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federates, did not venture to advance farther than Genap, but incamp'd their Right to that place, and their left to Braine la Leu. Upon which the duke of Marlborough took up his quarters in the abbey of Terbank, and monfieur d'Auverquerque his in the fuburbs of Louvain. On the 4th, feveral bridges were laid on the Deule, between Havre and Louvain; and, on the 5th, almoft the whole confederate army foraged in the neighbourhood of their camp. The 6th being appointed by the duke as a day of thanksgiving for the paft fuccefles of the arms of the allies, and to implore a bleffing upon the present campaign, it was religiously obferved throughout the whole army.

The enemy continuing quiet in their camp, the duke of Marlborough took that opportunity of reviewing his troops, which he began to do the 7th, and continued for eight or nine days following, when he had the fatisfaction to find, that the refpective bodies were all very complete, the men in the most excellent order, animated with their former victories; and eager to engage an enemy, that were despicable in their eyes. In this camp it was, that the electoral prince of Hanover (his prefent majefty king George II.) came to the army, and was received with the greatest marks of respect and distinction by all the general officers.

It was now plain, that the enemy had no inclination to engage the confederates. They had indeed in view the recovery of the places they had loft in the year 1706; but it was by their ufual method of furprize and treachery. Nor were their hopes altogether vain, for the elector of Bavaria, who had gained fome intereft in the provinces of the Netherlands, among people of all ranks, by his profusenefs and popular behaviour, with the affiftance of count de Bergeyck, a perfon of great credit, and no lefs activity, and other friends of the house of Bourbon, easily found means to practife upon the levity and reftlefs fpirits of the chief inhabitants of the cities of Ghent (b), Bru

(b) Ghent is a very large city and caftle, one of the principal of the Low-countries, the mar quifate of the earldom of Fland. ers, and territory of Ghent, a Bishopric under the archbishop of Mechlin. It was furprized by, or rather betrayed to the French the beginning of this

ges

campaign; but befieged and re-
covered by the duke of Marlbo-
rough towards the end of the
year. It stands on the river
Scheld and Lys (which divide it
into twenty-fix iflands) twenty-
feven miles almost fouth-west of
Antwerp, thirty north-west of
Bruffels, ninety-four almoft fouth

of

1708.

1708. ges (c), and Antwerp, who promised to open their gates to the troops of France and Spain, as foon as they could find a fair opportunity (d). The truth was, the Dutch were fevere mafters

of Amfterdam, and an hundred and fifty-four north-east of Paris.

(c) Bruges is a fair, ftrong, and noble city of the Low-countries, in the earldom of Flanders, the head of the territory of Bruges, a bishopric under the archbishop of Mechlin. This town made its fubmiffion to the duke of Marlborough after the famous battle of Ramillies; the French furpized it, or rather had it betrayed to them the beginning of this campaign, but abandoned it upon the approrch of the confederates, towards the end of December, the fame year. It stands twenty-four miles north-west of Ghent, eleven east of Oftend, thirty-four north-east of Dunkirk, and forty weft of Antwerp.

(d)Dr. Hare, in his thanksgiving fermon before the house of commons, on Thursday February 17, 1708-9, tells us, p. 11. That there was a confpiracy to have all the Netherlands betrayed to the enemy by the • interest of that unhappy prince, who has fuffered fo much in their caufe. When we faw the fons of France come into the

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there was fomething more than ordinary in agitation. It was not enough to think they came. to learn the art of war in an

army, that aims at nothing but ⚫ inaction, or to give courage to their troops, which their greateft general had not been able to do, though fetched from Italy on purpose, at a time when he leat could have been

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fpared; for the event has fhewn, he brought no more courage with him than he left behind him; nor could it be expected, that their bare prefence should make a ftarved • and naked army act with as

much vigour, as if they had ⚫ been warmly clothed and well 'paid. No, we were fure it

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must be fomething else they came for, not to gain any honour in the field, but to reap the mean glory of fome fuc⚫cessful treachery, and fo it proved. A defign, we found, ⚫ had been formed fome time to furprize Antwerp; all was agreed, and every thing within a day or two ripe for execution, when the princes joined the army; but the plot, which was more than they knew, was then actually discovered; and this was a defign of fuch importance, we were inclined to think it was the whole they • aimed at. But the fequel 'fhewed the treachery was deeper laid; and, while we were waiting the forces from the

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Rhine, another part of it fuc'ceeded better. Had both ta'ken effect, what condition had our affairs been in? We had then, it is likely, without a blow loft all the fruits of the Ramillies campaign; and the confequence of that had been, not only putting the war two or three years back; it is more • than probable the confternation it would every where have raifed, would have foon frightened the allies into an ill peace;

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mafters and the Flandrians could not bear it. Though the 1708. French had laid heavier taxes on them, yet they used them better in all other respects. Their bigotry, being wrought on by their priests, difpofed them to change their mafters. The duke of Marlborough refolved not to weaken his army by many garrifons; and therefore put none at all into Bruges, and a very weak one in the citadel of Ghent, reckoning, that there was no danger, as long as he lay between those places and the French army. The two armies had lain about a month looking on one another, fhifting their camps. a little, but keeping still in safe ground; the confederates, for their parts, being in expectation of prince Eugene's taking the field, with an army compofed of Pruffian and Heffian troops, ten thousand Palatines and fome imperialists. The motion of this body was retarded by several difficulties about the march of the Palatine forces; of which the French getting intelligence, they concluded, that the confederates would hardly venture to force them in the paffes and defiles they were poffeffed of, and therefore commanded a detachment to march towards Ghent and Bruges, to furprize those towns; which was effected in this manner:

French.

On the 5th of July, a party of the enemy's troops, com- Bruges and manded by the brigadiers la Faille and Pafteur, advanced Ghent taken before break of day towards Ghent, and, at the opening of byt the gates between five and fix in the morning, half a dozen foot-foldiers, with two or three troopers, who were fent before, pretending to be deferters, were admitted into the town by the watch of burghers, who were no more in number than themselves. When they were going to be carried to the main-guard, fome of them pretended a wearinefs, and fetting themfelves down on the ground, defired fome brandy, to delay time; which being brought, they drank with the burghers, and amufed them with a story of the march of the French army, and their own desertion. Soon after another fmall party of pretended deferters came, and entertained the watch with the like frivolous ftories, till brigadier la Faille, who not long before had been high-bailiff of that city, and had ftill a confiderable intereft there, coming in perfon, commanded the burghers, who guarded the gates, to lay down their arms, and admit the French troops. They began at first to make a fhew of resistance; but the pre

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1708. tended deferters, rifing up at once, prefented their bayonets and ftopped them. Refiftance would now have been to little purpofe; fo the brigadier's commands being immediately obeyed, he left fome of his men there, and with the reft marched directly into the town. It being early, they only met with a few labourers in the ftrects, fome of whom took them for deferters, and others they quieted with gold. In this manner they advanced to the gate of Bruges, which they feized with little or no refiftance, as they did likewife the bridge of Meuleftede. In the mean time, monfieur Grimaldi, who followed monfieur de la Faille at a distance, entered the town likewife, and marched with the rest of the detatchment to the market-place. All the gates being foon after feized, about ten, monfieur de la Faille marched to the town-house, and, having assembled the magistrates and chief burghers, he caufed a pardon to be read to them, figned by the elector of Bavaria, and underneath by the count de Bergeyck; upon which they readily fubmitted.

The enemy, being thus become masters of the town, fummoned the governor of the caftle to surrender; but monfieur de Labene, major of Sir Richard Temple's regiment of foot, who commanded in that fortrefs with about three hundred men, expecting either to be reinforced by major-general Murray, or relieved by the approach of the confederate army, anfwered, "That he would defend it to the last extre"mity." The French began to prepare for attacking the caftle; and major-general Murray, who was pofted at Marienkirk with two English regiments of foot, and one of Spanish dragoons, in vain attempted to throw a reinforcement into the place. Major Labene, having been fummoned a fecond time, and being wholly unprovided for defence against so powerful an army, obtained an honourable capitulation.

Some hours after the enemy had furprized Ghent, count de la Motte appeared with a ftrong detachment before Bruges, which furrendered the next day, without making the leaft refiftance, or putting the enemy to the trouble of firing more than three pieces of cannon. There was indeed a fort of capitulation agreed upon, in which the fieur Briel, receiver of the contributions, and Mr. Volmar, his comptroller, were included; but it appeared by every circumftance, that this was a thing of form only, and that the articles had been long before fettled by other perfons than they that pretended to grant and accept them.

This done, count de la Motte marched immediately to Damme, hoping to meet with the fame fuccefs there; but as this place was fortified and garrifoned, the governor' opened the fluices, and put the whole country under water, which obliged the count to retire. From thence he marched to Plaflendahl, a little fort on the canal, which leads from Bruges to Oftend, and is a fecurity to the communication of those two places. The officer, who commanded in it, refused to furrender; upon which the count attacked and took it fword in hand.

Major-general Murray, having found it impoffible to reinforce the castle of Ghent, retired to Sas van Ghent, where he found the deputies of the States-General for the affairs of Flanders, and concerted with them the neceffary measures for putting the frontiers in a posture of defence, and securing thofe pofts, which were most exposed.

1708.

march from

Terbank.

The duke of Marlborough, who was yet in camp at The confe Terbank, received advice, that a confiderable detachment derate army was marched towards Tubize, and, in the night, that their whole army had followed at nine in the evening. The duke gave immediate orders for the confederate army to be in readinefs to march. Accordingly, about three in the morning, the 5th of July, they marched from the camp at Terbank. pafled the canal in four columns, and incamped with the left at Anderlech, and the right at the mill of Tomberg. Here the duke got intelligence of the enemy's defign on Ghent, and that the detachment they had made for that end was advanced as far as Aloft, and had broken down the bridge over the Dender: he thereupon ordered major-general Bothmar, with four regiments of horfe and dragoons, to pass over at Dendermond, in order to obferve the enemy, and to prevent their defign upon Ghent; but he came too late.

The fame day the French paffed the Senne at Hall and The F.each Tubize, and were paffing at the mill of Goicke till night, Dender pass the within a league of the right wing of the allies; which com- with great ing very late into the camp, and the army having made a diligence. very long march through difficult ways, it was not thought practicable to attack the enemy that night. However, the greatest part of the horse and foot having been brought to the right during the night, in order to engage the enemy, the whole army was formed the next morning early in order of battle; but their defign was fruftrated by the French, who were employed the whole night, with all poffible expedition, in paffing the Dender through the town of Ninove,

and

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