, 1864-07-22
An Army Moving on Skates.

During the famous expedition of Louis XIV,
this sort of locomoton used against the
Dutch themselves in one of the most curious and
daring exploits recorded in history. When the
states sued for peace, the terms offered by the
pride of Louis were so monstrous, that the peo-
Pile tore open their sluices and laid the country
under water The frost, after time however,
rendered even this unaYailing and at length
General Luxembourg, one dark and freezing
night mounted Il, 200 men on skates, and sent
them over the ice from Utrecht to surprise the
uagisa. The result is given as follows, by a
WI ''who takes his facts from French histo-
r;o,s,R uWben thew left Utrecht it was clear
frosty weather, and the effect :. me moon ana
stars upon the even sheet Of ice, over when
they swept like a breeze, truly magical
By degrees as they advanced, the visible horizon
of earth was obscured by yapor, and they could
see nothing around, above or beneath them, but
a circular expanse of ice bounded at the edge
by thick grey clouds, and canopied by the starry
curtain of the sky. The strange groaning
sound which ever anon doomed along the frozen
wilderness, had at first something inexpressibly
terrific to the Imagination; and as it died ftfully
away in the distance, the space surrounding
them seemed extended almost to nfnity.
The sky was at length gradually covered by
the vapors rising as if from the edges of the
circle of earth; a veil of hazy white oversread
the heavens and obscured the stars and a dim
round spot of watery brightness was the only
indication of the site of the moon, by which
they could now steer their course. rapid
thaw had come on, their skates sunk deeper and
deeper into the ice at every sweep; and at last
the water gathering upon the surface, it was
agitated by the night wind that had now risen,
assumed the appearance of a sea. The wind in
creased; the sky grew blacker and blacker; their
footing became more spongy and insecure, and
the ice groaned and cracked beneath them; they
plunged almost to the knee Every one looked
upon himself as lost; and the horrors of fate
hitherto untold in story, appearing to belong
neither to the fortunes of the land nor of the
sea, APPALLED, the boldest imagination
At length faint, twnkling light appeared in
the distance, sometimes seen and sometimes lost
in the varying atmosphere; and they had the
satisfaction, such as it was of at least knowing
the relative bearing of the place on which they
were about to perish The light proceeded from
a strong fort in the enemy's hands, impregna-
BILE without cannon; and what added bitter
ness to their misery, was the knowledge that be-
yond this fort was a dyke, which in all proba-
bility afforded path, however narrow and
muddy, by which they could have returned to
Utrecht The fort, however, was the gate to
this avenue of safety, and even if they had pos
sessed the requisite of siege, if it was de-
Tended for a single day, they would either be
swallowed up by the water in the continuance
OF the thaW, or perlsh mlseraDly through cold
and fatigue. But anything was better than in
action.
The water creeping insidiously around them
WIS do.diivr enemy than stone V~ells or canon
shot; and they determined at least to make a
rush upon the immediate masonry of the fort
and provoke the fire of its defenders. 1t is i'm
possible to account for the result. 1t may have
been the sight of so large a body of men rush
ing in upon them, and as if from the open sea,
their numbers multiplied, and even their indi-
vidual forms distorted and magnfed in the
mist, struck panic terror into the hearts of
the garrison, while this may have been increased
by the shouts of courage despair, that came
booming widely over the icy waste, and ming
ling like the voices of demons with the rising
wind. But however this was, the gates of the
fort opened at their approach, and the hapless
and half frozen adventurers rushed in without
striking a blow.
NOTES AND QUERIES is low The