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BATTLE WITH TILLY'S ARMY.

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some, that the king did not place some of his old troops among the Saxons, who were new raised men. The Saxons lost here near two thousand men, and hardly ever showed their faces again all the battle, except some few of their horse.

I was posted with my comrade, the captain, at the head of three Scottish regiments of foot, commanded by Sir John Hepburn, with express directions from the colonel to keep by him. Our post was in the second line, as a reserve to the king of Sweden's main battle, and, which was strange, the main battle, which consisted of four great brigades of foot, were never charged during the whole fight; and yet we, who had the reserve, were obliged to endure the whole weight of the imperial army. The occasion was, the right wing of the imperialists having defeated the Saxons, and being eager in the chase, Tilly, who was an old soldier, and ready to prevent all mistakes, forbids any pursuit; Let them go, says he, but let us beat the Swedes, or we do nothing. Upon this the victorious troops fell in upon the flank of the king's army, which, the Saxons being fled, lay open to them. Gustavus Horn commanded the left wing of the Swedes, and, having first defeated some regiments which charged him, falls in upon the rear of the imperial right wing, and separates them from the van, who were advanced a great way forward in pursuit of the Saxons; and having routed the said rear or reserve, falls on upon Tilly's main battle, and defeated part of them: the other part was gone in chase of the Saxons, and now also returned, fell in upon the rear of the left wing of the Swedes, charging them in the flank; for they drew up upon the very ground which the Saxons had quitted. This changed the whole front, and made the Swedes face about to the left, and make a great front on their flank to make this good. Our brigades, who were placed as a reserve for the main battle, were, by special order from the king, wheeled about to the left, and placed for the right of this new front to charge the imperialists; they were about twelve thousand of their best foot, besides horse, and, flushed with the execution of the Saxons, fell on like furies. The king by this time had almost defeated the imperialists' left wing; their horse, with more haste than good speed, had charged faster than their foot could follow, and, having broke into the king's first line, he let them go;

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where, while the second line bears the shock, and bravely resisted them, the king follows them on the crupper with thirteen troops of horse, and some musketeers, by which, being hemmed in, they were all cut down in a moment as it were, and the army never disordered with them. This fatal blow to the left wing gave the king more leisure to defeat the foot which followed, and to send some assistance to Gustavus Horn in his left wing, who had his hands full with the main battle of the imperialists.

But those troops, who, as I said, had routed the Saxons, being called off from the pursuit, had charged our flank, and were now grown very strong, renewed the battle in a terrible manner. Here it was I saw our men go to wreck; Colonel Hall, a brave soldier, commanded the rear of the Swedes left wing; he fought like a lion, but was slain, and most of his regiment cut off, though not unrevenged; for they entirely ruined Furstemberg's regiment of foot. Colonel Cullembach, with his regiment of horse, was extremely overlaid also, and the colonel and many brave officers killed, and in short all that wing was shattered and in an ill condition.

In this juncture came the king, and having seen what haTOC the enemy made of Cullembach's troops, he comes riding along the front of our three brigades, and himself led us on to the charge; the colonel of his guards, the Baron Dyvel, was shot dead just as the king had given him some orders. When the Scots advanced, seconded by some regiments of horse, which the king also sent to the charge, the bloodiest fight began that ever men beheld; for the Scottish brigades giving fire three ranks at a time over one another's heads, poured in their shot so thick, that the enemy were cut down like grass before a scythe; and following into the thickest of their foot, with the clubs of their muskets made a most dreadful slaughter, and yet was there no flying. Tilly's men might be killed and knocked down, but no man turned his back, nor would give an inch of ground, but as they were wheeled, or marched, or retreated by their officers.

There was a regiment of cuirassiers, which stood whole to the last, and fought like lions; they went ranging over the field when all their army was broken, and nobody cared for charging them; they were commanded by Baron Cronenburgh, and at last went off from the battle whole. These were armed in black armour from head to foot, and they car

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ried off their general. About six o'clock the field was cleared of the enemy, except at one place on the king's side, where some of them rallied, and, though they knew all was lost, would take no quarter, but fought it out to the last man, being found dead the next day in rank and file as they were drawn up.

I had the good fortune to receive no hurt in this battle, excepting a small scratch on the side of my neck by the push of a pike; but my friend received a very dangerous wound when the battle was as good as over. He had engaged with a German colonel, whose name we could never learn, and having killed his man, and pressed very close upon him, so that he had shot his horse, the horse in the fall kept the colonel down, lying on one of his legs, upon which he demanded quarter, which Captain Fielding granted, helping him to quit his horse, and having disarmed him, was bringing him into line, when the regiment of cuirassiers, which I mentioned, commanded by Baron Cronenburgh, came roving over the field, and with a flying charge saluted our front with a salvo of carabin-shot, which wounded us a great many men; and among the rest the captain received a shot in his thigh, which laid him on the ground, and being separated from the line, his prisoner got away with them.

This was the first service I was in, and indeed I never saw any fight since maintained with such gallantry, such desperate valour, together with such dexterity of management, both sides being composed of soldiers fully tried, bred to the wars, expert in everything, exact in their order, and incapable of fear, which made the battle be much more bloody than usual. Sir John Hepburn, at my request, took particular care of my comrade, and sent his own surgeon to look after him; and afterwards, when the city of Leipsic was retaken, provided him lodgings there, and came very often to see him; and indeed I was in great care for him too, the surgeons being very doubtful of him a great while; for, having lain in the field all night among the dead, his wound, for want of dressing, and with the extremity of cold, was in a very ill condition, and the pain of it had thrown him into a fever. 'Twas quite dusk before the fight ended, especially where the last rallied troops fought so long, and therefore we durst not break our order to seek out our friends, so that 'twas near seven o'clock the next morning before we found the captain, who, though very

weak by the loss of blood, had raised himself up, and placed his back against the buttock of a dead horse. I was the first that knew him, and running to him embraced him with a great deal of joy; he was not able to speak, but made signs to let me see he knew me, so we brought him into the camp, and Sir John Hepburn, as I noted before, sent his own surgeons to look after him.

The darkness of the night prevented any pursuit, and was. the only refuge the enemy had left; for had there been three hours' more daylight, ten thousand more lives had been lost, for the Swedes, and Saxons especially, enraged by the obstinacy of the enemy, were so thoroughly heated that they would have given quarter but to few. The retreat was not sounded 'till seven o'clock, when the king drew up the whole army upon the field of battle, and gave strict command that none should stir from their order; so the army lay under their arms all night, which was another reason why the wounded soldiers suffered very much by the cold; for the king, who had a bold enemy to deal with, was not ignorant what a small body of desperate men rallied together might have done in the darkness of the night, and therefore he lay in his couch all night at the head of the line, though it froze very hard.

As soon as the day began to peep, the trumpets sounded to horse, and all the dragoons and light horse in the army were commanded to the pursuit. The cuirassiers and some commanded musketeers advanced some miles, if need were, to make good their retreat, and all the foot stood to their arms for a reserve; but in half an hour word was brought to the king, that the enemy were quite dispersed, upon which detachments were made out of every regiment to search among the dead for any of our friends that were wounded; and the king himself gave a strict order, that if any were found wounded and alive among the enemy, none should kill them, but take care to bring them into the camp: a piece of humanity which saved the lives of near a thousand of the enemies.

This piece of service being over, the enemy's camp was seized upon, and the soldiers were permitted to plunder it; all the cannon, arms, and ammunition were secured for the king's use, the rest was given up to the soldiers, who found so much plunder that they had no reason to quarrel for shares.

For my share, I was so busy with my wounded captain, that I got nothing but a sword, which I found just by him

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when I first saw him; but my man brought me a very good horse, with a furniture on him, and one pistol of extraordinary workmanship.

I bade him get upon his back and make the best of the day for himself, which he did, and I saw him no more till three days after, when he found me out at Leipsic, so richly dressed that I hardly knew him; and after making his excuse for his long absence, gave me a very pleasant account where he had been. He told me, that according to my order, being mounted on the horse he had brought me, he first rid into the field among the dead, to get some clothes suitable to the equipage of his horse, and having seized on a laced coat, a helmet, a sword, and an extraordinary good cane, was resolved to see what was become of the enemy, and following the track of the dragoons, which he could easily do by the bodies on the road, he fell in with a small party of twenty-five dragoons, under no command but a corporal, making to a village, where some of the enemy's horse had been quartered. The dragoons, taking him for an officer, by his horse, desired him to command them, told him the enemy was very rich, and they doubted not a good booty. He was a bold brisk fellow, and told them with all his heart; but said he had but one pistol, the other being broke with firing; so they lent him a pair of pistols, and a small piece they had taken, and he led them on. There had been a regiment of horse and some troops of Crabats in the village, but they were fled on the first notice of the pursuit, excepting three troops, and these, on sight of this small party, supposing them to be only the first of a greater number, fled in the greatest confusion imaginable. They took the village and about fifty horses, with all the plunder of the enemy; and with the heat of the service he had spoiled my horse, he said, for which he had brought me two more; for he, passing for the commander of the party, had all the advantage the custom of war gives an officer in like cases.

I was very well pleased with the relation the fellow gave me, and laughing at him, Well, captain, said I, and what plunder have you got? Enough to make me a captain, sir, says he, if you please, and a troop ready raised too; for the party of dragoons are posted in the village by my command, till they have farther orders. In short, he pulled out sixty or seventy pieces of gold, five or six watches, thirteen or

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