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ed upon an honourable capitulation. This, however, was but of little importance to the cause of Charles; for the return of Philip to Madrid had such an effect, as to induce the kingdom of Castile to declare for him.

King Charles was, therefore, compelled to join the confederate army at Guadalaxara; and this he was the sooner reduced to, as the Earl of Peterborough, who had just then received the commission of an ambassador extraordinary, was leaving the eastern coast of Spain, in order to proceed for Italy, in hopes of raising some supplies. Soon after Sir John Leake arrived at Majorca with the British fleet, and obliged that island and Iviça to declare for King Charles; but this was shortly counterbalanced by the recapture of Carthagena; and the year was closed with the death of Pedro, King of Portugal.

The year 1707 was a most unfortunate one for the confederate arms; for, on the 5th of April, they were completely defeated at Almanza, whilst under the command of the Marquis des Minas and the Earl of Galway, having upwards of 10,000 men killed, wounded and taken prisoners. The whole number of British in the action were only 14,000; yet it is believed that it was entirely owing to the ill conduct of the Portuguese that the day was lost. So strong

indeed was this opinion, that the house of lords shortly after severely censured the Earl of Galway for having yielded the post of honour on that day to the Portuguese. It was also matter of complaint at home that the number of British troops was so small, although 29,000 had been voted by parliament for the service of the Peninsula.

The shattered remains of the confederate army were, notwithstanding their defeat, able to retire in pretty good order to Alcira, from whence they sent their wounded to Barcelona, and then crossed the Ebro, where King Charles had retired some time before with a small force, and was stationed at Tortosa at the mouth of that river. This movement they were now obliged to make, in order to defend Catalonia.

The victorious army, pursuing their advantage, and being no longer kept in check by the confede rates, soon recovered Valencia, Saragossa, &c. but Philip lost much of his popularity by the atrocious conduct of France, in ordering the unfortunate town of Xativa, on the right bank of the river Xucer, in Valencia, to be utterly burnt and destroyed, and in depriving both Arragon and Valencia of some of their most ancient privileges. In July the party of

King Charles was so strong in Italy, that he was proclaimed King at Naples; but his cause began to decline rapidly in Spain, fresh forces having arrived from France, under the command of the Duke of Orleans, who invested and took Limosa, a strong and well fortified town in Catalonia, under the observance of the confederate army; yet to counterbalance this in some degree, the Imperialists, under Count Thaun in Italy, captured Gaeta by storm, where they laid hold of all the partisans of King Philip in that country, and were thus enabled to secure Naples for King Charles.

So great was the discontent at home at this period, respecting the conduct and issue of the war, that very strong debates were held in both houses; yet nobody thought of giving up the cause, but each body of the legislature came forward with an address to Queen Anne, stating their opinion that no peace could be safe or honourable for the country, or for our allies, which would secure Spain and her colonies to the power of France. They also requested her to call on the emperor to send some additional and powerful reinforcements into Spain, under the command of Prince Eugene, (the Wellington of that day,) but the emperor

appears almost to have neglected this remonstrance from our court, as he merely sent a few troops under Count Stahremberg..

It is also a curious fact, that the house of commons, after a long and close examination, addressed her majesty complaining that there were then only 8,660 British troops in the Peninsula, instead of 30,000, the number voted; to which the answer was, that nearly the whole number voted had been sent, but were now thus reduced in consequence of death and desertion.

About the middle of 1708, after a long interval of quiet, the French captured Tortosa on the left bank of the Ebro; an advantage counterbalanced by our conquest of Minorca on the 19th of August by Sir John Leake, and Major General Stanhope, with only 3,264 men; and, in November, Denia and Alicant again fell under the French arms.

The siege of Alicant having been undertaken by the French, and conducted mostly as a blockade for three months, they contrived at last to form a mine under the rock on which the castle stands, which being partly blown up, the governor and several valuable officers lost their lives; yet the castle held out nearly two months longer, and was only forced

to surrender, but on honourable terms, after a siege conducted with great exertion.

On the 27th of April another unfortunate defeat of the confederate troops took place on the banks of the river Caya, after which the Earl of Galway escaped with great difficulty; but the Earl of Barrymore, Major General Sankey, Brigadier Pearce, and two whole brigades, were made prisoners of war.

Some negotiations about this time had taken place, by which it was stipulated that Charles III. should be acknowledged as the lawful Spanish monarch, and that the French army should evacuate that kingdom; but Lewis XIV. after amusing himself with the credulity of the allies, laughed at the treaty, and most shamefully evaded its signature, so that the war was recommenced, when Count Stahremberg, the imperial general, was lucky enough to capture fort Ballaguer, on the banks of Rio Segre, in Catalonia, a strong post with a garrison of 700 men.

The French ministry, in 1710, in order to amuse the allies, and to gain time, again made some pacific proposals, in which they offered to consent to a partition of Spain; but in this the allies knew them to be insincere; nor would they themselves, indeed, have agreed to it; and, notwithstanding the Gallic

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