CORUNNA

BATTLE OF.—Sir John Moore commanded the British army of about 15,000 men, and had just accomplished a safe retreat, when they were attacked by the French with a force of 20,000. They were completely repulsed, but the lo of the British was immense. Sir John Moore was struck by a cannon ball which carried off his left shoulder and part of his collar bone, leaving the arm dangling by the flesh. He died immediately. In the evening of the day of battle the remains of the splendid British army embarked at Corunna, January 16th, 1809. Previous to the battle, the army under their illustrious leader, had accomplished an arduous yet honorable retreat, for many leagues through an enemy’s country. CRACOW.—It was taken by Charles XII, in 1702. Taken and retaken several times by the Ru ians, and Kosciusko expelled the Ru ians, March 24th, 1794, but it surrendered to the Pru ians the same year. Occupied by 10,000 Ru ians, September, 1831; seized by Austria, and incorporated into that empire, November 16th, 1846. CRESSY.—Fought between the English and French, August 26th, 1346. In the month of July in the year 1346, King Edward, at the head of an army of 30,000 men, landed at La Hogue, in Normandy. He was accompanied by his son, the Prince of Wales, though only fifteen years of age, and by his principal nobility. Having taken several towns, he moved along the left bank of the Seine, which river he wished to cro , in order to join an army of Flemings in Picardy. But he found the bridges all broken, and King Philip, at the head of a numerous army, followed his motions on the opposite bank of the river. At length Edward contrived to repair one of the broken bridges, and to pa over unknown to Philip; and he then marched rapidly till he reached the river Somme; but he there again found all the bridges secured, and learned that Philip was at Amiens with 100,000 men. Being informed that there was a ford near the town of Abbeville, which might be pa ed when the tide was low, Edward set out for it at midnight; but when the English reached it, the waters were not sufficiently low; and while they were waiting, a large body of French cavalry came down to oppose their pa age. The English horsemen, however, gallantly plunged into the stream, drove off the enemy, and gained the opposite bank. The whole army was over when King Philip arrived, and the rising of the tide obliged him to go round by the bridge of Abbeville. Though the French army was nearly four times as numerous as his own, King Edward resolved to give it battle. He drew up his troops in three divisions on an eminence behind the village of Creci or Cre y. The prince of Wales, aided by the Earls of Oxford and Warwick, led the first, the King himself commanded the last. At dawn (the day was the 26th of August), Edward having heard ma and received the sacrament, rode along the lines, cheering his men, and at ten o’clock they sat down and took their breakfast in their ranks. The French, meantime, advanced from Abbeville in confusion and disorder. A storm of thunder and rain came on and lasted through a great part of the day; but at five o’clock in the afternoon, the sky becoming clear, Philip ordered a body of Génoese cro -bowmen, in his service, to begin the battle. The Génoese gave a shout, and discharged their bolts; the English archers, who were posted in front, showered in return their arrows of a yard in length; and the Génoese, unable to re-charge their ponderous cro bows, fell into disorder. The count of Alençon then charged the first division of the English with a numerous body of cavalry. The second line advanced to its aid, and a knight was sent off to King Edward, who was viewing the battle from the top of a windmill, to pray him to send more help. “Is my son slain or wounded?” said the King. “No, sire.” “Then,” replied he, “tell Warwick, he shall have no aid. Let the boy win his spurs.” When this me age was brought to the English, it redoubled their courage; and the French were at length totally routed, with immense lo . “Fair son,” cried Edward to the Prince, as he clasped him to his bosom after the battle, “Fair son, continue your career. You have acted nobly, and shown yourself worthy of me and the crown.” The person of the highest rank who fell in this great battle was John, king of Bohemia. This prince, who was blind from age, ordered four of his knights to lead him into the thick of the battle. They interlaced his and their own bridles, and rushed forward, and all were slain. The crest of the King of Bohemia, three ostrich feathers, and his motto, Ich dien , i.e. I serve , were adopted by the Prince of Wales, and still are those of the heir-apparent of the crown of England.