In the beginning of 1759, the French made themselves masters, by an act of perfidy, of Frankfort on the Mayne. As this acquisition secured to them the course of the Maine and the Upper Rhine, the allies resolved to attempt their dislodgment ; but Prince Ferdinand, in attempting to gain possession of the village of Bergen, which was neces sary for this purpose, was repulsed by the Duke of Broglio. Soon afterwards, the French armies on the Upper and Lower Rhine formed a junction, which rendered it prudent for the Prince to retire. Nothing now intervened to pre vent them from taking possession of Munster and Min den; and the acquisition of them exposed Hanover to great danger. The Prince, therefore, in order to save the Elec torate, resolved to give them battle ; and the battle of Min den was fought, in consequence, on the 1st of August. Although the result of this battle was, perhaps, not so sa tisfactory and advantageous to the Prince as it might have been, it enabled him to defend the Electorate Lffectually. No other event of consequence having taken place this year on the Continent of Europe, in which the French were concerned, we shall now briefly notice the disasters that attended them in the \Vest Indies, North America, the East Indies, and by sea. In the \Vest Indies, Guadaloupe was reduced, though they saved Martinique from the at tack of the English. In North America, the genius and gallantry of Wolf stripped them of all their possessions, by the victory which he gained on the heights of Abraham. In the East Indies, General Lally was at first successful: he even attempted the siege of Madras, but he was obliged to abandon the enterprise. The French were afterwards de feated whith great slaughter in two engagements. By se-, they were more than usually unfortunate this year; for, making preparations for an invasion of Britain, all their ports in the Channel were blocked up by Admirals Rodney and Hawke ; while Admiral Boscawen, for a time, suc ceeded in blocking up their fleet in the harbour of Toulon. The French Admiral, however, found an opportunity to es cape; and the sea fight off Cape Logos was the consequence, in which the Toulon fleet was defeated, with the loss of four ships of the line. Notwithstanding these disasters, the French minister seemed still bent on invading England ; and the English fleet having been driven off the coast of France in a storm, Admiral Conflans put to sea with 21 sail of the line and some frigates : He was met by Admiral Hawke, and defeated with great loss, between Belleisle and Cape Quiberon.
In order to compensate for these losses, the French government resolved to open the campaign of 1760 in Eu rope with immense force ; and as the nobility and gentry seconded the exertions of the government, it was enabled to augment the army in Westphalia, under Marshal Bro glio, to 100,000. The allied army under Prince Ferdinand, though less numerous, was better appointed. Nothing of importance occurred between them till the 31st of July, when the French were defeated at the battle of Warburg, and obliged to retreat, with the loss of 3000 men. In con sequence of this victory, Prince Ferdinand was enabled to protect Hanover ; but the dominions of the Landgrave of Hesse were still exposed to the French. Soon afterwards both armies went into winter quarters. In the East Indies
the French were stripped of nearly all their possessions this year.
The death of George II. led the French government to hope that his successor might be disposed to relax in his efforts to support the continental war ; but as soon as they were convinced, from the liberal supplies voted by the British parliament for the support or the German confe deracy, that their expectations were ill founded, they, in conjunction with the court of Vienna, proposed terms of peace. A congress was accordingly appointed to be held at Augsburg for the continental powers ; while the sepa rate discussions between Britain and France were to take place at Paris and London. Notwithstanding these nego ciations, hostilities were still carried on; and with respect to the particular dispute between France and England, it was soon evident, that it was more likely to be extended than adjusted, in consequence of the disposition which the court of Madrid displayed to unite with France. The prin cipal scene of the French military operations was \Vest phalia, where at first they were successful, obliging Prince Ferdinand to retire behind the Dymel ; but that indefatiga ble general soon afterwards repulsed the united forces of Broglio and Soubere, and thus was enabled to effect his grand object, the protection of Hanover. Still, however, the campaign was as indecisive, with regard to permanent or extensive advantage on either side, as any of the former campaigns had been ; and it was evident, that such opera tions would exhaust the resources both of the French and the allies. As the British ministry felt their peculiar strength to consist in the command which they now pos sessed of the sea, they planned another expedition against the coast of France, which effected the reduction of 13el leisle. This, no doubt, was a great mortification to France, but it did not induce her to weaken her Westphalian army; and therefore, as a diversion in favour of Prince Ferdinand, it totally failed, while it was impossible for the British to retain their conquest. The negociations were now again resumed ; but as the offers of cessions and exchanges made by the court of Versailles did not meet the expectations of the British cabinet, they were finally broken off. The cause of this failure was soon traced to the court of Madrid, be tween which and the court of Versailles a family compact had been some time before entered into. According to this compact, the Kings of France and Spain were to have com mon enemies and friends ; so that war declared against one was to be regarded as war declared against both ; and consequently, on such an event happening, the whole mili tary forces of both were to act in the most perfect concert. No peace was to be made except by mutual consent. Spain, however, was not to succour France when she might be involved in a war in consequence of her engage ments by the treaty of Westphalia, or her other alliances in Germany or the north, unless some maritime power took part in those wars, or France itself were attacked. Between the accession of Spain to the cause of France in her war with Britain, and the peace of Paris, no event of importance occurred, except the reduction of the island of 1\Iartinico by a British armament.