par Jean Cerino Badone 19 juillet 1747 Relation de l 'affaire de l 'Assiette fait par Mr le Comte de Prioque  (2nd part) ... A good number of enemies was so crowded against the base of the redoubt that guns' shots didn't hit them; the grenadiers then shot with only a hand from over the parapet and they threw great stones that vexed greatly the enemy, besides they climbed over the parapet to thrust their bayonets in the skull of the enemies. They were fighting in this way in spite of their artilleries and muskets' fire that shot everything was over the redoubt. A cannon ball broke the head of a grenadier of the regiment Gardes and Compte Martinengo, who was near him, had all his face completely dirty with dead's brain. Many other events like this one happened during the battle without slowing the effect of our defence. The withdraw the volunteers and the grenadiers of Meyer made from the fleches of the position parallel the redoubt didn't change the situation. Chevalier de Belle-Isle, supreme commander of the enemy army, looking the battle near the hill of the artillery, since the attack was repelled, came himself to give orders and to encourage his soldiers. He seized a flag and he run to ram it on the top of the breach the attackers made in the re-entering angle of the inferior tenaille of the redoubt of the Butte. But what is the sense of such a great valour against the will of the Providence that had decided during this day the death of this valorous commander and the destruction of all his audacious plans? Two shot muddled him into the multitude of the dead. M. d'Arnault, lieutenant-general, 5 colonels and a great number of valiant officers had the same destiny. Besides the survivor didn't stop to give new signs of valour. One of them climbed over the parapet of the redoubt. As unfortunate as he was brave he finished too much gloriously and too much in a short time his life, dying under the steel or a corporal of the grenadiers of the Casale regiment who thrust the bayonet into his chest. Do you believe we feared of loosing, at seven o'clock, this position that was a great wrench for the enemy? The gunpowder was short and all our arms were out of order. The grenadiers fought more with the stones than with their guns. In the same time an other attack in a more critical sector kept the attention of our generals and it was so important that they decided to abandon this terrain to hold the other one. Lieutenant-general at the head of 12 battalions , with their companies of grenadiers, climbed after a long march at Col de Seren. Climbing a nearly inaccessible ridge the enemy column went before the entrenchments hold by battalions Kalbermatten and Roy with the same valour of the previous attacks. Three times they were repelled and three times they come back charging with the same bravery. This place dominating the plain of Assiette, it was futile defending all the others position if the Gran Serin was occupied. Compte de Bricherasio went himself, after Compte di Martinengo was controlling the centre to control the movements the enemy could made on the side of the valley that went down to Puy de Pragelat and to Fenestrelle from the others. Chevalier Alciati, giving the local command to Compte San Sebastiano, occupied the entrenched communication between Col de l'Assiette and Gran Serin and led some piquets of Casale, Meyer and Hagmbach battalions to enforce the position. But the three swiss battalions fought at the Serin with their usual bravery and the enemy withdrew before the last lights of the day were extinguished. The manoeuvre was very dangerous and the completely defeat should be a certain fact if the shortage of ammunition forced Compte de Bricherasio to resist strongly the will of the officers to go out the entrenchments, since they were sure to destroy the enemy exploiting the superiority of the terrain. Some grenadiers of Kalbermatten and Roy went out alone from the entrenchments without creating great problems to the enemy since, in spite of the defeat, they were withdrawing with great order as much as they could in this situations. At the end the sun went down and it saw us victorious everywhere. The brave Compte de San Sebastiano, with the help of the reinforcements that general Compte Colloredo sent to him, including the grenadiers' companies of Meyer and Forgatsch and a piquet of Gardes regiment leading by Marquise de Bernez, hold the redoubt, gained the respect of all the officers who had fought under his command. At the end the enemy withdrew from every sector. Some grenadiers of the Gardes, Meyer, Forgatsh and others, went out the entrenchments to take spoils of the dead and wounded. The Forgatsh ones were so lucky to take two flag, and the Kalbermatten ones, at Gran Serin, were lucky to take a lance trimmed with a piece of with taffeta. The soldiers of Gardes were the less lucky for what concert spoil of honour but they were refunded with the bodies of Belle-Isle, d'Arnault and of many others important persons, whose bodies were founded at the base of the redoubt. Into the pockets of the first two people we found many papers with the projects of the campaign and a paper with their order of the battle that Compte Bricherasio sent to the King. We found during tin he night between 19 and 20 very few wounded still alive. Waiting for the new events of the following day, the troops stayed ready with their arms and Compte Bricherasio used this time to prepare, with others general, the right dispositions to give the same reception in the case they had the intention to move a second attack the day after. But the French were very far from this opinion. After a respite in the same camp of the previous night, they continued they march to go down the Col de Costapiana, divided part on Sauze d'Oulx part on Traverses in the valley of Pragelat ready to cross the Montjeneve. On 20th morning we were able to see the terrain around our entrenchment covered by dead and wounded. The firsts were probably 1000, but the wouded more and more. An officer came with a drummer told us there were another 600 wounded at Seu abandoned to piedmontese piety since they were without transports and he asked our general to take cure of them. The soldiers were working for two days and they found from the multitude of the dead 300 wounded the general ordered to bring many of them to Fenestrelle. There was the exception of a brigadier and others important officers seriously wounded who were sent to Oulx under escort with their word of honour to not combat again until an exchange. The Belle-Isle's squire came with a drummer to ask the permission to bring back the body of his master; he was permitted to do so with a guard of honour to escort him We don't know the real losses of the enemy. We think they lost 6000 men, dead, wounded, prisoners and deserters: an another enemy officer again present at ours camp ingenuous told us that they lost over 400 officers. We lost 219 men and 3 chieftains . After we knew that the french losses were greater than our opinions. So it was the will of Divine Providence to bless the King's virtue and his cause's justice favouring with its powerful protection our efforts.     Jean Cerino Badone