With Marlborough to Malplaquet: A Story of the Reign of Queen Anne

by Herbert Strang

  CHAPTER VII

  BLENHEIM

  "Now I can thank you, my dear Fairburn! We shall never forget it!"were the first words Blackett uttered, and he pressed George's handonce more in his warm grip.

  "Forget what, Blackett?" the other asked in surprise, "and for what doyou thank me?"

  "Surely you have not forgotten it all, my dear fellow--Mary--thefire--your splendid rescue!"

  "Ah!" cried George, "and you have been keeping that in mind all thistime?"

  "Not a doubt of that. As I have just said, and repeat, we can neverforget it. From that day you became the dearest friend of our family,if you will let us call you so."

  "Let you! Heaven knows I am more than delighted to be so. We are nolonger silly schoolboys to fight for the merest trifle."

  The reconciliation between the old rivals was complete, and the twoboys chatted long together.

  "But you are in a cavalry regiment, I see," remarked George presently,"and a lieutenant. I understood from my father's letter that you hadjoined a line regiment with an ensign's commission."

  "So I did, my boy; but there are queer turns of fortune in war, andone of them came to me--only a week or two since, it was." And thelieutenant laughed pleasantly.

  "Tell me how it was," said George, eagerly.

  "It is like singing my own praises, Fairburn," the young officer wenton, "but here goes. I'll put it in a score of words. All last year Iwent as Ensign Blackett, seeing bits of service here, there, andeverywhere--at Bonn, on the Rhine, then at Huy, and again atGuelders--but there was no chance for me. But this summer, as we weremarching here, not a man of us except the Duke himself, with a notionwhy we were coming this way at all, we stopped to storm theSchellenberg, a hill overlooking the Danube near Donauwoerth. We wereall dog tired--dead beat, in fact, for we had marched till we werealmost blind. However, as it was the Duke's, day, he set us at it."

  "Duke's day?" interrupted George, in surprise; "isn't every day theDuke's day?"

  "It's a funny thing," went on Blackett, laughing, "but as a matter offact at that time the Duke was taking alternate days of command withthe Prince of Baden."

  "A queer go!" the listener interjected.

  "Well, to cut my tale short, we made two attacks on that hill, andboth times were driven back. Things began to look like a drawn game,when up comes Louis, the Prince, you know, with a lot of his Germans,and at it we went again. In the thick of it, my colonel suddenlycalled out, 'Can you ride, Blackett?' 'Try me, sir,' I says. And hegave me a note for the Duke, telling me that he had not anotherofficer left who could ride, all our fellows had been laid low ordispersed. I galloped off like the wind, on a big hard-mouthed brute.Just as I was nearing the spot where the Duke stood, a dozen Bavarianssuddenly blocked my path and levelled their muskets. I was on a bit ofa slope and above their heads, in a manner, so I kicked up my nag andin an instant I flew over them, guns and all. It was a clean jump, andnot a shot hit me, by good luck. My horse managed to carry me on tothe Duke, and then fell dead. The poor beggar had caught what had beenintended for me. Well, now I've done. The Duke, who had seen it all,had me transferred to a cavalry regiment, with the rank of lieutenant,and here I am."

  "Yes, and here am I, a private, talking in this off-hand sort of wayto a commissioned officer."

  "That's all right, Fairburn," laughed Blackett, "we haven't enteredyou yet. It'll be quite time enough to bother about that sort of thingthen. Officially we shall have to be master and man; actually we shallbe brothers."

  Thus the ancient rivals became comrades in arms, and members of thesame regiment, for George from that time was a cavalry man. His otherfriend, Fieldsend, was attached to a line regiment again.

  Bit by bit Lieutenant Blackett, during the next days, contrived togive his friend a full and vivid account of the great battle ofBlenheim, just won by the Allies. He was not a great hand at a tale,whatever he might be on the field, and we may piece together his storyfor him. His adventures and his doings in that memorable fight maywell delay our tale for a little space.

  That year Louis of France had determined to make a vigorous effort, orrather a series of efforts, and sent various armies to oppose thedifferent members of the Grand Alliance. But his main plan was toattack the Empire, making Bavaria, the Elector of which was his onlysupporter in that part of the world, his advance post. For some timeLouis had been secretly encouraging Hungary in the rebellion she wascontemplating. He trusted, therefore, that the Emperor would findhimself attacked by his Hungarian subjects to rearward, while he wasengaged with the combined French and Bavarian forces in front. It wasa very fine scheme.

  But there was one man, and only one, who saw through it--Marlborough.At once the Duke set off southwards, carrying with him also a force ofDutchmen, deceiving their rulers by a ruse. He sent for the valiantPrince Eugene to meet him, and the two famous generals saw each otherfor the first time. Mutual admiration and friendship sprang up betweenthem, to last through the rest of their lives. Prince Louis of Badenhad given some trouble by wishing to share the command withMarlborough. Him they at last got rid of by sending him to take theimportant fortress of Ingolstadt, commanding the Danube. Marlborough'smagnificent march from the Netherlands to the upper Danube is one ofthe finest things in military story.

  Marlborough and Prince Eugene met with the French and Bavarian forcesnear the village of Blenheim, on the same river, and close toHochstaedt, the scene of the defeat of the allied troops the yearbefore, and joyfully the leaders prepared to join battle. Thecommanders on the side of the enemy were Marshal Marsin, the Prince ofBavaria, and Marshal Tallard. The last of these had managed to slippast Eugene some time before and join his colleagues.

  The order of battle on the side of the Allies was this. The right wascommanded by Eugene, the left by Lord Cutts, a gallant officer, thecentre, a vast body of cavalry mainly, by Marlborough himself. Opposedto Eugene were the Elector and Marsin, while Tallard faced the Duke,but on the farther bank of the little brook Nebel, which emptiesitself into the Danube just below. Tallard's centre was weak, as hehad crowded no fewer than seventeen battalions into the village ofBlenheim, on his extreme right and close to the bank of the greatriver.

  "Now, gentlemen, to your posts." These words, quietly and pleasantlyspoken by Marlborough, began the great battle of Blenheim. It wasabout midday, August 13, 1704. The Duke had been waiting till he heardthat Prince Eugene was ready, and he had occupied the interval inbreakfast and prayers. Every man of his division was provided with agood meal. He himself had attended divine service and had received thesacrament the evening before.

  Lieutenant Blackett found himself one of a body of 8,000 cavalry,which were ordered to cross the Nebel so as to be within strikingdistance of Tallard's troops drawn up beyond the brook. This work ofcrossing was likely to be a long and tedious, not to say a difficultbit of business, the intervening ground being very boggy. Matthew wasfar towards the rear of this large body of horse, and it was evidentthat it would be hours before his turn came to cross. In company withhundreds of his comrades, he began to long for something moreexciting.

  The first division to get into serious action was that under the braveLord Cutts, to the left of the allied forces. Cutts went by thenickname of Salamander, so indifferent was he to danger when underfire. This gallant leader led his men to attack the village ofBlenheim. Twice the assault was made with the utmost vigour anddetermination; twice Cutts was driven back. The village was not onlyfilled with an immense force of French, but was protected by a strongpalisade.

  A horseman was presently seen galloping towards the spot where theDuke was posted, and his movements were watched with interest byBlackett and others of the cavalry waiting their orders to cross.

  "Seems to me he is wounded," the lieutenant observed to a man nearhim; to which the other replied, "Yes, he does seem wobbly, doesn'the?"

  Hardly had the words been spoken when the advancing rider suddenlyfell from his horse, which kept on, however, dragging his master alongby the stirru
p. Without a second's delay, Blackett threw his own beastacross the track of the runaway steed, caught his head, and pulled himup. Then in a moment the youngster was down on the ground to theassistance of the poor fellow who had fallen.

  "To the Duke!" the man cried, glancing at a note he held tightlyclutched in his hand. "Quick!" he moaned; "I'm shot through the back,and done for!"

  "Poor fellow!" murmured the lieutenant, and he seized the letter,sprang with a bound into his saddle, and was off like the wind, beforehis companions had quite realized what it all meant. Thus for thesecond time within a few days Matthew Blackett presented himselfbefore his commander in the part of unofficial aide-de-camp. The Dukenodded as he recognized the lad, and, pencilling a few words of reply,said, "To Lord Cutts; then back to your post." And as Blackett rodeoff like the wind in a bee-line for Cutts's division, Marlboroughmurmured, "A fearless fox-hunter, I'll be bound." The order, it wasafterwards found, was for Cutts to make no more attempts on Blenheim,but to hold himself in readiness when his services should again berequisitioned.

  Meanwhile, Prince Eugene was having a lively time of it on the rightwing. He began by leading a cavalry charge against the French andBavarians, who were under the command of Marsin and the Electorrespectively. In a few minutes he had forced back the front line andhad captured a battery of six guns. On he sped to confront the secondline, and the opposing forces met with a tremendous shock. For amoment all was doubtful, but the enemy stood their ground stoutly.Eugene could make no impression and had to fall back. By this time thescattered front line of the French had rallied, and, in spite of thePrince's desperate efforts, the battery was retaken. The danger tothat division of the allied forces soon became extreme. To save theday, Eugene immediately galloped away in person, and returnedpresently, bringing a body of Prussian infantry he had in reserve. Thehelp of these alone saved him from defeat.

  At last! Blackett and his comrades were ordered to advance, and movedtowards the Nebel. The ground was in a shockingly bad state. At itsbest marshy and water-logged, it was now a sea of mire. The worstspots had been bridged over, as it were, by the help of fascines, withhere and there pontoons. By this time, however, many of these had beenshifted from their places by the passage of so many thousands ofhorse, and the road became worse and worse as the burn was neared. Inone place the men were compelled to come to a full stop, the groundbeing simply impassable.

  "We cannot advance, gentlemen," cried the colonel commanding theregiment, "till we have done some repairs. Now for willing hands!"

  Some of the officers glanced dubiously at the mud in which the horseswere standing knee-deep, and they did not budge. Not so MatthewBlackett; with a bound he sprang to the ground, and waded through themire, half of his long legs submerged, his brethren endeavouring tokeep their countenances.

  "That's the right way!" sang out the colonel in high commendation, anda little crowd of the men following the example of the younglieutenant, the work of repairing the road was soon in rapid progress,the colonel standing by to direct the operations. Other officersspeedily came to help, rather ashamed to think that they had allowedthe youngster to set them a lead.

  "It's nothing," cried Matthew, cheerfully, as he toiled with a will."Many's the time I've stood up to my waist in deadly-cold waterdigging out an old dog otter."

  The lad's good-humour and willingness were infectious, and in aremarkably short space of time the track had been repaired. Then, withmany a joke at each other's expense, the men remounted and pursuedtheir journey, covered from head to foot with mire, but cheered by thecolonel's approving, "It will serve for all the rest of the horse, mylads."

  All this time the cavalry were wondering why Tallard took no steps tostop their passage, and none was more surprised than Marlboroughhimself. He did not at the time know that Tallard had left his centreweak, by sending so many men into the village on the right. Stillless, of course, could the Duke know that Tallard was expecting a veryeasy victory. Be that as it may, the Marshal made no move tillMarlborough had got a large part of his men across the stream and hadformed his first line.

  When Blackett arrived on the scene with his regiment he found that aforce of Eugene's cavalry had taken the village of Oberglau, near thespot. A minute later, almost before the colonel had drawn up his men,there was a fierce shout, and there came thundering down upon thevillage, with almost irresistible shock, a body of the enemy.

  "Irishmen, by Jove!" cried a man by Matthew's side. "They'll fightlike demons!"

  The attack, in truth, came from the Irish Brigade, a doughty body ofIrishmen, exiles from their country, in the service of Louis. Beforethe Englishmen realized the situation the Irishmen had dashed cleanthrough the force occupying Oberglau, and had taken up a positionbetween the men and Eugene.

  The confusion was extreme, and the allied troops could scarce be gotto face the resistless Irishmen at all. Things looked desperate. Thecolonel of Blackett's regiment, seeing the state of things atOberglau, as he toured it, shouted, "Go and tell the Duke, Mr.Blackett!" and away dashed Matthew once more to the General. He was apretty spectacle, but he did not give the matter a thought, and hisnews prevented the Duke from paying much heed to the condition of themessenger.

  "Lead the way," came the sharp order, and Blackett thundered on infront, the great commander with a body of men hard after him, to findthe energetic and plucky colonel fallen badly wounded, and theregiment in difficulties. With a swoop, the reinforcements fell uponthe Irishmen, and, almost for the first time, Matthew found himselfengaged in a hand-to-hand encounter. He did not know how long theconflict lasted, but presently he found the enemy in full flight, hiscomrades cheering lustily around him. Marlborough's promptitude hadsaved the situation.

  "You fought like a very fiend, Blackett," remarked the major,laughingly, a little later on, when for the moment operations hadceased, to which Matthew replied simply, "Did I, sir? I don't rememberanything about it," whereat the major laughed again.

  It was five in the afternoon, and there was a lull on the field. Up tothe present neither side could be said to have gained any realadvantage over the other. All the allied cavalry had crossed thestream, and the men wondered what would come next.

  They were not left long in doubt. The order came to mass the horse inpreparation for a grand charge. For a time the field was a scene ofrapid and puzzling movement, but order was quickly evolved out of theseeming confusion.

  Then the trumpet rang out, and there bore down upon Tallard amagnificent body of eight thousand cavalry. Bore _down_, we havewritten; the course was slightly upwards, as a matter of fact, fromthe stream. There was one check, and the Allies were stopped for amoment. Then like a whirlwind the horse dashed forward, at atremendous speed.

  It was too much. The French fired one volley, then turned and fled. Onthe Englishmen galloped, and in a few moments the enemy's line was cutin two. In two different directions the French cavalry ran, andMarlborough followed after that section which was making for Blenheim.It was a wild stampede, and Matthew Blackett, as he dashed after theretreating enemy, always considered it the most exciting episode inhis life.

  It did not last long. By great good fortune the lieutenant foundhimself one of those surrounding Marshal Tallard. Amidst a wild burstof applause the gallant Frenchman surrendered, and before he knew wellwhat he was doing, Blackett was leading Tallard's horse by the bridle.The lad saw the Duke glance towards him as he dismounted to receivethe gallant leader and invite him into his carriage.

  The victory was practically won. There remained only the seventeenbattalions in the village of Blenheim, and these, hemmed in on the oneside, and bounded by the river on the other, gave little trouble. Thepoor fellows, in fact, were unable to stir, and many a man of themsprang into the river in his desperation, only to be hopelesslycarried away by the swift current, and drowned.

  It was a terrible scene of bloodshed, and it was an untold relief tothe Englishmen when their gallant foes in the village gave in. OneFrench regiment had actually burnt its colo
urs to save them from beingtaken.

  Thus ended the great fight of Blenheim, a fight in which the enemy hadlost no fewer than forty out of their sixty thousand men. The Allieshad had fifty thousand troops and had lost eleven thousand of them.The wonderful renown of the French army had received a mighty blow. Nolonger could Louis boast that his troops were invincible.

  To Marlborough the victory brought the royal manor of Woodstock andthe palace of Blenheim. To the humble Matthew Blackett it gave a placenear the great Duke's own person, as we have seen.