m 



286 A HISTORY OP CAVALRY. [period hi. 



dragoons of the French army, having arrived in front 

 of the enemy's position before the remainder of his 

 troops had come up, Turenne at once employed them to 

 open the action by an attack upon the town of 

 Zintzheim,^ which formed the support of the right of the 

 Duke of Lorraine's army, and covered the passage of th«> 

 river Elsatz, which lay between the two armies.^ 



The dragoons, under the command of the Chevalier 

 d'Hocquincourt, dismounted, and forming up as infantry, 

 made a vigorous attack, through the gardens, vineyards, 

 and broken ground, which was promptly supported by 

 the infantry. They soon drove the enemy into the town 

 itself, and pressing on through the water of the moat, 

 and forcing oj^en a gate in the wall, thus effected an 

 entrance, captured 400 of the garrison, and slew or 

 dispersed the remainder. 



The cavalry and the rest of Turenne's army, crossing 

 the stream, moved on to attack the enemy's main line 

 of battle, which was drawn up on a high ground, 

 bordered on one flank by vineyards and hills, and on the 

 other by a long hedge. The summ.it of the hill was 

 somewhat open, and fit for cavalry operations, and the 

 Imperial army, composed mainly of cavalry, was drawn 

 up across it. Turenne at once, contrary to the usages 

 of the time, adapted his formation for battle to the 

 peculiarities of the ground, and placed his cavalry in the 

 centre, and his infantry upon the wings. This was done 

 to enable the infantry to advance through the vineyards 

 on his right, and along the hedge on his left, and as he 

 was superior in that arm, he pressed them on, continually 

 outflanking and turning the line of his opponents, and so 

 supporting the steady advance of his horsemen, who 

 after desperate fighting were gradually able, with the 

 assistance of their infantry, to press back the hostile 

 cavalry, and obtain room to deploy their lines upon the 

 summit and bring all their force into action. 



This battle was a remarkable instance of the adaptation 

 of the formation for battle to the character of the field 

 of action. The ground being suitable to the operations 



> Ramsay's Turenne, i. 503. « Buisson, Vie de Turenne, 432, 433. 



