Part 12

Lorraine followed, and encamped in sight of them, along the hills of Girisnitz. The French marshals offered to surrender Prague, Egra, and all their captures in Bohemia, provided they were permitted to march home with the honours of war. These offers were rejected with disdain; Prague was invested on all sides, and though the Marshal de Maillebois marched to its relief, he achieved nothing, for the Austrians possessed all the passes of the mountains, and he was compelled to retreat as a fugitive, harassed and galled by the troops of Prince Charles, who left Prince Lobcowitz to watch the motions of the Dukes of Belleisle and Broglio in the beleaguered city.

The latter of these marshals fled from his command in the disguise of a courier; the former abandoned the city in a dark and cold December night, and, with 14,000 men and 30 guns, made his way towards Alsace, enduring unheard-of miseries; 900 men whom he left behind him surrendered at discretion; and thus again the ancient capital of Bohemia reverted to the House of Austria, which, however, lost the Duchy of Silesia by the treaty of Breslau, which ceded it for ever to the kingdom of Prussia.

In the year 1743 Count Brown was sent by his Imperial Mistress to Worms as her plenipotentiary to George II. of Great Britain, with whose ministers he spared no pains to arrange the important alliance between the Courts of London, Vienna, and Turin. On this service he acquitted himself with an ability no way inferior to the courage he had displayed in so many fields.

The arena of his next service was again in Italy, where the Austrian forces were still fighting against the Spaniards, and pursuing the old war between the houses of Bourbon and Hapsburg.

The Count Gages, who commanded the Spaniards in Bologna, having received instructions from his imperious queen to fight the enemy within _three_ days, or resign, and to fight whether he was prepared or not, passed the Parano in the beginning of February, and, on the 18th, attacked the Austrians under Count Traun, at Campo Santo, a town of Modena, where another _drawn_ battle was fought, and both sides claimed the victory. Count Gages found himself obliged to repass the river, and retire into Romagna, where he intrenched himself, and remained undisturbed till October, when Prince Lobcowitz, having assumed command of the Austrian army, boldly advanced, and drove him back on Fano. It was at this crisis that Count Brown was sent by Maria Theresa to join her Austrians, whose ultimate object was the conquest of the Bourbonic kingdom of Naples, to punish its king for violating a _forced_ neutrality, and having joined Count Gages with 25,000 men.

At this time the Empress-Queen engaged to maintain 30,000 men in Italy, provided the King of Sardinia would pay another force of 45,000, while Britain was to send a naval squadron to co-operate by sea. Lobcowitz and Count Brown had established their head-quarters at Monte Rotondo, near Rome, when their final orders arrived to invade the kingdom of Naples. Breaking up the camp, and marching towards Viletri, the prince dispatched Count Brown, with a division of German infantry and another of Hungarian hussars, to pursue the Spaniards (who began to retreat) as far as the river Tronto, with the double purpose of harassing them and endeavouring to excite an insurrection among the wild mountaineers of the Abruzzo. In fulfilment of his orders, Brown distributed everywhere manifestos in the name of Maria Theresa, urging them to throw off the Spanish yoke, and place themselves under her protection, promising, at the same time, to banish for ever the obnoxious Jews from Naples; but these proclamations were unheeded by the Abruzzesi, who evinced no inclination to revolt.

Meanwhile his commander, Prince Lobcowitz, had halted in the marquisate of Ancona, being somewhat uncertain in which direction to march. Pushing on, Count Brown crossed the Tronto, which separates the kingdom of Naples from the Papal territory. Entering, he gave all to fire and sword as he advanced. His route lay along the shore of the Adriatic by the high road to Naples, which crosses the river Potenza near its mouth, and lies on the confines of Ascoli. He laid most of the small towns in the Abruzzo under contribution. Some were fined in money--others in a certain quantity of barley bread; but his necessary severity was greatly tempered by mercy. His advanced guard of hussars had daily skirmishes with the Spanish cavalry.

The passes being deep with snow, so as to be almost impassable for artillery and baggage, Lobcowitz gave up all thought of entering Naples by the coast road, which was the only clear one, and very unwisely recalled Count Brown with his forces; and as soon as they joined, began his march by the way of Umbria and the Campagna di Roma, with 6000 horse and 20,000 foot. Among the former were 2000 hussars; among the latter were some irregulars, or free companies of what Buonamici, in his _Commentaries_, styles "Condemned persons and deserters, who, despairing of pardon, and urged by the prospect of plunder, panted for an opportunity of coming to blows with the enemy." This small army advanced in three columns, two days' march apart, that the people might not be oppressed. Brown commanded the first. Advancing by Spoleto, Terni, and Narni, they reached Castellana, and held a council of war, at which Brown, the Cardinal Alessandro Albani, and the Bishop of Gurck assisted. A stormy debate ensued, and nothing was decided upon.

Meanwhile the alarmed King of Naples, with the combined armies of Naples and Spain, was encamped on the hill of Anagni, in the Campagna di Roma. The Spaniards under Count Gages consisted of eleven battalions of infantry, three regiments of cavalry, under the Duke of Atri, five hundred horse-archers, and three hundred of the Duke of Modena's archer-guards (archers, of course, but by name); with the _Irish Brigade_, and a regiment of hussar deserters. The Neapolitan army consisted of eighteen battalions of foot and five regiments of horse. The vanguard was composed of light-armed mountaineers. The artillery was commanded by the veteran Conte di Gazola.

Lobcowitz and Brown now began their march towards Rome; crossed the Tiber at Teverone, and halted at Marino, where of old stood the villa of Caius Marius. After a great deal of severe marching, counter-marching, and skirmishing, the prince resolved on assailing the chiefs of the allies in their head-quarters, which they had established in Viletri; and this daring enterprise he committed to Brown, his most active and able general.

In Viletri, the King of Naples and the Duke of Modena, with most of the nobles and officers of their troops, had quartered themselves, and taken every measure to secure and fortify the town, which is situated upon a high mountain, surrounded by deep valleys, all difficult of access, but beautifully planted with vineyards and groves of olive-trees. It had several gates, a Minorite convent, and a town-house, which crowned the summit of the hill. Charles of Naples occupied the noble palace of the Ginnetti family; adjacent to which were spacious gardens, a lane, and a bridge, all guarded by soldiers, and barricaded, and planted with brass cannon. The gardens communicated with the Valmonte road, and thereon were posted two battalions of the Walloon Guard. The custody of the Roman gate was committed to the Royal Regiment of Horse, and the Duke of Modena's Life Guards, while at the foot of the eminence, to sweep all approaches, the most of the artillery were posted near the Capuchin convent. The right flank of the town was occupied by Spanish and Italian infantry; the left by the cavalry, the Irish Brigade, and four battalions of the Walloon Guard.

The Austrians had intrenched themselves on a hill, only a mile distant; and there, by means of spies and deserters, Count Brown had accurately informed himself of all the arrangements which had been made in Viletri; but, brave as he was, on Prince Lobcowitz first proposing this hazardous duty to him, he was struck by the too evident desperation of the service.

"The Austrian forces," said he, "are insufficient for attempting so daring an enterprise; it is impossible to reach the Neapolitan cantonment undiscovered, and I do not think we could force it without imminent danger, and a warm reception. In my opinion, the easier and the safer way would be to make a general attack with all our strength upon the enemy's works."

Brown afterwards adopted the general's opinion, that a night attack was best; and the time and manner he proposed met with the consent of all who were present at their conference.

Selecting 6000 men, he chose the 10th of August for this desperate expedition; and Lobcowitz, to conceal all knowledge of the route chosen by the count in attacking Viletri, threw a chain of picquets and videttes over a vast extent of country. In silence, and without the sound of drum or bugle, he marched from the camp; and none of his troops, save the Marquis de Novati, his second in command, were informed of the object until they reached a valley at the foot of the mountain, near a church dedicated to St. Mary. The darkness of the night (says Castruccio Buonamici) was rendered more dense by the shade of the overhanging vines.

At this moment, during a temporary halt, it was reported to the count that a soldier had deserted, and perhaps to the enemy. The Marquis de Novati fearing they were betrayed, urged a retreat, but Brown exclaimed:--

"No; I am determined to advance. The die of war has been thrown!"

And promising his soldiers ample rewards, he exhorted them to behave like brave men. Pushing on with ardour, the attack was commenced just as day began to break, by the cavalry outposts being cut to pieces, and the left flank of Viletri being furiously assailed, the infantry pushing on through walls and vineyards, and the Hungarian horsemen with lance and sabre hewing a passage to the streets. A regiment of Italian dragoons were put to flight. The brave Irish Brigade attacked the advancing Austrians with such fury, as to hold them in check for half-an-hour, but in the end were nearly cut to pieces at the Neapolitan Gate. Marsiglia of Sienna, a Knight of Malta, defended a cottage with fifty dismounted dragoons, and displayed incredible bravery. The Walloon Guards were unable to assist the Irish until they were nearly all slain. Colonel Macdonel, eleven captains, thirty subalterns, and a heap of Irish dead, blocked up the gate they had defended. The fury, the firing, and the slaughter on all sides of the hill were frightful. The King of Naples put himself at the head of his guards, crying, "Remember your king and your ancient valour." But his efforts were vain; the gates were all forced, his troops driven out, and nine of their standards taken. The street which led to the Ginnetti palace was set in flames; the Duke of Atri was nearly burned alive, and General Count Mariano was captured in bed. Brown's second in command, the Marquis de Novati, was taken prisoner, and finding his troops, who were busy plundering, about to be surrounded by those of Count Gages, he ordered his drums to beat a retreat, and retired to the intrenched camp of Lobcowitz. In this expedition he killed and captured 3000 men, hamstrung 800 horses, and brought off 500 more laden with plunder; one general, one hundred other officers, twelve standards, and three small colours. His own loss was only 500.

Disheartened by the partial failure of this affair--for the King of Naples had escaped them--destitute of forage for their cavalry and artillery, and encumbered with many sick and wounded men, Lobcowitz and Brown finding themselves unable to hazard a general engagement, and that autumn was at hand, became desirous of retreating; and after pillaging Valmonte and cutting the Duke of Portocarrara's Italian corps to pieces, transporting their baggage and sick by sea to Tuscany, they threw a pontoon bridge across the Tiber beside the Ponte Molle, and commenced a retreat in the night, demolishing all bridges as they left them behind, to bar pursuit.

The count was named "the right hand" of Lobcowitz during the arduous operations which ensued; and, by his usual activity and bravery, he frequently repulsed the pursuing Spaniards on the retreat from Viletri, during the fortification of the Austrian camp at Viterbo, the retreat from thence through the forests of Orvietto, with a force now diminished to 13,000 men; the assault upon Nocera, where Count Soro and 900 Italian deserters fell into the hands of Count Gages, who sent them in chains to San Giovanni, where every fifth man was shot--and many other similar affairs, until the Imperialists reached their winter quarters at Rimini, Cesano, and Forli, on which the Spaniards and Neapolitans retired to Pesero and Fano.

In the beginning of the following year, 1745, he was recalled from Italy by Maria Theresa, and sent into Bavaria at the head of a body of troops against the young Elector, who was in alliance with France. He took the town of Vilshosen by assault, and captured 3600 prisoners: 2000 were slain on both sides, and 6000 Hessians were forced to lay down their arms, and enter the British service for the campaign against the unfortunate Prince Charles Stuart. The count would have performed many other feats of equal brilliance, had the war against Bavaria not been terminated suddenly by the terrified Elector, who, at the same time that Vilshosen was taken, lost Pfarrkirchen, Landshut, and had all his magazines destroyed, which compelled him to sign the treaty of Fussen, and in April to conclude a peace with the Empress-Queen. In the same year Count Brown was appointed General of the Austrian Ordnance.

Though peace had been made with the Bavarian Elector, there was no rest for the soldier of fortune, who was immediately dispatched a _third_ time to Italy, with 18,000 men, against the Spaniards, by Maria Theresa, whose husband had now been elected Emperor of Germany. He joined the Prince of Lichenstein, who was carrying on the war against the still-allied French and Spaniards under the Marshal de Maillebois; and one of his first essays in the new Italian campaign was to attempt the recovery of the Milanese, out of which, solely by his activity, the allies were ultimately driven.

He also formed a daring scheme to cut off the communication between the main body of the Spanish army and their forces under the Marquis de Castellar, by detaching General Nadasti along the left bank of the Po, with orders to amuse the enemy by countermarches, and by pretending to lay a pontoon bridge across the river at Casale-maggiore, a town in Lombardy. While the deceived Spaniards were busy watching these feigned motions, their guards, who occupied the right bank of the Po, were surprised and utterly cut to pieces by the Austrian irregulars; and then Count Brown crossed the river at Borgoforte, near the strong Venetian castle, and pushing on from thence, captured Luzzara, a Parmese town four miles north of the scene of his services twelve years before--Guastalla, which he immediately invested, and took by assault, when Marshal Count Corasin surrendered, with 2000 prisoners. At this very time Castellar, with 7000 Spaniards, hovered on one flank of the count's little force, and Gages was advancing on the other; two movements by which his division must have been overwhelmed, had not the Prince of Lichenstein advanced to his support; and on uniting they took Parma.

At the battle of Piacenza Brown performed one of his most brilliant deeds, by destroying the right wing of the allies under the Marshal de Maillebois. This great encounter took place in front of the city, which stands on an extensive plain near the right bank of the Po; earthen ramparts surround, and a castle protects it. Count Gages' army abounded in cavalry; and besides its natural strength, his position was defended by the cannon of the city; so there was no hope of starving him out of his trenches--but battle was given on the 16th of June. The French, who had encamped without the Antonian gate, formed in three lines, and were the right wing of the enemy, with sixteen battalions of Spaniards under Lieutenant-General Arambure; the centre consisted of nine battalions, the flower of the Spanish infantry; the left were the regiments of Naples and Genoa.

The battle began at daybreak, and the Spaniards charged with such fury that an Austrian battery, consisting of twenty-six pieces, was taken by Arambure, who was dangerously wounded. Count Gages broke their left, when 250 gallant men of Prince Eugene's dragoons bore them back, and struck a panic into the French, amongst whom the Marshal de Maillebois was fighting on foot. These dragoons were led by Count Brown, and by their charge the Spanish and Walloon Guards were routed, trampled under hoof, and destroyed. The allies made a precipitate retreat. Two days after the battle they were reviewed, and found to have lost 3220 who were killed, 4460 wounded, and 915 prisoners. The Count de Brostel, General of the French artillery, the Chevalier de Tesse, two Spanish lieutenant-generals, and the commander of the Swiss, were among the slain. Ten pieces of cannon and thirty pairs of colours were left upon that sanguinary field, where the Austrians buried 3500 of their own dead. The King of Spain survived these tidings but a few days.

On the 9th of August the combined French, Spanish, and Neapolitan armies attempted to cross the Po at the Lombra and Tydone. Count Sabelloni, with 7000 Austrians, made a noble stand against them, from nine in the evening till ten the next morning, when General Botta and Count Brown hastened to his relief, and the conflict began again with renewed fury; and after a terrific cross fire of cannon and musketry, and a furious melee, in which Spaniard, Frenchman, Swiss, Italian, and Austrian soldiers were all mingled, with musket, sword and bayonet--no man valuing life or limb when compared with the glory of the day--the three allies were driven back, leaving 8000 killed, wounded, and prisoners, with nineteen guns and twenty standards, on the field.

The Austrians lost General Barenclau (whose courage was ever rash) with 4000 men. Counts Brown and Pallavicini were wounded. The Spaniards lost the flower of their officers, and among them the young and noble Colonel Don Julio Deodato of Lucca, an accomplished cavalier and scholar.

Marshal Maillebois and Count Gages retreated to Genoa, from thence to Nice, and from thence to Parma; abandoning Piacenza, of which the Austrians took immediate possession, and wherein they placed 9000 men, most of whom were suffering from wounds received in previous battles. Despite his wound, Brown remained at the head of his division and with the army which pursued the Bourbon allies towards Genoa, taking every place by storm or capitulation on their route, except Tortona and the mandamento or fortified town of Gavi.

On the Austrian vanguard under Count Brown (who commanded during the absence of Count Botta, the new commander-in-chief) reaching Santo Pietro d'Arena, a suburb of Genoa, the city became filled with consternation, and the senators sent the Marshal di Campo Esceria to learn from him on what conditions he would receive the city. But for some private reason Brown declined to admit him to an audience. Raynerio Grimaldi and Augustino Lomellino were next sent to the Austrian camp and the count demanded the object of their visit.

"General," they replied, "the people of Genoa have made war on no one, and least of all upon the Empress-Queen of Hungary, for whom they have ever entertained a profound veneration. Had they been her enemies, would their ambassador have been at this very time in her city of Vienna? Hard necessity forced us to embrace an alliance with the Bourbons, and it was with no other view than to defend ourselves, for we would be the vilest of mankind to suffer our Fatherland to be taken tamely from us. There can be no reason now, noble general, to distress those who have only armed them in their own defence, or treat as enemies the Genoese, who have committed no act of hostility."

"Seigneurs," replied Count Brown, "you have acted the part of our most bitter enemies, for without your assistance what could the united armies of the Bourbons have effected? You sent them auxiliaries! you supplied them with provisions; and after six years' striving to cut a passage into Italy, it was _you_ Genoese, alone, who opened up a path to them, enabling them to essay the ruin of the Austrians in Venice and in Lombardy. Begone! and without loss of time inform your senate to say no more of friendship for the present, but submit to us on those terms which my friend, General Gorani, will lay before you in writing."

Lest Brown should have the entire glory of reducing Genoa, General Botta hastened from Novi to resume the command, and he also required the immediate surrender of the city.

The allies having left 4000 men to defend the pass of La Bochetta, in the northern Apennines, a gorge which has always been considered as the key of Italy on the side of Genoa, and which is well defended by several redoubts, Count Brown advanced against it, and stormed the ravine, though it is so narrow that in some places only three men could march abreast. He attacked and routed another party on his way to Ponte Decimo; and after this, the Genoese, finding themselves completely abandoned, gave up all their gates, posts, and arsenals, and paid 50,000 genovines to the victorious Austrian troops. After this, Count Brown was appointed the generalissimo in Italy; and all thought of invading Naples having been completely laid aside for the time, it was arranged by the British and Austrian ambassadors, in a conference which they held in Santo Pietro d'Arena, that without loss of time he should make an invasion of Provence, into which the allies had retired. In obedience to this desire, after detaching General Gorani (who soon after was unfortunately killed) to fall upon the enemy's rear, and leaving the Marquis de Botta at Genoa with 18,000 men, he embarked on board a squadron consisting of three ships and eight pinnaces, commanded by the Scottish Captain Forbes, and sailing from Santo Pietro d'Arena, had a quick passage to Villa Franca, from whence he walked on foot to Nice, a two days' journey. He was disguised, for in such a country, convulsed as it was by war, assassination, and disorder, every precaution was necessary for personal safety.

Having waited on the King of Sardinia, and settled their plan of future operations, he waited at Nice only until Captain Forbes brought over the Austrian artillery, &c., from Genoa, and until the forces collected for him by the Sardinians were reinforced by the troops from Piedmont, Milan, Genoa, and those which had been blocking up Tortona; and while they were collecting, at the head of a small force he reduced, by assault, Mont Albano, in the county of Nice.