his step, however, produced little or no
effect; and the Austrian detachment retired at the approach of the duke
of Vieuville, with a superior number of forces. In August, count Brown,
at the head of an Austrian detachment, surprised Velletri in the night;
and the king of the Two Sicilies, with the duke of Modena, were in
the utmost danger of being taken. They escaped by a postern with great
difficulty, and repaired to the quarters of count Gages, who performed
the part of a great general on this occasion. He rallied the fugitives,
dispelled the panic and confusion which had begun to prevail in
his camp, and made a disposition for cutting off the retreat of the
Austrians. Count Brown, finding himself in danger of being surrounded,
thought proper to secure his retreat, which he effected with great art
and gallantry, carrying off a prodigious booty. Three thousand Spaniards
are said to have fallen in this action; and eight hundred men were
taken, with some standards and colours. Count Mariani, a Neapolitan
general, was among the prisoners. The Austrians lost about six hundred
men; and general Novati fell into the hands of the enemy; but the
exploit produced no consequence of importance. The heats of Autumn
proved so fatal to the Austrians, who were not accustomed to the
climate, that prince Lobkowitz saw his army mouldering away, without any
possibility of its being recruited; besides, the country was so
drained that he could no longer procure subsistence. Impelled by these
considerations, he meditated a retreat. On the eleventh day of November,
he decamped from Faiola, marched under the walls of Rome, passed the
Tiber at Ponte Mole, formerly known by the name of Pons Milvius, which
he had just time to break down behind him, when the vanguard of the
Spaniards and Neapolitans appeared. Part of his rear-guard, however,
was taken, with count Soro who commanded it, at Nocero; and his army
suffered greatly by desertion. Nevertheless, he continued his retreat
with equal skill and expedition, passed the mountains of Gubio, and
by the way of Viterbo reached the Bolognese. The pope was altogether
passive. In the beginning of the campaign he had caressed Lobkowitz; and
now he received the king of the Two Sicilies with marks of the warmest
affection. That prince having visited the chief curiosities of Rome,
returned to Naples, leaving part of his troops under the command of
count Gages.

BATTLE OF CONI.

Fortune likewise fav