WILLIAM UNDERTAKES THE SIEGE OF NAMUR.

The king of England having by his motions drawn the forces of the enemy on the side of Flanders, directed the baron de Heyden and the earl of Athlone, who commanded forty squadrons from the camp of the elector of Bavaria, to invest Namur, and this service was performed on the third day of July; but as the place was not entirely surrounded, mareschal Boufflers threw himself into it with such a reinforcement of dragoons as augmented the garrison to the number of fifteen thousand chosen men. King William and the elector brought up the rest of the forces, which encamped on both sides of the Sambre and the Mose, and the lines of circumvallation were begun on the sixth day of July under the direction of the celebrated engineer, general Coehorn. The place was formerly very strong, both by situation and art; but the French, since its last reduction, had made such additional works that both the town and citadel seemed impregnable. Considering the number of the garrison and the quality of the troops, commanded by a mareschal of France distinguished by his valour and conduct, the enterprise was deemed an undeniable proof of William’s temerity. On the eleventh the trenches were opened, and next day the batteries began to play with incredible fury. The king receiving intelligence of a motion made by a body of French troops with a view to intercept the convoys, detached twenty squadrons of horse and dragoons to observe the enemy.

WILLIAM, 1688—1701.