British had piled their +arms; and when this was done, the vanquished officers and +soldiers were received with friendly kindness by their victors, +and their immediate wants were promptly and liberally supplied. +Discussions and disputes afterwards arose as to some of the terms +of the convention; and the American Congress refused for a long +time to carry into effect the article which provided for the +return of Burgoyne's men to Europe; but no blame was imputable to +General Gates or his army, who showed themselves to be generous +as they had proved themselves to be brave. + +Gates after the victory, immediately despatched Colonel Wilkinson +to carry the happy tidings to Congress. On being introduced into +the hall, he said, "The whole British army has laid down its arms +at Saratoga; our own, full of vigour and courage, expect your +order. It is for your wisdom to decide where the country may +still have need for their service." Honours and rewards were +liberally voted by the Congress to their conquering general and +his men; "and it would be difficult" (says the Italian historian) +"to describe the transports of joy which the news of this event +excited among the Americans. They began to flatter themselves +with a still more happy future. No one any longer felt any doubt +about their achieving their independence. All hoped, and with +good reason, that a success of this importance would at length +determine France, and the other European powers that waited for +her example, to declare themselves in favour of America. THERE +COULD NO LONGER BE ANY QUESTION RESPECTING THE FUTURE; SINCE +THERE WAS NO LONGER THE RISK OF ESPOUSING THE CAUSE OF A PEOPLE +TOO FEEBLE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES." + +The truth of this was soon displayed in the conduct of France. +When the news arrived at Paris of the capture of Ticonderoga, and +of the victorious march of Burgoyne towards Albany, events which +seemed decisive in favour of the English, instructions had been +immediately despatched to Nantz, and the other ports of the +kingdom, that no American privateers should be suffered to enter +them, except from indispensable necessity, as to repair their +vessels, to obtain provisions, or to escape the perils of the +sea. The American commissioners at Paris, in their disgust and +despair, had almost broken off all negotiations with the French +government; and they even endeavoured to open communications with +the British ministry. But the British government, elated with +the first successes of Burgoyne, refused to listen to any +overtures for accommodation. But when the news of Saratoga +reached Paris, the whole scene was changed. Franklin and his +brother commissioners found all their difficulties with the +French government vanish. The time seemed to have arrived for +the House of Bourbon to take a full revenge for all its +humiliations and losses in previous wars. In December a treaty +was arranged, and formally signed in the February following, by +which France acknowledged the INDEPENDENT UNITED STATES OF +AMERICA. This was, of course, tantamount to a declaration of war +with England. Spain soon followed France; and before long +Holland took the same course. Largely aided by French fleets and +troops, the Americans vigorously maintained the war against the +armies which England, in spite of her European foes, continued to +send across the Atlantic. But the struggle was too unequal to be +maintained by this country for many years: and when the treaties +of 1783 restored peace to the world, the independence of the +United States was reluctantly recognized by their ancient parent +and recent enemy, England. + + +SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS BETWEEN THE DEFEAT OF BURGOYNE AT SARATOGA, +1777, AND THE BATTLE OF VALMY, 1792. + +A.D. 1781. Surrender of Lord Cornwallis and the British army to +Washington. + +1782. Rodney's victory over the Spanish fleet. Unsuccessful +siege of Gibraltar by the Spaniards and French. + +1783. End of the American war. + +1788. The States-General are convened in France:--beginning of +the Revolution. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE BATTLE OF VALMY. + +"Purpurei metuunt tyranni +Injurioso ne pede proruas +Stantem columnam; neu populus frequens +Ad arma cessantes ad arma +Concitet, imperiumque frangat." + HORAT. Od. i 35. + +"A little fire is quickly trodden out, +Which, being suffered, rivers cannot quench." + SHAKESPEARE. + +A few miles distant from the little town of St. Menehould, in the +north-east of France, are the village and hill of Valmy; and near +the crest of that hill, a simple monument points out the burial- +place of the heart of a general of the French republic, and a +marshal of the French empire. + +The elder Kellerman (father of the distinguished officer of that +name, whose cavalry-charge decided the battle of Marengo) held +high commands in the French armies throughout the wars of the +Convention, the Directory, the Consulate, and the Empire. He +survived those wars, and the empire itself, dying in extreme old +age in 1820. The last wish of the veteran on his death bed was +that his heart should be deposited in the battle-field of Valmy, +there to repose among the remains of his old companions in arms, +who had fallen at his side on that spot twenty-eight years +before, on the memorable day when they won the primal victory of +revolutionary France, and prevented the armies of Brunswick and +the emigrant bands of Conde from marching on defenceless Paris, +and destroying the immature democracy in its cradle. + +The Duke of Valmy (for Kellerman, when made one of Napoleon's +military peers in 1802, took his title from this same +battlefield) had participated, during his long and active career, +in the gaining of many a victory far more immediately dazzling +than the the one, the remembrance of which he thus cherished. He +had been present at many a scene of carnage, where blood flowed +in deluges, compared with which the libations of slaughter poured +out at Valmy would have seemed scant and insignificant. But he +rightly estimated the paramount importance of the battle with +which he thus wished his appellation while living, and his memory +after his death, to be identified. The successful resistance, +which the new Carmagnole levies, and the disorganized relics of +the old monarchy's army, then opposed to the combined hosts and +chosen leaders of Prussia, Austria, and the French refugee +noblesse, determined at once and for ever the belligerent +character of the revolution. The raw artisans and tradesmen, the +clumsy burghers, the base mechanics and low peasant churls, as it +had been the fashion to term the middle and lower classes in +France, found that they could face cannon-balls, pull triggers, +and cross bayonets, without having been drilled into military +machines, and without being officered by scions of noble houses. +They awoke to the consciousness of their own instinctive +soldiership. They at once acquired confidence in themselves and +in each other; and that confidence soon grew into a spirit of +unbounded audacity and ambition. "From the cannonade of Valmy +may be dated the commencement of that career of victory which +carried their armies to Vienna and the Kremlin." [Alison.] + +One of the gravest reflections that arises from the contemplation +of the civil restlessness and military enthusiasm which the close +of the last century saw nationalised in France, is the +consideration that these disturbing influences have become +perpetual. No settled system of government, that shall endure +from generation to generation, that shall be proof against +corruption and popular violence, seems capable of taking root +among the French. And every revolutionary movement in Paris +thrills throughout the rest of the world. Even the successes +which the powers allied against France gained in 1814 and 1815, +important as they were, could not annul the effects of the +preceding twenty-three years of general convulsion and war. + +In 1830, the dynasty which foreign bayonets had imposed on France +was shaken off; and men trembled at the expected outbreak of +French anarchy and the dreaded inroads of French ambition. They +"looked forward with harassing anxiety to a period of destruction +similar to that which the Roman world experienced about the +middle of the third century of our era." [See Niebuhr's Preface +to the second volume of the "History of Rome," written in October +1830.] Louis Philippe cajoled revolution, and then strove with +seeming success to stifle it. But in spite of Fieschi laws, in +spite of the dazzle of Algerian razzias and Pyrenees-effacing +marriages, in spite of hundreds of armed forts, and hundreds of +thousands of coercing troops, Revolution lived, and struggled to +get free. The old Titan spirit heaved restlessly beneath "the +monarchy based on republican institutions." At last, four years +ago, the whole fabric of kingcraft was at once rent and scattered +to the winds, by the uprising of the Parisian democracy; and +insurrections, barricades and dethronements, the downfall of +coronets and crowns, the armed collisions of parties, systems, +and populations, became the commonplaces of recent European +history. + +France now calls herself a republic. She first assumed that +title on the 20th of September, 1792, on the very day on which +the battle of Valmy was fought and won. To that battle the +democratic spirit which in 1848, as well as in 1792, proclaimed +the Republic in Paris, owed its preservation, and it is thence +that the imperishable activity of its principles may be dated. + +Far different seemed the prospects of democracy in Europe on the +eve of that battle; and far different would have been the present +position and influence of the French nation, if Brunswick's +columns had charged with more boldness, or the lines of Dumouriez +resisted with less firmness. When France, in 1792, declared war +with the great powers of Europe, she was far from possessing that +splendid military organization which the experience of a few +revolutionary campaigns taught her to assume, and which she has +never abandoned. The army of the old monarchy had, during the +latter part of the reign of Louis XV. sunk into gradual decay, +both in numerical force, and in efficiency of equipment and +spirit. The laurels gained by the auxiliary regiments which +Louis XVI. sent to the American war, did but little to restore +the general tone of the army. The insubordination and licence, +which the revolt of the French guards, and the participation of +other troops in many of the first excesses of the Revolution +introduced among the soldiery, were soon rapidly disseminated +through all the ranks. Under the Legislative Assembly every +complaint of the soldier against his officer, however frivolous +or ill-founded, was listened to with eagerness, and investigated +with partiality, on the principles of liberty and equality. +Discipline accordingly became more and more relaxed; and the +dissolution of several of the old corps, under the pretext of +their being tainted with an aristocratic feeling, aggravated the +confusion and inefficiency of the war department. Many of the +most effective regiments during the last period of the monarchy +had consisted of foreigners. These had either been slaughtered +in defence of the throne against insurrections, like the Swiss; +or had been disbanded, and had crossed the frontier to recruit +the forces which were assembling for the invasion of France. +Above all, the emigration of the noblesse had stripped the French +army of nearly all its officers of high rank, and of the +greatest portion of its subalterns. More than twelve thousand of +the high-born youth of France, who had been trained to regard +military command as their exclusive patrimony, and to whom the +nation had been accustomed to look up as its natural guides and +champions in the storm of war; were now marshalled beneath the +banner of Conde and the other emigrant princes, for the overthrow +of the French armies, and the reduction of the French capital. +Their successors in the French regiments and brigades had as yet +acquired neither skill nor experience: they possessed neither +self-reliance nor the respect of the men who were under them. + +Such was the state of the wrecks of the old army; but the bulk of +the forces with which France began the war, consisted of raw +insurrectionary levies, which were even less to be depended on. +The Carmagnoles, as the revolutionary volunteers were called, +flocked, indeed, readily to the frontier from every department +when the war was proclaimed, and the fierce leaders of the +Jacobins shouted that the country was in danger. They were full +of zeal and courage, "heated and excited by the scenes of the +Revolution, and inflamed by the florid eloquence, the songs, +dances, and signal-words with which it had been celebrated." +[Scott, Life of Napoleon, vol. i c. viii.] But they were utterly +undisciplined, and turbulently impatient of superior authority, +or systematical control. Many ruffians, also, who were sullied +with participation in the most sanguinary horrors of Paris, +joined the camps, and were pre-eminent alike for misconduct +before the enemy and for savage insubordination against their own +officers. On one occasion during the campaign of Valmy, eight +battalions of federates, intoxicated with massacre and sedition, +joined the forces under Dumouriez, and soon threatened to uproot +all discipline, saying openly that the ancient officers were +traitors, and that it was necessary to purge the army, as they +had Paris, of its aristocrats. Dumouriez posted these battalions +apart from the others, placed a strong force of cavalry behind +them, and two pieces of cannon on their flank. Then, affecting +to review them, he halted at the head of the line, surrounded by +all his staff, and an escort of a hundred hussars. "Fellows," +said he, "for I will not call you either citizens or soldiers, +you see before you this artillery, behind you this cavalry; you +are stained with crimes, and I do not tolerate here assassins or +executioners. I know that there are scoundrels amongst you +charged to excite you to crime. Drive them from amongst you, or +denounce them to me, for I shall hold you responsible for their +conduct." [Lamartine.] + +One of our recent historians of the Revolution, who narrates this +incident, [Carlyle.] thus apostrophises the French general:-- + +"Patience, O Dumouriez! This uncertain heap of shriekers, +mutineers, were they once drilled and inured, will become a +phalanxed mass of fighters; and wheel and whirl to order swiftly, +like the wind or the whirlwind; tanned mustachio-figures; often +barefoot, even barebacked, with sinews of iron; who require only +bread and gunpowder; very sons of fire; the adroitest, hastiest, +hottest, ever seen perhaps since Attila's time." + +Such phalanxed masses of fighters did the Carmagnoles ultimately +become; but France ran a fearful risk in being obliged to rely on +them when the process of their transmutation had barely +commenced. + +The first events, indeed, of the war were disastrous and +disgraceful to France, even beyond what might have been expected +from the chaotic state in which it found her armies as well as +her government. In the hopes of profiting by the unprepared +state of Austria, then the mistress of the Netherlands, the +French opened the campaign of 1792 by an invasion of Flanders, +with forces whose muster-rolls showed a numerical overwhelming +superiority to the enemy, and seemed to promise a speedy conquest +of that old battle-field of Europe. But the first flash of an +Austrian sabre, or the first sound of Austrian gun, was enough to +discomfit the French. Their first corps, four thousand strong, +that advanced from Lille across the frontier, came suddenly upon +a far inferior detachment of the Austrian garrison of Tournay. +Not a shot was fired, not a bayonet levelled. With one +simultaneous cry of panic the French broke and ran headlong back +to Lille, where they completed the specimen of insubordination +which they had given in the field, by murdering their general and +several of their chief officers. On the same day, another +division under Biron, mustering ten thousand sabres and bayonets, +saw a few Austrian skirmishers reconnoitering their position. +The French advanced posts had scarcely given and received a +volley, and only a few balls from the enemy's field-pieces had +fallen among the lines, when two regiments of French dragoons +raised the cry, "We are betrayed," galloped off, and were +followed in disgraceful rout by the rest of the whole army. +Similar panics, or repulses almost equally discreditable, +occurred whenever Rochambeau, or Luckner, or La Fayette, the +earliest French generals in the war, brought their troops into +the presence of the enemy. + +Meanwhile, the allied sovereigns had gradually collected on the +Rhine a veteran and finely-disciplined army for the invasion of +France, which for numbers, equipment, and martial renown, both of +generals and men, was equal to any that Germany had ever sent +forth to conquer. Their design was to strike boldly and +decisively at the heart of France, and penetrating the country +through the Ardennes, to proceed by Chalons upon Paris. The +obstacles that lay in their way seemed insignificant. The +disorder and imbecility of the French armies had been even +augmented by the forced flight of La Fayette, and a sudden change +of generals. The only troops posted on or near the track by +which the allies were about to advance, were the twenty-three +thousand men at Sedan, whom La Fayette had commanded, and a corps +of twenty thousand near Metz, the command of which had just been +transferred from Luckner to Kellerman. There were only three +fortresses which it was necessary for the allies to capture or +mask--Sedan, Longwy, and Verdun. The defences and stores of +these three were known to be wretchedly dismantled and +insufficient; and when once these feeble barriers were overcome, +and Chalons reached, a fertile and unprotected country seemed to +invite the invaders to that "military promenade to Paris," which +they gaily talked of accomplishing. + +At the end of July the allied army, having completed all +preparations for the campaign, broke up from its cantonments, and +marching from Luxembourg upon Longwy, crossed the French +frontier. Eighty thousand Prussians, trained in the school, and +many of them under the eye of the Great Frederick, heirs of the +glories of the Seven Years' War, and universally esteemed the +best troops in Europe, marched in one column against the central +point of attack. Forty-five thousand Austrians, the greater part +of whom were picked troops, and had served in the recent Turkish +war, supplied two formidable corps that supported the flanks of +the Prussians. There was also a powerful body of Hessians, and +leagued with the Germans against the Parisian democracy, came +fifteen thousand of the noblest and bravest amongst the sons of +France. In these corps of emigrants, many of the highest born of +the French nobility, scions of houses whose chivalric trophies +had for centuries filled Europe with renown, served as rank and +file. They looked on the road to Paris as the path which they +were to carve out by their swords to victory, to honour, to the +rescue of their king, to reunion with their families, to the +recovery of their patrimony, and to the restoration of their +order. [See Scott, Life of Napoleon, vol. i. c. xi.] + +Over this imposing army the allied sovereigns placed as +generalissimo the Duke of Brunswick, one of the minor reigning +princes of Germany, a statesman of no mean capacity, and who had +acquired in the Seven Years' War, a military reputation second +only to that of the Great Frederick himself. He had been deputed +a few years before to quell the popular movements which then took +place in Holland; and he had put down the attempted revolution in +that country with a promptitude and completeness, which appeared +to augur equal success to the army that now marched under his +orders on a similar mission into France. + +Moving majestically forward, with leisurely deliberation, that +seemed to show the consciousness of superior strength, and a +steady purpose of doing their work thoroughly, the Allies +appeared before Longwy on the 20th of August, and the dispirited +and dependent garrison opened the gates of that fortress to them +after the first shower of bombs. On the 2d of September the +still more important stronghold of Verdun capitulated after +scarcely the shadow of resistance. + +Brunswick's superior force was now interposed between Kellerman's +troops on the left, and the other French army near Sedan, which +La Fayette's flight had, for the time, left destitute of a +commander. It was in the power of the German general, by +striking with an overwhelming mass to the right and left, to +crush in succession each of these weak armies, and the allies +might then have marched irresistible and unresisted upon Paris. +But at this crisis Dumouriez, the new commander-in-chief of the +French, arrived at the camp near Sedan, and commenced a series of +movements, by which he reunited the dispersed and disorganized +forces of his country, checked the Prussian columns at the very +moment when the last obstacles of their triumph seemed to have +given way, and finally rolled back the tide of invasion far +across the enemy's frontier. + +The French fortresses had fallen; but nature herself still +offered to brave and vigorous defenders of the land, the means of +opposing a barrier to the progress of the Allies. A ridge of +broken ground, called the Argonne, extends from the vicinity of +Sedan towards the south-west for about fifteen or sixteen +leagues, The country of L'Argonne has now been cleared and +drained; but in 1792 it was thickly wooded, and the lower +portions of its unequal surface were filled with rivulets and +marshes. It thus presented a natural barrier of from four to +five leagues broad, which was absolutely impenetrable to an army, +except by a few defiles, such as an inferior force might easily +fortify and defend. Dumouriez succeeded in marching his army +down from Sedan behind the Argonne, and in occupying its passes, +while the Prussians still lingered on the north-eastern side of +the forest line. Ordering Kellerman to wheel round from Metz to +St. Menehould, and the reinforcements from the interior and +extreme north also to concentrate at that spot, Dumouriez trusted +to assemble a powerful force in the rear of the south-west +extremity of the Argonne, while, with the twenty-five thousand +men under his immediate command, he held the enemy at bay before +the passes, or forced him to a long circumvolution round one +extremity of the forest ridge, during which, favourable +opportunities of assailing his flank were almost certain to +occur. Dumouriez fortified the principal defiles, and boasted of +the Thermopylae which he had found for the invaders; but the +simile was nearly rendered fatally complete for the defending +force. A pass, which was thought of inferior importance, had +been but slightly manned, and an Austrian corps under Clairfayt, +forced it after some sharp fighting. Dumouriez with great +difficulty saved himself from being enveloped and destroyed by +the hostile columns that now pushed through the forest. But +instead of despairing at the failure of his plans, and falling +back into the interior, to be completely severed from Kellerman's +army, to be hunted as a fugitive under the walls of Paris by the +victorious Germans, and to lose all chance of ever rallying his +dispirited troops, he resolved to cling to the difficult country +in which the armies still were grouped, to force a junction with +Kellerman, and so to place himself at the head of a force, which +the invaders would not dare to disregard, and by which he might +drag them back from the advance on Paris, which he had not been +able to bar. Accordingly, by a rapid movement to the south, +during which, in his own words, "France was within a hair's- +breadth of destruction," and after, with difficulty, checking +several panics of his troops in which they ran by thousands at +the sight of a few Prussian hussars, Dumouriez succeeded in +establishing his head-quarters in a strong position at St. +Menehould, protected by the marshes and shallows of the river +Aisne and Aube, beyond which, to the north-west, rose a firm and +elevated plateau, called Dampierre's Camp, admirably situated for +commanding the road by Chalons to Paris, and where he intended to +post Kellerman's army so soon as it came up. [Some late writers +represent that Brunswick did not wish to check Dumouriez. There +is no sufficient authority for this insinuation, which seems to +have been first prompted by a desire to soothe the wounded +military pride of the Prussians.] + +The news of the retreat of Dumouriez from the Argonne passes, and +of the panic flight of some divisions of his troops, spread +rapidly throughout the country; and Kellerman, who believed that +his comrade's army had been annihilated, and feared to fall among +the victorious masses of the Prussians, had halted on his march +from Metz when almost close to St. Menehould. He had actually +commenced a retrograde movement, when couriers from his +commander-in-chief checked him from that fatal course; and then +continuing to wheel round the rear and left flank of the troops +at St. Menehould, Kellerman, with twenty thousand of the army of +Metz, and some thousands of volunteers who had joined him in the +march, made his appearance to the west of Dumouriez, on the very +evening when Westerman and Thouvenot, two of the staff-officers +of Dumouriez, galloped in with the tidings that Brunswick's army +had come through the upper passes of the Argonne in full force, +and was deploying on the heights of La Lune, a chain of eminences +that stretch obliquely from south-west to north-east opposite the +high ground which Dumouriez held, and also opposite, but at a +shorter distance from, the position which Kellerman was designed +to occupy. + +The Allies were now, in fact, nearer to Paris than were the +French troops themselves; but, as Dumouriez had foreseen, +Brunswick deemed it unsafe to march upon the capital with so +large a hostile force left in his rear between his advancing +columns and his base of operations. The young King of Prussia, +who was in the allied camp, and the emigrant princes, eagerly +advocated an instant attack upon the nearest French general. +Kellerman had laid himself unnecessarily open, by advancing +beyond Dampierre's Camp, which Dumouriez had designed for him, +and moving forward across the Aube to the plateau of Valmy, a +post inferior in strength and space to that which he had left, +and which brought him close upon the Prussian lines, leaving him +separated by a dangerous interval from the troops under Dumouriez +himself. It seemed easy for the Prussian army to overwhelm him +while thus isolated, and then they might surround and crush +Dumouriez at their leisure. + +Accordingly, the right wing of the allied army moved forward, in +the grey of the morning of the 20th of September, to gain +Kellerman's left flank and rear, and cut him off from retreat +upon Chalons, while the rest of the army, moving from the heights +of La Lune, which here converge semi-circularly round the plateau +of Valmy, were to assail his position in front, and interpose +between him and Dumouriez. An unexpected collision between some +of the advanced cavalry on each side in the low ground, warned +Kellerman of the enemy's approach. Dumouriez had not been +unobservant of the danger of his comrade, thus isolated and +involved; and he had ordered up troops to support Kellerman on +either flank in the event of his being attacked. These troops, +however, moved forward slowly; and Kellerman's army, ranged on +the plateau of Valmy, "projected like a cape into the midst of +the lines of the Prussian bayonets." [See Lamartine, Hist. +Girond. livre xvii. I have drawn much of the ensuing description +from him.] A thick autumnal mist floated in waves of vapour over +the plains and ravines that lay between the two armies, leaving +only the crests and peaks of the hills glittering in the early +light. About ten o'clock the fog began to clear off, and then +the French from their promontory saw emerging from the white +wreaths of mist, and glittering in the sunshine, the countless +Prussian cavalry which were to envelops them as in a net if once +driven from their position, the solid columns of the infantry +that moved forward as if animated by a single will, the bristling +batteries of the artillery, and the glancing clouds of the +Austrian light troops, fresh from their contests with the Spahis +of the east. + +The best and bravest of the French must have beheld this +spectacle with secret apprehension and awe. However bold and +resolute a man may be in the discharge of duty, it is an anxious +and fearful thing to be called on to encounter danger among +comrades of whose steadiness you can feel no certainty. Each +soldier of Kellerman's army must have remembered the series of +panic routs which had hitherto invariably taken place on the +French side during the war; and must have cast restless glances +to the right and left, to see if any symptoms of wavering began +to show themselves, and to calculate how long it was likely to be +before a general rush of his comrades to the rear would either +harry him off with involuntary disgrace, or leave him alone and +helpless, to be cut down by assailing multitudes. + +On that very morning, and at the self-same hour, in which the +allied forces and the emigrants began to descend from La Lune to +the attack of Valmy, and while the cannonade was opening between +the Prussian and the Revolutionary batteries, the debate in the +National Convention at Paris commenced on the proposal to +proclaim France a Republic. + +The old monarchy had little chance of support in the hall of the +Convention; but if its more effective advocates at Valmy had +triumphed, there were yet the elements existing in France for a +permanent revival of the better part of the ancient institutions, +and for substituting Reform for Revolution. Only a few weeks +before, numerously signed addresses from the middle classes in +Paris, Rouen, and other large cities, had been presented to the +king, expressive of their horror of the anarchists, and their +readiness to uphold the rights of the crown, together with the +liberties of the subject. And an armed resistance to the +authority of the Convention, and in favour of the king, was in +reality at this time being actively organized in La Vendee and +Brittany, the importance of which may be estimated from the +formidable opposition which the Royalists of these provinces made +to the Republican party, at a later period, and under much more +disadvantageous circumstances. It is a fact peculiarly +illustrative of the importance of the battle of Valmy, that +"during the summer of 1792, the gentlemen of Brittany entered +into an extensive association for the purpose of rescuing the +country from the oppressive yoke which had been imposed by the +Parisian demagogues. At the head of the whole was the Marquis de +la Rouarie, one of those remarkable men who rise into pre- +eminence during the stormy days of a revolution, from conscious +ability to direct its current. Ardent, impetuous, and +enthusiastic, he was first distinguished in the American war, +when the intrepidity of his conduct attracted the admiration of +the Republican troops, and the same qualities rendered him at +first an ardent supporter of the Revolution in France; but when +the atrocities of the people began, he espoused with equal warmth +the opposite side, and used the utmost efforts to rouse the +noblesse of Brittany against the plebeian yoke which had been +imposed upon them by the National Assembly. He submitted his +plan to the Count d'Artois, and had organized one so extensive, +as would have proved extremely formidable to the Convention, if +the retreat of the Duke of Brunswick, in September 1792, had not +damped the ardour of the whole of the west of France, then ready +to break out into insurrection." [Alison, vol. iii. p. 323.] + +And it was not only among the zealots of the old monarchy that +the cause of the king would then have found friends. The +ineffable atrocities of the September massacres had just +occurred, and the reaction produced by them among thousands who +had previously been active on the ultra-democratic side, was +fresh and powerful. The nobility had not yet been made utter +aliens in the eyes of the nation by long expatriation and civil +war. There was not yet a generation of youth educated in +revolutionary principles, and knowing no worship-save that of +military glory, Louis XVI. was just and humane, and deeply +sensible of the necessity of a gradual extension of political +rights among all classes of his subjects. The Bourbon throne, if +rescued in 1792, would have had chances of stability, such as did +not exist for it in 1814, and seem never likely to be found again +in France. + +Serving under Kellerman on that day was one who experienced, +perhaps the most deeply of all men, the changes for good and for +evil which the French Revolution has produced. He who, in his +second exile, bore the name of the Count de Neuilly in this +country, and who lately was Louis Philippe, King of the French, +figured in the French lines at Valmy, as a young and gallant +officer, cool and sagacious beyond his years, and trusted +accordingly by Kellerman and Dumouriez with an important station +in the national army. The Duc de Chartres (the title he then +bore) commanded the French right, General Valence was on the +left, and Kellerman himself took his post in the centre, which +was the strength and key of his position. + +Besides these celebrated men, who were in the French army, and +besides the King of Prussia, the Duke of Brunswick, and other men +of rank and power, who were in the lines of the Allies, there was +an individual present at the battle of Valmy, of little political +note, but who has exercised, and exercises, a greater influence +over the human mind, and whose fame is more widely spread, than +that of either duke, or general, or king. This was the German +poet, Goethe, who had, out of curiosity, accompanied the allied +army on its march into France as a mere spectator. He has given +us a curious record of the sensations which he experienced during +the cannonade. It must be remembered that many thousands in, the +French ranks then, like Goethe, felt the "cannon-fever" for the +first time. The German poet says, [Goethe's Campaign in France +in 1792. Farie's translation, p.77.]-- + +"I had heard so much of the cannon-fever, that I wanted to know +what kind of thing it was. ENNUI, and a spirit which every kind +of danger excites to daring, nay even to rashness, induced me to +ride up quite coolly to the outwork of La Lune. This was again +occupied by our people; but it presented the wildest aspect. The +roofs were shot to pieces; the corn-shocks scattered about, the +bodies of men mortally wounded stretched upon them here and +there; and occasionally a spent cannon-ball fell and rattled +among the ruins of the the roofs. + +"Quite alone, and left to myself, I rode away on the heights to +the left, and could plainly survey the favourable position of the +French; they were standing in the form of a semicircle in the +greatest quiet and security; Kellerman, then on the left wing, +being the easiest to reach. + +"I fell in with good company on the way, officers of my +acquaintance, belonging to the general staff and the regiment, +greatly surprised to find me here. They wanted to take me back +again with them; but I spoke to them of particular objects I had +in view, and they left me without further dissuasion, to my well- +known singular caprice. + +"I had now arrived quite in the region where the balls were +playing across me: the sound of them is curious enough, as if it +were composed of the humming of tops, the gurgling of water, and +the whistling of birds. They were less dangerous, by reason of +the wetness of the ground: wherever one fell, it stuck fast. +And thus my foolish experimental ride was secured against the +danger at least of the balls rebounding. + +"In the midst of these circumstances, I was soon able to remark +that something unusual was taking place within me. I paid close +attention to it, and still the sensation can be described only by +similitude. It appeared as if you were in some extremely hot +place, and, at the same time, quite penetrated by the heat of it, +so that you feel yourself, as it were, quite one with the element +in which you are. The eyes lose nothing of their strength or +clearness; but it is as if the world had a kind of brown-red +tint, which makes the situation, as well as the surrounding +objects, more impressive. I was unable to perceive any agitation +of the blood; but everything seemed rather to be swallowed up in +the glow of which I speak. From this, then, it is clear in what +sense this condition can be called a fever. It is remarkable, +however, that the horrible uneasy feeling arising from it is +produced in us solely through the ears; for the cannon-thunder, +the howling and crashing of the balls through the air, is the +real cause of these sensations. + +"After I had ridden back, and was in perfect security, I remarked +with surprise that the glow was completely extinguished, and not +the slightest feverish agitation was left behind. On the whole, +this condition is one of the least desirable; as, indeed, among +my dear and noble comrades, I found scarcely one who expressed a +really passionate desire to try it." + +Contrary to the expectations of both friends and foes, the French +infantry held their ground steadily under the fire of the +Prussian guns, which thundered on them from La Lune; and their +own artillery replied with equal spirit and greater effect on the +denser masses of the allied army. Thinking that the Prussians +were slackening in their fire, Kellerman formed a column in +charging order, and dashed down into the valley, in the hopes of +capturing some of the nearest guns of the enemy. A masked +battery opened its fire on the French column, and drove it back +in disorder. Kellerman having his horse shot under him, and +being with difficulty carried off by his men. The Prussian +columns now advanced in turn. The French artillerymen began to +waver and desert their posts, but were rallied by the efforts and +example of their officers; and Kellerman, reorganizing the line +of his infantry, took his station in the ranks on foot, and +called out to his men to let the enemy come close up, and then to +charge them with the bayonet. The troops caught the enthusiasm +of their general, and a cheerful shout of VIVE LA NATION! taken +by one battalion from another, pealed across the valley to the +assailants. The Prussians flinched from a charge up-hill against +a force that seemed so resolute and formidable; they halted for a +while in the hollow, and then slowly retreated up their own side +of the valley. + +Indignant at being thus repulsed by such a foe, the King of +Prussia formed the flower of his men in person, and, riding along +the column, bitterly reproached them with letting their standard +be thus humiliated. Then he led them on again to the attack +marching in the front line, and seeing his staff mowed down +around him by the deadly fire which the French artillery re- +opened. But the troops sent by Dumouriez were now co-operating +effectually with Kellerman, and that general's own men, flushed +by success, presented a firmer front than ever. Again the +Prussians retreated, leaving eight hundred dead behind, and at +nightfall the French remained victors on the heights of Valmy. + +All hopes of crushing the revolutionary armies, and of the +promenade to Paris, had now vanished, though Brunswick lingered +long in the Argonne, till distress and sickness wasted away his +once splendid force, and finally but a mere wreck of it recrossed +the frontier. France, meanwhile, felt that she possessed a +giant's strength, and like a giant did she use it. Before the +close of that year, all Belgium obeyed the National Convention at +Paris, and the kings of Europe, after the lapse of eighteen +centuries, trembled once more before a conquering military +Republic. + +Goethe's description of the cannonade has been quoted. His +observation to his comrades in the camp of the Allies, at the end +of the battle, deserves citation also. It shows that the poet +felt (and, probably, he alone of the thousands there assembled +felt) the full importance of that day. He describes the +consternation and the change of demeanour which he observed among +his Prussian friends that evening, he tells us that "most of them +were silent; and, in fact, the power of reflection and judgment +was wanting to all. At last I was called upon to say what I +thought of the engagement; for I had been in the habit of +enlivening and amusing the troop with short sayings. This time I +said: 'FROM THIS PLACE, AND FROM THIS DAY FORTH, COMMENCES A NEW +ERA IN THE WORLD'S HISTORY, AND YOU CAN ALL SAY THAT YOU WERE +PRESENT AT ITS BIRTH.'" + + +SYNOPSIS OP EVENTS BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF VALMY, 1792, AND THE +BATTLE OF WATERLOO, 1815. + +A.D. 1793. Trial and execution of Louis XVI. at Paris. England +and Spain declare war against France. Royalist war in La Vendee. +Second invasion of France by the Allies. + +1794. Lord Howe's victory over the French fleet. Final +partition of Poland by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. + +1795. The French armies under Pichegru, conquer Holland. +Cessation of the war in La Vendee. + +1796. Bonaparte commands the French army of Italy and gains +repeated victories over the Austrians. + +1797. Victory of Jervis, off Cape St. Vincent. Peace of Campo +Formio between France and Austria. Defeat of the Dutch off +Camperdown by Admiral Duncan. + +1798. Rebellion in Ireland. Expedition of the French under +Bonaparte to Egypt. Lord Nelson destroys the French fleet at the +Battle of the Nile. + +1799. Renewal of the war between Austria and France. The +Russian emperor sends an army in aid of Austria, under Suwarrow. +The French are repeatedly defeated in Italy. Bonaparte returns +from Egypt and makes himself First Consul of France. Massena +wins the battle of Zurich. The Russian emperor makes peace with +France. + +1800. Bonaparte passes the Alps and defeats the Austrians at +Marengo. Moreau wins the battle of Hohenlinden. + +1801. Treaty of Luneville between France and Austria. The +battle of Copenhagen. + +1802. Peace of Amiens. + +1803. War between England and France renewed. + +1804. Napoleon Bonaparte is made Emperor of France. + +1805. Great preparations of Napoleon to invade England. +Austria, supported by Russia, renews war with France. Napoleon +marches into Germany, takes Vienna, and gains the battle of +Austerlitz. Lord Nelson destroys the combined French and Spanish +fleets, and is killed at the battle of Trafalgar. + +1806. War between Prussia and France, Napoleon conquers Prussia +in the battle of Jena. + +1807. Obstinate warfare between the French and Russian armies in +East Prussia and Poland. Peace of Tilsit. + +1808. Napoleon endeavours to make his brother King of Spain. +Rising of the Spanish nation against him. England sends troops +to aid the Spaniards. Battles of Vimiera and Corunna. + +1809. War renewed between France and Austria. Battles of +Asperne and Wagram. Peace granted to Austria. Lord Wellington's +victory of Talavera, in Spain. + +1810. Marriage of Napoleon and the Arch-duchess Maria Louisa. +Holland annexed to France. + +1812. War between England and the United States. Napoleon +invades Russia. Battle of Borodino. The French occupy Moscow, +which is burned. Disastrous retreat and almost total destruction +of the great army of France. + +1813. Prussia and Austria take up arms again against France. +Battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden, Culm, and Leipsic. The +French are driven out of Germany. Lord Wellington gains the +great battle of Vittoria, which completes the rescue of Spain +from France. + +1814. The Allies invade France on the eastern, and Lord +Wellington invades it on the southern frontier. Battles of Laon, +Montmirail, Arcis-sur-Aube, and others in the north-east of +France; and of Toulouse in the south. Paris surrenders to the +Allies, and Napoleon abdicates. First restoration of the +Bourbons. Napoleon goes to the isle of Elba, which is assigned +to him by the Allies. Treaty of Ghent, between the United States +and England. + +1815. Napoleon suddenly escapes from Elba, and lands in France. +The French soldiery join him and Louis XVIII. is obliged to fly +from the throne. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, 1815. + +"Thou first and last of fields, king-making victory."--BYRON. + +England has now been blest with thirty-seven years of peace. At +no other period of her history can a similarly long cessation +from a state of warfare be found. It is true that our troops +have had battles to fight during this interval for the protection +and extension of our Indian possessions and our colonies; but +these have been with distant and unimportant enemies. The danger +has never been brought near our own shores, and no matter of +vital importance to our empire has ever been at stake. We have +not had hostilities with either France, America, or Russia; and +when not at war with any of our peers, we feel ourselves to be +substantially at peace. There has, indeed, throughout this long +period, been no great war, like those with which the previous +history of modern Europe abounds. There have been formidable +collisions between particular states; and there have been still +more formidable collisions between the armed champions of the +conflicting principles of absolutism and democracy; but there has +been no general war, like those of the French Revolution, like +the American, or the Seven Years' War, or like the War of the +Spanish Succession. It would be far too much to augur from this, +that no similar wars will again convulse the world; but the value +of the period of peace which Europe has gained, is incalculable; +even if we look on it as only a truce, and expect again to see +the nations of the earth recur to what some philosophers have +termed man's natural state of warfare. + +No equal number of years can be found, during which science, +commerce, and civilization have advanced so rapidly and so +extensively, as has been the case since 1815. When we trace +their progress, especially in this country, it is impossible not +to feel that their wondrous development has been mainly due to +the land having been at peace. [See the excellent Introduction +to Mr. Charles Knight's "History of the Thirty Years' Peace."] +Their good effects cannot be obliterated, even if a series of +wars were to recommence. When we reflect on this, and contrast +these thirty-seven years with the period that preceded them, a +period of violence, of tumult, of unrestingly destructive +energy,--a period throughout which the wealth of nations was +scattered like sand, and the blood of nations lavished like +water,--it is impossible not to look with deep interest on the +final crisis of that dark and dreadful epoch; the crisis out of +which our own happier cycle of years has been evolved. The great +battle which ended the twenty-three years' war of the first +French Revolution, and which quelled the man whose genius and +ambition had so long disturbed and desolated the world, deserves +to be regarded by us, not only with peculiar pride, as one of our +greatest national victories, but with peculiar gratitude for the +repose which it secured for us, and for the greater part of the +human race. + +One good test for determining the importance of Waterloo, is to +ascertain what was felt by wise and prudent statesmen before that +battle, respecting the return of Napoleon from Elba to the +Imperial throne of France, and the probable effects of his +success. For this purpose, I will quote the words, not of any of +our vehement anti-Gallican politicians of the school of Pitt, but +of a leader of our Liberal party, of a man whose reputation as a +jurist, a historian and a far-sighted and candid statesman, was, +and is, deservedly high, not only in this country, but throughout +Europe. Sir James Mackintosh, in the debate in the British House +of Commons, on the 20th April, 1815, spoke thus of the return +from Elba:-- + +"Was it in the power of language to describe the evil. Wars +which had raged for more than twenty years throughout Europe; +which had spread blood and desolation from Cadiz to Moscow, and +from Naples to Copenhagen; which had wasted the means of human +enjoyment, and destroyed the instruments of social improvement; +which threatened to diffuse among the European nations, the +dissolute and ferocious habits of a predatory soldiery,--at +length, by one of those vicissitudes which bid defiance to the +foresight of man, had been brought to a close, upon the whole, +happy beyond all reasonable expectation, with no violent shock to +national independence, with some tolerable compromise between the +opinions of the age and reverence due to ancient institutions; +with no too signal or mortifying triumph over the legitimate +interests or avowable feelings of any numerous body of men, and, +above all, without those retaliations against nations or parties, +which beget new convulsions, often as horrible as those which +they close, and perpetuate revenge and hatred and bloodshed, from +age to age. Europe seemed to breathe after her sufferings. In +the midst of this fair prospect, and of these consolatory hopes, +Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from Elba; three small vessels reached +the coast of Provence; our hopes are instantly dispelled; the +work of our toil and fortitude is undone; the blood of Europe is +spilt in vain-- + +"'Ibi omnis effusus labor!'" + + +The Congress of Emperors, Kings, Princes, Generals, and +Statesmen, who had assembled at Vienna to remodel the world after +the overthrow of the mighty conqueror, and who thought that +Napoleon had passed away for ever from the great drama of +European politics, had not yet completed their triumphant +festivities, and their diplomatic toils, when Talleyrand, on the +11th of March, 1815, rose up among them, and announced that the +ex-emperor had escaped from Elba, and was Emperor of France once +more. It is recorded by Sir Walter Scott, as a curious +physiological fact, that the first effect of the news of an event +which threatened to neutralise all their labours, was to excite a +loud burst of laughter from nearly every member of the Congress. +[Life of Napoleon, vol. viii. chap. 1.] But the jest was a +bitter one: and they soon were deeply busied in anxious +deliberations respecting the mode in which they should encounter +their arch-enemy, who had thus started from torpor and obscurity +into renovated splendour and strength: + +"Qualis ubi in lucem coluber mala gramina pastus, + Frigida sub terra tumidum quem bruma tegebat, + Nunc positis novus exuviis nitidusque juventa, + Lubrica convolvit sublato pectore terga + Arduus ad solem, at linguis micat ore trisulcis." Virg. AEN. + +Napoleon sought to disunite the formidable confederacy, which he +knew would be arrayed against him, by endeavouring to negotiate +separately with each of the allied sovereigns. It is said that +Austria and Russia were at first not unwilling to treat with him. +Disputes and jealousies had been rife among several of the Allies +on the subject of the division of the conquered countries; and +the cordial unanimity with which they had acted during 1813 and +the first months of 1814, had grown chill during some weeks of +discussions. But the active exertions of Tralleyrand, who +represented Louis XVIII. at the Congress, and who both hated and +feared Napoleon with all the intensity of which his powerful +spirit was capable, prevented the secession of any member of the +Congress from the new great league against their ancient enemy. +Still it is highly probable that, if Napoleon had triumphed in +Belgium over the Prussians and the English, he would have +succeeded in opening negotiations with the Austrians and +Russians; and he might have thus gained advantages similar to +those which he had obtained on his return from Egypt, when he +induced the Czar Paul to withdraw the Russian armies from co- +operating with the other enemies of France in the extremity of +peril to which she seemed reduced in 1799. But fortune now had +deserted him both in diplomacy and in war. + +On the 13th of March, 1815, the Ministers of the seven powers, +Austria, Spain, England, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, and Sweden, +signed a manifesto, by which they declared Napoleon an outlaw; +and this denunciation was instantly followed up by a treaty +between England, Austria, Prussia, and Russia (to which other +powers soon acceded), by which the rulers of those countries +bound themselves to enforce that decree, and to prosecute the war +until Napoleon should be driven from the throne of France, and +rendered incapable of disturbing the peace of Europe. The Duke +of Wellington was the representative of England at the Congress +of Vienna, and he was immediately applied to for his advice on +the plan of military operations against France. It was obvious +that Belgium would be the first battle-field; and by the general +wish of the Allies, the English Duke proceeded thither to +assemble an army from the contingents of Dutch, Belgian, and +Hanoverian troops, that were most speedily available, and from +the English regiments which his own Government was hastening to +send over from this country. A strong Prussian corps was near +Aix-la-Chapelle, having remained there since the campaign of the +preceding year. This was largely reinforced by other troops of +the same nation; and Marshal Blucher, the favourite hero of the +Prussian soldiery, and the deadliest foe of France, assumed the +command of this army, which was termed the Army of the Lower +Rhine; and which, in conjunction with Wellington's forces, was to +make the van of the armaments of the Allied Powers. Meanwhile +Prince Swartzenburg was to collect 130,000 Austrians, and 124,000 +troops of other Germanic States, as "the Army of the Upper +Rhine;" and 168,000 Russians, under the command of Barclay de +Tolly, were to form "the Army of the Middle Rhine," and to repeat +the march from Muscovy to that river's banks. + +The exertions which the Allied Powers thus made at this crisis to +grapple promptly with the French emperor have truly been termed +gigantic; and never were Napoleon's genius and activity more +signally displayed, than in the celerity and skill by which he +brought forward all the military resources of France, which the +reverses of the three preceding years, and the pacific policy of +the Bourbons during the months of their first restoration, had +greatly diminished and disorganized. He re-entered Paris on the +20th of March, and by the end of May, besides sending a force +into La Vendee to put down the armed rising of the royalists in +that province, and besides providing troops under Massena and +Suchet for the defence of the southern frontiers of France, +Napoleon had an army assembled in the north-east for active +operations under his own command, which amounted to between one +hundred and twenty, and one hundred and thirty thousand men, with +a superb park of artillery and in the highest possible state of +equipment, discipline, and efficiency. [See for these numbers +Siborne's History of the Campaign of Waterloo, vol. i. p. 41.] + +The approach of the multitudinous Russian, Austrian, Bavarian, +and other foes of the French Emperor to the Rhine was necessarily +slow; but the two most active of the allied powers had occupied +Belgium with their troops, while Napoleon was organizing his +forces. Marshal Blucher was there with one hundred and sixteen +thousand Prussians; and, before the end of May, the Duke of +Wellington was there also with about one hundred and six thousand +troops, either British or in British pay. [Ibid. vol. i. chap. +3. Wellington had but a small part of his old Peninsular army in +Belgium. The flower of it had been sent on the expeditions +against America. His troops, in 1815, were chiefly second +battalions, or regiments lately filled up with new recruits. See +Scott, vol viii. p. 474.] Napoleon determined to attack these +enemies in Belgium. The disparity of numbers was indeed great, +but delay was sure to increase the proportionate numerical +superiority of his enemies over his own ranks. The French +Emperor considered also that "the enemy's troops were now +cantoned under the command of two generals, and composed of +nations differing both in interest and in feelings." [See +Montholon's Memoirs, p. 45.] His own army was under his own sole +command. It was composed exclusively of French soldiers, mostly +of veterans, well acquainted with their officers and with each +other, and full of enthusiastic confidence in their commander. +If he could separate the Prussians from the British, so as to +attack each singly, he felt sanguine of success, not only against +these the most resolute of his many adversaries, but also against +the other masses, that were slowly labouring up against his +eastern dominions. + +The triple chain of strong fortresses, which the French possessed +on the Belgian frontier, formed a curtain, behind which Napoleon +was able to concentrate his army, and to conceal, till the very +last moment, the precise line of attack which he intended to +take. On the other hand, Blucher and Wellington were obliged to +canton their troops along a line of open country of considerable +length, so as to watch for the outbreak of Napoleon from +whichever point of his chain of strongholds he should please to +make it. Blucher, with his army, occupied the banks of the +Sambre and the Meuse, from Liege on his left, to Charleroi on his +right; and the Duke of Wellington covered Brussels; his +cantonments being partly in front of that city and between it and +the French frontier, and partly on its west their extreme right +reaching to Courtray and Tournay, while the left approached +Charleroi and communicated with the Prussian right. It was upon +Charleroi that Napoleon resolved to level his attack, in hopes of +severing the two allied armies from each other, and then pursuing +his favourite tactic of assailing each separately with a superior +force on the battle-field, though the aggregate of their numbers +considerably exceeded his own. + +The first French corps d'armee, commanded by Count d'Erlon, was +stationed in the beginning of June in and around the city of +Lille, near to the north-eastern frontier of France. The second +corps, under Count Reille, was at Valenciennes, to the right of +the first one. The third corps, under Count Vandamme, was at +Mezieres. The fourth, under Count Gerard, had its head-quarters +at Metz, and the sixth under Count Lobau, was at Laon. [The +fifth corps was under Count Rapp at Strasburg.] Four corps of +reserve cavalry, under Marshal Grouchy, were also near the +frontier, between the rivers Aisne and Sambre. The Imperial +Guard remained in Paris until the 8th of June, when it marched +towards Belgium, and reached Avesnes on the 13th; and in the +course of the same and the following day, the five corps d'armee +with the cavalry reserves which have been mentioned, were, in +pursuance of skilfully combined orders, rapidly drawn together, +and concentrated in and around the same place, on the right bank +of the river Sambre. On the 14th Napoleon arrived among his +troops, who were exulting at the display of their commander's +skill in the celerity and precision with which they had been +drawn together, and in the consciousness of their collective +strength. Although Napoleon too often permitted himself to use +language unworthy of his own character respecting his great +English adversary, his real feelings in commencing this campaign +may be judged from the last words which he spoke, as he threw +himself into his travelling carriage to leave Paris for the army. +"I go," he said, "to measure myself with Wellington." + +The enthusiasm of the French soldiers at seeing their Emperor +among them, was still more excited by the "Order of the day," in +which he thus appealed to them: + +"Napoleon, by the Grace of God, and the Constitution of the +Empire, Emperor of the French, &c. to the Grand Army. + +AT THE IMPERIAL HEAD-QUARTERS, AVESNES, JUNE 14th, 1815. + "Soldiers! this day is the anniversary of Marengo and of +Friedland, which twice decided the destiny of Europe. Then, as +after Austerlitz, as after Wagram, we were too generous! We +believed in the protestations and in the oaths of princes, whom +we left on their thrones. Now, however, leagued together, they +aim at the independence and the most sacred rights of France. +They have commenced the most unjust of aggressions. Let us, +then, march to meet them. Are they and we no longer the same +men? + +"Soldiers! at Jena, against these same Prussians, now so +arrogant, you were one to three, and at Montmirail one to six! + +"Let those among you who have been captives to the English, +describe the nature of their prison ships, and the frightful +miseries they endured. + +"The Saxons, the Belgians, the Hanoverians, the soldiers of the +Confederation of the Rhine, lament that they are compelled to use +their arms in the cause of princes, the enemies of justice and of +the rights of all nations. They know that this coalition is +insatiable! After having devoured twelve millions of Poles, +twelve millions of Italians, one million of Saxons, and six +millions of Belgians, it now wishes to devour the states of the +second rank in Germany. + +"Madmen! one moment of prosperity has bewildered them. The +oppression and the humiliation of the French people are beyond +their power. If they enter France they will there find their +grave. + +"Soldiers! we have forced marches to make, battles to fight, +dangers to encounter; but, with firmness victory will, be ours. +The rights, the honour, and the happiness of the country will be +recovered! + +"To every Frenchman who has a heart, the moment is now arrived to +conquer or to die. "NAPOLEON." + +"THE MARSHAL DUKE OF DALMATIA. MAJOR GENERAL." + +The 15th of June had scarcely dawned before the French army was +in motion for the decisive campaign, and crossed the frontier in +three columns, which were pointed upon Charleroi and its +vicinity. The French line of advance upon Brussels, which city +Napoleon resolved to occupy, thus lay right through the centre of +the cantonments of the Allies. + +Much criticism has been expended on the supposed surprise of +Wellington's army in its cantonments by Napoleon's rapid advance. +These comments would hardly have been made if sufficient +attention had been paid to the geography of the Waterloo +campaign; and if it had been remembered that the protection of +Brussels was justly considered by the allied generals a matter of +primary importance. If Napoleon could, either by manoeuvring or +fighting, have succeeded in occupying that city, the greater part +of Belgium would unquestionably have declared in his favour; and +the results of such a success, gained by the Emperor at the +commencement of the campaign, might have decisively influenced +the whole after-current of events. A glance at the map will show +the numerous roads that lead from the different fortresses on the +French north-eastern frontier, and converge upon Brussels; any +one of which Napoleon might have chosen for the advance of a +strong force upon that city. The Duke's army was judiciously +arranged, so as to enable him to concentrate troops on any one of +these roads sufficiently in advance of Brussels to check an +assailing enemy. The army was kept thus available for movement +in any necessary direction, till certain intelligence arrived on +the 15th of June that the French had crossed the frontier in +large force near Thuin, that they had driven back the Prussian +advanced troops under General Ziethen, and were also moving +across the Sambre upon Charleroi. + +Marshal Blucher now rapidly concentrated his forces, calling them +in from the left upon Ligny, which is to the north-east of +Charleroi. Wellington also drew his troops together, calling +them in from the right. But even now, though it was certain that +the French were in large force at Charleroi it was unsafe for the +English general to place his army directly between that place and +Brussels, until it was certain that no corps of the enemy was +marching upon Brussels by the western road through Mons and Hal. +The Duke therefore, collected his troops in Brussels and its +immediate vicinity, ready to move due southward upon Quatre Bras, +and co-operate with Blucher, who was taking his station at Ligny: +but also ready to meet and defeat any manoeuvre, that the enemy +might make to turn the right of the Allies, and occupy Brussels +by a flanking movement. The testimony of the Prussian general, +Baron Muffling, who was attached to the Duke's staff during the +campaign, and who expressly states the reasons on which the +English general acted, ought for ever to have silenced the "weak +inventions of the enemy" about the Duke of Wellington having been +deceived and surprised by his assailant, which some writers of +our own nation, as well as foreigners, have incautiously repeated. +[See "Passages from my Life and Writings," by Baron Muffling, +p. 224 of the English Translation, edited by Col. Yorke. See +also the 178th number of the QUARTERLY. It is strange that +Lamartine should, after the appearance of Muffling's work, have +repeated in his "History of the Restoration" the myth of +Wellington having been surprised in the Brussels ball-room, &c.] + +It was about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 15th, that a +Prussian officer reached Brussels, whom General Ziethen had sent +to Muffling to inform him of the advance of the main French army +upon Charleroi. Muffling immediately communicated this to the +Duke of Wellington; and asked him whether he would now +concentrate his army, and what would be his point of +concentration; observing that Marshal Blucher in consequence of +this intelligence would certainly concentrate the Prussians at +Ligny. The Duke replied--"If all is as General Ziethen supposes, +I will concentrate on my left wing, and so be in readiness to +fight in conjunction with the Prussian army. Should, however, a +portion of the enemy's force come by Mons, I must concentrate +more towards my centre. This is the reason why I must wait for +positive news from Mons before I fix the rendezvous. Since, +however, it is certain that the troops MUST march, though it is +uncertain upon what precise spot they must march, I will order +all to be in readiness, and will direct a brigade to move at once +towards Quatre Bras." [Muffling, p. 231.] + +Later in the same day a message from Blucher himself was +delivered to Muffling, in which the Prussian Field-Marshal +informed the Baron that he was concentrating his men at Sombref +and Ligny, and charged Muffling to give him speedy intelligence +respecting the concentration of Wellington. Muffling immediately +communicated this to the Duke, who expressed his satisfaction +with Blucher's arrangements, but added that he could not even +then resolve upon his own point of concentration before he +obtained the desired intelligence from Mons. About midnight this +information arrived. The Duke went to the quarters of General +Muffling, and told him that he now had received his reports from +Mons, and was sure that no French troops were advancing by that +route, but that the mass of the enemy's force was decidedly +directed on Charleroi. He informed the Prussian general that he +had ordered the British troops to move forward upon Quatre Bras; +but with characteristic coolness and sagacity resolved not to +give the appearance of alarm by hurrying on with them himself. A +ball was to be given by the Duchess of Richmond at Brussels that +night, and the Duke proposed to General Muffling that they should +go to the ball for a few hours, and ride forward in the morning +to overtake the troops at Quatre Bras. + +To hundreds, who were assembled at that memorable ball, the news +that the enemy was advancing, and that the time for battle had +come, must have been a fearfully exciting surprise, and the +magnificent stanzas of Byron are as true as they are beautiful; +but the Duke and his principal officers knew well the stern +termination to that festive scene which was approaching. One by +one, and in such a way as to attract as little observation as +possible, the leaders of the various corps left the ball-room, +and took their stations at the head of their men, who were +pressing forward through the last hours of the short summer night +to the arena of anticipated slaughter. + +[There was a sound of revelry by night, + And Belgium's capital had gather'd then + Her Beauty and her chivalry, and bright + The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men; + A thousand hearts beat happily; and when + Music arose with its voluptuous swell, + Soft eyes look'd love to eyes which spake again, + And all went merry as a marriage bell; + But hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell, + + Did ye not hear it?--No; 'twas but; the wind, + Or the car rattling o'er the stony street; + On with the dance! let joy be unconfined; + No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet + To chase the glowing Hours with flying feet-- + But, hark!--that heavy sound breaks in once more, + As if the clouds its echo would repeat; + And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before! + Arm! Arm! it is--it is--the cannon's opening roar! + + Within a window'd niche of that high hall + Sate Brunswick's fated chieftain; he did hear + That sound the first amidst the festival, + And caught its tone with Death's prophetic ear; + And when they smiled because he deem'd it near, + His heart more truly knew that peal too well + Which stretch'd his father on a bloody bier, + And roused the vengeance blood alone could quell; + He rush'd into the field, and, foremost fighting, fell. + + Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro, + And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, + And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago + Blush'd at the praise of their own loveliness; + And there were sudden partings, such as press + The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs + Which ne'er might be repeated; who could guess + If ever more should meet those mutual eyes, + Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise! + + And there was mounting in hot haste: the steed, + The mustering squadron, and the clattering car, + Went pouring forward with impetuous speed, + And swiftly forming in the ranks of war; + And the deep thunder peal on peal afar; + And near, the beat of the alarming drum + Roused up the soldier ere the morning star; + While thronged the citizens with terror dumb, + Or whispering, with white lips--"The foe! They come! they +come!" + + And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves, + Dewy with nature's teardrops, as they pass, + Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves, + Over the unreturning brave,--alas! + Ere evening to be trodden like the grass + Which now beneath them, but above shall grow + In its next verdure, when this fiery mass + Of living valour, rolling on the foe + And burning with high hope, shall moulder cold and low. + + Last noon beheld them full of lusty life, + Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay, + The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife, + The morn the marshalling in arms,--the day + Battle's magnificently stern array! + The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent + The earth is covered thick with other clay, + Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent, + Rider and horse,--friend, foe,--in one red burial blent. + +Napoleon's operations on the 16th had been conducted with signal +skill and vigour; and their results had been very advantageous +for his plan of the campaign. With his army formed in three vast +columns, [Victoires et Conquetes des Francais, vol. xxv. p. 177.] +he had struck at the centre of the line of cantonments of his +allied foes; and he had so far made good his blow, that he had +affected the passage of the Sambre, he had beaten with his left +wing the Prussian corps of General Ziethen at Thuin, and with his +centre he had in person advanced right through Charleroi upon +Fleurus, inflicting considerable loss upon the Prussians that +fell back before him. His right column had with little +opposition moved forward as far as the bridge of Chatelet. + +Napoleon had thus a powerful force immediately in front of the +point which Blucher had fixed for the concentration of the +Prussian army, and that concentration was still incomplete. The +French Emperor designed to attack the Prussians on the morrow in +person, with the troops of his centre and right columns, and to +employ his left wing in beating back such English troops as might +advance to the help of their allies, and also in aiding his own +attack upon Blucher. He gave the command of this left wing to +Marshal Ney. Napoleon seems not to have originally intended to +employ this celebrated General in the campaign. It was only on +the night of the 11th of June, that Marshal Ney received at Paris +an order to join the army. Hurrying forward to the Belgian +frontier, he met the Emperor near Charleroi. Napoleon +immediately directed him to take the command of the left wing, +and to press forward with it upon Quatre Bras by the line of the +road which leads from Charleroi to Brussels, through Gosselies, +Frasne, Quatre Bras, Genappe, and Waterloo. Ney immediately +proceeded to the post assigned him; and before ten on the night +of the 15th he had occupied Gosselies and Frasne, driving out +without much difficulty some weak Belgian detachments which had +been stationed in those villages. The lateness of the hour, and +the exhausted state of the French troops, who had been marching +and fighting since ten in the morning, made him pause from +advancing further to attack the much more important position of +Quatre Bras. In truth, the advantages which the French gained by +their almost superhuman energy and activity throughout the long +day of the 15th of June, were necessarily bought at the price of +more delay and inertness during the following night and morrow, +than would have been observable if they had not been thus +overtasked. Ney has been blamed for want of promptness in his +attack upon Quatre Bras; and Napoleon has been criticised for not +having fought at Ligny before the afternoon of the 16th: but +their censors should remember that soldiers are but men ; and +that there must be necessarily some interval of time, before +troops, that have been worn and weakened by twenty hours of +incessant fatigue and strife, can be fed, rested, reorganized, +and brought again into action with any hope of success. + +Having on the night of the 15th placed the most advanced of the +French under his command in position in front of Frasne, Ney rode +back to Charleroi, where Napoleon also arrived about midnight, +having returned from directing the operations of the centre and +right column of the French. The Emperor and the Marshal supped +together, and remained in earnest conversation till two in the +morning. An hour or two afterwards Ney rode back to Frasne, +where he endeavoured to collect tidings of the numbers and +movements of the enemy in front of him; and also busied himself +in the necessary duty of learning the amount and composition of +the troops which he himself was commanding. He had been so +suddenly appointed to his high station, that he did not know the +strength of the several regiments under him, or even the names of +their commanding officers. He now caused his aides-de-camp to +prepare the requisite returns, and drew together the troops, whom +he was thus learning before he used them. + +Wellington remained at the Duchess of Richmond's ball at Brussels +till about three o'clock in the morning of the 16th, "showing +himself very cheerful" as Baron Muffling, who accompanied him, +observes. [Muffling, p. 233.] At five o'clock the Duke and the +Baron were on horseback, and reached the position at Quatre Bras +about eleven. As the French, who were in front of Frasne, were +perfectly quiet, and the Duke was informed that a very large +force under Napoleon in person was menacing Blucher, it was +thought possible that only a slight detachment of the French was +posted at Frasne in order to mask the English army. In that +event Wellington, as he told Baron Muffling, would be able to +employ his whole strength in supporting the Prussians: and he +proposed to ride across from Quatre Bras to Blucher's position, +in order to concert with him personally the measures which should +be taken in order to bring on a decisive battle with the French. +Wellington and Muffling rode accordingly towards Ligny, and found +Marshal Blucher and his staff at the windmill of Bry, near that +village. The Prussian army, 80,000 strong, was drawn up chiefly +along a chain of heights, with the villages of Sombref, St. +Amand, and Ligny in their front. These villages were strongly +occupied by Prussian detachments, and formed the keys of +Blucher's position. The heads of the columns which Napoleon was +forming for the attack, were visible in the distance. The Duke +asked Blucher and General Gneisenau (who was Blucher's adviser in +matters of strategy) what they wished him to do, Muffling had +already explained to them in a few words the Duke's earnest +desire to support the Field-Marshal, and that he would do all +that they wished, provided they did not ask him to divide his +army, which was contrary to his principles. The Duke wished to +advance with his army (as soon as it was concentrated) upon +Frasne and Gosselies, and thence to move upon Napoleon's flank +and rear. The Prussian leaders preferred that he should march +his men from Quatre Bras by the Namur road, so as to form a +reserve in rear of Blucher's army. The Duke replied, "Well, I +will come if I am not attacked myself," and galloped back with +Muffling to Quatre Bras, where the French attack was now actually +raging. + +Marshal Ney began the battle about two o'clock in the afternoon. +He had at this time in hand about 16,000 infantry, nearly 2,000 +cavalry, and 38 guns. The force which Napoleon nominally placed +at his command exceeded 40,000 men. But more than one half of +these consisted of the first French corps d'armee, under Count +d'Erlon; and Ney was deprived of the use of this corps at the +time that he most required it, in consequence of its receiving +orders to march to the aid of the Emperor at Ligny. A +magnificent body of heavy cavalry under Kellerman, nearly 5,000 +strong, and several more battalions of artillery were added to +Ney's army during the battle of Quatre Bras; but his effective +infantry force never exceeded 16,000. + +When the battle began, the greater part of the Duke's army was +yet on its march towards Quatre Bras from Brussels and the other +parts of its cantonments. The force of the Allies, actually in +position there, consisted only of a Dutch and Belgian division of +infantry, not quite 7,000 strong, with one battalion of foot, and +one of horse-artillery. The Prince of Orange commanded them. A +wood, called the Bois de Bossu, stretched along the right (or +western) flank of the position of Quatre Bras; a farmhouse and +building, called Gemiancourt, stood on some elevated ground in +its front; and to the left (or east), were the inclosures of the +village of Pierremont. The Prince of Orange endeavoured to +secure these posts; but Ney carried Gemiancourt in the centre, +and Pierremont on the east, and gained occupation of the southern +part of the wood of Bossu. He ranged the chief part of his +artillery on the high ground of Gemiancourt, whence it played +throughout the action with most destructive effect upon the +Allies. He was pressing forward to further advantages, when the +fifth infantry division under Sir Thomas Picton and the Duke of +Brunswick's corps appeared upon the scene. Wellington (who had +returned to Quatre Bras from his interview with Blucher shortly +before the arrival of these forces) restored the fight with them; +and, as fresh troops of the Allies arrived, they were brought +forward to stem the fierce attacks which Ney's columns and +squadrons continued to make with unabated gallantry and zeal. +The only cavalry of the anglo-allied army that reached Quatre +Bras during the action, consisted of Dutch and Belgians, and a +small force of Brunswickers, under their Duke, who was killed on +the field. These proved wholly unable to encounter Kellerman's +cuirassiers and Pire's lancers; the Dutch and Belgian infantry +also gave way early in the engagement; so that the whole brunt of +the battle fell on the British and German infantry. They +sustained it nobly. Though repeatedly charged by the French +cavalry, though exposed to the murderous fire of the French +batteries, which from the heights of Gemiancourt sent shot and +shell into the devoted squares whenever the French horseman +withdrew, they not only repelled their assailants, but Kempt's +and Pack's brigades, led, on by Picton, actually advanced against +and through their charging foes, and with stern determination +made good to the end of the day the ground which they had thus +boldly won. Some, however, of the British regiments were during +the confusion assailed by the French cavalry before they could +form squares, and suffered severely. One regiment, the 92d, was +almost wholly destroyed by the cuirassiers. A French private +soldier, named Lami, of the 8th regiment of cuirassiers, captured +one of the English colours, and presented it to Ney. It was a +solitary trophy. The arrival of the English Guards about half- +past six o'clock, enabled the Duke to recover the wood of Bossu, +which the French had almost entirely won, and the possession of +which by them would have enabled Ney to operate destructively +upon the allied flank and rear. Not only was the wood of Bossu +recovered on the British right, but the inclosures of Pierremont +were also carried on the left. When night set in the French had +been driven back on all points towards Frasne; but they still +held the farm of Gemiancourt in front of the Duke's centre. +Wellington and Muffling were unacquainted with the result of the +collateral battle between Blucher and Napoleon, the cannonading +of which had been distinctly audible at Quatre Bras throughout +the afternoon and evening. The Duke observed to Muffling, that +of course the two Allied armies would assume the offensive +against the enemy on the morrow; and consequently, it would be +better to capture the farm at once, instead of waiting till next +morning. Muffling agreed in the Duke's views and Gemiancourt was +forthwith attacked by the English and captured with little loss +to its assailants. [Muffling, p. 242.] + +Meanwhile the French and the Prussians had been fighting in and +round the villages of Ligny, Sombref, and St. Armand, from three +in the afternoon to nine in the evening, with a savage inveteracy +almost unparalleled in modern warfare. Blucher had in the field, +when he began the battle, 83,417 men, and 224 guns. Bulow's +corps, which was 25,000 strong, had not joined him; but the +Field-Marshal hoped to be reinforced by it, or by the English +army before the end of the action. But Bulow, through some error +in the transmission of orders, was far in the rear; and the Duke +of Wellington was engaged, as we have seen, with Marshal Ney. +Blucher received early warning from Baron Muffling that the Duke +could not come to his assistance; but, as Muffling observes, +Wellington rendered the Prussians the great service of occupying +more than 40,000 of the enemy, who otherwise would have crushed +Blucher's right flank. For, not only did the conflict at Quatre +Bras detain the French troops which actually took part in it, but +d'Erlon received orders from Ney to join him, which hindered +d'Erlon from giving effectual aid to Napoleon. Indeed, the whole +of d'Erlon's corps, in consequence of conflicting directions from +Ney and the Emperor, marched and countermarched, during the 16th, +between Quatre Bras and Ligny without firing a shot in either +battle. + +Blucher had, in fact, a superiority of more than 12,000 in number +over the French army that attacked him at Ligny. The numerical +difference was even greater at the beginning of the battle, as +Lobau's corps did not come up from Charleroi till eight o'clock. +After five hours and a half of desperate and long-doubtful +struggle, Napoleon succeeded in breaking the centre of the +Prussian line at Ligny, and in forcing his obstinate antagonists +off the field of battle. The issue was attributable to his +skill, and not to any want of spirit or resolution on the part of +the Prussian troops; nor did they, though defeated, abate one jot +in discipline, heart, or hope. As Blucher observed, it was a +battle in which his army lost the day but not its honour. The +Prussians retreated during the night of the 16th, and the early +part of the 17th, with perfect regularity and steadiness, The +retreat was directed not towards Maestricht, where their +principal depots were established, but towards Wavre, so as to be +able to maintain their communication with Wellington's army, and +still follow out the original plan of the campaign. The heroism +with which the Prussians endured and repaired their defeat at +Ligny, is more glorious than many victories. + +The messenger who was sent to inform Wellington of the retreat of +the Prussian army, was shot on the way; and it was not until the +morning of the 17th that the Allies, at Quatre Bras, knew the +result of the battle of Ligny. The Duke was ready at daybreak to +take the offensive against the enemy with vigour, his whole army +being by that time fully assembled. But on learning that Blucher +had been defeated, a different course of action was clearly +necessary. It was obvious that Napoleon's main army would now be +directed against Wellington, and a retreat was inevitable. On +ascertaining that the Prussian army had retired upon Wavre, that +there was no hot pursuit of them by the French, and that Bulow's +corps had taken no part in the action at Ligny, the Duke resolved +to march his army back towards Brussels, still intending to cover +that city, and to halt at a point in a line with Wavre, and there +restore his communication with Blucher. An officer from +Blucher's army reached the Duke about nine o'clock, from whom he +learned the effective strength that Blucher still possessed, and +how little discouraged his ally was by the yesterday's battle. +Wellington sent word to the Prussian commander that he would halt +in the position of Mont St. Jean, and accept a general battle +with the French, if Blucher would pledge himself to come to his +assistance with a single corps of 25,000 men. This was readily +promised; and after allowing his men ample time for rest and +refreshment, Wellington retired over about half the space between +Quatre Bras and Brussels. He was pursued, but little molested, +by the main French army, which about noon of the 17th moved +laterally from Ligny, and joined Ney's forces, which had advanced +through Quatre Bras when the British abandoned that position. +The Earl of Uxbridge, with the British cavalry, covered the +retreat of the Duke's army, with great skill and gallantry; and a +heavy thunderstorm, with torrents of rain, impeded the operations +of the French pursuing squadrons. The Duke still expected that +the French would endeavour to turn his right, and march upon +Brussels by the high road that leads through Mons and Hal. In +order to counteract this anticipated manoeuvre, he stationed a +force of 18,000 men, under Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, +at Hal, with orders to maintain himself there if attacked, as +long as possible. The Duke halted with the rest of his army at +the position near Mont St. Jean, which, from a village in its +neighbourhood, has received the ever-memorable name of the field +of Waterloo. + +Wellington was now about twelve miles distant, on a line running +from west to east, from Wavre, where the Prussian army had now +been completely reorganised and collected, and where it had been +strengthened by the junction of Bulow's troops, which had taken +no part in the battle of Ligny. Blucher sent word from Wavre to +the Duke, that he was coming to help the English at Mont St. +Jean, in the morning, not with one corps, but with his whole +army. The fiery old man only stipulated that the combined +armies, if not attacked by Napoleon on the 18th, should +themselves attack him on the 19th. So far were Blucher and his +army from being in the state of annihilation described in the +boastful bulletin by which Napoleon informed the Parisians of his +victory at Ligny. Indeed, the French Emperor seems himself to +have been misinformed as to the extent of loss which he had +inflicted on the Prussians. Had he known in what good order and +with what undiminished spirit they were retiring, he would +scarcely have delayed sending a large force to press them in +their retreat until noon on the 17th. Such, however, was the +case. It was about that time that he confided to Marshal Grouchy +the duty of pursuing the defeated Prussians, and preventing them +from joining Wellington. He placed for this purpose 32,000 men +and 96 guns under his orders. Violent complaints and +recriminations passed afterwards between the Emperor and the +marshal respecting the manner in which Grouchy attempted to +perform this duty, and the reasons why he failed on the 18th to +arrest the lateral movement of the Prussians from Wavre to +Waterloo. It is sufficient to remark here, that the force which +Napoleon gave to Grouchy (though the utmost that the Emperor's +limited means would allow) was insufficient to make head against +the entire Prussian army, especially after Bulow's junction with +Blucher. We shall presently have occasion to consider what +opportunities were given to Grouchy during the 18th, and what he +might have effected if he had been a man of original military +genius. + +But the failure of Grouchy was in truth mainly owing to the +indomitable heroism of Blucher himself; who, though he had +received severe personal injuries in the battle of Ligny, was as +energetic and ready as ever in bringing his men into action +again, and who had the resolution to expose a part of his army, +under Thielman, to be overwhelmed by Grouchy at Wavre on the +18th, while he urged the march of the mass of his troops upon +Waterloo. "It is not at Wavre, but at Waterloo," said the old +Field-Marshal, "that the campaign is to be decided;" and he +risked a detachment, and won the campaign accordingly. +Wellington and Blucher trusted each other as cordially, and co- +operated as zealously, as formerly had been the case with +Marlborough and Eugene. It was in full reliance on Blucher's +promise to join him that the Duke stood his ground and fought at +Waterloo; and those who have ventured to impugn the Duke's +capacity as a general, ought to have had common-sense enough to +perceive, that to charge the Duke with having won the battle of +Waterloo by the help of the Prussians, is really to say that he +won it by the very means on which he relied, and without the +expectation of which the battle would not have been fought. + +Napoleon himself has found fault with Wellington for not having +retreated further, so as to complete a junction of his army with +Blucher's before he risked a general engagement. [See +Montholon's Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 44.] But, as we have seen, the +Duke justly considered it important to protect Brussels. He had +reason to expect that his army could singly resist the French at +Waterloo until the Prussians came up; and that, on the Prussians +joining, there would be a sufficient force united under himself +and Blucher for completely overwhelming the enemy. And while +Napoleon thus censures his great adversary, he involuntarily +bears the highest possible testimony to the military character of +the English, and proves decisively of what paramount importance +was the battle to which he challenged his fearless opponent. +Napoleon asks, "IF THE ENGLISH ARMY HAD BEEN BEATEN AT WATERLOO, +WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE USE OF THOSE NUMEROUS BODIES OF TROOPS, +OF PRUSSIANS, AUSTRIANS, GERMANS, AND SPANIARDS, WHICH WERE +ADVANCING BY FORCED MARCHES TO THE RHINE, THE ALPS, AND THE +PYRENEES?" [Ibid.] + +The strength of the army under the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo +was 49,608 infantry, 12,402 cavalry, and 5,645 artillerymen with +156 guns. [Siborne, vol. i. p. 376.] But of this total of +67,655 men, scarcely 24,000 were British, a circumstance of very +serious importance, if Napoleon's own estimate of the relative +value of troops of different nations is to be taken. In the +Emperor's own words, speaking of this campaign, "A French soldier +would not be equal to more than one English soldier, but he would +not be afraid to meet two Dutchmen, Prussians, or soldiers of the +Confederation." [Montholon's Memoirs, vol. iv. p. 41.] There +were about 6,000 men of the old German Legion with the Duke; +these were veteran troops, and of excellent quality. Of the +rest of the army the Hanoverians and Brunswickers proved +themselves deserving of confidence and praise. But the +Nassauers, Dutch, and Belgians were almost worthless; and not a +few of them were justly suspected of a strong wish to fight, if +they fought at all, under the French eagles rather than against +them. + +Napoleon's army at Waterloo consisted of 48,950 infantry, 15,765 +cavalry, 7,232 artillerymen, being a total of 71,947 men, and 246 +guns. [See Siborne, UT SUPRA.] They were the flower of the +national forces of France; and of all the numerous gallant armies +which that martial land has poured forth, never was there one +braver, or better disciplined, or better led, than the host that +took up its position at Waterloo on the morning of the 18th of +June, 1815. + +Perhaps those who have not seen the field of battle at Waterloo, +or the admirable model of the ground, and of the conflicting +armies, which was executed by Captain Siborne, may gain a +generally accurate idea of the localities, by picturing to +themselves a valley between two and three miles long, of various +breadths at different points, but generally not exceeding half a +mile. On each side of the valley there is a winding chain of low +hills running somewhat parallel, with each other. The declivity +from each of these ranges of hills to the intervening valley is +gentle but not uniform, the undulations of the ground being +frequent and considerable. The English army was posted on the +northern, and the French army occupied the southern ridge. The +artillery of each side thundered at the other from their +respective heights throughout the day, and the charges of horse +and foot were made across the valley that has been described. +The village of Mont St. Jean is situate a little behind the +centre of the northern chain of hills, and the village of La +Belle Alliance is close behind the centre of the southern ridge. +The high road from Charleroi to Brussels (a broad paved causeway) +runs through both these villages, and bisects therefore both the +English and the French positions. The line of this road was the +line of Napoleon's intended advance on Brussels. + +There are some other local particulars connected with the +situation of each army, which it is necessary to bear in mind. +The strength of the British position did not consist merely in +the occupation of a ridge of high ground. A village and ravine, +called Merk Braine, on the Duke of Wellington's extreme right, +secured his flank from being turned on that side; and on his +extreme left, two little hamlets called La Haye and Papelotte, +gave a similar, though a slighter, protection. Behind the whole +British position is the extensive forest of Soignies. As no +attempt was made by the French to turn either of the English +flanks, and the battle was a day of straightforward fighting, it +is chiefly important to ascertain what posts there were in front +of the British line of hills, of which advantage could be taken +either to repel or facilitate an attack; and it will be seen that +there were two, and that each was of very great importance in the +action. In front of the British right, that is to say, on the +northern slope of the valley towards its western end, there stood +an old-fashioned Flemish farm-house called Goumont, or +Hougoumont, with out-buildings and a garden, and with a copse of +beach trees of about two acres in extent round it. This was +strongly garrisoned by the allied troops; and, while it was in +their possession, it was difficult for the enemy to press on and +force the British right wing. On the other hand, if the enemy +could take it, it would be difficult for that wing to keep its +ground on the heights, with a strong post held adversely in its +immediate front, being one that; would give much shelter to the +enemy's marksmen, and great facilities for the sudden +concentration of attacking columns. Almost immediately in front +of the British centre, and not so far down the slope as +Hougoumont, there was another farm-house, of a smaller size, +called La Haye Sainte, [Not to be confounded with the hamlet of +La Haye at the extreme left of the British line.] which was also +held by the British troops, and the occupation of which was found +to be of very serious consequence. + +With respect to the French position, the principal feature to be +noticed is the village of Planchenoit, which lay a little in the +rear of their right (I.E. on the eastern side), and which proved +to be of great importance in aiding them to check the advance of +the Prussians. + +Napoleon, in his memoirs, and other French writers, have +vehemently blamed the Duke for having given battle in such a +position as that of Waterloo. They particularly object that the +Duke fought without having the means of a retreat, if the attacks +of his enemy had proved successful; and that the English army, if +once broken, must have lost all its guns and MATERIEL in its +flight through the Forest of Soignies, that lay in its rear. In +answer to these censures, instead of merely referring to the +event of the battle as proof of the correctness of the Duke's +judgment, it is to be observed that many military critics of high +authority, have considered the position of Waterloo to have been +admirably adapted for the Duke's purpose of protecting Brussels +by a battle; and that certainly the Duke's opinion in favour of +it was not lightly or hastily formed. It is a remarkable fact +(mentioned in the speech of Lord Bathurst when moving the vote of +thanks to the Duke in the House of Lords), [Parliamentary +Debates, vol. xxxi. p. 875.] that when the Duke of Wellington +was passing through Belgium in the preceding summer of 1814, he +particularly noticed the strength of the position of Waterloo, +and made a minute of it at the time, stating to those who were +with him, that if it ever should be his fate to fight a battle in +that quarter for the protection of Brussels, he should endeavour +to do so in that position. And with respect to the Forest of +Soignies, which the French (and some few English) critics have +thought calculated to prove so fatal to a retreating force, the +Duke on the contrary believed it to be a post that might have +proved of infinite value to his army in the event of his having +been obliged to give way. The Forest of Soignies has no thicket +or masses of close-growing trees. It consists of tall beeches, +and is everywhere passable for men and horses. The artillery +could have been withdrawn by the broad road which traverses it +towards Brussels; and in the meanwhile a few regiments of +resolute infantry could have held the forest and kept the +pursuers in check. One of the best writers on the Waterloo +campaign, Captain Pringle, [See the Appendix to the 8th volume of +Scott's Life of Napoleon.] well observes that "every person, the +least experienced in war, knows the extreme difficulty of forcing +infantry from a wood which cannot be turned." The defence of the +Bois de Bossu near Quatre Bras on the 16th of June had given a +good proof of this; and the Duke of Wellington, when speaking in +after years of the possible events that might have followed if he +had been beaten back from the open field of Waterloo, pointed to +the wood of Soignies as his secure rallying place, saying, "they +never could have beaten us so, that we could not have held the +wood against them." He was always confident that he could have +made good that post until joined by the Prussians, upon whose co- +operation he throughout depended." [See Lord Ellesmere's Life +and Character of the Duke of Wellington, p. 40.] + +As has been already mentioned, the Prussians, on the morning of +the 18th, were at Wavre, which is about twelve miles to the east +of the field of battle of Waterloo. The junction of Bulow's +division had more than made up for the loss sustained at Ligny; +and leaving Thielman with about seventeen thousand men to hold +his ground, as he best could, against the attack which Grouchy +was about to make on Wavre, Bulow and Blucher moved with the rest +of the Prussians through St. Lambert upon Waterloo. It was +calculated that they would be there by three o'clock; but the +extremely difficult nature of the ground which they had to +traverse, rendered worse by the torrents of rain that had just +fallen, delayed them long on their twelve miles' march. + +An army indeed, less animated by bitter hate against the enemy +than was the Prussians, and under a less energetic chief than +Blucher, would have failed altogether in effecting a passage +through the swamps, into which the incessant rain had transformed +the greater part of the ground through which it was necessary to +move not only with columns of foot, but with cavalry and +artillery. At one point of the march, on entering the defile of +St. Lambert, the spirits of the Prussians almost gave way. +Exhausted in the attempts to extricate and drag forward the heavy +guns, the men began to murmur. Blucher came to the spot, and +heard cries from the ranks of--"We cannot get on." "But you +must get on," was the old Field-Marshal's answer. "I have +pledged my word to Wellington, and you surely will not make me +break it. Only exert yourselves for a few hours longer, and we +are sure of victory." This appeal from old "Marshal Forwards," as +the Prussian soldiers loved to call Blucher, had its wonted +affect. The Prussians again moved forward, slowly, indeed, and +with pain and toil; but still they moved forward. [See Siborne, +vol. ii. p. 137.] + +The French and British armies lay on the open field during the +wet and stormy night of the 17th; and when the dawn of the +memorable 18th of June broke, the rain was still descending +heavily upon Waterloo. The rival nations rose from their dreary +bivouacs, and began to form, each on the high ground which it +occupied. Towards nine the weather grew clearer, and each army +was able to watch the position and arrangements of the other on +the opposite side of the valley. + +The Duke of Wellington drew up his army in two lines; the +principal one being stationed near the crest of the ridge of +hills already described, and the other being arranged along the +slope in the rear of his position. Commencing from the eastward, +on the extreme left of the first or main line, were Vivian's and +Vandeleur's brigades of light cavalry, and the fifth Hanoverian +brigade of infantry, under Von Vincke. Then came Best's fourth +Hanoverian brigade. Detachments from these bodies of troops +occupied the little villages of Papelotte and La Haye, down the +hollow in advance of the left of the Duke's position. To the +right of Best's Hanoverians, Bylandt's brigade of Dutch and +Belgian infantry was drawn up on the outer slope of the heights. +Behind them were the ninth brigade of British infantry under +Pack; and to the right of these last, but more in advance, stood +the eighth brigade of English infantry under Kempt. These were +close to the Charleroi road, and to the centre of the entire +position. These two English brigades, with the fifth Hanoverian, +made up the fifth division, commanded by Sir Thomas Picton. +Immediately to their right, and westward of the Charleroi road, +stood the third division, commanded by General Alten, and +consisting of Ompteda's brigade of the King's German legion, and +Kielmansegge's Hanoverian brigade. The important post of La Haye +Sainte, which it will be remembered lay in front of the Duke's +centre, close to the Charleroi road, was garrisoned with troops +from this division. Westward, and on the right of Kielmansegge's +Hanoverians, stood the fifth British brigade under Halkett; and +behind, Kruse's Nassau brigade was posted. On the right of +Halkett's men stood the English Guards. They were in two +brigades, one commanded By Maitland, and the other by Byng. The +entire division was under General Cooke. The buildings and +gardens of Hougoumont, which lay immediately under the height, on +which stood the British Guards, were principally manned by +detachments from Byng's Brigade, aided by some brave Hanoverian +riflemen, and accompanied by a battalion of a Nassau regiment. +On a plateau in the rear of Cooks's division of Guards, and +inclining westward towards the village of Merk Braine, were +Clinton's second infantry division, composed of Adams's third +brigade of light infantry, Du Plat's first brigade of the King's +German legion, and third Hanoverian brigade under Colonel +Halkett. + +The Duke formed his second line of cavalry. This only extended +behind the right and centre of his first line. The largest mass +was drawn up behind the brigades of infantry in the centre, on +either side of the Charleroi road. The brigade of household +cavalry under Lord Somerset was on the immediate right of the +road, and on the left of it was Ponsonby's brigade. Behind these +were Trip's and Ghingy's brigades of Dutch and Belgian horse. +The third Hussars of the King's German Legion were to the right +of Somerset's brigade. To the right of these, and behind +Maitland's infantry, stood the third brigade under Dornberg, +consisting of the 23d English Light Dragoons, and the regiments +of Light Dragoons of the King's German Legion. The last cavalry +on the right was Grant's brigade, stationed in the rear of the +Foot-Guards. The corps of Brunswickers, both horse and foot, and +the 10th British brigade of foot, were in reserve behind the +centre and right of the entire position. The artillery was +distributed at convenient intervals along the front of the whole +line. Besides the Generals who have been mentioned, Lord Hill, +Lord Uxbridge (who had the general command of the cavalry), the +Prince of Orange, and General Chasse, were present, and acting +under the Duke. + +[Prince Frederick's force remained at Hal, and took no part in +the battle of the 18th. The reason for this arrangement (which +has been much cavilled at), may be best given in the words of +Baron Muffling:--"The Duke had retired from Quatre Bras in three +columns, by three chaussees; and on the evening of the 17th, +Prince Frederick of Orange was at Hal, Lord Hill at Braine la +Leud, and the Prince of Orange with the reserve, at Mont St. +Jean. This distribution was necessary, as Napoleon could dispose +of these three roads for his advance on Brussels. Napoleon on +the 17th had pressed on by Genappe as far as Rossomme. On the +two other roads no enemy had yet shown himself. On the 18th the +offensive was taken by Napoleon on its greatest scale, but still +the Nivelles road was not overstepped by his left wing. These +circumstances made it possible to draw Prince Frederick to the +army, which would certainly have been done if entirely new +circumstances had not arisen. The Duke had, twenty-four hours +before, pledged himself to accept a battle at Mont St. Jean if +Blucher would assist him there with one corps, of 25,000 men. +This being promised, the Duke was taking his measures for +defence, when be learned that, in addition to the one corps +promised, Blucher was actually already on the march with his +whole force, to break in by Planchenoit on Napoleon's flank and +rear. If three corps of the Prussian army should penetrate by +the unguarded plateau of Rossomme, which was not improbable, +Napoleon would be thrust from his line of retreat by Genappe, and +might possibly lose even that by Nivelles. In this case Prince +Frederick with his 18,000 men (who might be accounted superfluous +at Mont St.Jean), might have rendered the most essential +service."--See Muffling, p. 246 and the QUARTERLY REVIEW, No. +178. It is also worthy of observation that Napoleon actually +detached a force of 2,000 cavalry to threaten Hal, though they +returned to the main French army during the night of the 17th. +See "Victoires at Conquetes des Francais," vol. xxiv. p 186.] + +On the opposite heights the French army was drawn up in two +general lines, with the entire force of the Imperial Guards, +cavalry as well as infantry, in rear of the centre, as a reserve. + +The first line of the French army was formed of the two corps +commanded by Count d'Erlon and Count Reille. D'Erlon's corps was +on the right, that is, eastward of the Charleroi road, and +consisted of four divisions of infantry under Generals Durette, +Marcognet, Alix, and Donzelot, and of one division of light +cavalry under General Jaquinot. Count Reille's corps formed the +left or western wing, and was formed of Bachelu's, Foy's, and +Jerome Bonaparte's divisions of infantry, and of Pire's division +of cavalry. The right wing of the second general French line was +formed of Milhaud's corps, consisting of two divisions of heavy +cavalry. The left wing of this line was formed by Kellerman's +cavalry corps, also in two divisions. Thus each of the corps of +infantry that composed the first line had a corps of cavalry +behind it; but the second line consisted also of Lobau's corps of +infantry, and Domont and Subervie's divisions of light cavalry; +these three bodies of troops being drawn up on either side of La +Belle Alliance, and forming the centre of the second line. The +third, or reserve line, had its centre composed of the infantry +of the Imperial Guard. Two regiments of grenadiers and two of +chasseurs, formed the foot of the Old Guard under General Friant. +The Middle Guard, under Count Morand, was similarly composed; +while two regiments of voltigeurs, and two of tirailleurs, under +Duhesme, constituted the Young Guard. The chasseurs and lancers +of the Guard were on the right of the infantry, under Lefebvre +Desnouettes; and the grenadiers and dragoons of the Guards, under +Guyot, were on the left. All the French corps comprised, besides +their cavalry and infantry regiments, strong batteries of horse +artillery; and Napoleon's numerical superiority in guns was of +deep importance throughout the action. + +Besides the leading generals who have been mentioned as +commanding particular corps, Ney and Soult were present, and +acted as the Emperor's lieutenants in the battle. + +English military critics have highly eulogised the admirable +arrangement which Napoleon made of his forces of each arm, so as +to give him the most ample means of sustaining, by an immediate +and sufficient support, any attack, from whatever point he might +direct it; and of drawing promptly together a strong force, to +resist any attack that might be made on himself in any part of +the field. [Siborne, vol. i. p. 376.] When his troops were all +arrayed, he rode along the lines, receiving everywhere the most +enthusiastic cheers from his men, of whose entire devotion to him +his assurance was now doubly sure. On the northern side of the +valley the Duke's army was also drawn up, and ready to meet the +menaced attack. + +Wellington had caused, on the preceding night, every brigade and +corps to take up its station on or near the part of the ground +which it was intended to hold in the coming battle. He had slept +a few hours at his headquarters in the village of Waterloo; and +rising on the 18th, while it was yet deep night, he wrote several +letters to the Governor of Antwerp, to the English Minister at +Brussels, and other official personages, in which he expressed +his confidence that all would go well, but "as it was necessary +to provide against serious losses; should any accident occur, he +gave a series of judicious orders for what should be done in the +rear of the army, in the event of the battle going against the +Allies. He also, before he left the village of Waterloo, saw to +the distribution of the reserves of ammunition which had been +parked there, so that supplies should be readily forwarded to +every part of the line of battle, where they might be required, +The Duke, also, personally inspected the arrangements that had +been made for receiving the wounded, and providing temporary +hospitals in the houses in the rear of the army. Then, mounting +a favourite charger, a small thorough-bred chestnut horse, named +"Copenhagen," Wellington rode forward to the range of hills where +his men were posted. Accompanied by his staff and by the +Prussian General Muffling, he rode along his lines, carefully +inspecting all the details of his position. Hougoumont was the +object of his special attention. He rode down to the south- +eastern extremity of its enclosures, and after having examined +the nearest French troops, he made some changes in the +disposition of his own men, who were to defend that important +post. + +Having given his final orders about Hougoumont, the Duke galloped +back to the high ground in the right centre of his position; and +halting there, sat watching the enemy on the opposite heights, +and conversing with his staff with that cheerful serenity which +was ever his characteristic in the hour of battle. + +Not all brave men are thus gifted; and many a glance of anxious +excitement must have been cast across the valley that separated +the two hosts during the protracted pause which ensued between +the completion of Napoleon's preparations for attack and the +actual commencement of the contest. It was, indeed, an awful +calm before the coming storm, when armed myriads stood gazing on +their armed foes, scanning their number, their array, their +probable powers of resistance and destruction, and listening with +throbbing hearts for the momentarily expected note of death; +while visions of victory and glory came thronging on each +soldier's high-strung brain, not unmingled with recollections of +the home which his fall might soon leave desolate, nor without +shrinking nature sometimes prompting the cold thought, that in a +few moments he might be writhing in agony, or lie a trampled and +mangled mass of clay on the grass now waving so freshly and +purely before him. + +Such thoughts WILL arise in human breasts, though the brave man +soon silences "the child within us that trembles before death," +[See Plato, Phaedon, c. 60; and Grote's History of Greece, vol. +viii. p. 656.] and nerves himself for the coming struggle by the +mental preparation which Xenophon has finely called "the +soldier's arraying his own soul for battle." [Hellenica, lib. +vii. c. v. s. 22.] Well, too, may we hope and believe that many +a spirit sought aid from a higher and holier source; and that +many a fervent though silent prayer arose on that Sabbath morn +(the battle of Waterloo was fought on a Sunday) to the Lord of +Sabaoth, the God of Battles, from the ranks, whence so many +thousands were about to appear that day before his judgment-seat. + +Not only to those who were thus present as spectators and actors +in the dread drama, but to all Europe, the decisive contest then +impending between the rival French and English nations, each +under its chosen chief was the object of exciting interest and +deepest solicitude. "Never, indeed, had two such generals as the +Duke of Wellington and the Emperor Napoleon encountered since the +day when Scipio and Hannibal met at Zama." [See SUPRA, p. 82.] + +The two great champions, who now confronted each other, were +equals in years, and each had entered the military profession at +the same early age. The more conspicuous stage, on which the +French general's youthful genius was displayed, his heritage of +the whole military power of the French Republic, the position on +which for years he was elevated as sovereign head of an empire +surpassing that of Charlemagne, and the dazzling results of his +victories, which made and unmade kings, had given him a +formidable pre-eminence in the eyes of mankind. Military men +spoke with justly rapturous admiration of the brilliancy of his +first Italian campaigns, when he broke through the pedantry of +traditional tactics, and with a small but promptly-wielded force, +shattered army after army of the Austrians, conquered provinces +and capitals, dictated treaties, and annihilated or created +states. The iniquity of his Egyptian expedition was too often +forgotten in contemplating the skill and boldness with which he +destroyed the Mameluke cavalry at the Pyramids, and the Turkish +infantry at Aboukir. None could forget the marvellous passage of +the Alps in 1800, or the victory of Marengo, which wrested Italy +back from Austria, and destroyed the fruit of twenty victories, +which the enemies of France had gained over her in the absence of +her favourite chief. Even higher seemed the glories of his +German campaigns, the triumphs of Ulm, of Austerlitz, of Jena, of +Wagram. Napoleon's disasters in Russia, in 1812, were imputed by +his admirers to the elements; his reverses in Germany, in 1813, +were attributed by them to treachery: and even those two +calamitous years had been signalised by his victories at +Borodino, at Lutzen, at Bautzen, at Dresden, and at Hanau. His +last campaign, in the early months of 1814, was rightly cited as +the most splendid exhibition of his military genius, when, with a +far inferior army, he long checked and frequently defeated the +vast hosts that were poured upon France. His followers fondly +hoped that the campaign of 1815 would open with another "week of +miracles," like that which had seen his victories at Montmirail +and Montereau. The laurel of Ligny was even now fresh upon his +brows. Blucher had not stood before him; and who was the +Adversary that now should bar the Emperor's way? + +That Adversary had already overthrown the Emperor's best +generals, and the Emperor's best armies; and, like Napoleon +himself, had achieved a reputation in more than European wars. +Wellington was illustrious as the destroyer of the Mahratta +power, as the liberator of Portugal and Spain, and the successful +invader of Southern France. In early youth he had held high +command in India; and had displayed eminent skill in planning and +combining movements, and unrivalled celerity and boldness in +execution. On his return to Europe several years passed away +before any fitting opportunity was accorded for the exercise of +his genius. In this important respect, Wellington, as a subject, +and Napoleon, as a sovereign, were far differently situated. At +length his appointment to the command in the Spanish Peninsula +gave him the means of showing Europe that England had a general +who could revive the glories of Crecy, of Poictiers, of +Agincourt, of Blenheim, and of Ramilies. At the head of forces +always numerically far inferior to the armies with which Napoleon +deluged the Peninsula;--thwarted by jealous and incompetent +allies;--ill-supported by friends, and assailed by factious +enemies at home; Wellington maintained the war for several years, +unstained by any serious reverse, and marked by victory in +thirteen pitched battles, at Vimiera, the Douro, Talavera, +Busaco, Fuentes d'Onore, Salamanca, Vittoria, the Pyrenees, the +Bidassoa, the Nive, the Nivelle, Orthes, and Toulouse. Junot, +Victor, Massena, Ney, Marmont, and Jourdain,--marshals whose +names were the terrors of continental Europe--had been baffled by +his skill, and smitten down by his energy, while he liberated the +kingdoms of the Peninsula from them and their Imperial master. +In vain did Napoleon at last despatch Soult, the ablest of his +lieutenants, to turn the tide of Wellington's success and defend +France against the English invader. Wellington met Soult's +manoeuvres with superior skill, and his boldness with superior +vigour. When Napoleon's first abdication, in 1814, suspended +hostilities, Wellington was master of the fairest districts of +Southern France; and had under him a veteran army, with which (to +use his own expressive phrase) "he felt he could have gone +anywhere and done anything." The fortune of war had hitherto +kept separate the orbits in which Napoleon and he had moved. +Now, on the ever memorable 18th of June, 1815, they met at last. + +It is, indeed, remarkable that Napoleon, during his numerous +campaigns in Spain as well as other countries, not only never +encountered the Duke of Wellington before the day of Waterloo, +but that he was never until then personally engaged with British +troops, except at the siege of Toulon, in 1793, which was the +very first incident of his military career. Many, however, of +the French generals who were with him in 1815, knew well, by +sharp experience, what English soldiers were, and what the leader +was who now headed them. Ney, Foy, and other officers who had +served in the Peninsula, warned Napoleon that he would find the +English infantry "very devils in fight." The Emperor, however, +persisted in employing the old system of attack, with which the +French generals often succeeded against continental troops, but +which had always failed against the English in the Peninsula. He +adhered to his usual tactics of employing the order of the +column; a mode of attack probably favoured by him (as Sir Walter +Scott remarks) on account of his faith in the extreme valour of +the French officers by whom the column was headed. It is a +threatening formation, well calculated to shake the firmness of +ordinary foes; but which, when steadily met, as the English have +met it, by heavy volleys of musketry from an extended line, +followed up by a resolute bayonet charge, has always resulted in +disaster to the assailants. [See especially Sir W. Napier's +glorious pictures of the battles of Busaco and Albuera. The +THEORETICAL advantages of the attack in column, and its peculiar +fitness for a French army, are set forth in the Chevalier +Folard's "Traite de la Colonne," prefixed to the first volume of +his "Polybius," See also the preface to his sixth volume.] + +It was approaching noon before the action commenced. Napoleon, +in his Memoirs, gives as the reason for this delay, the miry +state of the ground through the heavy rain of the preceding night +and day, which rendered it impossible for cavalry or artillery to +manoeuvre on it till a few hours of dry weather had given it its +natural consistency. It has been supposed, also, that he trusted +to the effect which the sight of the imposing array of his own +forces was likely to produce on the part of the allied army. The +Belgian regiments had been tampered with; and Napoleon had well- +founded hopes of seeing them quit the Duke of Wellington in a +body, and range themselves under his own eagles. The Duke, +however, who knew and did not trust them, had guarded against the +risk of this, by breaking up the corps of Belgians, and +distributing them in separate regiments among troops on whom he +could rely. [Siborne, vol. i. p. 373.] + +At last, at about half-past eleven o'clock, Napoleon began the +battle by directing a powerful force from his left wing under his +brother, Prince Jerome, to attack Hougoumont. Column after +column of the French now descended from the west of the southern +heights, and assailed that post with fiery valour, which was +encountered with the most determined bravery. The French won the +copse round the house, but a party of the British Guards held the +house itself throughout the day. The whole of Byng's brigade was +required to man this hotly-contested post. Amid shell and shot, +and the blazing fragments of part of the buildings, this +obstinate contest was continued. But still the English were firm +in Hougoumont; though the French occasionally moved forward in +such numbers as enabled them to surround and mask it with part of +their troops from their left wing, while others pressed onward up +the slope, and assailed the British right. + +The cannonade, which commenced at first between the British right +and the French left, in consequence of the attack on Hougoumont, +soon became general along both lines; and about one o'clock, +Napoleon directed a grand attack to be made under Marshal Ney +upon the centre and left wing of the allied army. For this +purpose four columns of infantry, amounting to about eighteen +thousand men, were collected, supported by a strong division of +cavalry under the celebrated Kellerman; and seventy-four guns +were brought forward ready to be posted on the ridge of a little +undulation of the ground in the interval between the two +principal chains of heights, so as to bring their fire to bear on +the Duke's line at a range of about seven hundred yards. By the +combined assault of these formidable forces, led on by Ney, "the +bravest of the brave," Napoleon hoped to force the left centre of +the British position, to take La Haye Sainte, and then pressing +forward, to occupy also the farm of Mont St. Jean. He then could +cut the mass of Wellington's troops off from their line of +retreat upon Brussels, and from their own left, and also +completely sever them from any Prussian troops that might be +approaching. + +The columns destined for this great and decisive operation +descended majestically from the French line of hills, and gained +the ridge of the intervening eminence, on which the batteries +that supported them were now ranged. As the columns descended +again from this eminence, the seventy-four guns opened over their +heads with terrible effect upon the troops of the Allies that +were stationed on the heights to the left of the Charleroi road. +One of the French columns kept to the east, and attacked the +extreme left of the Allies; the other three continued to move +rapidly forwards upon the left centre of the allied position. +The front line of the Allies here was composed of Bylandt's +brigade of Dutch and Belgians. As the French columns moved up +the southward slope of the height on which the Dutch and Belgians +stood, and the skirmishers in advance began to open their fire, +Bylandt's entire brigade turned and fled in disgraceful and +disorderly panic; but there were men more worthy of the name +behind. + +In this part of-the second line of the Allies were posted Pack +and Kempt's brigades of English infantry, which had suffered +severely at Quatre Bras. But Picton was here as general of +division, and not even Ney himself surpassed in resolute bravery +that stern and fiery spirit. Picton brought his two brigades +forward, side by side, in a thin, two-deep line. Thus joined +together, they were not three thousand strong. With these Picton +had to make head against the three victorious French columns, +upwards of four times that strength, and who, encouraged by the +easy rout of the Dutch and Belgians, now came confidently over +the ridge of the hill. The British infantry stood firm; and as +the French halted and began to deploy into line, Picton seized +the critical moment. He shouted in his stentorian voice to +Kempt's brigade: "A volley, and then charge!" At a distance of +less than thirty yards that volley was poured upon the devoted +first sections of the nearest column; and then, with a fierce +hurrah, the British dashed in with the bayonet. Picton was shot +dead as he rushed forward, but his men pushed on with the cold +steel. The French reeled back in confusion. Pack's infantry had +checked the other two columns and down came a whirlwind of +British horse on the whole mass, sending them staggering from the +crest of the hill, and cutting them down by whole battalions. +Ponsonby's brigade of heavy cavalry (the Union Brigade as it was +called, from its being made up of the British Royals, the Scots +Greys, and the Irish Inniskillings), did this good service. On +went the horsemen amid the wrecks of the French columns, +capturing two eagles, and two thousand prisoners; onwards still +they galloped, and sabred the artillerymen of Ney's seventy-four +advanced guns; then severing the traces, and cutting the throats +of the artillery horses, they rendered these guns totally useless +to the French throughout the remainder of the day. While thus +far advanced beyond the British position and disordered by +success, they were charged by a large body of French lancers, and +driven back with severe loss, till Vandeleur's Light horse came +to their aid, and beat off the French lancers in their turn. + +Equally unsuccessful with the advance of the French infantry in +this grand attack, had been the efforts of the French cavalry who +moved forward in support of it, along the east of the Charleroi +road. Somerset's cavalry of the English Household Brigade had +been launched, on the right of Picton's division, against the +French horse, at the same time that the English Union Brigade of +heavy horse charged the French infantry columns on the left. + +Somerset's brigade was formed of the Life Guards, the Blues, and +the Dragoon Guards. The hostile cavalry, which Kellerman led +forward, consisted chiefly of Cuirassiers. This steel-clad mass +of French horsemen rode down some companies of German infantry, +near La Haye Sainte, and flushed with success, they bounded +onward to the ridge of the British position. The English +Household Brigade, led on by the Earl of Uxbridge in person, +spurred forward to the encounter, and in an instant, the two +adverse lines of strong swordsmen, on their strong steeds, dashed +furiously together. A desperate and sanguinary hand-to-hand +fight ensued, in which the physical superiority of the Anglo- +Saxons, guided by equal skill, and animated with equal valour, +was made decisively manifest. Back went the chosen cavalry of +France; and after them, in hot pursuit, spurred the English +Guards. They went forward as far and as fiercely as their +comrades of the Union Brigade; and, like them, the Household +cavalry suffered severely before they regained the British +position, after their magnificent charge and adventurous pursuit. + +Napoleon's grand effort to break the English left centre had thus +completely failed; and his right wing was seriously weakened by +the heavy loss which it had sustained. Hougoumont was still +being assailed, and was still successfully resisting. Troops +were now beginning to appear at the edge of the horizon on +Napoleon's right, which he too well knew to be Prussian, though +he endeavoured to persuade his followers that they were Grouchy's +men coming to their aid. + +Grouchy was in fact now engaged at Wavre with his whole force, +against Thielmam's single Prussian corps, while the other three +corps of the Prussian army were moving without opposition, save +from the difficulties of the ground, upon Waterloo. Grouchy +believed, on the 17th, and caused Napoleon to believe, that the +Prussian army was retreating by lines of march remote from +Waterloo upon Namur and Maestricht. Napoleon learned only on the +18th, that there were Prussians in Wavre, and felt jealous about +the security of his own right. He accordingly, before he +attacked the English, sent Grouchy orders to engage the Prussians +at Wavre without delay, AND TO APPROACH THE MAIN FRENCH ARMY, SO +AS TO UNITE HIS COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE EMPEROR'S. Grouchy +entirely neglected this last part of his instructions; and in +attacking the Prussians whom he found at Wavre, he spread his +force more and more towards his right, that is to say, in the +direction most remote from Napoleon. He thus knew nothing of +Blucher's and Bulow's flank march upon Waterloo, till six in the +evening of the 18th, when he received a note which Soult by +Napoleon's orders had sent off from the field of battle at +Waterloo at one o'clock, to inform Grouchy that Bulow was coming +over the heights of St. Lambert, on the Emperor's right flank, +and directing Grouchy to approach and join the main army +instantly, and crush Bulow EN FLAGRANT DELIT. It was then too +late for Grouchy to obey; but it is remarkable that as early as +noon on the 18th, and while Grouchy had not proceeded as far as +Wavre, he and his suite heard, the sound of heavy cannonading In +the direction of Planchenoit and Mont St. Jean. General Gerard, +who was with Grouchy, implored him to march towards the +cannonade, and join his operations with those of Napoleon, who +was evidently engaged with the English. Grouchy refused to do +so, or even to detach part of his force in that direction. He +said that his instructions were to fight the Prussians at Wavre. +He marched upon Wavre and fought for the rest of the day with +Thielman accordingly, while Blucher and Bulow were attacking the +Emperor. + +[I have heard the remark made that Grouchy twice had in his hands +the power of changing the destinies of Europe, and twice wanted +nerve to act: first when he flinched from landing the French +army at Bantry Bay in 1796 (he was second in command to Hoche, +whose ship was blown back by a storm), and secondly, when he +failed to lead his whole force from Wavre to the scene of +decisive conflict at Waterloo. But such were the arrangements of +the Prussian General, that even if Grouchy had marched upon +Waterloo, he would have been held in check by the nearest +Prussian corps, or certainly by the two nearest ones, while the +rest proceeded to join Wellington. This, however, would have +diminished the number of Prussians who appeared at Waterloo, and +(what is still more important) would have kept them back to a +later hour.--See Siborne, vol i. p. 323, and Gleig, p. 142. + +There are some very valuable remarks on this subject in the 70th +No. of the QUARTERLY in an article on the "Life of Blucher," +usually attributed to Sir Francis Head. The Prussian writer, +General Clausewitz, is there cited as "expressing a positive +opinion, in which every military critic but a Frenchman must +concur, that, even had the whole of Grouchy's force been at +Napoleon's disposal, the Duke had nothing to fear pending +Blucher's arrival. + +"The Duke is often talked of as having exhausted his reserves in +the action. This is another gross error, which Clausewitz has +thoroughly disposed of. He enumerates the tenth British Brigade, +the division of Chasse, and the cavalry of Collaert, as having +been little or not at all engaged; and he might have also added +two brigades of light cavalry." The fact, also, that Wellington +did not at any part of the day order up Prince Frederick's corps +from Hal, is a conclusive proof that the Duke was not so +distressed as some writers have represented. Hal is not ten +miles from the field of Waterloo.] + +Napoleon had witnessed with bitter disappointment the rout of his +troops,--foot, horse, and artillery,--which attacked the left +centre of the English, and the obstinate resistance which the +garrison of Hougoumont opposed to all the exertions of his left +wing. He now caused the batteries along the line of high ground +held by him to be strengthened, and for some time an unremitting +and most destructive cannonade raged across the valley, to the +partial cessation of other conflict. But the superior fire of +the French artillery, though it weakened, could not break the +British line, and more close and summary measures were requisite. + +It was now about half-past three o'clock; and though Wellington's +army had suffered severely by the unremitting cannonade, and in +the late desperate encounter, no part of the British position had +been forced. Napoleon determined therefore to try what effect he +could produce on the British centre and right by charges of his +splendid cavalry, brought on in such force that the Duke's +cavalry could not check them. Fresh troops were at the same time +sent to assail La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont, the possession of +these posts being the Emperor's unceasing object. Squadron after +squadron of the French cuirassiers accordingly ascended the +slopes on the Duke's right, and rode forward with dauntless +courage against the batteries of the British artillery in that +part of the field. The artillery-men were driven from their +guns, and the cuirassiers cheered loudly at their supposed +triumph. But the Duke had formed his infantry in squares, and +the cuirassiers charged in vain against the impenetrable hedges +of bayonets, while the fire from the inner ranks of the squares +told with terrible effect on their squadrons. Time after time +they rode forward with invariably the same result: and as they +receded from each attack the British artillerymen rushed forward +from the centres of the squares, where they had taken refuge, and +plied their guns on the retiring horsemen. Nearly the whole of +Napoleon's magnificent body of heavy cavalry was destroyed in +these fruitless attempts upon the British right. But in another +part of the field fortune favoured him for a time. Two French +columns of infantry from Donzelot's division took La Haye Sainte +between six and seven o'clock, and the means were now given for +organizing another formidable attack on the centre of the Allies. + +["On came the whirlwind--like the last + But fiercest sweep of tempest blast-- + On came the whirlwind--steel-gleams broke + Like lightning through the rolling smoke; + The war was waked anew, + Three hundred cannon-mouths roar'd loud, + And from their throats, with flash and cloud, + Their showers of iron threw. + Beneath their fire in full career, + Rush'd on the ponderous cuirassier, + The lancer couch'd his ruthless spear, + And hurrying as to havoc near, + The cohorts' eagles flew. + In one dark torrent, broad and strong, + The advancing onset roll'd along, + Forth harbinger'd by fierce acclaim, + That, from the shroud of smoke and flame, + Peal'd wildly the imperial name. + +"But on the British heart were lost + The terrors of the charging host; + For not an eye the storm that view'd + Changed its proud glance of fortitude, + Nor was one forward footstep staid, + As dropp'd the dying and the dead. + Fast as their ranks the thunders tear, + Fast they renew'd each serried square; + And on the wounded and the slain + Closed their diminish'd files again, + Till from their line scarce spears' lengths three, + Emerging from the smoke they see + Helmet, and plume, and panoply,-- + Then waked their fire at once! + Each musketeer's revolving knell, + As fast, as regularly fell, + As when they practise to display + Their discipline on festal day. + Then down went helm and lance, + Down were the eagle banners sent, + Down reeling steeds and riders went, + Corslets were pierced, and pennons rent; + And, to augment the fray, + Wheeled full against their staggering flanks, + The English horsemen's foaming ranks + Forced their resistless way. + Then to the musket-knell succeeds + The clash of swords--the neigh of steeds-- + As plies the smith his clanging trade, + Against the cuirass rang the blade; + And while amid their close array + The well-served cannon rent their way, + And while amid their scatter'd band + Raged the fierce rider's bloody brand, + Recoil'd in common rout and fear, + Lancer and guard and cuirassier, + Horseman and foot,--a mingled host, + Their leaders fall'n, their standards lost."--SCOTT.] + +There was no time to be lost--Blucher and Bulow were beginning to +press hard upon the French right. As early as five o'clock, +Napoleon had been obliged to detach Lobau's infantry and Domont's +horse to check these new enemies. They succeeded in doing so for +a time; but as larger numbers of the Prussians came on the field, +they turned Lobau's right flank, and sent a strong force to seize +the village of Planchenoit, which, it will be remembered, lay in +the rear of the French right. + +The design of the Allies was not merely to prevent Napoleon from +advancing upon Brussels, but to cut off his line of retreat and +utterly destroy his army. The defence of Planchenoit therefore +became absolutely essential for the safety of the French, and +Napoleon was obliged to send his Young Guard to occupy that +village, which was accordingly held by them with great gallantry +against the reiterated assaults of the Prussian left, under +Bulow. Three times did the Prussians fight their way into +Planchenoit, and as often did the French drive them out: the +contest was maintained with the fiercest desperation on both +sides, such being the animosity between the two nations that +quarter was seldom given or even asked. Other Prussian forces +were now appearing on the field nearer to the English left; whom +also Napoleon kept in check, by troops detached for that purpose. +Thus a large part of the French army was now thrown back on a +line at right angles with the line of that portion which still +confronted and assailed the English position. But this portion +was now numerically inferior to the force under the Duke of +Wellington, which Napoleon had been assailing throughout the day, +without gaining any other advantage than the capture of La Haye +Sainte. It is true that, owing to the gross misconduct of the +greater part of the Dutch and Belgian troops, the Duke was +obliged to rely exclusively on his English and German soldiers, +and the ranks of these had been fearfully thinned; but the +survivors stood their ground heroically, and opposed a resolute +front to every forward movement of their enemies. + +On no point of the British line was the pressure more severe than +on Halkett's brigade in the right centre which was composed of +battalions of the 30th, the 33d, the 69th, and the 73d British +regiments. We fortunately can quote from the journal of a brave +officer of the 30th, a narrative of what took place in this part +of the field. [This excellent journal was published in the +"United Service Magazine" during the year 1852.] The late Major +Macready served at Waterloo in the light company of the 30th. +The extent of the peril and the carnage which Halkett's brigade +had to encounter, may be judged of by the fact that this light +company marched into the field three officers and fifty-one men, +and that at the end of the battle they stood one officer and ten +men. Major Macready's blunt soldierly account of what he +actually saw and felt, gives a far better idea of the terrific +scene, than can be gained from the polished generalisations which +the conventional style of history requires, or even from the +glowing stanzas of the poet. During the earlier part of the day +Macready and his light company were thrown forward as skirmishers +in front of the brigade; but when the French cavalry commenced +their attacks on the British right centre, he and his comrades +were ordered back. The brave soldier thus himself describes what +passed: + +"Before the commencement of this attack our company and the +Grenadiers of the 73d were skirmishing briskly in the low ground, +covering our guns, and annoying those of the enemy. The line of +tirailleurs opposed to us was not stronger than our own, but on a +sudden they were reinforced by numerous bodies, and several guns +began playing on us with canister. Our poor fellows dropped very +fast, and Colonel Vigoureux, Rumley, and Pratt, were carried off +badly wounded in about two minutes. I was now commander of our +company. We stood under this hurricane of small shot till +Halkett sent to order us in, and I brought away about a third of +the light bobs; the rest were killed or wounded, and I really +wonder how one of them escaped. As our bugler was killed, I +shouted and made signals to move by the left, in order to avoid +the fire of our guns, and to put as good a face upon the business +as possible. + +"When I reached Lloyd's abandoned guns, I stood near them for +about a minute to contemplate the scene: it was grand beyond +description. Hougoumont and its wood sent up a broad flame +through the dark masses of smoke that overhung the field; beneath +this cloud the French were indistinctly visible. Here a waving +mass of long red feathers could be seen; there, gleams as from a +sheet of steel showed that the cuirassiers were moving; 400 +cannon were belching forth fire and death on every side; the +roaring and shouting were indistinguishably commixed--together +they gave me an idea of a labouring volcano. Bodies of infantry +and cavalry were pouring down on us, and it was time to leave +contemplation, so I moved towards our columns, which were +standing up in square. Our regiment and 73d formed one, and 33d +and 69th another; to our right beyond them were the Guards, and +on our left the Hanoverians and German legion of our division. +As I entered the rear face of our square I had to step over a +body, and looking down, recognised Harry Beers, an officer of our +Grenadiers, who about an hour before shook hands with me, +laughing, as I left the columns. I was on the usual terms of +military intimacy with poor Harry--that is to say, if either of +us had died a natural death, the other would have pitied him as a +good fellow, and smiled at his neighbour as he congratulated him +on the step; but seeing his herculean frame and animated +countenance thus suddenly stiff and motionless before me (I know +not whence the feeling could originate, for I had just seen my +dearest friend drop, almost with indifference), the tears started +in my eyes as I sighed out, 'Poor Harry!' The tear was not dry on +my cheek when poor Harry was no longer thought of. In a few +minutes after, the enemy's cavalry galloped up and crowned the +crest of our position. Our guns were abandoned, and they formed +between the two brigades, about a hundred paces in our front. +Their first charge was magnificent. As soon as they quickened +their trot into a gallop, the cuirassiers bent their heads so +that the peaks of their helmets looked like vizors, and they +seemed cased in armour from the plume to the saddle. Not a shot +was fired till they were within thirty yards, when the word was +given, and our men fired away at them. The effect was magical. +Through the smoke we could see helmets falling, cavaliers +starting from their seats with convulsive springs as they +received our balls, horses plunging and rearing in the agonies of +fright and pain, and crowds of the soldiery dismounted, part of +the squadron in retreat, but the more daring remainder backing +their horses to force them on our bayonets. Our fire soon +disposed of these gentlemen. The main body re-formed in our +front, and rapidly and gallantly repeated their attacks, In fact, +from this time (about four o'clock) till near six, we had a +constant repetition of these brave but unavailing charges. There +was no difficulty in repulsing them, but our ammunition decreased +alarmingly. At length an artillery wagon galloped up, emptied +two or three casks of cartridges into the square, and we were all +comfortable. + +"The best cavalry is contemptible to a steady and well-supplied +infantry regiment; even our men saw this, and began to pity the +useless perseverance of their assailants, and, as they advanced, +would growl out, 'Here come these fools again!' One of their +superior officers tried a RUSE DE GUERRE, by advancing and +dropping his sword, as though he surrendered; some of us were +deceived by him, but Halkett ordered the men to fire, and he +coolly retired, saluting us. Their devotion was invincible. One +officer whom we had taken prisoner was asked what force Napoleon +might have in the field, and replied with a smile of mingled +derision and threatening, 'Vous verrez bientot sa force, +messieurs.' A private cuirassier was wounded and dragged into +the square; his only cry was, 'Tuez donc, tuez, tuez moi, +soldats!' and as one of our men dropped dead close to him, he +seized his bayonet, and forced it into his own neck; but this not +despatching him, he raised up his cuirass, and plunging the +bayonet into his stomach, kept working it about till he ceased to +breathe. + +"Though we constantly thrashed our steel-clad opponents, we found +more troublesome customers in the round shot and grape, which all +this time played on us with terrible effect, and fully avenged +the cuirassiers. Often as the volleys created openings in our +square would the cavalry dash on, but they were uniformly +unsuccessful. A regiment on our right seemed sadly disconcerted, +and at one moment was in considerable confusion. Halkett rode +out to them, and seizing their colour, waved it over his head, +and restored them to something like order, though not before his +horse was shot under him. At the height of their unsteadiness we +got the order to 'right face' to move to their assistance; some +of the men mistook it for 'right about face,' and faced +accordingly, when old Major M'Laine, 73d, called out, 'No, my +boys, its "right face;" you'll never hear the right about as long +as a French bayonet is in front of you!' In a few moments he was +mortally wounded. A regiment of light Dragoons, by their facings +either the 16th or 23d, came up to our left and charged the +cuirassiers. We cheered each other as they passed us; they did +all they could, but were obliged to retire after a few minutes at +the sabre. A body of Belgian cavalry advanced for the same +purpose, but on passing our square, they stopped short. Our +noble Halkett rode out to them and offered to charge at their +head; it was of no use; the Prince of Orange came up and exhorted +them to do their duty, but in vain. They hesitated till a few +shots whizzed through them, when they turned about, and galloped +like fury, or, rather, like fear. As they passed the right face +of our square the men, irritated by their rascally conduct, +unanimously took up their pieces and fired a volley into them, +and 'many a good fellow was destroyed so cowardly.' + +"The enemy's cavalry were by this time nearly disposed of, and as +they had discovered the inutility of their charges, they +commenced annoying us by a spirited and well-directed carbine +fire. While we were employed in this manner it was impossible to +see farther than the columns on our right and left, but I imagine +most of the army were similarly situated: all the British and +Germans were doing their duty. About six o'clock I perceived +some artillery trotting up our hill, which I knew by their caps +to belong to the Imperial Guard. I had hardly mentioned this to +a brother officer when two guns unlimbered within seventy paces +of us, and, by their first discharge of grape, blew seven men +into the centre of the square. They immediately reloaded, and +kept up a constant and destructive fire. It was noble to see our +fellows fill up the gaps after every discharge. I was much +distressed at this moment; having ordered up three of my light +bobs, they had hardly taken their station when two of them fell +horribly lacerated. One of them looked up in my face and uttered +a sort of reproachful groan, and I involuntarily exclaimed, 'I +couldn't help it.' We would willingly have charged these guns, +but, had we deployed, the cavalry that flanked them would have +made an example of us. + +"The 'vivida vis animi'--the glow which fires one upon entering +into action--had ceased; it was now to be seen which side had +most bottom, and would stand killing longest. The Duke visited +us frequently at this momentous period; he was coolness +personified. As he crossed the rear face of our square a shell +fell amongst our grenadiers, and he checked his horse to see its +effect. Some men were blown to pieces by the explosion, and he +merely stirred the rein of his charger, apparently as little +concerned at their fate as at his own danger. No leader ever +possessed so fully the confidence of his soldiery: wherever he +appeared, a murmur of 'Silence--stand to your front--here's the +Duke,' was heard through the column, and then all was steady as +on a parade. His aides-de-camp, Colonels Canning and Gordon, +fell near our square, and the former died within it. As he came +near us late in the evening, Halkett rode out to him and +represented our weak state, begging his Grace to afford us a +little support. 'It's impossible, Halkett,' said he. And our +general replied, 'If so, sir, you may depend on the brigade to a +man!'" + +All accounts of the battle show that the Duke was ever present at +each spot where danger seemed the most pressing; inspiriting his +men by a few homely and good-humoured words; and restraining +their impatience to be led forward to attack in their turn.-- +"Hard pounding this, gentlemen: we will try who can pound the +longest," was his remark to a battalion, on which the storm from +the French guns was pouring with peculiar fury. Riding up to one +of the squares, which had been dreadfully weakened, and against +which a fresh attack of French cavalry was coming, he called to +them: "Stand firm, my lads; what will they say of this in +England?" As he rode along another part of the line where the +men had for some time been falling fast beneath the enemy's +cannonade, without having any close fighting, a murmur reached +his ear of natural eagerness to advance and do something more +than stand still to be shot at. The Duke called to them: "Wait +a little longer, my lads, and you shall have your wish." The men +were instantly satisfied and steady. It was, indeed, +indispensable for the Duke to bide his time. The premature +movement of a single corps down from the British line of heights, +would have endangered the whole position, and have probably made +Waterloo a second Hastings. + +But the Duke inspired all under him with his own spirit of +patient firmness. When other generals besides Halkett sent to +him, begging for reinforcements, or for leave to withdraw corps +which were reduced to skeletons, the answer was the same: "It is +impossible; you must hold your ground to the last man, and all +will be well." He gave a similar reply to some of his staff; who +asked instructions from him, so that, in the event of his +falling, his successor might follow out his plan. He answered, +"My plan is simply to stand my ground here to the last man." His +personal danger was indeed imminent throughout the day; and +though he escaped without injury to himself or horse, one only of +his numerous staff was equally fortunate. + +["As far as the French accounts would lead us to infer, it +appears that the losses among Napoleon's staff were comparatively +trifling. On this subject perhaps the marked contrast afforded +by the following anecdotes, which have been related to me on +excellent authority, may tend to throw some light. At one period +of the battle, when the Duke was surrounded by several of his +staff, it was very evident that the group had become the object +of the fire of a French battery. The shot fell fast about them, +generally striking and turning up the ground on which they stood. +Their horses became restive and 'Copenhagen' himself so fidgetty, +that the Duke, getting impatient, and having reasons for +remaining on the spot, said to those about him, 'Gentlemen we are +rather too close together--better to divide a little.' +Subsequently, at another point of the line, an officer of +artillery came up to the Duke, and stated that he had a distinct +view of Napoleon, attended by his staff; that he had the guns of +his battery well pointed in that direction, and was prepared to +fire. His Grace instantly and emphatically exclaimed, 'No! no! +I'll not allow it. It is not the business of commanders to be +firing upon each other.'--Siborne, vol. ii. p. 263. How +different is this from Napoleon's conduct at the battle of +Dresden, when he personally directed the fire of the battery +which, as he thought, killed the Emperor Alexander, and actually +killed Moreau.] + +Napoleon had stationed himself during the battle on a little +hillock near La Belle Alliance, in the centre of the French +position. Here he was seated, with a large table from the +neighbouring farm-house before him, on which maps and plans were +spread; and thence with his telescope he surveyed the various +points of the field. Soult watched his orders close at his left +hand, and his staff was grouped on horseback a few paces in the +rear. ["Souvenirs Militaires," par Col, Lemonnier-Delafosse, p. +407. "Ouvrard, who attended Napoleon as chief commissary of the +French army on that occasion, told me that Napoleon was suffering +from a complaint which made it very painful for him to ride." +--Lord Ellesmere, p. 47.] Here he remained till near the close +of the day, preserving the appearance at least of calmness, +except some expressions of irritation which escaped him, when +Ney's attack on the British left centre was defeated. But now +that the crisis of the battle was evidently approaching, he +mounted a white Persian charger, which he rode in action because +the troops easily recognised him by the horse colour. He had +still the means of effecting a retreat. His Old Guard had yet +taken no part in the action. Under cover of it, he might have +withdrawn his shattered forces and retired upon the French +frontier. But this would only have given the English and +Prussians the opportunity of completing their junction; and he +knew that other armies were fast coming up to aid them in a march +upon Paris, if he should succeed in avoiding an encounter with +them, and retreating upon the capital. A victory at Waterloo was +his only alternative from utter ruin, and he determined to employ +his Guard in one bold stroke more to make that victory his own. + +Between seven and eight o'clock, the infantry of the Old Guard +was formed into two columns, on the declivity near La Belle +Alliance. Ney was placed at their head. Napoleon himself rode +forward to a spot by which his veterans were to pass; and, as +they approached, he raised his arm, and pointed to the position +of the Allies, as if to tell them that their path lay there. +They answered with loud cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" and +descended the hill from their own side, into that "valley of the +shadow of death" while the batteries thundered with redoubled +vigour over their heads upon the British line. The line of march +of the columns of the Guard was directed between Hougoumont and +La Haye Sainte, against the British right centre; and at the same +time the French under Donzelot, who had possession of La Haye +Sainte, commenced a fierce attack upon the British centre, a +little more to its left. This part of the battle has drawn less +attention than the celebrated attack of the Old Guard; but it +formed the most perilous crisis for the allied army; and if the +Young Guard had been there to support Donzelot, instead of being +engaged with the Prussians at Planchenoit, the consequences to +the Allies in that part of the field must have been most serious. +The French tirailleurs, who were posted in clouds in La Haye +Sainte, and the sheltered spots near it, picked off the +artillerymen of the English batteries near them: and taking +advantage of the disabled state of the English guns, the French +brought some field-pieces up to La Haye Sainte, and commenced +firing grape from them on the infantry of the Allies, at a +distance of not more than a hundred paces. The allied infantry +here consisted of some German brigades, who were formed in +squares, as it was believed that Donzelot had cavalry ready +behind La Haye Sainte to charge them with, if they left that +order of formation. In this state the Germans remained for some +time with heroic fortitude, though the grape-shot was tearing +gaps in their ranks and the side of one square was literally +blown away by one tremendous volley which the French gunners +poured into it. The Prince of Orange in vain endeavoured to lead +some Nassau troops to the aid of the brave Germans. The +Nassauers would not or could not face the French; and some +battalions of Brunswickers, whom the Duke of Wellington had +ordered up as a reinforcement, at first fell back, until the Duke +in person rallied them, and led them on. Having thus barred the +farther advance of Donzelot, the Duke galloped off to the right +to head his men who were exposed to the attack of the Imperial +Guard. He had saved one part of his centre from being routed; +but the French had gained ground and kept it; and the pressure on +the allied line in front of La Haye Sainte was fearfully severe, +until it was relieved by the decisive success which the British +in the right centre achieved over the columns of the Guard. + +The British troops on the crest of that part of the position, +which the first column of Napoleon's Guards assailed, were +Maitland's brigade of British Guards, having Adams's brigade +(which had been brought forward during the action) on their +right. Maitland's men were lying down, in order to avoid as far +as possible the destructive effect of the French artillery, which +kept up an unremitting fire from the opposite heights, until the +first column of the Imperial Guard had advanced so far up the +slope towards the British position, that any further firing of +the French artillerymen would have endangered their own comrades. +Meanwhile the British guns were not idle; but shot and shell +ploughed fast through the ranks of the stately array of veterans +that still moved imposingly on. Several of the French superior +officers were at its head. Ney's horse was shot under him, but +he still led the way on foot, sword in hand. The front of the +massive column now was on the ridge of the hill. To their +surprise they saw no troops before them. All they could discern +through the smoke was a small band of mounted officers. One of +them was the Duke himself. The French advanced to about fifty +yards from where the British Guards were lying down when the +voice of one of the group of British officers was heard calling, +as if to the ground before him, "Up, Guards, and at them!" It +was the Duke who gave the order; and at the words, as if by +magic, up started before them a line of the British Guards four +deep, and in the most compact and perfect order. They poured an +instantaneous volley upon the head of the French column, by which +no less than three hundred of those chosen veterans are said to +have fallen. The French officers rushed forwards; and, +conspicuous in front of their men, attempted to deploy them into +a more extended line, so as to enable them to reply with effect +to the British fire. But Maitland's brigade kept showering in +volley after volley with deadly rapidity. The decimated column +grew disordered in its vain efforts to expand itself into a more +efficient formation. The right word was given at the right +moment to the British for the bayonet-charge, and the brigade +sprang forward with a loud cheer against their dismayed +antagonists. In an instant the compact mass of the French spread +out into a rabble, and they fled back down the hill, pursued by +Maitland's men, who, however, returned to their position in time +to take part in the repulse of the second column of the Imperial +Guard. + +This column also advanced with great spirit and firmness under +the cannonade which was opened on it; and passing by the eastern +wall of Hougoumont, diverged slightly to the right as it moved up +the slope towards the British position, so as to approach nearly +the same spot where the first column had surmounted the height, +and been defeated. This enabled the British regiments of Adams's +brigade to form a line parallel to the left flank of the French +column; so that while the front of this column of French Guards +had to encounter the cannonade of the British batteries, and the +musketry of Maitlands Guards, its left flank was assailed with a +destructive fire by a four-deep body of British infantry, +extending all along it. In such a position all the bravery and +skill of the French veterans were vain. The second column, like +its predecessor, broke and fled, taking at first a lateral +direction along the front of the British line towards the rear of +La Haye Sainte, and so becoming blended with the divisions of +French infantry, which under Donzelot had been assailing the +Allies so formidably in that quarter. The sight of the Old Guard +broken and in flight checked the ardour which Donzelot's troops +had hitherto displayed. They, too, began to waver. Adams's +victorious brigade was pressing after the flying Guard, and now +cleared away the assailants of the allied centre. But the battle +was not yet won. Napoleon had still some battalions in reserve +near La Belle Alliance. He was rapidly rallying the remains of +the first column of his Guards, and he had collected into one +body the remnants of the various corps of cavalry, which had +suffered so severely in the earlier part of the day. The Duke +instantly formed the bold resolution of now himself becoming the +assailant, and leading his successful though enfeebled army +forward, while the disheartening effect of the repulse of the +Imperial Guard on the rest of the French army was still strong, +and before Napoleon and Ney could rally the beaten veterans +themselves for another and a fiercer charge. As the close +approach of the Prussians now completely protected the Duke's +left, he had drawn some reserves of horse from that quarter, and +he had a brigade of Hussars under Vivian fresh and ready at hand. +Without a moment's hesitation he launched these against the +cavalry near La Belie Alliance. The charge was as successful as +it was daring: and as there was now no hostile cavalry to check +the British infantry in a forward movement, the Duke gave the +long-wished-for command for a general advance of the army along +the whole line upon the foe. It was now past eight o'clock, and +for nearly nine deadly hours had the British and German regiments +stood unflinching under the fire of artillery, the charge of +cavalry, and every variety of assault, which the compact columns +or the scattered tirailleurs of the enemy's infantry could +inflict. As they joyously sprang forward against the discomfited +masses of the French, the setting sun broke through the clouds +which had obscured the sky during the greater part of the day, +and glittered on the bayonets of the Allies, while they poured +down into the valley and towards the heights that were held by +the foe. The Duke himself was among the foremost in the advance, +and personally directed the movements against each body of the +French that essayed resistance. He rode in front of Adams's +brigade, cheering it forward, and even galloped among the most +advanced of the British skirmishers, speaking joyously to the +men, and receiving their hearty shouts of congratulation. The +bullets of both friends and foes were whistling fast round him; +and one of the few survivors of his staff remonstrated with him +for thus exposing a life of such value. "Never mind," was the +Duke's answer;--"Never mind, let them fire away; the battle's +won, and my life is of no consequence now." And, indeed, almost +the whole of the French host was now in irreparable confusion. +The Prussian army was coming more and more rapidly forwards on +their right; and the Young Guard, which had held Planchenoit so +bravely, was at last compelled to give way. Some regiments of +the Old Guard in vain endeavoured to form in squares and stem the +current. They were swept away, and wrecked among the waves of +the flyers. Napoleon had placed himself in one of these squares: +Marshal Soult, Generals Bertrand, Drouot, Corbineau, De Flahaut, +and Gourgaud, were with him. The Emperor spoke of dying on the +field, but Soult seized his bridle and turned his charger round, +exclaiming, "Sire, are not the enemy already lucky enough?" +[Colonel Lemonnier-Delafosse, "Memoires," p. 388. The Colonel +states that he heard these details from General Gourgaud himself. +The English reader will be reminded of Charles I.'s retreat from +Naseby.] With the greatest difficulty, and only by the utmost +exertion of the devoted officers round him, Napoleon cleared the +throng of fugitives, and escaped from the scene of the battle and +the war, which he and France had lost past all recovery. +Meanwhile the Duke of Wellington still rode forward with the van +of his victorious troops, until he reined up on the elevated +ground near Rossomme. The daylight was now entirely gone; but +the young moon had risen, and the light which it cast, aided by +the glare from the burning houses and other buildings in the line +of the flying French and pursuing Prussians, enabled the Duke to +assure himself that his victory was complete. He then rode back +along the Charleroi road toward Waterloo: and near La Belle +Alliance he met Marshal Blucher. Warm were the congratulations +that were exchanged between the Allied Chiefs. It was arranged +that the Prussians should follow up the pursuit, and give the +French no chance of rallying. Accordingly the British army, +exhausted by its toils and sufferings during that dreadful day, +did not advance beyond the heights which the enemy had occupied. +But the Prussians drove the fugitives before them in merciless +chase throughout the night. Cannon, baggage, and all the +materiel of the army were abandoned by the French; and many +thousands of the infantry threw away their arms to facilitate +their escape. The ground was strewn for miles with the wrecks of +their host. There was no rear-guard; nor was even the semblance +of order attempted, an attempt at resistance was made at the +bridge and village of Genappe, the first narrow pass through +which the bulk of the French retired. The situation was +favourable; and a few resolute battalions, if ably commanded, +might have held their pursuers at bay there for some considerable +time. But despair and panic were now universal in the beaten +army. At the first sound of the Prussian drums and bugles, +Genappe was abandoned, and nothing thought of but headlong +flight. The Prussians, under General Gneisenau, still followed +and still slew; nor even when the Prussian infantry stopped in +sheer exhaustion, was the pursuit given up. Gneisenau still +pushed on with the cavalry; and by an ingenious stratagem, made +the French believe that his infantry were still close on them, +and scared them from every spot where they attempted to pause and +rest. He mounted one of his drummers on a horse which had been +taken from the captured carriage of Napoleon, and made him ride +along with the pursuing cavalry, and beat the drum whenever they +came on any large number of the French. The French thus fled, +and the Prussians pursued through Quatre Bras, and even over the +heights of Frasne; and when at length Gneisenau drew bridle, and +halted a little beyond Frasne with the scanty remnant of keen +hunters who had kept up the chace with him to the last, the +French were scattered through Gosselies, Marchiennes, and +Charleroi; and were striving to regain the left bank of the river +Sambre, which they had crossed in such pomp and pride not a +hundred hours before. + +Part of the French left wing endeavoured to escape from the field +without blending with the main body of the fugitives who thronged +the Genappe causeway. A French officer, who was among those who +thus retreated across the country westward of the high-road, has +vividly described what he witnessed and what he suffered. +Colonel Lemonnier-Delafosse served in the campaign of 1815 in +General Foy's staff, and was consequently in that part of the +French army at Waterloo, which acted against Hougoumont and the +British right wing. When the column of the Imperial Guard made +their great charge at the end of the day, the troops of Foy's +division advanced in support of them, and Colonel Lemonnier- +Delafosse describes the confident hopes of victory and promotion +with which he marched to that attack, and the fearful carnage and +confusion of the assailants, amid which he was helplessly hurried +back by his flying comrades. He then narrates the closing scene, +[Col. Lemonnier-Delafosse, "Memoires," pp. 385-405. There are +omissions and abridgments in the translation which I have +given.]: + +"Near one of the hedges of Hougoumont farm, without even a +drummer to beat the RAPPEL, we succeeded in rallying under the +enemy's fire 300 men: they were nearly all that remained of our +splendid division, Thither came together a band of generals. +There was Reille, whose horse had been shot under him; there were +D'Erlon, Bachelu, Foy, Jamin, and others. All were gloomy and +sorrowful, like vanquished men. Their words were,--'Here is all +that is left of my corps, of my division, of my brigade. I, +myself.' We had seen the fall of Duhesme, of Pelet-de-Morvan, of +Michel--generals who had found a glorious death. My General, +Foy, had his shoulder pierced through by a musket-ball: and out +of his whole staff two officers only were left to him, Cahour +Duhay and I. Fate had spared me in the midst of so many dangers, +though the first charger I rode had been shot and had fallen on +me. + +"The enemy's horse were coming down on us, and our little group +was obliged to retreat. 'What had happened to our division of +the left wing had taken place all along the line. The movement +of the hostile cavalry, which inundated the whole plain, had +demoralised our soldiers, who seeing all regular retreat of the +army cut off, strove each man to effect one for himself. At each +instant the road became more encumbered. Infantry, cavalry, and +artillery, were pressing along pell-mell: jammed together like a +solid mass. Figure to yourself 40,000 men struggling and +thrusting themselves along a single causeway. We could not take +that way without destruction; so the generals who had collected +together near the Hougoumont hedge dispersed across the fields. +General Foy alone remained with the 300 men whom he had gleaned +from the field of battle, and marched at their head. Our anxiety +was to withdraw from the scene of action without being confounded +with the fugitives. Our general wished to retreat like a true +soldier. Seeing three lights in the southern horizon, like +beacons, General Foy asked me what I thought of the position of +each. I answered, 'The first to the left is Genappe, the second +is at Bois de Bossu, near the farm of Quatre Bras; the third is +at Gosselies.' 'Let us march on the second one, then,' replied +Foy, 'and let no obstacle stop us--take the head of the column, +and do not lose sight of the guiding light.' Such was his order, +and I strove to obey. + +"After all the agitation and the incessant din of a long day of +battle, how imposing was the stillness of that night! We +proceeded on our sad and lonely march. We were a prey to the +most cruel reflections, we were humiliated, we were hopeless; but +not a word of complaint was heard. We walked silently as a troop +of mourners, and it might have been said that we were attending +the funeral of our country's glory. Suddenly the stillness was +broken by a challenge,--'QUI VIVE?' 'France!' 'Kellerman!' +'Foy!' 'Is it you, General? come nearer to us.' At that moment +we were passing over a little hillock, at the foot of which was a +hut, in which Kellerman and some of his officers had halted. +They came out to join as Foy said to me, 'Kellerman knows the +country: he has been along here before with his cavalry; we had +better follow him.' But we found that the direction which +Kellerman chose was towards the first light, towards Genappe. +That led to the causeway which our general rightly wished to +avoid I went to the left to reconnoitre, and was soon convinced +that such was the case. It was then that I was able to form a +full idea of the disorder of a routed army. What a hideous +spectacle! The mountain torrent, that uproots and whirls along +with it every momentary obstacle, is a feeble image of that heap +of men, of horses, of equipages, rushing one upon another; +gathering before the least obstacle which dams up their way for a +few seconds, only to form a mass which overthrows everything in +the path which it forces for itself. Woe to him whose footing +failed him in that deluge! He was crushed, trampled to death! I +returned and told my general what I had seen, and he instantly +abandoned Kellerman, and resumed his original line of march. + +"Keeping straight across the country over fields and the rough +thickets, we at last arrived at the Bois de Bossu, where we +halted. My General said to me, 'Go to the farm of Quatre Bras +and announce that we are here. The Emperor or Soult must be +there. Ask for orders, and recollect that I am waiting here for +you. The lives of these men depend on your exactness.' To reach +the farm I was obliged to cross the high road: I was on +horseback, but nevertheless was borne away by the crowd that fled +along the road, and it was long are I could extricate myself and +reach the farmhouse. General Lobau was there with his staff, +resting in fancied security. They thought that their troops had +halted there; but, though a halt had been attempted, the men had +soon fled forwards, like their comrades of the rest of the army. +The shots of the approaching Prussians were now heard; and I +believe that General Lobau was taken prisoner in that farmhouse. +I left him to rejoin my general, which I did with difficulty. I +found him alone. His men, as they came near the current of +flight, were infected with the general panic, and fled also. + +"What was to be done? Follow that crowd of runaways? General +Foy would not hear of it. There were five of us still with him, +all officers. He had been wounded at about five in the +afternoon, and the wound had not been dressed. He suffered +severely; but his moral courage was unbroken. 'Let us keep,' he +said, 'a line parallel to the high road, and work our way hence +as we best can.' A foot-track was before us, and we followed it. + +"The moon shone out brightly, and revealed the full wretchedness +of the TABLEAU which met our eyes. A brigadier and four cavalry +soldiers, whom we met with, formed our escort. We marched on; +and, as the noise grew more distant, I thought that we were +losing the parallel of the highway. Finding that we had the moon +more and more on the left, I felt sure of this, and mentioned it +to the General. Absorbed in thought, he made me no reply. We +came in front of a windmill, and endeavoured to procure some +information; but we could not gain an entrance, or make any one +answer, and we continued our nocturnal march. At last we entered +a village, but found every door closed against us, and were +obliged to use threats in order to gain admission into a single +house. The poor woman to whom it belonged, more dead than alive, +received us as if we had been enemies. Before asking where we +were, 'Food, give as some food!' was our cry. Bread and butter +and beer were brought, and soon disappeared before men who had +fasted for twenty-four hours. A little revived, we ask, 'Where +are we? what is the name of this village?'--'Vieville.' + +"On looking at the map, I saw that in coming to that village we +had leaned too much to the right, and that we were in the +direction of Mons. In order to reach the Sambre at the bridge of +Marchiennes, we had four leagues to traverse; and there was +scarcely time to march the distance before daybreak. I made a +villager act as our guide, and bound him by his arm to my +stirrup. He led us through Roux to Marchiennes. The poor fellow +ran alongside of my horse the whole way. It was cruel, but +necessary to compel him, for we had not an instant to spare. At +six in the morning we entered Marchiennes. + +"Marshal Ney was there. Our general went to see him, and to ask +what orders he had to give. Ney was asleep; and, rather than rob +him of the first repose he had had for four days, our General +returned to us without seeing him. And, indeed, what orders +could Marshal Ney have given? The whole army was crossing the +Sambre, each man where and now he chose; some at Charleroi, some +at Marchiennes. We were about to do the same thing. When once +beyond the Sambre we might safely halt; and both men and horses +were in extreme need of rest. We passed through Thuin; and +finding a little copse near the road, we gladly sought its +shelter. While our horses grazed, we lay down and slept. How +sweet was that sleep after the fatigues of the long day of +battle, and after the night of retreat more painful still! We +rested in the little copse till noon, and sate there watching the +wrecks of our army defile along the road before us. It was a +soul-harrowing sight! Yet the different arms of the service had +resumed a certain degree of order amid their disorder; and our +General, feeling his strength revive, resolved to follow a strong +column of cavalry which was taking the direction of Beaumont, +about four leagues off. We drew near Beaumont, when suddenly a +regiment of horse was seen debouching from a wood on our left. +The column that we followed shouted out, 'The Prussians! the +Prussians!' and galloped off in utter disorder. The troops that +thus alarmed them were not a tenth part of their number, and were +in reality our own 8th Hussars, who wore green uniforms. But the +panic had been brought even thus far from the battle-field, and +the disorganized column galloped into Beaumont, which was already +crowded with our infantry. We were obliged to follow that +DEBACLE. On entering Beaumont we chose a house of superior +appearance, and demanded of the mistress of it refreshments for +the General. 'Alas!' said the lady, 'this is the tenth General +who has been to this house since this morning. I have nothing +left. Search, if you please, and see.' Though unable to find +food for the General, I persuaded him to take his coat off and +let me examine his wound. The bullet had gone through the twists +of the left epaulette, and penetrating the skin, had run round +the shoulder without injuring the bone. The lady of the house +made some lint for me; and without any great degree of surgical +skill I succeeded in dressing the wound. + +"Being still anxious to procure some food for the General. and +ourselves, if it were but a loaf of ammunition bread, I left the +house and rode out into the town. I saw pillage going on in +every direction: open caissons, stripped and half-broken, +blocked up the streets. The pavement was covered with plundered +and torn baggage. Pillagers and runaways, such were all the +comrades I met with. Disgusted at them, I strove, sword in hand, +to stop one of the plunderers; but, more active than I, he gave +me a bayonet stab in my left arm, in which I fortunately caught +his thrust, which had been aimed full at my body. He disappeared +among the crowd, through which I could not force my horse. My +spirit of discipline had made me forget that in such +circumstances the soldier is a mere wild beast. But to be +wounded by a fellow-countryman after having passed unharmed +through all the perils of Quatre Bras and Waterloo!--this did +seem hard, indeed. I was trying to return to General Foy, when +another horde of flyers burst into Beaumont, swept me into the +current of their flight, and hurried me out of the town with +them. Until I received my wound I had preserved my moral courage +in full force; but now, worn out with fatigue, covered with +blood, and suffering severe pain from the wound, I own that I +gave way to the general demoralisation, and let myself be inertly +borne along with the rushing mass. At last I reached Landrecies, +though I know not how or when. But I found there our Colonel +Hurday, who had been left behind there in consequence of an +accidental injury from a carriage. He took me with him to Paris, +where I retired amid my family, and got cured of my wound, +knowing nothing of the rest of political and military events that +were taking place." + +No returns ever were made of the amount of the French loss in the +battle of Waterloo; but it must have been immense, and may be +partially judged of by the amount of killed and wounded in the +armies of the conquerors. On this subject both the Prussian and +British official evidence is unquestionably full and authentic. +The figures are terribly emphatic. + +Of the army that fought under the Duke of Wellington nearly +15,000 men were killed and wounded on this single day of battle. +Seven thousand Prussians also fell at Waterloo. At such a +fearful price was the deliverance of Europe purchased. + +By none was the severity of that loss more keenly felt than by +our great deliverer himself. As may be seen in Major Macready's +narrative, the Duke, while the battle was raging, betrayed no +sign of emotion at the most ghastly casualties; but, when all was +over, the sight of the carnage with which the field was covered, +and still more, the sickening spectacle of the agonies of the +wounded men who lay moaning in their misery by thousands and tens +of thousands, weighed heavily on the spirit of the victor, as he +rode back across the scene of strife. On reaching his head- +quarters in the village of Waterloo, the Duke inquired anxiously +after the numerous friends who had been round him in the morning, +and to whom he was warmly attached. Many he was told were dead; +others were lying alive, but mangled and suffering, in the houses +round him. It is in our hero's own words alone that his feelings +can be adequately told. In a letter written by him almost +immediately after his return from the field, he thus expressed +himself:--"My heart is broken by the terrible loss I have +sustained in my old friends and companions, and my poor soldiers. +Believe me, nothing except a battle lost, can be half so +melancholy as a battle won; the bravery of my troops has hitherto +saved me from the greater evil; but to win such a battle as this +of Waterloo, at the expense of so many gallant friends, could +only be termed a heavy misfortune but for the result to the +public." + +It is not often that a successful General in modern warfare is +called on, like the victorious commander of the ancient Greek +armies, to award a prize of superior valour to one of his +soldiers. Such was to some extent the case with respect to the +battle of Waterloo. In the August of 1818, an English clergyman +offered to confer a small annuity on some Waterloo soldier, to be +named by the Duke. [Siborne, vol. i. p. 391.] The Duke +requested Sir John Byng to choose a man from the 2d Brigade of +Guards, which had so highly distinguished itself in the defence +of Hougoumont. There were many gallant candidates, but the +election fell on Sergeant James Graham, of the light company of +the Coldstreams. This brave man had signalised himself, +throughout the day, in the defence of that important post, and +especially in the critical struggle that took place at the period +when the French, who had gained the wood, the orchard, and +detached garden, succeeded in bursting open a gate of the +courtyard of the chateau itself, and rushed in in large masses, +confident of carrying all before them. A hand-to-hand fight, of +the most desperate character, was kept up between them and the +Guards for a few minutes; but at last the British bayonets +prevailed. Nearly all the Frenchmen who had forced their way in +were killed on the spot; and, as the few survivors ran back, five +of the Guards, Colonel Macdonnell, Captain Wyndham, Ensign Gooch, +Ensign Hervey, and Sergeant Graham, by sheer strength, closed the +gate again, in spite of the efforts of the French from without, +and effectually barricaded it against further assaults. Over and +through the loopholed wall of the courtyard, the English garrison +now kept up a deadly fire of musketry, which was fiercely +answered by the French, who swarmed round the curtilage like +ravening wolves. Shells, too, from their batteries, were falling +fast into the besieged place, one of which set part of the +mansion and some of the out-buildings on fire. Graham, who was +at this time standing near Colonel Macdonnell at the wall, and +who had shown the most perfect steadiness and courage, now asked +permission of his commanding officer to retire for a moment. +Macdonnell replied, "By all means, Graham; but I wonder you +should ask leave now." Graham answered, "I would not, sir, only +my brother is wounded, and he is in that out-building there, +which has just caught fire." Laying down his musket, Graham ran +to the blazing spot, lifted up his brother, and laid him in a +ditch. Then he was back at his post, and was plying his musket +against the French again, before his absence was noticed, except +by his colonel. + +Many anecdotes of individual prowess have been preserved: but of +all the brave men who were in the British army on that eventful +day, none deserve more honour for courage and indomitable +resolution than Sir Thomas Picton, who, as has been mentioned, +fell in repulsing the great attack of the French upon the British +left centre. It was not until the dead body was examined after +the battle, that the full heroism of Picton was discerned. He +had been wounded on the 16th, at Quatre Bras, by a musket-ball, +which had broken two of his ribs, and caused also severe internal +injuries; but he had concealed the circumstance, evidently in +expectation that another and greater battle would be fought in a +short time, and desirous to avoid being solicited to absent +himself from the field. His body was blackened and swollen by +the wound, which must have caused severe and incessant pain; and +it was marvellous how his spirit had borne him up, and enabled +him to take part in the fatigues and duties of the field. The +bullet which, on the 18th, killed the renowned loader of "the +fighting Division" of the Peninsula, entered the head near the +left temple, and passed through the brain; so that Picton's death +must have been instantaneous. + +One of the most interesting narratives of personal adventure at +Waterloo, is that of Colonel Frederick Ponsonby, of the 12th +Light Dragoons, who was severely wounded when Vandeleur's +brigade, to which he belonged, attacked the French lancers, in +order to bring off the Union Brigade, which was retiring from its +memorable charge. [See p. 361, SUPRA.] The 12th, like those +whom they rescued, advanced much further against the French +position than prudence warranted. Ponsonby, with many others, +was speared by a reserve of Polish lancers, and left for dead on +the field. It is well to refer to the description of what he +suffered (as he afterwards gave it, when almost miraculously +recovered from his numerous wounds), because his fate, or worse, +was the fate of thousands more; and because the narrative of the +pangs of an individual, with whom we can identify ourselves, +always comes more home to us than a general description of the +miseries of whole masses. His tale may make us remember what are +the horrors of war as well as its glories. It is to be +remembered that the operations which he refers to, took place +about three o'clock in the day, and that the fighting went on for +at least five hours more. After describing how he and his men +charged through the French whom they first encountered, and went +against other enemies, he states:-- + +"We had no sooner passed them than we were ourselves attacked +before we could form, by about 300 Polish lancers, who had +hastened to their relief; the French artillery pouring in among +us a heavy fire of grape, though for one of our men they killed +three of their own. + +"In the MELEE I was almost instantly disabled in both arms, +losing first my sword, and then my reins, and followed by a few +men, who were presently cut down, no quarter being allowed, asked +or given, I was carried along by my horse, till, receiving a blow +from a sabre, I fell senseless on my face to the ground. + +"Recovering, I raised myself a little to look round, being at +that time, I believe, in a condition to get up and run away; when +a lancer passing by, cried out, 'Tu n'est pas mort, coquin!' and +struck his lance through my back. My head dropped, the blood +gushed into my mouth, a difficulty of breathing came on, and I +thought all was over. + +"Not long afterwards (it was impossible to measure time, but I +must have fallen in less than ten minutes after the onset), a +tirailleur stopped to plunder me, threatening my life. I +directed him to a small side-pocket, in which he found three +dollars, all I had; but he continued to threaten, and I said he +might search me: this he did immediately, unloosing my stock and +tearing open my waistcoat, and leaving me in a very uneasy +posture. + +"But he was no sooner gone, than an officer bringing up some +troops, to which probably the tirailleur belonged and happening +to halt where I lay, stooped down and addressed me, saying, he +feared I was badly wounded; I said that I was, and expressed a +wish to be removed to the rear. He said it was against their +orders to remove even their own men; but that if they gained the +day (and he understood that the Duke of Wellington was killed, +and that some of our battalions had surrendered), every attention +in his power would be shown me. I complained of thirst, and he +held his brandy-bottle to my lips, directing one of the soldiers +to lay me straight on my side, and place a knapsack under my +head. He then passed on into action--soon, perhaps, to want, +though not receive, the same assistance; and I shall never know +to whose generosity I was indebted, as I believe, for my life. +Of what rank he was, I cannot say: he wore a great coat. By- +and-by another tirailleur came up, a fine young man, full of +ardour. He knelt down and fired over me, loading and firing many +times, and conversing with me all the while." The Frenchman, +with strange coolness, informed Ponsonby of how he was shooting, +and what he thought of the progress of the battle. "At last he +ran off, exclaiming, 'You will probably not be sorry to hear that +we are going to retreat. Good day, my friend.' It was dusk," +Ponsonby adds, "when two squadrons of Prussian cavalry, each of +them two deep, came across the valley, and passed over me in full +trot, lifting me from the ground, and tumbling me about cruelly. +The clatter of of their approach and the apprehensions they +excited, may be imagined; a gun taking that direction must have +destroyed me. + +"The battle was now at an end, or removed to a distance. The +shouts, the imprecations, the outcries of 'Vive l'Empereur!' the +discharge of musketry and cannon, were over; and the groans of +the wounded all around me, became every moment more and more +audible. I thought the night would never end. + +"Much about this time I found a soldier of the Royals lying +across my legs: he had probably crawled thither in his agony; +and his weight, his convulsive motions, and the air issuing +through a wound in his side, distressed me greatly; the last +circumstance most of all, as I had a wound of the same nature +myself. "It was not a dark night, and the Prussians were +wandering about to plunder; the scene in Ferdinand Count Fathom +came into my mind, though no women appeared. Several stragglers +looked at me, as they passed by, one after another, and at last +one of them stopped to examine me. I told him as well as I +could, for I spoke German very imperfectly, that I was a British +officer, and had been plundered already; he did not desist, +however, and pulled me about roughly. + +"An hour before midnight I saw a man in an English uniform +walking towards me. He was, I suspect, on the same errand, and +he came and looked in my face. I spoke instantly, telling him +who I was, and assuring him of a reward if he would remain by me. +He said he belonged to the 40th, and had missed his regiment; he +released me from the dying soldier, and being unarmed, took up a +sword from the ground, and stood over me, pacing backwards and +forwards. + +"Day broke; and at six o'clock in the morning some English were +seen at a distance, and he ran to them. A messenger being sent +off to Hervey, a cart came for me, and I was placed in it, and +carried to the village of Waterloo, a mile and a half off, and +laid in the bed from which as I understood afterwards, Gordon had +been just carried out. I had received seven wounds; a surgeon +slept in my room, and I was saved by excessive bleeding." + +Major Macready, in the journal already cited, [See SUPRA. +p. 368.] justly praises the deep devotion to their Emperor which, +marked the French at Waterloo. Never, indeed, had the national +bravery of the French people been more nobly shown. One soldier +in the French ranks was seen, when his arm was shattered by a +cannon-ball, to wrench it off with the other; and throwing it up +in the air, he exclaimed to his comrades, "Vive l'Empereur +jusqu'a la mort!" Colonel Lemonnier-Delafosse mentions in his +Memoirs, [Page 388.] that at the beginning of the action, a +French soldier who had had both legs carried off by a cannon- +ball, was borne past the front of Foy's division, and called out +to them, "Ca n'est rien, camarades; Vive l'Empereur! Gloire a +la France!" The same officer, at the end of the battle, when all +hope was lost, tells us that he saw a French grenadier, blackened +with powder, and with his clothes torn and stained, leaning on +his musket, and immoveable as a statue. The colonel called to +him to join his comrades and retreat; but the grenadier showed +him his musket and his hands; and said, "These hands have with +this musket used to-day more than twenty packets of cartridges: +it was more than my share: I supplied myself with ammunition +from the dead. Leave me to die here on the field of battle. It +is not courage that fails me, but strength." Then, as Colonel +Delafosse left him, the soldier stretched himself on the ground +to meet his fate, exclaiming, "Tout est perdu! pauvre France!" +The gallantry of the French officers at least equalled that of +their men. Ney, in particular, set the example of the most +daring courage. Here, as in every French army in which he ever +served or commanded, he was "le brave des braves." Throughout +the day he was in the front of the battle; and was one of the +very last Frenchmen who quitted the field. His horse was killed +under him in the last attack made on the English position; but he +was seen on foot, his clothes torn with bullets, his face +smirched with powder, striving, sword in hand, first to urge his +men forward, and at last to check their flight. + +There was another brave general of the French army, whose valour +and good conduct on that day of disaster to his nation should +never be unnoticed when the story of Waterloo is recounted. This +was General Polet, who, about seven in the evening, led the first +battalion of the 2d regiment of the Chasseurs of the Guard to the +defence of Planchenoit; and on whom Napoleon personally urged the +deep importance of maintaining possession of that village. Pelet +and his men took their post in the central part of the village, +and occupied the church and churchyard in great strength. There +they repelled every assault of the Prussians, who in rapidly +increasing numbers rushed forward with infuriated pertinacity. +They held their post till the utter rout of the main army of +their comrades was apparent, and the victorious Allies were +thronging around Planchenoit. When Pelet and his brave chasseurs +quitted the churchyard, and retired with steady march, though +they suffered fearfully from the moment they left their shelter, +and Prussian cavalry as well as infantry dashed fiercely after +them. Pelet kept together a little knot of 250 veterans, and had +the eagle covered over, and borne along in the midst of them. At +one time the inequality of the ground caused his ranks to open a +little; and in an instant the Prussian horseman were on them, and +striving to capture the eagle. Captain Siborne relates the +conduct of Pelet with the admiration worthy of one brave soldier +for another:-- + +"Pelet, taking advantage of a spot of ground which afforded them +some degree of cover against the fire of grape by which they were +constantly assailed, halted the standard-bearer, and called out, +"A moi chasseurs! sauvons l'aigle ou mourons autour d'elle!" +The chasseurs immediately pressed around him, forming what is +usually termed the rallying square, and, lowering their bayonets, +succeeded in repulsing the charge of cavalry. Some guns were +then brought to bear upon them, and subsequently a brisk fire of +musketry; but notwithstanding the awful sacrifice which was thus +offered up in defence of their precious charge, they succeeded in +reaching the main line of retreat, favoured by the universal +confusion, as also by the general obscurity which now prevailed; +and thus saved alike the eagle and the honour of the regiment." + +French writers do injustice to their own army and general, when +they revive malignant calumnies against Wellington, and speak of +his having blundered into victory. No blunderer could have +successfully encountered such troops as those of Napoleon, and +under such a leader. It is superfluous to cite against these +cavils the testimony which other continental critics have borne +to the high military genius of our illustrious chief. I refer to +one only, which is of peculiar value, on account of the quarter +whence it comes. It is that of the great German writer Niebuhr, +whose accurate acquaintance with every important scene of modern +as well as ancient history was unparalleled: and who was no mere +pedant, but a man practically versed in active life, and had been +personally acquainted with most of the leading men in the great +events of the early part of this century. Niebuhr, in the +passage which I allude to, [Roman History, vol. v. p. 17.] after +referring to the military "blunders" of Mithridates, Frederick +the Great, Napoleon, Pyrrhus, and Hannibal, uses these remarkable +words, "The Duke of Wellington is, I believe, the only general in +whose conduct of war we cannot discover any important mistake." +Not that it is to be supposed that the Duke's merits were simply +of a negative order, or that he was merely a cautious, phlegmatic +general fit only for defensive warfare, as some recent French +historians have described him. On the contrary, he was bold even +to audacity when boldness was required. "The intrepid advance +and fight at Assaye, the crossing of the Douro, and the movement +on Talavera in 1809, the advance to Madrid and Burgos in 1812, +the actions before Bayonne in 1813, and the desperate stand made +at Waterloo itself, when more tamely-prudent generals would have +retreated beyond Brussels, place this beyond a doubt." [See the +admirable parallel of Wellington and Marlborough at the end of +Sir Archibald Alison's "Life of the Duke of Marlborough." Sir +Archibald justly considers Wellington the more daring general of +the two.] + +The overthrow of the French military power at Waterloo was so +complete, that the subsequent events of the brief campaign have +little interest. Lamartine truly says: "This defeat left +nothing undecided in future events, for victory had given +judgment. The war began and ended in a single battle." Napoleon +himself recognised instantly and fully the deadly nature of the +blow which had been dealt to his empire. In his flight from the +battle-field he first halted at Charleroi, but the approach of +the pursuing Prussians drove him thence before he had rested +there an hour. With difficulty getting clear of the wrecks of +his own army, he reached Philippeville, where he remained a few +hours, and sent orders to the French generals in the various +extremities of France to converge with their troops upon Paris. +He ordered Soult to collect the fugitives of his own force, and +lead them to Laon. He then hurried forward to Paris, and reached +his capital before the news of his own defeat. But the stern +truth soon transpired. At the demand of the Chambers of Peers +and Representatives, he abandoned the throne by a second and +final abdication on the 22d of June. On the 29th of June he left +the neighbourhood of Paris, and proceeded to Rochefort in the +hope of escaping to America; but the coast was strictly watched, +and on the 15th of July the ex-emperor surrendered himself on +board of the English man-of-war the Bellerophon. + +Meanwhile the allied armies had advanced steadily upon Paris, +driving before them Grouchy's corps, and the scanty force which +Soult had succeeded in rallying at Laon. Cambray, Peronne, and +other fortresses were speedily captured; and by the 29th of June +the invaders were taking their positions in front of Paris. The +Provisional Government, which acted in the French capital after +the Emperor's abdication, opened negotiations with the allied +chiefs. Blucher, in his quenchless hatred of the French, was +eager to reject all proposals for a suspension of hostilities, +and to assault and storm the city. But the sager and calmer +spirit of Wellington prevailed over his colleague; the entreated +armistice was granted; and on the 3d of July the capitulation of +Paris terminated the War of the Battle of Waterloo. + + +In closing our observations on this the last of the Decisive +Battles of the World, it is pleasing to contrast the year which +it signalized with the year that is now [Written in June 1851.] +passing over our heads. We have not (and long may we be without) +the stern excitement of martial strife, and we see no captive +standards of our European neighbours brought in triumph to our +shrines. But we behold an infinitely prouder spectacle. We see +the banners of every civilized nation waving over the arena of +our competition with each other, in the arts that minister to our +race's support and happiness, and not to its suffering and +destruction. + + "Peace hath her victories + No less renowned than War;" + +and no battle-field ever witnessed a victory more noble than that +which England, under her Sovereign Lady and her Royal Prince, is +now teaching the peoples of the earth to achieve over selfish +prejudices and international feuds, in the great cause of the +general promotion of the industry and welfare of mankind. + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Fifteen Decisive Battles of +The World From Marathon to Waterloo, by Sir Edward Creasy, M.A. + diff --git a/old/2003-05-tfdbt10.zip b/old/2003-05-tfdbt10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7944fe --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2003-05-tfdbt10.zip |