Elector of Bavaria would have had them Hang'd and sent them to the Archbishop of Malines to have that Town for a Prison during the War But the Irish Priest alledg'd That he was going to his own Countrey That he took only the Opportunity of the two Fryers Company to come to our Camp and so to go for Ireland Which appearing to be Truth he was Acquitted and set this Day at Liberty The 7th Lieutenant-General Dewits that Commanded the Brandenburgh Forces that we left at Diest march'd to joyn the Elector of Bavaria at the Camp of Neer-Ische The 10th the King review'd My Lord of Essex and Brigadier Wynne's Dragons the latter wanted Two Troops that had been left in England and his Horses very much fatigu'd in twice crossing the Sea the last Winter and their continual Motion thorough Ireland and England to come over to this Countrey My Lord of Essex's appear'd in very good Condition and Order The same Day Two Irish Officers left the French Army and came over to us one of them had been in the late Queen's Regiment and the other in Colonel Talbot's both of them in Savoy And Prince Vademont that had come Post from Italy to make the Campagne in Flanders came to Salute the King at his Arrival His Majesty receiv'd him with a great deal of Joy and with the greatest Demonstration of Friendship He is a very Wise General and has been with the King in all his Campagnes except the last that he was in Italy both in the former and this present War and is very zealous and affectionate for His Majesty's Interest Orders were given this Day to be ready to March The 11th One of our Parties came to the Camp with a Colonel Lieutenant-Colonel Major and two Captains and several Soldiers which they had taken in the Passage-Barge between Namurr and Huy The Officers were treated very civilly in our Camp especially the Colonel who had the liberty of his Sword and to ride with the Army in the following March to have a full View of it With which he was very much pleas'd The 12th the Battalions we had posted upon the Left near the Abbey of Linther left that Place to come up to the Army to be in a readiness to March And the Seven Battalions under the Command of Brigadier Erle encamp'd upon the Right upon the Ground that remain'd between it and the Village of Roosebeek which cover'd the King's Quarter Some Squadrons of Horse had encamp'd here at the beginning but upon the making of the Retrenchments they were sent back to the Village for their more convenient Subsistence This same Day Major-General la Forrest was sent with a great Detachment of Horse to observe the Enemy and Orders were given to load all the heavy Baggage and to march that Night without any precedent Beat of Drum but to take our Motions from the Right Accordingly the 13th by One of the Clock in the Morning the Army began to March upon several Columns The First consisted of the Brigade of Guards and the Seven Regiments that had been detached under Brigadier Erle This Column was led by the Duke of Wirtemberg and Count Nassau and passed the Geet between Tilmont and Judoigne The Two Lines had the General Officers upon their respective Divisions and the First march'd thorough Tilmont by the Gate of Louvain out of the Gate of Judoigne The Second march'd thorough the Town by the Gate that leads to Leauwe and went out by the Gate of St. Tron The Artillery and Baggage follow'd the Column led by the Duke of Wirtemberg Very early in the Morning we were got on the other side of the Town into the Plain which made room enough to subdivide the Two Lines into Six Columns for a more speedy and convenient March The Elector of Bavaria march'd at the same time from his Camp at Neer-Ische to joyn us this Day and all the Cavalry had the same Orders We made a long March between the two Geets and by the Town of Judoigne towards the Mehaigne And though we owe all the following Advantages of the Campagne to this Camp and that we made no Secret of our March for as we said just now Orders had been given two Days before to be ready to March yet the French did not think it convenient to hazard a Pattle to dispute this Camp which it may be was the King's Design by making no Secret of his March We made a Halt about Judoigne to stay for the Elector's Forces which were to pass the Geet here and about the Evening the Right of our Army got to the Mahaigne The Quarter-Masters had remain'd in this March with the Army because the Ground we were going to could have been disputed by the Enemy and so we mark'd our Lines after we were come up to our Ground The King's Quarter was mark'd in the Order of the March at Bonmale and the Elector's at Tavâ—ers upon the Mahaigne But the King took his Quarter upon our coming to this Ground at Mount St. Andre and the Elector at first had his at Ramelies Our Right was at Harlue and Taviers upon the Mehaigne and the Lest stretched out beyond the Villages of Marilles and Molembais which we left in our Rear The Line made a small kind of an Elbow by the Village of Henieux Heddin which we had here in our Front the Right of this Camp was a Plain and the Left went into narrow and close Grounds All the Cavalry joyn'd us here The Brigades of Rantzaw and Dedem were interlin'd in the Right Wing of Horse under the Command of Major-General Fagel and the Brigades of Collier and Offarrel in the Left under the Command of Major-General Ramsay And because this is the First Camp where all our Army got together and where we form'd our Line of Battle 't is here that I shall insert the List of our Army I have had an Authenick List of it which is as follows But the Reader is to observe That I assign no Post upon the Line either to the King to the Elector of Bavaria the Duke of Holstein or the Prince de Vaudemont General of the King of Spain's Army in Flanders Because being Generals in Chief they have none I was guilty the last Year of this Mistake Note That the Regiments to which I give Two Names with Olim before the Second that the Second is the Name the Regiment had last Year The List of the Confederate ARMY in Flanders under the Command of His Majesty of Great-Britain and the Elector of Bavaria RIGHT WING     First Line  Lieuten Generals Major-Generals Brigad Regim Squad     Spanish Horse DUKE of HOLSTEIN General of the Spanish Horse Lieutenant-General Du Puy  The Spaniards have none Neither have I seen the List of their Generals de Battuille which answer to our Major-Generals Valençar Dragons 1 Elector's Life-guards 2 Prince Vaudemont and the Duke of Holstein 1 Guards 1 De Bay
Company They marched by Louvain Vilvor de and Ghendt and so joyned us in this place We have said before that upon our marching from Mount St. André towards the Scheld the King had ordered Major-General Cohorne with Twelve Battalions and some Liege Dragoons to march towards Ghendt which obliged the Enemy to bring all their Forces in Flanders to make head against so great an Army as we should have after the joyning of all these Forces The 15 th Major-General Cohorne came to Vilvor de with the Body under his Command and the 21 th he marched through the Town of Ghendt and incamped just without the Town upon the Canal of Bruges he had then with him Three Battalions of Swerin and the Regiments of Stockhansen Lindeboom Harsolt Ameliswert Prince Christian Lodowics Essen Vaudermeuten Churprince and Friesheim and Two Regiments of Liege Dragoons The Enemy having now left the Meuse open the King sent Orderâ— to Maestricht to prepare a Train of Artillery and all other necessaries for a Siege to send it up by water to Liege and all the Boats belonging to Maestricht and Liege were taken for the Kings Service The 22 th we made a great Detachment under the Command of Count de Noyelles Lieutenant-General towards the Right to cover Pioneers who had come up to cut ways through the inclosures we had before us and we had Bridges laid upon the Lys and upon the Scheld for the conveniency of the Army to Forage on the other side of both these Rivers and also to leave the Enemies in suspence who were now busie in fortifying of Courtray for a Winter-Quarter which way we design'd to march next whether farther in Flanders or back again towards the Meuse The 24 th the heavy Baggage was commanded back again to Ghendt and Pontons were sent to make Bridges upon the Lys at Mechlen The 25 th the Right Wing of Horse and Body of Foot was ordered to march towards the Lys except the Brigade of Guards which remained incamped at the King's Quarter and and the same Day Lieutenant-General Dewits was ordered to re-pass the Scheld at Audenarde and to march towards the Meuse with the Brandenbourg Horse under his Command The 26 th the whole Army marched and passed the Lys upon two Bridges at Mechlen We began now to come in the close Country of Flanders and this is the reason that part of the Army was ordered to march from the Camp at Wanneghem the day before because the Defiles were such here that the whole Army could not have marched from Wanneghem and pass the Lys in one day After we had passed the Lys we incamped with our Right at Caneghem where the Elector had his Quarter and the Left between Markeghem and Wacken upon the Lys the King took his Quarter at Wouterghem about Three English Miles from Deinse the Artillery and Baggage marchâ—d by Deinse and came up here to us the same Day The 29 th Count Thian march'd from Deinse and came up to joyn us he incamped before our Left at Wacken where the River Mandel that comes from Rouselar falls into the Scheld The Second Battalion of the Royal Regiment came to incamp in the Line and Colonel Lauders was ordered to joyn Count Thian in its place he was likewise reinforced with Mathars Regiment of Dragoons The 29 th the Body of Foot and the Two Brigades interlined in the Right Wing of Horse together with the Spanish Horse upon the Right and the Brigade of Life-Guards and Boncourts with Eppinger and Dopfs Dragoons upon the Left marched by Thielt and so came to Rouselar The ground being very close here and generally all over the Province of Flanders we had no occasion for Horse the Defiles were very bad and the March long and tedious The King took his Quarters at Rouselar our Right reached to Hooghleede where the Elector of Ravaria had his Quarter and our Left by Rumbek upon the River Mandel the ground upon which we incamped was all high inclosures with rowes of Trees upon all the Hedges which made the Country hereabouts so close that one Battalion could hardly see those upon the Right or Left The Town of Rouselar is called in French Roulers as most of the Towns in this Country have a French and a Dutch name which are often very different from one another and situated near the Springs of the River Mandel which falls into the Lys at Wacken The Country all about it is very even though Woody for which reason if this little River could afford more water for a good Fosse the Town might be very well fortified it is in the Chatellenie of Ipres three Leagues from thence nine from Ghendt three from Courtray four from Dixmuyde and six from Bruges this is reckoned the last place of the Pajis conquis and in time of Peace the French King had Officers to gather his Duties for Goods Imported or Exported as being his utmost Frontier The Duke of Newbourgh now Elector Palatine of the Rhine is Lord of this place but he has a bad Tenant in the French King The Foot being incamped at Rouselar all the Horse remained at Wouterghem under the Command of my Lord of Athlone aud the Two Brigades of Foot interlined under the Command of Major-General Ramsay but the Dutch Horse of the Right Wing joyned the Left Though we were incamped here in very strong and close ground yet 't was commanded by the heighth or little Hill of Hooghleede where we had our Right which is a rare thing in this level Country We made several Redoubts upon it for the security of our Camp this being the only place by which we could be attacked The French upon our March to this place made several Detachments from their Army for the security of their Country the Mareschal de Villeroy was commanded with a Body to incamp by Ipres to oppose our passage of the Canal which goes from this place by the Knock and Furnes to Dunkirk and the Marquis de la Valette had Orders to leave Pont de Espieres to come and post himself between Furnes and the Fort of Knock for the defence of these places We have given an account of both of them in our first relation for the Year 1692 to which I shall refer the Reader I must not omit to say that the Dutch Artillery upon our March to Rouselar was sent from the Camp at Wouterghem to Malines its usual Winter-quarter The King having now brought all the Enemies Forces in Flanders except the Body of Horse Commanded by the Marquis de Harcourt which was not sufficient to hinder or oppose his designs had resolved to besiege Huy for which end as we have said before great preparations of Ammunitions and all other necessaries for a Siege had been prepared at Maestricht His Majesty had sent also Lieutenant-General de Witz from the Camp at Wanneghem with the Brandenburgh Horse to joyn the Liege Forces to invest the place but the Care and Conduct of
Imecourt 3 Fiene 3 La Bessiere 3   Squadrons 33 Body of FOOT First Line Lieutenant-Generals Prince of Conti Duke of Berwick Major-General Marquis de Crequi Brigades Regim Battal Dantin Navarre 3 Languedoc 2 Surville Du Roy. 4 Cadrieux Dauphin 3 Thoulouse 2 Albergoti Humieres 2 Royal Italien 1 La Marche 1 Caraman Gardes Françoises 3 Gardes Swisses 2 Charots Vermandois 2 Haynaut 1 Motroux 1 L'Abadie Guiche 2 Gardes Angloises 2 Villeroy Lionnois 2 Roussillon 2 De Lux Provence 2 Piedmont 3   Battal 40 Second Line Lieutenant-Generals Feuquieres Rubantel Major-General Monsieur de Castres Brigades Regim Battal Pompane Bourbonnois 2 Artois 1 Chartres 1 La Marre 1 Reinold Suisse Stouppa 4 Reinold 4 Monim 2 Zurbeck Suisse Zurbeck 4 Greder 4 Cavoye Cavoye 1 Soissonois 1 Blesois 1 Bugey 1 Senneterre 1 Greder Greder Aleman 2 Angoumois 1 Periguex 1 Lignieres 1 Tulles 1 Surlanbe Royal Danois 2 Surlanbe 2 Crussol 2   Battal 40 LEFT WING First Line Lieutenant-Generals Duc du Maine Monsieur de Montrevel Major-Generals Count de Marsin Monsieur de Vandeuil Brigades Regim Squad Souternon Du Roy 3 Bourgogne 3 Thoulouse 2 Furstemberg 2 Du Mesiul Carabiners 16 Chaludes Villeroy 2 Du Maine 2 Berry 2 Maistre de Camp General 3   Squadrons 35 Second Line Lieutenant-General Busca Major-General Count de Nassau Brigades Regim Squad Lagny Lagny 3 Pujeol 3 St. Lieu 3 Thisenhausen Lully 3 Villers 3 Melun 3 Cossé 2 Massot Quadt 3 Clermont 3 Massot 3 Chartres 2   Squadrons 31 Body of RESERVE Due de Chartres General Major Generals Messieurs de Bezons de Mailly Brigades Regiments Squadrons  Hussars 1 Mousquetaires gris 2 Mousquetaires noirs 2  Dragons  Cailus Colonel-General 3 Cailus 3 Chenteran 3 Battalions  Royal Artillery 2 Artillery consisting of 66 Pieces of Cannon besides Mortars  Regiment of Bombardiers besides Gunners and Matrosses 1  Dragons  Davaret La Reine 3 Davaret 3 St. Ermine 3 Asfeldt Fimarçon 3 Asfeldt 3   Squadrons 29   Battalions 3 So that according to this List the Dauphin had Sixty and Nine Squadrons in the First and Second Line of his Right Wing of Horse and Sixty and Six in the Left and Twenty and Nine Squadrons of Dragons Hussars and Mousquetairs in the Reserve which makes in all 164 Squadrons And because the French had reformed their Troups of Horse last Winter to Forties we must compute each of their Squadrons to be at their coming in the Field of 120 Horse-men which makes the Total of the Horse and Dragons of this Army to be 19680. The Foot consisted of Forty Battalions in the First Line and Thirty Nine in the Second and Three in the Reserve which makes in all 82 Battalions which at 600 Men each Battalion at the first coming into the Field amounts to 49100 Men. So that the Total of this Army Commanded by the Dauphin and under him by the Marshals of Luxembourg and Villeroy came to 68880 Men besides what belonged to the Artillery as Gunners and Matrosses Miners c. We shall not make a Computation of all the Forces the French had in Flanders till we come to speak of the Bodies Commanded by the Marshal de Boufflers the Marquis de Harcourt and the Marquis de la Valette which shall be in their proper Places The Dauphin being come with this Army to Gemblours within a Day 's March from ours likewise there being but little Forage about our Camp which hinder'd the Cavalry from subsisting in it the King for this Reason order'd to make a Retrenchment to cover our Body of Foot in case the Enemy would have come to attack us Our Right was cover'd by the Villages of Tourine and Bavechein the first being just upon the brow of a Hill below which runs a small Current which has its Spring at Bavechein and so goes by Ham and other Villages into the River Dyle The Brigade of Guards encamped upon another Hill separated from the Right of the Main Body by this Current and cover'd the King's Quarter The Left was cover'd by deep hollow Ways and other Defiles of the Villages of Sluys and Meldert and a little Brook which rises at Meldert and so runs by Hoexem Oirbeck and Cumtick to Tilmont The Ground was Plain between the Villages of Bavechein upon the right and Sluys upon the left for about an English Mile and an half upon the Center of our Line which Plain went from the Village of Bossu and the Abbey of Florival cross our Camp towards Tilmont and again on the other side of the Villages of Sluys and Meldert towards Judoigne The French took up this Camp last Year when we were encamped at Park stretching their Line along the Plain from the Abbey of Florival towards Tilmont with the Villages of Tourine and Bavechein in their Front and Sluys and Meldert in their Rear where they had their Head-Quarter And the Year before we encamped one Night in this Plain stretching our Left another way towards Judoigne and the King's Quarter at Meldert and our Right near the Bois de Merdal which now at this Camp of Hertogendale remained in our Rear This was the Situation of our Camp so that nothing remain'd open to the Enemy but the Plain upon our Centre which the King upon the coming of the French to Gemblours orderd to be fortified with a Retrenchment from Bavechein to Sluys and Meldert We had several Parties toward the Sambre to observe the Motions of the French and upon their March to Gemblours they took many Prisoners which had straggled from the Army among which were some of the late King's Guard The 5th the Three Second Battalions of Guards and Eppinger's Dragons were ordered to encamp on the other side of the King's Quarter between it and the Bois de Merdal to cover it from Parties skulking in the Wood. The 6th the English Artillery came up from Malines under the Escort of Brewer Lesley and Buchan's Regiments which joyn'd us this Day These Three Regiments with those of Strathnaver and Hamilton had come but lately from Scotland they were put in Quarters at Leer and Malines to put themselves in a Condition to take the Field and Strathnaver and George Hamilton were sent to Ghendt Our English Train of Artillery consisted of Sixty Pieces of Cannon and Six Mortars Four Companies of Gunners and Matrosses and One Company of Miners all of One Hundred Men each This same day we were also joyn'd by the Cavalry who came up only to be review'd and encamp'd by Brigades in the several Intervals that had been left for them as we have said before The King review'd the same day the Eight Regiments which had come up to the Camp the 4th under the Command of Brigadier Collier in the presence of the Electors of Bavaria and Cologne who had left Brussels to come to Louvain to be nearer the Army where His Electoral Highness expected his own
believe that the whole Army was not there but at hand between it and Courtray to observe our Motions General Tettan was Posted just on the other side of the River with his Detachment and Field-Pieces but the Caunon was silent on both sides From Escanaffe we marched all along the Scheld towards Audenarde and incamped with our Right at Melde by Audenarde where the Electot had his Quarter and the Left at Escanaffe over-against the Left of the French Army Our Left was here close under the Cannon of the Enemy so that in the Evening when we were come to our Ground the French Cannon plaid very briskly upon our Left where our Two Brigades of Foot Commanded by Major General Ramsay and our English Horse most Exposed yet I have not heard of any Men killed but we lost fourteen or fifteen Horses but the French used their greatest Endeavours to do mischief to Tettan when he came off with his Detachment and Field-Pieces from under their very Retrenchments on the opposite side of the River where he lay under cover but could not get off without Exposing himself very much to the Enemies Cannon He remained quietly in his Post for this reason all the day and took the opportunity of the Evening to come off which he did without any loss The King at this Camp before the Scheld took his Quarter at Berghem upon the very Bank of the River where it was very much Exposed to the Enemies Cannon The Rear-Guard which was brought up by the First Battalion and the Battalion of the Second Regiment of English Guards and the First Battalion of Dutch Guards which had incamped upon the King's Quarters at Cordes which was a considerable way from the Line of the Army could not come up before the next Morning for which reason there was no Orders given over-night to march the next day The 16 th in the Morning the French began to play again upon our Left with their Cannon where they killed some of our Men and our Generals Quarters were very much exposed here being just upon the River but none of them suffered any damage Besides the Batteries the French had against our Left we perceived that they were bringing of Cannon down along the River to take up the length of our Line and have Batteries from Right to Left one of their General Officers came up in the Morning to view the Wind-mill between Peteghem and the River which absolutely commanded our Right but to hinder the Enemies bringing Cannon down any farther we had Batteries made upon our side from the Kings Quarters along our Left to hinder the Enemies from advancing any further The Cannon played on both sides all the Morning but without any considerable execution that I have heard of The King rid out early to observe the countenance of the Enemy part of their Army was making a motion towards their Left which gave us reason to suspect that they design'd to march and take up the Camp of Peteghem a high ground in the way from Audenarde to the Enemies Lines from whence they might have Canonaded the Duke of Wirtemberg who upon His Majesties resolution of passing the Scheld lower at Audenarde was countermanded under the Cannon of this place from whence likewise the Enemy would have very much incommoded our passage of the Scheld even here for which reason His Majesty immediately order'd the Four Brigades of Erle Stuart Alfeldt and Haxhausen and the Two Battalions of Scots Guards to march and leave their Tents standing to joyn the Duke of Wirtemberg and take up the high ground between Poteghem and Audenarde these Brigades were Commanded by the Count de Nassau and Major-Generals Churchill La Meleniere Miremont and Ellenberg We passed the Scheld at Audenarde the same Morning and the Two Battalions of Scheltinga and Prince Charles of Brandenburgh came out of the Garrison to joyn us The French upon this motion were afraid they were coming to surround them for which reason they immediately left their Camp at Hauterive and Avelghem and marched directly to Courtray where they incamped between it and Harleber but a Party of Thirty Men of the Enemies that had advanced too near Peteghem were all made Prisoners Upon the removal of the French from Hauterive and Avelghem the Army that had passed the Scheld was ordered to halt and to incamp upon the ground where it stood every Brigade to take the most convenient way of incamping for it self About half of the Infantry of the Army had passed the River being now Six Brigades of Foot under the Command of the Duke of Wirtemberg We said above that Count Thian when the Duke of Wirtemberg was commanded before to Audenarde had Orders to come up with his Body from Ghendt and joyn him here He came up accordingly and incamped not far from Audenarde between it and Deinse but upon the March of the French to Courtray and Harleber he was sent back to Deinse where he had left Holles's Regiment for the security of the Pass The 16 th the rest of the Army passed the Scheld at Audenarde and below it upon a Bridge of Boats The Scheld above Audenarde makes a great kind of a Lake which being reduced in a narrow Channel to run through the Town does make the best and the chief defence of it and generally all along between Audenarde and Tournay the banks of the Scheld are low and the ground about it a Morass so that it is not passable by an Army at many places and the passage may be defended with a little opposition The Army marched this day between the Lys and the Scheld the King took his Quarter at Wanneghem our Right made an angle from Cruyshoutem the Elector of Bavaria's Quarter towards Deinse and the Lys our Left stretched out towards the Scheld by Peteghem our Front was covered all along with close ground and Defiles for which reason we could not incamp upon a Line but some Brigades more advanced and some less our Front running between the Lys and the Scheld faced exactly the Enemies Lines which we attacked last year which were not above Three Leagues from our Camp The Enemy upon our incamping did not think it convenient to remain upon the same side of the Lys with us at Harleber but on the 18 th they passed the River at Courtray and incamped with their Right at this place the Dauphins Quarter and their Left at Moorselle towards Menin where they were posted equally to defend their Lines between the Scheld and the Lys and their Towns between the Lys and the Sea but the Marquis de la Valette was posted at Pont de Espieres to defend their Lines towards the Scheld however the French by this motion left the Country open before us and gave us liberty of Foraging to their very Lines The 19 th our heavy Baggage came up to the Camp it had been sent away the 5 th under the Convoy of Brigadier Wynnes Dragoons and a Man of a
pretty good success particularly between the Mehaigne and the Meuse where we lost several Horses and they took generally some Prisoners But if these were inconvenient to us from Namur our Camp near Liege was equally inconvenient to the Enemy on that side from whom they took a great many Horses and Prisoners but few Deserters came to us from this Camp though they deserted before in Multitudes because they were so closely intrenched between Rivers that it was difficult for them who had a mind to get away The 17th the King rid out very early with a strong Detachment of 4000 Horse along the Mehaigne towards the Enemies Camp and returned very late that Evening The day following we had a general Forrage on the other side the Mehaign Several of the Enemies Squadrons appeared in sight of our Forragers for which reason we fired three Pieces of Cannon from our Camp the Signal to call them in The French did forrage the same day on their side and these Squadrons were of the Detachment to Cover the Forragers who were no less surprised to see some of our Squadrons posted near them for the same reason however there was no Action on either Side though such Accidents falling out have sometimes brought two Armies to an ingagement as it happened in 1689 at Walcourt between Prince Waldeck and the Mareschal de Humieres Our Foragers nevertheless made a shift not to come into the Camp empty but we lost some Horses that tarried too long after the Signal given to come off at which time the Detachment that cover'd the Foragers were commanded back to the Camp Colonel Mathews lost 8 Horses out of his Regiment and 3 of his Men were wounded The 22 th all the Dragoons removed from the Left to the Rear of the Right by Hottemont What remained of the English and Dutch Artillery after the Field-pieces had been distributed into the several Brigades of Foot and that we had planted some others at the Village of Ramelies came to be posted here the day before from the ground between Mount St. André and Bonmale where it had incamped at our first coming here And the 24 th the Duke of St. Albans and Colonel Lutterel came to the Camp from England the first to serve as a Voluntier and the second to go to Venice and command the Irish Forces in the Service of that Republick with a Commission of Major-General This day we had another general Forage towards Wavre where the Lord Colchester now Earl of Rivers lost some Horses out of his Troop of Guards The Parties not only from Namur but from Mons and Charleroy were very frequent and came often to the very Rear of our Camp so that upon a Forage 't was very hard to prevent the losing several of our Horses either by negligent Men who did not take care to keep within the out-guards or others who for choice of Forage would venture beyond them The 26 th we surrounded a party of the Enemies in a Wood just by the Rear of our Left where they had been decoy'd by a Boor who gave notice of it to my Lord of Athlone This was a voluntary Party of dismounted Troopers that had a great mind to ride some of our Horses and to mount themselves at our own cost they got a Partisan with them who when they came near to our Camp inquir'd whereabouts our Horses grazed the Boor told them that they were every day just by the Wood and that if they would lie there in ambuscade that night they would not fail of Horses the next morning They took his advice and the Boor came immediately to advertise my Lord of Athlone of it who commanded a Detachment of Dragoons and of the two Brigades of Foot interlined in the Left to surround the Wood and to give no quarter so that they kill'd 20 of them up and down and the Partisan among the rest but at last they gave quarter to 17. Much about the same time one of our Parties composed of Soldiers of Hukelom and Carles Regiments brought in the Lieutenant-Colonel of the Dauphins Regiment and several other Prisoners which they took between Huy and Namur And though 't is none of my business to speak of the actions of Parties and Partisans which have no more to do in the main business of an Army than Privateers have in that of a Fleet the one being upon Land what the others are at Sea yet I cannot omit to speak of a considerable adventure of one of our Parties which ventured to pass the Meuse though not 30 Men and got about 50 Troopers in a defile where they took all their Horses and made every one of them Prisoners and repass'd the Meuse with their Booty which they brought safely off The 21 th Count Thian had a quiet Camp in the Neighbourhood of Ghendt where he seemed posted only to make head against the Marquis De la Valette near Courtray yet he would not remain idle there but about this time he made a Detachment of 300 Spanish Horse out of his Camp under the command of the Lieutenant-Colonel of the Prince of Chinays Regiment who in their way by Aeth took a Reinforcement of 700 Foot out of that Garison and the next day they were joyn'd with about 3 or 400 more of the same Garison These Forces attack'd the French Line about St. Ghilain and forced several of their Redoubts upon the Haine where they made 50 Prisoners they pass'd the River after this and plundered the Town of St. Ghilain where there was a small Garison which abandon'd it upon their approach and retreated to Mons they detach'd several Parties in the Countrey round about for Hostages and made a very great booty of Horses and Cattle which they brought to Aeth The 27 th the three Battalions of Guards in the Second Line had Orders to incamp upon the Kings Quarter a great deal of baggage of the Kings Horse and several both Mules and Horses were on the other side of the little River which went under the Kings Quarter and the King had information of the designs of some of the French Partisans to come and endeavour to steal away what lay on the other side of this River where it was expos'd to such attempts and besides the Kings Quarter was removed from the Line of the Army for which reason these three Battalions of Guards and the Duke of Holsteins Dragoons incamped here by the Kings Quarter the Guards on the other and the Dragoons on this side of the Geet The 28 th we had another general Forage under a good escort of 20 Squadrons of Horse commanded by Count Tilly Major-General and a good Detachment of Foot commanded by Brigadier Collier Some Horses were lost of Brigadier Mathews his Dragoons and two of his Men were kill'd by the French Parties that lay in ambuscade for a like occasion The 31 th the King took a review of the 20 Brandenburgh Squadrons of Horse that as we said above had
and that he was come from the Enemies to endeavour to set fire to our Ammunitions For which he was sent to the Provoste where we shall leave him till we come to give an account of his Punishment suitable to the Enormity of the Attempt The 11th Major-General Fagel was detacht with the Two Brigades of Foot of Rantzaw and Dedem interlined in the Right Wing of Horse to go by Lessines to Audenarde and the Artillery went with a good Escorte another way to joyn us in the the Plains of Cambron because the Defiles were too difficult in the two following days March for the Artillery to go along with us we were got into the Country of Hainault which is generally very close and woody The same day the Army marcht from Nivelle and passed the Senne over several Bridges above and at the Village of Arkennes and so we came to Soignies We lost upon this March some of our Pontons or Tin-Boats and some Baggage taken by the Enemy which as 't is said perswaded the Men that looked after them to go a more convenient way pretending themselves to be Dragoons of our Army and so got them out of the Line of the Baggage they made the Men Prisoners and took the Horses from the Pontons and Waggons they rifled the Baggage and took what they thought good and left the rest they blew up holes in the Pontons with powder and so left them The Army being now come up by several Defiles to Soignies our Right was at Horrues and Neufville where the Elector had his Quarter the Left stretched out a little beyond Court Aubois and the King had his Quarter at Soignies an old Town in the Chatelleine of Mons and within three short Leagues of it As soon as the French had made themselves Masters of Mons they Summoned the Burgh-Masters and Inhabitants to come and swear Allegiance to the French King and since are reckoned in the Paijs Conquis We heard firing of Cannon at Mons this Evening which as we had information the next day was for the Dauphine's Arrival at that place where the whole Army followed him that very Night Upon our march from Sombref towards the Scheld the French made their utmost diligence to prevent any designs we could have upon their Lines or Towns in Flanders for which reason they marched on the 11 th from Ausart L' Estrang though their Army was already fatigued by their March night and day to get to that side of the Sambre they went by Ham Sur Heure and so repassed the Sambre at Bussiere which was already a good March But the Mareschal de Luxemburg finding it necessary to get as far as Mons that very Night that he may come to the Scheld as soon as we ordered all the Infantry to fling away their Snap-sacks and march with nothing but their Arms and all the Baggage was ordered to stay behind he caused likewise all the Waggons of the Countrey to be summoned to follow the Army with the Soldiers Snap-sacks and to take up the wearied Soldiers who could not march and bring them after to the Camp The Enemy made a halt at Bussiere after they had re-passed the Sambre to refresh themselves the Prince of Conti who Commanded the Infantry as first Lieutenant-General told them That they had suffered but little for the King's Service that Campaigne That the King's Service did now require a quick and a speedy March and therefore that such who loved His Majesty's Service should shew it and follow their Colours He then caused 400 Pistols-worth of Brandy which had been brought from the neighbouring Towns for that purpose to be given to the Infantry to drink and so the Colours were ordered to march on and all the Foot that were come up endeavoured to shew their Zeal for the King's Service by marching along with them but all along Waggons were provided to take up those who could not march and Brandy upon every halt The Enemy came very early by break of day near Mons to which place the Dauphine was got the night before I cannot say that they incamped here because all the Soldiers Tents were left behind for a more expeditious march but here they lay down upon the ground to rest themselves The 12 th the Army marched towards Aeth we passed the River of Cambron at Lens and so got into the Plain of Cambron where we incamped with our Right at Irchonwetz within half an English mile of Aeth where the Elector of Bavaria had his Quarters and the Left at Lens the Abby of Cambron remained in the Rear of the Left We had the Town of Chievres before the Right where the King took his Quarters This is an old ruined Town where the Spaniards had once a Garison but the French upon pretence that it was within the Chatelleine of Tournay beat them out of it and no Garison has been in it since There is hardly a finer place in all the Seventeen Provinces for an Army to incamp upon than the Plains of Cambron where the strength and scituation equals the beauty and conveniency of the Plain which reaches from the Village of Irchonwetz to Lens upon the little River that runs by Cambron about five English Miles in length with a small rising over against Chievres from whence we could have a perfect prospect of the Camp from the Right to the Left Our Right was covered by the Dender and Irchonwetz which runs through Aeth where 't is joyned by the River of Cambron and our Left and Rear by the River which from Lens went round the Rear by Cambron Abbey and so to Aeth Our Front was covered by a Wood and close Defiles which are between this place and Mons. The Artillery which we had sent from Nivelle another way because of the narrowness of the Defiles we were to march through came up to us this day But we could not long injoy the commodiousness of this Camp the King was hastening his march to the Scheld and so orders were given to march on the next day The 13 th in the Morning the Duke of Wirtemberg was commanded with seven Brigades of Horse one of them under the command of Brigadier Lumley to pass the Scheld at Audenarde where he was to joyn the two Brigades of Foot commanded by Major Fagel detach'd from the Camp at Nivelle of which we have given an account before An Express was sent likewise to Count Thian to march up from Ghendt with the body under his command towards Audenarde and to send the three Terces of Walloon Foot to garison in Bruges and to leave Brigadier Holles Regiment in Deinse The same day the Army marched the first Line passed the River of Irchonwetz above Aeth the second with the Cannon and Baggage marched through the Town This Town as it appears by what we have said before is scituated at the confluence of two small Rivers the Dender and that of Cambron which pass through the Town it was
wind drove the flame to the Left where it chanced to be advanced forward to the Front of the Dutch Guards or else the fire might have done more mischief in our Straw-Camp which is very dangerous when an Army is thus hutted all along in Straw The 29 th the D. of Holstein-Ploen came back from the Siege of Huy to the Camp to command the Army he was Complemented by all the Generals upon his arrival and the good success he had at Huy the Mareschal de Luxemburgh sent him a Complement of 2 very fine Mules The D. of Holstein at his coming away from Huy dispersed the Troops imployed in the Siege The Baron de Heyden was sent to incamp near Liege by the Ourte which rises in the Pajis de Luxemburgh and passes through the Dutchy of Bouillon and bois d' Ardenne and so falls into the Meuse at Liege Lieutenant-General de Witz was sent with the Brandenburgh Horse and Dragoons towards the Pajis de Luxemburgh to raise Contributions in the Enemies Country and the Dutch Foot commanded by Major-General Cohorne remained incamped by Huy till the Breaches were repaired of which six Battalions and two of the Liege Foot were sent into the Town and Castle to keep a strong Garrison in the place which is now our Frontier to the Enemy The 30 th the Second Troop of Life-Guards commanded by the D. of Ormond and the Third by my L. Rivers marched out of the Camp towards their Winter-Quarters at Breda The French which now wanted Forage very much by their long continuance in their Camp between Courtray and Moorselle made a considerable Detachment to the other side of the Scheld between Mons and Tournay commanded by the Mareschal de Bouflers to subsist them more conveniently there and Major-General Hubert who commanded our Detachment of Horse and Dragoons near Aeth was now marched towards Wavre and Genap It may be the Enemy suspected some design against Charleroy by this motion for which reason the Mareschal de Bouflers was commanded with this Body towards Mons. October 1. All our heavy Artillery was sent to Ghendt and none remained but the light Field-pieces under the Convoy of the Battalion of the Second Regiment of Guards whose Barraques had been burnt for which reason they were now sent to Winter-Quarters at Ghendt and the Regiments of Tettan Salisch and Bieck which marched to Maestricht Colonel Titcomb had this day the same misfortune the Second Regiment of Guards had some days before The 3 d our Bread-Waggons were again set upon by the Enemies Parties and as they made a false attack upon the Center of the Waggons where our Detachment came for relief they had the opportunity to steal several Horses from the Front Our Camp was so far towards the Enemies Frontier Garrisons that Courtray was nearer Ghendt from whence we had our Bread than Rouselar This with the closeness of the ground in our Rear made the Enemies Parties very successful who had all the advantage they could desire for such undertakings But if the Camp of Rouselar was a perfect Wood when we came to it insomuch that any Regiment could not discover the Line upon the Right or Left yet before we parted with it we made it a Plain for above half an English Mile in the Front and Rear The Soldiers cut down the Wood and Hedges to build their Huts and afterwards to burn and make fires withal 'T was really pity to see many fine Trees and stately Oaks cut down and yet these are the least inconveniencies a Country suffers that is the unhappy and miserable seat of War This reflection ought to make us set the greatest value in the World upon our domestick Peace and to let War be any where else whatever it may cost us rather than have it at home and if the mischiefs of War are so great that when David was put to his choice of Punishments for his Sin he chose rather the Pestilence or to be chasten'd by the hand of God than to have a War at home Certainly those are to be look'd upon as the most unnatural monsters in the world who would disturb the Peace of our Government under any pretext whatsoever and yet so much the more when 't is only to satisfie their own ambitious revenge or discontent The 5 th the Regiments that were to be Quartered at Audenarde marched out of the Field to go to their Garrison The 6 th the whole Army began to separate in order to march into Winter-Quarters the Garrisons of Bruges Ostend and Sluys marched away under the command of Major-General Ramsay and all the heavy Baggage of the remainder of the Army was sent away under the Escorte of the Regiments of Noyelles Oxensterne St. Paul and Marquet which marched to Brussels and the next day the whole Camp broke up at Rousetar We had a good Rear-guard to cover our March but the Enemy did not appear to disturb it and so all the Regiments marched towards their several Quarters that had been assigned them The 9 th the Mareschal de Luxemburgh came to view our Camp at Rousclar with the Mareschal de Villeroy and 4000 Horse of the French Kings Houshold 't was supposed his design was to disturb the Quarters of our English Cavalry canton'd about Dixmuyde but my L. Auverquerque gave such Orders for the defence of their Quarters that the Mareschal de Luxemburgh did not think convenient to attack them and so he went back again to his Camp at Courtray to give Orders for the separation of the French Army into their Winter-Quarters which tho' they had been now above 7 weeks in this Camp yet they could not stir from it till our Army had left the field My L. of Athlone marched with the Dutch Cavalry from his Quarters near Deinse towards Ninove to cover the Works we made at this place and Gramont upon the Dender to make them serve for a Winter-Quarter and to lodge our Troops as near as possibly we could to the Enemies Frontiers The D. of Holstein after the separation of our Army went to wait upon the King at the Hague where His Majesty arrived the 13 th from Loo and the General Officers to their respective Quarters where they command The 14 th and 15 th the French Army left the Camp of Courtray to go into Winter-Quarters and the Mareschals of Luxemburgh and Villeroy went away for the Court but the Mareschal of Bouflers staid to take possession of his New Government of Lifle and the French Flanders About the 16 th all the Cavalry and Dragoons left the Villages where they were cantoned to go into their Quarters and Dixmuyde being in a condition of defence not only the English Horse and Dragoons marched into Quarters but the five Regiments that had their Quarters assigned them in the Comerlings Ambacht which had been sent here to forward the Work of the Fortification Count Thian separated his Army from Deinse which was now fortified and Four Regiments