The following campaign commenced by the ad vance of Philip with 23,000 men, under the Marquis of Villadarias, to the siege of Belaguer in Catalonia; but all his operations were thwarted by the skill of Count Staremberg; and being straitened for provi sions, he was obliged to retire upon Lerida. The allied army having been strengthened by reinforce ments from Italy, and joined by the Archduke, fol lowed him across the Segra, and attempting to cut him off from his supplies, came to an engagement near Almenara, when the Spanish army was thrown into confusion, and would have been totally destroy ed had not night favoured their escape. Although their loss in battle did not exceed 1500 men, yet a panic spread through the army, and it was with dif ficulty that they reached Saragossa. here Philip transferred the command of his army to the Marquis of Bay, who had distinguished himself on the western frontier. But the allies had pressed close upon his rear, and before three clays had elapsed, the battle of Saragossa drove Philip from his capital, and gave a temporary triumph to the arms of his rival. The Spanish commander, with a remnant of 8000 men, retreated to Soria, and the king hastened to Madrid. Though he returned a fugitive, without an army or resources, he still possessed the affections of his Cas tilian subjects; and when he removed the residence of the court to Valladolid, his departure was the signal of a general emigration. "Ile was accompanied by the greater part of the nobles; above 30,000 persons covered the road to Valladolid; even ladies of the first distinction followed on foot; and scarcely any re mained in the capital except those whose age, infir mities, or poverty, did not permit them to remove." When Charles, therefore, entered Madrid, no cheers greeted his arrival, but solitude and silence reigned in the deserted streets, and he was compelled to exclaim, "Madrid is a desert." The firmness and prudence of Philip seemed to rise with his misfortunes; the Castilian spirit was roused to maintain the national glory and independence; and his subjects vied with each other in lavishing their property and their lives to repair the losses of their sovereign. The arrival of the Duke of Vendome to take the command of the army infused additional ener gy into their councils. He collected the scattered re mains of the Spanish forces, and by the middle of No vember had a well appointed army of 25,000 men. The troops of Charles had remained in the vicinity of the capital, exhausted by disease and intemperance, and exposed to the incessant attacks of the armed pea santry; and their departure was hastened by the intel ligence that a French force, under Noailles, had en tered Catalonia, and attacked Gerona. The Arch duke hastened to Barcelona with an escort of 2000 horse; and his army immediately after began their re treat towards Aragon. Vendome followed, and by a rapid movement overtook their rear guard, con sisting of 6,000 men, commanded by the British gen eral Stanhope, who had taken up his cantonments in the small village of Brihuega. Stanhope, though surprised, prepared for a vigorous defence. He threw up entrenchments in the streets, which he de fended with great bravery, and disputed every inch of ground in expectation of being relieved, but he was at last overpowered by numbers, and compelled to surrender prisoners of war. Staremberg being ap prised of the attack, hastened, but too late to his res cue; and encountered the Spanish army at Villaviciosa. After a bloody and doubtful conflict, the two armies were separated by the darkness, and Starcmberg kept possession of the field of battle; but he had suffered so much during the action, that he spiked both his own cannon and those of the Spaniards, and retreated during the night to Barcelona. Soon after this, Gerona having submitted to Noailles, the Spaniards gradually established themselves in the centre of Catalonia, and menaced Barcelona and Tarragona.
The distresses of France were now come to a crisis; and Louis, with all the energy of an absolute govern ment, was scarcely able to prolong a defensive war. The only resource, therefore, from impending ruin, was peace almost upon any terms. The preceding campaign had been most favourable to the arms of the allies; and had they prosecuted the war during another year with similar success, they would have been able to dictate a peace at the gates of Paris. But the house of Bourbon was saved by the shameful defection of Britain from the principles of the grand alliance. A change of ministry in that country had led to a change of measures most favourable to France and Spain. The overtures or Louis were favourably re ceived, although the resignation of the throne of Spain by his grandson, the great cause of the war, formed no part of them; and the British cabinet, sel fishly grasping at the offer of commercial advantages, meanly submitted to commence negotiations without the consent of the other maritime powers, and con tinued these clandestine transactions, while they were amusing the Dutch with professions of cordiality and oonfidence. Louis, however, had some difficulty to
bring Philip to accede to the proposed terms. The cession of the Netherlands was at first vehemently opposed by Count Bergueck, the minister of Philip; but Louis having gained over the Princess Orsini, his objections were silenced or overruled, and Philip granted full powers to his grandfather to negotiate in his name. The consent of the Dutch to the prelim inary arrangements was extorted by the dread that Britain would conclude a separate peace; and Charles, who had been raised to the imperial throne, finding all remonstrances fruitless, did not refuse to take a share in the discussions. The deaths of the Dauphin and his son the Duke of Brittany. which left only the duke of Anjou, a sickly infant, between Philip and the throne of France, threw a new difficulty into the negotiations. Louis, though he tacitly acknowledged, yet was always solicitous to evade one of the prelim inary articles respecting the separation of the two crowns. When their union, however, became so probable, the British cabinet demanded the immedi ate renunciation of Philip for himself and his heirs, of all claim to the crown of France, and a similar renunciation of the Duke of Orleans to the crown of Spain. The king of France at first resisted their de mand, and declared that " No power on earth can alter the constitutional law of the kingdom, the prince next the crown necessarily succeeds." But when the allies, by their military preparations, gave undoubted indications of their determination to resume hostili ties, Louis, afraid again to trust the fate of his crown to the fortune of war, was compelled to acquiesce, and Philip S0011 after signed his renunciation in a full council of state, which was ratified and confirmed by the Cortes. The great obstacle to peace being now removed, the negotiations proceeded, and at last led to a general peace. which was concluded at Utrecht,. with all the contending parties except the Emperor and Philip. The principal articles with regard to Spain trete, that Spain and the Indies should con tinue subject to the present sovereign: that Gibraltar and Minerca should be ceded to Britain; the Nether lands, Naples, and Milan, with the island of Sardinia to the house of Austria; and Sicily to the duke of Savoy, with the title of King. As the emperor re fused to renounce his pretensions to Spain, the deci sion of the grand question relative to that monarchy between him and Philip, was left to future and negotiations.
The war still continued in Catalonia, but as the campaign on the side of Philip was merely defensive, the only event of importance was an unsuccessful at tempt of Staremberg against Gerona. The emperor, however, in order to concentrate his whole force on the borders of the empire. entered into a treaty for the evacuation or that principality, in which he la boured to preserve for the Catalans their darling con stitution. But Philip would admit of only one form of government in his dominions, and was resolved to abrogate their privileges. All, therefore, that could he attained for these faithful supporters of his cause, was a general amnesty and oblivion of past offences, and a tender of the constitution of Castile in lieu of their own. England also, who had twice pledged herself in the face of Europe to maintain their privi leges as the price of their services, meanly shrunk from the fulfilment of their engagements: and the Catalans were left to their fate. Ardently attached to their native customs and laws, and holding in de testation those of Castile, the inhabitants of Barce lona resisted every offer of accommodation, short of the actual acknowledgment of their ancient privileges. Though abandoned by all, they prepared for a vigor ous defence, determined to relinquish their liberty only with their lives. Villaroel, who had received the rank of general in the Austrian service, was en trusted with the military command. Ile had only 16,000 troops besides armed citizens, to oppose the whole army of Philip, supported by 20,000 French, under the renowned Duke of Berwick. But every expedient that skill or valour could suggest, was em ployed to ensure success in the approaching conflict. All who were unfit for service, the timid, the sickly, and the aged, were removed to the island of Majorca, which also held out against the authority of Philip, the fortifications were repaired and strengthened, the streets barricadoed, and every house converted into a citadel, by piercing the walls for the use of musketry; and, in order to excite the popular enthusiasm, and to strengthen their patriotism with the sanctions of religion, they deposited on the high altar of the ca thedral the written promise of the queen of England to maintain their constitution, making a solemn ap peal to heaven against the desertion of those, of whose selfish ambition and crooked policy they were about to become the victims.