Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: m A LIEUTENANT AT DETTINGEN Very black it looked for the British under Lord Stair on June 19,1743, when King George II, accompanied by the youthful Duke of Cumberland and Lord Cartaret, arrived from Hanover to join the army, now reduced to 37,000 men, on half-rations, and the horses of the cavalry dying for want of forage. They were cooped up in a narrow valley bordering the river Main, between Aschaffenburg and a village called Dettingen. Two days later Wolfe writes his father— To His Father. Camp near Aschaffenburg, June Zlit, 1743, N.8. Dear Sir,—Captain Rainsford joined the regiment yesterday ; he brought us your letter, and made us both very happy with the good news of yours and my mother's health. We also got a letter from you by the post. Your kindness is better than our best behaviour can deserve, and we are infinitely happy in having so good parents. My brother is at present very much fatigued with the hard duty he has had for some days past. He was on a party last night, and saw shot fired in earnest, but was in no great danger, because separated from the enemy by the river Mayne. The French are on the other side that river, about a mile from us. We have now and then small skirmishes with those people. They attacked the other night a party of our men, but were repulsed with the loss of an officer and four or five men killed, and some made prisoners. They desert prodigiously; there were yesterday no less than forty deserters in the camp, that came over in the middle of the day, and brought with them great numbers of horses, for the river is fordable. Tis said there are 2000 Austrian Hussars come to us ; I fancy they will harass them a little. The Hessians, Pulteney's and Bligh's regiments have not yet joined us, as likewise some Hanoverian horse. I be...