affairs in Savoy; where the French had spoiled that Duke of the greater part of his country. On the 29th of September they invested Turin, but the court of Versailles being of opinion that their troops in Piedmont were not sufficient, they withdrew from thence on the 10th of October, and attempted Asti; but failing there, they made themselves amends by the reduction of Nice, which the Duke of Berwick invested the 31st of October, and took by capitulation on the 4th of January of this year.

During the winter, 1705, the King of France had made such preparations for the reduction of the capital of Savoy, as were amazing, and gave every one ground to believe his success infallible. The duke, on the other hand, notwithstanding the French had possessed themselves of so many of his towns, did not lose courage, but did everything that a brave and prudent prince ought for the defence of his country; employing the subsidies he drew from England and Holland, in well storing his metropolis with provision and ammunition, in repairing the old, and adding new fortifications. The town being invested about the middle of May, was assaulted and defended with equal and surprising bravery, though with different success on either side. While, at Turin, they were furiously intent upon the taking and retaking the outworks, Prince Eugene began his march for Italy with the imperial army, greatly reinforced by the auxiliary troops of England and Holland. All that the Duke of Vendome could do to impede his march, proved fruitless; he broke through all the obstacles the French threw in his way, and subsisted his army in the midst of an enemy's country, which he was obliged to cross; passed several large rivers, and, in thirty-four marches, joined the Duke of Savoy on the 1st of September, within four leagues of Turin. The extremity to which this city was reduced, hastening their preparations, the army crossed the Doria on the 6th, with design to attack the enemy the next morning, as they did, marching up to the trench, reserving their own, and receiving their fire at the very foot of their intrenchments, where they fell upon them with such fury, and so close and terrible a fire, that nothing could withstand them. The French, driven from trench to trench, and pursued with a cruel slaughter, abandoned all their artillery and ammunition, and sought their safety in their flight. This glorious victory not only

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delivered the capital, but retrieved what the duke had lost, and was followed by the submission of the Milanese to King Charles III.

We are now come to the year 1707, in which Marshal Villars forced the lines of Stolhossen, on the Upper Rhine, got a considerable booty, took two hundred pieces of cannon, opened himself a passage into Germany, and exacted contribution on all hands. The consternation thus caused, made the Court of Vienna strenuously solicit the States-general and the electors, to send immediate succours for the defence of the empire, and offer the command of the imperial army, as generalissimo, to the elector of Hanover, the late King George, who accepted it at the solicitation of Queen Anne and the States-general; but nothing more was done on the Upper Rhine this campaign, than observing the motions of one another.

The Duke of Marlborough arrived at the Hague on the 12th of May, and from thence, without loss of time, he set out for the army encamped at Lembeek. The attention of all being turned on the siege of Toulon, where the allies miscarried, nothing of importance was done this campaign in the Low Countries; wherefore, as the battle of Almanza was fought this year, my reader will forgive me if I turn his eyes upon Spain, where the allies having raised the siege of Barcelona, penetrated as far as Madrid, which King Philip abandoned and went to head the succours sent him by France, as he declared in his manifesto; which succours were so considerable, that, being joined with the troops that had been compelled to raise the siege of Barcelona, and had marched through Navarre into Castile, his army was stronger than that of the allies by twenty-five squadrons and thirteen battalions, besides the inhabitants of the country, who had taken up arms in his cause. Wherefore the allies seeing that King Charles continued still in Aragon, thought proper to quit this capital in their turn. King Charles at length joined the army on the 8th of August, with two regiments of horse and three battalions; but it was too late, they had let slip the opportunity, and the best they could now do, was to march to the frontiers of Valencia and Murcia, and so to distribute the winter-quarters as to be able to cover those two kingdoms, with Aragon and Catalonia. King Charles, with a few troops, withdrew to Barcelona; and on his retreat, the

French took in a great number of towns, castles, and forts, which had deserted from King Philip upon the raising the siege of Barcelona. In the spring, it was resolved in a council held in Valencia, to assemble in one body all the troops, and by the way of Aragon to penetrate into Castile, and destroy the magazines which the enemy had made on the frontiers. The whole army took the field on the 6th of April, to put the project in execution. The number of the allies were fifty-three squadrons and forty-two battalions, which having destroyed the enemy's magazines at Baudera, Yela, and Montalegre, they besieged the Castle of Villena; but before any breach made, the enemy, having, near Almanza, formed a body of seventy-six squadrons, and fifty-four battalions, were preparing to march, and join seven or eight thousand French under the command of the Duke of Orleans. As the allies did not imagine the enemy so strong, it was resolved, in a council of war held the 24th, to attack them before their proposed junction; accordingly they began their march the next morning, and about noon, coming on the plain in sight of the enemy, these latter raised their piquet, and ranged in order of battle before the town of Almanza. The English and Dutch, who began the fight, notwithstanding they behaved with as much bravery as men could do, were twice repulsed, and the enemy obtained a complete victory. About three thousand were taken prisoners; the better part of the foot was cut to pieces, and the few that remained passed the Ebro under the conduct o Lord Galway and the Marquis de las Minas. The havoc made of the allies had been much greater, and possibly no quarters had been given, if the Duke of Berwick had not interposed.

After this signal victory, the conquerors found no difficulty to make themselves masters of Requina, and of almost all the kingdom of Valencia; and dividing their army into three corps, that under the Duke of Orleans took in Calatajud, and on the 25th of May appeared before Saragossa. The garrison the allies left there, withdrew the night before into Catalonia, so that the town came to the best terms they could with the duke, who put into it two thousand men. The Chevalier d'Asfeld, who commanded the second corps, after having taken Xativa sword in hand, left the castle invested, to join the troops which the Bishop of Murcia had

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set on foot, and to besiege Alicant. In the interim, the Earl of Galway, having drawn out the garrisons of several places, had taken post behind the Segre, and, to maintain it, began to raise trenches and redoubts from Tortosa even beyond Lerida, but the Duke of Berwick, with a third body, having joined the Duke of Orleans, it was resolved, notwithstanding the excessive heats, to dislodge the English generals, to cross the Ebro, and to penetrate into Catalonia. The cannon being arrived, they placed it on the bank of the Cinca; made so strong a fire upon four squadrons posted on the other side, that they were obliged to retire after which the enemy crossed the river, and Fraga having been abandoned by the garrison, they had no obstacle to hinder them from besieging Lerida. The fortifications of this place were in fine repair; and three thousand English, who were in garrison, had had the precaution to destroy the houses, gardens, and trees, that were in the neighbourhood. The violent heats being over, the Duke of Orleans sent his foot before, on the 10th of September, and followed them with the horse a few days after; but they spent near a month in making preparations for the siege the trenches were not opened till the 2nd of October. Notwithstanding the besieged made a gallant defence, the assailants pushed forward their works. On the 12th the breach was large enough to attack the covered way, where the besiegers made a lodgment, after an obstinate and bloody dispute of two full hours. This obliged the garrison to retire to the castle, before which the trenches were opened on the 16th, at night, though it was opposed by some general officer, who opined for a blockade, because the season was far advanced, and that the Earl of Galway was on his march to succour the besieged: but the precaution taken to guard all the passes, rendered his attempt fruitless. The Duke of Orleans having carried the outworks sword in hand the 1st of November, made several mines, and battered the main body of the place. The garrison being thus straitened, capitulated on the 10th, and was allowed all military honours, and to be conducted to Lord Galway the nearest way; besides, a free pardon was granted to the inhabitants.

The siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, in the kingdom of Leon, was next undertaken, and taken on capitulation. The winter drawing on, the Spaniards not having provided what was necessary for new enterprises, nothing more was done in Catalonia this

campaign. In Flanders, as I have before said, the French and allies were in a manner inactive; though the former was, at home, secretly employed in preparing for the execution of a project, which had it succeeded, would have quite disconcerted the latter, and have made Lewis XIV. triumph for all his enemies; but as secret as were his preparations, they were discovered by the Dutch, who gave the Queen of England advice by a fishing-boat, that the design was formed, and everything in readiness to make a descent on some part of her dominions in favour of the Pretender. The event proved, that the States-general were not imposed upon in the intelligence they had received; for the French embarked twelve battalions on board a sufficient number of ships, with everything necessary; some thousands of spare arms, and four millions of livres. On the 5th of March, 1708, the king went to St. Germains to take his leave of the Pretender, and, in wishing him a happy issue, made him a present of a sword set with diamonds, worth fifty thousand livres, desiring him to remember that it was a French sword. Having made a suitable compliment to the king, the Pretender took his leave of the dauphin and the other princes of the blood, and that very day set out for Dunkirk, from whence he set sail the 17th, at night, with a number of volunteers, big with the hopes of being joined by such malcontents in Scotland, where he designed to land, as were averse to the Union, and with the troops which followed, and the assistance of such Scots, to submit the whole kingdom of Great Britain.

The designs of France being timely discovered, the English and States-general soon got ready a fleet of forty men-of-war under the command of the late Lord Torrington, who, with all the sail they could crowd, followed the French, having advice of their departure and course. In the mean while some English troops drawn out of the garrisons of Flanders, were sent to England by the way of Ostend. The Pretender came to an anchor near Edinburgh; fired the number of cannon agreed upon with his partisans; and hoped the signal would raise some thousands of malcontents, who would take arms to support his pretensions. On the certain assurances made him of an insurrection, preparations were making to disembark his troops, but the English, by a great deal an over-match for the French, appearing in sight, suspended the