The king having settled the operations of the ensuing campaign in Ireland, where general Ginckel exercised the supreme command, manned his fleet by dint of pressing sailors, to the incredible annoyance of commerce; then leaving the queen as before at the helm of government in England, he returned to Holland accompanied by lord Sidney, secretary of state, the earls of Marlborough and Portland, and began to make preparations for taking the field in person. On the thirtieth day of May, the duke of Luxembourg having passed the Scheld at the head of a large army, took possession of Halle, and gave it up to plunder in sight of the confederates, who were obliged to throw up intrenchments for their preservation. At the same time the marquis de Boufflers, with a considerable body of forces, intrenched himself before Liege with a view to bombard that city. In the beginning of June, king William took upon himself the command of the allied army, by this time reinforced in such a manner as to be superior to the enemy. He forthwith detached the count de Tilly with ten thousand men to the relief of Liege, which was already reduced to ruins and desolation by the bombs, bullets, and repeated attacks of Boufflers, who now thought proper to retreat to Dinant. Tilly having thus raised the siege, and thrown a body of troops into Huy, rejoined the confederate army, which had been augmented ever since his departure with six thousand men from Brandenburgh, and ten thousand Hessians commanded by the landgrave in person. Such was the vigilance of Luxembourg, that William could not avail himself of his superiority. In vain he exhausted his invention in marches, counter-marches, and stratagems, to bring on a general engagement; the French marshal avoided it with such dexterity as baffled all his endeavours. In the course of this campaign the two armies twice confronted each other; but they were situated in such a manner that neither could begin the attack without a manifest disadvantage. While the king lay encamped at Court-sur-heure, a soldier, corrupted by the enemy, set fire to the fusees of several bombs, the explosion of which might have blown up the whole magazine and produced infinite confusion in the army, had not the mischief been prevented by the courage of the men who guarded the artillery; even while the fusees were burning, they disengaged the waggons from the line, and overturned them down the side of a hill, so that the communication of the fire was intercepted. The person who made this treacherous attempt being discovered, owned he had been employed for this purpose by the duke of Luxembourg. He was tried by a court-martial and suffered the death of a traitor. Such perfidious practices not only fix an indelible share of infamy on the French general, but prove how much the capacity of William was dreaded by his enemies. King William, quitting Court-sur-heure, encamped upon the plain of St. Girard, where he remained till the fourth day of September, consuming the forage and exhausting the country. Then he passed the Sambre near Jemeppe, while the French crossed it at La Busiere, and both armies marched towards Enghien. The enemy, perceiving the confederates were at their heels, proceeded to Gramont, passed the Lender, and took possession of a strong camp between Aeth and Oudenarde; William followed the same route, and encamped between Aeth and Leuse. While he continued in his post, the Hessian forces and those of Liege, amounting to about eighteen thousand men, separated from the army and passed the Meuse at Naimir; then the king returned to the Hague, leaving the command to prince Waldeck, who forthwith removed to Leuse, and on the twentieth day of the month began his march to Cambron. Luxembourg, who watched his motions with a curious eye, found means to attack him in his retreat so suddenly that his rear was surprised and defeated, though the French were at last obliged to retire. The prince continued his route to Cambron, and in a little time both armies retired into winter quarters. In the meantime, the Duke de Noailles besieged and took Urgel in Catalonia, while a French squadron, commanded by the count d’EtrÉes, bombarded Barcelona and Alicant.

The confederates had proposed to act vigorously in Italy against the French; but the season was far advanced before they were in a condition to take the field. The emperor and Spain had undertaken to furnish troops to join the duke of Savoy; and the maritime powers contributed their proportion in money. The elector of Bavaria was nominated to the supreme command of the imperial forces in that country; the marquis de Leganez, governor of the Milanese, acted as trustee for the Spanish monarch; duke Schomberg, son of that groat general who lost his life at the Boyne, lately created duke of Leinster, managed the interest of William, as king of England and stadtholder, and commanded a body of the Vaudois paid by Great Britain. Before the German auxiliaries arrived, the French had made great progress in their conquests. Catinat besieged and took Villa-Franca, Nice, and some other fortifications; then he reduced Villana and Carmagnola, and detached the marquis de Feuquieres to invest Coni, a strong fortress garrisoned by the Vaudois and French refugees. The duke of Savoy was now reduced to the brink of ruin. He saw almost all his places of strength in the possession of the enemy; Coni was besieged; and La Hoguette, another French general, had forced the passes of the valley of Aoste, so that he had free admission into the Verceillois, and the frontiers of the Milanese. Turin was threatened with a bombardment; the people were dispirited and clamorous, and their sovereign lay with his little army encamped on the hill of Montcallier, from whence he beheld his towns taken, and his palace of Rivoli destroyed. Duke Schomberg exhorted him to act on the offensive, and give battle to Catinat while that officer’s army was weakened by detachments, and prince Eugene* supported his remonstrance; but this proposal was vehemently opposed by the marquis de Leganez, who foresaw that if the duke should be defeated, the French would penetrate into the territories of Milan. The relief of Coni, however, was undertaken by prince Eugene, who began his march for that place with a convoy guarded by two-and-twenty hundred horse; at Magliano he was reinforced by five thousand militia; Bulonde, who commanded at the siege, no sooner heard of his approach than he retired with the utmost precipitation, leaving behind some pieces of cannon, mortars, bombs, arms, ammunition, tents, provisions, utensils, with all his sick and wounded. When he joined Catinat he was immediately put under arrest, and afterwards cashiered with disgrace. Hoguette abandoned the valley of Aoste; Feuquieres was sent with a detachment to change the garrison of Casal; and Catinat retired with his army towards Villa Nova d’Aste.