Page 252 - A Jacobite Exile

king issued a proclamation declaring that he was no enemy of the Polish
Republic, but simply of their king, the inhabitants were, on the whole, well

satisfied with the conduct of the invaders.

A halt was made here for some time, and a bridge was thrown across the
Vistula, while the army rested after the long and fatiguing marches it had
made. A fresh attempt was made to arrest the advance of the Swedes, and

the Cardinal Primate, himself, met the king; but nothing came of the
negotiations, and the army entered Warsaw. Here they were warmly

received, and great entertainments were given to the king.

Towards the end of June, they again advanced to meet the force that

Augustus had gathered, and on the 6th of July the Swedes arrived within a
few miles of Clissow. The next day some reinforcements arrived, and the

king decided to give battle on the following day, which was the anniversary
of the victory on the Dwina, the previous year.

His army was twelve thousand strong, while that of Augustus was nearly
double that strength, and was very strongly posted, his camp being

surrounded by morasses, although situated on rising ground which
commanded the whole of the country round it. The bogs in the front were
found to be so impassable, that the Swedes were forced to make a circuit to

the left, where the ground was firmer. This movement obliged the enemy
also to change front, a movement that caused considerable confusion, as

they themselves were forced to traverse boggy ground, to take up a new
position facing that by which the Swedes would now advance.

The attack was commenced by the division commanded by the Duke of
Holstein, but, scarcely had he set his troops in motion than he was mortally

wounded, by a ball from a falconet. His troops, however, pushed forward
vigorously. The Polish division opposed to them resisted the two first
assaults bravely, but gave way at the third attack, and were driven from the

ground, in such confusion that they took no further part in the engagement.

While this was going on, the Saxon cavalry had been repulsed by that of
Charles, and, passing in their retreat under the fire of three infantry