HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



51 



-averse to their rulers, and well af- 

 fected to the French. This was 

 •notoriously the case with the peo- 

 ple in the Austrian Netherlands, 

 In the Seven United Provinces, the 

 inhabitant! have so many beneficial 

 occupations to follow, that their 

 military list is almost entirely com- 

 posed of foreigners. Such being 

 the relative situation of the French, 

 and of the confederacy formed 

 against them, it was not surprising 

 that the loss of men in battle was 

 50 little felt by the former, and so 

 much by the latter; and that, pre- 

 suming upon «o important an ad- 

 vantage, the Frencfe should con- 

 tinually be forming fresh enter- 

 prizesj while the allies found it ne- 

 tTSsary to adopt no hazardous mea- 

 sures without the utmost caution, 

 from the serious consequences that 

 must Eecessarily essue through the 

 difficulty of repairing their lasses 

 in killed or takes. 



Four days after the defeat of the 

 allied army, the French Generals 

 resolved to improve their advantage 

 by following it up, while the spirits 

 of their enemies lyere depressed by 

 their ill success. To this end they 

 determined to force their passage 

 over the Scheldt, and lay siege to 

 the city of Tournay, where! r> they 

 had many welWwishers. They col- 

 lected a force of no ^ess than one 

 Jlundred thousand men, with which 

 they doubted not to compass their 

 designs. The allies iti the mean 

 time having reunited their scattered 

 forces, prepared with unabated re- 

 solution to meet them again. At 

 five in the mqrning, on the 22d, 

 the French attacked the advanced 

 posts of the allies, an.i obliged tliem 

 to fall back on the main body: but 

 here their progress was checked, 

 and notwitlistanding the fire and 



impetuosity with which they con- 

 tinued their various attacks till near 

 ten at night, the skilfulness of the 

 dispositions made by General Fox, 

 to whom the command and honour 

 of the day chiefly fell, and the 

 steady valour of the troops under 

 him, their attempts were wholly- 

 frustrated; and they were compell- 

 ed to retire as far back as Lisle.The 

 loss of the French in this severe 

 conflict was estimated at more than 

 10,000 men. It would have been 

 muchgreater, had the British caval- 

 ry been able to act. But the Trench, 

 who had on several occasions suf- 

 fered considerably by its exertions, 

 had taken the precaution to cover 

 both their flanks by thick woods, 

 through which the horse could not 

 penetrate. Had they not been 

 guarded in this manner, it was the 

 opinion of many of the ablest 

 judges, that such a victory obtained 

 by the allies must have decided the 

 >wholefate of the campaign in their 

 favour. It was at this period that 

 the Emperor, accompanied by Co- 

 lonel Mack, forsook the Nether- 

 lands, and returned to Vienna. 

 His departure occasioned the more 

 surprise, that the fate of the cam- 

 paign was far from being decided. 

 The French had just been defeat- 

 ed; and the public were of opinion 

 that he ought to have remained on 

 the scene of action, were it only to 

 inspire his soldiers. All he. had 

 done was to issue proclamations ; 

 to which no attention was paid. 



The signal defeat of the French 

 near Touniay was accompanied by 

 two others ; which, though not of 

 equal importance, contributed 

 greatly to raise the spirits of the 

 aUies ; on which the activity of the 

 enemy, and the continual superio- 

 rity or strength they displayed on 

 C 3 every 



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