Mothe's army, which was sent to intercept the
convoy; when 'tis certain that the Duke of Berwick, de la Mothe's chief,
was in constant correspondence with his uncle, the English generalissimo:
I believe on my conscience that 'twas my Lord Marlborough's intention to
prevent those supplies, of which the Prince of Savoy stood in absolute
need, from ever reaching his highness; that he meant to sacrifice the
little army which covered this convoy, and to betray it as he had betrayed
Tollemache at Brest; as he betrayed every friend he had, to further his
own schemes of avarice or ambition. But for the miraculous victory which
Esmond's general won over an army six or seven times greater than his own,
the siege of Lille must have been raised; and it must be remembered that
our gallant little force was under the command of a general whom
Marlborough hated, that he was furious with the conqueror, and tried by
the most open and shameless injustice afterwards to rob him of the credit
of his victory.

Chapter XV. General Webb Wins The Battle Of Wynendael

By the besiegers and besieged of Lille, some of the most brilliant feats
of valour were performed that ever illustrated any war. On the French side
(whose gallantry was prodigious, the skill and bravery of Marshal
Boufflers actually eclipsing those of his conqueror, the Prince of Savoy)
may be mentioned that daring action of Messieurs de Luxembourg and
Tournefort, who, with a body of horse and dragoons, carried powder into
the town, of which the besieged were in extreme want, each soldier
bringing a bag with forty pounds of powder behind him; with which perilous
provision they engaged our own horse, faced the fire of the foot brought
out to meet them: and though half of the men were blown up in the dreadful
errand they rode on, a part of them got into the town with the succours of
which the garrison was so much in want. A French officer, Monsieur du
Bois, performed an act equally daring, and perfectly successful. The
duke's great army lying at Helchin, and covering the siege, and it being
necessary for Monsieur de Vendosme to get news of the condition of the
place, Captain du Bois performed his famous exploit: not only passing
through the lines of the siege, but swimming afterwards no less than seven
moats and ditches: and coming back the same way, swimming with his letters
in his mouth.

By these letters Monsieur de Boufflers said that he could undertake to
hold the place t