BEL 



435 



BEL 





Belgrade, the situation of Prince Eugene rendered it neces- 



x " ~v sary to hazard some desperate enterprise. It was 



accordingly resolved, in a council of war, to make a 

 furious attack upon the Turkish camp ; and at one 

 o'clock in the morning of the 16th August, the Aus- 

 trian army quitted their trenches amid the obscurity 

 of a thick fog. While employed in their preparato- 

 ry movements, the fog had thickened to such a de- 

 gree, that the Austrian right wing, under Count 

 Palti, missed the redoubt at which they were to form, 

 and unwillingly surprised one of the advanced works 

 of the enemy. The troops of the grand vizier, roused 

 by this sudden alarm, rushed to the combat. The 

 right being thus engagi d, inclined too much to its 

 right flank, and left a considerable vacancy in the 

 centre. Prince Eugene, who commanded the left 

 wing, perceiving that the I f was engaged, was for- 

 ced to the attack before hia battalions had time to 

 form. The awful uncertainty which the mist occa- 

 sioned, hurried son"- of the Austrian .Jet n : ments in- 

 to the midst of the enemy, where ihey were instant- 

 ly cut to pieces. The combatants -ere completely 

 hid from each other, till they arrived at the points of 

 each others bayonets, and at this fatal instant, the 

 reserved and srel irected fire ot the Auotrians pro- 

 duced a dreadful carnage among their enemies. The 

 centre of the Ottoman army having no foes to op- 

 pose, separated the two wings of the Austnans, and 

 Opened a deadly lire upon their antagonists; and 

 they would have infallibly put an end to the combat, 

 had not the fog dispersed at this critical moment, and 

 discovered to prince Eugene the perilous condition 

 of his army. Eighteen battalions of his second line 

 of infantry, under the prince of Bevern, were instant- 

 ly hurried against the Turkish centre. Every sol- 

 dier seemed to feel, that on his single arm depended 

 the fate of the day ; and with an intrepidity and va- 

 lour which could scarcely be surpassed, the Turkish 

 battalions were broken as they advanced, and pur- 

 sued to their very trenches, over the mangled bodies 

 of their comrades. The vacancy in the imperial 

 centre being now filled up, the two wings were 

 formed for a new attempt. The battle now became 

 general, and after various success, in which the Turks 

 had sometimes the advantage, the Austrians succeed- 

 ed in forcing the entrenchments of the enemy, and in 

 driving them from all the redoubts by which their 

 camp was defended. The imperialists pursued them 

 about three miles beyond the eminence, and permit- 

 ted them to fly in every direction. In this celebra- 

 ted action the Turks had 1 3,000 killed, 5000 wound- 

 ed, and 3000 prisoners, while the Austrians had only 

 3000 killed, and 4500 wounded. The result of this 

 victory was the surrender of Belgrade on the 19th, 

 in consequence of a mutiny in the garrison. In 

 1739, the Turks attempted in vain to retake this for- 

 tress, which afterwards came into their possession by 

 the treaty of 1739, after its fortifications were demo- 

 lished. In 1789 it was again taken by the Austrians 

 under Marshal Laudohn, who restored it to the 

 Turks at the peace of Sistova, in 1791, since which 

 time it has remained in their possession. Population 

 25,000. East Long. .21* 12', North Lat. 45 10'. 

 i>ee Chishull's Travels, p. 43- (q) 

 7 



Beli&trius. 



BELIDOR, Berxard Forest de, a celebrated Belido; 

 engineer in the French, service, was born in the pro- 

 vince of Catalonia in Spain, in the year 1698. W hile 

 he filled the offices of professor at the new school 

 of artillery of La Fere, and of provincial commis- 

 sary of artillery, he discovered that too great a quan- 

 tity of gunpowder was used in the loading of cannon, 

 and that the same effect might be produced by two- 

 thirds of the quantity. Belidor had, unfortunately 

 for himself, communicated this discovery to Cardinal 

 Fleury without consulting the .grand master of artil- 

 lery, who was so irritated as to deprive Belidor of 

 both his situations. Being thus left at liberty, he 

 accompanied the Prince of Conti to Italy; and on 

 his return to Paris, he was again brought into notice 

 at court. On the 31st March 17.56, he was received 

 as a supernumerary associate of the Academy of 

 Sciences ; and Marshal Belleisle promoted him to the 

 office of inspector of artillery, and gave him apart- 

 ments in the arsenal of Paris, where he died on the 

 8th of September 1761, in the sixty-third year of 

 his age. The works of Belidor are, Sommaire d'un 

 Cours d' Architecture Militaire, Civile et Hydrau- 

 liaue, 12mo, 1720. Nouvcau Cours de Mathema- 

 tii/ues, 4to, 1725. La Science des Ingenieurs, 4to, 

 1729. Le Bombardier Francois, 4to, 1739. Archi- 

 tect urc Uydmidiquc, 4 vols. 4to, 1737 ; a work con- 

 taining much new and practical knowledge on the 

 varu.u,-. subjects of which it treats. Dictionnaire 

 portal if de L' Ingenieur, 8vo ; and Traite des Forti- 

 fications, 4 vols. 4to. Besides these works, he pub- 

 lished several pieces in the Memoirs of the Academy 

 of Paris for 1737, 1750, 1753 ; and 1756, and a paper 

 on Gunpowder in the Memoirs of the Academu of 

 Berlin for 1734, torn. iv. p. 116. (*) 



BELISARIUS, supposed to have been born and 

 educated in Thrace, was first one of the private 

 guards, and afterwards the chief commander of the 

 armies of Justinian. He was first entrusted with the 

 command of a body of troops on the Persian fron- 

 tiers ; and about four years afterwards, was appoint- 

 ed general of the East, in the war against Cosrhoes 

 king of Persia. Returning from this war in 530, in 

 which he had acquired great renown, he came very 

 seasonably to the relief of the emperor, who was hard 

 pressed by a formidable insurrection at Constanti- 

 nople ; and, immediately falling with his victorious 

 troops upon the insurgents, put to death an incre- 

 dible number of them, (according to some authors 

 30,000, ) and completely restored the peace of the 

 metropolis. In 532, he was sent to conduct the war 

 against the Vandals in Africa, which, in little more 

 than the space of one year, he brought to a success- 

 ful termination. Returning to Constantinople in 534, 

 with the Vandal prince Gilimer among his captives, 

 he received the honour of a splendid triumph in re- 

 ward of his services, and was created sole consul for 

 the year following. He was next employed against 

 the Ostrogoths in Italy in 535; landed first in Sicily, 

 which he speedily reduced ; passed over to the con- 

 tinent, and took the city of Naples by storm ; re- 

 ceived the submission of the Gothic prince Theoda- 

 tus in Rome ; drove back a powerful army of Goths, 

 who, under the command of their new king Vitiges, 



