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securing it; and the regency of that electorate, willing to provide against the consequences of such a probable event, again sent their archives and most valuable effects to Stade. All things seemed hastening to the same situation, which brought on the humiliating convention of Closterseyen; especially as prince Ferdinand continued to retire, and studiously kept up his communication with the Weser.

But that accomplished general, though weakened by his losses, was not disconcerted. He saw his danger, and was prepared to meet it. Although naturally cautious, he resolved, under the pressure of necessity, to pursue a bold line of conduct, instead of taking refuge in despair, or seeking an apology for misfortune in the gloom of public despondency. The moment he found nothing but a battle could hinder the French from taking up their winter-quarters in the electorate of Hanover, he deter mined to bring matters to that issue. And the means by which he accomplished his design with an inferior army, without exposing himself to any disaster, discovered so profound a genius for war, as will ever make him be ranked among the greatest masters of the military art.

The main body of the French army, after the taking of Minden, had encamped in the neighbourhood of that city, to which its right wing extended. On the left was a steep hill, in the front a morass, and a rivulet covered the rear. As nothing could be more advanta geous than this position, which rendered an attack impracticable, prince Ferdinand employed all his skill to draw the enemy from it. With that view, he quitted his camp on the Weser, and marched to Hille; leaving, however, general Wangenheim, with a body of troops, entrenched at Thornhausen, on the banks of the disputed river: and detaching the hereditary prince of Brunswick, with six thousand men, to make a compass toward the enemy's left flank, and cut off their communication with Paderborn,

The

The French generals, who were not inattentive to these movements, fell into the snare that was laid for them. They concluded, that the opportunity which they had so long sought, of cutting off prince Ferdinand's communication with the Weser, was at last found, and with it the consummation of their wishes. They saw, as they imagined, the allied army divided and disjoined beyond the possibility of immediate union; and therefore flattered themselves with its final destruction, by the defeat of general Wangenheim, and the command of the Weser, the necessary consequence of such defeat. Full of this idea, they left their advantageous post; and passing the morass in their front, advanced into the plain.

AUG. 1.

The duke de Broglio, who led the van of the French army, proceeded with great confidence, until he reached. a neighbouring eminence; whence he beheld, instead of entrenchments defended by a small body, the whole army of the allies disposed in excellent order, and extending from the banks of the Weser almost to Minden. A discovery so unexpected embarrassed the French general. But he had no alternative left: it was too late to recede. He therefore ordered his cavalry to advance, and begin the engagement.

The British infantry, which, with two battalions of Hanoverian guards, composed the centre of the allied army, sustained the principal shock of the battle, and broke every body of horse and foot that advanced against them, whilst the Hessian cavalry, with some regiments of Prussian and Hanoverian dragoons, posted on the left, baffled all the attempts of the enemy, and pushed them to the necessity of seeking safety in flight40.

At this instant, prince Ferdinand sent orders to lord George Sackville, who commanded the British and Hanoverian horse, which composed the right wing of

40. London and Paris Gazettes, passim. The French account of this battle, and of the operations that preceded it, is by far the most perfect.

the

the allies to advance to the charge. And if these orders had been cheerfully obeyed, the battle of Minden would probably have been as memorable and decisive as that of Blenheim. The French army would have been utterly destroyed, or totally routed and driven out of Germany. But whatever was the cause, whether the orders were not sufficiently precise, were misinterpreted, or imperfectly undersood, the British cavalry did not arrive in time to have any share in the engagement*; so that the French, instead of being hotly pursued, were permitted to retire in good order, and to regain their former position, notwithstanding the loss of seven thousand men. They judged it necessary, however, to quit their camp, and pass the Weser the same night; and next day the garrison of Minden surrendered at discretion. The allies lost in the action near two thousand brave troops.

Prince Ferdinand passed an indirect censure upon the British commander for his conduct on this occasion, and a court-martial confirmed that censure. But as the whole weight of ministerial influence is supposed to have been thrown into the scale of the German general, the impartial part of mankind are still divided in their opinion on the subject, and will, likely, long remain so. It may not, however, be improper to observe, for the information of posterity, that the two generals were by no means on good terms with each other, before the battle. Prince Ferdinand, who understood the mystery, as well as the art of war, and pursued it as a lucrative trade, felt himself uneasy under the eye of an observer so keen and penetrating as lord George Sackville, and wished to remove him from the command. This wish perhaps occasioned that confusion, or contradiction of orders, of which the English general complained, and which he assigned as the cause of his inaction. But there is also reason to suppose, the chagrin of the British commander might make his perception, on that occasion, less clear

41. Evidence produced on the trial of lord George Sackville.

than

than usual, and that he might even secretly indulge a desire to obscure the glory of a hated rival, without reflecting that, in so doing, he was sacrificing his duty to his sovereign, and eventually the interests of his country",

LETTER XXXIV.

THE VIEW OF THE STATE OF EUROPE, AND THE HISTORY OF THE GENERAL WAR, PURSUED, FROM THE DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH AT MINDEN, TO THE DEATH OF GEORGE II.

THE victory gained by the allies at Minden,

though less complete than it might have been rendered by the ready co-operation of the British general, threw the court of Versailles into the utmost confusion, and blasted all their hopes of conquest. It not only enabled prince Ferdinand effectually to defend the electorate of Hanover, but to recover Munster, and force the French to evacuate great part of Westphalia. And if he had not been obliged to weaken his army, in order to support the king of Prussia, whose affairs were much embar. rassed, he would probably have driven the vain-glorious enemy to the other side of the Rhine, before the close of the campaign.

The embarrassment of his Prussian majesty was chiefly occasioned by the approach of the Russians, in spite of every effort to obstruct their progress. Displeased with the studied caution of count Dohna, the king conferred the command of the army destined to oppose them on general Wedel, who immediately gave them battle, conformable to his orders. He attacked them

42. See prince Ferdinand's Letter to the king of Great-Britain, and lord George Sackville's vindication of his conduct.

with great vigour, but without effect, at Kay, near Zullichan, in Silesia, on the twenty-third day of July. The Prussians were repulsed with much loss, after an obstinate engagement, and the Russians made themselves masters of Frankfort on the Oder.

No sooner was the king of Prussia informed of that misfortune, than he resolved to oppose the Russians in person; and began his march with ten thousand of his best troops, to join the shattered army under Wedel; leaving his brother Henry to observe the motions of the Austrians on the frontiers of Lusatia. Meanwhile mareschal Daun, apprised of the king's intention, detached general Laudohn, with twelve thousand horse, to give vigour and stability to the Russian army, which was deficient in cavalry.

The reinforcement arrived nearly at the same time that his Prussian majesty joined Wedel. And Laudohn and count Soltikow, the Russian general, took post at the village of Cunnersdorff, opposite Frankfort. The combined army consisted of about one hundred thousand combatants: their position was naturally strong; and they farther secured their camp by entrenchments, planted with a numerous train of artillery. The king of Prussia's forces, after all the reinforcements he could collect, fell below fifty thousand men; yet did his pressing circumstances, and his own sanguine spirit, inflamed by hostile passion, induce him to hazard an attack.

AUG. 12.

The previous dispositions for that purpose being made, the action began about eleven o'clock, and the Russian entrenchments were forced with great slaughter. Several redoubts, which covered the village. of Cunnersdorff, also were mastered, and the Prussians advanced to the village itself. Here the battle was renewed, and raged with fresh fury for two hours. length the post was carried; the enemy's artillery was taken; and every thing seemed to promise a complete victory. But the Russians, though broken, were not discouraged. They again formed under cover of the Austrian cavalry, and took possession of an eminence,

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