“I think the hottest affair I was ever engaged in,” a major, who had served in Burke’s regiment, said one evening, when some ten or twelve of his companions had gathered, at the room which was the general meeting place of the officers of the corps, “was at the attack on Cremona by Eugene.  You have all heard how our regiment, and that of Dillon, distinguished themselves there, but you may not have heard particulars.  The place was a strong one, and it was garrisoned by some 4000 men—­all French, with the exception of our two regiments.  Marshal Villeroy was himself in command; an excellent officer, but, as is often the case in the French army, very badly served by his subordinates.

“Here, as you know, almost everything goes by influence; and the generals are surrounded by men who have been forced upon them by powerful persons, whom they cannot afford to disoblige.  The consequence was that, relying upon the strength of the place, no proper watch was set.  There were guards, indeed, at the gates, but with no communication with each other; no soldiers on the ramparts; no patrols were sent out beyond the town, or maintained in the streets.

“No harm might have come of this, had it not been that treachery was at work.  There was a scoundrel, who was brother of the priest of one of the parishes near the wall, and both were in favour of the enemy.  The priest’s residence was near a sewer, which communicated with the moat outside the walls.  The entrance was closed by an iron grating.  Were this removed, troops could enter, by the sewer, into the priest’s wine cellar.

“The priest, being promised a large sum of money, set to work.  First, he laid a complaint before the governor that the sewer was choked with filth, which might be a source of disease to the town unless removed; and to do this, it was necessary that the grating should be taken down.  Being altogether unsuspicious of evil, the governor granted his request.

“As soon as the grating was removed, Eugene despatched eight miners, who crossed the moat at night, made their way up the sewer, and opened a communication between it and the priest’s house.  When all was ready, four or five hundred picked grenadiers entered, and were concealed in the house of the priest, and other adherents of the emperor.

“Eugene set two strong bodies of picked troops in motion.  The one was to enter by the Saint Margaret gate, which would be seized by the force already in the city.  This column consisted of five thousand men.  The second force, of two thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry, under the Prince de Vaudemont, was to cross the river by a bridge of boats.

“We slept like stupid dogs.  Such watchmen as there were on the walls gave no alarm.  The gate of All Saints was seized, its guard being instantly overpowered, and a party of engineers broke down the gate of Saint Margaret, which had been walled up; and at daylight Eugene rode into the town, followed by his troops and one thousand cavalry; while another mounted force watched the gate, and the country round, to prevent the escape of fugitives.