MORGARTEN

BATTLE OF.—Between the Swi and Austrians. The Swi numbered 1300, the Austrians 20,000. Fought, November 15th, 1315. “The 15th November, 1315, dawned; the sun darted his first rays on the shields and armour of the advancing host; and this being the first army ever known to have attempted the frontiers of the Cantons, the Swi viewed its long line with various emotions. Montfort de Tettnang led the cavalry into the narrow pa of Morgarten, and soon filled the whole space between the Mountain (Mount Sattel) and the lake. Fifty men, on the eminence above Morgarten, raised a sudden shout, and rolled down heaps of rocks and stones among the crowded ranks. The confederates on the mountain, perceiving the impre ion made by this attack, rushed down in close array, and fell upon the flank of the disordered column. With ma y clubs they dashed in pieces the armour of the enemy, and dealt their blows and thrusts with long pikes. The narrowne of the defile admitted of no evolutions, and a slight frost having injured the road, the horses were impeded in all their motions; many leaped into the lake; all were startled; and at last the whole column of soldiers gave way, and suddenly fell back on the infantry; and these last, as the nature of the country did not allow them to open their files, were run over by the fugitives, and many of them trampled to death. A general rout ensued, and Duke Leopold was, with much difficulty, rescued by a peasant, who led him to Winterthur, where the historian of the times saw him arrive in the evening, pale, sullen and dismayed.” MORTAR.—A short gun of an extraordinary large bore and close chamber, used for throwing bomb shells. The mortar was first made in England in 1543.