left, and encamped at Clostercamp, near the convent of Campen.

The hereditary prince, far from being discouraged by his previous unsuccessful attempts, resolved to try to surprise the French in their camp. For this purpose he began his march about ten o'clock in the evening of October 15, leaving a strong force under general Bock, with instructions to observe Rhynberg, and attack that post, in case the attempt on Clostercamp should succeed. His march was so well conducted, that he arrived within sixty paces of the front of the French camp without being perceived by any of their sentinels or out-posts, when an officer of the regiment of Auvergne was stopped, and ordered, with fixed bayonets presented to his breast, to be silent, but he, nobly preferring his duty to his life, exclaimed: "Auvergne, here is the enemy!" The alarm was repeated by the sentinels; the French ran to arms, and defended them. selves with so much bravery and resolution, that the hereditary prince, whose horse was killed under him, after repeated attacks, seeing no prospect of success, thought proper to give orders for a retreat, which was effected without confusion. The day following, the enemy attacked the advanced body of the allies, posted in a wood before Elverick, and extended along the Rhine; while another column of the French army marched through Walack, and took post among the thickets at the distance of a

the eye

quarter of a league, in front of the prince's army. His position, in consequence of this movement, became every day more critical and dangerous, and the Rhine being swelled by the rain, and the banks overflown, it was necessary to repair the bridge of pontoons, which had been thrown over that river lower down. This work was performed in sight of the enemy, and the prince, passing without molestation, proceeded to Bruymen, where he fixed his head-quarters. This passage of the Rhine under of a victorious army, and superior to him in

, numbers, was regarded as a very masterly effort of generalship.

In the month of September while the prince was encamped in the neighbourhood of Shermbeck, a body of the enemy attempted to force his quarters; but, by well.combined dispositions, he routed them, with the loss of 800 men; after which he joined the main army under prince Ferdinand. At this period the French were masters of the whole territory of Hesse, and enjoyed extensive winter-quarters, abundantly provided with all necessary provisions, and well secured by fortified places, while prince Ferdinand had been forced to retire, about the middle of December, into winter-quarters at Uslar and Paderborne, in a narrow and exhausted country. Sensible of the inconvenience of his own situation, and of the advantage the enemy possessed over him, he resolved to strike the first blow.

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For this purpose he assembled all his forces with the greatest secresy early in February 1761, and entrusted the command of a chosen body of troops to the hereditary prince, who pushed forward with the utmost expedition, into the heart of the French quarters : and leaving the country of Hesse a little to the east, he attacked Fritzlar, with a design to take it by assault, but the spirited defence of the garrison obliged him to withdraw. After having alarmed the French army, and harassed it in its retreat, lie was ordered to cover the front of the main army, which was occupied in the siege of Cassel, and some other fortresses; and at the same time he was directed to watch the motions and oppose any sudden attempt that might be made by marshal Broglio. The general, as soon as he was able to concentrate his forces, advanced with his whole army against the hereditary prince, who, notwithstanding the utmost exertions, could not prevent a column of 2000 men from being cut off, and taken prisoners by the French. His retreat, however, was conducted with so much prudence and caution, that he afforded prince Ferdinand sufficient time to collect his forces, and the whole army was enabled to evacuate the territory of Hesse without further loss.

After the battle of Fellinghausen, fought on the 16th of July, when victory declared against the allies, the French armies separated for the rest of the

campaign. One party under the prince de Soubise, passed the Lippe, and the hereditary prince was de. tached, with an inferior force, to arrest his progress, in which he succeeded, and put an effectual stop to their further advance. Soon after he was called off for the defence of his father's states, and obliged marshal Broglio and prince Xavier of Saxony, who had taken possession of Wolfenbuttle, and then invested Brunswick, to evacuate the former place, and abandon their enterprise against the latter, with so much precipitation, as to leave several of their cannon behind them.

In the ensuing campaign, the command of the French army on the Lower Rhine having been entrusted to the prince of Conde, the hereditary prince was posted with a strong corps in the bishopric of Munster to check his progress. The main ar

. my of the French, under marshal d' Estrees and Soubise, having been defeated by prince Ferdinand, near Grabenstein, called to their assistance the army

of the Lower Rhine. The hereditary prince followed up its motions with great alacrity and skill; and possessing the heights of Joannesburg,

; he prevented the junction of the two French armies, and waited only for his artillery, to annoy the army of Conde, stationed on a lower ground. Sen. sible of his danger, and convinced that no other means could extricate him out of his position but a bold and sudden attempt, the prince of Conde

ordered a regiment, distinguisherl for undaunted courage, to march up to the enemy without firing, and to drive them with the fixed bayonets from the heights. This order was executed with admi. , rable firmness by the French. The hereditary prince made every effort to rally his troops, but in vain; he was dangerously wounded, and very near being taken prisoner. His cannon, and a great number of prisoners, fell into the hands of the vic, tors. Soon after a suspension of hostilities took place, which was followed in a little time, by a general peace.

The courage, firmness, and resources, which the hereditary prince had displayed, stamped him, at this period, with the reputation of one of the first military leaders of the age. The great Frederick treated him with the most distinguished marks of regard. He became one of his principal generals, and in that quality commanded a division of the Prussian army in the war respecting the Bavarian succession, about 13 years after his marriage with the sister of George the Third, and ten after the birth of his said majesty's daughter-in-law.

In 1780 prince Charles succeeded his father in the dukedom of Brunswick Wolfenbuttle; and in 1787, at the head of a Prussian army, entered Holland, and advancing without resistance to the gates of Amsterdam, re-established the prince of Orange in the office of Stadtholder.