CUMBERLAND'S DEFEAT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2251, 22 April 1897, Page 49

CUMBERLAND'S DEFEAT.

It wan oast. aoou. The attack had been rolled tack along Us ontirs length. .The "chain of ifedcoats linking the villages togethor remained unbroken ; and as Cumberland looked ouc from Val oti the Irieh retiring sullenly across the meadows, ov watched Segur"s horsemen pressing she broken battalions en the left, and endeavouri.jg to beat them back to the attack with the flat of the sword, he felt tbot victory was already -within his grasp. He gava fcbe ord« for tho whole Hue to advancs with a view to himself assuming the offensive. Once more the Paudour.s and the hussars epread themselves out in the open before Wilre; thedajk masses of the Dutch infantry were visible •moving slowly down from between Vlitingen and Little Spawe ; Bathyani pushed forward a brigade of the Imperialists which occupied Elcht, whence Salieres had debouched in sa^^stfar^^ZoSr sts and thereby inspiring the gazettes and the (Eilde B*uf with sublime reflections, "Ye heavens, wa« over such intreoidity ? "upon ti lo ™i, wt r.f fhnt *„ r,,oVV vo«r, the conduct of that august person. ' ' For the last time the French drums had sounded the assault. Their cannon were thundering all along the lice. The light artillery galloped rapidly to the front. In a moment the combined attacks were swarm- | ing up all along the Allies' left. To meet S-ixa'a enormous preponderance of cavalry Cumberland was compelled to call upon Waldeck's horae. All day these men had sat idly in their saddles listening to the din of battle as It rang out from the fog of smoke j upon their front, in the depths of which tho I English and Hanoverians were defying ! every effort of Saxe to dislodge them. Now ; that at |ast they were asked to assist in ! repulsing, an enemy already half defeated, I they showed little liking for the task. So long as they were sheltered by the ground ; aud their position in the rear of the troops | engaged, thpy at least, obeyed the order to i advance. When, however, they had cleared '< the villages, and caught; sight of the dense masses of the enemy rolling up from j HedpreeD, they began to waver. In spite o£ j eveiy c-Sort of General Cannenberg the whole i brigade halted iv dismay. Cumberland, who j was in' VaJ, seeing his victory endangered by I their conducr, at ones galloped out of the j village to their head, and offered himself to j lead them sgainst the enemy. Their r«ply j was to break the ranks and retire in irre- / rrievable c^nfuaion. Had only the grauGd j behind them been clear their desertion might not have proved as disastrous !as it did. Unfortunately it was covered by ! the regiments which were being hurried up to i pupport the troops in Val. A squadron o£ i the " Greys " and some Hestians were the first to become entangled in the rout. The horses of these men joined in the stampede as it swept down on them, and the whole mass fell together on Haughton's brigade as it was deploying to check the column advancing to turn the village. Some of the English partially saved themselves by wheeling.back and pouring a deadly fire into the Dutch as they tore past, but the 23rd was ridden down, and so completely wrecked that when the roll was called, apart from the killed andwounded.no less than 188 missing were reported. Gathering every moment in foice and volume, the deluge next engulfed six battalions of Imperialists, which Bathyani had at last succeeded in getting clear of their entrenchments and despatching to Cumberland's assistance. In a moment the ground was covered with a confused rabble iof struggling, shqpting men. Cumberland himself was near sharing in tho disaster.

So close were the Carabiniers behind the I Dutch that he was. forced to cut down a ! trooper who had olosed with him in order to escape. A moment later, as he neared Val, he barely escaped falling into the hands of the Irish, whose red coats, swarming round its approaches, he mietook for those of his own men. It was with the greatest difficulty that he at last regained the village. He found the battle was lost, What the French had failed to accompu gh for themselves had been achieved by the Duicb. The troops advancing to the relief of the left wing had been whirled away in their rout;. even the regiments • placed in immediate support of Val had been broken up aud flucg back from their positions. Into the gap thus created Saxe had poured a torrent of cavalry which had com- I pletely severed the allied' army, whilst Val- ' fons had seizod the opportunity to head a rush ' 0{ tI1 8 brigades of dn Roi. Tour dv Pin,"and d'Orleans, which had succeeded in turning the village. Even then, attacked at once in front and rear, the garrison showed not the ' slightest Bymptom of giving ground. The i meQ Were fighting with that imperturbable gteadiness which had so astonished the \ French officers on the ridge at Fontenoy. ! xheir ammunition bad given out, but, they . were seen calmly replenishing their .pouches ; from those of their own and the enemy's dead, who lay thick at their fact, and meet- ■ j ng every attempt to break them with an im- • penetrable, hedge of fcayoneta. In spita of this it was evident that the position could ' not De maintained. Their numbers 'were steadily decreasing, while those of their a&saUants were being as steadily increased by the fresh regiments which Saxe kept pushing up from the rear. Unless a way j COnld be made for them to retreat by sooner or ii ater the whole body would be forced to . lay down their arms. "To no man in the whole army was this more apparent than to Ligonier. Something, he determined, must be clone to enable the gar rj gon t 0 retreat. Hiß decision was executed :as promptly as it was formed. Massing the sj x regiments which composed the English j <.avalry with a handful of, Imperialists undr>r ; Bour'nonville, he debouched suddenly from ! behind the cottages of Val, and threw hiuiseif ii nto the sea of French squadrons surging j against the left facs of the village. It was one'of the'finest incidents of that hard fought day. Led by the j&rays and Jnniskillene, with the old man of 67 well in . advance, the British came on. For a moment. es the troopors flung up their «v?ord arms, the long line of blades flashed in the afternOon sun. Then with a terrific shoub the . whole maas buried itself in tho enemy's ranka, j tumbling them into ruio, The first line of ' the French was rent in pieces. .....

The French entered Val on »h« shoulders j ot their own dead. As aocn aa tho village ' ' was scciutd Waxs; ordered Ciertnoat. 'and j ri'Esme-i to tSebcuch with their divisions bj > J the left and caxcj the two Spawes. Ti.'e '; positions proved,' nowevsr, lo" have been ! already The touud tht, ! Dutch' and AuiUtans circling in vs&sßive ( j columns round Mio English to .he east, an.-i.. .' ileemiag thfim too slcony; xo .itiack with trj« > [ troops at their disposal, conteswd llieni- ! J selves wi'ofct despatching the brigades rf ; ] Olermont Tonnerre and Clannont Giileramie j ;;o follow the retreat. Tosre was no pursuit, • The cannonade grumbled fitfully on till G j o'clock. By that time ths Allies were se- ! curaly encamped under the walls of Macs- ; tricht.—Extracted from Mr William H. ; Shrlton's study, " A Woman," in Scribuer's ' Magazine. • ■ ~