The English professor, E. S. Creasy of Cambridge University, writing of the conduct of the Irish in this great battle, says, on page 318 of his “Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World”: “The [French] centre was composed of fourteen battalions of infantry, including the celebrated Irish Brigade. These were posted in the little hamlet of Oberglau, which lies somewhat nearer to Lutzingen than to Blenheim.” And, on page 320 of the same work, the professor continues: “The Prince of Holstein Beck had, with eleven Hanoverian battalions, passed the Nebel opposite to Oberglau when he was charged and utterly routed by the Irish Brigade, which held that village. The Irish drove the Hanoverians back with heavy slaughter, broke completely through the line of the allies, and nearly achieved a success as brilliant as that which the same Brigade afterward gained at Fontenoy. But at Blenheim their ardor in pursuit led them too far. Marlborough came up in person and dashed in on the exposed flank of the Brigade with some squadrons of British cavalry. The Irish reeled back, and, as they strove to regain the heights of Oberglau, their column was raked through and through by the fire of three battalions of the allies, which Marlborough had summoned up from the reserve.” Competent military critics have observed that had the French cavalry seconded the charge of the Irish infantry, Blenheim would have been a French victory. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER V The Irish Brigade in the Campaigns of North Italy and Flanders—Its Strength at Various Periods—Count Dillon’s Reply to King Louis XV IN the summer of 1705, the Irish again, at the battle of Cassano, where they fought under Marshal Vendome, paid their respects to Prince Eugene. They fought with a bravery that electrified the French and paralyzed the Austrians. Vendome’s flank was badly annoyed by a hostile battery on the farther bank of the river Adda. The stream was broad and deep, but two Irish regiments, under cover of the smoke, swam across it, and, under the very nose of the great Eugene, captured the Austrian cannon and turned their fire upon the enemy! This intrepid action decided the day, and France was once more triumphant, by her Irish arm. Conspicuous in this brilliant action, as also at Cremona, was the famous “Regiment of Burke”—the last to yield at Aughrim. Of it the Scotch-Canadian poet and novelist, William McLennan, has written: