This
cannonade was but the prelude of the attack that the enemy were
developing, and I looked upon the moment when they would fling
themselves against one point or another in our entrenchments as so
instant that I would allow no man even to bow his head before the
storm, fearing that the regiment would find itself in disorder when
the time came for us to make the rapid movement that would be
demanded of us. At last the enemy's army began to move to the
assault, and still it was necessary for me to suffer this sacrifice
to avoid a still greater misfortune, though I had five officers and
eighty grenadiers killed on the spot before we had fired a single
shot.
So
steep was the slope in front of us that as soon almost as the
enemy's column began its advance it was lost to view, and it came
into sight again only two hundred paces from our entrenchments. I
noticed that it kept as far as possible from the glacis of the town
and close alongside of the wood, but I could not make out whether a
portion might not also be marching within the latter with the
purpose of attacking that part of our entrenchments facing it, and
the uncertainty caused me to delay any movement. There was nothing
to lead me to suppose that the enemy had such an intimate knowledge
of our defences as to guide them to one point in preference to
another for their attack.
English and
Allied troops constructing Fascines or bundles of brush.
Fascines were carried by the attacking force to use to bridge the
ditches so
as to better climb the Franco-Bavarian parapet defences.
However many were prematurely used to traverse gullies carved by the
previous day's heavy rain. (detail from Victoria &
Albert Museum)
Had I
been able to guess that the column was being led by that scoundrel
of a corporal who had betrayed us, I should not have been in this
dilemma, nor should I have thought it necessary to keep so many
brave men exposed to the perils of the cannonade, but my doubts came
to an end two hours after midday, for I caught sight of the tips of
the Imperial standards, and no longer hesitated. I changed front as
promptly as possible, in order to bring my grenadiers opposite the
part of our position adjoining the wood, towards which I saw that
the enemy was directing his advance.
The
regiment now left a position awkward in the extreme on account of
the cannon, but we soon found ourselves scarcely better off, for
hardly had our men lined the little parapet when the enemy broke
into the charge, and rushed at full speed, shouting at the top of
their voices, to throw themselves into our entrenchments.
The
rapidity of their movements, together with their loud yells, were
truly alarming, and as soon as I heard them I ordered our drums to
beat the "charge" so as to drown them with their noise, lest they
should have a bad effect upon our people. By this means I animated
my grenadiers, and prevented them hearing the shouts of the enemy,
which before now have produced a heedless panic.
|
"quite
impossible to find a more terrible representation of
Hell itself than was shown in the savagery of both sides
on this occasion." |
The
English infantry led this attack with the greatest intrepidity,
right up to our parapet, but there they were opposed with a courage
at least equal to their own. Rage, fury, and desperation were
manifested by both sides, with the more obstinacy as the assailants
and assailed were perhaps the bravest soldiers in the world. The
little parapet which separated the two forces became the scene of
the bloodiest struggle that could be conceived. Thirteen hundred
grenadiers, of whom seven hundred belonged to the Elector's Guards,
and six hundred who were left under my command, bore the brunt of
the enemy's attack at the forefront of the Bavarian infantry.
It
would be impossible to describe in words strong enough the details
of the carnage that took place during this first attack, which
lasted a good hour or more. We were all fighting hand to hand,
hurling them back as they clutched at the parapet ; men were
slaying, or tearing at the muzzles of guns and the bayonets which
pierced their entrails ; crushing under their feet their own wounded
comrades, and even gouging out their opponents' eyes with their
nails, when the grip was so close that neither could make use of
their weapons. I verily believe that it would have been quite
impossible to find a more terrible representation of Hell itself
than was shown in the savagery of both sides on this occasion.
English and
Dutch troops attacking a field entrenchment in 1709
(Battle of Malplaquet - Wiki)
At
last the enemy, after losing more than eight thousand men in this
first onslaught, were obliged to relax their hold, and they fell
back for shelter to the dip of the slope, where we could not harm
them. A sudden calm now reigned amongst us, our people were
recovering their breath, and seemed more determined even than they
were before the conflict. The ground around our parapet was covered
with dead and dying, in heaps almost as high as our fascines, but
our whole attention was fixed on the enemy and his movements ; we
noticed that the tops of his standards still showed at about the
same place as that from which they had made their charge in the
first instance, leaving little doubt but that they were reforming
before returning to the assault. As soon as possible we set
vigorously to work to render their approach more difficult for them
than before, and by means of an increasing fire swept their line of
advance with a torrent of bullets, accompanied by numberless
grenades, of which we had several wagon loads in rear of our
position. These, owing to the slope of the ground, fell right
amongst the enemy's ranks, causing them great annoyance and
doubtless added not a little to their hesitation in advancing the
second time to the attack. They were so disheartened by the first
attempt that their generals had the greatest difficulty in bringing
them forward again, and indeed would never have succeeded in this,
though they tried every other means, had they not dismounted and set
an example by placing themselves at the head of the column, and
leading them on foot.
The "numberless
grenades" the French and Bavarians threw at the attackers were of
this configuration. They were hollow
iron balls about 3 1/2
inches (8 cm) in diamater and filled with gunpowder. A wooden fuse
and match cord soaked
in potassium nitrate served as its ignition
device. A number of 18th century grenades were found on the wreck of
the
French 32-gun frigate Machault. To the right,
a Bavarian Grenadier is shown tossing one of these fragment
grenades.
(painting: Anton Hoffmann)
Their
devotion cost them dear, for General Stirum and many other generals
and officers were killed. They once more, then, advanced to the
assault, but with nothing like the success of their first effort,
for not only did they lack energy in their attack, but after being
vigorously repulsed, were pursued by us at the point of the bayonet
for more than eighty paces beyond our entrenchments, which we
finally re-entered unmolested.
After
this second attempt many efforts were made by their generals, but
they were never able to bring their men to the assault a third time.
They remained halted half-way in a state of uncertainty, seeking an
opportunity of extricating themselves and improving their position.
They
had all along feared the effect of the fire from the covered-way of
Donauwort, and this was why they had narrowed their attack along the
edge of the wood ; having failed, therefore, to penetrate our
particular angle of the entrenchments, they sent off a lieutenant
and twenty men in the direction of the town to reconnoitre it
closely. This officer, who fully believed he had received his
sentence of death, was agreeably surprised to find the glacis
deserted, and his party only received a few shots from the loopholes
in the old walls of the town.
The
town commandant, upon whom Maréchal d'Arcko had relied so much,
instead of lining his covered-way with his best troops, had
withdrawn them all into the main works ; he seems to have considered
that the best way of ensuring the safety of the place was to shut up
his troops and lock the gates, and the result was our ruin. It is
quite certain that if he had occupied the covered-way, as was
naturally to be expected, the enemy would never have been able to
get into our entrenchments, for they would have found it impossible
to do so under the flank fire from the glacis, against which they
could have in no wise protected themselves. I am of opinion even,
that had they cared to run this risk we should have had notice of
their line of advance from the resistance offered by the garrison,
in time to have afforded support in that quarter by filing to our
left along our entrenchments. As it was, we were not in a position
to know anything of this, owing to the formation of the ground which
hid their movements from us ; and at the same time it seemed clear,
owing to the resistance maintained against them at every point and
the great loss they had suffered in their repulse, that their chance
of success in a third assault was as hopeless as the two first.
Besides this, the day's failure apparently spelt ruin to them ;
reinforcements from Augsburg were on their way to join us, and
certainly would have had time to arrive by nightfall, when the enemy
would find themselves in a very awkward position owing to the
demoralising effect of the woods and defiles to be repassed in the
retreat.
Contemporary
depiction of the attack on Schellenberg Heights (upper
left).Donauworth is shown in the centre and its suburbs burn to the
upper right. (Wiki)
France
would have then been able to carry out her original plan of
campaign, particularly as the enemy had already lost nearly fourteen
thousand men, as I learned from them- selves later on, a number that
would, as far as could be judged, be largely increased during a
forced retreat. But as it happened, matters had a different ending.
When the enemy found themselves safe from attack on the town side,
they hastened to make the most of the daylight left to them. It was
nearly seven in the evening when they began their movement to turn
this flank, which they did without making any change in their order
of battle. They had merely to turn their column to the flank, and by
reason of the fall of the ground, succeeded in changing their
position to their right, near the glacis, without meeting any
obstacle, or being seen by us. If we only could have been informed
of this movement, we could have moved to any place at which they
might have presented themselves, but we never believed it possible
that they would approach from this direction ; on the contrary, we
had been absolutely assured of the safety of this point, and seeing
no signs of a renewed assault, as the day waned, looked upon the
victory as ours, and, in fact, never was joy greater than our own
than at the very moment when we were in the greatest danger.
We
pictured to ourselves all the advantages produced by our successful
resistance, and the glory of the action itself, perhaps the most
memorable in the history of the world ; for after all, although the
enemy might in the end, as I shall show later on, find themselves
masters of our entrenchments, it could not diminish the glory due to
our ten battalions, for having sustained, unbroken, two determined
assaults of a formidable army, which after five hours' fighting no
longer dared to make even an appearance.
If
this action had been described in' detail by a practised hand, it
would be the subject of the admiration of the century, but however
good my own intentions in making a vivid and touching description of
it might be, I could not give effect to them, because my literary
powers would not be equal to the task. I shall content myself,
therefore, by remarking that our ten battalions, with hardly the
pretence of an entrenchment, held their own at Donauwort against the
violent and reiterated efforts of a whole and powerful army, which
five weeks later defeated, on the plain of Hochstett, the combined
forces of France and Bavaria, in which battle none of our battalions
took part. I leave the appreciation of the valour of our troops to
those who read these memoirs, and those more curiously inclined who
have studied the subject in other histories, to draw their own
deductions. I should not know how to set about it, for I declare,
before God and man, that I have never read any treatise on this war
except one regarding the Belgrade affair, in a book entitled The
Campaigns of Prince Eugene which one of my friends brought my wife,
as it contained a paragraph or so concerning me. I would go further
by saying that owing to the dislike I have always had of speaking of
war itself, I wrote these memoirs under a species of compulsion, and
would never have done so had I had my own way in the matter.
Detailed German
map showing the various positions including the location of the
pontoon bridge
escape route to the right across the Danube near Donauworth (Library
of Congress)
The
enemy then, having found means to change their position and their
line of attack unobserved, formed up on a broader front than before,
and advanced to attack part of the entrenchments guarded only by the
regiment of Nettancourt. This regiment, which was strung out in
single rank, was in no wise in a position to offer a serious
resistance, and retired into the town on their approach without
giving the slightest information of their movement to our ten
battalions. Our dragoons, who saw all this going on, came into
action, but a volley from the enemy killed so many of them that they
were obliged to retire without any possibility of their approaching
the angle we were holding. Maréchal d'Arcko and Major-General M. de
Liselbourg, who were at this point when the enemy broke through,
were also cut off from us, and never doubting but that our ten
battalions had already retired, made their way to the town, which
they had some difficulty in entering, owing to the hesitation of the
commandant to open the gates.
We,
however, remained steady at our post; our fire was as regular as
ever, and kept our opponents thoroughly in check. But while we were
thus devoting our attention to our own part of the field, the enemy
had possessed themselves of all the entrenchments on our left, and
shut us off completely from any communication with the town, which
ought at least to have served us as a haven of retreat. I was the
only commanding officer left among the ten battalions, and I had a
far from pleasing prospect before me.
Maréchal d'Arcko and Major-General Liselbourg had vanished, and
Count Emanuel d'Arcko, who had just been wounded, was drowned during
the retreat. He was colonel of the Prince Electoral's regiment, and
his lieutenant-colonel, M. de Mercy, had been sent to Italy ; the
latter's brother, the Chevalier de Mercy, lieutenant-colonel of the
guards, was also wounded, as well as the officer commanding the
Liselbourg regiment. Thus, I was left alone at the head of a body of
men full of pluck and confidence, but about to be deserted by
Fortune.
Although the enemy were in possession of all the entrenchments on
our left, they took, out of respect for us, every precaution when
advancing to attack us. As fast as the infantry entered the
position, their generals formed them up four lines in depth, and
although we now were lining our parapet and had our left flank at
their mercy, we had inspired them with such fear of our powers that
they advanced upon us in slow time with shouldered arms, either as
if to warn us it was time to retire, or because they still felt that
our aspect was too dangerous a one to risk anything rash.
What
made our position still more trying was that taking us thus in flank
they caught us, as in a trap, between their main line of battle and
the entrenchment which faced the wood on our right. However, to our
great good fortune, they never thought of dividing their force when
they had got into the entrenchments, and sending one portion to cut
off our retreat, whilst the other pressed us on the flank.
They
arrived within gunshot of our flank, about 7.30 in the evening,
without our being at all aware of the possibility of such a thing,
so occupied were we in the defence of our own particular post and
the confidence we had as to the safety of the rest of our position.
But I
noticed all at once an extraordinary movement on the part of our
infantry, who were rising up and ceasing fire withal. I glanced
around on all sides to see what had caused this behaviour, and then
became aware of several lines of infantry in greyish white uniforms
on our left flank. From lack of movement on their part, their dress
and bearing, I verily believed that reinforcements had arrived for
us, and anybody else would have believed the same. No information
whatever had reached us of the enemy's success, or even that such a
thing was the least likely, so in the error I laboured under I
shouted to my men that they were Frenchman, and friends, and they at
once resumed their former position behind the parapet.
|
"the
front of my jacket was so deluged with the blood which
poured from [my wound] that several of our officers
believed that I was dangerously hurt." |
Having, however, made a closer inspection, I discovered bunches of
straw and leaves attached to their standards, badges the enemy are
in the custom of wearing on the occasion of battle, and at that very
moment was struck by a ball in the right lower jaw, which wounded
and stupefied me to such an extent that I thought it was smashed. I
probed my wound as quickly as possible with the tip of my finger,
and finding the jaw itself entire, did not make much fuss about it ;
but the front of my jacket was so deluged with the blood which
poured from it that several of our officers believed that I was
dangerously hurt. I reassured them, however, and exhorted them to
stand firmly with their men. I pointed out to them that so long as
our infantry kept well together the danger was not so great, and
that if they behaved in a resolute manner, the enemy, who were only
keeping in touch with us without daring to attack us, would allow us
to retire without so much as pursuing. In truth, to look at them it
would seem that they hoped much more for our retreat than any chance
of coming to blows with us.
Marlborough
sending orders while enemy cavalry attack infantry in the
background. De Colonie notes the arrival of the Imperial Army who he
initially mistaken as French reinforcements. Several Austrian, Dutch
and Danish units wore a similar uniform as the French. When the
Imperial troops broke through outflanking the entrenched Bavarians,
an attempt was made to check the Imperial advance. It failed.
I at
once, therefore, shouted as loudly as I could that no one was to
quit the ranks, and then formed my men in column along the
entrenchments facing the wood, fronting towards the opposite flank,
which was the direction in which we should have to retire. Thus,
whenever I wished to make a stand, I had but to turn my men about,
and at any moment could resume the retirement instantaneously, which
we thus carried out in good order. I kept this up until we had
crossed the entrenchments on the other flank, and then we found
ourselves free from attack. This retreat was not made, however,
without loss, for the enemy, although they would not close with us
when they saw our column formed for the retirement, fired volleys at
close range into us, which did much damage.
My men
had no sooner got clear' of the entrenchments than they found that
the slope was in their favour, and they fairly broke their ranks and
took to flight, in order to reach the plain that lay before them
before the enemy's cavalry could get upon their track. As each ran
his hardest, intending to reform on the further side, they
disappeared like a flash of lightning without ever looking back, and
I, who was with the rear guard ready to make a stand if necessary
against our opponents, had scarcely clambered over the entrenchments
when I found myself left entirely alone on the height, prevented
from running by my heavy boots.
I
looked about on all sides for my drummer, whom I had warned to keep
at hand with my horse, but he had evidently thought fit to look
after himself, with the result that I found myself left solitary to
the mercy of the enemy and my own sad thoughts, without the
slightest idea as to my future fate. I cudgelled my brains in vain
for some way out of my difficulty, but could think of nothing the
least certain; the plain was too wide for me to traverse in my big
boots at the necessary speed, and to crown my misfortunes, was
covered with cornfields. So far the enemy's cavalry had not appeared
on the plain, but there was every reason to believe that they would
not long delay their coming ; it would have been utter folly on my
part to give them the chance of discovering me embarrassed as I was,
for as long as I was hampered with my boots, a trooper would always
find it an easy affair to catch me.
Cavalry attack fleeing troops. When the Cavalry
was unleashed on the fleeing Bavarians, no quarter was expected or
given..
The English and Imperial horse battle cry was "Kill, Kill and
Destroy" and they were true to their word.
I
noticed, however, that the Danube was not so very far away, and
determined to make my way towards it at all risk, with the hope of
finding some beaten track or place where there would be some chance
of saving my life, as I saw it was now hopeless to think of getting
my men together. As a matter of fact, I found a convenient path
along the bank of the river, but this was not of much avail to me,
for, owing to my efforts and struggles to reach it through several
fields of standing corn, I was quite blown and exhausted and could
only just crawl along at the slowest possible pace.
On my
way I met the wife of a Bavarian soldier, so distracted with weeping
that she travelled no faster than I did. I made her drag off my
boots, which fitted me so tightly about the legs that it was
absolutely impossible for me to do this for myself. The poor woman
took an immense time to effect this, and it seemed to me at least as
if the operation would never come to an end. At last this was
effected, and I turned over in my mind the best way to profit by my
release, when, raising my head above the corn at the side of the
road, I saw a number of the enemy's troopers scattered over the
country, searching the fields for any of our people who might be
hidden therein, with the intention, doubtless, of killing them for
the sake of what plunder might be found upon them. At this cruel
prospect all my hopes vanished, and the exultation I felt at my
release from the boots died at the moment of its birth.
My
position was now more perilous than ever ; nevertheless, I examined
under the cover afforded by the corn the manoeuvres of these
cavaliers to see if I could not find some way out of the difficulty.
A notion came into my head which, if it could have been carried out,
might have had a curious ending. It was that if one trooper only
should approach me, and his comrades remained sufficiently distant,
I should keep hidden and wait until he got near enough for me to
kill him with a shot from my pistol, for I had two on my belt ; I
would then take his uniform, mount his horse, and make my escape in
this disguise, a plan which would be favoured by the approaching
darkness. But not seeing any chance of being able to carry out this
idea, I thought of another, namely, to get into the river up to my
chin in the water under the bushes on the bank, wait for nightfall
and the return of the troopers to their camp, and then to escape in
the dark. But there were more difficulties to contend with in
risking this even than in the other case, and as a last resource it
struck me I might save myself by crossing the river, for happily I
knew how to swim, although the risk here was very great owing to the
breadth and rapidity of the Danube.
I
hurriedly determined on this plan, as I now saw a number of troopers
approaching ever nearer to my hiding-place, who were refusing to
give quarter to the unhappy wounded they found hidden in the corn,
whom they ruthlessly despatched the more easily to despoil them.
There was no reason to suppose that they were likely to show any
more mercy to me, particularly as I was worth more in the shape of
plunder than a private soldier, nor was there time to lose in making
up my mind, so I then and there determined to swim the river. Before
taking to the water I took the precaution of leaving on the bank my
richly embroidered uniform, rather spoiled as it was by the events
of the late action. I scattered in a similar manner my hat, wig,
pistols, and sword, at one point and another, so that if the
troopers came up before I had got well away, they would devote their
attention to collecting these articles instead of looking in the
water, and it turned out just as I thought. I kept on my stockings,
vest, and breeches, simply buttoning the sleeves of the vest and
tucking the pockets within my breeches for safety; this done, I
threw myself upon the mercy of the stream.
I had
hardly got any distance when up came the troopers, who, as I had
hoped, dismounted as quickly as they could to lay hands on the spoil
lying before them ; they even set to work to quarrel over it, for I
distinctly heard them shouting and swearing in the most delightful
manner. Others apparently got no share, and they amused themselves
by saluting me with several musket shots, but the current of the
river which carried me on my way soon put me out of their range.
Finally, after a very long and hard swim, I was lucky enough to
reach the other bank, in spite of the strength of the stream.
When I
had left the water and with it all anxiety regarding the safety of
my life, I suddenly found myself completely overcome with
exhaustion."
