behav'd themselves so courageously and who were exactly posted towards the Attack and the Approaches of the Enemy who undoubtedly would in great numbers fall upon them in order to possess themselves of the Covert-way and the Half-Moon which they knew to be almost in no posture of defence That therefore it would be more prudent to keep only the Sallying places of Arms and to abandon all the rest especially when according to the Project that was made a good Body of Men should be put into the Half-moons and the Counterguard of Carail This advice seem'd to be very rational and the Counsel having resolv'd upon 't accordingly the Engineer went towards Night into the Covert-way to inform the Commander of the Refugees of it who did not stir from that place night and day he acquainted him with what he had proposed to the Counsel and that they all had given him their consent to which Monsieur de Julien answered That it was a very wise and recommendable resolution but since it only aim'd at the preservation of our Men if they would believe him he did not think fit to abandon a place without blows which he had guarded with so much care from the beginning of the Siege and since we were in expectation the Enemy would possess themselves of it with their Swords in their Hands he would maintain it as long as it was possible without exposing his Men to be cut in pieces That he would contrive the matter in such a manner that advice should be given him in what condition each of his Posts were during the Attack and that as soon he would find one in a condition to be forced he would save the rest of the Men in the best manner he should be capable of To which the Engineer replyed Sir you have reason not to be willing to abandon a part of your Posts which your Men have guarded till now but you will certainly be forced to t Nevertheless I am going to inform the Regiment of Salusses of your design and that consequently they are to guard their Out-works as well as you do At night the Musqueteers continued their Firing and an hour before day-break a detachment of Dragoons made a false Attack at the Counterguard de Carail whereupon a detachment was sent thither by the Commendant de Prouane but afterwards he found it to be only a false Attack June the 22d By break of day the Enemy made the true Attack after a Signal given by eight Bombs and three Cannons They attack'd one of the most advanced places guarded by the Refugees who behaved themselves with so much bravery and made so vigorous an opposition as could hardly be expected from such a handful of Men against 500 Granadeers 500 Fusileers and 200 Dragoons seconded by two Regiments of Foot but whereas they were a little too eager in some places we had great paines to save those that were not killed in the Attack We ought here to render Justice to our Enemy and confess that they behaved themselves very well since they made themselves Masters of our Outworks with their Swords in their Hands forced a way to the Half-moon in three places and mingled themselves amongst our Men into the Ditch of the place with an extraordinary Courage and Boldness One of their Colonels was killed near the Gate of the Succours and indeed he was not the only Man of their Officers that were left behind in the Ditch The Refugees having put some of their Men into the Courtine of the Bastion de Carail and Notre-Dame fired so furiously upon the Enemy who was already much weakned that it was impossible for them to maintain themselves in the Half-moon nay to lodge themselves in the Counterscarp and they confessed themselves that it had been too hot to remain there Their Dragoons who had lost their Officers were the first that run away and we ought not to be surpriz'd that all the rest followed them in great disorder since we continued to Fire upon them from the Counterguard of the Bastions de Carail and Notre-Dame and being assisted by those of the Courtine left the Enemy no time to lodge themselves except they had been willing to lose their whole Army which at that time consisted of twelve Regiments of Foot two of Horse and two of Dragoons The Regiment of Salusses annoy'd the Enemy very much with the Cannon from their Posts that were not attacked by the Enemy the Cannon of the Bastion of Notre-Dame broke twice their Squadron of Horse and this attack lasted an hour and a half Our loss consisted for the greatest part of French Refugees and of 7 or 8 Germans three Captains were kill'd upon the spot besides one who dyed afterwards of his wounds one Ensign one Sergeant and 30 Common Soldiers Of the number of the wounded were the Lieutenant Colonel who was wounded in his Hand one Captain one Ensign two Sergeants and 55 Soldiers It would be to no purpose to say with several others that the Refugees regain'd the Half-Moon with their Swords in their Hands since the Enemy will certainly deny it because they retreated without being pursued and were only forced to leave their Post by the great Fire that was made upon them from our Bastions Lieutenant Colonel de Julien who was the Man in the World that prais'd most this bold Action of theirs answered to those that complemented him for having regained this Outwork and driven the Enemy out of the Half-Moon with the Sword in his Hand and planted the Standard of England upon one point of the Half-Moon the latter of which he really did Gentlemen If you had seen the whole course of this Action you would not trouble me with such complements for if I have forced the Enemy to abandon all our Outworks it was by reason of the great Fire I ordered to be made by our Men after which 't is true that I went out and conducted them into Half-moon but I found no Enemy there no more than in the Covert-way and upon the Counterguard Confirming by this Answer of his that it is very Natural to Men of a Noble and Generous Mind to render Justice to all the World and by no means to accept of praises they have not deserved neither to hear those but with uneasiness which they have bought with the very hazard of their Lives The loss of the Enemy was far more considerable than we at first imagined we talk'd then only of 5 or 6 hundred of their Men kill'd but afterwards we were informed by the Deserters as well as the Prisoners of War amongst which there were several considerable Officers that in this Action a thousand of their Soldiers had been kill'd the Flower of their Troops with about seventy Officers kill'd or wounded and amongst them several that were in great esteem in their Army we have six of them wounded in our place The rest of the day we had no disturbance at all given us the Enemy being almost affraid
to show their Faces they only plaid with their Cannon and threw some Bombs and Stones into the City We buried our Dead and those of the Enemy that were found in our Outworks Some fresh Men were put into the Covert-way and we contented our selves to guard the Places of Arms upon each of which there were posted ten Soldiers with one Sergeant The Enemy did not at all desire leave to carry away their Dead nor did they enquire after a Colonel of theirs and several other Officers of Note that were left behind upon the place and indeed we saw several of them that lay upon the Counterscarpe lifting up their Heads as if they begg'd their Friends assistance which yet was not granted them till at Night The Enemy had advanced their Trenches within 20 or 25 yards of the Pallisadoes and it was from thence they endeavoured without pushing more forward to possess themselves of our Outworks At Night they endeavoured to draw near to the place of Arms near the covered way but were hindred by the continual firing of our Musqueteers the Enemy threw some Bombs and Stones into the place and the former being all spent they sent for more from Carmagnole June the 23d The Enemy continued their Approaches but very slowly and we saw plainly that they had no mind to lose more of their Men. At Night they advanced their Batteries and we repaired the Breaches their Cannon had made into the Courtine we raised also a Traverse upon the Bastion of Carail to cover the Houses on that side from the Cannon of the Enemy Our Musqueteers and Gunners fired as they were used to do June the 24th Early in the Morning the Enemy began to play from their new Battery and were for some Hours taken up to ruine that part of the Courtine that defends the right side of the Half-moon and the Ditch near it They threw a power of Stones but few Bombs into our place expecting without doubt those they had sent for from Carmagnole They made also frequent discharges of their Cannon charged with Stones and during this day and the following night they advanced Outworks some Foot but always very slowly by reason of the continual Firing of our Men. Our Troops having suffered great Fatigues and being much weakned by the loss of many Men and several Officers and Soldiers wounded some of them being kill'd every day the Council of War having all things well examined and considered the poor condition of the Half-moon resolved not to defend it any longer but negligently ordering him that was to command in this Outwork to take great care not to be cut off there and in case of an Attack after two or three discharges to withdraw with his Men into the Body of the Place to put them into the Courtine and to Fire from thence upon the Half-Moon that it might cost the enemy very dear to be lodged there which was the best thing we could do considering the State of our Affairs the Counter-guard being a very hot Post and easie to be taken from behind was always left to the Guard of 120 Refugees and for a Guard of the Half-moon and of all the Places of Arms which till that day the Refugees had been trusted with there was established a Body of Men drawn proportionably out of all our Troops insomuch that at Night these 200 men were dispersed in the Half-moon the Places of Arms and the Gate of Succours under the Command of Lievtenant Colonel de Julien who was reliev'd the next day towards Night by the Lievtenant Colonel of the Regiment of Salusses and an equal number of Soldiers And indeed it was very just that since the Enemy made but one Attack a detachment of all the Bodies should be opposed them without suffering that the Refugees should be alone sacrificed and that the rest should remain in such places that were not at all insulted yet their Commander would not willingly have consented to this change in case the Council of War had not before resolv'd to defend but weakly the Half-moon and to abandon it to the Enemy when they should come near it in order to save our Men that were necessary to defend the Body of the place till his Royal Highness should be in a condition to raise the Siege At Night the Enemy advanced their Works within eight Foot of the Pallisadoes they threw a great quantity of Bombs into the place and our men fired briskly upon them June the 25th This Day was spent in suriously firing from both sides at Night the Sieur Fichet Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiment of Sallusses a brave and Gallant man and an experienc'd Officer reliev'd the Commander of the Refugees who took Post that Night upon the Courtine where the rest of his Battalion was The same Night the Enemy lodged themselves upon the Counterscarp notwithstanding our Firing and the Work they made was near the Sallying Angle of the Half-moon June the 26th It was resolv'd early in the morning to make a Mine in order to dislodge the Enemy and the Engineer Guibert had the direction of it whereupon they went immediately to work about it but somewhat slowly the day was spent in Firing on both sides At Night the Commander of the Refugees reliev'd the Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiment of Salusses It was resolved to leave only some Sentrys upon the Places of Arms to lessen also the Number of the Guard of the Counterscarp of the Half-moon and the Outworks and it was this manner Into the Counterguard were put twenty Refugees under the Command of a Lievtenant and a Sergeant with order to be always upon their Guard partly not to be surprized and partly not to be cut off and to make a great Fire during Night into the Half-moon there were only put 50 men to Fire all night long and 50 more were posted into the Ditch before the Half-moon having the Gate of Succours behind them and these fifty should every hour relieve the fifty of the Half-moon and in case of an Attack they had orders after two or three discharges to withdraw through the Gate of Succours into the Courtine from whence a prodigious Fire was to be made at the first Signal that the Half-moon was abandon'd and after these 50 men should be entred by the assistance of the Fifty that should be in order of Battle in the Ditch the latter should retreat also and should be followed by twenty Soldiers that were placed on the Right and the Left of the said Ditch near a little retrenchment The surplus of the 200 men design'd for the Guard of these Outworks with a hundred that were drawn out of the Counterguard were posted twenty of them near the Gate of Succours under the Command of a Captain and the rest upon the Courtine in the Face and Left-Flanck of the Bastion of Carail where the surplus of the Refugees were posted except 60 that were put to the Left of the Bastion of St. Francis and de
l'Hospital who were by turns relieved by the Regiment of Salusses During this Night the Enemy lodged themselves upon an Angle of the Counterscarp at the point of the Bastion of Notre-Dame we fired suriously upon them especially the Regiment of Salusses who had their Post from this Bastion till to that of l'Orme with all the Outworks The Enemy spared this Night neither Bombs nor Stones and the Latter were very troublesome to our men By break of day we saw plainly their Lodgment on which they were still at work and it was scarce big enough to cover them by nine a Clock in the Morning We detach'd ten Granadeers of the Refugees under the Command of one of their Captains to slip through the Pallisadoes of the Covert-way and to throw Fireballs into their Lodgment which was not only punctually executed by the said Captain but he did much more for after he had ordered three or four Fireballs to be thrown into the said Lodgment he past over the Pallisadoes and leapt into their Lodgment crying kill kill whereupon all the Workmen ran away with an incredible haste and there was not one Soul left behind them neither in the Work nor the Lines of Communication and if our Officer had been provided with Workmen he might have entirely ruined their Work but having no other orders than to make an attempt he retreated Afterwards the Counts de Bernez and de Rouere having discoursed with most of the Principal Officers about this Lodgment which shew'd plainly that the Enemy had a design to insult the Bastion Notre-Dame it was resolved that one hundred Fusileers and 60 Workmen should make a Sally to destroy their Work 50 Fusileers of the Refugees with some Officers proportionably were appointed for it being sustain'd by an equal number of the Regiment of Salusses Both detachments were ready yet I do not know why their Sally was put off for four hours during which time the Enemy worked with great application at last the Sally was made under the Command of a Captain of the Refugees and they had admirable Success the Work was entirely clear'd and almost all the Lines and if they had not had Orders not to engage themselves too far the Enemy would certainly have had but an ill time on 't considering the condition of their Affairs But if they drive the Enemy out of the Lodgment and the Line of Communication they did not execute the rest and whether it be for the great Fire the Enemy made or for some other reason the Workmen slipt all away and we were above an hour in possession of the Enemies Works without hearing of any of our Workmen in order to destroy them The Enemy did as we had done in the Half-moon they returned thither as soon as our men had order to retreat and indeed the Honour of this Action cost us very dear since the French Protestants had there two of their Captains two Lieutenants and two Ensigns wounded and eight Soldiers killed and fifteen wounded Those of the Regiment of Salusses lost two brave and valiant Captains viz. him that commanded the detachment and another who was Adjutant and who turn'd that way either to carry some Orders or only out of curiosity We were informed that the Enemy was extreamly surprized at this Sally they thought it a very bold Action and during it they sent some Foot to re-possess themselves of their Work but in vain Some Squadrons of the Enemies Horse that had a mind to be seen were welcomed by our Cannon and sent briskly back behind their Courtains We fired very furiously towards the Enemies Trenches from all our Posts that look towards them and some of their Deserters told us that more than three hundred men of theirs had been kill'd and wounded there We had this day the welcome News of great Succours that was coming towards us At Night the Lieutenant Colonel of Salusses reliev'd the Lieutenant Colonel de Julien and whereas a wounded Lieutenant that was made Prisoner in the Sally of the Morning gave us notice that the Enemy made a Mine to blow up the Half-moon and that it was to be executed this very Night we employed our utmost endeavours to bring our Mine to a perfection to be before-hand with the Enemy but it could not be done that Night It was resolved not to leave in the Half-moon but some Centries and ten Soldiers upon every Flanck and to let all the rest March into the place upon the Courtine and the Bastions which was executed during Night The Enemy threw a great number of Bombs and Stones into the place but before Day-break they took the pains to decamp without either Drum or Trumpet leaving us as a sign of their retreat one of their Canons upon their Battery which without doubt for want of Horses they could not carry along with them Neither had they a mind to charge themselves with a great quantity of Bullets and Fire-balls and a little Powder which they left also behind them in order to serve this Place whenever they shall be pleased to come again to besiege it Truly it was a very strange retreat and if we may believe those that have seen it their Troops were in the greatest disorder in the World They left 70 Soldiers and four or five Officers wounded behind them of which number is the Engineer Vasel and a Captain of the Regiment of Vandome and Gentleman to the Prince of that Name We are assured that besides this number there were more than fifty Soldiers that made a shift to creep away drawing one another and Swearing and Cursing against their Officers and Generals June the 28th By break of Day we received our Deliverance and we went out immediately to see if there was a Mine under the Half-moon but we did not find but the beginning of a Gallery and considering the manner they were to approach to the Half-moon they were in no condition to be soon Masters of the Place which indeed seems to be preserved by a particular Favour of God's Providence I will not trouble my self to enquire into the Reasons that made the Generals of the Enemy raise the Siege after a Blockade of seven and a full Siege of ten days It is enough that Coni has been saved by the particular assistance of Heaven and the Courage and Bravery of those that did defend it Prince Eugene of Savoy with the Sieurs de Parelle and St. Croix arrived between nine and ten a Clock in the Morning with 2300 Horse and Dragoons and near 300 Mules laden with Ammunition whilst in the mean time the Sieur de St. Silvestre with a Body of 2500 Horse and 500 Granadeers came to join the Sieur de Bulonde in order to go on with the Siege but he did not arrive till after the Enemy had abandoned their Trenches and past the River Sture It is reported that he said to the Sieur de Bulonde What Sir have you raised the Siege you must return again to