sacred war.—sacrum bellum.—the first, about the celebrated temple of delphi, took place b.c. 448. the second occurred also at the same place, when it was attacked by the ph?nicians, b.c. 356.

sadowa, battle of.—fought, july 3rd, 1866, between the prussians and austrians. dr. russel thus writes:—

“in spite of the sombre morning and of the grey clothing, relieved only by the darker but livelier green of the jagers and their plumed hats, the effect of the whole host wheeling, deploying, advancing, taking ground to the right or left, or marching in lengthened column, was so bright that it was difficult to believe they all, horses and men, had been sleeping out under the veiled stars of heaven, and were still dank and heavy with the night dew and the rain of the morning. but there could be no mistake about the reality of the work in which they were engaged, for the austrians on the brow of the slope to the right were pounding away fiercely at the invincible enemy in the valley. that there was an enemy was plain enough, for the earth flew up on the slope as the answering shells glanced upwards, and then exploded among the infantry in the rear. this was about 8.30 a.m. at nine o’clock a heavy shower obscured the field, and when it drifted northwards three austrian batteries were still busy on the slope, and several columns of infantry, deploying on its side, moved up around it and disappeared into the valley, whence there soon came masses of curling smoke, and then the batteries limbered up and moved over also, showing that the enemy were falling back. the second line on the right made a slight movement to the right and upwards, but it did not seem as if the austrians concerned themselves much for the ground between the rear of imilovitz and the river. the cannonade which had all this time been going on[279] towards the right now extended towards the middle or centre; a line of batteries moving on or halting to fire could be seen on the plateau to the right of klum, and it was evident that the enemy was in great force in that direction. it looked as if the prussians had attacked the position almost simultaneously from left to right, for no sooner had the action developed itself on the centre than it rolled back from nechanitz on the left, and before 9.30 the whole range of hills and valleys and slopes for nine miles and more was as if the earth had been turned into snow wreaths agitated in a wintry gale. before 10 o’clock a thicker and darker cloud rose from the trees and the village on the right. “my god, imilovitz is in flames,” exclaimed the guardian of the tower. the officers said “ja so!” “hem!” and uttered various other sounds of varied import possibly, smoked their cigars, and looked on. imilovitz, indeed, blazed up furiously after a time, and in about a quarter of an hour more the austrian batteries which had gone down the slope toiled up again, unlimbered, and fired from the brow. puffs of smoke high in the air or rising from the ground showed where the prussian fire was plying the austrians on the right; but their guns replied vigorously, and all through that day, though sometimes ill-placed, the austrian artillery behaved most gallantly. it was difficult to ascertain why the austrian corps on the right were so unsteady, and why so many men were leaving the ranks of regiments still invisible; but after a time another sponge-like rain-cloud wiped away everything, and left it all like a clean slate, from behind which there issued a rolling fire of cannon as close as the volleys of a feu de joie. when the shower passed away, the cannonade on the right near the tree had sensibly diminished, and the austrians seemed to have the advantage all along the front, judging by the advance of their guns and infantry, except near the left centre and right of their line. on the extreme left another black cloud now rose up, licked by flames at the base. “gott in himmel!” exclaimed the guardian of the tower, “sadowa burns now!” and so it was. the pleasant little village, snug church, hospitable mill—all were burning. it was with surer divination of the coming woe than we had that the poor people had fled in tears, or remained in hopeless sorrow in their homes. the heat of this great battle burned up whatever it touched, and sent forth the lava which destroyed as it flowed on all sides. between the big tree and klum, in the centre and far away towards the second ridge, the fight was raging with extraordinary fury from 10 o’clock till 10.30—and that half-hour seemed an age. but still the[280] austrians advanced. one grey mass of men followed another into the smoke, and was lost there. towards sadowa and nechanitz on the left they also were gaining ground, and before 11 o’clock their columns had gone out of sight into the valley or undulations, and the prussians could be seen by their fire to have fallen back on the opposing slopes of the second range of hills.

an animating and magnificent feature was now added to the terrible spectacle by the forward movement of the heavy cavalry near the prague road and towards the centre. these great squares of white, spreading out slowly, obliterated the cornfields. the very colour of the ground was changed and darkened under the trampling of horses. one column went towards the nechanitz road, the other two moved towards klum; but after a few formations they halted again, and some of these regiments dismounted and stood by their horses. the saxons, readily to be distinguished by their light blue, also advanced parallel with the prague road towards the top of the slope. this was some time after eleven o’clock, when the prussian left and centre had visibly given way, though fighting with extreme tenacity and fervour. the light cavalry, at the same time, or part of them, advanced towards klum in the centre, awaiting the moment to deluge the plain with an exulting flood. but the time was not come. the prussians, reinforced, or calling in their second line and reserves, came with a desperate impetus up the slopes on the left and centre, and also developed a new attack on the left of the prague road, which looked like a black riband now and then as the smoke was driven off by the wind. they were intent on turning our left if possible, but they met with a stubborn and successful resistance at that point. soon afterwards, in the midst of a heavy fall of rain, the cavalry made another advance, and when it cleared the austrian infantry were seen to have moved still further to the left and centre, while the sound of the cannonade grew so deafening that the prussians must have been driven back beyond the position they occupied when they began the action. between half-past eleven and twelve o’clock the austrians were to all intents successful on the centre and on its flanks, although the fury of the cannonade and the incessant rattle of musketry all along the front, from the front of nechanitz to the plateau beyond klum attested the severity of the struggle and the obstinate resistance of the prussians. probbis, another pretty village, was now in flames; three villages burning at once, farmhouses adding their contingents to the fire and smoke, caissons blowing up, shells bursting, and the slopes and hill tops covered[281] with grey and blue specs—each a man in agony or in death. again the cavalry moved onwards. this time one division, in three bodies, crowned the ridge and formed near the front line under the church, on the left of klum, in the centre and left of the position, and there they waited once more. but now on the right the action awoke again, and, to our surprise, a very heavy fire of musketry, comparatively close at hand, came from the direction of smirlintz; the austrians on the crest of the ridge moved uneasily, while many more stragglers than one cared to see pressed down towards the railroad. whatever the cause of the agitation, the prussians on the centre and left pressed their attack with renewed vigour, and the contest which ensued was of exceeding fierceness; but still the enemy did not prevail—the austrians not only held their ground, but repulsed the enemy advanced against them, took their ground, and made prisoners. from the left of klum to the prague road, and beyond it, all was fire and smoke. the tumult of voices was dreadful, and such as is never to be heard save in such awful agony of battle. the austrians again advanced a little nearer the big tree, and two batteries of reserve artillery could be seen driving fast to the left to strengthen the attack. but the prussian reserves were once more called upon, and from 12.30 till nearly 1 o’clock there was an artillery fire from centre to left for six miles or more, which could not well have been exceeded in any action of which history makes mention. that ammunition was becoming needed in the advanced position was evident from the motion of the trains of supply and reserve, and we watched the cavalry with intense interest, as it seemed to be the time for them to make an impression. the prussians were wavering. at 1 o’clock the prussians, however, recovered some of the ground on the right near the big tree. the austrian artillery began to fall back over the brow of the hill, and again battalions of infantry came in sight and moved away obliquely towards the centre. still, no prussians appeared in that direction, but they were certainly forcing the austrians back on the right. it might have been expected that the reserves to the right would have been sent up to hold the top of the slope, but i could not see it was so. many stragglers now appeared on the railway, the fields were spotted with them; and now and then a shell bursting in or over the infantry marching along the slope or the reserves, struck them, or left a little pile of dead or struggling men in the voids which the opening columns displayed. i confess the advance of the prussians in this direction appeared to me inexplicable and very serious; for, although the left and centre of the austrians might be victorious,[282] this movement threatened, by forcing back their right, to cut them off from konigsgratz—so, at least, was the situation as viewed from the tower; but it is strange how different a field of action appears from different points of view, as any one may find out by riding from place to place on a field-day. however, a general who saw what was visible to those in the tower would have felt uneasiness and have turned his attention to fill the gap in his line at the centre, and to drive back the prussians who were doubling up his right.

while the centre advanced slowly, but surely, a space seemed to be left between the ground they had occupied and the left of the austrians, who were continually retiring there. the houses burning fiercely in klum emitted volumes of smoke, which were swept away towards the right. another village lying apparently to the left of prague road, named gres biaritz, or hiaritz, as well as i could catch the name, was now in flames. more tumbrils blew up in that direction, so that there were now six or seven villages and hamlets on fire from left to right. the battle was assuming a more awful and tremendous aspect, and the faint rays of sunshine which shot at intervals through the lifting clouds only gave the scene greater terror. horses without riders careered among the wounded, who were crawling all over the plain, dismounted dragoons dragged themselves to the rear, and men came crawling along in such numbers that they appeared like a broad fringe to the edges of the battle. the rolling of musketry in the hollows beyond smothered the voice of the cannon. at last the reserves behind were pressed forward with energy. their artillery unlimbering opened from sixteen guns into the dense blue columns which were driving the austrians before them, and checked their advance, till the prussian artillery, getting upon the small ridge and firing down so as to get a slight enfilade, began to knock over horses and men. the austrians, however, here, as elsewhere, stuck to their pieces admirably, and it was not till the prussian infantry, getting into a clump of timber, opened a sharp fire on their flank that they limbered up, leaving more than one black heap to mark the position they had occupied. meanwhile the austrians on the left pursued their onward career. the saxon reserves pushed up the hills in the direction of nechanitz; and a great body of cavalry sweeping round between the left and centre, dashed in wavelike columns through the smoke towards the prussians, and menaced their artillery, against which some thirty or forty pieces in line were directing a steady and rapid fire. prussian prisoners begun to arrive at intervals between the convoys of wounded, winding[283] their way along the prague road. most of those men belonged to the 6th and 31st regiments, to judge from the numbers on their shoulder-straps; and among them was an officer of great stature, with red moustaches and whiskers, who bore his captivity with great sang froid, and walked along like a conqueror. as the austrian left and centre gained ground, the right yielded, and column after column of prussians came upon the ridge, firing as they advanced, while their guns on the flanks swept the slowly retreating, but not disorderly, austrians with shrapnel and shell. at times the austrians halting opened a brisk fire; once or twice several regiments formed square to receive cavalry, but i could not see any prussian horse on the slope near them. there was a hesitation, both in the austrians and the enemy, which was not intelligible, and several times the officers at the head of the prussian columns riding forward, fired over their horses’ heads, and stood up in their stirrups as if to see into the hollows. a shell burst close over one of them, and when the smoke cleared away, man and horse were down, and never stirred again. the folds of the ground must have hid most of the prussians from the austrian artillery as they got near the big tree, for the gunners principally directed their pieces against the prussian guns, which received accessions rapidly, and occupied their full attention. at last the prussians were perceived, and five battalions of austrians from the reserve, coming from the extreme right, tried to check their advance by a flanking fire. the prussians halted, and in an instant a fire of surprising volume and sharpness flew along their front. the austrians for a few minutes replied steadily, but they fell fast, and at last two battalions, with great vigour, charged up the hill, but were broken in the run, were shaken by a rolling volley and by several rounds from the artillery in flank, and retreated in some disorder towards the left, behind a spur of the ridge. the enemy pressed on anew, and soon gained the plateau close by the big tree, where they dipped into an undulation only to reappear at the other side, and then formed up in compact square-like formations, pushing out lines of skirmishers towards klum, from which they were about a mile distant. the austrians below them and nearer to konigsgratz halted and faced round to meet a new enemy, for the prussians now showed near the railway, and a sanguinary encounter took place around some houses in a wood, in which artillery and musketry raged for a quarter of an hour in a perfect tornado. a range of buildings near a large factory chimney on the very banks of the elbe, as it seemed to me, was the scene of another very severe struggle. another village, trothina, burst[284] into flames, and from under the very smoke appeared the prussian skirmishers on the very extreme right, followed by more infantry. the enemy were, indeed, quite inexhaustible in number, though still he could not hold his own on the left. suddenly an austrian battery, galloping from the left centre, began to mow down the prussians on the right. they were retiring behind the burning trothina. but their artillery was at hand again. from a lane above the village a battery opened on the austrians, and, at the same time, another battery, wheeling over the slope below the big tree, crossed its fire on the devoted austrians. “ein kreuz feuer? ein kreuz feuer?” exclaimed the officers. “good god! where do they come from?” where, indeed! this combat now assumed larger proportions. the prussian right showed in great force, and the hills were covered with their regiments advancing in the most perfect order. all over the field were hundreds limping away, and piles of dead lay in rows along the lanes and in the thick corn. the enemy, whose strength had been hidden from us by the hills, now displayed numbers, which accounted for the retreat of the austrians on the right.

the austrian gunners could not hold up against the cross fire, and the weight of pieces opposed to them. what avail was it that they were winning on the centre? through the glass they could be seen pressing on from point to point in a tempest of smoke and flame. it was now near two o’clock. on the left and centre there could be no hesitation in declaring that the prussians were all but beaten. it seemed as if a charge en masse of the horse deployed for miles on the plateau could roll up their centre on their left, or crumble the left into pieces. the fire at klum, in the centre, which had died out, broke forth with fresh violence, and all the village began to burn. the prussians in the centre made another grand effort, and it would only be a repetition of adjectives, utterly feeble at the strongest, to endeavour to give the smallest conception of the roar of cannon which announced and met this fresh attempt to change the fortunes of the day. the strong wind could not clear away the smoke, which poured in banks as agitated as the sea itself over the battle-field, now contracted to the centre and right, for all towards the prague road the fight had apparently ended in the discomfiture of the prussian left. as it contracted it heated up, and the caissons and tumbrils blew up repeatedly. the movements of the austrians from the right centre to oppose the last effort of the prussians increased the open interval between the centre and the extreme right resting on the lower ground near the river, but the austrians did not perceive it, or if they did, could not prevent[285] the advance of the enemy along the plateau by the big tree towards klum. the austrian right and reserves become more unsteady, but their artillery contests every foot of ground. suddenly a spattering of musketry breaks out of the trees and houses of klum right down on the austrian gunners, and on the columns of infantry drawn up on the slopes below. the gunners fall on all sides—their horses are disabled—the fire increases in intensity—the prussians on the ridge press on over the plateau; this is an awful catastrophe—two columns of austrians are led against the village, but they cannot stand the fire, and after three attempts to carry it, retreat, leaving the hill-side covered with the fallen. it is a terrible moment. the prussians see their advantage; they here get into the very centre of the position. in vain the staff officers fly to the reserves and hasten to get back some of the artillery from the front. the dark blue regiments multiply on all sides and from their edges roll perpetually sparkling musketry. their guns hurry up, and from the slope take both the austrians on the extreme right and the reserves in flank. they spread away to the woods near the prague road and fire into the rear of the austrian gunners.

thus a wedge growing broader and driven in more deeply every instant was forced into the very body of the austrian army, separating it at the heart and dividing its left and centre from the right. the troops in the centre and left are dismayed at hearing the enemy’s guns in their rear, and are soon exposed to the fire which most of all destroys the morale of soldiers already shaken by surprise. the right, previously broken up and discomfited, hurry towards the prague road in something like confusion, and spread alarm among the reserves of the centre and left. the regular lines of the columns below are gradually bulging out, and are at last swallowed up in disordered multitude. officers gallop about trying to restore order. some regiments hold together, though they are losing men in heaps every instant. the left wing is arrested in its onward progress. the prussian generals in front of them and on the centre, seeing their enemy waver, throw their battalions against them, and encourage their artillery to fresh efforts; but the formidable austrian cavalry prevents any hasty or enthusiastic demonstrations on the part of the prussian right, whom long continued fighting and heavy losses must have somewhat enervated.

even yet there was hope for the austrians! there, on the prussian front, wheeled a force of horse with which a murat or a kellerman or a seidlitz could have won a battle and saved an empire. there, still[286] unshaken, were at least 40,000 men, of whom scarcely one had ever fired a shot. the indomitable austrian artillery still turned hundreds of muzzles on the enemy’s guns, and girt their men in a band of fire. to let slip that cavalry on both sides of klum, to crash through infantry and guns, seemed really worth doing, though failure would have made the difference between a defeat and a rout. it would have been a supreme deed fit for such a force to accomplish or to perish in attempting. and there were no natural obstacles visible from the tower to a grand charge. the prussian right, separated from its centre and left, would have been rolled down into the valley among the austrians, and utterly crushed, and the austrian centre and left have been liberated to continue their contest with the enemy. moments were precious. the prussian fire became more severe, the wavering of the austrians greater. the falling of trees on the prague road, the rush of fugitives, the near approach of the prussian shells to the place, some of them bursting over the railway station, were awful warnings of the state of the battle. all the roads were blocked up with retreating trains and waggons. men were throwing down their arms and wading through the inundations. the austrian gunners on the causeway began to catch a sight of the prussians near at hand in the woods, and opened on them with shrapnel and shell. it was now somewhere about 2.30; but it was not possible to note time when such things were going on so near. scarce could the glass be directed to one point ere an exclamation from a bystanding officer or an awful clamour carried it to another. seconds were of inestimable value—not only that hundreds were falling, but that they were falling in vain—that all the issues for which an empire had summoned its might and the kaiser his people to the field were being decided, and that the toils of generations of emperors, warriors, and statesmen were about being lost for ever. the genius of the prussian was in the ascendant.

the spirit of bismark or his genius ruled the battle-field. while the austrian was hesitating, the prussian was acting. the lines of dark blue which came in sight from the right teemed from the vales below as if the earth yielded them. they filled the whole back ground of the awful picture of which klum was the centre. they pressed down on the left of the prague road. in square, in column, deploying or wheeling hither and thither—everywhere pouring in showers of deadly precision—penetrating the whole line of the austrians; still they could not force their stubborn enemy to fly. on all sides they met brave but unfortunate men, ready to die if they could do no more. at the side of the prague[287] road the fight went on with incredible vehemence. the austrians had still an immense force of artillery, and although its concentrated fire swept the ground before it, its effect was lost in some degree by reason of the rising ground above, and at last by its divergence to so many points to answer the enemy’s cannon. many austrians must have fallen by their own artillery. once an austrian column, separating itself from the great multitude below, with levelled bayonets, led by its officers in front waving caps and sabres, went straight at the wood around klum and drove back the prussian tirailleurs, but were staggered by fearful volleys of musketry. their officers were all killed or wounded. they fell suddenly back. down came the prussians, but they were received on the bayonet point and with clubbed muskets, and were driven back to the shelter of the wood, and some were carried off prisoners in the retreating column. indeed, handfuls of prussians were coming into the town behind us all the day, showing how close the fight was, and a considerable body of the 27th regiment, with some officers, are now in the grosser ring. chesta and visa were now burning, so that from right to left the flames of ten villages, and the flashes of guns and musketry, contended with the sun that pierced the clouds for the honour of illuminating the seas of steel and the fields of carnage. it was three o’clock. the efforts of the austrians to occupy klum and free their centre had failed, the right was driven down in a helpless mass towards konigsgratz, quivering and palpitating as shot and shell tore through it. “alles ist verloren!” artillery still thundered with a force and violence which might have led a stranger to such scenes to think no enemy could withstand it. the austrian cavalry still hung like white thunder-clouds on the flanks, and threatened the front of the prussians, keeping them in square and solid columns. but already the trains were streaming away from konigsgratz, placing the elbe and adler between them and the enemy. the grip of the prussians could not be shaken. word was brought to me to leave at once, for the city gates were about being closed, and the gunners on the walls were laying their pieces to cover the inundations and the causeways. one more glance showed a very hell of fire—cornfields, highways, slopes, and dells, and hillsides covered with the slain—the pride and might of austria shattered and laid low. what happened more i can only tell from hearsay. but i am told that at the last the austrian horse saved all that was not lost, and in brilliant charges rolled back the tide of prussian infantry; that the gunners threw their pieces into the elbe and into the inundated fields as they retreated; that men were drowned in[288] hundreds as they crowded over pontoon bridges hastily laid and sunk or burned ere the columns could cross over; that luggage-trains, reserve ammunition, guns, and prisoners, the spoils of that enormous host, fell into the hands of the victors, who remained masters of that hard-fought field, covered for nine miles with myriads of the slain. well might benedek exclaim, “all is lost but my life! would to god i had lost that too!”

there is no account of our losses, estimates varying from 10,000 to 25,000. if prisoners be included, i am inclined to think the latter number correct. the loss in guns is reckoned at 150 to 180. it would not astonish me to hear it was more.”

incidents of the battle.

incidents of the battle are furnished by several other correspondents of the london papers. the following are selections:—

“in the austrian ranks some striking instances of inhumanity have been exhibited. yesterday, a prisoner was brought hither loaded with chains, to suffer well-deserved punishment. he was a croat, and was taken in the very act of cutting off his own wounded captain’s fingers to get quicker at his rings.

in the knapsacks of the fallen austrians were found spare suits of regimentals that had never been worn; and, according to the prisoners, those uniforms were intended to be worn at the solemn entry into berlin.

one correspondent was informed by an austrian officer, a prisoner, that in konigsgratz, on the 2nd july even, there were 7000 wounded austrians. but—disgraceful as the fact may seem—three days after the battle of skalitz, wounded austrians—such is the testimony of prussian officers and surgeons—were found with wounds still bleeding on the field among the dead bodies.

at 1.5 the staff galloped off to see the position on the right, passing through the 6th corps, which was in reserve. as the green plumes were seen rapidly advancing, the bands broke into the national anthem, and the men cheered their commander as he passed with no uncertain note. faces broke out into broad smiles; jager hats were thrown into the air; all seemed joyous in the anticipation of an approaching triumph. benedek, however, waved to them to cease, shouting in his peculiar tone of voice, always clear and distinct, “not now—wait till to-morrow, my children.”

[289]

by half-past four o’clock the whole army was in full retreat; its rear, harassed by the enemy, was protected by the artillery and cavalry, who are said to have made many desperate charges, and to have been more than decimated. the bridges across the adler and the elbe are few and narrow, and the several columns meeting at such points became confused and intermixed. guns that could not be carried away, were thrown off their carriages into the river; many were lost in this manner, but it is said that comparatively few are taken. a captain of artillery, who heard me asking about the loss in guns, said, “out of my whole battery i have but one gun and seven horses left, and many others are in like condition.” another said, “we have no artillery.” every head was hung down, every spirit depressed. it was not merely a battle, but an empire lost, unless diplomatists can at last unweave the net which baffled them before, and which the sword has failed to cut. the soldiers knew nothing of all this; their only trouble was the fatigue from which they suffered, or the thought that the day’s battle would have to be fought over again before they could reach the pleasant plains and reap the benefits held out to their imaginations in benedek’s proclamation issued but a few days ago. the night was chilly, and bivouac fires lined the sides of the road at intervals. had it been an advance instead of a retreat, we might have enjoyed the picturesque scene. round fires of firwood, flaming high above their heads, stood or sat the brave fellows who had laboured so hard and fought so gallantly on that day. some stood warming themselves by the blaze which lighted up their bronzed faces to as red a glow as that of the pine stems that towered over them; others sat resting a wounded arm or leg on the bed of branches plucked for them by their more fortunate comrades; others, again, lay about in every attitude of exhaustion.”

saguntum, siege of.—like numantia, one of the most important in history, occurred b.c. 219. the citizens, after sustaining the siege for eight months, with heroic bravery, to prevent themselves falling into the hands of hannibal, buried themselves in the ruins of their city. they burnt their houses and all their effects, and thus reduced the city to ashes.

st. albans, battles of.—the first fought, may 22nd, 1455, between the houses of york and lancaster. the second between the earl of warwick and queen margaret of anjou, who conquered. fought, february 2nd, 1461. this battle was fought on shrove-tuesday,[290] and resulted in the death of the earl. “the earl of warwick, who now put himself at the head of the yorkists, was one of the most celebrated generals of the age, formed for times of trouble, extremely artful and incontestably brave, equally skilful in council and the field; and inspired with a degree of hatred against the queen that nothing could suppress. he commanded an army, in which he led about the captive king, to give a sanction to his attempts. upon the approach of the lancastrians, he conducted his forces, strengthened by a body of londoners, who were very affectionate to his cause, and gave battle to the queen at st. alban’s. in this, however, he was defeated. about 2000 of the yorkists perished in the battle, and the person of the king again fell into the hands of his own party, to be treated with apparent respect, but real contempt.”

st. charles.—on the 6th of november, 1837, a riot occurred at montreal, but no lives were lost. on the 10th, sir john colborne, the commander of the forces, removed his head quarters from sorel to montreal. on the same day, a detachment proceeded to st. john’s under the command of captain glasgow. he found a large body of people posted on the opposite bank of the richelieu, and the cavalry proceeded to take possession of the bridge, in order to prevent them from crossing. on the 16th, warrants were issued for the apprehension of twenty-six of the chief leaders. as a party of volunteer cavalry, newly organised, who had charge of two prisoners, were returning to montreal, a large body of peasantry fired upon them from behind the fences near longueuil, and compelled them to abandon their prisoners. colonel wetherall, with a considerable force, proceeded immediately from chambly in the direction of st. charles, for the purpose of dispersing a large body of people who had assembled there, and fortified their position. at some places the insurgents fled on the approach of the army, but at st. charles the defenders were so obstinate that the colonel was obliged to storm and carry the works, burning every house but one. the slaughter was great on the side of the unfortunate and misguided people, but slight on that of the troops. another party of troops, who were marching from sorel up the course of the richelieu to effect a junction with colonel wetherall, were not so successful. at st. denis they met with such a strong opposition, that they were compelled to abandon their intention and march back to sorel. this success on the part of the insurgents was only of short duration, for, on the winter roads being formed, the[291] same party marched through the country without opposition. having captured st. charles, and dispersed a considerable body collected for the purpose of cutting off his return, colonel wetherall came back to montreal, bringing with him the pole and cap of liberty, which had been reared at st. charles, and twenty-five prisoners. four or five battalions of troops were raised in montreal, and upwards of 50 corps of various kinds in other parts of the country. one of the most tragical events which took place at this time was the murder of lieutenant weir. this young officer had been sent overland to sorel with a despatch directing the officer in command to prepare a force to accompany colonel gore, who was to leave montreal in the afternoon in the steamboat. the roads were so bad that travelling was almost impossible, and he could not reach sorel by land until half an hour after colonel gore and his division had crossed the st. lawrence and marched on their route to st. denis. taking a fresh calèche, he hastened to join his troops; but, mistaking the road, he passed them and arrived at st. denis before them. here he was made a prisoner, closely pinioned, sent forward to st. charles, and on the road was barbarously murdered by his brutal guardians. the fact and the circumstances attending it were only ascertained on the second expedition to st. denis. the body was found in the richelieu, and was brought to montreal for interment. the funeral took place with military honours, and so solemn and imposing a sight was never before witnessed in the city.

martial law was proclaimed in the district of montreal on the 5th of december, and sir john colborne invested with authority to administer it. immediately after this the attention of government was called to the preparations making at the lake of the two mountains, at st. eustache, st. benoit and st. scholastique, where the most active and able leaders of the revolt had fortified themselves in a formidable manner.

on the morning of the 13th of december, sir john colborne, with about 1300 men, advanced towards the district from montreal along the left hank of the ottawa. on the 14th the army crossed the river and invested the village of st. eustache. the attack was completely successful, though attended with much destruction of life and property. the handsome church was set on fire as well as the presbytère and about 60 of the principal houses. one of the leaders was killed near the church, and a large number burnt or suffocated from the flames; of the troops only one or two were killed and a few wounded.

the next day, as the troops marched forward to st. benoit, his[292] excellency was met by delegates bearing a flag of truce, and stating that the insurgents were prepared to lay down their arms unconditionally. almost every house exhibited something white; and, on arriving at st. benoit, 250 of these misguided men were found drawn up in a line and suing for pardon, stating that their leaders had deserted them. they were immediately dismissed to their homes and occupations. with the return of the troops from the county of the two mountains the military operations, connected with the first insurrection in lower canada, may be said to have terminated.

st. dizier, battles of.—in france.—between the allied armies and the french—one of the engagements being commanded by napoleon himself. the french sustained in these battles, as in several proceeding, severe defeats, and led the way by which the allied armies entered paris. fought, january 27th and march 26th, 1814.

st. jean de luz, battle of.—“soult had a strong position on the nivelle from st. jean de luz to ainhoe, about twelve miles in length. general hill, with the british right, advanced from the valley of baztan, and attacking the french on the height of ainhoe, drove them towards cambo, on the nive, while the centre of the allies, consisting of the english and spanish troops, under beresford and alton, carried the works behind sarre, and drove the french beyond the nivelle, which the allies crossed at st. pé, in the rear of the enemy. upon this the french hastily abandoned their ground and works on the left of the nivelle, and during the night withdrew to their entrenched camp in front of bayonne. wellington’s headquarters were established at st. jean de luz, november 10th, 1813.”

st. quentin, battle of.—philip ii, of spain, assisted by the british, defeated the french here, august 10th, 1557.

st. sebastian, battle of.—the fortified works, through which ran the high road to hernani, were carried by the english auxiliary legion, under general evans, after very hard fighting. the british naval squadron off the place, lent, under lord john hay, very great aid to the victors. fought, may 5th, 1836. again, on the 1st of october, same year, a vigorous assault was made on the lines of general de lacy evan by the carlists. both sides fought with great bravery, but the carlists were repulsed after suffering severely. the anglo-spanish[293] loss was 376 men, and thirty-seven officers killed and wounded. the general was also wounded.

st. sebastian, siege of.—by the british and allied armies, under wellington. after a short siege, during which it sustained a heavy bombardment, and by which the whole town was nearly laid in ruins, it was stormed by general graham, and taken, august 31st, 1803. the loss was almost all on the british side in the storming—the spaniards losing few.

st. vincent, battle of cape.—between the spanish and british fleets off this cape. the latter was commanded by admiral sir john jarvis, who took four line of battle ships, and damaged considerably the rest of the spanish fleet, february 14th, 1797. his own fleet consisted of 15 sail of the line only—whilst the enemy’s fleet was 27 sail, 7 of which carried from 112 to 130 guns each.

st. vincent, cape.—admiral rooke, with 20 men of war, and the turkish fleet, under his convoy, was attacked by admiral tourville with a force vastly superior to his own, when 12 english and dutch men of war, and 80 merchant men were taken or destroyed by the french, june 16th, 1693. here, also, admiral rodney destroyed several spanish ships, january 16th, 1780.

salamanca, battle of.—fought july 22nd, 1812.—“lord wellington had fought the battle of talavera in less than three months after he had marched out of lisbon, and in only three months and six days after his landing in portugal. he had seen some kind of action and enterprise to be absolutely necessary. it was demanded by england; it was expected by spain and portugal. hence he first drove the french out of oporto and out of the portuguese dominions, and then, in conjunction with a spanish army, marched upon madrid, and fought a battle with the french.

but these three months sufficed to show him, how utterly valueless was the aid proffered him by the spaniards. they left him without provisions; they furnished him with no means of transport; and when they placed an army by his side, that army could do nothing but run away, and spread alarm and consternation on every side. hence, so soon as he fully understood the real condition of affairs, he wrote home to the british government in these plain terms:

“spain has proved untrue to her alliance because she is untrue to[294] herself;” “and until some great change shall be effected in the conduct of the military resources of spain, and in the state of her armies, no british army can attempt safely to co-operate with spanish troops in the territories of spain.”

having arrived at this conclusion, lord wellington soon withdrew his army from spain, retired into portugal, and began to concert measures for the effectual defence of that kingdom. at home, party spirit, as usual, led to injustice. the opposition in the british parliament questioned the whole of his conduct of the past campaign. sir w. napier tells us, that “his merits, they said, were nought; his actions silly, presumptuous, and rash; his campaign one deserving not reward but punishment. yet he had delivered portugal, cleared galicia and estramadura, and forced 100,000 french veterans to abandon the offensive and concentrate about madrid!”

he now calmly submitted to the british government his views of the defence of portugal. he assigned to marshal beresford the organization of the portuguese army; he required only 13,000 british troops to be permanently maintained; and with this force he expected to be able to defend portugal, at least until spain should be thoroughly subdued by the french; so as to allow of the concentration of their whole force on the work of subjugating portugal.

the wisdom and expediency of this employment of english troops and english revenues in foreign war, was abundantly evident. for, when the continent should have been wholly conquered by napoleon, he would then, as he plainly declared, attempt the invasion of england. hence, to keep his armies employed in the peninsula, was the way plainly pointed out by common sense, as likely to postpone or wholly avert a french invasion of the british islands. to defend portugal, therefore, was wellington’s first object; for portugal had become a sort of outwork of england.

the spanish government, meanwhile, with equal imbecility and self-sufficiency, chose to rush into inevitable defeat. they had starved the english army; which, in a whole month, got only ten days’ bread; and which lost 1000 horses from mere want of provender; and had thus forced lord wellington to retire into portugal. they now choose, with an army of 50,000 men, to give battle to the french at ocana; where, on the 12th of november, they sustained such a total defeat, that ten days after the battle not a single battalion kept the field. no fewer than 20,000 of the spaniards laid down their arms, and the rest were utterly scattered and dispersed.

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at the opening of 1810, napoleon resolved to complete the conquest of the peninsula. he augmented his armies in spain to 360,000 men. one army, consisting of 65,000 men, under the command of soult, was charged with the subjugation of andalusia; and another, of 80,000 men, under massena, was to move to the west, and reduce portugal. now, therefore, must wellington’s plans for the defence of portugal be brought to the test.

the actual force of massena’s army in may, 1810, is shown by french returns given by sir w. napier, to have been 86,847 men.

on the 1st of june the french commander invested ciudad rodrigo, which capitulated on the 11th of july. almeida surrendered on the 26th of august, and thus the road to lisbon was opened to the french army. wellington would gladly have fought a battle to save these fortresses; but if he engaged 80,000 french, with 32,000 english and portuguese, and did not signally defeat them; what would then have become of portugal? still, when on portuguese ground, and engaged in the defence of portugal, he thought it right, on september 27th, to make one stand at busaco; where he inflicted on the french a loss of 4500 men, at a cost, to his own army, of only 1300. massena then began even to think of retreating into spain; when a peasant informed him of a mountain-pass by which he might carry his army into a position from which he could threaten wellington’s left. this compelled the english general again to make a retrograde movement; and on the 15th of october the whole british and portuguese army was collected within the lines of torres vedras.

these now famous lines, which wellington had long been silently constructing, were so little thought of either in england or in france, that military instructions were actually given in england commencing thus: “as it is probable the army will embark in september.” and the french commander on his part, found his way suddenly stopped by an insurmountable obstacle, of the existence of which he had never before heard.

lord wellington had observed that on the land side (and the french had no force upon the water) lisbon could be completely defended by a series of entrenchments properly manned. silently, therefore, during many months past, he had been at work on these lines. they were now complete, mounting 600 guns and when manned by 50,000 men they might have defied napoleon himself at the head of one of his largest armies.

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massena, astonished, employed several days in examining these lines on every side, but at no point could he find an attack to be feasible. one or two attempts were made, in which his troops were roughly handled, and one of his generals killed. at last, altogether perplexed, he sent off general foy to paris to ask of napoleon what was to be done. but napoleon himself had no remedy to prescribe, and hence, after remaining before the lines for one whole month, until utter starvation menaced his army, the french marshal commenced a retreat. he first retired to santaren, where he remained until the following march. he then finally retreated out of portugal, having lost, in the short space of seven months, not fewer than 45,000 men, chiefly by exposure, disease, and starvation. lord wellington followed him, and at once invested almeida. massena ventured on an engagement at fuentes d’onore, but failed, and almeida capitulated to the english on the 12th of may, 1811.

this campaign had greatly raised the hopes and the confidence of england, and had placed the character of her general on an unassailable elevation. portugal had been defeated, and a french marshal with a noble army had been driven back in defeat. lord wellington now, therefore, resolved to begin offensive operations in spain, and he sat down before badajoz. but napoleon had at last awakened to the real character of this great struggle. he resolved that badajoz should not be lost. he therefore earnestly and strenuously increased his forces in spain, until, in september, 1811, they again amounted to 368,000 men. soult and marmont received their orders, and approached badajoz with 60,000 men. lord wellington retired, but in july he threatened ciudad rodrigo, when again the two french marshals marched to its relief with a greatly superior army. and now, as the winter approached, both armies went into cantonments, and the campaign of 1811 ended.

but with january, 1812, commenced that career of triumph which only ended at waterloo. in 1810, wellington had saved portugal; in 1811, he had threatened and disquieted the french armies in their possession of spain; but the opening year was not to close until that possession was very seriously endangered.

silently, all november and december, wellington’s preparations were going on. soult imagined that he was about to renew the siege of badajoz, but suddenly, in the earliest days of january, a bridge was thrown over the agueda, and the english army crossed the river and invested ciudad rodrigo. the siege commenced on the 8th, and on[297] the 19th the place was stormed and carried. it had cost the french a siege of six weeks to take it from the spaniards two years before. on hearing of its capture in twelve days, marmont wrote to napoleon, saying, “on the 16th, the english batteries opened their fire: on the 19th the place was taken by storm, and fell into the power of the enemy. there is something so incomprehensible in all this, that until i know more i refrain from any observation.”

badajoz, a far stronger place, was next invested, on the 17th of march, and on the 6th of april it was taken by storm. and here, too, general lery, a french engineer, expressed his astonishment, writing thus: “i think the capture of badajoz a very extraordinary event, and i should be at a loss to account for it in any manner consistent with probability.” these two great strongholds, the border-fortresses, had now been taken, and the way was thus opened into the heart of spain. all europe saw with astonishment that a little english army, seldom amounting—even with the aid of the portuguese,—to more than 40,000 men, could counteract the efforts of the best armies of france, led by napoleon’s most trusted generals.

after these exploits, wellington gave his army some rest until the harvest should grow up, and provisions be more easily obtained. but in may he sent general hill to storm the forts at almarez on the tagus, when the french works, with all their artillery and stores, fell into the hands of the english, who lost only 180 men. by this able man?uvre the two armies of marmont and soult were separated.

on the 13th of june, the rains having ceased, and the field magazines being completed, wellington passed the agueda, and on the 17th be entered salamanca, the people shouting, singing, and weeping for joy. the forts, however, were still held by french garrisons, and were not taken until the 27th.

on the 8th of july, marmont, the french general now opposed to wellington, received a reinforcement of 6000 men, and both he and wellington began to prepare for a battle. on the 15th and 16th, marmont, who had previously made several deceptive movements, concentrated his beautiful and gallant army between toro and the hornija rivers. then began a series of man?uvres, continued for several successive days, until, on the 20th, the two armies were in sight, marching on parallel heights within musket-shot of each other in the most perfect array. the strength of each army amounted to from 45,000 to 48,000 men; but of wellington’s force a considerable portion consisted of portuguese troops.

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in two or three days more, marmont would have been joined by two other french corps, augmenting his force by nearly 20,000 men. but then he apprehended the arrival of either king joseph, or jourdan, the senior marshal then in spain, either of whom would have superseded him in the command. his object, therefore, was either to force the english to retreat from salamanca, or else to fight a battle, and if possible gain a victory, before either of his superiors in command could arrive.

on the 22nd of july, some change of position on the part of the english army gave marmont the impression that wellington was about to retire towards ciudad rodrigo. eager not to let the english thus escape him, the french general ordered maucune’s division, which formed his left, to march forward so as to fall upon the flank of the british in their expected retreat. they did so; but in so advancing a chasm intervened between them and the division of bonnet, which formed part of the french centre. word was brought to wellington of this movement. “starting up, he repaired to the high ground, and observed their movements for some time with stern contentment. their left wing was entirely separated from the centre. the fault was flagrant, and he fixed it with the stroke of a thunderbolt.” turning to the spanish general alava who stood by his side, he exclaimed, “mon cher alava, marmont est perdu!”

a few orders issued suddenly from his lips like the incantations of a wizard, and suddenly the dark mass of troops seemed animated by some mighty spirit. rushing down the slope of the mountain, they entered the great basin. and now, after long coiling and winding like angry serpents, the armies suddenly fastened together in deadly strife.

marmont saw the country beneath him suddenly covered with enemies when he was in the act of making a complicated evolution; and when by the rash advance of his left, his troops were separated into three parts, each at too great a distance to assist the other. in this crisis, despatching officer after officer, some to hasten up his troops from the forest, some to stop the march of his left wing, he still looked for victory, till he saw pakenham with his division penetrate between his left and his centre; then hope died within him, and he was hurrying in person to the fatal spot, when an exploding shell stretched him on the field, with two deep wounds in his side.”

this naturally augmented the confusion of the french; but they still fought manfully. it was just five o’clock when pakenham fell on maucune, who, little thinking of such an onset, expected to see, from the[299] summit of a hill he had just gained, the allies in full retreat. still, his gunners stood to their guns, and his cavalry charged; but both were killed or repulsed; the infantry endeavoured to form a front, but in the midst of its evolution it was charged and broken. the british cavalry fell upon the rear, while leith, with the fifth division, bore down on the right flank. for awhile, the french veterans maintained some kind of order, but at last the cavalry broke them; thomiere, one of their generals, was killed, 2000 of the french threw down their arms, and the whole division was utterly routed.

the next portion of the french line, clausel’s division, while warmly engaged with the english under cole and leith, had to sustain a charge from 1200 british dragoons. the whole french division was broken in an instant. five guns and 2000 prisoners were taken in a few minutes. the entire of the left wing of the french army was now only a helpless mob of fugitives. in the centre the struggle was a more arduous one. the french still held a strong position on a hill—the arapiles. two attacks by the portuguese and english were repelled. beresford, cole and leith, were all wounded, and the english centre for a moment was shaken and in danger. but wellington, whose eye was always where the peril was greatest, immediately ordered up clinton’s division from the rear, and restored the battle. the ridge of the arapiles was regained, “and now the current once more set in for the british. pakenham continued to outflank the french left; foy retired from the ridge of calveriza, and the allied host, righting itself like a gallant ship after a sudden gust, again bore right onwards, holding its course through blood and gloom.”

there remained only the division of foy, which formed the extreme right of the french line, and still maintained a gallant fight. it seemed difficult for this general to extricate his division, but he did it with great dexterity. just as the darkness fell, he increased his skirmishers, and brought forward some cavalry, as if for a charge. but when the english had prepared themselves for a real encounter, the skirmishers fell back, and the english pursued; but when they reached the top of the hill, the main body of the french had escaped into a forest hard by, where darkness gave them safety.

another failure on the part of a spaniard, here, again, favoured the french. the castle of alba, on the tormes, was garrisoned by a spanish force, under carlos d’espana. this, if maintained, would have stopped the french in their flight by the main road, and have forced[300] them to take the fords. but d’espana, without informing wellington, had withdrawn the garrison, and left the road open! “had the castle of alba been held,” says napier, “the french could never have carried off a third of their army.” but by this piece of spanish folly or cowardice, they were permitted to escape.

as it was, their loss was enormous. they went into action with 43,800 infantry and 4000 cavalry. three weeks after, their general, clausel, who succeeded marmont in the command, wrote to the minister of war at paris, “the army consists of 20,000 infantry, and 1800 horse.” so that, by death or wounds or capture, it had lost more than half of its numbers. on the part of the allies, the loss was 3176 british, 2018 portuguese, and eight spanish. one general was killed, and five were among the wounded. wellington himself was struck in the thigh by a spent ball, which passed through his holster. this was one of the last incidents of this great battle; in which the english leader, to use a french officer’s expression, “defeated 40,000 men in forty minutes.” “late in the evening of that great day,” says sir william napier, “i saw him behind my regiment, then marching towards the ford. he was alone; the flush of victory was on his brow, his eyes were eager and watchful, but his voice was calm and even gentle. more than the rival of marlborough,—for he had defeated greater generals than marlborough ever encountered, he seemed with prescient pride to accept this victory only as an earnest of future glory.”

the french fled with such celerity, that their headquarters, on the following night, were at flores d’avila, no less than forty miles from the field of battle! the english army, on the other hand, entered madrid on the 12th of august, amidst a scene of the wildest ecstasy. “no words can express the enthusiasm which prevailed when the english standards were seen in the distance, and the scarlet uniforms began to be discerned through the crowd. amidst a countless multitude, wrought up to the highest pitch of rapturous feeling; amidst tears of gratitude and shouts of triumph, the british army entered the spanish capital, not as conquerors, but as friends; not as oppressors, but deliverers.” as for wellington, “with tears and every sign of deep emotion, the multitudes crowded round his horse, hung by his stirrups, touched his clothes, and throwing themselves on their knees, blessed him aloud.” the intrusive king, with about 12,000 men, had fled out of the city a few days previous.

the retiro, the largest arsenal which the french possessed in spain,[301] still had a garrison of 1700 men. but it surrendered on the 13th, and the british found in it, 180 pieces of cannon, 20,000 stand of arms, and immense stores of all kinds. meanwhile, “the french affairs in every part of the peninsula now exhibited that general crash and ruin which so usually follows a great military disaster, and presages the breaking up of a political power.”

nor were the mighty results of this great battle limited to southern europe. at the very moment when it took place, napoleon, at the head of 450,000, was entering the heart of the russian empire. the news of the defeat of his forces in spain, reached him on the evening preceding the great battle of borodino. it doubtless reached the emperor alexander also; and the news must have greatly aided the russian monarch in forming that remarkable resolve, “i am immovable; and no terms whatever shall induce me to terminate the war, or to fail in the sacred duty of avenging our country.” and, in a general order, issued shortly after, general kutusoff, alexander’s chief commander, said, “the hand of god is falling heavily on napoleon: madrid is taken.” still, when, in october, wellington, from the want of battering-artillery, failed in carrying the castle of burgos, faction again raised its head in england, and even dared to question his skill and talent as a general! it was with reference to some of these attacks that wellington took the following review of the results of the year.

“i fear that the public will be disappointed at the results of the last campaign: and yet it is, in fact, the most important and successful campaign in which a british army has been engaged for the last century. we have taken by siege ciudad rodrigo, badajoz, and salamanca, and the retiro has surrendered. since january, this army has sent to england little short of 20,000 prisoners; and it has taken and destroyed, or we now possess, little short of 3000 pieces of cannon.”

more wonderful achievements, occupying a series of years, never were wrought out by a british army. sir william napier justly traces the triumph of salamanca and other victories to the forethought of wellington, in having laid such a foundation as he had provided in torres vedras. “this strong post was of his own planning,—he had chosen it, fortified it, defended it, and now, knowing its full value, he was availing himself of its advantages. the tree was planted to bear such fruit as was gathered at salamanca, and the value of his combinations must be estimated from the general result. he had only 60,000 disposable troops, and 100,000 were especially appointed to watch and control him; yet[302] he passed the frontier, defeated 45,000 men in a pitched battle, and drove 20,000 others from madrid in confusion, without difficulty and without risk. no general was ever more entitled to the honour of victory.”

salamis, battle of.—the persians defeated by the greeks in this great battle, october 20th, 480 b.c. themistocles, the greek commander, with only 310 sail defeated the whole fleet of xerxes, consisting of 2000 sail. one of the greatest naval engagements in ancient times.

saldanha bay.—near the cape of good hope.—here a dutch squadron was captured by admiral st. george keith elphinstone, without resistance. five men of war and nine frigates surrendered, and st. george was in consequence of this bloodless victory, which was executed with wonderful judgment, created lord keith, august 17th, 1796.

santa cruz.—here, april 25th, 1657, the renowned blake totally destroyed 16 spanish ships, secured with great nautical skill, and protected by the castle and the forts on the shore. this was thought, at that time, one of the greatest feats ever accomplished. the earl of clarendon, speaking of this exploit, says, “it was so miraculous, that all who knew the place wondered that any sober man, with what courage soever endowed, would have undertaken it; and the victors could hardly persuade themselves to believe what they had done, whilst the surviving spaniards thought that they were devils and not men who had destroyed their ships so.” here also, in an unsuccessful attack made upon this place by nelson, several officers and 141 men were killed, and the brave admiral lost his right arm, july 24th, 1797. it is remarkable that captain freemantle, the great friend of nelson, and a companion of his in most of his great and brilliant achievements was also wounded in the arm immediately before nelson had received his wound in the same limb. the following laconic note addressed to the lady of captain freemantle, (who was on board with her husband at the time he wrote) has been preserved, as being the first letter written by the glorious hero with his left hand:

my dear mrs. freemantle,

tell me how tom is? i hope he has saved his arm. mine is off; but, thank god, i am as well as i hope he is.

ever yours,

horatio nelson.

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saratoga, burgoyne’s surrender at.—general burgoyne, commander of a body of the british army, after a very severe engagement with the american provincials in the american war of independence, october 17th, 1777, surrendered to the american general gates. no less than 5791 men laid down their arms. this was the greatest check the british suffered during the war.

scopolo.—on july the 5th, 1808, a desperate action was fought off the island of scopolo, between a large turkish frigate and corvette, and the seahorse thirty-eight guns, captain stewart, exhibiting the skill and gallantry of the latter against a great disparity of force, by which his own ship was so well preserved, while that of his opponent was ruined. the action began at half-past nine in the evening, the turks under easy sail, a little off the wind, and continually endeavouring to board. at ten o’clock, after a quarter of an hour’s hot fire, the small ship was silenced; the large ship, which had during this time fallen a little to leeward, and thus been prevented from assisting her consort, recovered her position; the action was recommenced; and the resistance of the turks was so obstinate, that it was not till a quarter past one she was rendered a motionless wreck. as they would neither answer nor fire, captain stewart, knowing the character of the people, conceived it most prudent to wait for daylight to send on board her. at daylight, observing her colours upon the stump of the mizenmast, the seahorse poured a broadside into her stern, when she struck. she was named the badere zaffer, of fifty-two guns, with a complement of 500 men, commanded by captain scanderli kichuc ali, who had been prevented by his own people from blowing her up. her loss was prodigious—165 killed and 195 wounded. the seahorse had only five killed and ten wounded.

sebastopol.—the celebrated city besieged during the crimean war. see bombardment, first and second (final) of sebastopol; also, mamelon, malakoff and sortie.

sedgmoor, battle of.—fought, july 5th, 1685, in which the duke of monmouth was completely defeated by the army of james ii of england. the duke, who was the natural son of charles ii, by lucy walters, one of his mistresses, was made prisoner, and soon afterwards executed.

seidlitz, battle of.—fought, april 10th, 1831, between[304] the poles and russians. the poles obtained the victory, after a bloody battle, taking 4000 prisoners, and several pieces of cannon. the killed and wounded, on both sides, amounted to many thousands.

semincas, battle of.—fought a.d. 938. one of the most bloody battles ever fought. between the moors and ramirez ii, king of leon, and the austrians. more than 80,000 of the infidels were slain, the dead lying in heaps for miles around.

sempach, battle of.—fought, july 9th, 1386, between the swiss and leopold, duke of austria. the heroic swiss, after prodigies of valour, gained a great and memorable victory over the duke, who was slain. by this battle they gained their independence, which they possess until this day; and they annually commemorate, with great solemnity, this victory.

sergeant.—the highest non-commissioned officer of a company. this word enters into the title of different officers, as sergeant-major, color-sergeant, &c.

seringapatam, battle of.—this first battle, called also the battle of arikera, in which the british defeated tippoo saib, was fought may 15th, 1791. the second, in which the redoubts were stormed, and tippoo reduced by lord cornwallis, fought february 6th, 1792. after this capture peace was signed, and tippoo agreed to cede one-half of mysore, and to pay 33,000,000 of rupees, about ￡3,000,000, sterling to england, and to give up his two sons as hostages. in a new war the madras army arrived before seringapatam, april 5th, 1799. it was joined by the bombay army, april 14th, and the place was stormed and carried by major general baird, may 4th, same year. tippoo was killed in this engagement.

the following account gives the particulars of the 1st engagement previous to the capture of seringapatam.

“on the 27th of march, 1799, at three o’clock p.m., the right wing (of the british army destined for the capture of seringapatam) moved slowly off the ground of encampment, along a heavy sandy road, impeded in their progress by the ponderous battering-train of guns, each 42 pounder being drawn majestically along by thirty, forty, and sometimes fifty bullocks, harnessed four abreast; and even these numbers were frequently found insufficient to extricate the wheels of the carriages from[305] the deep sloughs into which they often sank, even up to the axles, when the aid of elephants was required; these sagacious animals would wind their trunks or probosci around the nave and between the spokes of the wheels, and thus lift gun and carriage from the impending difficulty, whilst the bullocks were being goaded and whipped with leather thongs. the ponderous machines were thus drawn forward. it was indeed an admirable and beautiful sight to observe the sagacity of these huge creatures; for when one only was brought up to assist, if the weight was too considerable for its animal strength, a shrill trumpeting proceeding from its proboscis would instantly proclaim this deficiency in strength for the object required, when the keeper would call for another elephant, and then the united power of the two, simultaneously applying their whole force, would speedily overcome almost insurmountable difficulties; though, when guns and carriages were embedded up to the axles of the four wheels, several of these noble animals have been required to lift the machines bodily from the tenacious clay into which they had sunk.

clouds of looties, or irregular predatory horsemen, were on the right flank of the line, who fired incessantly on the british as they advanced; and when a stoppage occurred, to extricate the guns, large bodies of these looties would suddenly dash through the intervals, cutting down the artillerymen, maiming the bullocks, and destroying the whole paraphernalia of harness; and this in spite of all the exertions of skirmishers to keep them at a respectable distance. the fierce sun was almost intolerable, and many europeans fell dead from coups-de-soleil. only three miles and a half could be marched from three o’clock until nearly twelve, when the little mud-walled fort of malleville was descried, with the gallant 19th dragoons, drawn up in close column under the walls, to shelter them from the enemy’s brisk cannonade. at a hill fortress (amboor), previous to mounting the ghauts and entering the mysore country, the british army had been joined by about 10,000 of the nizam’s troops—a disorderly set of savage, undisciplined barbarians (clothed in stuffed cotton jackets, covered with steel-chained armour, capable of resisting a musket-ball), prancing and skirmishing about the country in every direction, wielding their long lances with uncommon dexterity, managing their horses with grace and ease, almost to perfection in the equestrian art—sometimes casting their spears, and then, at full gallop, bending the body so low under the horse, as to recover possession of the spear that lay flat on the sand. this heterogeneous force was certainly an additional strength to the numerical force of the british, but, in a[306] military point of view, of dubious advantage to the invading regular army, whose movements they frequently disconcerted by dashing furiously through the intervals between the columns on the line of march, and, being often mistaken for the enemy’s irregular horse, were fired at accordingly, many of them perishing in this unprofitable manner; and had any adverse fortune occurred in the campaign, confusion and defeat must have ensued, as these disorderly masses would inevitably have incommoded, and rendered all military discipline abortive. accordingly, to protect them from absolute annihilation, the 33rd regiment of infantry, under command of the hon. colonel wellesley (the duke of wellington), was attached to this disorderly crew, and acted with them during the advance to seringapatam. the movements of the whole army was entirely confided to the management of colonel barry close, a company’s officer, and adjutant-general to the forces—a man of extensive capacity, who had displayed eminent talents in both civil and military departments during his long residence in india. he was an ornament to his profession, and, had fortune favoured him, might have proved a first-rate general. for his amiable and conciliatory disposition, he was beloved and esteemed by all who enjoyed the advantage of his society.

during the march, the towns and villages were involved in flames in every direction, and not an atom of food or forage was anywhere procurable (every officer of the army was provided with three months’ provision of biscuit, &c., borne on the backs of bullocks in various numbers, according to the grade of the officer), and every tank or pool of water was impregnated with the poison of the milk hedge, large quantities of the branches of which the enemy had industriously thrown in—so that many horses, bullocks, and even, in some instances, men, fell victims to the deleterious infusion.

as the head of the british column passed the little fort of malleville, the quarter-master-general was observed marking out the site for encampment on an extensive sandy plain in front of the fort. the booming of distant heavy ordnance was plainly distinguishable. the lascars had commenced pitching the tents and marquees for the reception of the exhausted troops, but were suddenly interrupted in their occupation by the successive bounding of cannon-balls amongst them, when they precipitately quitted the dangerous situation, and fled for protection to the rear of the approaching troops. the enemy were posted on a commanding eminence about two miles distant, at the extremity of the sandy plain, supported by a long range of numerous heavy artillery and strong imposing[307] bodies of regular cavalry. the english pickets, commanded by captain macpherson, of the 12th foot, pushed on towards the enemy’s left flank with two 12-pounder galloppers, and the action became brisk in that quarter—for, having ensconced themselves in a wood, they were thus secure from the charges of hordes of cavalry surrounding, whom they saluted with reiterated discharges of grape-shot from the galloppers. in the interim, whilst this scene was agitating, the right wing of the british army formed, on the intended ground of encampment, in contiguous close columns, and in this form cautiously advanced towards the eminence in front. i now, for the first time, became acquainted with the whirring, hoarse noise of cannon-balls—the phitz, phitz, of musket-bullets passing close to the body—and the ping, ping, of those flying distantly over head: fortunately, the balls, rockets, &c., were ill-directed, and did little execution. as the columns approached nearer the enemy’s position, the heavy guns were withdrawn behind the eminence (tippoo saib fearing nothing so much as the capture of his artillery, which he had invariably lost in his former battles with lord cornwallis, in 1782), and ultimately disappeared! in this short advance, captain whitley, of the grenadiers of the 12th (to which company i was attached), observing, i presume, the unaccustomed paleness of my countenance, turned round and offered me a refreshing draught of brandy and water from the contents of his canteen, or leathern bottle attached to his side, which i gratefully accepted; for at eighteen we have not the nerves and stamina of a man of forty years old. untried individuals may sarcastically sneer at this apparent indication of pusillanimity; but never, during all my service, did i observe soldiers enter on a scene of action with that calm, florid appearance, denoting a sense of health and security: did man ever yet exist exempt from the common feelings of human nature? in point of fact, there is an evident, palpable alteration of feature in every man, at the commencement of a battle; as it rages, this marked difference in the lineaments of the countenance disappears, and the excitement of exertion soon produces the usual effect of renewed animation, with a spirit of recklessness indifferent to the consequences of existing danger.

the advancing columns having approached within a few yards of the summit of the eminence, halted, and deployed into line, and thus marched on, when having reached the apex of the ascent, the formidable army of the redoubtable tippoo saib appeared drawn up on the plain below in battle array, with woods on both flanks, covered with tens of thousands of horsemen: the first indication of a serious attack proceeded from a body[308] of cavalry, who charging the light infantry skirmishing front, soon drove them with headlong speed into the british line, where they rejoined their battalions; this body of horse, of about 1500, was formed in a compact wedge-like shape, with the front angle headed by two enormous elephants (saddled with howdahs, filled with distinguished officers), having each a huge iron chain dangling from the proboscis, which they whirled about with great rapidity, a blow from which would have destroyed half a company of infantry; at the first superficial view they were mistaken for the nizam’s troops, but as they rapidly approached (firing their pistols and carbines, which produced some trifling effect) towards an interval of a few yards extent between his majesty’s 12th regiment and a battalion of sepoys on the right, it was soon obvious they intended passing through this interval to the rear of the british line; fortunately, at this momentous crisis, a detachment of the company’s native cavalry suddenly galloped from the rear, and completely filled up the space, when the enemy edged off, and directed their whole column to the front of the 12th regiment. general harris, the commander-in-chief, suddenly appeared in the rear, vociferating aloud, “fire, 12th! fire!” to their eternal credit, coolness, and unexampled discipline, be it recorded, that although standing with recovered arms, not a shot was fired, nor even a movement made, that indicated indecision; the men knew it was not the voice of the colonel, who, however, thus pressed by the authority of his superior officer, now gave the command—“steady, 12th! and wait until these fellows are within ten yards of you,—then singe the beggars’ whiskers.” this order was implicitly obeyed. at the word “fire!” a volley was effectually poured into the wedge of cavalry, followed by a rapid and well-directed file-firing, which produced the happiest effect; for on the smoke clearing away, a complete rampart of men and horses lay extended on the earth, in front of this invincible old corps! the elephants, maddened, with pain from their innumerable wounds, were shuffling away with speed, and swinging the enormous chains to right and left amidst the retiring cavalry, many of whom were thus destroyed. the howdahs (from which the leading chiefs had directed the charge) were dashed to atoms, and several of these brave men’s heads hung from the backs of the enraged animals; horses rearing, and crushing the riders to death—other loose and wounded horses scouring the plain on all sides—the scene was awfully terrific! just at this eventful period, two 9-pounder field-pieces replaced the cavalry in the interval alluded to, at once opening a destructive shower of grape-shot on the discomfited horsemen, who were attempting to join[309] their main body stationed in the woods below; these latter, perceiving the entire defeat of the “forlorn hope,” poured forth their tens of thousands, scouring rapidly over the sandy plain, exposed to the exterminating effects of the british artillery. the battle now became general along the whole line—infantry, cavalry, and artillery, all exerting their utmost efforts of destruction. unfortunately, a large body of the mysorian cavalry outflanked and cut into the rear of the british line, destroyed crowds of sick men and lascars, who were considered safe from such indiscriminate and inhuman butchery. many of these gallant fellows, although in the last stage of human debility, crawled out of the doolies (rough palanquins for sick men), and fought manfully to the last gasp. on the extreme right of the line, the hon. colonel wellesley was stationed, with his majesty’s 33rd regiment of foot, surrounded by the nizam’s cavalry. the mysorians at once charged the nizam’s horse, who as suddenly scampered off. when the 33rd regiment were first observed by the enemy, the usual cry of “feringee bong chute!” (“rascally english!”) was uttered, and tippoo’s cavalry fled in confusion, leaving several battalions of infantry to receive the dreadful charge of the british regiment! one hurrah! and the opposing infantry came in contact; several thousands of the mysorians were bayonetted, the rest retiring in dismay, followed by the 19th dragoons, who cut and slashed without mercy. the right wing of the enemy being thrown into irretrievable confusion, and all parts of their line wavering, the battle was soon ended, tippoo saib drawing off with all possible haste. the british line now began to advance from their fighting position; but so numerous were the dead bodies of men and horses in front of the 12th regiment, that some difficulty was experienced in surmounting the obstacle! two or three horsemen, in the attack of the wedge of cavalry, cut through the 12th regiment, but were immediately shot in the rear. to give an idea of the temper, sharpness, and weight of the swords of these men, who had all drugged themselves with bang (a narcotic herb, resembling opium in its effects on the human frame), for the attack, i have only to mention, that the barrel of one of the european’s muskets was completely severed by one cut from a moorman’s sabre, the blade of which was three and a half feet long, half an inch thick at the back, and four inches broad, weighing fourteen pounds!

it is now only necessary to add, that the victory was in favour of the british, who with the right wing of their army (about 16,000 men) had engaged the combined forces of the sultan, destroying several thousands,[310] with the loss only of a few hundreds. no guns were captured on either side. about six o’clock in the afternoon, the only indication of the proximity of an enemy was the distant booming of heavy artillery. the british, on reaching their original ground of encampment, were congratulated by the left wing of the army (just encamping, after a tedious hot march) on the success of the engagement, expressing regret that they had not arrived in time to participate in the glory of the day.”

seringapatam, opening the trenches before.—“on the morning of the 5th april, 1799, the british army encamped on their permanent ground for the siege of the celebrated fortress of seringapatam; and, after due deliberation, it was decided to open the trenches, if possible, the same evening. in accordance with this determination, two separate bodies of troops were ordered to parade, at six o’clock in the afternoon—one destined to drive the enemy from the dry bed of a nullah, or narrow river—the other to take possession of a small wood situated in a line on the right of the river, and rather nearer the encampment, which had been occupied the night before by a detachment of flankers under general baird, and evacuated, the enemy having silently retreated from it on the approach of the english. both these positions were, on the 5th, strongly occupied by select bodies of tippoo’s troops. to accomplish these arduous enterprises, his majesty’s 12th regiment, with a proportion of sepoys or native troops, consisting of about 2000 effective men, under the command of lieutenant-colonel shaw (of the 12th foot), marched from the british lines at a quarter past six o’clock, to take possession of the bed of the river; his majesty’s 33rd regiment of foot, with a detachment of sepoys, amounting, in toto, to 2000 men, under the command of colonel wellesley (now the duke of wellington), quitted camp about the same time, to occupy the tope, or wood, on the right of the bed of the river. the two posts were intended to be carried at or near the same time as possible, for the mutual protection and security of both detachments—as one position was almost untenable without the occupation of the other. the british encampment was situated three miles from seringapatam, on a rising ground gradually sloping up from the fortress, with the exception of partial undulations, which, however, did not prevent a perfect view of the whole intermediate spaces. the two posts (nullah and top) were midway between the camp and the besieged town. scarcely had these two little columns quitted the camp, than they were assailed by showers of rockets and blue lights from every direction in[311] front, which completely illumined the atmosphere, and exposed the british to the fire of tippoo’s tiger sepoys; heavy masses of whom poured death into shaw’s force, with the most terrific effect. still this gallant little body moved slowly on (as the night was exceedingly dark), although more encumbered each moment with dead, dying, and wounded: the rockets and musketry from upwards of 20,000 of the enemy were incessant—no hail could be thicker; with every blue light came a shower of bullets, and several rockets passed through the head to the rear of the column, causing death, wounds, and dreadful lacerations:[2] the cries of the wounded were quite awful. not a shot did the british fire, nor had the men even loaded their pieces; a caution from the brave old colonel shaw, that “all must be done with the bayonet,” needed no repetition to ensure obedience; but scarcely had this caution been conveyed through the ranks, when a tremendous peal of musketry was heard on the right flank, in the direction of the wood, which caused shaw’s force to halt, as the attack became so formidable from the front, and both flanks, that it would have been an useless sacrifice of the men’s lives to stand up; they were consequently directed to lie down for a few minutes, to avoid the effects of the enemy’s scorching fire, which now proceeded from a very few yards’ distance—the brilliant light of their fire-balls or blue lights exposing shaw’s column to the full force of their musketry; and imagining, from the recumbent posture of the british, that the majority was killed, a large column of the tiger sepoys ventured an attack with the bayonet, and drove in the battalion of the company’s sepoys, who were a few yards in advance on the right, and killing their major. the command, “up, 12th and charge!” was no sooner given, than each man sprang up and advanced to the charge in silence and compact order. the tiger sepoys stood, until a very few yards intervened between the combatants, when a general shout of “feringee bong chute!” (“the rascally english!”) was uttered, and the enemy dispersed on all sides in considerable confusion; but, shortly after, again threw out their blue lights, and recommenced[312] their murderous file-firing, which once more compelled the british to resume their prostrate posture. it was now about twelve o’clock at night, when the solemn trampling of a body of troops was plainly distinguished, approaching from the right flank in a hasty and rather tumultuous manner. once more shaw’s column were on their feet and preparing to charge, when a few stragglers from the hon. colonel wellesley’s force rushed in, and announced that the detachment had been repulsed from the wood, and that the approaching trampling was part of the force coming to join shaw—that two companies of the 33rd, with their colonel (wellesley), were missing! a few minutes after this report, major shea (second in command to wellesley) joined shaw’s force with the remains of that detachment: he stated that colonel wellesley, with two companies of the 33rd regiment, had been either taken prisoners or had retreated to camp! as second in command, he had considered it his duty to traverse the wood in search of him, which proving unsuccessful, and the fire from the enemy becoming so exceedingly heavy, had induced him to lead the remaining troops to colonel shaw, for the purpose of obtaining information, and receiving instructions how to act. colonel shaw replied, ironically, “that he had better follow his colonel to camp”—a hint that was implicitly and immediately complied with. indignation here overcame prudence, as shaw soon saw the enemy pouring in from all sides, and the stoutest heart in his force predicted a fatal result, from the united and concentrated efforts of so numerous an enemy. large quantities of ammunition were sent from camp during the night, for the supply of shaw’s column, as, from the tremendous firing, it was naturally apprehended that all their cartridges had been expended; but these incessant peals of musketry had all proceeded from tippoo’s troops (not a single shot had been returned by shaw’s column). the oldest soldier in camp declared they had never heard so tremendous a fire: in fact, it continued for twelve hours without intermission, blue lights and rockets illuminating the air the whole time—beautiful, though terrific. it was generally imagined in camp that shaw and his detachment must have been inevitably annihilated; but this gallant old officer only waited the dawn of day, to exhibit one of the most glorious and impressive spectacles that ever added lustre to the annals of british military fame! the appearance of wellesley in camp, followed by part of two companies of the 33rd regiment, reporting that the remainder of his detachment had been cut to pieces, increased the probability of the inevitable destruction of the other attacking column, and all was anxiety and commiseration, in camp, for the fate of this devoted little band.

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at five o’clock on the morning of the 6th april, the fire of musketry began to relax; the whole were under arms, and generously anxious for the safety of the column under shaw’s command: but scarcely had the day dawned, than a glorious and exhilarating scene was displayed: the gallant old 12th, and the sepoys in line with them, were seen rushing on the entrenched enemy at the point of the bayonet, and driving them from the bed of the river, in spite of a heavy cannonade from the fortress of seringapatam, and the resistance of the numerous columns opposed to them. never did men more heroically perform their duty: the conflict was excessively murderous and obstinate, as the tiger sepoys were brave, numerous and well-disciplined. for some time the result of the attack appeared most dubious, as a considerable body of french troops persevered in most gallant style, in leading on tippoo’s sepoys. the rapid charge of the 12th regiment, supported by the sepoys composing the force, excited the admiration of the whole british army. general harris was heard to exclaim, “well done, old 12th! why, they are going to take seringapatam!” the occupation of the bed of the nullah being at length achieved by shaw’s column, it had scarcely secured itself under the embankment of the river, from the thundering cannon of the fortress, when the enemy in the wood (who had opposed and put wellesley to flight) opened a destructive fire from several field-pieces, which completely enfiladed shaw’s post. a mound of earth was quickly thrown up on the right flank of the 12th regiment, to protect them, as much as possible, from this fresh annoyance; but this precaution could not have prevented the british from being dislodged from the bed of the river, had not several brigades from camp been observed advancing to support the position of shaw’s post, and to drive the enemy from the wood. the certainty of speedy support inspired shaw’s column with renewed ardour, and a fire was for the first time returned, with a rapidity and effect that completely disconcerted the enemy, who retired in good order, ever and anon facing about and firing a volley of musketry.

they were not relieved until the close of the evening of the 6th, as the enemy’s firing from the fortress of seringapatam was so destructive, that baird’s brigade was compelled to halt and return to camp; the other brigade, under wellesley, advanced and took possession of the wood which the enemy abandoned, and thus relieved shaw’s post from an annoying enfilade of cannon and musketry, from which they suffered for at least an hour and a half after daybreak, with the greatest constancy and courage. eleven officers and 180 rank and file were killed and wounded[314] in this small force during the night and morning of the 5th and 6th april. about seven o’clock in the evening of the latter day, the 74th regiment relieved the 12th, who were right happy to break their fast after twenty-four hours’ hard fighting and fasting.”

seville.—surrendered to the french, february 1st, 1810; taken by assault by the british and spaniards, after the battle of salamanca, august 27th, 1812, when the french left it, at the general evacuation of the south of spain, in consequence of their signal defeat in that battle.

sherrifmuir, battle of.—fought, november 12th, 1715, between the royal army, under the duke of argyle, and the scotch rebel forces, who favored the pretender, and commanded by the earl of mar. the insurgents were defeated. fought on the same day in which the rebel forces were defeated at preston.

shrewsbury, battle of.—fought, july 21st, 1403, between the royal army of henry iv, and the army of the nobles, led by percy, surnamed hotspur, who had conspired to dethrone henry. each army consisted of about 12,000 men, and the engagement was most obstinate and bloody. henry was seen everywhere in the thickest of the fight, while his valiant son, who was afterwards the renowned conqueror of france, fought by his side, though wounded in the face by an arrow, still kept the field and performed astonishing deeds of bravery. on the other hand, hotspur performed prodigies of valour; 2300 gentlemen were slain, and about 6000 private men. hotspur was killed by an unknown hand, and his death decided the fortune of the day.

shropshire, battle of.—in which the britons were completely defeated, and caractacus, their leader, taken prisoner and sent to rome; fought a.d. 51.

sieges.—numerous in history; the following are the most important:—

acre, 1799, by bonaparte; siege raised after sixty days, open trenches.

algiers, 1816. see this article.

almeida, august 27th, 1810.

antwerp, 1576, use of infernal machines; also besieged 1583, 1585, 1706, 1792, and 1814.

badajoz, march 11th, 1811, but raised june 9th. taken by escalade on the night of april 6th, 1812.

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bagdad, 1248.

bayonne, 1451.

berwick, 1293. see this article.

bommel, 1794; the invention of the covert-way used here.

burgos, september to october, 1812, raised; the french in their retreat blew up the works, june 13th, 1813.

calais, 1347; british historians affirm cannon first used here at this siege. see this article.

candia, 1667; the largest cannon then known in europe, used here by the turks.

carthagena, 1706.

chalons, 1199.

cherbourg, 1650.

ciudad rodrigo, 1706, july, 1810; january, 1812. see this article.

constantinople, 1453.

copenhagen, 1700, 1801, and 1807. see this article.

cracow, 1772.

dunkirk, 1646, 1793.

frederickshall, 1718, charles xii killed here.

gibraltar, 1704, 1799, and 1782; red hot cannon balls used here to burn the french fleet. see this article.

ismael, 1790. see this article.

kars, 1855. see this article.

londonderry, 1689. see this article.

mons, 1572, 1691, 1709, 1746, 1792, and 1794.

mothe, 1634; the french taught by mr. muller, an english engineer, first practised the art of throwing shells.

naples, 1381, 1435, 1504, 1557, 1792, 1799, and 1806.

orleans, 1428, 1563.

philipsburg, 1644, 1675, and 1688; first experiment of firing artillery à-ricochet here, also besieged 1734 and 1795.

romorentin, 1356; according to voltaire, artillery first used here in sieges.

st. sebastian, september, 1813.

salamanca, june, 1812.

saragossa, oftener spelled zaragosa,—appended to this article is a graphic account of the 2nd siege. it was besieged three times, in 1710, 1808, and 1809, the two last were dreadful sieges.

schweidnitz, 1762 and 1807. here was the first experiment to reduce a fortress by springing globes of compression.

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sebastopol, 1854 and 1855. see this article under the heads of bombardment of sebastopol, mamelon, quarries, rifle pits, sortie, &c.

seville, 1096, 1247, 1248, one of the most memorable sieges mentioned in spanish history.

silistria, 1854. see this article.

stralsund, 1675, 1713, and 1807; the method of throwing red hot cannon balls first practiced here with certainty.

tarifa, december 20th, 1811.

toulon, 1707 and 1793.

tournay, 1340, 1312, 1581, 1667, and 1709. during this siege the best defence ever drawn from countermines was here practised; also besieged in 1765 and 1794.

tunis, 1270, 1535.

valenciennes, may 23rd to july 14th, 1793. see this article.

warsaw, september 8th, 1831.

zutphen, 1572 and 1586.

silistria, siege of.—in 1854.—the following is an admirable account of the siege of this place:

“after the battle of citate, so bitter a blow to the pretensions of russia, the enemy’s generals found it advisable to change their plan of operations. adopting foktchani as their basis, they accumulated a large amount of military stores, and finding that the turks were not to be tempted into crossing the danube, calmly awaited reinforcements. when these had arrived, it was resolved to make a desperate effort to force the passage of the river. imperative orders arrived from st. petersburg to press the war vigorously, and at any cost. on the 13th of february they attacked giurgevo, on the wallachian bank of the danube, with a considerable force, and after a vigorous resistance, the turks were forced to evacuate their position, though not without being able to effect an orderly retreat across the river, and establish themselves firmly in the opposite town of rustchuk. the russian generals now resolved on concentrating their strength, and making an irresistible advance into bulgaria. with characteristic promptness, however, omer pacha initiated the attack. throwing a small column across the danube at rahova, he assaulted and drove back the outposts at kalarasch with considerable slaughter; and the turks, after this dashing feat, retired in security to rahova. another attempt was made by the extreme right of the russian line, on the 11th of march, to seize kalafat; but they were energetically repulsed by the[317] brave garrison of that renowned town. four days later, prince gortschakoff made a desperate effort to wrest from its ottoman defenders the island in the danube between tukurtai and oltenitza, which had been so important a position in the battle at the latter place. the russians were again driven back, but some idea of the sanguinary nature of the struggle may be formed from the fact that 2000 soldiers of the czar left their bodies on the disputed ground.

“five days before this desperate attempt to force the passage of the river at oltenitza, general luders had succeeded in crossing, at galatz, into the dobrudscha. gortschakoff, defeated as he had been, resolved upon abandoning the position he had so disastrously occupied, and shifting his ground farther to the east, effected a passage at tultscha, beyond the point where luders had passed with his army. the two divisions were now united, and numbered about 5000 men. by a curious coincidence, the 23rd of march, the day on which gortschakoff crossed the river, was the same day in which odessa was so successfully bombarded by the allied fleets. thus was the russian success more than counterbalanced. four days later, england and france had officially entered into the struggle. the great object of the enemy’s movements now became apparent. prince paskiewitch, the veteran general, the most celebrated commander of the russian army, was summoned from poland to assume the supreme command, and schilders, the most accomplished general of engineers, also hastened to the scene of operations. the capture of silistria, the strongest fortress on the southern bank of the danube, and the key to bulgaria, was evidently the object of the russians. so important was the possession of this place deemed by the czar, that the most imperative directions were forwarded to accomplish it at any cost. the plan of operations was this. gortschakoff and luders, having crossed the danube, were to advance towards silistria, intercepting communications, and investing it on the land side; while paskiewitch was to throw forward the main body of the army and vigorously assault it from the northern side. the garrison of silistria, commanded by moussa pacha, a general of great ability and indomitable courage, did not number more than 8000 men.

“now commenced one of the most memorable sieges which history has ever recorded. others have exceeded it in the number of men engaged, in the length of time occupied, but none in heroic episodes and unflinching constancy. on the 14th of april, batteries were thrown up on the north bank of the danube, opposite the devoted town, and a vigorous bombardment opened, but without much effect. on the 28th the first assault was[318] made, but so hot was the reception the attacking force met with, that three weeks elapsed before they had sufficiently recovered to completely invest the town. by that time 53,000 russians had surrounded the fortress, and batteries had been established, commanding the most important points. on the south-west front, and consequently the land side of the town, two very important earthworks were thrown up, known as arab tabia and illanii. the ground on which these works were situated rises in a series of platforms, which virtually command the town. their defence, therefore, was of the utmost importance to the brave garrison. again and again, for the space of ten weeks, did the enemy precipitate strong columns of men against these mounds of earth, and again and again were they driven back with enormous loss. in vain the russian cannonade levelled the bastions and slaughtered the defenders; others supplied their places, and once more the works rose defiantly. the russian shells swept the ground, and the turks burrowed in the trenches, till the advancing columns of assailants rushed to the breach. then the undaunted defenders sprang upon them, and hurled them back, covered with defeat. every attack was made with increased numbers, and made only to be the more ignominiously defeated. mines were stealthily advanced towards the works; but the turks countermined, and the russian sappers were blown into the air. all this while an incessant bombardment from the river batteries poured death into the town. but the undaunted besieged never for a moment relaxed their resistance. three master-spirits guided their operations, and infused heroic courage into their ranks. captain james butler, a young englishman, who had volunteered for service in the army of the east, had joined the garrison, in company with lieutenant nasmyth, another young officer, animated by similar motives. these two gallant men were the very soul of the defence, and aided by the brave maussa pacha, the ottoman commander, successfully defied the power of the assailants. butler, as the senior of the two englishmen, assumed a position readily acceded to him by his turkish allies, and to him they were indebted for the admirable construction and disposition of the defensive works. lieutenant nasmyth proved himself a most able seconder of his friend’s exertions, and in the capacity of “special correspondent” of the times newspaper, made all europe acquainted with the details of this extraordinary siege.

“straining every nerve, and exhausting every resource, to become masters of the place, the russian generals summoned to their aid the larger portion of the right wing of their army, thus materially weakening[319] their power of opposing the turkish forces to the westward of silistria, who, in consequence, obtained some easy successes. on the 12th of may, a tremendous assault was made by the besiegers on the town, and repulsed after a sanguinary struggle, in which more than 2000 russians was lost. ten days afterwards another assault was attempted, and again was the enemy defeated. with true russian wiliness, overtures were secretly made to moussa pacha to betray his trust, and for an adequate price to deliver the fortress to the czar. the brave man scornfully rejected the proposition, and bade the enemy to take it if they could. meanwhile, omer pacha was anxiously endeavouring to succour the devoted garrison. obstacles interposed by the stupidity, if not traitorous connivance, of officials in the ministry, had hitherto effectually tied his hands; but at length, on the 5th of july, a detachment of turkish troops effected an entrance into the town after a smart skirmish; and on the 8th, about a thousand more literally cut their way through the russians, and were added to the garrison. aided by those welcome reinforcements, the turks now assumed the offensive, and on the night of the 13th made a sortie, and succeeded in destroying the russian works, springing their mines, and inflicting a terrible loss upon their ranks.

“it was now evident to the russian commanders that, if the town were to be taken at all, it must be by a coup de main, and a grand assault was ordered for the 28th of june. but they had miscalculated the valour of their soldiers. daunted by the warm reception they had hitherto experienced, they absolutely refused to march again to the breach; and nothing but the threat of stopping their rations unless silistria were taken the next day, could induce these valiant warriors to perform their duty. on the next day, the russian generals led their half-starved and unwilling forces against the redoubts of silistria. the commanders, prince paskiewitch, count orloff, generals schilders, gortschakoff, and luders, placed themselves in the very front of the attacking force, anxious to stimulate the soldiers by their own exposure. the assault was attempted, and most triumphantly repulsed. the russians were thrown into the utmost disorganization, and fled precipitately from the well-directed volleys of the garrison. their leaders, too, paid dearly for their temerity. paskiewitch himself was severely wounded; schilders had both his legs shattered, luders his jaw shot away, count orloff was killed, and gortschakoff received a serious wound. nor did the brave defenders escape without irreparable loss. their gallant chief, moussa pacha, was struck on the head by a round shot, and expired instantly; and the noble butler fell a[320] sacrifice to his undaunted courage. the turkish reinforcements outside the garrison fell upon the rear of the retreating russians, and completed the rout their compatriots had so gloriously initiated. beaten on every hand, the enemy dashed pell-mell across the river, in confused retreat towards foktchani. the siege was raised. more than 30,000 russian soldiers had perished in the attempt to take silistria, and the broken remnant was now in full flight, owing its safety solely to the limited number of the victorious turks, which forbade pursuit.

“with the exception of the small force which still lingered in the plague-stricken plains of the dobrudscha, not a russian remained to the south of the danube. the mighty legions, precipitated so recklessly across the danube, were dead upon the turkish bank, or flying ignominiously from the scene. the despised turks were the triumphant conquerors, and the great czar had received another and a greater blow from the “sick man.”

slaughter or massacre.—under this head both ancient and modern history abound with events which can be so called. the following are among the most remarkable, as recorded by various authors:

the carthagenians in sicily who were totally slaughtered, 397 b.c.

2000 tyrians crucified and 8000 put to the sword by alexander the great. 331 b.c.

the romans throughout asia, women and children not exempted, cruelly butchered in one day, by order of mithridates, king of pontus, 88 b.c.

the massacre of roman senators, &c., 86 b.c.

that of octavianus c?sar to the manes of julius c?sar, 41 b.c.

jerusalem, 1,100,000 jews cruelly put to the sword, a.d. 70.

cassius slaughtered 400,000 of the inhabitants of selucia, a.d. 167.

eighty christian fathers by order of the emperor gratian were put into a ship which was set on fire and then driven out to sea, a.d. 370.

belisarius massacred 30,000 citizens of constantinople, a.d. 552.

that of the albigenses and waldenses, a.d. 1209.

the sicilian vespers—all the french in sicily butchered without distinction of age or sex, the first bell for vespers being the signal, a.d. 1282.

that of st. bartholomew’s day throughout france, august 24th, 1572.

ismael, 30,000 of the inhabitants old and young slain, december, 1790. see ismael.

[321]

of all the whites in the island of st. domingo, march 29th, 1804.

massacre of the mamelukes in egypt, march 1st, 1811. see account appended to this list.

sinopé during the crimean war, 1854.

massacres in english history.

of 300 nobles on salisbury plain, a.d. 474.

the danes in england, november 13th, 1002.

the jews in england, a.d. 1189.

the unoffending mcdonalds of glencoe, 1692. see account appended to this list.

massacres of cawnpore, delhi, and other places during the great indian mutiny, 1857. see cawnpore and delhi.

slaughter or massacre of glencoe.—this barbarous and diabolical massacre, which, at the time of its commission, excited universal and heartfelt indignation, took place in february, 1692. about the middle of 1691, “as the highlanders were not yet totally subdued, the earl of breadalbane undertook to bring them over by distributing sums of money among their chiefs; and ￡15,000 were accordingly remitted from england for that purpose. the clans being informed of this, suspected that the earl’s design was to appropriate to himself the best part of the money; and when he began to treat with them, they made such extravagant demands, that he found his scheme impracticable. he had therefore to refund the sum he had received; and resolved to wreak his vengeance on those who had frustrated his intention. he who chiefly thwarted him was mcdonald of glencoe, whose opposition rose from a private circumstance, which ought to have had no effect on a treaty that regarded the public weal. mcdonald had plundered the lands of breadalbane during the course of hostilities; and the earl insisted upon being indemnified for his losses, from the other’s share of the money which he was employed to distribute. the highlander, however, not only refused to acquiesce in these terms, but, by his influence among the clans, defeated the whole scheme, and, in revenge, breadalbane devoted him to destruction. king william had, by proclamation, offered an indemnity to all those who had been in arms against him, provided they would submit and take the oaths by a certain day; and this was prolonged to the close of 1691, with a denunciation of military execution against those who should hold out after the end of december.[322] mcdonald, intimidated by this declaration, repaired, on the very last day of the month, to fort william, and desired that the oaths might be tendered to him by colonel hill, governor of that fortress. as this officer was not vested with the power of a civil magistrate, he refused to administer them; and mcdonald set out immediately for inverary, the county-town of argyle. though the ground was covered with snow, and the weather intensely cold, he travelled with such diligence, that the term prescribed by the proclamation was but one day elapsed when he reached the place, and addressed himself to sir john campbell, sheriff of the county, who, in consideration of his disappointment at fort william, was prevailed upon to administer the oaths to him and his adherents. then they returned to their own habitations in the valley of glencoe, in full confidence of being protected by the government, to which they had so solemnly submitted.

breadalbane had represented mcdonald at court as an incorrigible rebel, as a ruffian inured to bloodshed and rapine, who would never be obedient to the laws of his country, nor live peaceably under any sovereign. he observed, that he had paid no regard to the proclamation, and proposed that the government should sacrifice him to the quiet of the kingdom, in extirpating him, with his family and dependants, by military execution. his advice was supported by the suggestions of the other scottish ministers; and the king, whose chief virtue was not humanity, signed a warrant for the destruction of those unhappy people, though it does not appear that he knew of mcdonald’s submission. an order for this barbarous execution, signed and counter-signed by his majesty’s own hand, being transmitted to the master of stair, secretary for scotland, this minister sent particular directions to livingstone, who commanded the troops in that kingdom, to put the inhabitants of glencoe to the sword, charging him to take no prisoners, that the scene might be more terrible. in the month of february, captain campbell of glenlyon, by virtue of an order from major duncanson, marched into the valley of glencoe with a company of soldiers belonging to argyle’s regiment, on pretence of levying the arrears of the land-tax and hearth-money. when mcdonald demanded whether they came as friends or enemies, he answered as friends, and promised, upon his honour, that neither he nor his people should sustain the least injury. in consequence of this declaration, he and his men were received with the most cordial hospitality, and lived fifteen days with the men of the valley in all the appearance of the most unreserved friendship. at length the[323] fatal period approached. mcdonald and campbell having passed the day together, parted about seven in the evening, with mutual professions of the warmest affection. as soon as campbell had retired, he received the following letter from major duncanson, quartered at ballachalis, a place some distance from glencoe. it is dated the 12th of february, 1692, and runs thus:—

“sir,—you are hereby ordered to fall upon the rebels, the mcdonalds of glencoe, and put all to the sword under seventy years of age. you are to have especial care that the old fox and his sons do upon no account escape. this you are to put into execution at five o’clock in the morning (saturday, the 13th) precisely; and by that time i will strive to be with you, with a stronger party. if i do not come to you at five, you are not to tarry for me, but to fall on. secure all the avenues, that not a man may escape. this is by the king’s especial command, for the good of the country, that these miscreants may be cut off, root and branch.”

this was instantly communicated to the officers and men under his command, and immediate preparations made for carrying the inhuman massacre into effect.

the younger mcdonald, perceiving the guards doubled, began to suspect some treachery, and communicated his suspicion to his brother; but neither he nor the father would harbour the least doubt of campbell’s sincerity; nevertheless, the two young men went forth privately, to make farther observations. they overheard the common soldiers say they liked not the work; that though they would willingly have fought the mcdonalds of the glen fairly in the field, they held it base to murder them in cold blood; but that their officers were answerable for the treachery. when the youths hasted back to apprise their father of the impending danger, they saw the house already surrounded; they heard the discharge of muskets, the shrieks of women and children; and, being destitute of arms, secured their own lives by immediate flight. the savage ministers of vengeance had entered the old man’s chamber, and shot him through the head. he fell down dead in the arms of his wife, who died next day, distracted by the horror of her husband’s fate. the laird of auchintrincken, mcdonald’s guest, who had, three months before this period, submitted to the government, and at this very time had a protection in his pocket, was put to death without question. a boy of eight years, who fell at campbell’s feet, imploring mercy, and offering[324] to serve him for life, was stabbed to the heart by one drummond, a subaltern officer. eight and thirty persons suffered in this manner, the greater part of whom where surprised in their beds, and hurried into eternity before they had time to implore the divine mercy. the design to butcher all the males under seventy years of ago that lived in the valley, the number of whom amounted to 200, was defeated by duncanson not arriving in time to secure the passes, so that one young man and woman had nearly succeeded in escaping, and were climbing the last rugged height of their native place, when they were discovered, and shots immediately sent after them. struck by one of them the unfortunate young man made a convulsive spring, and fell headlong into the valley below. his companion, alarmed by the report, lost her hold, and tumbled after him. they were both killed by the fall.

campbell, having perpetrated this brutal massacre, ordered all the houses to be burned, made a prey of all the cattle and effects that were found in the valley, and left the helpless women and children, whose husbands and fathers he had murdered, naked and forlorn, without covering, food, or shelter, in the midst of the snow that covered the whole face of the country, at the distance of six long miles from any inhabited place. distracted with grief and horror, surrounded with the shades of night, shivering with cold, and appalled with the apprehension of immediate death from the swords of those who had sacrificed their friends and kinsmen, they could not endure such a complication of calamities, but generally perished in the waste, before they could receive the least comfort or assistance. this barbarous massacre, performed under the sanction of king william’s authority, answered the immediate purpose of the court, by striking terror into the hearts of the jacobite highlanders; but at the same time excited the horror of all those who had not renounced every sentiment of humanity, and produced such an aversion to the government, as all the arts of a ministry could never totally surmount. a detail of the particulars was published at paris, with many exaggerations, and the jacobites did not fail to expatiate upon every circumstance, in domestic libels and private conversation. the king, alarmed at the outcry which was raised on this occasion, ordered an inquiry to be set on foot, and dismissed the master of stair from his employment of secretary; he likewise pretended that he had subscribed the order amidst a heap of other papers, without knowing the purport, of it; but as he did not severely punish those who made his authority subservient to their own cruel revenge, the imputation stuck fast to his character; and the[325] highlanders, though terrified into silence and submission, were inspired with the most implacable resentment against his person and administration.”

slaughter or massacre of the mamelukes, march 1st, 1811.—“it has been related, that one of the chief means employed by mahomet ali in civilizing egypt, or in improving the state of the country, was the destruction of the mamelukes—a class of hired foreign soldiers, who, as usual in such cases, were opposed to all changes in the government. it was only by resorting to a barbarous stratagem in one of his campaigns, that the sanguinary blow was struck. the following is an account of this sanguinary affair:

“the chiefs of the mamelukes, with their adherents, being assembled, by invitation from the pacha of egypt, within the citadel of cairo, after a time, according to eastern custom, coffee was brought, and, last of all, the pipes; but at the moment when these were presented, as if from etiquette, or to leave his guests more at their case, mahomet ali rose and withdrew, and, sending privately for the captain of his guard, gave orders that the gates of the citadel should be closed; adding, that as soon as siam bey and his two associates should come out for the purpose of mounting, they should be fired upon till they dropped, and that at the same signal the troops posted throughout the fortress should take aim at, every mameluke within their reach, while a corresponding order was sent down at the same time to those in the town, and to such even as were encamped without, round the foot of the fortress, to pursue the work of extermination on all stragglers that they should find, so that not one of the proscribed body might escape. siam bey, and his two brothers in command, finding that the pacha did not return to them, and being informed by the attendants that he was gone into his harem (an answer that precluded all farther inquiry), judged it time to take their departure. but no sooner did they make their appearance without, and were mounting their horses, than they were suddenly fired upon from every quarter, and all became at once a scene of confusion, and dismay, and horror, similar volleys being directed at all the rest, who were collected round, and preparing to return with them, so that the victims dropped by hundreds. siam himself had time to gain his saddle, and even to penetrate to one of the gates of the citadel; but all to no purpose, for he found it closed like the rest, and fell there pierced with innumerable bullets. another chief, amim bey, who was the[326] brother to elfi, urged the noble animal which he rode to an act of greater desperation, for he spurred him till he made him clamber upon the rampart; and preferring rather to be dashed to pieces than to be slaughtered in cold blood, drove him to leap down the precipice, a height that has been estimated at from thirty to forty feet, or even more; yet fortune so favoured him, that though the horse was killed in the fall, the rider escaped. an albanian camp was below, and an officer’s tent very near the spot on which he alighted. instead of shunning it, he went in, and throwing himself on the rites of hospitality, implored that no advantage might be taken of him; which was not only granted, but the officer offered him protection, even at his own peril, and kept him concealed so long as the popular fury and the excesses of the soldiery continued. of the rest of that devoted number, thus shut up and surrounded, not one went out alive; and even of those who had quietly remained in the town, but very few found means to elude the activity and greedy search that was made after them—a high price being set upon every mameluke’s head that should be brought. all cairo was filled with wailing and lamentations; and, in truth, the confusion and horrors of that day are indescribable; for not the mamelukes alone, but others also, in many instances wholly unconnected with them, either from mistake, or from malice, or for plunder, were indiscriminately seized on and put to death; so that great as the number was that perished of that ill-fated body, it yet did not comprehend the total of the victims. the strange fact of the leap and escape of amim bey, and of his asylum in the officer’s tent, reached at last the pacha’s ears, who sent instantly to demand him; and when the generous albanian found that it would be impossible any longer to shelter or screen his fugitive, he gave him a horse, and recommended him to fly with all speed into asia, where, in the palace of suleyman pacha at acre, he found safety.”

slave trade.—the following is a good description of this horrible trade now nearly at an end:—

“on our return from brazil, we fell in with a slave-ship. she had taken in, on the coast of africa, 336 males and 226 females, making in all 562, and had been out seventeen days, during which she had thrown overboard 55. the slaves were all enclosed under grated hatchways, between decks. the space was so low, that they sat between each other’s legs, and stowed so close together, that there was no possibility of their lying down, or at all changing their position, by night or day.[327] as they belonged to, and were shipped on account of different individuals, they were all branded, like sheep, with the owners’ marks, of different forms. these were impressed under their breasts, or on their arms, and, as the mate informed me, with perfect indifference, “queimados pelo ferro quento—burnt with the red-hot iron.” over the hatchway stood a ferocious-looking fellow, with a scourge of many twisted thongs in his hand, who was the slave-driver of the ship; and whenever he heard the slightest noise below, he shook it over them, and seemed eager to exercise it. as soon as the poor creatures saw us looking down at them, their dark and melancholy visages brightened up. they perceived something of sympathy and kindness in our looks, which they had not been accustomed to, and feeling, instinctively, that we were friends, they immediately began to shout and clap their hands. one or two had picked up a few portuguese words, and cried out, “viva! viva!” the women were particularly excited. they all held up their arms; and when we bent down and shook hands with them, they could not contain their delight; they endeavoured to scramble upon their knees, stretching up to kiss our hands; and we understood that they knew we had come to liberate them. some, however, hung down their heads in apparently hopeless dejection; some were greatly emaciated, and some, particularly children, seemed dying. but the circumstance which struck us most forcibly, was, how it was possible for such a number of human beings to exist, packed up and wedged together as tight as they could cram, in low cells, three feet high, the greater part of which, except that immediately under the grated hatchways, was shut out from light or air, and this when the thermometer, exposed to the open sky, was standing in the shade, on our deck, at 89 deg. the space between decks was divided into compartments, three feet three inches high; the size of one was sixteen feet by eighteen, and of the other, forty by twenty-one; into the first were crammed the women and girls; into the second, the men and boys: 226 fellow-creatures were thus thrust into one space 288 feet square, and 336 into another space 800 feet square, giving to the whole an average of twenty-three inches, and to each of the women not more than thirteen inches, though many of them were pregnant. we also found manacles and fetters of different kinds; but it appeared that they had all been taken off before we boarded. the heat of these horrid places was so great, and the odour so offensive, that it was quite impossible to enter them, even had there been room. they were measured, as above, when the slaves had left[328] them. the officers insisted that the poor suffering creatures should be admitted on deck, to get air and water. this was opposed by the mate of the slaver, who, from a feeling that they deserved it, declared they would murder them all. the officers, however, persisted, and the poor beings were all turned up together. it is impossible to conceive the effect of this eruption—507 fellow-creatures, of all ages and sexes, some children, some adults, some old men and women, all in a state of total nudity, scrambling out together to taste the luxury of a little fresh air and water. they came swarming up, like bees from the aperture of a hive, till the whole deck was crowded to suffocation, from stem to stern, so that it was impossible to imagine where they could all have come from, or how they could all have been stowed away. on looking into places where they had been crammed, there were found some children next the sides of the ship, in the places most remote from light and air; they were lying nearly in a torpid state, after the rest had turned out. the little creatures seemed indifferent as to life or death; and when they were carried on deck, many of them could not stand. after enjoying for a short time the unusual luxury of air, some water was brought; it was then that the extent of their sufferings was exposed in a fearful manner. they all rushed like maniacs towards it. no entreaties, or threats, or blows, could restrain them; they shrieked and struggled, and fought with one another, for a drop of this precious liquid, as if they grew rabid at the sight of it. there is nothing which slaves, in the middle passage, suffer from so much as the want of water. it is sometimes usual to take out casks filled with sea-water as ballast, and when the slaves are received on board, to start the casks and refill them with fresh. on one occasion, a ship from bahia neglected to change the contents of the casks, and on the mid-passage found, to their horror, that they were filled with nothing but salt water. all the slaves on board perished! we could judge of the extent of their sufferings from the afflicting sight we now saw.”

sluys, naval battle of.—in this battle edward iii gained a signal victory over the french. the english had the wind of the enemy, and the sun at their backs, and began the action, which was fierce and bloody—the english archers galling the french on their approach; 230 french ships were taken; 30,000 frenchmen were killed, and two admirals; english loss inconsiderable.—fought, june 24th, 1340.

smolensko, battle of.—one of the most memorable battles[329] fought during the russian campaign of 1812, between the french and russian armies. fought, august 17th, 1812. the french were three times repulsed, but at last gained the victory, and on entering smolensko, found it in ruins, on account of their bombardment.

sobraon, battle of.—in india.—fought, february 10th, 1846, between the british army, 35,000 strong, under sir hugh gough, and the sikh force on the sutlej. the enemy were dislodged after a dreadful contest, and all their batteries taken; and in attempting the passage of the river by a floating bridge in their rear, the weight of the masses that crowded upon it caused it to break down, and more than 10,000 sikhs were killed, wounded or drowned. they also lost sixty-seven cannon and some standards. the british lost 2383 men.

solebay, naval battle of.—between the fleets of england and france on the one side and the dutch on the other; the allies commanded by the duke of york. the dutch were compelled to flee, having lost three ships, but the english lost four. in this obstinate and bloody engagement the earl of sandwich man-of-war blew up, and 1000 men were either killed or wounded. fought, may 28th, 1672.

solferino, battle of.—this great battle, one of the most bloody ever fought, took place during the war of italy and france against austria. fought, june 24th, 1859. the loss on both sides was tremendous. the austrians mustered 250,000 men; the allies 150,000. the number slain and wounded ranged from 30,000 to 37,000. the result of this battle was the austrians repassed the mincio, whilst the allied headquarters were placed at cavriana.

sortie from sebastopol.—the great sortie, during which the good captain hedley vicars was killed, is well described in the following account:

“on the night of the 22nd of march, the enemy, about 7000 strong made a sortie from the works of the mamelon, which the french, as already related, had so gallantly endeavoured to wrest from them. the distance between the advanced parallels of the opposing forces was not more than sixty yards; and the russians were fully alive to the necessity of preventing, if possible, any further advance on the part of the allies. the french and english generals were equally aware of the importance of the position, and not less than 6000 or 7000 french[330] soldiers were nightly marched down to the trenches; our working and covering parties numbering about 1500. advancing stealthily in two columns, the enemy attacked the head of the french sap, and were gallantly met by a division of the 3rd zouaves, under chef de bataillon balon. three times was the attack made, and three times repulsed, not without great loss both to assailants and defenders. finding themselves unable to force the french lines in this direction, the enemy changed his front, and threw himself against the left of the french position; but here, too, our brave allies were equally on the alert, and a sharp volley assured the adventurous russians that but little success was to be hoped for in that quarter. rapidly extending their attack, they succeeded in occupying the nearest english parallel, and thence poured a murderous fire into the french lines. general d’autemarre, the officer in command, seeing the fierce nature of the attack, now ordered up the 4th battalion of the chasseurs-à-pied, who, in a vigorous bayonet charge, drove the enemy from his position.

while this was going on in the french trenches, to the right of our lines, our troops were also engaged in repelling an equally determined attack. a portion of the russian columns advanced under cover of the darkness, and succeeded in approaching the english lines. the first intimation our men had of the threatened attack was from the advanced sentinels, who quietly fell back with the intelligence that a large body of the enemy was approaching our position. the english troops engaged that night in the trenches consisted of detachments of the 7th, 34th, 77th, 88th, 90th, and 97th regiments, under the command of colonel kelly, of the 34th. the advanced posts on the right nearest the french lines were composed of men from the 77th and 97th, led by captain vicars, who, hearing the approach of the enemy, ordered his men to keep silence. on came the russians, and when within a few yards of the english trenches, they rushed forward and leaped into the works. they were immediately met by the brave defenders of the lines, who, hitherto motionless, now made an irresistible charge upon the advancing foe, and after a few moments of desperate hand-to-hand conflict, literally pitched them from the parapet. captain vicars, who led his men with distinguished courage, met his death in this vigorous repulse. major gordon, of the engineers, who commanded the detachment on the right, was severely wounded. while the attention of the defenders of the trenches was thus drawn to the conflict in this direction, the enemy made another attempt to penetrate our lines farther to the left, where two mortars had[331] been established for the defence of the trenches. here they succeeded in gaining a footing, notwithstanding a most brilliant resistance from a few men of the 90th, who actually drove them from the battery, though they were unable effectually to oppose their advance. the 7th and 34th, under the command of lieut.-colonel tylden, were now brought up to the scene of action, and gallantly met the fierce assault. after a severe contest, the russians gave way, and were precipitated from the works. a general attack was now made upon the retreating masses, who fled utterly beaten. the french followed them so far as to be enabled to destroy some of the rifle-pits they had established on the slope of the mamelon, which had been the means of such constant annoyance to our allies. in this pursuit colonel kelly was killed. the russian loss must have been very great. on our side, the casualties were not more than 38 killed and wounded; the french lost over 300.

on the next day an armistice, for the purpose of burying the dead, was requested by general osten-sacken, the russian commander. this was granted, and for two hours, on the 24th, the guns ceased firing, and the officers and men of the opposed armies enjoyed a brief respite from their deadly contest. there was a natural desire on each side to approach as nearly as possible the lines of the other; and the soldiers mingled freely in the open space between the allies on the one side and entrenched sides of the mamelon in front. burial parties were formed and the dead and wounded of either army borne away by their comrades. meanwhile the officers chatted and exchanged cigars, and the men passed equivocal compliments—such as their very limited acquaintance with each other’s language would permit; the russians making kind inquiries as to when the allies would favour them with a visit at sebastopol; and our fellows requesting them not to trouble themselves with special preparations, as they intended to make themselves quite at home when they did come. the dead and wounded, in every variety of attitude, were a frightful spectacle, even to those inured to scenes of strife and bloodshed. at length the armistice expired, the white flags disappeared from the parapet of the mamelon, the stragglers hastily ran to the protection of their works, and in an instant the boom of hostile cannon again thundered on the ear, and clouds of white smoke again obscured the scene of the brief truce.”

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sovereignty of the seas, the.—“the grand truth embodied in the majestic lines—

“let us be back’d with god, and with the seas,

which he hath given for fence impregnable,

and with their helps alone defend ourselves;

in them, and in ourselves, our safety lies.”

seems to have been a heartfelt conviction in the breasts of all true englishmen, long centuries before the poet was born.

king john, whom history has generally branded as a very unworthy monarch, had some redeeming kingly qualities—not the least of which was his determined assertion of england’s sovereignty of the seas. he ordered his sea-captains to compel all foreigners to salute his flag by “striking” their own national flags, and, probably, by also lowering their topsails (as was the practice at a subsequent period), in acknowledgment of england’s maritime supremacy. if any foreign ship, even though belonging to a friendly power, refused compliance, it was to be seized, and adjudged a lawful prize. this and other facts lead to the conclusion that john only enforced an ancient claim to dominion of the seas, which had been asserted and enforced occasionally time out of mind.

edward iii, during his wonderfully long reign of fifty-one years, was a most jealous asserter of his sovereignty of the seas, over which he claimed a judicial power. dr. campbell says that edward, “in his commissions to admirals and inferior offices, frequently styles himself sovereign of the english seas, asserting that he derived this title from his progenitors, and deducing from them by the grounds of his instructions, and of the authority committed to them by these delegations. his parliaments, likewise, in the preambles of their bills, take notice of this point, and that it was a thing notorious to foreign nations that the king of england, in right of his crown, was sovereign of the seas. in old “hakluyt’s voyages” is printed a very curious poem, called “de politia conservativa maris,” supposed to have been written in the time of edward iv. it contains a number of separate chapters, each of which is full of most valuable and instructive information concerning the commerce of england with various countries. the unknown author, who must have been a man of very extensive information in his day, urges most strongly his countrymen to maintain inviolate the sovereignty of the seas, as the only means to preserve their prosperity and safety.

in the reign of charles i, both the french and dutch began to express great jealousy of the british claim to dominion of the seas, and[333] hugo grotius endeavoured very learnedly to prove that albion had no better natural right than holland, or any other maritime nation, to such a title. our own equally learned and eloquent selden retorted by his celebrated treatise “mare clausum.” we need not quote any of his arguments, which are generally profound, and, if not always impregnable to impartial criticism, are at any rate patriotic and singularly striking and ingenious. suffice it that the general conclusion to which he arrives is conveyed in one very impressive sentence: “that they (the english) have an hereditary, uninterrupted right to the sovereignty of their seas, conveyed to them from their earliest ancestors, in trust for their latest posterity.” mainly with a view to enforce his claim to the sovereignty of the narrow seas, did charles i endeavour to provide a naval force sufficient to overawe both french and dutch, and therefore issued his writs for levying “ship-money”—a most fatal undertaking as concerned himself; for, as every reader knows, this arbitrary measure (however honourable its original motives might have been) was the beginning of that deplorable alienation between the king and his subjects which resulted in the great civil war, and eventually cost the hapless monarch both his crown and his life.

in 1635 the king, by his secretary of state, addressed a long and deeply interesting letter of instructions to his ambassador at the hague, in order to enable the latter to explain and justify to their “high mightinesses” his naval preparations, and their meaning and objects. we will extract a few passages illustrative of our theme: “we hold it,” saith king charles, “a principle not to be denied, that the king of great britain is a monarch at land and sea, to the full extent of his dominions; and that it concerneth him as much to maintain his sovereignty in all the british seas, as within his three kingdoms; because, without that, these cannot be kept safe, nor he preserve his honour, and due respect with other nations. but, commanding the seas, he may cause his neighbours, and all countries, to stand upon their guard whensoever he thinks fit. and this cannot be doubted, that whosoever will encroach on him by sea, will do it by land also, when they see their time.... the degrees by which his majesty’s dominion at sea hath of later years been first impeached, and then questioned, are as considerable as notorious.... but withal, considering that peace must be maintained by the arm of power, which only keeps down war by keeping up dominion; his majesty, thus provoked, finds it necessary, for his own defence and safety, to re-assume and keep his ancient and[334] undoubted right in the dominion of the seas, and suffer no other prince or state to encroach upon him, thereby assuming to themselves or their admirals any sovereign command, but to force them to perform due homage to his admirals and ships, and to pay acknowledgments as in former times they did.”

the protector of the commonwealth proved himself quite as jealous of maintaining the power and privileges of the navy, as any of his kingly predecessors, and he did what not one of them had ever effected, namely, made a treaty with the united provinces (the low countries), by which it was solemnly stipulated “that the ships and vessels of the united provinces, as well those fitted for war as others, meeting any ships of war of the said commonwealth in the british seas, shall strike their flag and lower their topsail, in such manner as had been any time before practised under any former government.” this was in 1654. after the restoration, charles ii renewed the treaty in 1662, and in 1667, in almost precisely the same terms as the above; and at the conclusion of the dutch war, in 1673, in the fourth article of the treaty of peace it was expressly stipulated that if any “ships or vessels of war, or others, or whether single or in fleets, shall meet in any of the seas from cape finisterre to the middle point of the land of vanstaten in norway, with any ships or vessels belonging to his majesty of great britain, whether those ships be single or in greater numbers, if they carry his majesty of great britain’s flag or jack, the aforesaid dutch vessels or ships shall strike their flag and lower their topsail, in the same manner, and with as much respect, as has at any time and in any place been formerly practised,” &c. the reader will bear in mind that the dutch were at that time the most powerful naval power next to great britain. the treaty appears to have confirmed the dominion of the latter beyond what might properly be called the “narrow,” or “british seas,” including, as it did, all from the south-west of portugal to a cape in norway.

during the reigns of the four stuart kings, as well as under the protectorate of cromwell, the “mariners of england,”

“whose flag has braved, a thousand years,

the battle and the breeze,”

did indeed jealously “guard our native seas,” and assert and maintain their country’s sovereignty thereof. in 1652, two fierce actions were fought on this very score “on the 14th of may, commodore young fell in with a dutch convoy, escorted by three ships of war, from whom he civilly demanded the usual honours to be paid to the english flag.[335] the dutch commander positively refused to comply, giving as a reason that he had express orders from the states-general not to pay those honours which the english exacted from their ships in the channel. commodore young, on this refusal, fired into the dutch, which brought on a smart action; but at length the dutch ships struck, and, after paying the compliment, were allowed to proceed on their voyage.” only four days later, blake himself and van tromp had a far more serious encounter on the very same score. van tromp and his fleet stood towards dover, off which blake was lying with fifteen men-of-war, and paid no respect whatever to the english flag. blake instantly fired, from his own ship, three unshotted guns at the dutchman as a reminder of his want of respect. van tromp retorted with a broadside. “a most furious engagement instantly began. at first the whole of the dutch fleet directed their fire at the english admiral, but he was soon bravely supported by the rest of the ships, and commodore bourne joining at the same time with eight sail more, obliged the dutch to bear away, though still superior in number, and seek shelter at the back of the goodwin sands, after having been most severely mauled. the action lasted from four till nine at night. one of the dutch ships was taken, and another sunk.”

in a volume of the “naval chronicle,” for 1807, the sovereignty of the sea is described as being “an actual and peculiar use and enjoyment of the sea itself, and the performance of all the functions of a sovereign upon it; such as prescribing rules of navigation to those who frequent it, punishing delinquents, protecting others, and receiving from all that homage and advantage which are due to every lawful sovereign.” the writer proceeds to state that the dominion of the sea entitles the “lawful possessors” to six several prerogatives. the first two refer to the right of fishing, &c., and the residue we will give at length.

“3. to impose tribute and customs on all merchant ships and fishermen, fishing and trading within the limits of the sea that is subjected to any particular dominions.

“4. the regular execution of justice for protecting the innocent, and punishing the guilty for all crimes committed within the extent of such sea-dominions.

“5. to grant free passage through any such sea to any number of ships of war belonging to any other prince or republic, or to deny the same, according to the circumstances and occasion of such passage, in the same manner as any prince or state may grant or deny free passage to foreign[336] troops through their territories by land, even though the prince or state to whom such ships or land forces belong be not only at peace, but in alliance with the prince or republic of whom passage is desired.

“6. to demand of all foreign ships whatsoever within those seas to strike the flag and lower the topsail to any ships of war, or others bearing the colours of the sovereign of such seas.”

the latest example of an english commander insisting on a salute to his flag, which we have been able to find, occurred in the month of june, 1769, when “a french frigate having anchored in the downs, without paying the usual compliment to the british flag, captain john holwell, who was the senior officer lying there, in the ‘apollo’ frigate, sent an officer on board to demand the customary salute; the french captain refused to comply, upon which captain holwell immediately ordered the ‘hawk,’ sloop of war, to fire two shot over her, which being done, the french commander thought proper instantly to salute.”

many of the greatest of our poets have eloquently alluded to the sea-sovereignty of their native island, ramparted with tidal waters. who does not remember the truly magnificent lines:—

“this precious stone set in the silver sea,

which serves it as the office of a wall,

or as a moat defensive to a house

against the envy of less happy lands!

england, bound in with the triumphant sea,

whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege

of watery neptune.”

the popular strain of thomson’s “rule britannia” gives an emphatic assertion of britain’s naval greatness. no poet, however, has so celebrated the floating bulwarks of britain, and the “hearts of oak” who man them, as campbell. his marvellously spirit-stirring lyric, “ye mariners of england,”[3] has no rival in its intense patriotism.

in conclusion, suffice it that for a considerable time the claim of england’s sovereignty of the seas, so far as it includes special homage to our flag, or anything resembling a judicial supremacy over the ships of[337] other nations, within the limits of the narrow (or any other) seas, has been a dead letter. but we can well afford to dispense with what was at best a somewhat questionable sort of shadowy honour, for we know that we yet retain the substantial maritime supremacy which alone enables us to rank as the foremost nation of the world—

“mistress, at least while providence shall please,

and trident-bearing queen of the wide seas!”

to quote the noble lines of the patriotic and christian poet, cowper. well will it be for us to constantly bear in mind the vital truth that the same great poet proclaimed:—

“they trust in navies, and their navies fail:

god’s curse can cast away ten thousand sail!”

spurs, battle of the.—henry viii of england landed in france, july, 1513, and soon gathered an army of 30,000 men. he was shortly after joined by the emperor maximilian, with a well-appointed army of horse and foot. they laid siege to terouenne, which they invested with an army of 50,000 men; and the duc de longueville advancing to its relief was signally defeated. the french were everywhere routed in the battle. this battle of guinnegate was called the battle of the spurs, because the french made more use of their spurs than their swords. fought 18th, august, 1513.

standard, battle of the.—fought a.d. 1135. the following graphic account gives the reason why the engagement was so called:

“king david at once marched into england to strike for the rights of his niece. twice he ravaged northumberland with merciless barbarity. in a third invasion he penetrated into yorkshire. stephen was in the south, hard pressed by the partisans of matilda, and was obliged to leave the northern part of his kingdom to look to its own defence. there was a man in those parts who knew what to do. this was the aged thurstan, archbishop of york. he assembled the barons at york, held a solemn fast, gave them absolution and his blessing, and delivered into their hands his crozier and the holy banner of st. peter of york. he ordered processions of the priests with crosses, banners, and relics in every parish. he enjoined all men capable of bearing arms to rise “for the defence of the church against the barbarians.” to all who should die in battle he[338] promised salvation. he sent forth the priests to lead their parishioners to battle. sickness alone prevented him, aged as he was, from putting on his own coat of mail.

the english standard was erected on cutton moor, near northallerton. the mast of a ship was set up on a high four-wheeled car. at the top of the mast was a large cross; in the centre of the cross a silver box containing the consecrated wafer. below the cross floated the banners of three saints, st. peter of york, st. john of beverley, and st. wilfred of ripon. the idea of this car seems to have been taken from the great standard car which was used by the people of lombardy.

the scottish army was 26,000 strong. men from the lowlands of scotland were there armed with cuirasses and long spears; archers from the southland “dales,” or valleys of the rivers that run into tweed and solway; troopers from the border mountains, who rode small, but strong and active horses; the fierce men of galloway, who carried long pikes and wore no defensive armour; clansmen from the highlands with the small round target and claymore; men of the isles, who wielded a long-handled battle-axe. a strong body of knights and men-at-arms, sheathed in complete mail, rode around the king.

the english placed their standard in their centre. their steel-clad knights dismounted, sent their horses to the rear, and formed in a compact mass round the standard car. the scots came on, shouting their war cry, “alban! alban!” their fierce charge drove in the english infantry, but they could not break through the dense array of mailed warriors who surrounded the standard, and received them on the points of their levelled lances. the long pikes of the galloway men were shivered against the strong plate-armour of the knights. in vain the highlanders tried to hew their way with the claymore into the mass of iron-cased chivalry. the archers of yorkshire, nottingham, and lincolnshire, with their great bows, and arrows of three feet in length, ranged themselves on both flanks of the scots, and kept up from either side a constant flight of their deadly shafts. on many another bloody day the scots were destined to know right cruelly the fatal force of the cloth-yard arrow!

for full two hours the attack was maintained. at length the scots began to recoil. an english soldier, cutting off the head of one of the slain, raised it aloft, and cried, “the head of the king of scots.” the report that their king was killed flew through the scottish army and filled them with dismay. they broke and fled. the king, tearing off his[339] helmet to show his face, kept together a small body of troops around himself, and was able in some degree to check the pursuit. on that bloody moor he left 12,000 dead.”

stirling, battle of.—fought, a.d. 1297.

“wallace was engaged in the siege of dundee when tidings were brought him that an army, fifty thousand strong, was on the march from england to put the scots down. they were holding their course towards stirling. wallace immediately left dundee and advanced to meet them. if he could reach the river forth before the english, he meant to make them pay for their passage. he marched swiftly, talking over and arranging his plans with the good sir john the graham as they rode. when they reached the hill above cambuskenneth, two miles east from stirling, no english were in sight. it was not long, however, till their banners were seen approaching. the chief of their host was the earl of surrey. but he was old and in broken health, and the man who really took the command was sir hugh cressingham, edward’s lord treasurer of scotland. cressingham was a priest, haughty and insolent, who loved the corslet better than the cassock.

the english, three times more in number than the scots, advanced and took up their position on the banks of the forth. wallace occupied the high ground to the north. the river, spanned by a long and narrow wooden bridge, flowed between the armies. the towers of cambuskenneth abbey threw their shadows slant and long as the september sun sank behind ben lomond. the glow of the watchfires lighted up the deep and sluggish waters of the forth, as the two armies lay under the silent night, waiting for day, and what fortune god might send.

morning came, but surrey was in no haste to begin. the bridge was so narrow that only two men-at-arms could pass it abreast. the attempt to cross a deep river in the face of an enemy, by one narrow passage, was so dangerous that the english general hesitated to risk it. but the rash and scornful churchman, cressingham, would try it. he insisted on instantly attacking the scots with the division under his command. surrey gave way to the taunts of the headstrong priest, and ordered the attack.

a brave knight, sir marmaduke de twenge, led the advance at the head of a squadron of cavalry, heavily sheathed in steel, both horse and man. cressingham with his division followed. the scots, posted on high ground, kept their ranks and allowed the english to defile over the[340] bridge. wait! they know what they are about. twenge has got his division of heavy cavalry over to the opposite shore. cressingham’s division are eagerly crowding along the bridge. twenge forms his cavalry and leads them up the hill against the main body of the scots. nearly half the english army has crossed without interruption. but see that strong force of scottish spearmen who, fetching a circuit, and keeping near the river, make swiftly for the head of the bridge. they dash across the line of english as it issues from the bridge, and cut it in two. forming in a solid mass bristling with spears, they occupy the bridgehead, and bar the bridge against all passage. surrey looks on over the water. in three minutes the old general shall see a sight to make his white hair stand up!

the moment wallace has waited for has come. up then, and at them! the scots charge furiously down the hill on twenge and his cavalry, and hurl them back in disorder on the squadrons of cressingham, great part of which have not had time to form since they passed the bridge. the english are mingled, horse and foot, in desperate confusion. hundreds of them go down before the fierce charge of the scots. the long spears plough the thick, disordered mass. vast numbers are driven back into the river. the deep, still-flowing river swallows horse and man with splash and gurgle. multitudes madly plunge in, vainly hoping to struggle to the other side, and the water is lashed into a foam by the drowning struggles of thousands of men and horses. this is the sight which old surrey sees, sitting his warhorse on the safe side of the forth.

he did what he could to send help to his reeling squadrons. the royal standard of england, with its three gold leopards set on red, was advanced to the cry of “for god and st. george!” a strong body of knights attended it. then came surrey’s own banner, of chequered blue and gold, followed by a numerous force of his vassals. it was in vain. they forced their way over the bridge, but finding no room to form, they only served to increase the confusion and swell the slaughter made by the scottish spearmen. of all who crossed that fatal bridge there returned but three. sir marmaduke twenge with his nephew and armour-bearer, spurring their steads, rushed into the midst of the scots at the bridgehead, cut their way through, and escaped unharmed. the haughty churchman, cressingham, lay dead on the field. a scottish spear had pierced his mail like silk, and run him through the body, till the point stood out on the other side. it was said that wallace’s own hand drove that spear home.

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surrey saw that the safe side of the forth was safe no longer, for the scots were preparing to cross. he turned his horse, and fled without drawing bridle to berwick. his troops broke and scattered in all directions. the face of the country was covered with a confused mass of terrified fugitives, who threw away their arms and standards as they fled. keen and fierce the scots pressed the chase, and their thirsty swords drank much blood. the powerful host which a few hours before had marshalled so proudly beside stirling bridge was beaten small and scattered like chaff.”

stony creek.—canada.—fought, june 5th, 1813. between the canadians and americans, the latter commanded by generals chandler and winder. the americans had advanced as far as stony creek with the intention of dislodging him, when lieutenant colonel harvey, now sir john harvey, conceived and executed a plan of surprising them in the night. before day he entered their camp, consisting of 3000 men, with only 704 soldiers, killed and wounded a great number, and captured two generals and 120 prisoners. this affair so disconcerted the americans that they returned hastily to fort george, leaving the communication with part of niagara frontier open to the british, and perhaps eventually saving the whole of the province.

stratton hill, battle of.—between the royal army and the forces of the parliament, headed by the poet waller. the parliamentarians lost the battle, with numbers of killed and wounded, and waller was obliged to flee to bristol. fought, may 16th, 1643. waller was nephew to the great hampden.