1759 and drowned was never ascertained. The thanks of Parliament were voted to the gallant admiral; a pension was bestowed upon him for his own life and that of his son, and in the next reign he was raised to the peerage.* Battle of 64. The Prussian Campaign of 1759.-The year which witnessed this glorious triumph of British prowess, was that in which the King of Prussia experienced, probably, his most terrible reverse. During the summer the Russians under Soltikow again advanced to the Oder, and effected a junction with the Austrians under Laudohn. Their combined forces, numbering 60,000 men, intrenched themselves at Kunersdorf, near Frankfort on the Oder, in which position they were assailed by Frederick at the head of only 48,000 Prussians (12th August). Although it was a day of almost tropical heat, the King led his troops to the charge at mid-day, and before six in the evening had dislodged the Russians, with considerable loss. Frederick now regarded the victory as secure; but the stubborn foe took up their stand in a second and impregnable position, on an eminence which served as the Jewish Cemetery for Frankfort. Here the battle was renewed; and the Prussian infantry, wearied by a previous long march, and their hard fighting under a burning sun, could make no impression, although they were led repeatedly to the attack. While thus fatigued and disheartened, with their ranks thinned by slaughter, the Austrian cavalry, still fresh, rushed in upon them, and completely routed them. The King himself had a narrow escape; not more than 3,000 of his men were left; and in the prospect of utter ruin he resolved upon suicide, and made arrangements for the management of his affairs after his death. But the allies did not profit by their victory, and gathering hope from their inaction, Frederick rallied his forces, and in a few days was again at the head of 30,000 men. But his calamities were not over; defeat and disaster fell upon other portions of his army, and at the close of the campaign of 1759, his affairs were, for the second time, well nigh desperate.† 65. The Battle of Minden.-One consoling circumstance in the German campaign of this year was, the defeat of the French at Minden by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who had succeeded the Duke of Cumberland in the command of the Hanoverian army after the Convention of Closter-Seven. Stanhope's England, IV., 168-170. + Carlyle's Frederick the Great, Book XIX., chap. 4; Macaulay's Essay; Stanhope's England IV., 170-174. CHAP. V. In the beginning of the year (1759) the French had surprised the free city of Frankfort. In order to dislodge them from this important post, Ferdinand attacked their camp at Bergen on the Nidda ; but he met with a sharp repulse (13th April). Nothing daunted, however, he held his ground on the left bank of the Weser, and having drawn the French, by a feint, from their strong position at Minden, he forced them to an engagement where they were hemmed in between a river and a morass, and compelled to place their infantry on the wings, with their cavalry in the centre. The brunt of the battle fell upon six regiments of British infantry which composed the right of the allied line, and remained steady and resolute under the repeated assaults of the French cavalry. But there existed a want of good feeling between Lord George Sackville, the commander of the British contingent, and his chief; and Misconduct of when the decisive moment came to charge, he failed to obey his orders. The opportunity of inflicting upon the French a complete overthrow was thus lost, and they were enabled to escape again to Frankfort (1st August). The conduct of Lord George Sackville in this affair was brought before a court martial, and he was dismissed from the service. Yet, notwithstanding this disgrace, he rose to the highest civil employments in the reign of George the Third,* Lord George Sackville. 66. Pitt's Ascendancy.-The remarkable successes both by sea and land which had now attended British arms since the recovery of Cape Breton, raised the fame of Pitt's Administration to its supreme point. The country, which he had found in a depressed and impotent condition, was, after that event, full of ardour and exultation. The nation felt that its affairs were in the hands of an energetic statesman, who, having engaged in war, would carry it on with unabated vigour, until success should enable him to conclude a permanent and an honourable peace. Under these motives, the people cheerfully submitted to the unparalleled burdens which were imposed on them. Addresses of congratulation came in from all the great towns; and when Parliament met, it was only for the purpose of voting thanks and monuments, and bestowing supplies more than double those which had been granted for the Grand Alliance.t The total amount of the estimates for 1758-59 reached the unprecedented sum of twelve and a half millions—an Enormous estimates granted. amount which startled even the great Minister himself. "I wish to God," he wrote to Newcastle, "I could see my way *Stanhope's England, IV., 174-177. + Massey's George the Third, I., 32; Macaulay's Essay on William Pitt. 1759 through this mountain of expense;" yet, so far from seeking to excuse or palliate such large supplies, he said openly upon the Army Estimates-" To push expense is the best economy."* This doctrine, which no statesman since the time of his son, has had the courage to avow, was completely justified by the triumphs of the year 1759. This famous year, which all parties at the time pronounced to be the most glorious that England had ever yet seen, opened with the conquest of Goree. Next fell Guadaloupe, then Ticonderoga, then Niagara. In August came the tidings of the victory of Minden; in September, of the victory of Lagos; in October, of the victory at Quebec; in November, of the victory at Quiberon. "One is forced," says Horace Walpole, "to ask every morning, what victory there is, for fear of missing one."t m the year 1759. Envy and faction were forced to join in the general applause at all these repeated triumphs. Whigs and Tories vied with each other in extolling the genius and energy of Pitt, and his colleagues were never thought of, except by those who had favours to solicit. Then the Duke of Newcastle was remembered, since Pitt was content to let the Duke give everything, while he himself was only ambitious to do everything. House. Pitt's power in the House when a of Commons. A most remarkable instance is recorded of the mastery which Pitt could wield at this time over the House of Commons.‡ After concluding a speech, and no one Instance of rising to reply, Pitt slowly walked out of the He had already reached the lobby door, member started up, saying "I rise to reply to the right honourable gentleman." Pitt, catching the words, stopped short, turned round, and fixed his eyes on the speaker, who at that steady and scornful gaze, sat down again silent and abashed. Pitt, who was suffering from the gout, then hobbled to his seat, repeating to himself some lines of Virgil, which express the ascendancy of Eneas. Then placing himself on the front bench, he exclaimed, Now, let me hear what the honourable member has to say to me." But the member remained silent; and when the informant, on whose authority this anecdote is related, was asked whether the House did not laugh at the ridiculous discomfiture of the poor member, he replied, "No, Sir; we were all too much awed to laugh." 66 67. The Prussian Campaign of 1760.-The earliest military event of the year 1760 was an attack upon Carrickfergus by Admiral Thurot, who was to have co-operated in a descent upon England, Stanhope's England, IV., 145, 146, 186. Ibid, 186. + Ibid. IV., 185. § Eneid, Lib. VI., ver. 489. French attack on Carrickfergus. CHAP. V. with the fleet which Hawke smashed in pieces in Quiberon Bay. The town was bravely defended (28th February), and Thurot was compelled to put to sea again. He was presently overtaken by Captain Elliott and three English frigates, and after a sharp engagement defeated and slain. His three vessels, with their crews, were towed as prizes into Ramsay Bay, in the Isle of Man.* Leignitz and Torgau. The opening of the campaign in Germany found Frederick threatened by two Austrian armies in Saxony and Silesia, and by the Russians in Brandenburg. Before these three armies could effect a junction, the King, watching his opportunity, routed the Battles of Austrians in Silesia under Laudohn, at Leignitz (15th August), and compelled the Russians, who were hastening to join them, across the Oder. After relieving Berlin, which had capitulated to another body of combined Austrians and Russians, Frederick next turned his arms against the Austrians in Saxony under Daun, whom he found strongly posted at Torgau, on the Elbe. The Austrian army was greatly superior to his own in numbers and artillery, and there was no chance of dislodging it from its position, except by a general assault. But so critical were Frederick's affairs at this juncture, that he felt compelled to fight at all hazards. The battle which followed (Nov. 3rd) was the bloodiest of the whole war. The Prussians fought for the possession of Saxony, which alone could afford them provision and security during the coming winter, their own country having been utterly exhausted by war and constant conscriptions. They fought, therefore, as men resolved to conquer or die. They rushed straight upon the Austrian batteries of 400 guns; and by repeated charges, which continued till after sunset, gained the heights which formed the strength of the enemy's position. The Austrians then retreated beyond the Elbe, leaving a third of their number (20,000 men), dead or wounded, and in the hands of conquerors. The Prussians lost 14,000 out of 48,000 which had begun the battle. Such frightful butchery appalled both the contending armies, and they refrained from fighting another pitched battle during the remainder of the war. Saxony, with the exception of Dresden, was thus recovered, and Frederick retired into winter quarters at Leipsic. During this campaign, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick was greatly overmatched in numbers by the French. The most important action was fought near Warburg, in which the victory was mainly due to the Marquis Fronde's English in Ireland, I., 622-624. + Carlyle's Frederick the Great, Book XX., chap. V. 1760 of Granby and the British horse. The French, however, established themselves in Hesse, and took up their winter quarters before the city of Cassel. Such was the state of the war, at the close of the fifth campaign, and at the demise of the British crown by the death of George the Second.* SECTION IV.-RISE OF THE BRITISH POWER IN INDIA. 1. THE FIRST CONTEST BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND THE BRITISH IN THE CARNATIC.-1749 to 1754. 68. Sketch of the History of India before the Eighteenth Century.-The aboriginal inhabitants of India are supposed to be represented at the present day by the Khonds of Orissa, prehistoric and the Hill tribes of the Eastern and Western Ghauts. The This ancient people were of the Turanian race, and at peoplesome prehistoric period were overcome by an Aryan nation, now called the Hindoos. The earliest historic accounts of India are contained in the Greek records of Alexander's expedition to the Indus, 327 B.C., and the next do not The Hindoos. appear until the seventh century of the Christian era, when the Mahometans from Persia began to invade the Punjab. In the tenth century these intruders established The Afghans. their first empire in India, under Mahmoud, the Sultan of Ghuznee. The sovereigns who succeeded him, are known by the name of Afghans or Patans; their capital was at Delhi, and their dominion extended eastward to Bengal and southward to the Carnatic. Their supremacy came to an end in the fifteenth century, and was replaced by the Moguls, another Mahometan race, which first issued from Tartary under Genghis Khan, and afterwards under Tamerlane devastated the rich and populous valley of the Ganges, between Delhi and Hurdwar (1398). The first Tartar Emperor or Great Mogul, was Baber, the sixth in descent from Tamerlane. His grandson Akbar was contemporary with our Queen Elizabeth, and it was in The Moguls. the reign of his son Jehangir, that the English planted their first factories on the north-western coast. The next most celebrated of the Mogul Emperors was Aurungzebe, * Stanhope's England, IV., 198-204; Massey's George the Third, I., 43-44. |