ISGfi.] Letters on the Present State of S-Ji-itzerland. 



521 



For the Monthit/ Magazine. 



LFTTERS Oil tllC PUESF.N'V STATE o/'sWITZ- 



ERLAND, uihh'e/Jed by u thavicller in 

 that couiNTRY to his feiekd in i.02\- 



Lticernc, Sept. 25, 1805. 



ON t!;e moniiii!:; of the 3d of Sep- 

 tember, 179fJ, tiii-ee barges full of 

 Fi eiich troops were obferved coming from 

 Heriivfweil. They were repuUed with 

 Jols ity the batteries ereCted at Kerlittcn. 

 Schauenbour;; then phiuled butteries 

 njiainliStanzlliidt and Kcriitten ; bur t!ic 

 Uiidervvaldeners blocked up tliu patTagc 

 ■with pofts and the trunks of trees, fome (jf 

 wliicb are ftill Itanding in tlie water. For 

 ievpii fuccellive days the French made 

 fruirlcls elforts to gnni the oppolite 

 banks ; but their luunbers, however fu- 

 perior, were always g;reatiy dimiuiilitd 

 without elTecting their purpofe In the 

 mean time the people of Sciuvytz, who 

 had been hitherto fpeiStafors of thefe 

 events, felt themtelves animated by the 

 fame intrepid ardour, aiid expreflcd ti:e 

 willi to inarch to tlieir aid, but were pre- 

 vented by tlie CJoveriiment, v.ho occu- 

 pied every pufs on the fide of Undcrwal- 

 den. Notwithflanding, two hundred vo- 

 lunteers got pofl'cHion of the great ban- 

 tiers belongiui^ to the canton, overpower- 

 ed the fentinels, and proceeded to Un- 

 derwaiden. 



On tlie ',)th, at five in the morninj;, the 

 eutiny renewed the attack with lixteen 

 thoufand men, at fix dilfercnt points, by 

 land and by water. On the lake they 

 had above thirty boats, fcven or eight of 

 which were funk by the artillery of the 

 Undervvaldcners. 



Tlie column coming from ner2Y''>vvl 

 fuffered conliderably from the lire of the 

 (liarp-lliuoters, and could not advance 

 until anotfior column, after having o\er- 

 powered the fmall party llationed by the 

 pafb at Brunigg, were enabled to fall in 

 the rear of the Undervvaldcners occupy- 

 ing the bank of the lake, which they did 

 not however eirei't before t.wo m the at- 

 lernuon. Near Winkeiried, where the 

 enemy had penetrated over the moun- 

 tains called Ribenen,. eighteen of the 

 finell females died contefliug every inch 

 ot';.^round. A young girl, the moli: beau- 

 tiful and athletic in .Stan/,th:d, v as viola- 

 ted by a partv of rutiianii, who left her 

 apparently liftlcfs ; but llie recovering 

 loon aft<-r, fnulclied up her club, and 

 killed fo!>ie of her brutal ravitl.ei-s. The 

 I'nderwaldeiiers, now reduced to t|:a 

 nimiberof twelve hundred, and finding 

 (heinfr-lves in daiiger of being fuiround- 



Mi».NTHLi Ai.iU., No. 149. 



ed, retreated to the mountains, over the 

 bodies of their enemies, whom they Hew 

 in a treble proportion, and there main- 

 tained a pofition from whence they could 

 not be dillodged. In this retreat two 

 hundred v\ omen, amied with pitchforks 

 and clubs, preferring .death to infamy, 

 %vere all cut to pieces. The Schwitzers, 

 after having perfunucd wonders of va- 

 lour in fupport of the common caufe, 

 fought their way back to their homes, 

 carrying with tlicm their banners, for the 

 prefervation of which four of them volun- 

 tarily facriticed their lives. 



Tlie French, who purcliafed this ad- 

 vantage ^itli the lofs of fix thoulixnd men, 

 added cruelty to cowardice. They fet 

 d«elling-houfes and every thing deltruc- 

 tiblc on fire. Flames, murder, and plun- 

 der, were to be feen on all tides. The 

 cries and lamentations of tiie living were 

 mixed with the groans of the dying. The 

 helplefs and infirm, men, women, and 

 children, were alike the victims of their 

 lavage fury. The clofing day, which 

 fliould ha\e terininutcd the butchery, 

 was prolonged through the hoiirs of the 

 night by the flames of thofo peaceful ha- 

 bitations where care had been hitherto 

 unknown. 



Inipreifed with veneration for thefe 

 people, from the above circumllances, 

 related to me by a lurvivor on the fpot, I 

 purfued my melancholy way into the 

 canton of Underwaldcn, witneiring every 

 where fome ludf-biirnt dwelling, fome 

 forfaken and defolatc faim-yard, or fome 

 open f])ace iHll covered witli the allies of 

 the materials there conluined. From 

 Stan/fiadt I proceeded to Rotyloch, 

 where the fall of the Muhlbach, beyond 

 the new paper-mill, atlbrds an impreffive 

 fpcriacle. Here the French collected 

 together, after the battle, their monllrous 

 number of rlead whom they loft at llotz- 

 berg, and, filling the building with them, 

 fet it on fire. The miller, who had fome 

 days bef(jrc favcd his eirccts, and taken 

 no part in the battle, has Ciice found 

 lueaiis of railing a new mill. In Ivalf an 

 hour I reached .Stan/, from this place. 

 On my way I reached the ruins of an old 

 caftie, and thofe of Arnold von Winkel- 

 ried's chapel, dellroyed, alas ! by the 

 Jriencts of liherly. It was in tlie very 

 place where this ruinous chapel (lands, 

 that an Underwaldcner related to me, 

 how he and his countrymen, feeing the 

 f:-ite tliat aviaitcd them, had devoted 

 thenifelves to death for their country. 

 All were aficmbled by ' the alann-bell, 

 the thunder iji the caimon, or dit: found 

 Sf of 



