her armed visitations — the Prince of Orange hastened his projected descent upon England. He himself took the chief command; but it was necessary that a general of skill and fame should be his deputy, and, as Macaulay observes, “it was impossible to make choice of any Englishman without giving offence either to the Whigs or the Tories; nor had any Englishman then living shown that he possessed the military skill necessary for the conduct of a campaign.” Macaulay delights to expatiate on Schomberg’s popularity with the English, who believed him to be “the first soldier in Europe, since Turenne and Conde were gone.” Burnet says that letters from England to the Prince pressed him very earnestly to bring Marshal Schomberg, “ both because of the great reputation he was in, and because they thought it was a security to the Prince’s person, and to the whole design, to have with him another general to whom all would submit in case of any dismal accident.” The Prince was most happy to send for Schomberg, who accepted the second command with alacrity. The Princess also commissioned him to take the command under her authority if her beloved husband should fall. The French refugees in Holland volunteered in great numbers, and were formed into companies both of cavalry and infantry.
It is well known how storms and uncertain winds kept men’s minds on the rack of anxiety. Timid counsels were the most dangerous obstacles, and it required all the constancy of the Prince, and all the reputation of Schomberg, to preserve unanimity and co-operation. At last we find them at anchor at Torbay, and the Prince of Orange and Marshal Schomberg mounted on horses furnished by the villagers of Broxholme, and marking out an encampment for the soldiers. This was on Monday, the 5th of November 1688, a day set apart in the country for thanks-giving on account of our ancient deliverance from a Popish plot; and strikingly appropriate for the public thanksgiving which the troops of the great champion of Protestantism offered up for their safe landing on our shore. Schomberg again rode by the side of William at the famous entry into Exeter on the Friday following.
The feelings of the patriots of England are described in the rhymes of Daniel Defoe; and the following quotation from his “True-Born Englishman” is appropriate here:—
“Schomberg the ablest soldier of his age,
With great Nassau, did in our cause engage;
Both join’d for England’s rescue and defence,
The greatest Captain and the greatest Prince.
With what applause his stories did we tell!
Stories which Europe’s Volumes largely swell!
We counted him an Army in our aid,
Where he commanded, no man was afraid.
His actions with a constant conquest shine
From Villa-Viciosa[1] to the Rhine.”
One of these lines seems to have been borrowed from De Luzancy’s more poetical prose:— “The name of Schomberg alone was an army.”
At Exeter the surrounding peasantry offered to take up arms, and many regiments might have been enrolled. But Schomberg said that he thought little of soldiers fresh from the plough, and that if the expedition did not succeed without such help it would not succeed at all. William concurred. They had brought a respectable army. And Lord Cornbury, eldest son of the Earl of Clarendon, set an example, which was followed by numbers, of leaving King James, and joining the ranks of the Prince of Orange. On the 19th of November the former was at Salisbury, while the latter was at Exeter. William earnestly desired that there should be no bloodshed, that no Englishmen might resent his coming as the cause of mourning in their families. That was one reason why James wished an engagement to be brought about. Schomberg was told that the enemy were advancing, and were determined to fight; the old campaigner replied, “That will be just as we may choose.” As some skirmishing seemed inevitable, William put the British regiments in front, for which they felt pride and gratitude. Thus James’s army presented more of the appearance of foreign intruders, its van being Irish. “The Marshal de Schomberg threatened to bring most of them to their night caps without striking a blow,” says a writer in the “Ellis Correspondence.” No real battle took place. Hearing a rumour that the Ducal Marshal was approaching, James fled from Salisbury. The final result was, that the army of England declared that they would defend the person of the king, but would not fight against the Prince of Orange.
- ↑ The Battle of Montesclaros was often called the Battle of Villa Yiciosa.
