thirty years. He had
improved the tactics, without violating the manners, of his nation,
whose force still consisted in the missile weapons and rapid evolutions
of a numerous cavalry. From a single troop to a great army, the mode of
attack was the same; a foremost line first advanced to the charge, and
was supported in a just order by the squadrons of the great vanguard.
The general's eye watched over the field, and at his command the front
and rear of the right and left wings successively moved forward in their
several divisions, and in a direct or oblique line; the enemy was
pressed by eighteen or twenty attacks; and each attack afforded a
chance of victory. If they all proved fruitless or unsuccessful, the
occasion was worthy of the Emperor himself, who gave the signal of
advancing to the standard and main body, which he led in person. But in
the battle of Angora, the main body itself was supported, on the flanks
and in the rear, by the bravest squadrons of the reserve, commanded by
the sons and grandsons of Timur. The conqueror of Hindustan
ostentatiously showed a line of elephants, the trophies rather than the
instruments of victory; the use of the Greek fire was familiar to the
Mongols and Ottomans; but had they borrowed from Europe the recent
invention of gunpowder and cannon, the artificial thunder, in the hands
of either nation, must have turned the fortune of the day. In that day
Bajazet displayed the qualities of a soldier and a chief; but his genius
sunk under a stronger ascendant; and, from various motives, the greatest
part of his troops failed him in the decisive moment. His rigor and
avarice had provoked a mutiny among the Turks; and even his son Solyman
too hastily withdrew from the field. The forces of Anatolia, loyal in
their revolt, were drawn away to the banners of their lawful princes.
His Tartar allies had been tempted by the letters and emissaries of
Timur, who reproached their ignoble servitude under the slaves of their
fathers; and offered to their hopes the dominion of their new, or the
liberty of their ancient, country. In the right wing of Bajazet the
cuirassiers of Europe charged with faithful hearts and irresistible
arms; but these men of iron were soon broken by an artful flight and
headlong pursuit; and the janizaries, alone, without cavalry or missile
weapons, were encompassed by the circle of the Mongol hunters. Their
valor was at length oppressed by heat, thirst, and the weight of
num