Selected quad for the lemma: enemy_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
enemy_n foot_n horse_n squadron_n 1,059 5 11.6685 5 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A70001 An exact journal of the siege of Coni in Piemont with an account of the manner of raising it, by Prince Eugene of Savoy this present year 1691 which has so much mortified the French King, and occasioned the imprisonment of the Sieur de Bulonde, humbly presented to his Royal Highness the Duke of Savoy / by Giovanni Renaldo ... ; sent in a manuscript from Turin to a person of quality in London. Rinaldo, Giovanni. 1691 (1691) Wing E3646; Wing R1520; ESTC R11640 18,478 30

There are 2 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

behav'd themselves so courageously and who were exactly posted towards the Attack and the Approaches of the Enemy who undoubtedly would in great numbers fall upon them in order to possess themselves of the Covert-way and the Half-Moon which they knew to be almost in no posture of defence That therefore it would be more prudent to keep only the Sallying places of Arms and to abandon all the rest especially when according to the Project that was made a good Body of Men should be put into the Half-moons and the Counterguard of Carail This advice seem'd to be very rational and the Counsel having resolv'd upon 't accordingly the Engineer went towards Night into the Covert-way to inform the Commander of the Refugees of it who did not stir from that place night and day he acquainted him with what he had proposed to the Counsel and that they all had given him their consent to which Monsieur de Julien answered That it was a very wise and recommendable resolution but since it only aim'd at the preservation of our Men if they would believe him he did not think fit to abandon a place without blows which he had guarded with so much care from the beginning of the Siege and since we were in expectation the Enemy would possess themselves of it with their Swords in their Hands he would maintain it as long as it was possible without exposing his Men to be cut in pieces That he would contrive the matter in such a manner that advice should be given him in what condition each of his Posts were during the Attack and that as soon he would find one in a condition to be forced he would save the rest of the Men in the best manner he should be capable of To which the Engineer replyed Sir you have reason not to be willing to abandon a part of your Posts which your Men have guarded till now but you will certainly be forced to t Nevertheless I am going to inform the Regiment of Salusses of your design and that consequently they are to guard their Out-works as well as you do At night the Musqueteers continued their Firing and an hour before day-break a detachment of Dragoons made a false Attack at the Counterguard de Carail whereupon a detachment was sent thither by the Commendant de Prouane but afterwards he found it to be only a false Attack June the 22d By break of day the Enemy made the true Attack after a Signal given by eight Bombs and three Cannons They attack'd one of the most advanced places guarded by the Refugees who behaved themselves with so much bravery and made so vigorous an opposition as could hardly be expected from such a handful of Men against 500 Granadeers 500 Fusileers and 200 Dragoons seconded by two Regiments of Foot but whereas they were a little too eager in some places we had great paines to save those that were not killed in the Attack We ought here to render Justice to our Enemy and confess that they behaved themselves very well since they made themselves Masters of our Outworks with their Swords in their Hands forced a way to the Half-moon in three places and mingled themselves amongst our Men into the Ditch of the place with an extraordinary Courage and Boldness One of their Colonels was killed near the Gate of the Succours and indeed he was not the only Man of their Officers that were left behind in the Ditch The Refugees having put some of their Men into the Courtine of the Bastion de Carail and Notre-Dame fired so furiously upon the Enemy who was already much weakned that it was impossible for them to maintain themselves in the Half-moon nay to lodge themselves in the Counterscarp and they confessed themselves that it had been too hot to remain there Their Dragoons who had lost their Officers were the first that run away and we ought not to be surpriz'd that all the rest followed them in great disorder since we continued to Fire upon them from the Counterguard of the Bastions de Carail and Notre-Dame and being assisted by those of the Courtine left the Enemy no time to lodge themselves except they had been willing to lose their whole Army which at that time consisted of twelve Regiments of Foot two of Horse and two of Dragoons The Regiment of Salusses annoy'd the Enemy very much with the Cannon from their Posts that were not attacked by the Enemy the Cannon of the Bastion of Notre-Dame broke twice their Squadron of Horse and this attack lasted an hour and a half Our loss consisted for the greatest part of French Refugees and of 7 or 8 Germans three Captains were kill'd upon the spot besides one who dyed afterwards of his wounds one Ensign one Sergeant and 30 Common Soldiers Of the number of the wounded were the Lieutenant Colonel who was wounded in his Hand one Captain one Ensign two Sergeants and 55 Soldiers It would be to no purpose to say with several others that the Refugees regain'd the Half-Moon with their Swords in their Hands since the Enemy will certainly deny it because they retreated without being pursued and were only forced to leave their Post by the great Fire that was made upon them from our Bastions Lieutenant Colonel de Julien who was the Man in the World that prais'd most this bold Action of theirs answered to those that complemented him for having regained this Outwork and driven the Enemy out of the Half-Moon with the Sword in his Hand and planted the Standard of England upon one point of the Half-Moon the latter of which he really did Gentlemen If you had seen the whole course of this Action you would not trouble me with such complements for if I have forced the Enemy to abandon all our Outworks it was by reason of the great Fire I ordered to be made by our Men after which 't is true that I went out and conducted them into Half-moon but I found no Enemy there no more than in the Covert-way and upon the Counterguard Confirming by this Answer of his that it is very Natural to Men of a Noble and Generous Mind to render Justice to all the World and by no means to accept of praises they have not deserved neither to hear those but with uneasiness which they have bought with the very hazard of their Lives The loss of the Enemy was far more considerable than we at first imagined we talk'd then only of 5 or 6 hundred of their Men kill'd but afterwards we were informed by the Deserters as well as the Prisoners of War amongst which there were several considerable Officers that in this Action a thousand of their Soldiers had been kill'd the Flower of their Troops with about seventy Officers kill'd or wounded and amongst them several that were in great esteem in their Army we have six of them wounded in our place The rest of the day we had no disturbance at all given us the Enemy being almost affraid
l'Hospital who were by turns relieved by the Regiment of Salusses During this Night the Enemy lodged themselves upon an Angle of the Counterscarp at the point of the Bastion of Notre-Dame we fired suriously upon them especially the Regiment of Salusses who had their Post from this Bastion till to that of l'Orme with all the Outworks The Enemy spared this Night neither Bombs nor Stones and the Latter were very troublesome to our men By break of day we saw plainly their Lodgment on which they were still at work and it was scarce big enough to cover them by nine a Clock in the Morning We detach'd ten Granadeers of the Refugees under the Command of one of their Captains to slip through the Pallisadoes of the Covert-way and to throw Fireballs into their Lodgment which was not only punctually executed by the said Captain but he did much more for after he had ordered three or four Fireballs to be thrown into the said Lodgment he past over the Pallisadoes and leapt into their Lodgment crying kill kill whereupon all the Workmen ran away with an incredible haste and there was not one Soul left behind them neither in the Work nor the Lines of Communication and if our Officer had been provided with Workmen he might have entirely ruined their Work but having no other orders than to make an attempt he retreated Afterwards the Counts de Bernez and de Rouere having discoursed with most of the Principal Officers about this Lodgment which shew'd plainly that the Enemy had a design to insult the Bastion Notre-Dame it was resolved that one hundred Fusileers and 60 Workmen should make a Sally to destroy their Work 50 Fusileers of the Refugees with some Officers proportionably were appointed for it being sustain'd by an equal number of the Regiment of Salusses Both detachments were ready yet I do not know why their Sally was put off for four hours during which time the Enemy worked with great application at last the Sally was made under the Command of a Captain of the Refugees and they had admirable Success the Work was entirely clear'd and almost all the Lines and if they had not had Orders not to engage themselves too far the Enemy would certainly have had but an ill time on 't considering the condition of their Affairs But if they drive the Enemy out of the Lodgment and the Line of Communication they did not execute the rest and whether it be for the great Fire the Enemy made or for some other reason the Workmen slipt all away and we were above an hour in possession of the Enemies Works without hearing of any of our Workmen in order to destroy them The Enemy did as we had done in the Half-moon they returned thither as soon as our men had order to retreat and indeed the Honour of this Action cost us very dear since the French Protestants had there two of their Captains two Lieutenants and two Ensigns wounded and eight Soldiers killed and fifteen wounded Those of the Regiment of Salusses lost two brave and valiant Captains viz. him that commanded the detachment and another who was Adjutant and who turn'd that way either to carry some Orders or only out of curiosity We were informed that the Enemy was extreamly surprized at this Sally they thought it a very bold Action and during it they sent some Foot to re-possess themselves of their Work but in vain Some Squadrons of the Enemies Horse that had a mind to be seen were welcomed by our Cannon and sent briskly back behind their Courtains We fired very furiously towards the Enemies Trenches from all our Posts that look towards them and some of their Deserters told us that more than three hundred men of theirs had been kill'd and wounded there We had this day the welcome News of great Succours that was coming towards us At Night the Lieutenant Colonel of Salusses reliev'd the Lieutenant Colonel de Julien and whereas a wounded Lieutenant that was made Prisoner in the Sally of the Morning gave us notice that the Enemy made a Mine to blow up the Half-moon and that it was to be executed this very Night we employed our utmost endeavours to bring our Mine to a perfection to be before-hand with the Enemy but it could not be done that Night It was resolved not to leave in the Half-moon but some Centries and ten Soldiers upon every Flanck and to let all the rest March into the place upon the Courtine and the Bastions which was executed during Night The Enemy threw a great number of Bombs and Stones into the place but before Day-break they took the pains to decamp without either Drum or Trumpet leaving us as a sign of their retreat one of their Canons upon their Battery which without doubt for want of Horses they could not carry along with them Neither had they a mind to charge themselves with a great quantity of Bullets and Fire-balls and a little Powder which they left also behind them in order to serve this Place whenever they shall be pleased to come again to besiege it Truly it was a very strange retreat and if we may believe those that have seen it their Troops were in the greatest disorder in the World They left 70 Soldiers and four or five Officers wounded behind them of which number is the Engineer Vasel and a Captain of the Regiment of Vandome and Gentleman to the Prince of that Name We are assured that besides this number there were more than fifty Soldiers that made a shift to creep away drawing one another and Swearing and Cursing against their Officers and Generals June the 28th By break of Day we received our Deliverance and we went out immediately to see if there was a Mine under the Half-moon but we did not find but the beginning of a Gallery and considering the manner they were to approach to the Half-moon they were in no condition to be soon Masters of the Place which indeed seems to be preserved by a particular Favour of God's Providence I will not trouble my self to enquire into the Reasons that made the Generals of the Enemy raise the Siege after a Blockade of seven and a full Siege of ten days It is enough that Coni has been saved by the particular assistance of Heaven and the Courage and Bravery of those that did defend it Prince Eugene of Savoy with the Sieurs de Parelle and St. Croix arrived between nine and ten a Clock in the Morning with 2300 Horse and Dragoons and near 300 Mules laden with Ammunition whilst in the mean time the Sieur de St. Silvestre with a Body of 2500 Horse and 500 Granadeers came to join the Sieur de Bulonde in order to go on with the Siege but he did not arrive till after the Enemy had abandoned their Trenches and past the River Sture It is reported that he said to the Sieur de Bulonde What Sir have you raised the Siege you must return again to