halidon hill, battle of.—fought july 19th, 1333.—“the scots were rash enough to attack the english as they held the top of a bold hill, at the foot of which lay a marsh. the english archers, posted on the face of the hill, shot down the scots, almost at their leisure, while they struggled heavily through the spongy ground. under the deadly arrow flight, the scots dragged themselves through the bog, and attempted, all breathless and exhausted, to charge up the hill against the fresh troops of england. they were forced down with great slaughter. many more were slain as they struggled back through the fatal bog. the bloody lesson, however, seems not to have been lost. once and again king edward made the savage apparition of war to pass through scotland. but the scots baffled him by following the wise policy of bruce. he traversed a country completely deserted and laid waste. the inhabitants, with their cattle and all their property, had retired to the inaccessible fastnesses of the mountains. every advanced column and detached party of the english was assailed, stragglers cut off, and alarms kept up. famine and disease did the work. captain hunger was more than a match for captain sword. edward made nothing by his invasions, though he marched through the country as far north as inverness. he was compelled each time to fall back again on his own territory, with great loss of men from hardships and misery, and the harassing attacks of the scots, who sallied out from every glen, forest, and mountain defile.”
halys, battle of.—this great battle was fought between the lydians and medes, on the banks of the river halys. it was interrupted by an almost total eclipse of the sun. fought, may 28th, b.c. 585.
hanan, battle of.—fought, october 29th, 1813, between a division of the combined armies of austria and bavaria, 30,000 strong, under general wrede and the french, 70,000 strong. the latter were on their retreat from leipsic when encountered by the allies, and suffered severely, although at the end of the battle the austrians had to retire.
harlaw, battle of.—fought, july 24th, 1411, between the earl of mar, who commanded the royal army, and donald, the lord of the isles. neither army gained the victory, it being a drawn battle. so many nobility and gentry were slain in this engagement that a scottish[154] historian declares, “more illustrious men fell in this one conflict alone than had fallen in foreign wars during many previous years.”
hastings, battle of.—fought, october 14th, 1066. in the beginning of summer, william embarked his powerful army of 60,000 men on board a fleet of 300 sail; and, after some small opposition from the weather, landed at pevensey, on the coast of sussex, tranquilly.
“harold, who seemed resolved to defend his right to the crown, and retain that sovereignty which he had received from the people, who only had a right to bestow it, was now returning, flushed with conquest, from defeating the norwegians, who had invaded the kingdom, with all the forces he had employed in that expedition, and all he could invite or collect in the country through which he passed. his army was composed of active and valiant troops, in high spirits, strongly attached to their king, and eager to engage.
on the other hand, the army of william consisted of the flower of the continent, and had long been inured to danger. the men of britanny, boulogne, flanders, poictou, maine, orleans, france, and normandy, were all voluntarily united under his command. england never before nor ever since, saw two such armies drawn up to dispute its crown.
the day before the battle, william sent an offer to harold to decide the quarrel between them by single combat, and thus to spare the blood of thousands: but harold refused, and said he would leave it to the god of armies to determine. both armies, therefore, that night pitched in sight of each other, expecting the dawning of the day with impatience. the english passed the night in songs and feasting; the normans in devotion and prayer.
the next morning, at seven as soon as day appeared, both armies were drawn up in array against each other. harold appeared in the centre of his forces, leading on his army on foot, that his men might be more encouraged, by seeing their king exposed to an equality of danger. william, fought on horseback, leading on his army, that moved at once, singing the songs of roland, one of the famous chiefs of their country. the normans began to fight with their cross-bows, which, at first, galled and surprised the english; and, as their ranks were closed, their arrows did great execution. but soon they came to closer fight, and the english with their bills hewed down their adversaries with great slaughter. confusion was spreading among the ranks, when william, who found himself on the brink of destruction, hastened with a select[155] band to the relief of his forces. his presence restored the suspense of battle; he was seen in every place, endeavouring to pierce the ranks of the enemy, and had three horses slain under him. at length, perceiving that the english continued impenetrable, he pretended to give ground, which, as he expected, drew the enemy from their ranks, and he was instantly ready to take advantage of their disorder. upon a signal given the normans immediately returned to the charge with greater fury than before, broke the english troops, and pursued them to a rising ground. it was in this extremity that harold was seen flying from rank to rank, rallying and inspiring his troops with vigour; and though he had toiled all day, till near night-fall, in front of his kentish men, yet he still seemed unabated in force or courage, keeping his men to the post of honour.
once more, therefore, the victory seemed to turn against the normans, and they fell in great numbers, so that the fierceness and obstinacy of this memorable battle was often renewed by the courage of the leaders, whenever that of the soldiers began to slacken. fortune at length determined a victory that valour was unable to decide.
harold, making a furious onset at the head of his troops against the norman heavy armed infantry, was shot into the brains by an arrow; and his two valiant brothers, fighting by his side, shared the same fate. he fell with his sword in his hand, amidst heaps of slain.”
havre-de-grace.—defended for the huguenots by the english in 1562. bombarded several times by the british navy. successfully attacked for three days from july 6th to 9th, 1759. again bombarded in 1794 and 1795—and again by sir richard strachan in 1798. declared in a state of blockade 1803; and the attempts of the british to burn the shipping here signally failed, august 7th, 1804.
herara, battle of.—in arragon.—in this battle, don carlos of spain, in his struggle for his hereditary right to the throne of that kingdom, encountered, at the head of 12,000 men, and defeated general buerens, who had not half the number of the queen’s troops. the loss of buerens was about 1000 killed and wounded. fought, august 24th, 1837.
herrings, battle of the.—vertot says that this battle, fought in 1429, received its name from the following ludicrous occasion. the duc de bourbon, in attempting to intercept a convoy on the road to the english camp, before orleans, was severely beaten. it was a convoy of salt-fish—and this action has ever since been called by the above name.
[156]
hochkirchen, battle of.—between the prussian army, commanded by frederick ii, and the austrians, commanded by count daun. the king was surprised in his camp and defeated by the imperial general. in this battle, an illustrious scotsman, field-marshal keith, in the service of prussia, was killed; and such was the respect and admiration which his name inspired, that counts daun and lacy, the austrian generals, shed tears on beholding the corpse, and ordered its interment with military honours. fought, october 14th, 1758.
hochenlinden, battle of.—fought november 3rd, 1800, between the austrian and french armies—the latter commanded by general moreau. the austrians were defeated with dreadful slaughter, losing 10,000 men in killed and wounded, and 10,000 more in prisoners. the forces of each army were nominally equal at the commencement of the battle.
homelden, battle of.—between the scots, headed by the earl of douglas, and the percys, in which the scots were defeated. douglas and many of the nobility were taken prisoners in this battle. fought in 1403.
horatii and curiatii, combat between the.—fought b.c. 669. the forces of the two states met about five miles from rome. while the armies were awaiting the signal for the battle, the alban general, stepping into the space between them, proposed to decide the dispute by single combat. to this proposition tullus agreed. there were in each army three twin brothers, all remarkable for their courage, strength, and activity, and to them it was resolved to commit the management of the combat. the roman brothers were called horatii and the albans curiatii. the champions met. victory, which for a time, appeared doubtful, at last seemed to decide against the romans. two of their champions lay dead on the field, and the third seemed, by flight, to beg for mercy. defeat was however only apparent. it soon became evident that this flight of the surviving roman was pretence in order that, by separating his antagonists, he might have an opportunity of engaging them singly. turning suddenly upon the foremost of the curiatii, he laid him dead at his feet. the second instantly shared his fate. fatigued and disabled by his wounds, the third slowly advanced to offer an easy victory. he was slain almost unresisting, while the conqueror exclaimed “two have i already sacrificed to the manes of my brothers; a third will i offer up to my country.”
[157]
hussar.—this kind of soldier originated in poland and hungary, and as they, being light cavalry, were more suited for hasty attacks than a set battle, they are supposed to have taken their name from the huzzas or shouts which they made at their first onset. pardon says that they were oddly clothed, having the skins of tigers, &c., hanging on their backs, against bad weather, and wore fur caps, with a cock’s feather. introduced into the british service in the last century.
