The Sultan was likewise for Comforting his Son-in-Law by the Example of Solyman the Great who met with the same Misfortune before Vienna where indeed he was not defeated but only miss'd of his Aim in taking it However with all these Testimonies of Favour the Sultan order'd him to make amends for this Misfortune by covering the Frontier Places He consented to the Deposing of the Old Cham of Tartary who was succeeded by one of the Visier's Relations and at the Death of the Visier of Buda that Post was fill'd by Kara Mehemet Pacha the Grand Visier's Intimate Friend This Letter from the Prince of Transylvania contain'd likewise several other Particulars and concluded with this Compliment to the King That his Victory was so compleat and his steddy Resolution so commendable in carrying on his Design to the utmost that all Christendom must still remember his Name and have it always in their Mouths The Emperor for his part rewarded the Good Services of the Count of Staremberg on whom he bestow'd the Title of Felt-Mareshal that is General of his Army but he slighted those of the Duke of Saxe-Laonburg whose Deserts were equal to his Birth and who hop'd to have had the Dignity that was conferr'd on Staremberg This made the Prince of Saxony to withdraw in Discontent having the Satisfaction only of seeing the King of Poland approve of his Resentment and Retreat That King sent him a very rich Sabre as a Testimony of his Esteem by a Gentleman who waited upon him at Presburgh where he had left the Army Staremberg had likewise the Golden-Fleece bestow'd upon him and 100000 Crowns being part of 400000 sent by the Pope as a supply to the Army Thus have we given you a Faithful and Exact Account of this Great Action which will be a more Shining Ornament to the History of our Age by the Extraordinariness of the Event than by the greatness of the Matters of Fact For we shall in the Sequel meet with more Heroical and Considerable Transactions on one side as well as the other I shall now present you with the Particulars of the March and Encampments of the King of Poland from Tarnowits to Vienna and set down upon occasion the several Stages thereof The first Country the King of Poland entred after he had left his own Dominions was the Dutchy of Silesia This Province is one of the Hereditary Countries of the House of Austria and begins on the side of Poland at Bengin nine Leagues off Cracow From Bengin to Tarnowits three Leagues This is the Place which the Poles call Tarnosky Goury Most of those Towns of Provinces subject at present to the Republick going under two Names As for the Leagues from hence to Vienna they are to be reckon'd as German Leagues of the larger Measure the swiftest Courrier not being able to compass a Stage in less than two Hours and some will take above three Hours Riding From Tarnowits to Gleibwitz three Leagues a Stage and an half In this Road you will meet with great variety of Woods open Plains Sandy Fields and Fertile Grounds with some Villages that look better than those in Poland tho' the Houses are made of Wood The Towns are all wall'd even Gleibwitz it self which is the least upon the Road but yet this Town makes some shew has a great Clock in it its Gates are guarded and the Burghers are of a Manly Aspect The King encamp'd at this Place the first Day after he had left Tarnowits and din'd at Vessolo a Village between both From Glebwitz to Routh three Leagues a Stage and an half You still meet with the same pleasant Prospect of a mixt Country which hitherto is pretty good Travelling tho' Sandy Routh is only a small Village situated in the midst of a Wood but it has a very fine Abbey of the Cistercian Order and the Post-Office is within its inward Yard The King din'd at Pilikvitzé and lay in the Abbey Dutchy of RATIBOR From Routh to Ratibor three Leagues one Stage and an half They are very long Leagues and the Country very close and sandy but in going down the Hills that lie next to the Marshy Plain in which Ratibor is situated we discover'd a very pleasant Country This Marshy Plain makes the Avenues to the Town very difficult by reason of the Length of the Causeys made of Faggots Ratibor has Suburbs quite round its Walls and is wash'd with the River Odar which we pass'd over a Wooden Bridge into one part of the Suburbs The Place is very large and set off with Stately Brick Houses It is the Capital City of a fine Dutchy which the House of Austria often pawns Casimir King of Poland enjoy'd it a long time under that Title and the Heirs of Queen Lewes his Wife pretended to great Reimbursements after her Death for that Territory to be made out of the Emperor's Demesnes The King who din'd the third Day at Samotitzé just step'd to Ratibor where he staid a little with the Lords of the Family of Henoff who had provided a Collation for him and went to lye at Pietrovitzé From Ratibor to Troppaw 4 Leagues two Stages This is an Uneven Country but Champian and well manur'd and this City is one of the finest in the Province surrounded with good Walls with Turrets and several pieces of Workmanship on the Gates the Churches are well built the Inhabitants of a graceful Mein It has a Governor and a well-disciplin'd Garrison On that side of it towards Ratibor the Suburbs are but indifferent through which runs the River Oppava which gives the City a Second Name being call'd by the Poles Oppava from the Name of the River The King din'd there the fourth Day The Marquisate of MORAVIA From Troppaw to Hauff four Leagues two Stages Upon leaving of Troppaw the Plains by which it is surrounded and which are very Champian go a League farther and with them is terminated the Province of Silesia separated on this side from the Marquisate of Moravia by a Ridge of large Mountains of six Leagues length which arising from those of Hungary on the Left are joyn'd to those of Bohemia beyond Breslaw on the Right These Mountains are very high cover'd with large Woods of Fir and at the Bottoms wash'd with Fountains and Rivulets where are some Villages ill built but pretty populous Such a Village as this is Hauff which might be reckon'd a large Town and would be a good City in Poland It is call'd in the Polish Language Dwortzè This Ridge of Mountains is terminated by a long rough and steep descent at the foot of which is the City of Sternberg which is properly no more than a Street with a Gate at each End but large rich and well built In the midst of this Mountain is a Castle of Ancient Structure very large and well kept as belonging to a Petty Prince or rather some Great Lord of Germany From Hauff to Sternberg three Leagues a Stage and an half
Infantry pinch'd with Hunger starved with Cold and overwhelmed with Misery and their Cavalry lazy and void of Experience are enough to frustrate the best laid designs of the greatest Generals Among those who deserve this Character we must reckon the Palatin of Russia Jablonouski a Lord of a fine Presence of a Noble and VVarlike and yet of a sweet Mien he is a Person of undaunted Courage accompanied with an admirable Temper and great Penetration He was first Grand Ensign of the Crown afterwards Little General and for his Valour advanced to the Supreme Dignity of Grand General after the Death of Prince Demetrius Wietsnievistski One of the Actions wherein this General signalized himself with part of the Foreign Troops was to stop the fury of Tartars and give the King time to retire under Leopold with the rest of his Army This particular will merit the Readers pardon for the Digression I shall here make to acquaint him with one of the greatest Actions of the King of Poland and the Palatin of Russia The City of Leopold is Capital of the Palatinat of Russia the Seat of the Palatin and is become famous in the History of the present Age by reason of the share it hath born in the War betwixt the Poles and the Turks But this Action of the King which we are now about to relate will consecrate its Memory to all Posterity and advance it to the highest Pinacle of Glory In the last Year of the Reign of Michael his Predecessor this City was in great danger The Turks burnt its Suburbs in 1672. and were likely to have carried this Important Place which is but sorrily fortified had not the Inhabitants come to a Treaty promised a great Summ for their Redemption and given up the principal Citizens as Hostages who were retained a long time in Caminiec But King John III. knew how to guard this City in the Sequel of the War by the most glorious Methods imaginable In 1675. the Tartars advanced very near this City which the Grand Visier had commanded them to besiege The King of Poland encamped round the Place and fortified the same with diligence though he had scarcely 5000 Men left Ibrahim Pacha and Sultan Nuradin commanded the Enemies Army which consisted of 15000 Turks and 20000 Tartars These two Generals having miscarried before several other Places sat down before Sbaracz in which there were but 40 Heidukes and 6000 Paysants who were more inclined to surrender than to fight and in effect as soon as the Enemy appear'd the Rabble opened the Gates After this Expedition Ibrahim retired to Caminiec and Nuradin detatch'd 15000 Men to block up Leopold posting himself with the rest of the Army two Leagues higher to attend the Issue which was to his dishonour for the King of Poland marched with some Squadrons against the Enemy charged them with vigor and drove them back to Nuradin's Camp whence that Tartar Prince retir'd with great Precipitation Some time after having assembled more Troops he renewed his design of investing Leopold and forcing the King's Camp and undertook it himself at the Head of 40000 chosen Men being attended with abundance of Officers of the best repute among the Tartars He began with the Attack of Slotzow which is a Castle belonging to the King 's Hereditary Demesnes within ten Leagues of Leopold on the side of Caminiec This Castle is well enough for a Gentleman's House and hath some Fortifications according to the Modern way faced with Stone but of very little Defence The Enemy attacqued it vigorously by way of Scalade with Sword in Hand The Palatin of Russia defended it with extreme bravery and forced the Tartars to retire from before this sorry Place after an obstinate Fight of five Hours duration Nuradin thinking it best to preserve his Troops that were designed for a more important Expedition would not expose them to any more Assaults but continued his march towards Leopold and possessed himself of a vast Plain below the Hills with which the Town is surrounded and upon which the King had taken his Post This Plain was covered in an Instant with the Enemies Squadrons who raised such a mighty Dust as quickly covered them from view In the mean time those of the Castle of Leopold fired some Guns to give Notice to the People of the Country to retire for their Security behind the King's Camp His Majesty having viewed that of the Tartars was nothing discouraged by their prodigious Number but gave all necessary Orders for the safety of his Camp and the City in which the Queen and the Princes her Sons were shut up He posted Guards in two places on the Right and Left to prevent a Surprize placed his Infantry in Ambuscade amongst the Bushes at the foot of the Hills which separated his Camp from the Plains possessed by the Tartars and planted his Cannon on the Heights to favour the descent of his Squadrons his eagerness to fight having quite over-ballanced his Enemies Numbers They began to skirmish assoon as they could join and the Polish Horse not finding a convenient ground at first were put into disorder but the King coming to their relief with the rest of his Troops and enlarging hi Front insensibly as his Squadrons gain'd gtound he restored the Battle where his presence seconded by his Example inspired his own Men with as much Valour as it did his Enemies with terror The Sultan quickly perceived by the disorder of his Troops that he was defeated by a Superior Power The King of Poland's Hand became dreadful to them by the weight of its blows and every one striving to avoid them that prodigious Army vanished in an instant like a Phantome Having finished this Digression I return to my Subject The Palatin of Kiow General of the Artillery is owned by all Men to be one of the bravest Officers and wisest Generals at this time in Poland and hath acquired an universal Esteem by his Gallant and Prudent Actions Those who have seen him in Battle could not but be charmed to behold his Magnanimity in exposing himself and taking care to save his Men. Those who have heard him discourse of Martial Affairs are perswaded that were he in a Country where the Art Military is regularly cultivated he would be accounted one of the greatest Captains in Europe There is moreover in Poland another Person of extrordinary Merit in that kind namely Prince Lubomirski who is no less expert in War than the Palatin and exceeds him much in Temper and Presence of Mind which contribute so much to the winning of Battles so that the same paralel might be made betwixt those two Polish Generals that was made betwixt the Prince of Condé and the Mareschal Turenne the one was incomparable for managing a Campagne and the other for fighting a Battle I would not that others whose Names and singular Endowments I don't mention here should suffer by my silence I shall do them Justice elsewhere but I thought fit to mention those
vast extent of their Lodgings The King hath so often defeated the Turks who always leave considerable spoils behind them that his whole Quarter or Park is made up of those of the Bassas he has defeated and amongst others of them that commanded the Ottoman Army at Kotchim called Soliman and Ussein whose Tents demonstrate the magnificence of their Serasquiers or Commanders in Chief and of the Grand Senior's Favourites Soliman had a Hall for his Council or Divan the Largeness and Beauty of which charms me every time I think on it The Tapestry was of Silk and Gold the Workmanship and Figures of which were as agreeable as the Matter was rich The Columns that supported it were all gilt and the Architecture of them resembling those of the Columns of a Palace the Cords of it were of Silk and Cotton of a wonderful Largeness and Beauty and indeed there are few People of Note either in Poland or Turky but the Cordage of their Pavillions is of Cotton I should here speak of the Pay of the Polish Armies but have reason to fear that the Reader will be weary of such a particular account therefore shall only say in general that it would be good enough if the Republic took care to give it regularly but they don't much trouble themselves to pay the same quarterly according to the order of the Diet. The Colonels who are absolute Masters of their Regiments take less care to distribute to their Soldiers the little Mony which they receive from the Treasury or from the Provinces upon which their Pay is assigned they never clear Accounts with their Officers but give them only a Sum in part of what is due which here they call ad rationem or on account so that the Captain is obliged to keep back the Pay of the Subaltern and the Soldiers who starve for hunger whilst the Captain makes up his loss by pillaging on his march Indeed when they are in the Field he takes care for the subsistance of his Company for having neither Ammunition-bread nor Sutlers at least in no great number the Soldiers would starve and the Campagn by consequence come to nothing if the Captain did not take care to have Meat and Bacon carried on Waggons for his Men and this is the reason why they are obliged to have so much Equipage Let the Reader judge then if any Man of Honour or Officer of Merit can be fond of the Polish Service since he cannot live there without pillaging nor have any satisfaction to see himself at the Head of a Troop of Beggars in Rags who have neither Mein nor Discipline all their Exercise consisting in forming of a Battalion and discharging their Pieces If they were to make a general Attaque the Major Generals themselves would find it hard enough to manage a Trench and yet they are for the most part chosen out of the ablest Officers and the eldest Colonels of the Foreign Army Their Office looks somewhat like a French Mareschal de Camp but in Poland it is a meer vain Title without Profit and Authority without Sallary The next thing to be discoursed of with relation to their Pay is the advantages of the Great Treasurer of Poland because of the dependance the Army has upon him and the Compositions which the Officers are obliged to make with him who quit part of what is their due to have the rest in ready Mony Thus they say Count Morstin enriched himself when he was Great Treasurer of the Crown But when this Officer is too rigorous he may occasion great Disorders if not Revolts which endanger himself There was an Instance of this in the Reign of King Casimir upon Gonchefski the Grand General and Treasurer of Lithuania which may well make his Successors tremble The Lithuanian Army being dissatisfied with some Article or Command of the Treasury they entred into a Confederacy against this Lord twenty five Towariches or sworn Officers went to his House pulled him out of his Bed from his Lady carried him to the Field with a Confessor at his Heels oblig'd him to confess himself speedily and afterwards kill'd him This unparallel'd Crime was only punished on a small number of those Madmen that were found whose Heads were cut off one of them being condemned to have his Hand burnt off holding certain Papers in it and being daub'd over with Pitch suffer'd that punishment with as much Constancy as Scevola without ever opening his Hand or turning away his Head Since I am come to speak of the Army of Lithuania I shall only say that it is an Auxiliary Body independant on the Army of the Crown submitting only to their own Generals who acknowledge no Supream They assemble the Army assign them Quarters and act with them according to their own Pleasure and Interest tho' in general they regulate themselves by the Councils held at the end of the Diets or the beginning of the Campagns but those Resolves and their Actions never keep pace Their best concerted Expeditions do frequently miscarry for want of Union and Agreement For Example during the Siege of Vienna which I am going to relate The King was returning back to Poland when the Lithuanians join'd him in Hungary At the Battle of Kotchim their Grand General Pats refus'd a long time to fight so that the Crown General then call'd the Great Mareschal Sobieski took it upon himself in point of Honour and resolv'd to answer for the Event notwithstanding all which Pats would not Charge till after Sobieski had forced the Turkish Camp but retir'd from the Council the night before refusing to consent to the Expedition During the famous Campagn which General Sobieski then King continued so long in the Winter the Lithuanian Army refus'd to follow him after some days march which did so much provoke that Great Prince that he published Circular Letters to send them back as useless which might be called a Casheiring them if the King had that despotical Authority in Poland He compleated that Expedition only with the Army of the Crown and subdued all Ukrania to the Republick whose Standards he advanced within ten days Journey of the Black Sea Let us speak at present of the Arms of the Poles in general Of old they made use only of Scimiters Lances Gides Javelins Bows and Arrows at present they have added Fire-Arms and most of them have Pistols with which they don't hit very exactly tho' they be great Skirmishers By degrees they lay aside their Lances and Gides their Javelins are almost wholly disused so that they have nothing of the Old Sarmatian Armour left but the Bow and Arrow The first Journy I made into Poland all Horsemen of any distinction and the Gentlemen belonging to the King Queen and Senators still carry'd them ev'n as they travell'd thro' the Country and made a Noble Ornament of those Arms in time of Peace I have seen the King and Princes carry them they are not unbecoming nor unseemly in a Chamber
Depth and Rapidity of the Danube requires Betwixt those Canals there are several small ones which cut the Islands but don't properly make distinct Arms being only Streams that proceed from the Inundations of the River The first of those Islands and the nearest to the City is a second Town as we may call it the whole Place being full of Country-houses Palaces Gardens great Walks of Trees as those of the Cours le Reins Inclosures Thickets Malls and other things that conduce to the Ornament of a Capital City The whole being inclosed like a Park with high Pallissadoes of curious Workmanship This is that they call Leopolstadt From hence we enter the City by a little Bridge and a great Suburb beyond it that joins to the Houses of the Island in which the Empress some few Years before had caused a Palace to be built call'd the New Favorita which was the principal Beauty of the Island though to speak freely all those Houses Palaces and Gardens have little Magnificence or Grandeur in them but the Place of it self is very much adorned by Nature The other Island beyond it betwixt the two great Branches of the River is greater than Leopoldstadt but without Houses being only adorned with Walks of Trees and Thickets 'T is called Tabor and communicates with the First by a large Bridge as it does with the Terra Firma upon the Austrian-shore by one yet larger This Canal is properly the great Stream of the Danube At the Head of this last Bridge there 's a little Fort upon the Bank of the River built only with Turf and Pallissados which was useful to the Duke of Lorrain favoured his Retreat and covered those that sustained the Party commanded to destroy the Bridge In all the Letters which that Prince wrote to the King of Poland about his Retreat of all those Islands he mentions only the Tabor as if he had confounded it with that of Leopoldstadt but it is certain that he possessed himself of the latter immediately from whence his Infantry marched to Vienna and into which the Tartars and Janissaries entred upon their arrival so that it was not possible for him to burn the Bridge which joins with those two Islands Yet he left Coll. Greben there to defend it till he marched his Troops over the Tabor and gained the other Bridge of the Great Canal But the Tartars seized it defeated the Detachment and took or killed Col. Greben who was never afterwards heard of Then they run to the other of which the Duke of Lorrain had time to burn part and by that means saved the Remainder of the Imperial Army Those Bridges are now rebuilt but to me they don't seem to be in the same Place and the Road across those Islands appears to be changed The City is encompassed with large Suburbs which at that time extended very near the Glacis and to which the Imperialists had begun to set fire to satifie in some measure the King of Poland and to shew some deference to his Advice for the Emperor thought there was no need of it so that they left in effect the Walls of the Houses and the Terrasses of the Gardens which the Turks made use of to place their Batteries upon and to make their Approaches so that under the Shelter of those Ruines they advanced their Trenches within 60 Paces of the Counterscarp the first Night that they opened them which was the 13th of July 1683. This fatal Experience hath since occasioned them to remove the Suburbs at a greater distance when they began to rebuild them after the Siege As to the Fortifications some of them are strong and others weak There are 12 Royal Bastions faced with Brick with Cavaliers Ravelins Half-Moons and fine Gates all fac'd with Bricks as the Bastions and adorn'd with Wreaths of hewn Stone The Ditch is large and deep part of of it dry and part full of Water The Counterscarp is very sorry ill pallissadod nor did I see any thing that deserved to be called a Covert-Way or any detached Works beyond it The side on which the Town was attack'd hath two indifferent Bastions a Ravelin before the Courtin betwixt both the whole covered with Brick with a Cavalier or Platform for Guns and a large Ditch but so little Ground within and so little space betwixt the Rampart and the Houses that there could be no Retrenchment made on it particularly the Bastion of the Court the Emperor's Palace joining close to it and the Platform of it serving instead of a Terrasse for the Appartments so that when the Turks were lodg'd at the Point of it The Count de Staremberg could not make any more than one Retrenchment and told the King of Poland when he shewed him the Breaches that he could not have held out above three Days longer notwithstanding certain Barricadoes he had made at the entrance of the Bastion and of the Streets which run into it but I am of Opinion as were all those who saw the Disposition of the Ground that it might have bin carried in 24 Hours If the Grand Visier had not despised our Supplies been less intent upon the spoil of the Town and on the Evening before the Battle attack'd the weak Retrenchment of the Garrison for all Ingineers agree that he began the Siege like an able Captain and one that was well informed of the weak Places of the Town and that there is no other Place for carrying on of Trenches but those of the two Bastions attack'd by the Turks called the Bastions of the Lyon and of the Court. This was the Condition of the Place without that within was not ill there being great Stores of Provisions and Ammunition abundance of Artillery the Citizens resolved on a long Resistance and vigorously to endure the fatigues of the Siege There was a numerous Garison for Count Staremberg brought thither above 1000 Men and was also seconded by Count Caplier Commissary General of the Provisions who defended the Place longer than the other that fell sick of a Dysenterie during the Siege But notwithstanding all this the Duke of Lorrain was very much afraid of the Town and amongst other Reasons he wrote to the King of Poland at the beginning of the Siege he acquainted him That Vienna though well fortified with Bastions ought to be looked upon to be more a Courtly than a Warlike City as being defective in Works and a regular Counterscarp that which they had not being large enough in several Places It must be owned also That it was very ill defended and as feebly attacked since the Turks having advanced the first Night within 60 Paces of the Ditch were notwithstanding above six Weeks in passing it though the Place was batter'd with seventy Pieces of Cannon of which there were twenty five of a prodigious Size and the Garison made no great Sallies but contented themselves to defend their Ground foot by foot in the common Manner I saw nothing in reality in all the
of Lorrain was supporting the Emperor's Affairs with the utmost diligence and the Princes of the Empire were gathering together their Troops throughout all Germany the King of Poland hastened the March of his with all possible speed The Generals assembled them as soon as they were levied and to give the Germans some Comfort of their Expectations Lieutenant General Schignafski began his March with a body of Cavalry composed of the Regiments of Hussars Pancernes Peteores and some other old standing Troops that were first in condition to March The Great General followed with the rest some Weeks after The new-raised Foot marched separately from their Quarters where they were brought together by Regiments by Companies and by Recruits without any other Rendezvous than that appointed by the King in General under the Counterscarp of Vienna insomuch that Poland was filled with Soldiers and Equipages marching in Disorder and with great Precipitation towards Cracow in order to enter into Silesia where the Imperial Commissaries had prepared Provisions and Forage for them The King of Poland regulating his Departure upon the News he received of the State of his Troops set out at last about the beginning of July taking the Road towards Cracow which is reckoned to be about forty Leagues from Villaneuf He made something more of it because he had a mind to go to the famous Devotion of Chenstokova as renowned in those Countries and perhaps as rich as the House of Loretto Besides the Queen had made a Vow at her lying in and the King whose Piety is equal with his other Virtues believed that he ought to beg in that holy Place the Protection of Heaven by the Intercession of the Virgin seeing the Enterprize he had undertaken was for the Glory of the Christian Name the Defence of the Church and the safety of the Empire From Villaneuf he went to Falenta a fine Pleasure-House about a League from thence where he tarryed that Day The third Day he had Advice at Nadazzin where he dined of the raising of the Siege of Newhausel and the Retreat of the Imperial Troops into the Isle of Schit occasioned by the Approach of the Grand Visier He lay afterwards at Radgiovick another renowned House in Poland at Rava the Capital of the Palatin of Great Poland and at the Abbey of Vitouf near Pietrecouf the Residence of the Chief Tribunal of the Kingdom for the first six Months which begins on St. Francis's Day the fourth of October He lay afterwards at Krotchin which is another fine Country-House belonging to the Count d'Henof regularly built with Stone adorned with a fine Garden with several Water-Works Terras-Walks c. therein and which is very rare in Poland furnished pretty neatly Next Morning the Court arrived at Chenstokova where the King tarryed to perform his Devotions There he dispatched some Courriers to the Emperor and Duke of Lorrain who had sent a Polish Gentleman called Glinski an Officer under Prince Lubomirski to give his Majesty an Account of the Turks before Vienna which they had besieged The King of Poland wrote upon that Subject to other Courts to excite the Compassion of the Princes in favour of the Emperor who was chased from his Capital City and upon the very brink of seeing himself stript of all his Territories then continued his march and arrived at last at Cracow at a Pleasure-House which the Kings of Poland have at the end of one of the Suburbs called Lobzouf where he staid some Days In the mean time his Troops advanced towards the same Place and some small Parties of them passed by every Day Lieutenant General Schignafski came no nearer than within two Leagues with his Body of Cavalry which the King went to see upon the Road and ordered them to march by the Foot of the Mountains on the left-hand that they might not fall into the Road marked out for the Grand Army which was to the Right the General Rendezvous of which was to be at Tarnovitz the first City of Silesia and of the Emperors Territories towards Cracow being 12 great Leagues from thence The Grand General who led the Body of the Army in Person from the Frontiers of Russia arrived some Days after and incamped within half a League of Lobzouf from whence he continued his March through Bengin and the King having seen those two Chief Bodies of his Troops go before set out himself on the 15th of Aug. He took his way by the Foot of the Mountains to the Left and afterwards fell into that of the Great Army at Bengin where Count Caraffa the Emperor's General who was sent per Post to represent that the danger was Pressing arrived two Hours before the Court The fight of the Camp gave him some hopes but he could not yet believe that the King was there he being prepossessed as was the whole Court of Vienna and several others that that Prince would never go out of his Dominions insomuch that when the Marquis d'Arquyan who was the first that visited him at Dinner told him that the King was just coming the Count de Caraffa as a Man who still doubted it replyed Sir 't is said so Before I go further I must observe one Particular relating to the Person of Prince James the King 's Eldest Son whom the Gazetts thro' Ignorance or Malice have confounded with his younger Brother Prince Alexander who was then but 7 Years old and yet they published That he followed the King in this Expedition I am not ignorant of the Venom hid under this Affectation and that most of the Polanders prefer him to the Elder as well because he was born upon the Throne if I may so speak and after the Election and Coronation as because of his charming Behaviour and the fancy of the Nation However I ought to undeceive the Publick as to the Error imposed on them upon this Occasion and to leave to Posterity the Remembrance of the first sâ—â—ting out into the Field of Prince James Eldest Son to the King of Poland was at 16 Years of Age. He was born in France aad held at the Font by Lewis le Grand whose Name he also bears with that of his Grand-Father 'T is certain that the Polanders don't look upon him as the Son of a King but only as the Son of the Great Marshal On the 5th of August the King received Deputies from the States of Silesia who came to assure him that the Provisions were ready upon the Road as also the Waggons granted by the Imperial Envoy for carrying 200 Foot The King I say sent on the 9th Expresses every where to hasten the new Troops who began to march the next Day That same Day his Polish Majesty dipatched the Gentleman of whom I have already spoke to Count Teckley to entertain with that Hungarian General the mutual Correspondence they had agreed upon and to renew the Reciprocal Promises they had made each other to wit on the King's Part that the Polish Troops should commit no
Disorders in Hungary particularly on Count Teckley's Land and on the Counts part that his should not come near Cracow as I have already said to which I must add what I have heard from the King of Poland's own Mouth to Ghiia when he took his Leave of him viz. That he must assure Count Teckley that if the Malecontents should burn one Straw in the Territories of Poland he would go in Person and burn his Wife and Children in his own House The Duke of Lorrain had daily given the King of Poland an exact Account of the State of the Siege by frequent Courriers and Count Caraffa gave him a full and the last Account of it whilst he was at Dinner at Bengin as likewise of the State of the Imperial Army which was given out to be 14000 Horse and 30000 Foot Whereupon his Polish Majesty opened his mind to that General and discovered to him the Design he had formed to attack the Turks by way of the Mountains of Callemberg which he described to him in the Camp and from that Day I observed in the K. a Prophetick Assurance of his beating them which the Event has always made me to take for a Celestial Inspiration Caraffa at the same time told him how that the Imperial Court had been obliged in flying from Vienna to leave in the Place a prodigious Treasure in Money and Jewels the loss of which would be no small addition to their Grief and conjured him by all these Motives to hasten his March whereof he would be assured before he returned In a Word he followed the Court of Poland to Tarnovitz and after having seen the Review of the Army and taken his Leave of the King and Queen he took Post having ordered Horses to follow him on purpose that he might be able to assure the Duke of Lorrain that he had seen them on their March for no Body ever believed that the K. would have led them in Person He arrived on the 21st of August at Tarnovitz in the Neighbourhood of which Place the Army incamped that Day in many separate Camps which the King caused to be done that it might appear to be the greater not only to the Imperial Commissaries but also to an extraordinary concourse of the Nobility of Silesia who flocked thither to see this famous King from whom the Deliverance of the Empire was expected They were supplied with Provisions in abundance the Polish Money past Currant Waggons were given to the Infantry to hasten their March and others got ready for the Cossacks who were impatiently expected by the King in fine all imaginable Methods of dispatch were formed out with such earnestness as the pressingness of the Occasion did re-require Upon which I find my self obliged to observe that the Lithuanians have so bad a Name for pillaging and other disorders in their Marches that the Imperial Commissaries prayed the King of Poland to divert that Plague from off their Country and to cause 'em to march over the Mountains of Hungary which way they actually took and failed not to burn plunder kill c. so that the way they went might be discover'd by their terrible Disorders of which C. Teckley who was assured by the King himself of a kind Neutrality between the Territories of Poland and those of Hungary depending on him testified a great Resentment All the Blame was laid upon the Lithuanian Generals and upon a Gent. of that Country call'd Teskievits to whom the Q. had given the Conduct of certain Troops made up of stragling Men that followed the Army of the great Dutchy of Lithuania as if they had been their Retinue The 22d of Aug. the K. after Mass went into the Camp in a Warriors Equipage having the Bontchouk carried before him preceded by his Guards and Horses of War whose Harnesses were glittering with Gold and precious Stones and without Exageration with such a Richness as I never saw elsewhere or perhaps 't is not valued but amongst those sorts of Nations as Turks Persians and Muscovites whose Pomp and Methods the Polanders imitate The K. had ordered his Infantry to break up before Day the better to conceal from the Germans the smallness of their Number and the bad Condition they were in The Artillery which consisted of 28 Pieces of very small size followed the first Day for the same reason for except 5 or 6 Cannon of a reasonable size for Field-Pieces the rest did not deserve that Name He would not therefore review any other but the Polish Cavalry and Dragoons which were truly extraordinary fine Troops all equipped as the best Regiments of Germany which charmed the Imperial Commissaries The Grand General drew them up in Battalia and the Princes and Senators who had Troops of Hussars among them having posted themselves at their Head the King made a Review of them and at the same time marched at the Head of all in Person I shall not trouble my self here with the particular Description of the Places along this Road nor with the Incampments of the Poles during this March I shall do it at length at the end of my Narrative that I may not break the Thread of my Discourse and shall content my self at present to inform the Publick that the King from that very Day quitted his Army in order to put himself with all Expedition at the Head of that of the Emperor where every Body wanted his Presence taking with him only a Body of 4000 Horse and a Detachment of twenty Hussars out of each Troop who were instead of his Guards and marched about his Person without Lances He wrote a Letter to the Pope from Ratibor to inform him of his hasty March with that Detachment He lodged in most of the Towns where they had prepared Lodgings for his Reception in others he encamped with his Guards No Monarch ever received so much respectful Homage from People of a Foreign Dominion as the King of Poland received from the Emperor's Subjects He marched through all Silesia and cross'd the Mountains being seven Leagues over that part it from Moravia He went through this last Province and was treated by the old Archbishop of Strigonia in the Town of Brin which is the only Place in that Country that can be called strong because of its Cittadel that the Natives reckon to be impregnable In fine leaving the Plains of Austria on his left Hand towards Ekendorf he marched to Olle Brun where he incamped on the 31st of Aug. The same Day the little General of the Crown joined the King in his March with the Body of Cavalry which he had conducted by the Foot of the Mountains and the Duke of Lorrain arrived just as his Polish Majesty was causing those Troops to defile Thus their first Interview was in the open Field the King received him at the Head of those Troops drawn up in order of Battle whose fierce Aspect did excellently well suit with the Noble and Warlike Air of that Monarch The Duke
Visiers The simple Beys are only either Governors of Castles or Colonels of the Cavalry But to return to the Relation After the Emperor was come to Vienna he sent the King of Poland Word that he passionately desir'd to see him and to thank him in Person for the Signal Service he had done him which one might easily have believ'd he would have done However one would not have thought That the Emperor after such a piece of Service would have stood so much upon the Punctilio's and Formalities of it In short 't is most certain that after several Debates upon that Subject it was agreed between the Ministers of the Imperial Court and Guinsky Vice-Chancellor of Poland that the Interview of the two Princes should be in the open Field and on Horse-back to avoid those Niceties upon which his Polish Majesty was once a-minded to go away without seeing the Emperor It was on the Fifteenth of September when they came to an Interview about a League and an half off of Vienna or a little more The King of Poland had decamped in the Morning and tho' the Emperor to stop his March had sent him word that he was coming to wait upon him yet he still continued it that he might oblige the Emperor to follow him and remov'd his Camp a quarter of a League farther The Troops were still a filing off when they perceiv'd a Body of Cavalry which was compos'd of the Lords of the Imperial Court who had quitted their Coaches and mounted on Horse-back when they were about two hundred Paces from the Army The King of Poland at the same time order'd his Troops to draw up into a Line of Battle and afterwards advanc'd towards the Emperor who was making to him with full speed After these two Princes were met the King of Poland unvailing his Bonnet at the same time that the Emperor clap'd his Hand to his Hat told him in Latin That he was very glad that he had been able in such a Critical Juncture to give him any solid marks of his Friendship After this short Compliment he presented the Young Prince his Son to him adding That he had brought him along with him to teach him how he ought to succour his Allies He likewise presented to him the two Generals of the Crown who saluted the Emperor without alighting Lastly seeing that this Prince was stiff and mute without returning a word of Answer or shewing any token of Honour not so much as saluting the Young Prince the King left him very bluntly and said Without doubt Brother you have a mind to take a view of my Army there are my Generals whom I have order'd to shew it your Majesty With that he turn'd his Head from him and march'd away and the Emperor with the same Indifference that he had heard this Discourse suffer'd him to depart whilst he for his part went to visit the Lines Two Days after he sent 3000 Ducats of Gold to each of the two Polish Generals and a Sword set with Diamonds of about a thousand Pistols value to Prince James As to him the Emperor willing to make amends for the Fault he had committed in not saluting him of which there were loud and severe Complaints made he in my mind committed a fresh one by writing to the Prince of Poland a very submissive Letter wherein he cast all the Blame of that Disrespect on the Surprize he was in in remembring the Danger and seeing the Person who had deliver'd him from it 'T is said that he wrote as much to the Castellan of Livonia Baron of Felkerzen Prince James's Governour but this I am no farther assur'd of than that it was the common Discourse of our Court but the other Letter I saw with my own Eyes September 16. the Army rested the Seventeenth it broke up and encamped at Fichau four Leagues off Vienna and in the mean time the Bridge of Toulm was order'd to be brought down and to be put on the Right Branch of the Danube below Presburg by which they enter'd the Isle of Schut which they were to cross because the Country from thence to Raab through which the Turks had made their Retreat was all laid waste and the other side towards Presburgh was not in a better condition by reason of the Encampments of that Body of an Army which Count Teckeley had brought thither in the beginning of the Campaign and likewise because of the Neighbourhood of Newhausel The Army was divided into four Parts for the better conveniency of Forraging The King of Poland led the Van-guard of the whole with his Troops posted about two or three Leagues in the Front towards the Enemy The Duke of Lorrain came next with the Emperor's Cavalry marching a little towards the Right The Count of Staremberg being march'd out of Vienna at the Head of the Infantry which he had thrown into that Town led them on the Left side of the Isle by Goutta and other Towns that border'd on the Plains of Newhausel The Regiments of Croatia brought up the Rear at 3 or 4 Leagues distance The King by the way went to visit Presburgh when the Army was encamp'd over against it He likewise visited Raab or Yavarin going out of the Isle with a small Attendance over which a great Party of Rebels lodg'd in some Gentlemen's Houses thereabouts might have had the Better being near the place where the King din'd but they durst not attempt any thing and the King repass'd the River the same Night to rejoyn the Army in the Island The Rejoycings and Feasts which his Presence occasion'd in these two Places had nothing in them extraordinary The Prince of Poland threw a great many Ducats in Presburgh among the People that were gather'd under the Windows At Raab a great deal of Wine and Powder was spent The Bishop of the Place harangued the King whom he stil'd the King of Hungary and their Deliverer The Governor made him a very Noble Feast under the Salvo of an hundred Cannon Whilst the King of Poland was crossing the great Isle of Schut the Elector of Bavaria with his Troops was posted between Vienna and Presburgh The Count Waldeck likewise made a Halt with those of the Circles and the Elector of Saxony drew off all his Forces But his Polish Majesty not willing to leave any thing for the Germans to do after he had done so much in this Notable Juncture continued his March always at the Head of his Army to put an end to the Campaign and to return to his Estates by the way of Vpper Hungary During this he receiv'd a Letter from Michael Apaffy Prince of Transylvania full of Compliments upon the Success of his Arms. He sent him word of the Arrival of the Grand Visier at Buda whom the Sultan had pardon'd for the Miscarriage before Vienna having sent him a Vest and a Sabre a Standard and other Trophies of the Dignity of Grand Visier as an Assurance of his being still in his Favour
these Transactions the Turks press'd forwards to regain the Fort and their Number hindering their Retreat they cast themselves into the Danube which a moment after became all black and its Stream cover'd all over with Men Arms Horses and Turbants whose heaps and mixture made an admirable Picture being both a dreadful and a pleasant Sight Those who would not venture so dangerous a Passage were cut in pieces on the Bank of the River and there were heaps of 'em all along of a Fathom high which form'd a kind of a Parapet or Breast-work As an Addition to their Misfortune the Bridge was broke by the Multitude of those who fled over it after 7 or 8 hundred had pass'd it with the Visier of Buda The rest endeavouring still to gain the Boats which lay there fell by hundreds at a time one upon another and were all stifl'd by the Weight of those that lay uppermost But whereas they could not disengage themselves nor advance one way or other they were expos'd to the Fire of our Artillery and Troops yet 't is certain there were fewer kill'd that way than by being suffocated Whilst the Turks were thus drown'd the Polish Infantry advanc'd towards the Fort of Barcan the Regiments of the Queen and Prince of Poland arriv'd thither the first and began the Assault The Count of Morstein being Colonel of the One and Sessevin Colonel of the Other led them directly to the two Gates and forc'd them The Enemy laid their Arms on the Ground in order to surrender themselves and hung out a white Flag But the Poles either did not or would not see it and fell upon them without giving them Quarter who seeing themselves hopeless betook themselves to their Arms again resolving to sell their Lives at as dear a rate as possible Thereupon they made so terrible a Discharge that our Infantry began to give Ground and were for regaining the Gates A French Gentleman Mouilly by Name who was Page to the Marquiss of Arquyen and Ensign to the Regiment of the Prince of Poland plac'd himself at the Gate on the Left by which that Battalion had enter'd and with his Sword drove back those who fled thither and by this Undauntedness much above one of his Years he oblig'd them to return upon the Enemy of which not a Man was sav'd This was the Finishing-stroke of that Defeat the most Entire and Compleat that had been known for a long time before Count Teckley arriv'd soon enough upon the adjacent Hills to be an Eye-witness of this Bloody Scene He did indeed appear upon the Brow of the Mountains at the close of the Action when the Danube was cover'd with those unhappy Creatures and when the rest of this Army were cut in pieces in the Fort only 7 or 800 having sav'd themselves by passing the Bridge with the Visier of Buda before it was broke down The Christians at this time could not expect any rich Booty since the Turks had brought thither neither Artillery nor Equipages but to make amends for it they did not lose many Men nor any Officer of Note whereas the Enemy left behind them two Bassas taken Prisoners and three others drown'd in the River with the Standards of the Visiers and other Honourable Tokens of the Victory After the Taking of the Fort they rested a while on the Banks of the Danube to take a view of that dreadful Spectacle Some drew up what the Current threw ashore such as Horses Arms Men and other Spoils whilst the rest play'd with the Artillery that of Strigonium not wounding a Man of our Side One single shot and perhaps the last either from beyond the River or from the Fort of Barcan unfortunately struck between the two Eyes of a French Gentleman belonging to the Prince of Poland nam'd Duheaume and forc'd one of 'em out of his Head The King endeavour'd to chear him up by all the Marks of Esteem and Affection by the Care he order'd to be taken of him and by the Present he sent him the next Day of 100 Ducats in Gold This Gentleman very well deserv'd those distinguishing Favours not only for his constant Attendance upon the Prince's Person but likewise for the Present he made the King in the Fields of Vienna of a Tuft of Heron's Feathers garnish'd with a Rose of Diamonds and Rubies which he found in the Grand Visier's Tent and was the same which that Ottoman General us'd to put on the Head of his War-Horse The Army return'd upon the Plains above Barcan and encamp'd there by possessing all the Curtains of the Bank of the Danube The King with the Duke of Lorrain resov'd to pass the River in that Place and to put an end to the Campaign by the Taking of Strigonium which would enhance the Reputation of the Christian Army by thus Marching over the Conquests of Solyman the Great The Emperor's Generals were with much ado brought over to consent to it and the Season being already very much advanc'd made the Poles murmur who began to Breath after their Country but the King threatening to leave them and trust his Person with the German Troops each Soldier return'd to his Duty and murmured no more unless in Secret As for the Germans he gave them to understand That Strigonium could not hold outlong and that the Visier could not come to its Relief after the last Defeat Besides he was advertis'd of his Retreat towards Belgrade leaving Buda as soon as Kara Mehemet Pacha wounded in the Battle was return'd thither The Latter stay'd four Days after the Battle in Strigonium and then went to Buda along the Danube without any Obstruction having left two Bassas in the Place with a strong Garrison to maintain the Siege in case the Victorious Army should attempt it It was therefore resolv'd upon and all Hands at Work for building a Bridge in a place where the River made an Island about half a League above the City Beside the Safety of this Post by the Space which facilitated the Retreat from one Bridge to the other they rais'd a Fort at the Head of the Latter on the Enemy's Side of the River And moreover they had not far from Javarin or Raab where they might cover themselves in case the Turks should make any desperate Sally upon them Whilst this was doing and all things necessary for carrying on a Siege were bringing from Komorne General Dunneval march'd to seise upon Lewents a very considerable City which facilitated the Communication of the Turks between Newhausel and Buda The Bassa of Newhausel knew nothing of the Matter whereupon several of his Parties were surpriz'd and fell into the Snare without dreaming of it The King order'd Barcan to be put into the Hands of the Germans who burnt the Houses that were hard-by At last the Bridges being finish'd by the 19th of October the Duke of Lorrain order'd part of his Army to pass over that Day and the two next On the 22d the Polish Infantry commanded
forthwith to his Master lying then upon his Sopha regaling himself with his Pipe and Coffee After he done examining me they conducted me back again to the same Officer's House where I first alighted A Young Cavalier being one of the Party and Valet to the Officer gave me some Coleworts and Meat to eat being what was left of his Supper afterwards he brought me into his Master's Chamber to ly near him upon the same Floor where you may suppose I got but very little Sleep On the Morrow betimes in the Morning I was carry'd into the Stable to rub down and dress my Horse but perceiving that I was very awkard in managing the Curry-comb he very civilly discharg'd me from that Office Afterwards I was brought to another Officer's House being a Man of Note where I found all my Comrades that had been taken with me the Day before with the Heads of those that had been kill'd fix'd at the end of a Pole and carry'd each by one of the Cavaliers This was a dread ful Sight and the only Instance of Cruelty to be observ'd in all the Turkish Customs for they are a Nation endu'd with a great deal of Humanity and Charity having a Sweetness of Temper tho' unpolish'd and a Bravery without any thing of Fierceness Thus were we led on in Triumph to the Prime Bassa's House where was the Leader of the Party to present to him the Prisoners with a great many other Turks of Note Officers Lawyers and Members of the Divan or Council At the Antichamber we put off our Shoes as the Turks did theirs because the Chamber-floor was cover'd all over with a Carpet The Bassa was upon his Couch rais'd upon oblong Cushions in an Angle between two Windows and the Couch being cover'd with another Carpet of Red Cloth edg'd about with a Green Silk Fringe was rais'd half a Foot all round the Walls and quilted which serv'd him instead of a Bed without a Canopy and Curtains a Sabre and a Horse-Tayl dy'd in Red hanging at the Top. The Strangers were seated below the Rails and the Officer with the Domesticks standing round the Chamber with their two Hands upon their Breasts which is a Posture of Respect among the Turks The Bassa a Person very old and Meagre but withal of a pretty venerable Aspect caus'd a German to be examin'd and afterwards my self in Latin by that Young Renegade Hungarian above-mention'd threatning to cut off both our Heads if we did not give a Punctual Answer After this they broke open my Letters and made me find out that Particular one sent from the King to the Queen of Poland which was likewise interpreted by a Polish Renegade During this the Bassa made me sit down on the Ground and treated me very Nobly with a Dish of Coffee He made choice of me and another French Prisoner for his Share and sent us to his Eldest Son and his Kiayia or Lieutenant lodg'd in another Brick-House almost as Stately as the Bishop's Palace in which the Bassa his Father resided This Kiayia did not seem to be over inquisitive about us After a short Conference he sent us into a Room where ten or twelve of his Servants were eating There we stay'd all Day till Night came and then were shut up in a Vault fasten'd together by one Foot or rather in certain Wooden-holds made like a Pair of Stocks The bare Ground was our Bed without Hay or Straw or Coverlet In the Morning the same Keeper came to release us and shew us up Stairs where we eat some pieces of Bread and what Scraps those Turks were pleas'd to leave us upon their Plates A charitable Dervis or Monk dwelling in this Family and very much respected by all the Rest refresh'd me after Dinner with an Earthen Pan of Coals which was no small Comfort to me in my Misery my Cloaths being very thin having lost my Cloak my Peruke and my Hat one being taken from me by a Cavalier of the Party and the others left on the Field of Battle so that I spent all the next Winter which was very starp in those Parts bare-headed having only a sorry Muslin Cravat wrapp'd about it as long as it lasted I profess solemnly that I was in a very deplorable Condition and that nothing can be a greater Affliction to a Man of Honour than Slavery not so much by the Sufferings he feels in his Body as by the Affronts that are offer'd to his Spirit from my own Experience I can here testify the truth of what I always look'd upon as a Popular Tradition like a thousand others which the ignorant Vulgar attribute to the Turks Who say they look into the Hands of their Slaves thereby to discover their Quality or Employment by the Fineness of their Skin This I say is very true for all that ever came nigh me the first thing they did was to look into my Hands As for the rest I was pretty easie in the House of this Kiayia who exacted no manner of Labour or Service from me In the mean time the Bassa order'd the King's Letter to the Queen to be turn'd out of the Polish into the Turkish Language and sent it with all the rest to the Grand Visier suppos'd still to be at Buda by an Officer and twenty Horse who march'd directly to Lewents and were taken by the Germans whom they did not imagine were Masters of that Place The Germans sent all the Letters they found about the Turks to the Duke of Lorrain who likewise sent them to the King being all writ in Polish The King was strangely surpriz'd to see his Letter return'd and supposing that I was either kill'd or taken he order'd Enquiry to be made about it of the Turkish Officer who own'd the Truth and said that I was at Newhausel as well as he was at Lewents Upon this his Polish Majesty very generously set himself upon my Deliverance and sent the Interpreter of the Grand General under a Pretence of ransoming several Touariches and Officers of his Regiments but in reality to treat about my Exchange which he was willing to do nicely lest the Bassa should prove stiff in case he had occasion to suspect that I was a Person of Note He had already surmis'd some such thing from that Honourable Mention which so great a King had made of a Domestick in his Letter For the Turks who are us'd to Thou all the World even their Emperor himself and who had conceiv'd a great Esteem for the King of Poland by his last Victory could not imagine that the Person whom he distinguish'd by the Name of Monsieur and of whom he said so many favourable Things could be no more than a Gentleman of the Queen's Houshold They absolutely thought me to be her Brother not knowing that it was the French Mode of Speaking They were confirm'd in this foolish Opinion by the Money and Jewels which I had about me and by the Rich Cloaths I had on It
was in vain for me to explain to them the Expences of the Journey and the Length of the Way to Cracow to let them understand That all that Money was no more than necessary for it The Turks who are unacquainted with those Matters never troubled themselves with these Considerations and suppos'd me to be at least some Lord of Quality They were farther confirm'd in this Opinion by the foolish Behaviour of one of those Poles that were taken with me who being releas'd at ten Days end came and embrac'd me by the Knees according to the Polish Custom and thank'd me believing that the King would never have remember'd him but because he was one of my Company Upon this Demonstration of Respect the Bassa order'd him to be examin'd concerning my Quality and this wretched Creature thinking to recommend me by raising me above the Rank of an Ordinary Person expatiated upon the great Esteem which the King of Poland had for me and upon that high Post which I held in his Court which the Bassa took for granted and it cost me fourteen Months Slavery as I shall hereafter shew During this Negotiation the King of Poland carried on the Siege of Strigonium which at first seem'd resolv'd to stand it out The Elector of Bavaria was made acquainted with this Design who order'd part of his Troops to march on that side and led them himself Upon my Return from Cracow I found him encamp'd in the middle of Presbourg and his Troops a quarter of a League beyond the Town from whence they enter'd the Isle of Schut over the Bridge that had been rais'd in that place But the Elector never came up to the Army who carried Strigonium in two or three Days and afterwards dispers'd themselves into Winter Quarters the Imperialists in the Hereditary Countries and the Poles in Vpper Hungary possess'd by the Rebels whom they were oblig'd to force thence The King of Poland having order'd the German Army and part of his Infantry to pass the Bridges caus'd General Staremberg to carry on the Assault and remain'd with half of his Forces in the Old Camp on this side of the Danube being willing by this means to share the Glory of the Conclusion of this Campaign between the Poles and the Imperialists Hereupon the Germans open'd their Trenches and rais'd their Batteries against the Upper-Town that being all that was left for the Lower-Town had been burn and the Turks all retreated into the Fortress The Assault was carry'd on vigorously they likewise batter'd down the Fortifications and the Wall to facilitate the Scaling of the Town In the mean time they were for coming closer to it and to spring a Mine for which purpose they carried the Pallisade within a foot of the Walls with their Swords in their Hands And whilst they were looking for a place to make a hole in for 't was almost all Rocky the Town Beat a Parley and desir'd to Capitulate The Germans who were for taking the Garrison at Discretion refus'd at first the Proposal of the Bassas but being oblig'd to acquaint the King of Poland with it who commanded the Army with the same Power as the Emperor himself would have done this Monarch accepted of the Capitulation and the Bassas surrender'd the Place into his Hands out of which they march'd Sunday Octob. 24. The King would have perswaded them to have retir'd into Poland for fear the Grand Visier should revenge the Loss of Strigonium upon them but they unhappy Creatures more subject than Slaves persisted in their Resolution of going to Buda giving out that they had done their Duty since they wanted Supplies in holding out the Place for 3 Days against a formidable and Victorious Army But the Plea stood 'em in no stead for upon their Arrival they lost their Lives by being beheaded or strangled Afterwards the King of Poland cross'd the River to take a View of the Place glorying in having forc'd the Turks to abandon it after they had been Possessors of it for 143 Years being settled there by their Emperor Solyman the Great He put the City into the Hands of the Duke of Lorrain who left a Governor with a very strong Garrison in it At last all the Army repass'd to the Old Camp from whence they broke up on All-Saints Day on which the King of Poland attended with a Body of Imperial Troops commanded by General Dunneval march'd by that Neck of Mountains which lie on the Left of the Plains of Barcan to enter into Vpper-Hungary and encamped that Day upon a River three Leagues beyond The Visier of Silistria and the Bassa of Caramania the Polish Great General 's Prisoners were conducted along with the Army and treated very Honourably by that Lord to whom the King had granted them as his Prize Tho' several Commonwealths-men grumbled and said They belonged to the Republick The Great General had at first sent them to his Polish Majesty as being his Sovereign and the Generalissimo of the Allies and afterwards brought them to Leopold lodg'd them in a Neat House and allow'd them as much Liberty as they could reasonably desire with Servants of their own that they sent for from Caminiec whom this Lord entertain'd to the number of seven or eight which my self saw He clothed them in Velvet treated them magnificently according to their Custom and order'd the Merchants of the City to supply them with whatever they wanted and I am sure that ' bating their Slavery those Turks far'd as well as if they had been in their own Country Tho' they had promis'd 150000 Crowns each for their Ransom and the Money came not in 7 Years after their being taken yet the General spar'd nothing of his Civility or Expences upon them which amounted every Year to 12000 Franks of that Sum. 'T is true they could not be blam'd for any Delay in this Matter since their Ransom was once brought as far as Caminiec but the Sultan was so far from contributing any thing towards it that even the Bassa of that Place seis'd upon the Money and made use of it to pay off his Garrison who were ready to mutiny for want of their Pay They wrote often to the Port desiring the Money might be re-imburs'd but they were so far from having Justice done them that on the contrary their Offices were afterwards dispos'd of to others and their Persons proscrib'd tho' they were men of great Note and an extraordinary Merit The Visier of Silistria had a Noble and Charming Aspect a comely Shape a grave Air Eyes full of Sweetness a venerable Beard a Face full of Majesty and Decorum with very fine Features His Carriage was Charming Honourable and Courteous but somewhat Stately and as of one far above the inferiour Persons of Quality His outward Form was perfectly agreeable to the Post he was in and to his Personal Merit In the Battle he gave Signs of an extraordinary Valour and when he was taken he shew'd a great deal of Constancy
beginning of the Year 1684. to sound that Prince in favour of the Holy League in order by that means to give the Crim Tartars a powerful Diversion Upon their return Father Vota stopt in Poland to wait there for a more favourable Conjuncture to his pious Design giving out that the Czar had not hearkened to his first Overtures The King received him very pleasantly all Novelties are pleasing to the Learned and above all at this Court where every thing runs in the Excess as the Heat and the Cold he carried him to the War lodged him defrayed him and at last made him his most intimate Secretary Much about the time of the arrival of all those Persons extraordinary each in his Sphere arrived also one from France no less illustrious distinguished besides his Personal Merit by his great Birth 'T was the Marquis de Bethune heretofore Ambassador Extraordinary of France in Poland who returned thither without any other Character than that of Brother-in-Law to the Queen and without any other Design than to follow the King into the Army being out of Employment in France where the Peace had just extinguished the new Differences between the two Nations after the taking of Luxemberg in the Year 1684. which the Marshal de Crequi joined that very Year to the Conquests of Louis le Grand The Austrian Ministers being naturally suspicious according to the Genius of the Germans believed that the Voyage of the Marquis de Bethune comprehended some Politick Mystery Count Wallestein dropt some Words to that purpose in a Conference with the Marquis d'Arquyan who telling him one Day that he Count Wallestein would doubtless be glad to see a Lord in Poland whom he had known at Vienna and honoured with his Friendship that Minister answered smiling That he had rather see him elsewhere but the Marquis d'Arquyan replying That his arrival was without Mystery and only upon the Score of a Relation who came to see the King his Brother-in-Law after the happy Success of his Campagnes the Count de Wallesteine added with the same Tone That the Pretence of his coming was very plausible and the Colour well contrived However all those illustrious Persons lived in this Court in a perfect Union of Civility and honest Correspondence There had not been so great a Number of Foreign Grandees at that Court of a long time The end of the Campagne also increased it more with Officers of the Elector of Brandenburg's Troops Besides the young Prince of Courland his Brother Prince Ferdinand also repaired thither from Germany to get some Post in the Army The Rendezvouz of those illustrious Persons was in the House of the Marquis d'Arquin who kept an excellent Table and made a Figure worthy of the high Rank of Father to a great Queen They played a great Game there all the Winter whilst the King of Poland was taken up about calling of the General Diet whose Session happened in the following Year 1685. It ought to have been held in Lithuania as being the third according to the Regulations made for that purpose however the King of Poland with the Advice of most of the Senators assembled them at Warsaw on the sixteenth of February 1685. to save the Nobility the Trouble of a long Journey after so tedious a Campagn and that they should not be at so great a distance from the Frontiers to the end that they might be in a readiness to repair thither betimes upon all Occasions This raised great Difficulties in the Republick by the obstinacy of the Lithuanians as we shall see in the Second Part of these Memoirs In the interim Count Wallestein returned to Vienna leaving the Care of Affairs to a Resident called Chemoski a Relation of the Baron Jarowski who came afterwards and took it upon himself Secretary Alberti fixed himself also in this Court and Father Vota began his Intrigues in favour of the Confederate Princes This was the Face of the Court and of the Affairs of Poland when I arrived there after I came out of Slavery The Officer that Pr. Lubomirski had sent to Comorra to make the Exchange conducted me to Presburg by the Isle of Schit and from thence to Vienna I found the Country Peopled with new Inhabitants who were rebuilding the Villages and the Flying Bridge of the first of those Towns was re-established I tarried in the other five or six Days with my Deliverer who filled up the Measure of his Kindnesses to me by solid and effectual Services my Acknowledgment wherof can never be sufficiently testified It is certain that without the pressing Sollicitations of the Marquis d'Arquin the Queen's Father and without the Intercession of Prince Lubomirski who negotiated my Liberty at his own Charge which cost him above 400 Pistols whereof the Court of Poland repaid him nothing and of which he would not suffer me to reimburse the least Penny without these two Lords I say I had been killed at Nehausel either by Famine or by Arms for that Place having been besieged six Months after there was only found therein about 40 or 50 Slaves of nigh 1400 that I left in the Place as well in the Prisons as in private Houses the rest having been killed upon the Ramparts and in the Breach where the Bassa's exposed them to work to cover the Turkish Soldiers The Germans also massacred a great Number of them in the general Storm without distinguishing them from the Enemy in the heat of the Conflict At this Rate my Deliverance cost nothing to the King nor Queen of Poland all the Charge of it fell on Pr. Lubomirski Indeed the King had a great deal of Trouble to find the two Spahi's demanded by the Bassa He called Mehemet was found with a Polander of whom his Majesty bought him to put him into the Hands of the Marquis d'Arquin The other who was called Ali Spaha could not obtain the same Liberty Miogenski who had him in Custody refused to release him The first had all reason imaginable to praise his Bondage not only because of the good Treatment that he received in the House of the Queen's Father but also because of the fair Dealing that was observed for his Interest I had been exchanged with 28 Turks of Zetchin and had signified it so from Vienna without specifying any thing of the Conditions I had sworn to Upon the first News the Marquis d'Arquin not knowing what I had promised thought to procure me an advantage by causing this Mehemet to ran some himself it being said that the French Man for whom he was designed to be exchanged had obtained his Liberty by other means The Spahi offered 500 Crowns and a Turkish Envoy who was detained at Leopold by way of Reprizal for him of Poland at Constantinople paid the same After which he retired to Caminiec with all imaginable Security and Conveniency At my arrival the Marquis d'Arquin presented me with that Summ but I explained to him the Circumstances of my exchange and thanking him
King passes the Danube first and leaves no Troops on the other side to cover Moravia from the Incursions that the Malecontents under Count Teckley might make into the same as the Duke of Lorrain had proposed because says the King he had wrote to that Hungarian Lord that if he burnt one Straw in the Territories of his Allies or in his own he would go and burn him and all his Family in his House so that this was enough to protect that Country during the distance of the Army He leads them afterwards through unfrequented Defiles to the tops of the Hills of Vienna and in sight of the Turks who drew out of their Camp to put themselves in order and even attack'd the Imperialists by break of Day on Sunday the 12th of September before the King of Poland had made an end of forming his Order of Battle and extending his Lines in which his Majesty had mixed his Hussars and other Polish Troops among those of the Empire In the mean time the Turks leave their Trenches well provided with Janisaries with a considerable Body at the Posts and at the Attacks to hinder the besieged from sallying out hoping to continue the Siege at the same time as the Army should make head against the Succours of the Christian Princes and truly they had wherewith all to back this proud Resolution having above 300000 Men according to the King's Account who found above 100000 small Tents in their Camp wherein apparently according to the manner of disposing their Men there were at least three Men in each and his Polish Majesty has reduced the common Report of 300000 Tents which would infinitely augment the number of Soldiers to that of 100000. The Battle was fought on the 12th it lasted 14 or 15 Hours the slaughter was horrible and the loss of the Turks inestimable for they left upon the Field of Battle besides the Dead and Prisoners all their Canon Equipage Tents and infinite Riches that they had been six Years gathering together throughout the whole Ottoman Empire There was found in their Camp above a Million of Powder Bullets Balls and other Ammunition without reckoning the Powder that the Servants burnt by inadvertency in several Places of the Park of the Artillery the flame whereof made an Emblem of the terrible day of Judgment with the Earthquakes that will accompany it and that thick Mass of Clouds that will obscure the Universe A Loss nevertheless which ought to be called a great Misfortune seeing 't is above a Million more as the King assures us in his Letter that he wrote himself to the Queen from which all these Particulars are extracted The Battle ended by the Infantry of the Trenches and of the Isle of the Danube where the Turks had a Battery The Night was spent in slaughter and the unhappy Remnant of this Army saved their Lives by flight having abandoned all to the Victors even an infinite Number of Waggons loaden with Ammunition and some Field-pieces that that designed to have carried with them and which were found next Day upon the Road they had taken which makes us suspect that they 'l not be able to rally again as neither having where withal to incamp themselves nor Cannon to shoot with So soon as the Grand Visier knew the Defeat of his first Lines he caused a red Tent to be pitched at the Head of his Main Body where he resolved to dye for the Ottoman Empire but his last Efforts were to no purpose and the Wing of the Imperialists which he attacked with all his might was so opportunely succoured by the presence of the King who brought part of the Troops of his left Wing thither that all fled before him So soon as he perceived the red Tent knowing by it that the Visier was there in Person he caused all his Artillery to fire upon that Pavillion encouraging the Activity of the Gunners by considerable Recompenses promising them fifty Crowns for each Cannon-shot and these leveled their small Pieces so well that they brought down the Tent of the Grand Visier and the Troop of Prince Alexander his second Son had the Advantage to break through that Body of Cavalry at the very Place where the Visier was who was dismounted and had much ado to save himself upon another Horse having left among the slain his Kiayia that is his Lieutenant General ad the second Person of the Army with abundance of considerable Officers all the Standards the Marks of his Dignity that are carried before him or that are set up before his Pavilions even the great Standard of Mahomet which the Sultan had put into his Hands when he set out upon this Expedition and which the King has sent to Rome by the Sieur Talenti one of his Secretaries to be a Testimony to the Pope of this great Victory The King understood afterwards by Deserters who come every hour in Troops to surrender themselves to him as well as the Renegadoes that the Visier seeing the defeat of the Army called his Sons to him imbraced them bitterly bewailed their Misfortune and turned towards the Han of the Tartars and said And thou wilt not thou succour me To whom the Tartar Prince replied That he knew the King of Poland by more than one Proof and that the Visier would be very happy if he could save himself by flight as having no other way for his Security and that he was going to show him Example The Grand Visier being thus abandoned took the same way and retired in Disorder with only one Horse that which he had in the Battle and was armed all over with Steel having fallen into the Hands of the King with all the Equipages of that Ottoman General who has left his Majesty Heir to all his Riches In effect his Letters were dated from the Tents of the Grand Visier the Park whereof was of as large Extent as the City of Warsaw or that of Leopold inclosing his Baths Fountains Canals a Garden a kind of Menagerie or Place for strange Beasts and Birds with Dogs Rabbets and Parrots There was found an Ostridge of an admirable Beauty which had been taken from one of the Emperor's Country-Houses and whose Head the Visier's Men cut off in their Retreat that it might not serve to adorn the King's Menagerie This Precaution would have been of greater use if they had taken it with Respect to the Standard of Mahomet and of that prodigious Quantity of Riches Bows Quivers Sabres set with Rubies and Diamonds precious Moveables and Equipages of great Value that were left with the Tents to the King of Poland which made that Monarch say very pleasantly in his Letter to his Queen You will not tell me at my return what the Tartarian Women tell their Husbands when they see them return from the Army without Booty Thou art not a Man seeing thou returnest empty handed for doubtless he was the first in the Battle who returns loaden with the Spoils of the Enemy
the Grand Visier having made me his Universal Legatee The Booty that was taken in this Action is infinite and inestimable The Field of Battle was sowed with Gold Sabres with Pieces of Stuff and such a prodigious Quantity of other things that the Pillage which has already lasted three Days will scarce be over in a whole Week although the Besieged are come out of the Town in great Companies to partake of the Booty with the victorious Soldier both the one and the other being scarce able as yet to perswade themselves that this happy success is real it is so extraordinary Insomuch that the whole Army which nevertheless has done its duty very couragiously can't forbear to attribute this great Victory to the mighty God of Battles who would make use of the Hands of the King of Poland to overthrow the Enemies of his Name for which let him be honoured and glorified for ever and ever The King did not taste all the Joy that Christendom will feel as well because his great Spirit is accustomed to Victories as by the Reflection he made upon the lamentable Spectacle wherewith he was pierced when he entred into the Camp of the Turks at the sight of an infinite Number of Slaves whose Throats the Infidels had cut after their defeat and whose Bodies yet chained were extended confusedly amongst the dying and the wounded The King was particularly touched with a Child of about four Years of Age who seemed to be admirably beautiful notwithstanding he was coverd all over with Blood from a wound he had received on his Head The Desolation was nothing less in the City of Vienna where the King entered the Day after the Battle and found heaps of Ruines rather than Houses and even the Emperor's Palace reduced to Ashes hy the Cannon and Bombs but he was eased of the Grief which this dismal Spectacle had occasioned by the Acclamations of the Inhabitants who thinking no more of their past Calamities were transported with Joy for their unexpected Deliverance The City not being able to hold out two or three Days more Some kissed his Hands some his Feet and others his Robe And all cryed out that they might be permitted at least to see and admire the Hand that had delivered them from the Bondage they had been so near reduced to They called him their Saviour And some of them dropt out that they must have such an Emperor as this magnanimous King His Majesty would have willingly put a stop to those Acclamations and desired the German Officers to silence the People but all in vain for it was impossible to stop the Current of the Burgers who repeated their Cries of Long live the King wherever that victorious Monarch went After having visited some Churches where he returned thanks to God for the happy deliverance of Vienna he dined with Count Staremberg the Governour where he was no less fatigued with Embraces than he had been with the Acclamations in the Streets The Elector of Bavaria the other German Princes the Officers and all the Army as one may say run thither as soon as they had Notice of it to see him near at Hand whose valour they had so much admired in the Battle The Princes imbraced and kissed the King with such Transports as are easily pardoned in extasies of Joy where Respect is a little neglected which cannot be attributed to any want of Considaration for they had given him very great Marks of it by the Submission with which they had always obeyed him and which that Monarch had wrote to the Queen was with more promptness and less reserve than that of his own Troops He returned afterwards into the Camp followed by the Princes where he was joined by the Duke of Lorrain and Elector of Saxony who had not seen the King since the Morning before the Battle because they had been always imployed at the head of the left Wing The King was afterwards obliged to change his Camp and to remove it two Leagues beyond the Field of Battle because the stench of the dead Corps began to be infectious He proposed to himself at the same time to pursue the Enemy close to give them no respite in their flight and was so pushed on with the Ardor of his Zeal that he could not give himself a Minutes rest In the mean time the Emperor advanced in great diligence to see him and arrived at Vienna two Hours after his Majesty departed thence But the King did not retard his March for it preferring the Security of his Victory and the Interest of of the Party to the Joy which doubtless he would have had to see the Emperor who likewise ardently desired to see him He marches then directly after the Enemy whom he had resolved to pursue into Hungary whither he had directed his flight the Electors of Saxony and Bavaria resolved also to follow his Majesty even to the end of the World as they themselves told him those Princes having joined themselves in strict Frindship to his Person as had the Elector of Bavaria to the Prince of Poland in particular with whom he would have divided his Spoils This victorious Army may justly be compared to that which Godfrey of Boulogne led in triumph thro' the Holy Land and ought to be the more satisfied with their Glory for that the Victory though bloody cost them but very few Men of Note among whom is reckoned only the Prince de Crouy of the Germans and of the Polanders the Starost Halitski Son to the Castellan of Cracow Potoski and Mordreoski Treasurer of the Court whom the King particularly regretted This surprizing success ought also to be attributed to a visible Protection of the Lord according to the Vision of Father Marc d'Aviano a Capuchin of a very Holy Life who administred the Sacrament to the King and the Prince his Son on the Morning of that memorable Day who positively affirms that he saw a white Dove fly in a Circle over the Christian Army during the whole Action and it was observed during the King's march that an Eagle followed his Majesty 7 Leagues and proportioned its flight so as to be always over his Head One may observe an Effect of this Protection upon the sacred Person of this Hero who exposed himself like the meanest Soldier and upon that of the Prince his Son who was always by his side wherever he went The same may be also said of the Elector of Bavaria who in the most dangerous Places testified a Courage worthy of the Origin he comes of and who was always by the King's side during the Battle I ought not to forget the Count de Maligni the Queen's Brother to whom the King in his Letter gives an Account of the Valor and good Conduct of that French Lord whereof he was an Eye-witness Let us conclude this Account as the King hath done his and let us return Thanks to God for this memorable Victory in which he did not suffer the Infidels