Prince

Athlone. After very many vigorous attacks, with the loss of many men, the town was taken, the garrison retiring into the castle. Into which, soon after, notwithstanding all the circumspection of the besiegers, Mareschal Bouflers found means, with some dragoons, to throw himself.

While King William was thus engaged mont's glo- in that glorious and important siege, Prince

Vaude

rious re

treat.

Vaudemont being posted at Watergaem, with about fifty battalions, and as many squadrons, the Mareschal Villeroy laid a design to attack him with the whole French army. The Prince imagined no less, there fore he prepared accordingly, giving us orders to fortify our camp, as well as the little time we had for it would permit. Those orders were pursued; nevertheless, I must confess, it was beyond the reach of my lit tle reason to account for our so long stay in the sight of an army so much superior to ours. The Prince, in the whole, could hardly muster thirty thousand; and Villeroy was known to value himself upon has

ving one hundred thousand effective men. However, the Prince provisionally sent away all our baggage that very morning to Ghent, and still made shew as if he resolved to defend himself to the last extremity, in our little entrenchments. The enemy on their side began to surround us; and in their motions for that purpose, blew up little bags of gun-powder, to give the readier notice how far they had accomplished it. Another captain, with myself, being placed on the right, with one hundred men, (where I found Monsieur Montal endeavouring, if possible, to get behind us,) I could easily observe, they had so far attained their aim of encompassing us, as to the very fashion of a horses shoe. This made me fix my eyes so intently upon the advancing enemy, that I never minded what my friends were doing behind me; though I afterwards found that they had been fileing off so very artfully and privately, by that narrow opening of the horse shoe, that when the enemy imagined us past a

possibility of escape, our little army at once, and of a sudden, was ready to disappear. There was a large wood on the right of our army, through which lay the road to Ghent, not broader than to admit of more than four to march a-breast. Down this the Prince had slid his forces, except to that very small party which the captain and myself commanded, and which was designedly left to bring up the rear. Nor did we stir till Captain Collier, then aidde-camp to his brother, now Earl of Portmore, came with the word of command for us to draw off.

When Villeroy was told of our retreat, he was much surprised, as thinking it a thing utterly impossible. However, at last, being sensible of the truth of it, he gave or ders for our rear to be attacked; but we kept firing from ditch to ditch, and hedge to hedge, till night came upon us; and so our little army got clear of its gigantic enemy with very inconsiderable loss. However, the French failed not, in their custo

mary way, to express the sense of their vexation at this disappointment, with fire and sword in the neighbourhood round. Thus Prince Vaudemont acquired more glory by that retreat than an entire victory could have given him; and it was not, I confess, the least part of satisfaction in life, that myself had a share of honour under him, to bring off the rear at that his glorious retreat at Arseel.

Villeroy

Brussels.

However, in further revenge of this political chicane of the Prince of Vaudemont, and to oblige, if possible, King William to raise the siege from before Namur, Villeroy entered into the resolution of bombarding bombards Brussels. In order to which, he encamped at Anderleck, and then made his approaches as near as was convenient to the town. There he caused to be planted thirty mortars, and raised a battery of ten guns to shoot hot bullets into the place.

But before they fired from either, Villeroy, in compliment to the Duke of Bavaria, sent a messenger to know in what part

of the town his Duchess chose to reside, that they might, as much as possible, avoid incommoding her, by directing their fire to other parts. Answer was returned, that she was at her usual place of residence, the palace; and accordingly their firing from battery or mortars little incommoded them that way.

Five days the bombardment continued ; and with such fury, that the centre of that noble city was quite laid in rubbish. Most of the time of bombarding, I was upon the counterscarp, where I could best see and distinguish; and I have often counted in the air, at one time, more than twenty bombs; for they shot whole vollies out of their mortars all together. This, as it must needs be terrible, threw the inhabitants into the utmost confusion. Cartloads of nuns, that for many years before had never been out of the cloister, were now hurried about from place to place, to find retreats of some security. In short, the groves, and parts remote, were all crowded;