The history of the campagne in the Spanish Netherlands, Anno Dom. 1694 with the journal of the siege of Huy / by Edward D'Auvergne ...

The Journal of the Siege and taking of the Town and Castle of Huy, with the several Forts belonging to it, by the Confederate Army, Commanded by His Highness the Duke of Holstein Ploen, Velt Mareschal General of the Armies of the States-General of the Ʋnited Provinces.

WE have said above that the King, pursuant to the reso∣lutions he had taken of laying Siege▪to Huy, had or∣dered the Duke of Holstein Ploen from the Camp at Wouter∣ghem to march towards the Meuse with the Body of Foot and Dragoons incamped near Ghendt, under the Command of Major-General Cohorne; that the Garrisons of Liege and Mae∣stricht had Orders at the same time to be ready to march. The Train of Artillery and Mortars, and all things necessary for a Siege were ready at Maestricht, with Boats to carry them up

the River, and expected only the junction of the Forces to form the Siege to be sent up to Huy.

The 5th Prince Cerclas of Tilly marched out of Liege to possess himself of several Posts in the Neighbourhood of Huy, with the Cavalry of the Diocess. He was followed the next Day by the Duke of Holstein, who was now joyned by the Dutch and Brandenburgh Forces, and the Cavalry Commanded by Lieutenant-General de Witz, which in going back to the Meuse from Audenarde, had marched almost the same way we came to it.

The 7th all these Forces being joyned together posted them∣selves at all the avenues leading to the place, and formally in∣vested it; Brigadier Swerin passed the Meuse with his Brigade of Foot to post himself on the opposite side of the River to the Town of Huy. I refer the Reader for the description of this place to what I said of it in my last Years History; I shall only add, that the Fort Picard, which was then imperfect, was quite finished by the French, and besides that they had made the Fort Rouge for the greater security of the place. When Huy was invested, our Army before the place consisted of the Forces following.

The List of the Confederate Army before Huy.

Duke of Holstein Velt-Mareschal General.
Prince Cerclas of Tilly, General.
De Witz Lieutenant-General.
Heyden, Cohorne and Sonsfeldt, Major-Generals.
Swerin, Lindeboom, &c. Brigadiers.
Dutch Infantry.	Brandenburgh Foot.	Brandenburgh Horse
Regim.	Battal.	Regim.	Battal.	Regim.	Squad.
Du Theil	1	Electors Guards	3	Dorfling Dragoons	4
Cohorne	1	Electoral Prince	1	Sonsfeldt Dragoons	4
Lindeboom	1	Prince Phillipe	1	Auspach Dragoons	2

Dutch Infantry.	Brandenburgh Foot.	Brandenburgh Horse
Regim.	Battal.	Regim.	Battal.	Regim.	Squad.
Swerin	3	Prince Louis	1	Horse-Granadiers	1
Stockhausen	1	Dorfling	1	Grand Musquetiers	1
Friesheim	1	Altholstein	1	Gens d' Arms	1
Ameliswert	1	Denhof	1	Life Regiment	3
Essen	1	Barfus	1	Churprince	3
Churprince	1	Heyden	1	Fleming	3
Prince Phillipe	1	Brand	1	Dorfling	3
Harsolt	1	Lottom	1	Du Hammel	3
Prince Louis	1	Doua	1	Litwits	3
Anhaltdessau	1	Slabendorf	1	Schlipenback	3
Knoring	1	Anhalt	1
Obergen	1	Hult	1
Vandermuklen	1	Horne	1
Battalions	18	Battalions	18	Squndrons	38
		Liege Battalions	4

We had by this List Forty Battalions, which at Five Hun∣dred each Battalion one with another (the usual way of reckon∣ing the latter end of a Campagne) makes Twenty Thousand Foot; and Thirty Eight Squadrons of Horse and Dragoons, at One Hundred each Squadron the latter end of a Campagne, makes Three Thousand Eight Hundred Horse, by which the total of our Army before Huy consisted of Twenty Three Thousand Eight Hundred Men; the Ten Regiments which were detached from our Army at Rouselar under the Brigadiers Holstein-Norbourg and Dedem, came to the Camp before Huy but the very day of the Capitulation, for which reason I have not incerted their Names in this List.

The same Day that we invested Huy, the Count de Guis∣card, Governour of Namur, who had put himself into the place to defend it in person, went out of it betimes in the Morning under a good Escorte of Dragoons by an express Or∣der of the Court, which injoyned him to go back to his Go∣vernment

of Namur, whither he got with some difficulty: We had the News in our Camp that he was forced to leave his Baggage behind him, which fell by this means into our hands, but afterwards was returned safely to him. The Count de Guiscard at his going out paid the Garrison, which was made up of the Regiments of Ponthieu and Angoumois, con∣sisting of Twelve Companies each, which made between Thirteen and Fourteen Hundred Foot, and One free Company of Dragoons. The defence of the place was recommended to Monsieur de Regnac Commandant of the Castle. About Noon some Deputies from the Magistrates of Huy came to wait upon the Duke of Holstein by Monsieur de Regnacs leave, to make some Propositions, according to which he was willing to deliver the Keys of the Town into their hands, and to re∣tire into the Forts and Castle if the Duke would consent to them.

• 1. That the Roman Catholick and Apostolick Religion should be maintained in it in the state it was now.
• 2. That the Burghers and Inhabitants should return under the Government of their Natural Prince the Bishop of Liege, and the See being now vacant, of his Illustrious Chapter.
• 3. That the Magistrates, Mayors, &c. should be continued in the possession of their Charges, Priviledges, Rights and Liber∣ties, as well as the Burghers and Inhabitants of the Town.
• 4. That the Town being under the Power of the Allies, none of the Ecclesiasticks either Secular or Regular, nor the Burghers and Inhabitants, nor those of the Neighbourhood, which have fled thither for refuge shall be insulted, disturbed or molested in their Persons, Goods or Effects, wherever they may be.
• 5. That when the Allies should have taken possession of the Town they should not attack the Castle from it, and those of the Castle should not commit any Hostilities against the Forces in the Town.
• 6. That if the Allies were obliged to raise the Siege, and to abandon the Town, they should in no wise molest or disturb the said Ecclesiasticks, Burghers and Inhabitants, &c. nor their Effects, nor burn, ruine or plunder their Houses, nor seise

• themselves of any of them, upon any pretext whatever.
• 7. That in case they abandon the Town, they should not de∣molish, cut down, nor blow up the Ramparts, Bulwarks, Towers, Gates, Barrieres, or any other works of defence belonging to the Town.
• 8. That they should not demolish nor do any damage to the great Bridge of the Town upon the Meuse, nor those built upon any Rivulets, either within the Town or liberties of it.
• 9. That they should not sieze themselves of, nor take any Bell, or piece of Mettal belonging to the Town, Ecclesiasticks or Inha∣bitants, neither should they cause them to be redeemed for money or otherwise.
• 10. That it should be Lawful for any of the Burghers and Inhabitants, to retire where they please with their Effects for the space of six Months.
• 11. That the Hospitals, Pious Houses and Lumber Houses, should not be molested nor disturbed in any of their Revenues or Effects.

These are the Articles upon which the Town was given up to the Allies, most of them are upon condition the Allies should raise the Siege of the place; by which it appears that the Besieged had great hopes of it. About Four in the After∣noon Monsieur de Regnac caused the following Article to be added to it.

That the Allies should not attack the Castle by the Town or Faubourgs, nor cause any Troops to pass the Bridge in a Body during the Siege; nor any Cannon, Ammunitions or any other Provisions of War; and that by vertue of this Capitulation he should deliver the next Day by Six in the Morning the Keys of the Town in the hands of the Magistrate.

This Capitulation having been agreed unto, and signed by the Duke of Holstein, and Monsieur de Regnac, the Besieged left the Town, and retired into the Castle and Forts; Four of of our Battalions entered into the place to take possession of it. Having now the Castle and Forts to besiege, the Duke of

Holstein took his Quarter upon the Hill of Coureux; with most of the Generals; we began to work at our Batteries, and we finished our Bridge of Communication at Taverne. The Ene∣my made a great Fire with their Artillery against our Works, and shot some Bombs, but without doing any considerable da∣mage. The Evening they made a Salley on that side where Major-General Cohorne Commanded, thinking to possess them∣selves of three Field-Pieces we had there, but the Guard ha∣ving perceived it gave the Alarm, and we repulsed the Enemy, with some loss on their Side.

The 9th. the Besieged continued to fire with their Artillery, but not so briskly as the day before, and some Deserters, who came over to us, reported, that they had some Gunners killed in the Fort Picard by three Pieces of Cannon which had broke. We hastened our Work at the Batteries, and other Works, and landed as fast as we could our heavy Artillery, which had come up to our Bridge of Communication at Taverne, by the Meuse, consisting of Fifty and Five battering Pieces, and Twenty Eight Mortars, besides the Cannon we had brought by Land.

The 10th. we had advice that the Besieged, resolving to de∣fend themselves to the last extremity, did work within as fast as they could, chiefly to cover themselves in their Works with Earth and Hay, to defend themselves from our Bombs: They fired upon none but those who appeared out of the Faubourgs of the Place, and made but a small Fire upon us this day, and hitherto they had killed us but very few Men

The 11th. the Enemy fired upon us with their Cannon and Mortars, with more Vigour than they had done the day be∣fore. We finished this Enening our Batteries for Cannon and Mortars; we had one upon the Hill of Coureux, the second near the Counterscarpe; Major-General Cohorné had one above Croisiers, upon the Saur; Brigadier Swerin another near St. Leonard; and Prince Circlas of Tilly had the fifth.

The 12th. the Enemy fired very briskly upon us till Nine in the Morning, that the Duke of Holstein being come to the chief Battery upon the Hill de Coureux, gave the Signal by ordering a Bomb to be fired in the Air, after which this, and all other

Batteries, both of Cannon and Mortars, fired without inter∣mission; all the Generals had posted themselves by the main Battery, to be Spectators of this Work. This Evening we opened the Trenches at the Brandenbourg Quarter, who di∣rected their Attack towards the Fort Picard; the rest did the same at their other Attacks.

The 13th. we had a thick Fog in the Morning, which inter∣rupted the Vigour of our Fire, but as soon as it was over, our Cannon and Mortars began to play with more force from all our Batteries; that of St. Leonard fired perpendicular upon the Head of the Fort Picard, to make a Breach. The Enemy, who kept themselves in their Works, fired but seldom with Two Six-pounders, of which we soon dismounted one; they fired some Vollies of Shot upon the Bridge of the Town, which caused the Duke of Holstein to send a Message to Monsieur de Regnac, to let him know, that it was against the Tenor of the Capitulation, which would oblige him to give no quarter when once he should be Master of the Castle: The Governour endea∣voured to excuse himself, but the Duke of Holstein returned for Answer by a Drum, that he was a German and could not understand the wrangling of the French. A Deserter came in, and told us, that the Besieged could not hold out much longer, that our Bombs had ruined their Well, and had broke to pieces most of their Casks filled with Beer and Water, that they had spoiled their Provisions, and put their Magazines of Fascines on fire; thereupon we push'd our Approaches to the Foot of the Counterscarpe, and the Besieged killed and wounded some of our Soldiers.

The 14th. the Enemies Fire ceased. The General held a Council of War, where it was concluded, That the Breach in the Forts Rouge and Picard being wide enough for an Assault, Orders should be given to the Brandenbourgers, who were the most advanced, to prepare themselves for it; and all things being ready, the Signal was given about Four in the Afternoon, after which they made the Assault upon the Fort Picard with so much bravery, that in less than half an hour they carried it Sword in hand, without any great resistance from the Enemy, of whom they made a great slaughter: The Fort Rouge had the

same success; our People came into the place with the Enemies, before they had time to know themselves. The Paris Gazette gave an account that they sustained our Assault twice, but that we carried it the third time, after a vigorous Resistance. Thus 'tis honourable to have to do with a proud Enemy. We car∣ried at the same time the Tower of St. Leonard, and another which surrendred at discretion: Monsieur de Condron, the King's Lieutenant that Commanded in these Forts, escaped with 60 or 70 Men, out of 300, though he was very much wounded, after he had nailed three pieces of Cannon, which he was forced to leave in our power, and sprung a Mine, which had no effect at all. Among the Prisoners we took, those of note were Monsieur de Tromboy, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Regiment of Ponthien, one Major, three Captains, aad other Officers; but the Sieur Fronier, Lieutenant-Colonel of Angoumois, was not found in the Castle, nor amongst the Prisoners, and so it was concluded that he was killed: Our Soldiers stript all those that were killed naked, so that he could not be found. We had in this Action but 9 or 10 Soldiers killed, and some wounded.

The 15th. we changed some Batteries, with which we con∣tinued our Fire, to ruine all the Works, the Casemates, &c. of the Castle. We had several Fascines brought to fill the Ditch, and disposed all things for an Assault; about Eleven in the Evening the Duke of Holstein sent to summon the Com∣mandant to surrender and deliver to the Magisttates of the Town divers Burthers whom he detained in the Castle, contrary to the Capitulation. During this Message we had a cessation of Arms for half an hour; at which time the Officer, the Duke of Holstein had sent, returned with this Answer from the Comman∣dant, That it was not time yet to surrender, that he would stay till things were brought to a greater Extremity, that for the Burghers demanded he had reason to retain them without explaining himself any further. The Besieged did think of making a Retrenchment in the Castle, where to retreat and capitulate in case of an Assault.

The 16th. we began again, as soon as it was day, to fire from all our Batteries to make the Breach wider, and to over∣throw all the Defence the Besieged had, but we found it more

difficult than was at first believed, to bring down the heaps of Stone at the Breach.

The 17th. we continued the same Work till One in the After∣noon, that the Besieged beat the Chamade, and asked to capi∣tulate, which surprized us very much, since they might yet have defended themselves very well for some days; for though the Breach was wide enough, yet 'twas very difficult to go up to it. Hostages were Exchanged on both Sides, and the Count de Lur, Colonel of the Regiment of Angoumois, brought the Conditions in Writing to the Duke of Holstein, according to which the Commandant would deliver up the Castle, which after examination some were agreed unto, and some rejected. We would have given no other Conditions but those which the Mareschal de Villeroy had granted the Year before to the Baron de Ronesse when he took it, which caused great contestations on both Sides, and several Messages backwards and forwards. The French insisted very much to have marched out with Cannon, which was absolutely refused; but at last the Duke of Holstein sent word to Monsieur de Regnac, If that Night passed without accepting the Conditions he had prescribed, that the next Morning he would make a general Assault upon the Place, without any regard to the said Conditions; which Message had the success we expected; for the Count de Lur came about Mid-night to the Duke of Holstein with Monsieur de Regnac's Cousent to the said Articles, which I shall here insert for the satisfaction of the Reader, as they were proposed by Monsieur de Regnac, and granted by the Duke of Holstein Ploen.

The Capitulation Granted by the Duke of Holstein Ploen Commanding the Confede∣rate Army before Huy, to Monsieur de Regnac, Commandant for the French King in the Castle of Huy.

I. THat the Garrison shall go out of the place with Arms and Baggage, Drums beating, Colours flying, Matches lighted at both ends, and that they shall march out of the Breach. Granted.

II. That they shall carry out along with them Two Brass Pieces of Cannon and Mortars which are in the place, which shall be at the choice of the Commandant of the Castle. Rejected.

III. That the Garrison with the Artillery, the Officers of the State-Major, the Commissaries of War, the In∣geniers and Commissaries of the Artillery, &c. and ge∣nerally all those that are imployed in the Kings Service in the said Castle, shall march out to morrow at Nine a Clock in the Morning, with Monsieur de Regnac, to be conducted to Namur by water, with their Equipage, Baggage, Sick and VVounded, at the Charges of the Allies, who shall cause Boats to be provided, with Boat∣men and Horses, and a good Escorte of One Hundred Horsemen for their safety, which shall be ready to mor∣row by Nine in the Morning, to go that same Day to Namur. Granted thus far by the Duke of Holstein. That Boats shall be provided for Baggage for the Sick and VVounded that are in a condition to go out of the Garrison, but the rest mentioned in this Article shall

march on foot to Namur, by the shortest road under a good Escorte, and shall go out to Morrow by Nine at farthest in the Morning.

IV. That the Sick and VVounded who are not in a condition to be transported to Namur shall remain in the Town to be dressed and looked after at the expence of the Allies, till they are able to go back to their several Posts, and then they shall have sufficient Passports for their Journey. Granted.

V. That the Deserters shall not be reclam'd on either side. Rejected.

VI. That all Officers and Soldiers that have been made Prisoners during the Siege shall be set at liberty without Ransom. Granted, for those only that were made Prisoners during the Siege of the Castle.

VII. That no Officer or Soldier shall be Arrested for Debts, or otherwise; nor any other Persons comprehend∣ed in this Capitulation. So far agreed unto by the Duke of Holstein: That this Article shall be regula∣ted according as the French observed it when they took Huy; but 'tis understood, that if the Officers owe any thing to the Burghers of the Town, that the Governour shall oblige himself for the payment.

VIII. That we shall not command nor expect any re∣stitution of the Provisions which might have been taken in the Town or Neighbouring Villages to put in the Castle or otherwise. Granted.

IX. That we shall not search nor visit any Equipages belonging to the Officers or others marching out of the Castle. Granted.

X. That after the Signing of the Capitulation, the Hostages shall be restored on both sides. Granted.

XI. That when this Capitulation shall be Signed, the Duke of Holstein may send Fifty Men to take possession of the Gate of the Castle which has a Draw-Bridge. The Gate of the Castle shall be possessed this Day by One Hundred Men; and the Besieged shall leave all the Magazines in the state they are now; and they shall shew to the Hostages sent, the place and state of their Mines, and that faithfully.

The same Day that the Garrison began to Capitulate, the Duke of Holstein Norbourg, and Brigadier Dedem, came to the Camp before Huy, with the Ten Regiments that had been sent from our main Army at Rouselar, viz. the Rhingrave, Birken∣feldt, Dumont, Heukelom, Dedem, Holstein-Norbourg, Gohr, Holstein-Beck and Sparre, of which we have given an account before

According to the Capitulation Monsieur de Regnac marched out of the Castle between Nine and Ten in the Morning by the Breach, at the head of his Garrison, consisting of about Seven Hundred Men carrying Arms, which remained of Thirteen or Fourteen Hundred, they had at the beginning of the Siege; they had about Three Hundred wounded. The Governour Regnac Complemented the Duke of Holstein as he passed by him, which the Duke returned very civilly. We had the news in our Camp that the Breach was so difficult that the Garrison had much ado to march out of it, and that finding this way so difficult, the Governour would willingly have changed the First Article of the Capitulation, and have marched out of the Gate; but the Duke of Holstein answered, That Capitulations were Sacred, and exactly to be observed; and therefore since they had made their bargain to march out of the Breach, they conld not go out any other way. We obliged the French to leave Hostages for the payment of their Debts contracted in the Town; and of the Cattle which they had taken before the Siege from the Inhabitants of the Town, and neighbouring Villages. We took likewise our Deserters which were among the French in this place. The same Morning we sent a Detach∣ment

of Six Hundred Foot of the Dutch, Brandenburgh and Liege Forces to take possession of the Castle, where they entred by the Breach, the Sieur Tobie Ingenier had the command of it given him till other Orders; Brigadier Lindeboom was made Governour of the Town. 'Tis a very wonderful thing that during the Siege we had not above Forty Men kill'd and wound∣ed, no Officer killed, and none wounded but a Brandenburgh Major, which adds very much to the Reputation of the Gene∣ral; that he has in so little time, and with so little loss, reduc'd a place to the Allies which the French had taken as much care as they could to fortifie, and to furnish it with all things ne∣cessary for a good defence; notwithstanding, this place was taken in five days from the opening of the Trenches, which is no longer than the Baron de Ronesse defended it last Year against the French. 'Twas invested by the Mareschal de Villeroy the 9th, the Trench was opened the 10th, and the Castle surren∣der'd the 14th of July; though the Fort Picard was not then quite finished, and that the Enemy hath since added the Fort Rouge, both which are situated upon the points of Hills which commanded the Castle; 'tis true that since we had made our selves Masters of these two Forts, they so much commanded the Castle, that the Enemy could not perswade the Soldiers to stand Sentry upon the Ramparts, but they kept themselves close under cover as much as they could. The Governour could expect no relief, and that I believe was the reason why he would not defend the place to the last extremity. The French could not relieve it from Flanders, because they could not make a sufficient Detachment without hazarding Ipres, and other Towns on this side; and Prince Louis of Baden passed the Rhine much about the same time, so that he could not expect any succour from the Mareschal de Lorge, who was obliged to keep all his Forces against Prince Louis of Baden, who was on this side of the Rhine in the Enemies Country. As soon as we had taken possession of the Castle, the Clergy, Religious, and In∣habitants of the Town went to the chief Church (which has a Chapter consisting of a Dean and Secular Canons) where Te Deum was sung for their deliverance from the French Yoke, and for being restor'd to their Lawful Prince the Bishop, but now

(the See being vacant) to the Dean and Chapter of Liege, that had the Administration of the Government, as usually till the Bishop Elect had his Confirmation from Rome. The Dean and Chapter of Liege had likewise Te Deum sung in the Cathedral Church of St. Lambert, and a triple discharge of all the Canon round the Town, to express their joy for the reduction of this place to the Government of Liege. But before I part with the Siege of Huy, I cannot omit to shew the importance and conse∣quence of it to the Allies. We have already spoken of the great inconveniences we suffered by having Liege for our Fron∣tier Garrison, which being a very large place, situated amongst Hills, requir'd a good Army for its defence; so that whilst Liege was our Frontier, we could not well act defensively a∣gainst the Enemy, because it took up those Men within it for its defence which should have been required elsewhere: That very Army which the Duke of Holstein had before it, was but the Garrison of Liege, and some Regiments of Maestricht; and though we exceeded the French Army by much, including these Forces of Liege, yet as long as the French had Huy, they could still hinder the junction of these Forces with us, or else the Town of Liege must be left exposed to them. But we having advanc'd our Frontier by the taking of this place, a small Garri∣son will serve Liege, and as much as will keep the Citadels will be sufficient; so that by the taking of Huy, we can without raising One Man, have above Twenty Battalions more in the Field the next Campagne. This is sufficient to shew the Con∣sequence of Huy, and of what Importance it is to either side.

It is now time to return from the Siege of Huy, to our Camp at Rouselar, and to bring things to the conclusion of the Cam∣pagne. The King, as we have said, left the Army here the 20th, and went that day by Deinse and Ghendt to Overmeere, where His Majesty lay that night; but at his passing by my Lord of Athlones Quarters, where the Dutch Cavalry was can∣ton'd, the King order'd Major-General Hubert to go and com∣mand the Body of Horse and Dragoons we had by Aeth, in the absence of Count Tilly, who (as we have said before) had been taken Prifoner from his very Quarters by a Detachment of the Enemies from the Garrison of Mons.

The 21th the First Troop of Guards, Commanded by my Lord of Scarborough, was sent to quarter at Breda, and the Horse-Granadiers to Bois le duc; and now some Regiments went off daily from the Camp to go into Winter-Quarters.

The 22th we made a Detachment to cover our Soldiers, who went to marode up and down the Country; which before occa∣sioned many of them to be taken Prisoners by the Enemy; for the Country hereabours abounded in all manner of Fruits, but Roots especially, as Turnips, Parsnips and Potatoes; but when they began to grow scarce near the Camp, the Soldiers could not be hinder'd from going farther to gather them, which was the cause that the Enemies Parties daily took a great many Pri∣soners; for which reason 'twas thought convenient to have set days upon which the Soldiers should have liberty, a Man of a Tent, to go and gather Roots and Fruits, and a Detachment was order'd out of the Army to cover them; but some greater inconveniencies happened by this way, for which reason 'twas since left off. If the Camp at Rouselar was strong and secure, so that we could make what Detachments we pleased from thence, yet in other cases 'twas very inconvenient; the Coun∣try all about it was close and Woody, which shelter'd the Ene∣mies Parties, which were so frequent that our Sulters under∣went great hazards to get Provisions for the Camp; and our Bread-Waggons were several times attack••d by these Parites; for the Train of the Bread-Waggons and Sutlers who took the opportnnity of Convoys, made a Line of such length through the narrow ways of this Country, that 'twas impossible for our Detachments to cover them all along; so that the Enemies Parties, which lay in the Woods, would often sally out when they saw their opportunity, and take the Horses from the Wag∣gons, which was all they look▪d for, and so run away with their booty as fast as they could; about this time a Party of the Enemy attack'd our Bread-Waggons, but part of our De∣tachment which was near, hindered them from stealing any Horses; yet being in close Ambuscade they fired upon our Men, where Captain Sacheverel of Colonel Titcombs Regiment, that commanded this part of the Detachment, had the misfortune to be wounded mortally; which is the only Officer of our Army I have heard of, that has been killed this Campagne by the Enemy.

The 23th the King, who had left the Camp at Rouselar the 20th, came to Liege the 23th about Noon; His Majesty was waited upon by Deputies from the Chapter to Complement Him upon his arrival to this place, and by Prince Cerclas of Tilly, the Liege General, and the Cannon was fir'd all round the Town. His Majesty did not go into the place, but only rid round the Lines and Works to see the condition they were in, and how far His Majesty could depend upon them, whereby to take His Measures for the next Campagne. That Evening the King went to Maestricht, and lay in the Duke of Holstein-Ploens house (the Governour) which had been prepar'd for His Majesties recep∣tion; and the next day the King went on to Loo, where His Majesty arrived the 26th to take his usual Divertisements after the closing of the Campagne.

The 25th we sent a reinforcement from the Camp at Rouselar of Thirty Gunners and Matrosses, with Stores to Dixmuyde.

The 26th the Elector of Bavaria and Prince Vaudemont left the Army early in the Morning to go to Brussels, 16 Men being commanded out of each Battalion, by Two in the Morning, to Escorte his Electoral Highness as far as Deinse, from whence relays were ready upon the Road by Ghendt to Brussels. The Command of the Army remain'd now to the D. of Wirtemberg, who had thereupon the Honours paid him which are given to a General in Chief. The same day the Army had Orders to forage all the Churches and Cloisters in our Front towards the Enemy, and to take all their Corn (as we had before) to leave the Ene∣mies Country hereabouts as bare as we could.

The 28th the Bavarian Foot and Dragoons marched away from the Camp to go into Quarters; they were incamped upon the heighth of Hooghleode, where they flank'd our Right, and cover'd the Electors Quarters; but because this Hill commanded our Camp, 5 Battalions of the Brigade of Rantzow and Dedem were sent the same day to incamp in their places, to defend the Redoubts which we had made at our first coming to fortifie this Hill against the Enemy. The same day the Barracks of the Battalion of the Second Regiment of English Guards (whereof my Lord Cuts is now Colonel in the room of the late Lieutenant-General Taldmash) took fire, the wind drove the flame to the Left, where it chanced to be advanced forward to the Front of

the Dutch Guards, or else the fire might have done more mis∣chief in our Straw-Camp, which is very dangerous, when an Army is thus hutted all along in Straw.

The 29th the D. of Holstein-Ploen came back from the Siege of Huy to the Camp, to command the Army; he was Com∣plemented by all the Generals upon his arrival, and the good success he had at Huy: the Mareschal de Luxemburgh sent him a Complement of 2 very fine Mules. The D. of Holstein at his coming away from Huy dispersed the Troops imployed in the Siege. The Baron de Heyden was sent to incamp near Liege by the Ourte, which rises in the Pajis de Luxemburgh, and passes through the Dutchy of Bouillon, and bois d' Ardenne, and so falls into the Meuse at Liege. Lieutenant-General de Witz was sent with the Brandenburgh Horse and Dragoons towards the Pajis de Luxemburgh, to raise Contributions in the Enemies Country, and the Dutch Foot commanded by Major-General Cohorne remained incamped by Huy till the Breaches were re∣paired; of which six Battalions, and two of the Liege Foot were sent into the Town and Castle, to keep a strong Garrison in the place, which is now our Frontier to the Enemy.

The 30th the Second Troop of Life-Guards commanded by the D. of Ormond, and the Third by my L. Rivers, marched out of the Camp towards their Winter-Quarters at Breda. The French which now wanted Forage very much by their long con∣tinuance in their Camp between Courtray and Moorselle, made a considerable Detachment to the other side of the Scheld between Mons and Tournay, commanded by the Mareschal de Bouflers, to subsist them more conveniently there; and Major-General Hu∣bert, who commanded our Detachment of Horse and Dragoons near Aeth, was now marched towards Wavre and Genap: It may be the Enemy suspected some design against Charleroy by this motion, for which reason the Mareschal de Bouflers was commanded with this Body towards Mons.