siers; and
the duke de Chartres narrowly escaped being taken. Meanwhile Luxembourg,
the prince of Conti, the count de Marsin, and the marshal de Joyeuse,
charged on the right, and in different parts of the line with such
impetuosity as surmounted all resistance. The camp of the confederates
was immediately filled with French troops: the villages of Lare
and Neer-Winden were taken after a long and desperate dispute. The
Hanoverian and Dutch horse being broken, the king in person brought the
English cavalry to their assistance. They fought with great gallantry;
and for some time retarded the fate of the day. The infantry were
rallied, and stood firm until all their ammunition was expended. In a
word, they were scarce able to sustain the weight of such a superiority
in point of number, when the marquis D'Harcourt joined the enemy from
Huy, with two-and-twenty fresh squadrons, which immediately turned
the scale in their favour. The elector of Bavaria, after having made
extraordinary efforts, retreated with great difficulty over the bridge
to the other side of the river, where he rallied the troops in order
to favour the retreat of those who had not passed. The king seeing the
battle lost, and the whole army in confusion, retired with the infantry
to Dormul on the brook of Beck, where the dragoons of the left wing were
posted, and then ordered the regiments of Wyndham, Lumley, and Calway,
to cover his retreat over the bridge at Neer-Hespen, which he effected
with great difficulty. Now all was tumult, rout, and consternation; and
a great number of the fugitives threw themselves into the river, where
they were drowned. This had like to have been the fate of the brave earl
of Athlone; the duke of Ormond was wounded in several places, and taken
prisoner by the enemy; and the count de Solmes was mortally wounded.
Ptolemache brought off the greater part of the English infantry with
great gallantry and conduct; as for the baggage, it had been sent to
Liege before the engagement; but the confederates lost sixty pieces of
cannon, and nine mortars, a great number of standards and colours,* with
about seven thousand men killed and wounded in the action. It must be
owned that the allies fought with great valour and perseverance; and
that king William made prodigious efforts of courage and activity to
retrieve the fortune of the day. He was present in all parts of the
battle; he charged in person both on horseback and on foot, where the
d