20 ANNUAL REGISTER, I7&4. 



where to give way : the Duke him- 

 self was on the point of falling into 

 the enemy's hands, arid compelled 

 to retire with a few attendants to 

 General Otto's division. But it 

 was impossible, with so unequal a 

 force, to stem the imm.ediate torrent 

 of the enemy, and enable the 

 Duke's division to rally. It was 

 with prodigious efforts that the 

 Generals Fox and Abercromby 

 found means to restore sufficient 

 order among the troops, to sa-v;e 

 them from total destruction, and 

 effect a retreat. But ev^n this 

 was attended with almost insur- 

 mountable difficulty i the enemy 

 pressing upon them with incessant, 

 fury, and giving them no time to 

 recover from the forlorn situation 

 into which they had been thrown 

 by the unexpected immensity of 

 the numbers with which they had 

 to contend on this unfortunate 

 day. 



The defeat of the allies wa-s in 

 every respect complete j not one 

 of their divisions was able to op- 

 pose the enemy to any effect : the 

 troops that were headed by the 

 Emperor and Prince Cobourg 

 shared the same fate as the rest. 

 Some hopes had at hr^t been en- 

 tertained, that General Clairfait 

 might have made a junction with 

 the forces engaged ; but a river 

 separated him frjm them ;. and the 

 French observed his motions with 

 so much vigilance, tlint he found 

 it impracticable to participate in 

 this action. The disasters of the 

 aUied army on this fatal day, occa- 

 sjcued a variety of complaints aiid 

 recrimination among different parts 

 that composed it. Want of con- 

 duct, and even of sufficieat resolu- 

 tiua, was iniputed to some ; they 

 v;?re accused of having made an 



untimely retreat, which, by the 

 confusion it caused, threw the other 

 parts into irreparable disorder. 

 The precise loss of the allies in this 

 battle, which was fought near 

 Turcoignj was" never satisfactorily 

 ascertained ; but it must have been 

 very great. The British troops 

 alone lost a thousand men, besides 

 a considerable train of artillery ;. and 

 the other divisions of the army, 

 'though less deeply engaged, could 

 not escape the fury of an enemy 

 so expert in making the most of 

 every advantange, and deriving so 

 many from its prodigious numbers. 

 This complete defeat of the com- 

 bined powers filled the French with 

 an exultation that led them to think 

 that no resistance to them could 

 henceforw.ards be practicable. They 

 counted much less on the slaughter 

 of those who had: fallen in battle^ 

 than on the discouragement among 

 those that survived. They did not 

 seem to reflect on the real and 

 efficient cause of their success j the 

 numerous and exhaustless multi- 

 tudes they were able to bring into 

 the field, and to replace as fast a«- 

 they were destroyed. 



An. enemy thus circumstanced 

 was the more formidable, that he 

 carried on the war at his own 

 doors, at)d coold instantly, as it 

 were, be supplied with whatever 

 force was needed for the operations 

 he might project. His enemy's 

 situation was precisely the reverse. 

 His supplies of men came from far 

 distant countries :. they had un-^ 

 mense tracks to travel »e befpre they 

 reached the place of their destina- 

 tion- TJ^e countries contended for, 

 and in which the war was waged, 

 afforded no recruits, or a very few ; 

 the generality of those classes 

 wherein soldiers are found, being 



averse 



