ached Coehorn with his flying camp on the
right of the Scheldt towards Dutch Flanders, to amuse the marquis
de Bed-mar on that side; and he ordered the baron Opdam, with twelve
thousand men, to take post between Eckeren and Capelle, near Antwerp,
that he might act against that part of the lines which was guarded by
the Spanish forces.

{ANNE, 1701--1714}

BATTLE OF ECKEREN.

The French generals, in order to frustrate the scheme of Marlborough,
resolved to cut off the retreat of Opdam. Boufflers, with a detachment
of twenty thousand men from Villeroy's army, surprised him at Eckeren,
where the Dutch were put in disorder; and Opdam, believing all was
lost, fled to Breda. Nevertheless, the troops rallying under general
Schlangenburg, maintained their ground with the most obstinate
valour till night, when the enemy was obliged to retire, and left the
communication free with fort Lillo, to which place the confederates
marched without further molestation, having lost about fifteen hundred
men in the engagement. The damage sustained by the French was more
considerable. They were frustrated in their design, and had actually
abandoned the field of battle; yet Louis ordered _Te Deum_ to be sung
for the victory; nevertheless Boufflers was censured for his conduct on
this occasion, and in a little time totally disgraced. Opdam presented
a justification of his conduct to the states-general; but by this
oversight he forfeited the fruits of a long service, during which he
had exhibited repeated proofs of courage, zeal, and capacity. The states
honoured Schlangenburg with a letter of thanks for the valour and
skill he had manifested in this engagement; but in a little time they
dismissed him from his employment on account of his having given umbrage
to the duke of Marlborough, by censuring his grace for exposing such a
small number of men to this disaster. After this action, Villeroy,
who lay encamped near Saint Job, declared he waited for the duke of
Marlborough, who forthwith advanced to Hoogstraat, with a view to give
him battle; but at his approach the French general, setting fire to his
camp, retired within his lines with great precipitation. Then the
duke invested Huy, the garrison of which, after a vigorous defence,
surrendered themselves prisoners of war on the twenty-seventh day of
August. At a council of war held in the camp of the confederates, the
duke proposed to attack the enemies' lines between the Mehaigne and