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diff --git a/old/19frd10.txt b/old/19frd10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..daaeeaa --- /dev/null +++ b/old/19frd10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9049 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Etext History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 19 +#25 in our series by Thomas Carlyle +V19 of 21 + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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Thompson <drthom@ihug.co.nz> + + + + + +BOOK XIX. + +FRIEDRICH LIKE TO BE OVERWHELMED IN +THE SEVEN-YEARS WAR. + +1759-1760. + + +Chapter I. + +PRELIMINARIES TO A FOURTH CAMPAIGN. + +The posting of the Five Armies this Winter--Five of them in +Germany, not counting the Russians, who have vanished to Cimmeria +over the horizon, for their months of rest--is something wonderful, +and strikes the picturesque imagination. Such a Chain of Posts, for +length, if for nothing else! From the centre of Bohemia eastward, +Daun's Austrians are spread all round the western Silesian Border +and the southeastern Saxon; waited on by Prussians, in more or less +proximity. Next are the Reichsfolk; scattered over Thuringen and +the Franconian Countries; fronting partly into Hessen and Duke +Ferdinand's outskirts:--the main body of Duke Ferdinand is far to +westward, in Munster Country, vigilant upon Contades, with the +Rhine between. Contades and Soubise,--adjoining on the Reichsfolk +are these Two French Armies: Soubise's, some 25,000, in Frankfurt- +Ems Country, between the Mayn and the Lahn, with its back to the +Rhine; then Contades, onward to Maes River and the Dutch Borders, +with his face to the Rhine,--and Duke Ferdinand observant of him on +the other side. That is the "CORDON of Posts" or winter-quarters +this Year. "From the Giant Mountains and the Metal Mountains, to +the Ocean;--to the mouth of Rhine," may we not say; "and back again +to the Swiss Alps or springs of Rhine, that Upper-Rhine Country +being all either French or Austrian, and a basis for Soubise?" +[Archenholtz, i. 306.] Not to speak of Ocean itself, and its winged +War-Fleets, lonesomely hovering and patrolling; or of the Americas +and Indies beyond! + +"This is such a Chain of mutually vigilant Winter-quarters," says +Archenholtz, "as was never drawn in Germany, or in Europe, before." +Chain of about 300,000 fighting men, poured out in that lengthy +manner. Taking their winter siesta there, asleep with one eye open, +till reinforced for new business of death and destruction against +Spring. Pathetic surely, as well as picturesque. "Three Campaigns +there have already been," sighs the peaceable observer: +"Three Campaigns, surely furious enough; Eleven Battles in them," +[Stenzel, v. 185. This, I suppose, would be his enumeration: +LOBOSITZ (1756); PRAG, KOLIN, Hastenbeck, Gross-Jagersdorf, +ROSSBACH, Breslau, LEUTHEN, (1757); Crefeld, ZORNDORF, HOCHKIRCH +(1758): "eleven hitherto in all."] a Prag, a Kolin, Leuthen, +Rossbach;--must there still be others, then, to the misery of poor +mankind?" thus sigh many peaceful persons. Not considering what +are, and have been, the rages, the iniquities, the loud and silent +deliriums, the mad blindnesses and sins of mankind; and what +amount, of CALCINING these may reasonably take. Not calcinable in +three Campaigns at all, it would appear! Four more Campaigns are +needed: then there will be innocuous ashes in quantity; and a +result unexpected, and worth marking in World-History. + +It is notably one of Friedrich's fond hopes,--of which he keeps up +several, as bright cloud-hangings in the haggard inner world he now +has,--that Peace is just at hand; one right struggle more, and +Peace must come! And on the part of Britannic George and him, +repeated attempts were made,--one in the end of this Year +1759;--but one and all of them proved futile, and, unless for +accidental reasons, need not be mentioned here. Many men, in all +nations, long for Peace; but there are Three Women at the top of +the world who do not; their wrath, various in quality, is great in +quantity, and disasters do the reverse of appeasing it. + +The French people, as is natural, are weary of a War which yields +them mere losses and disgraces; "War carried on for Austrian whims, +which likewise seem to be impracticable!" think they. And their +Bernis himself, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who began this sad +French-Austrian Adventure, has already been remonstrating with +Kaunitz, and grumbling anxiously, "Could not the Swedes, or +somebody, be got to mediate? Such a War is too ruinous!" Hearing +which, the Pompadour is shocked at the favorite creature of her +hands; hastens to dismiss him ("Be Cardinal then, you ingrate of a +Bernis; disappear under that Red Hat!")--and appoints, in his +stead, one Choiseul (known hitherto as STAINVILLE, Comte de +Stainville, French Excellency at Vienna, but now made Duke on this +promotion), Duc de Choiseul; [Minister of Foreign Affairs, "11th +November, 1758" (Barbier, iv. 294).] who is a Lorrainer, or Semi- +Austrian, by very birth; and probably much fitter for the place. +A swift, impetuous kind of man, this Choiseul, who is still rather +young than otherwise; plenty of proud spirit in him, of shifts, +talent of the reckless sort; who proved very notable in France for +the next twenty years. + +French trade being ruined withal, money is running dreadfully low: +but they appoint a new Controller-General; a M. de Silhouette, who +is thought to have an extraordinary creative genius in Finance. +Had he but a Fortunatus-Purse, how lucky were it! With Fortunatus +Silhouette as purse-holder, with a fiery young Choiseul on this +hand, and a fiery old Belleisle on that, Pompadour meditates great +things this Year,--Invasions of England; stronger German Armies; +better German Plans, and slashings home upon Hanover itself, or the +vital point;--and flatters herself, and her poor Louis, that there +is on the anvil, for 1759, such a French Campaign as will perhaps +astonish Pitt and another insolent King. Very fixed, fell and +feminine is the Pompadour's humor in this matter. Nor is the +Czarina's less so; but more, if possible; unappeasable except by +death. Imperial Maria Theresa has masculine reasons withal; +great hopes, too, of late. Of the War's ending till flat +impossibility stop it, there is no likelihood. + +To Pitt this Campaign 1759, in spite of bad omens at the outset, +proved altogether splendid: but greatly the reverse on Friedrich's +side; to whom it was the most disastrous and unfortunate he had yet +made, or did ever make. Pitt at his zenith in public reputation; +Friedrich never so low before, nothing seemingly but extinction +near ahead, when this Year ended. The truth is, apart from his +specific pieces of ill-luck, there had now begun for Friedrich a +new rule of procedure, which much altered his appearance in the +world. Thrice over had he tried by the aggressive or invasive +method; thrice over made a plunge at the enemy's heart, hoping so +to disarm or lame him: but that, with resources spent to such a +degree, is what he cannot do a fourth time: he is too weak +henceforth to think of that. + +Prussia has always its King, and his unrivalled talent; but that is +pretty much the only fixed item: Prussia VERSUS France, Austria, +Russia, Sweden and the German Reich, what is it as a field of +supplies for war! Except its King, these are failing, year by year; +and at a rate fatally SWIFT in comparison. Friedrich cannot now do +Leuthens, Rossbachs; far-shining feats of victory, which astonish +all the world. His fine Prussian veterans have mostly perished; +and have been replaced by new levies and recruits; who are inferior +both in discipline and native quality;--though they have still, +people say, a noteworthy taste of the old Prussian sort in them; +and do, in fact, fight well to the last. But "it is observable," +says Retzow somewhere, and indeed it follows from the nature of the +case, "that while the Prussian Army presents always its best kind +of soldiers at the beginning of a war, Austria, such are its +resources in population, always improves in that particular, and +its best troops appear in the last campaigns." In a word, Friedrich +stands on the defensive henceforth; disputing his ground inch by +inch: and is reduced, more and more, to battle obscurely with a +hydra-coil of enemies and impediments; and to do heroisms which +make no noise in the Gazettes. And, alas, which cannot figure in +History either,--what is more a sorrow to me here! + +Friedrich, say all judges of soldiership and human character who +have studied Friedrich sufficiently, "is greater than ever," in +these four Years now coming. [Berenhorst, in <italic> Kriegskunst; +<end italic> Retzow; &c.] And this, I have found more and more to +be a true thing; verifiable and demonstrable in time and place,-- +though, unluckily for us, hardly in this time or this place at all! +A thing which cannot, by any method, be made manifest to the +general reader; who delights in shining summary feats, and is +impatient of tedious preliminaries and investigations,--especially +of MAPS, which are the indispensablest requisite of all. A thing, +in short, that belongs peculiarly to soldier-students; who can +undergo the dull preliminaries, most dull but most inexorably +needed; and can follow out, with watchful intelligence, and with a +patience not to be wearied, the multifarious topographies, details +of movements and manoeuvrings, year after year, on such a Theatre +of War. What is to be done with it here! If we could, by +significant strokes, indicate, under features true so far as they +went, the great wide fire-flood that was raging round the world; +if we could, carefully omitting very many things, omit of the +things intelligible and decipherable that concern Friedrich +himself, nothing that had meaning: IF indeed--! But it is idle +preluding. Forward again, brave reader, under such conditions as +there are! + +Friedrich's Winter in Breslau was of secluded, silent, sombre +character, this time; nothing of stir in it but from work only: +in marked contrast with the last, and its kindly visitors and +gayeties. A Friedrich given up to his manifold businesses, to his +silent sorrows. "I have passed my winter like a Carthusian monk," +he writes to D'Argens: "I dine alone; I spend my life in reading +and writing; and I do not sup. When one is sad, it becomes at last +too burdensome to hide one's grief continually; and it is better to +give way to it by oneself, than to carry one's gloom into society. +Nothing solaces me but the vigorous application required in steady +and continuous labor. This distraction does force one to put away +painful ideas, while it lasts: but, alas, no sooner is the work +done, than these fatal companions present themselves again, as if +livelier than ever. Maupertuis was right: the sum of evil does +certainly surpass that of good:--but to me it is all one; I have +almost nothing more to lose; and my few remaining days, what +matters it much of what complexion they be?" ["Breslau, 1st March, +1759," To D'Argens (<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> +xix. 56).] + +The loss of his Wilhelmina, had there been no other grief, has +darkened all his life to Friedrich. Readers are not prepared for +the details of grief we could give, and the settled gloom of mind +they indicate. A loss irreparable and immeasurable; the light of +life, the one loved heart that loved him, gone. His passionate +appeals to Voltaire to celebrate for him in verse his lost +treasure, and at least make her virtues immortal, are perhaps known +to readers: [ODE SUR LA MORT DE S. A. S. MADAME LA PRINCESSE DE +BAREITH (in <italic> OEuvres de Voltaire, <end italic> xviii. +79-86): see Friedrich's Letter to him (6th November, 1758); +with Voltaire's VERSES in Answer (next month); Friedrich's new +Letter (Breslau, 23d January 1759), demanding something more,-- +followed by the ODE just cited (Ib. lxxii. 402; lxxviii. 82, 92; +or <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xxiii. 20-24: &c.] +alas, this is a very feeble kind of immortality, and Friedrich too +well feels it such. All Winter he dwells internally on the sad +matter, though soon falling silent on it to others. + +The War is ever more dark and dismal to him; a wearing, harassing, +nearly disgusting task; on which, however, depends life or death. +This Year, he "expects to have 300,000 enemies upon him;" and "is, +with his utmost effort, getting up 150,000 to set against them." +Of business, in its many kinds, there can be no lack! In the +intervals he also wrote considerably: one of his Pieces is a SERMON +ON THE LAST JUDGMENT; handed to Reader De Catt, one evening:--to De +Catt's surprise, and to ours; the Voiceless in a dark Friedrich +trying to give itself some voice in this way! [<italic> OEuvres de +Frederic, <end italic> xv. 1-10 (see Preuss's PREFACE there; +Formey, <italic> SOUVENIRS, <end italic> i. 37; &c. &c.] Another +Piece, altogether practical, and done with excellent insight, +brevity, modesty, is ON TACTICS; [REFLEXIONS SUR LA TACTIQUE: +in <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xxviii. 153-166.]-- +properly it might be called, "Serious very Private Thoughts," +thrown on paper, and communicated only to two or three, "On the new +kind of Tactics necessary with those Austrians and their Allies," +who are in such overwhelming strength. "To whose continual +sluggishness, and strange want of concert, to whose incoherency of +movements, languor of execution, and other enormous faults, we have +owed, with some excuse for our own faults, our escaping of +destruction hitherto,"--but had better NOT trust that way any +longer! Fouquet is one of the highly select, to whom he +communicates this Piece; adding along with it, in Fouquet's case, +an affectionate little Note, and, in spite of poverty, some +New-year's Gift, as usual,--the "Widow's Mite [300 pounds, we +find]; receive it with the same heart with which it was set apart +for you: a small help, which you may well have need of, in these +calamitous times." ["Breslau, 23d December, 1758;" with Fouquet's +Answer, 2d January, 1759: in <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end +italic> xx. 114-117.] Fouquet much admires the new Tactical +Suggestions;--seems to think, however, that the certainly +practicable one is, in particular, the last, That of "improving our +Artillery to some equality with theirs." For which, as may appear, +the King has already been taking thought, in more ways than one. + +Finance is naturally a heavy part of Friedrich's Problem; the part +which looks especially impossible, from our point of vision! +In Friedrich's Country, the War Budget does not differ from the +Peace one. Neither is any borrowing possible; that sublime Art, of +rolling over on you know not whom the expenditure, needful or +needless, of your heavy-laden self, had not yet--though England is +busy at it--been invented among Nations. Once, or perhaps twice, +from the STANDE of some willing Province, Friedrich negotiated some +small Loan; which was punctually repaid when Peace came, and was +always gratefully remembered. But these are as nothing, in face of +such expenses; and the thought how he did contrive on the Finance +side, is and was not a little wonderful. An ingenious Predecessor, +whom I sometimes quote, has expressed himself in these words:-- + +"Such modicum of Subsidy [he is speaking of the English Subsidy in +1758], how useful will it prove in a Country bred everywhere to +Spartan thrift, accustomed to regard waste as sin, and which will +lay out no penny except to purpose! I guess the Prussian Exchequer +is, by this time, much on the ebb; idle precious metals tending +everywhere towards the melting-pot. At what precise date the +Friedrich-Wilhelm balustrades, and enormous silver furnitures, were +first gone into, Dryasdust has not informed me: but we know they +all went; as they well might. To me nothing is so wonderful as +Friedrich's Budget during this War. One day it will be carefully +investigated, elucidated and made conceivable and certain to +mankind: but that as yet is far from being the case. We walk about +in it with astonishment; almost, were it possible, with +incredulity. Expenditure on this side, work done on that: +human nature, especially British human nature, refuses to conceive +it. Never in this world, before or since, was the like. +The Friedrich miracles in War are great; but those in Finance are +almost greater. Let Dryasdust bethink him; and gird his flabby +loins to this Enterprise; which is very behooveful in these +Californian times!"-- + +The general Secret of Prussian Thrift, I do fear, is lost from the +world. And how an Army of about 200,000, in field and garrison, +could be kept on foot, and in some ability to front combined +Europe, on about Three Million Sterling annually ("25 million +THALERS"=3,150,000 pounds, that is the steady War-Budget of those +years), remains to us inconceivable enough;--mournfully miraculous, +as it were; and growing ever more so in the Nugget-generations that +now run. Meanwhile, here are what hints I could find, on the +Origins of that modest Sum, which also are a wonder: [Preuss, ii. +388-392; Stenzel, v. 137-141.]-- + +"The hoarded Prussian Moneys, or 'TREASURES' [two of them, KLEINE +SCHATZ, GROSSE SCHATZ, which are rigidly saved in Peace years, for +incidence of War], being nearly run out, there had come the English +Subsidy: this, with Saxony, and the Home revenues and remnants of +SCHATZ had sufficed for 1758; but will no longer suffice. Next to +Saxony, the English Subsidy (670,000 pounds due the second time +this year) was always Friedrich's principal resource: and in the +latter years of the War, I observe, it was nearly twice the amount +of what all his Prussian Countries together, in their ravaged and +worn-out state, could yield him. In and after 1759, besides Home +Income, which is gradually diminishing, and English Subsidy, which +is a steady quantity, Friedrich's sources of revenue are +mainly Two:-- + +"FIRST, there is that of wringing money from your Enemies, from +those that have deserved ill of you,--such of them as you can come +at. Enemies, open or secret, even Ill-wishers, we are not +particular, provided only they lie within arm's-length. Under this +head fall principally three Countries (and their three poor +Populations, in lieu of their Governments): Saxony, Mecklenburg (or +the main part of it, Mecklenburg-SCHWERIN), and Anhalt; from these +three there is a continual forced supply of money and furnishings. +Their demerits to Friedrich differ much in intensity; nor is his +wringing of them--which in the cases of Mecklenburg and Saxony +increases year by year to the nearly intolerable pitch--quite in +the simple ratio of their demerits; but in a compound ratio of that +and of his indignation and of his wants. + +"Saxony, as Prime Author of this War, was from the first laid hold +of, collared tightly: 'Pay the shot, then, what you can' (in the +end it was almost what you cannot)! As to Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the +grudge against Prussia was of very old standing, some generations +now; and the present Duke, not a very wise Sovereign more than his +Ancestors, had always been ill with Friedrich; willing to spite and +hurt him when possible: in Reichs Diet he, of all German Princes, +was the first that voted for Friedrich's being put to Ban of the +Reich,--he; and his poor People know since whether that was a wise +step! The little Anhalt Princes, too, all the Anhalts, Dessau, +Bernburg, Cothen, Zerbst [perhaps the latter partially excepted, +for a certain Russian Lady's sake], had voted, or at least had +ambiguously half-voted, in favor of the Ban, and done other +unfriendly things; and had now to pay dear for their bits of +enmities. Poor souls, they had but One Vote among them all Four;-- +and they only half gave it, tremulously pulling it back again. +I should guess it was their terrors mainly, and over-readiness to +reckon Friedrich a sinking ship; and to leap from the deck of him, +--with a spurn which he took for insolent! The Anhalt-Dessauers +particularly, who were once of his very Army, half Prussians for +generations back, he reckoned to have used him scandalously ill. + +"This Year the requisition on the Four Anhalts--which they submit +to patiently, as people who have leapt into the wrong ship--is, in +precise tale: of money, 330,000 thalers (about 50,000 pounds); +recruits, 2,200; horses, 1,800. In Saxony, besides the fixed Taxes, +strict confiscation of Meissen Potteries and every Royalty, there +were exacted heavy 'Contributions,' more and more heavy, from the +few opulent Towns, chiefly from Leipzig; which were wrung out, +latterly, under great severities,--'chief merchants of Leipzig all +clapt in prison, kept on bread-and-water till they yielded,'--AS +great severities as would suffice, but NOT greater; which also was +noted. Unfortunate chief merchants of Leipzig,--with Bruhl and +Polish Majesty little likely to indemnify them! Unfortunate Country +altogether. An intelligent Saxon, who is vouched for as impartial, +bears witness as follows: 'And this I know, that the oppressions +and plunderings of the Austrians and Reichsfolk, in Saxony, turned +all hearts away from them; and it was publicly said, We had rather +bear the steady burden of the Prussians than such help as these our +pretended Deliverers bring.' [Stenzel (citing from KRIEGSKANZLEI, +which I have not), v. 137 n.] Whereby, on the whole, the poor +Country got its back broken, and could never look up in the world +since. Resource FIRST was abundantly severe. + +"Resource SECOND is strangest of all;--and has given rise to +criticism enough! It is no other than that of issuing base money; +mixing your gold and silver coin with copper,--this, one grieves to +say, is the Second and extreme resource. (A rude method--would we +had a better--of suspending Cash-payments, and paying by bank-notes +instead!' thinks Friedrich, I suppose. From his Prussian Mints, +from his Saxon [which are his for the present], and from the little +Anhalt-Bernburg Mint [of which he expressly purchased the sad +privilege,--for we are not a Coiner, we are a King reduced to +suspend Cash-payments, for the time being], Friedrich poured out +over all Germany, in all manner of kinds, huge quantities of bad +Coin. This, so long as it would last, is more and more a copious +fountain of supply. This, for the first time, has had to appear as +an item in War-Budget 1759: and it fails in no following, but +expands more and more. It was done through Ephraim, the not lovely +Berlin Jew, whom we used to hear of in Voltaire's time;--through +Ephraim and two others, Ephraim as President: in return for a net +Sum, these shall have privilege to coin such and such amounts, so +and so alloyed; shall pay to General Tauentzien, Army Treasurer, at +fixed terms, the Sums specified: 'Go, and do it; our Mint-Officers +sharply watching you; Mint-Officers, and General Tauentzien [with a +young Herr Lessing, as his Chief Clerk, of whom the King knows +nothing]; Go, ye unlovely!' And Ephraim and Company are making a +great deal of money by the unlovely job. Ephraim is the pair of +tongs, the hand, and the unlovely job, are a royal man's. +Alas, yes. And none of us knows better than King Friedrich, perhaps +few of us as well, how little lovely a job it was; how shockingly +UNkingly it was,--though a practice not unknown to German Kings and +Kinglets before his time, and since down almost to ours. +[In STENZEL (v. 141) enumeration of eight or nine unhappy +Potentates, who were busy with it in those same years.] In fact, +these are all unkingly practices;--and the English Subsidy itself +is distasteful to a proud Friedrich: but what, in those +circumstances, can any Friedrich do? + +"The first coinages of Ephraim had, it seems, in them about 3-7ths +of copper; something less than the half, and more than the third," +--your gold sovereign grown to be worth 28s. 6d. "But yearly it +grew worse; and in 1762 [English Subsidy having failed] matters had +got inverted; and there was three times as much copper as silver. +Commerce, as was natural, went rocking and tossing, as on a sea +under earthquakes; but there was always ready money among +Friedrich's soldiers, as among no other: nor did the common people, +or retail purchasers, suffer by it. 'Hah, an Ephraimite!' they +would say, grinning not ill-humoredly, at sight of one of these +pieces; some of which they had more specifically named 'BLUE-GOWNS' +[owing to a tint of blue perceivable, in spite of the industrious +plating in real silver, or at least "boiling in some solution" of +it]; these they would salute with this rhyme, then current:-- + +<italic> "Von aussen schon, van innen schlimm; + Von aussen Friedrich, von innen Ephraim. <end italic> + Outside noble, inside slim: + Outside Friedrich, inside Ephraim. + +"By this time, whatever of money, from any source, can be scraped +together in Friedrich's world, flows wholly into the Army-Chest, as +the real citadel of life. In these latter years of the War, +beginning, I could guess, from 1759, all Civil expenditures, and +wages of Officials, cease to be paid in money; nobody of that kind +sees the color even of bad coin; but is paid only in 'Paper +Assignments,' in Promises to Pay 'after the Peace.' These Paper +Documents made no pretence to the rank of Currency: such holders of +them as had money, or friends, and could wait, got punctual payment +when the term did arrive; but those that could not, suffered +greatly; having to negotiate their debentures on ruinous terms,-- +sometimes at an expense of three-fourths.--I will add Friedrich's +practical Schedule of Amounts from all these various Sources; +and what Friedrich's own view of the Sources was, when he could +survey them from the safe distance. + +"SCHEDULE OF AMOUNTS [say for 1761]. To make up the Twenty-five +Million thalers, necessary for the Army, there are:-- + +"From our Prussian Countries, ruined, harried as THALERS + they have been, . . . . . . . . . . 4 millions only. + From Saxony and the other Wringings, . . . . . 7 millions. + English Subsidy (4 of good gold; becoppered + into double), . . . . . . . . . . . 8 " + From Ephraim and his Farm of the Mint + (MUNZ-PATENT), . . . . . . . . . . 7 " + +In sum Twenty-six Millions; leaving you one Million of margin,-- +and always a plenty of cash in hand for incidental sundries. +[Preuss, ii. 388.] + +"Friedrich's own view of these sad matters, as he closes his +<italic> History of the Seven-Years War <end italic> [at "Berlin, +17th December, 1763"], is in these words: 'May Heaven grant,--if +Heaven deign to look down on the paltry concerns of men,--that the +unalterable and flourishing destiny of this Country preserve the +Sovereigns who shall govern it from the scourges and calamities +which Prussia has suffered in these times of trouble and +subversion; that they may never again be forced to recur to the +violent and fatal remedies which we (L'ON) have been obliged to +employ in maintenance of the State against the ambitious hatred of +the Sovereigns of Europe, who wished to annihilate the House of +Brandenburg, and exterminate from the world whatever bore the +Prussian name!'" [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> +v. 234.] + + +OF THE SMALL-WAR IN SPRING, 1759. THERE ARE FIVE DISRUPTIONS +OF THAT GRAND CORDON (February-April); AND FERDINAND OF +BRUNSWICK FIGHTS HIS BATTLE OF BERGEN (April 13th). + +Friedrich, being denied an aggressive course this Year, by no means +sits idly expectant and defensive in the interim; but, all the more +vigorously, as is observable, from February onwards, strikes out +from him on every side: endeavoring to spoil the Enemy's Magazines, +and cripple his operations in that way. So that there was, all +winter through, a good deal of Small-War (some of it not Small), of +more importance than usual,--chiefly of Friedrich's originating, +with the above view, or of Ferdinand his Ally's, on a still more +pressing score. And, on the whole, that immense Austrian-French +Cordon, which goes from the Carpathians to the Ocean, had by no +means a quiet time; but was broken into, and violently hurled back, +in different parts: some four, or even five, attacks upon it in +all; three of them by Prince Henri,--in two of which Duke +Ferdinand's people co-operated; the business being for mutual +behoof. These latter Three were famous in the world, that Winter; +and indeed are still recognizable as brilliant procedures of their +kind; though, except dates and results, we can afford almost +nothing of them here. These Three, intended chiefly against Reichs +people and their Posts and Magazines, fell out on the western and +middle part of the Cordon. Another attack was in the extreme +eastward, and was for Friedrich's own behoof; under Fouquet's +management;--intended against the Austrian-Moravian Magazines and +Preparations, but had little success. Still another assault, or +invasive outroad, northward against the Russian Magazines, there +also was; of which by and by. Besides all which, and more memorable +than all, Duke Ferdinand, for vital reasons of his own, fought a +Battle this Spring, considerable Battle, and did NOT gain it; +which made great noise in the world. + +It is not necessary the reader should load his memory with details +of all these preliminary things; on the contrary, it is necessary +that he keep his memory clear for the far more important things +that lie ahead of these, and entertain these in a summary way, as a +kind of foreground to what is coming. Perhaps the following +Fractions of Note, which put matters in something of Chronological +or Synoptical form, will suffice him, or more than suffice. He is +to understand that the grand tug of War, this Year, gradually turns +out not to be hereabouts, nor with Daun and his adjacencies at all, +but with the Russians, who arrive from the opposite Northern +quarter; and that all else will prove to be merely prefatory and +nugatory in comparison. + +JANUARY 2d, 1759: FRANKFURT-ON-MAYN, THOUGH IT IS A REICHSTADT, +FINDS ITSELF SUDDENLY BECOME FRENCH. "Prince de Soubise lies +between Mayn and Lahn, with his 25,000; beautifully safe and +convenient,--though ill off for a place-of-arms in those parts. +Opulent Frankfurt, on his right; how handy would that be, were not +Reichs Law so express! Marburg, Giessen are outposts of his; +on which side one of Ferdinand's people, Prince von Ysenburg, +watches him with an 8 or 10,000, capable of mischief in +that quarter. + +"On the Eve of New-year's day, or on the auspicious Day itself, +Soubise requests, of the Frankfurt Authorities, permission for a +regiment of his to march through that Imperial City. To which, by +law and theory, the Imperial City can say Yes or No; +but practically cannot, without grave inconvenience, say other than +Yes, though most Frankfurters wish it could. 'Yes,' answer the +Frankfurt Magnates; Yes surely, under the known conditions. +Tuesday, January 2d, about 5 in the morning, while all is still +dark in Frankfurt, regiment Nassau appears, accordingly, at the +Sachsenhausen Gate, Town-guard people all ready to receive it and +escort it through; and is admitted as usual. Quite as usual: but +instead of being escorted through, it orders, in calm peremptory +voice, the Town-guard, To ground arms; with calm rapidity proceeds +to admit ten other regiments or battalions, six of them German; +seizes the artillery on the Walls, seizes all the other Gates:--and +poor Frankfurt finds itself tied hand and foot, almost before it is +out of bed! Done with great exactitude, with the minimum of +confusion, and without a hurt skin to anybody. The Inhabitants +stood silent, gazing; the Town-guard laid down their arms, and went +home. Totally against Law; but cleverly done; perhaps Soubise's +chief exploit in the world; certainly the one real success the +French have yet had. + +"Soubise made haste to summon the Magistrates: 'Law of Necessity +alone, most honored Sirs! Reichs Law is clear against me. But all +the more shall private liberties, religions, properties, in this +Imperial Free-Town, be sacred to us. Defence against any +aggression: and the strictest discipline observed. Depend on me, I +bid you!'--And kept his word to an honorable degree, they say; +or in absence, made it be kept, during the Four Years that follow. +Most Frankfurters are, at heart, Anti-French: but Soubise's +affability was perfect; and he gave evening parties of a sublime +character; the Magistrates all appearing there, in their square +perukes and long gowns, with a mournful joy." [Tempelhof, iii. 7-8; +Stenzel, v. 198-200.] + +Soubise soon went home, to assist in important businesses,-- +Invasion of England, no less; let England look to itself this +Summer!--and Broglio succeeded him, as Army-Captain in the +Frankfurt parts; with laurels accruing, more or less. Soubise, like +Broglio, began with Rossbach; Soubise ends with Frankfurt, for the +present; where Broglio also gains his chief laurels, as will +shortly be seen. Frankfurt is a great gain to France, though an +illicit one. It puts a bar on Duke Ferdinand in that quarter; +secures a starting-point for attacks on Hessen, Hanover; +for co-operation with Contades and the Lower Rhine. It is the one +success France has yet had in this War, or pretty much that it ever +had in it. Due to Prince de Soubise, in that illegal fashion.-- +A highly remarkable little Boy, now in his tenth year, Johann +Wolfgang Goethe, has his wondering eyes on these things: and, short +while hence, meets daily, on the stairs and lobbies at home, a +pleasant French Official Gentlemen who is quartered there; + ------page 195 Book XIX-----^ [sic]----------- + +between whom and Papa occur rubs,--as readers may remember, and +shall hear in April coming. + +GRAND CORDON DISRUPTED: ERFURT COUNTRY, 16th FEBRUARY-2d MARCH. +"About six weeks after this Frankfurt achievement, certain +Reichsfolk and Austrian Auxiliaries are observed to be cutting down +endless timber, '18,800 palisades, 6,000 trees of 60 feet,' and +other huge furnishings, from the poor Duke of Gotha's woods; +evidently meaning to fortify themselves in Erfurt. Upon which +Prince Henri detaches a General Knobloch thitherward, Duke +Ferdinand contributing 4,000 to meet him there; which combined +expedition, after some sharp knocking and shoving, entirely +disrooted the Austrians and Reichsfolk, and sent them packing. +Had them quite torn out by the end of the month; and had planned to +'attack them on two sides at once' (March 2d), with a view of +swallowing them whole,--when they (these Reichs Volscians, in such +a state of flutter) privately hastened off, one and all of them, +the day before." [Narrative, in <italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end +italic> v. 1022 et seq.] + +This was BREAKAGE FIRST of the Grand Cordon; an explosive hurling +of it back out of those Erfurt parts. Done by Prince Henri's +people, in concert with Duke Ferdinand's,--who were mutually +interested in the thing. + +BREAKAGE SECOND: ERFURT-FULDA COUNTRY, 31st MARCH-8th APRIL. +"About the end of March, these intrusive Austrian Reichsfolk made +some attempt to come back into those Countries; but again got +nothing but hard knocks; and gave up the Erfurt project. For, close +following on this FIRST, there was a SECOND still deeper and +rougher Breakage, in those same regions; the Hereditary Prince of +Brunswick dashing through, on a special Errand of Ferdinand's own +[of which presently], with an 8 or 10,000, in his usual fiery +manner; home into the very bowels of the Reich (April 3d, and for a +week onward); and returning with 'above 2,000 prisoners' in hand; +especially with a Reich well frightened behind him;--still in time +for Duke Ferdinand's Adventure [in fact, for his Battle of Bergen, +of which we are to hear]. Had been well assisted by Prince Henri, +who 'made dnngerous demonstrations in the distance,' and was +extremely diligent--though the interest was chiefly Ferdinand's +this time." [Tempelhof, iii. 19-22.]--Contemporary with that FIRST +Erfurt Business, there went on, 300 miles away from it, in the +quite opposite direction, another of the same;--too curious to +be omitted. + +ACROSS THE POLISH FRONTIER: FEBRUARY, 24th-MARCH 4th. "In the end +of February, General Wobersnow, an active man, was detached from +Glogau, over into Poland, Posen way, To overturn the Russian +provision operations thereabouts; in particular, to look into a +certain high-flying Polack, a Prince Sulkowski of those parts; +who with all diligence is gathering food, in expectation of the +Russian advent; and indeed has formally 'declared War against the +King of Prussia;' having the right, he says, as a Polish Magnate, +subject only to his own high thought in such affairs. The Russians +and their wars are dear to Sulkowski. He fell prisoner in their +cause, at Zorndorf, last Autumn; was stuck, like all the others, +Soltikoff himself among them, into the vaulted parts of Custrin +Garrison: 'I am sorry I have no Siberia for you,' said Friedrich, +looking, not in a benign way, on the captive Dignitaries, that hot +afternoon; 'go to Custrin, and see what you have provided for +yourselves!' Which they had to do; nothing, for certain days, but +cellarage to lodge in; King inexorable, deaf to remonstrance. +Which possibly may have contributed to kindle Sulkowski into these +extremely high proceedings. + +"At any rate, Wobersnow punctually looks in upon him: seizes his +considerable stock of Russian proviants; his belligerent force, his +high person itself; and in one luckless hour snuffs him out from +the list of potentates. His belligerent force, about 1,000 Polacks, +were all compelled, 'by the cudgel, say my authorities, to take +Prussian service [in garrison regiments, and well scattered about, +I suppose]; his own high person found itself sitting locked in +Glogau, left to its reflections. Sat thus 'till the War ended,' say +some; certainly till the Sulkowski War had been sufficiently +exploded by the laughter of mankind." Here are, succinctly, the +dates of this small memorability:-- + +"End of February, Wobersnow gathers, at Glogau, a force of about +8,000 horse and foot. Marches, 24th FEBRUARY, over Oder Bridge, +straight into Poland; that same night, to the neighborhood of Lissa +and Reisen (Sulkowski's dominion), about thirty miles northeast of +Glogau. Sulkowski done next day;--part of the capture is 'fifteen +small guns.' Wobersnow goes, next, for Posen; arrives, 28th +FEBRUARY; destroys Russian Magazine, ransoms Jews. Shoots out other +detachments on the Magazine Enterprise;--detaches Platen along the +Warta, where are picked up various items, among others 'eighty tuns +of brandy,'--but himself proceeds no farther than Posen. MARCH 4th, +sets out again from Posen, homewards." [NACHRICHT VON DER +UNTERNEHMUNG DES GENERAL-MAJORS VON WOBERSNOW IN POLEN, IM FEB. UND +MARZ. 1759: in Seyfarth, <italic> Beylagen, <end italic> ii. +526-529. <italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> v. 829.] We shall +hear again of Wobersnow, in a much more important way, before long. + +To the Polish Republic so called, Friedrich explained politely, not +apologetically: "Since you allow the Russians to march through you +in attack of me, it is evident to your just minds that the attacked +party must have similar privilege." "Truly!" answered they, in +their just minds, generally; and I made no complaint about +Sulkowski (though Polish Majesty and Primate endeavored to be loud +about "Invasion" and the like):--and indeed Polish Republic was +lying, for a long while past, as if broken-backed, on the public +highway, a Nation anarchic every fibre of it, and under the feet +and hoofs of travelling Neighbors, especially of Russian Neighbors; +and is not now capable of saying much for itself in such cases, or +of doing anything at all. + +FRANKFURT COUNTRY, APRIL 13th: DUKE FERDINAND'S BATTLE OF BERGEN. +"Duke Ferdinand, fully aware what a stroke that seizure of +Frankfurt was to him, resolved to risk a long march at this bad +season, and attempt to drive the French out. Contades was absent in +Paris,--no fear of an attack from Contades's Army; Broglio's in +Frankfurt, grown now to about 35,000, can perhaps be beaten if +vigorously attacked. Ferdinand appoints a rendezvous at Fulda, of +various Corps, Prince Ysenburg's and others, that lie nearest, +Hessians many of them, Hanoverians others; proceeds, himself, to +Fulda, with a few attendants [a drive of about 200 miles];--having +left Lord George Sackville [mark the sad name of him!]--Sackville, +head of the English, and General Sporken, a Hanoverian,--to take +charge in Munster Country, during his absence. It was from Fulda +that he shot out the Hereditary Prince on that important Errand we +lately spoke of, under the head of 'BREAKAGE SECOND,'--namely, to +clear his right flank, and scare the Reich well off him, while he +should be marching on Frankfurt. All which, Henri assisting from +the distance, the Hereditary Prince performed to perfection,--and +was back (APRIL 8th) in excellent time for the Battle. + +"Ferdinand stayed hardly a day in Fulda, ranking himself and +getting on the road. Did his long march of above 100 miles without +accident or loss of time;--of course, scaring home the Broglio +Outposts in haste enough, and awakening Broglio's attention in a +high degree;--and arrives, Thursday, April 12th, at Windecken, a +Village about fifteen miles northeast of Frankfurt; where he passes +the night under arms; intending Battle on the morrow. Broglio is +all assembled, 35,000 strong; his Assailant, with the Hereditary +Prince come in, counts rather under 30,000. Broglio is posted in, +and on both sides of, Bergen, a high-lying Village, directly on +Ferdinand's road to Frankfurt. Windecken is about fifteen miles +from Frankfurt; Bergen about six:--idle Tourists of our time, on +their return from Homburg to that City, leave Bergen a little on +their left. The ground is mere hills, woody dales, marshy brooks; +Broglio's position, with its Village, and Hill, and ravines and +advantages, is the choicest of the region; and Broglio's methods, +procedures and arrangements in it are applauded by all judges. + +"FRIDAY, 13th APRIL, 1759, Ferdinand is astir by daybreak; comes +on, along one of those woody balleys, pickeering, reconnoitring;-- +in the end, directly up the Hill of Bergen; straight upon the +key-point. It is about 10 A.M., when the batteries and musketries +awaken there; very loud indeed, for perhaps two hours or more. +Prince von Ysenburg is leader of Ferdinand's attacking party. +Their attack is hot and fierce, and they stick to it steadily; +though garden-hedges, orchards and impediments are many, and +Broglio, with, much cannon helping, makes vigorous defence. +These Ysenburgers fought till their cartridges were nearly spent, +and Ysenburg himself lay killed; but could not take Bergen. +Nor could the Hereditary Prince; who, in aid of them, tried it in +flank, with his own usual impetuosity rekindling theirs, and at +first with some success; but was himself taken in flank by +Broglio's Reserve, and obliged to desist. No getting of Bergen by +that method. + +"Military critics say coolly, 'You should have smashed it well with +cannon, first [which Ferdinand had not in stock here]; +and especially have flung grenadoes into it, till it was well in +flame: impossible otherwise!' [Mauvillon, ii. 19.] The Ysenburgers +and Hereditary Prince withdraw. No pursuit of them; or almost less +than none; for the one or two French regiments that tried it +(against order), nearly got cut up. Broglio, like a very Daun at +Kolin, had strictly forbidden all such attempts: 'On no temptation +quit your ground!' + +"The Battle, after this, lay quiet all afternoon; Ferdinand still +in sight; motioning much, to tempt French valor into chasing of +him. But all in vain: Broglio, though his subalterns kept urging, +remonstrating, was peremptory not to stir. Whereupon, towards +evening, across certain woody Heights, perhaps still with some hope +of drawing him out, Ferdinand made some languid attempt on +Broglio's wing, or wings;--and this also failing, had to give up +the affair. He continued cannonading till deep in the night; +withdrew to Windecken: and about two next morning, marched for +home,--still with little or no pursuit: but without hope of +Frankfurt henceforth. And, in fact, has a painful Summer ahead. + +"Ferdinand had lost 5 cannon, and of killed and wounded 2,500; +the French counted their loss at about 1,900. [Mauvillon, ii. +10-19; Tempelhof, iii. 26-31.] The joy of France over this immense +victory was extraordinary. Broglio was made Prince of the Reich, +Marechal de France; would have been raised to the stars, had one +been able,--for the time being. 'And your immense victory,' so +sneered the by-standers, 'consists in not being beaten, under those +excellent conditions;--perhaps victory is a rarity just now!'" + +This is the Battle which our Boy-Friend Johann Wolfgang watched +with such interest, from his garret-window, hour after hour; +all Frankfurt simmering round him, in such a whirlpool of self- +contradictory emotions; till towards evening, when, in long rows of +carts, poor wounded Hessians and Hanoverians came jolting in, and +melted every heart into pity. into wailing sorrow, and eagerness to +help. A little later, Papa Goethe, stepping downstairs, came across +the Official French Gentleman; who said radiantly: "Doubtless you +congratulate yourself and us on this victory to his Majesty's +arms." "Not a whit (KEINESWEGS)," answers Papa Goethe, a stiff kind +of man, nowise in the mood of congratulating: "on the contrary, I +wish they had chased you to the Devil, though I had had to go too!" +Which was a great relief to his feelings, though a dangerous one in +the circumstances. [Goethe's WERKE (Stuttgart und Tubingen, 1829), +xxiv. (DICHTUNG UND WAHRHEIT, i.), 153-157.] + +BREAKAGE THIRD: OVER THE METAL MOUNTAINS INTO BOHMEN (APRIL +14th-20th). "Ferdinand's Battle was hardly ending, when Prince +Henri poured across the Mountains,--in two columns, Hulsen leading +the inferior or rightmost one,--into Leitmeritz-Eger Country; +and made a most successful business of the Austrian Magazines he +found there. Magazines all filled; Enemy all galloping for Prag:-- +Daun himself, who is sitting vigilant, far in the interior, at +Jaromirtz this month past, was thrown into huge flurry, for some +days! Speedy Henri (almost on the one condition of BEING speedy) +had his own will of the Magazines: burnt, Hulsen and he, 'about +600,000 pounds worth' of Austrian provender in those parts, 'what +would have kept 50,000 men five months in bread' (not to mention +hay at all); gave the Enemy sore slaps (caught about 3,000 of him, +NOT yet got on gallop for Prag); burnt his 200 boats on the Elbe:-- +forced him to begin anew at the beginning; and did, in effect, +considerably lame and retard certain of his operations through the +Summer. Speedy Henri marched for home April 20th; and was all +across the Mountains April 23d: a profitable swift nine days." +[Tempelhof iii. 47-53; <italic> Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> +v. 963-966.]--And on the sixth day hence he will have something +similar, and still more important, on foot. A swift man, when +he must! + +BREAKAGE FOURTH: INTO MAHREN (APRIL 16th-21st). "This is Fouquet's +attempt, alluded to above; of which--as every reader must be +satisfied with Small-War--we will give only the dates. +Fouquet, ranking at Leobschutz, in Neisse Country, did break +through into Mahren, pushing the Austrians before him; but found +the Magazines either emptied, or too inaccessible for any worth +they had;--could do nothing on the Magazines; and returned without +result; home at Leobschutz again on the fifth day." [<italic> +Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> v. 958-963; Tcmpelhof, iii. 44-47.] +This, however, had a sequel for Fouquet; which, as it brought the +King himself into those neighborhoods, we shall have to mention, +farther on. + +BREAKAGE FIFTH: INTO FRANKEN (MAY 5th-JUNE 1st). "This was Prince +Henri's Invasion of the Bamberg-Nurnberg Countries; a much sharper +thing than in any former Year. Much the most famous, and," luckily +for us, "the last of the Small-War affairs for the present. +Started,--from Tschopau region, Bamberg way,--April 29th-May 5th. +In Three Columns: Finck leftmost, and foremost (Finck had marched +April 29th, pretending to mean for Bohemia); after whom Knobloch; +and (May 5th) the Prince himself. Who has an eye to the Reichs +Magazines and Preparations, as usual;--nay, an eye to their Camp of +Rendezvous, and to a fight with their miscellaneous Selves and +Auxiliaries, if they will stand fight. 'You will have to leave +Saxony, and help us with the Russians, soon: beat those Reichs +people first!' urged the King; 'well beaten, they will not trouble +Saxony for a while.' If they will stand fight? But they would not +at all. They struck their tents everywhere; burnt their own +Magazines, in some cases; and only went mazing hither and thither, +--gravitating all upon Nurnberg, and an impregnable Camp which they +have in that neighborhood. Supreme Zweibruck was himself with them; +many Croats, Austrians, led by Maguire and others; all marching, +whirling at a mighty rate; with a countenance sometimes of vigor, +but always with Nurnberg Camp in rear. There was swift marching, +really beautiful manoeuvring here and there; sharp bits of +fighting, too, almost in the battle-form:--Maguire tried, or was +for trying, a stroke with Finck; but made off hastily, glad to get +away. [Templehof, iii. 64.] May 11th, at Himmelskron in Baireuth, +one Riedesel of theirs had fairly to ground arms, self and 2,500, +and become prisoners of war." Much of this manoeuvring and +scuffling was in Baireuth Territory. Twice, or even thrice, Prince +Henri was in Baireuth Town: "marched through Baireuth," say the +careless Old Books. Through Baireuth:--No Wilhelmina now there, +with her tremulous melodies of welcome! Wilhelminn's loves, and +terrors for her loved, are now all still. Perhaps her poor Daughter +of Wurtemberg, wandering unjustly disgraced, is there; Papa, the +Widower Margraf, is for marrying again: [Married 20th September, +1759 (a Brunswick Princess, Sister's-daughter of his late Wife); +died within four years.]--march on, Prince Henri! + +"In Bamberg," says a Note from Archenholtz, "the Reichs troops +burnt their Magazine; and made for Nurnberg, as usual; but left +some thousand or two of Croats, who would not yet. Knobloch and his +Prussians appeared shortly after; summoned Bamberg, which agreed to +receive them; and were for taking possession; but found the Croats +determined otherwise. Fight ensued; fight in the streets; which, in +hideousness of noises, if in nothing else, was beyond parallel. +The inhabitants sat all quaking in their cellars; not an inhabitant +was to be seen: a City dead,--and given up to the demons, in this +manner. Not for some hours were the Croats got entirely trampled +out. Bamberg, as usual, became a Prussian place-of-arms; +was charged to pay ransom of 40,000 pounds;--'cannot possibly!'-- +did pay some 14,000 pounds, and gave bills for the remainder." +[Archenholtz. i. 371-373.] Which bills, let us mark withal, the +Kaiser in Reichs Diet decreed to be invalid: "Don't pay them!" +A thing not forgotten by Friedrich;--though it is understood the +Bambergers, lest worse might happen, privately paid their bills. +"The Expedition lasted, in whole, not quite four weeks: June 1st, +Prince Henri was at the Saxon frontier again; the German world all +ringing loud,--in jubilation, counter-jubilation and a great +variety of tones,--with the noise of what he had done. A sharp +swift man; and, sure enough, has fluttered the Reichs Volscians in +their Corioli to an unexpected degree." [Seyfarth, <italic> +Beylagen, <end italic> ii. 537-563; BERICHT VON DER UNTERNEHMUNG +DES PRINZEN HEINRICH IN FRANKEN, IM JAHR, 1759; <italic> Helden- +Geschichte, <end italic> v. 1033-1039; Tempelhof, ????, et seq.] +---COPY ILLEGIBLE. PAGE 203, BOOK XIX-------------^^^-- + + +A Colonel Wunsch (Lieutenant-Colonel of the Free Corps WUNSCH) +distinguished himself in this Expedition; The beginning of notably +great things to him in the few following months. Wunsch is a +Wurtemberger by birth; has been in many services, always in +subaltern posts, and, this year, will testify strangely how worthy +he was of the higher. What a Year, this of 1759, to stout old +Wunsch! In the Spring, here has he just seen his poor son, +Lieutenant Wunsch, perish in one of these scuffles; in Autumn, he +will see himself a General, shining suddenly bright, to his King +and to all the world; before Winter, he will be Prisoner to +Austria, and eclipsed for the rest of this war!--Kleist, of the +GREEN HUSSARS, also made a figure here; and onwards rapidly ever +higher; to the top of renown in his business:--fallen heir to +Mayer's place, as it were. A Note says: "Poor Mayer of the Free +Corps does not ride with the Prince on this occasion. +Mayer, dangerously worn down with the hard services of last Year, +and himself a man of too sleepless temper, caught a fever in the +New-year time; and died within few days: burnt away before his +time; much regretted by his Brethren of the Army, and some few +others. Gone in this way; with a high career just opening on him at +the long last! Mayer was of Austrian, of half Spanish birth; +a musical, really melodious, affectionate, but indignant, wildly +stormful mortal; and had had adventures without end. Something of +pathos, of tragedy, in the wild Life of him. [Still worth reading: +in Pauli (our old watery BRANDENBURG-HISTORY Friend). <italic> +Leben grosser Helden <end italic> (Halle, 1759-1764, 9 vols.), iii. +142-188;--much the best Piece in that still rather watery (or +windy) Collection, which, however, is authentic, and has some +tolerable Portraits.] A man of considerable genius, military and +other:--genius in the sleepless kind, which is not the best kind; +sometimes a very bad kind. The fame of Friedrich invites such +people from all sides of the world; and this was no doubt a +sensible help to him."--But enough of all this. + +Here, surely, is abundance of preliminary Small-War, on the part of +a Friedrich reduced to the defensive!--Fouquet's Sequel, hinted at +above, was to this effect. On Fouquet's failing to get hold of the +Moravian Magazines, and returning to his Post at Leobschutz, a +certain rash General Deville, who is Austrian chief in those parts, +hastily rushed through the Jagerndorf Hills, and invaded Fouquet. +Only for a few days; and had very bad success, in that bit of +retaliation. The King, who is in Landshut, in the middle of his +main cantonments, hastened over to Leobschutz with reinforcement to +Fouquet; in the thought that a finishing-stroke might be done on +this Deville;--and would have done it, had not the rash man plunged +off again (May 1st, or the night before); homewards, at full speed. +So that Friedrich, likewise at full speed, could catch nothing of +him; but merely cannonade him in the Passes of Zuckmantel, and cut +off his rear-guard of Croats. Poor forlorn of Croats, whom he had +left in some bushy Chasm; to gain him a little time, and then to +perish if THEY must! as Tempelhof remarks. [Tempelhof, iii. 56.] +Upon which Friedrich returned to Landshut; and Fouquet had +peace again. + +It was from this Landshut region, where his main cantonments are, +that Friedrich had witnessed all these Inroads, or all except the +very earliest of them; the first Erfurt one, and the Wobersnow- +Sulkowski. He had quitted Breslau in the end of March, and gone to +his cantonments; quickened thither, probably, by a stroke that had +befallen him at Griefenberg, on his Silesian side of the Cordon. +At Griefenberg stood the Battalion Duringshofen, with its Colonel +of the same name,--grenadier people of good quality, perhaps near +1,000 in whole. Which Battalion, General Beck, after long +preliminary study of it, from his Bohemian side,--marching +stealthily on it, one night (March 25-26th), by two or more roads, +with 8,000 men, and much preliminary Croat-work,--contrived to +envelop wholly, and carry off with him, before help could come up. +This, I suppose, had quickened Friedrich's arrival. He has been in +that region ever since,--in Landshut for the last week or two; +and returns thither after the Deville affair. + +And at Landshut,--which is the main Pass into Bohemia or from it, +and is the grand observatory-point at present,--he will have to +remain till the first days of July; almost three months. +Watching, and waiting on the tedious Daun, who has the lifting of +the curtain this Year! Daun had come to Jaromirtz, to his +cantonments, "March 24th" (almost simultaneously with Friedrich to +his); expecting Friedrich's Invasion, as usual. Long days sat Daun, +expecting the King in Bohemia:--"There goes he, at last!" thought +Daun, on Prince Henri's late flamy appearance there (BREAKAGE THIRD +we labelled it);--and Daun had hastily pushed a Division +thitherward, double-quick, to secure Prag; but found it was only +the Magazines. "Above four millions worth [600,000 pounds, counting +the THALERS into sterling], above four millions worth of bread and +forage gone to ashes, and the very boats burnt? Well; the poor +Reichsfolk, or our poor Auxiliaries to them, will have empty +haversacks:--but it is not Prag!" thinks Daun. + +At what exact point of time Daun came to see that Friedrich was not +intending Invasion, and would, on the contrary, require to be +invaded, I do not know. But it must have been an interesting +discovery to Daun, if he foreshadowed to himself what results it +would have on him: "Taking the defensive, then? And what is to +become of one's Cunctatorship in that case!" Yes, truly. +Cunctatorship is not now the trade needed; there is nothing to be +made of playing Fabius-Cunctator:--and Daun's fame henceforth is a +diminishing quantity. The Books say he "wasted above five weeks in +corresponding with the Russian Generals." In fact, he had now weeks +enough on hand; being articulately resolved (and even commanded by +Kriegshofrath) to do nothing till the Russians came up;--and also +(INarticulately and by command of Nature) to do as little as +possible after! This Year, and indeed all years following, the +Russians are to be Daun's best card. + +Waiting for three months here till the curtain rose, it was +Friedrich that had to play Cunctator. A wearisome task to him, we +need not doubt. But he did it with anxious vigilance; ever thinking +Daun would try something, either on Prince Henri or on him, and +that the Play would begin. But the Play did not. There was endless +scuffling and bickering of Outposts; much hitching and counter- +hitching, along that Bohemian-Silesian Frontier,--Daun gradually +hitching up, leftwards, northwards, to be nearer his Russians; +Friedrich counter-hitching, and, in the end, detaching against the +Russians, as they approached in actuality. The details of all which +would break the toughest patience. Not till July came, had both +parties got into the Lausitz; Daun into an impregnable Camp near +Mark-Lissa (in Gorlitz Country); Friedrich, opposite and eastward +of him, into another at Schmottseifen:--still after which, as the +Russians still were not come, the hitching (if we could concern +ourselves with it), the maze of strategic shuffling and counter- +dancing, as the Russians get nearer, will become more intricate +than ever. + +Except that of General Beck on Battalion Duringshofen,--if that was +meant as retaliatory, and was not rather an originality of Beck's, +who is expert at such strokes,--Daun, in return for all these +injurious Assaults and Breakages, tried little or no retaliation; +and got absolutely none. Deville attempted once, as we saw; +Loudon once, as perhaps we shall see: but both proved futile. +For the present absolutely none. Next Year indeed, Loudon, on +Fouquet at Landshut-- But let us not anticipate! Just before +quitting Landshut for Schmottseifen, Friedrich himself rode into +Bohemia, to look more narrowly; and held Trautenau, at the bottom +of the Pass, for a day or two--But the reader has had enough of +Small-War! Of the present Loudon attempt, Friedrich, writing to +Brother Henri, who is just home from his Franconian Invasion +(BREAKAGE FIFTH), has a casual word, which we will quote. +"Reich-Hennersdorf" is below Landshut, farther down the Pass; +"Liebau" still farther down,--and its "Gallows," doubtless, is on +some knoll in the environs! + +REICH-HENNERSDORF, 9th JUNE. "My congratulations on the excellent +success you have had [out in Frankenland yonder]! Your prisoners, +we hear, are 3,000; the desertion and confusion in the Reichs Army +are affirmed to be enormous:--I give those Reichs fellows two good +months [scarcely took so long] to be in a condition to show face +again. As for ourselves, I can send you nothing but +contemptibilities. We have never yet had the beatific vision of Him +with the Hat and Consecrated Sword [Papal Daun, that is]; +they amuse us with the Sieur Loudon instead;--who, three days ago +[7th July, two days] did us the honor of a visit, at the Gallows of +Liebau. He was conducted out again, with all the politeness +imaginable, on to near Schatzlar," well over the Bohemian Border; +"where we flung a score of cannon volleys into the"--into the +"DERRIERE of him, and everybody returned home." [In SCHONING, ii. +65: "9th June, 1759."] + +Perhaps the only points now noticeable in this tedious Landshut +interim, are Two, hardly noticed then at all by an expectant world. +The first is: That in the King's little inroad down to Trautenau, +just mentioned, four cannon drawn by horses were part of the King's +fighting gear,--the first appearance of Horse Artillery in the +world. "A very great invention," says the military mind: "guns and +carriages are light, and made of the best material for strength; +the gunners all mounted as postilions to them. Can scour along, +over hill and dale, wherever horse can; and burst out, on the +sudden, where nobody was expecting artillery. Devised in 1758; +ready this Year, four light six-pounders; tried first in the King's +raid down to Trautenau [June 29th-30th]. Only four pieces as yet. +But these did so well, there were yearly more. Imitated by the +Austrians, and gradually by all the world." [Seyfarth, ii. 543.] + +The second fact is: That Herr Guichard (Author of that fine Book on +the War-methods of the Greeks and Romans) is still about Friedrich, +as he has been for above a year past, if readers remember; +and, during those tedious weeks, is admitted to a great deal of +conversation with the King. Readers will consent to this Note on +Guichard; and this shall be our ultimatum on the wearisome Three +Months at Landshut. + +MAJOR QUINTUS ICILIUS. "Guichard is by birth a Magdeburger, age now +thirty-four; a solid staid man, with a good deal of hard faculty in +him, and of culture unusual for a soldier. A handy, sagacious, +learned and intelligent man; whom Friedrich, in the course of a +year's experience, has grown to see willingly about him. There is +something of positive in Guichard, of stiff and, as it were, +GRITTY, which might have offended a weaker taste; but Friedrich +likes the rugged sense of the man; his real knowledge on certain +interesting heads; and the precision with which the known and the +not rightly known are divided from one another, in Guichard. + +"Guichard's business about the King has been miscellaneous, not +worth mention hitherto; but to appearance was well done. Of talk +they are beginning to have more and more; especially at Landshut +here, in these days of waiting; a great deal of talk on the Wars of +the Ancients, Guichard's Book naturally leading to that subject. +One night, datable accidentally about the end of May, the topic +happened to be Pharsalia, and the excellent conduct of a certain +Centurion of the Tenth Legion, who, seeing Pompey's people about to +take him in flank, suddenly flung himself into oblique order +[SCHRAGE STELLUNG, as we did at Leutheu], thereby outflanking +Pompey's people, and ruining their manoeuvre and them. 'A dexterous +man, that Quintus Icilius the Centurion!' observed Friedrich. 'Ah, +yes: but excuse me, your Majesty, his name was Quintus Caecilius,' +said Guichard. 'No, it was Icilius,' said the King, positive to his +opinion on that small point; which Guichard had not the art to let +drop; though, except assertion and counter-assertion, what could be +made of it there? Or of what use was it anywhere? + +"Next day, Guichard came with the book [what "Book" nobody would +ever yet tell me], and putting his finger on the passage, 'See, +your Majesty: Quintus CAEcilius!' extinguished his royal opponent. +'Hm,' answered Friedrich: 'so?--Well, you shall be Quintus Icilius, +at any rate!' And straightway had him entered on the Army Books 'as +Major Quintus Icilius;' his Majorship is to be dated '10th April, +1758' (to give him seniority); and from and after this '26th May, +1759,' he is to command the late Du Verger's Free-Battalion. +All which was done:--the War-Offices somewhat astonished at such +advent of an antique Roman among them; but writing as bidden, the +hand being plain, and the man an undeniable article. Onward from +which time there is always a 'Battalion Quintus' on their Books, +instead of Battalion Du Verger; by degrees two Batallions Quintus, +and at length three, and Quintus become a Colonel:--at which point +the War ended; and the three Free-Battalions Quintus, like all +others of the same type, were discharged." This is the authentic +origin of the new name Quintus, which Guichard got, to extinction +of the old; substantially this, as derived from Quintus himself,-- +though in the precise details of it there are obscurities, never +yet solved by the learned. Nicolai, for example, though he had the +story from Quintus in person, who was his familiar acquaintance, +and often came to see him at Berlin, does not, with his usual +punctuality, say, nor even confess that he has forgotten, what Book +it was that Quintus brought with him to confute the King on their +Icilius-Caecilius controversy; Nicolai only says, that he, for his +part, in the fields of Roman Literature and History, knows only +three Quintus-Iciliuses, not one of whom is of the least +likelihood; and in fact, in the above summary, I have had to INVERT +my Nicolai on one point, to make the story stick together. +[Nicolai, <italic> Anekdoten, <end italic> vi. 129-145.] + +"Quintus had been bred for the clerical profession; carefully, at +various Universities, Leyden last of all; and had even preached, as +candidate for license,--I hope with moderate orthodoxy;--though he +soon renounced that career. Exchanged it for learned and vigorous +general study, with an eye to some College Professorship instead. +He was still hardly twenty-three, when, in 1747, the new +Stadtholder," Prince of Orange, whom we used to know, "who had his +eye upon him as a youth of merit, graciously undertook to get him +placed at Utrecht, in a vacancy which had just occurred there,-- +whither the Prince was just bound, on some ceremonial visit of a +high nature. The glad Quintus, at that time Guichard and little +thinking of such an alias, hastened to set off in the Prince's +train; but could get no conveyance, such was the press of people +all for Utrecht. And did not arrive till next day,--and found +quarter, with difficulty, in the garret of some overflowing Inn. + +"In the lower stories of his Inn, solitary Guichard, when night +fell, heard a specific GAUDEAMUS going on; and inquired what it +was. 'A company of Professors, handselling a newly appointed +Professor;'--appointed, as the next question taught, to the very +Chair poor Quintus had come for! Serene Highness could not help +himself; the Utrechters were so bent on the thing. Quintus lay +awake, all night, in his truckle-bed; and gloomily resolved to have +done with Professorships, and become a soldier. 'If your Serene +Highness do still favor me,' said Quintus next day, 'I solicit, as +the one help for me, an ensign's commission!'--And persisted +rigorously, in spite of all counsellings, promises and outlooks on +the professorial side of things. So that Serene Highness had to +grant him his commission; and Quintus was a soldier thenceforth. +Fought, more or less, in the sad remainder of that Cumberland-Saxe +War; and after the Peace of 1748 continued in the Dutch service. +Where, loath to be idle, he got his learned Books out again, and +took to studying thoroughly the Ancient Art of War. After years of +this, it had grown so hopeful that he proceeded to a Book upon it; +and, by degrees, determined that he must get to certain Libraries +in England, before finishing. In 1754, on furlough, graciously +allowed and continued, he came to London accordingly; finished his +manuscript there (printed at the Hague 1757 [<italic> Memoires +Militaires sur les &c. <end italic> (a La Haye, 1757: 2 vols. +4to);--was in the 5th edition when I last heard of it.]): and new +War having now begun, went over (probably with English +introductions) as volunteer to Duke Ferdinand. By Duke Ferdinand he +was recommended to Friedrich, the goal of all his efforts, as of +every vagrant soldier's in those times:--and here at last, as +Quintus Icilius, he has found permanent billet, a Battalion and +gradually three Battalions, and will not need to roam any farther. + +"They say, what is very credible, that Quintus proved an active, +stout and effectual soldier, in his kind; and perhaps we may hear +of some of his small-war adventures by and by: that he was a +studious, hard-headed, well-informed man, and had written an +excellent Book on his subject, is still abundantly clear. +Readers may look in the famous Gibbon's <italic> Autobiography, +<end italic> or still better in the Guichard Book itself, if they +want evidence. The famous Gibbon was drilling and wheeling, very +peaceably indeed, in the Hampshire Militia, in those wild years of +European War. Hampshire Militia served as key, or glossary in a +sort, to this new Book of Guichard's, which Gibbon eagerly bought +and studied; and it, was Guichard, ALIAS Quintus Icilius, who +taught Gibbon all he ever knew of Ancient War, at least all the +teaching he ever had of it, for his renowned DECLINE AND FALL." +[See Gibbon's <italic> Works <end italic> (4to, London, 1796: +<italic> Memoirs of my Life and Writings <end italic>), i. 97; +and (<italic> Extraits de mes Lectures <end italic>), ii. 52-54, of +dates May 14th-26th, 1762,--during which days Gibbon is engaged in +actual reading of the <italic> Memoires Militaires; <end italic> +and already knows the Author by his ALIAS of Quintus Icilius, "a +man of eminent sagacity and insight, who was in the Dutch, and is +now, I believe, in the Prussian service." + +It was in the last days of June that Daun, after many litchings, +got into more decisive general movement northward; and slowly but +steadily planted himself at Mark-Lissa in the Lausitz: upon which, +after some survey of the phenomenon, Friedrich got to +Schmottseifen, opposite him, July 10th. Friedrich, on noticing such +stir, had ridden down to Trautenau (June 29th-30th), new Horse- +Artillery attending, to look closer into Daun's affairs; +and, seeing what they were, had thereupon followed. Above a month +before this, Friedrich had detached a considerable force against +the Russians,--General Dohna, of whom in next Chapter:--and both +Daun and he again sit waiting, till they see farther. +Rapid Friedrich is obliged to wait; watching Daun and the Dohna- +Russian adventure: slow Daun will continue to wait and watch there, +long weeks and months, after that is settled, that and much else, +fully to his mind! Each is in his impregnable Camp; and each, Daun +especially, has his Divisions and Detachments hovering round him, +near or far, on different strategic errands; each Main-Camp like a +planet with various moons--Mark-Lissa especially, a kind of sun +with planets and comets and planetary moons:--of whose intricate +motions and counter-motions, mostly unimportant to us, we promised +to take no notice, in face of such a crisis just at hand. + +By the 6th of July, slow Daun had got hitched into his Camp of +Mark-Lissa; and four days after, Friedrich attending him, was in +Schmottseifen: where again was pause; and there passed nothing +mentionable, even on Friedrich's score; and till July was just +ending, the curtain did not fairly rise. Panse of above two weeks +on Friedrich's part, and of almost three months on Daun's. +Mark-Lissa, an impregnable Camp, is on the Lausitz Border; +with Saxony, Silesia, Bohemia all converging hereabouts, and +Brandenburg itself in the vicinity,--there is not a better place +for waiting on events. Here, accordingly, till well on in +September, Daun sat immovable; not even hitching now,--only +shooting out Detachments, planetary, cometary, at a great rate, +chiefly on his various Russian errands. + +Daun, as we said, had been uncomfortably surprised to find, by +degrees, that Invasion was not Friedrich's plan this Year; that the +dramatic parts are redistributed, and that the playing of Fabius- +Cunctator will not now serve one's turn. Daun, who may well be +loath to believe such a thing, clings to his old part, and seems +very lazy to rise and try another. In fact, he does not rise, +properly speaking, or take up his new part at all. This Year, and +all the following, he waits carefully till the Russian Lion come; +will then endeavor to assist,--or even do jackal, which will be +safer still. The Russians he intends shall act lion; he himself +modestly playing the subaltern but much safer part! Diligent to +flatter the lion; will provide him guidances, and fractional +sustenances, in view of the coming hunt; will eat the lion's +leavings, once the prey is slaughtered. This really was, in some +sort, Daun's yearly game, so long as it would last!-- + +July ending, and the curtain fairly risen, we shall have to look at +Friedrich with our best eyesight. Preparatory to which, there is, +on Friedrich's part, ever since the middle of June, this Anti- +Russian Dohna adventure going on:--of which, at first, and till +about the time of getting to Schmottseifen, he had great hopes; +great, though of late rapidly sinking again:--into which we must +first throw a glance, as properly the opening scene. + +Fouquet has been left at Landshut, should the Daun remnants still +in Bohemia think of invading. Fouquet is about rooting himself +rather firmly into that important Post; fortifying various select +Hills round Landshut, with redoubts, curtains, communications; +so as to keep ward there, inexpugnable to a much stronger force. +There for about a year, with occasional short sallies, on errands +that arise, Fouquet sat successfully vigilant; resisting the +Devilles, Becks, Harsches; protecting Glatz and the Passes of +Silesia: in about a year we shall hear of his fortunes worsening, +and of a great catastrophe to him in that Landshut Post. + +Friedrich allowed the Reichsfolk "two good months," after all that +flurrying and havoc done on them, "before they could show face in +Saxony." They did take about that time; and would have taken more, +had not Prince Henri been called away by other pressing occasions +in Friedrich's own neighborhood; and Saxony, for a good while (end +of June to beginning of September), been left almost bare of +Prussian troops. Which encourages the Reichs Army to hurry afield +in very unprepared condition,--still rather within the two months. +End of July, Light people of them push across to Halberstadt or +Halle Country; and are raising Contributions, and plundering +diligently, if nothing else. Of which we can take no notice +farther: if the reader can recollect it, well; if not, also well. +The poor Reichs Army nominally makes a figure this Year, but +nominally only; the effective part of it, now and henceforth, being +Austrian Auxiliaries, and the Reichs part as flaccid and +insignificant as ever. + +Prince Henri's call to quit Saxony was this. Daun, among the +numerous Detachments he was making, of which we can take no notice, +had shot out Two (rather of COMETARY type, to use our old figure), +--which every reader must try to keep in mind. Two Detachments, +very considerable: Haddick (who grew at last to 20,000), and Loudon +(16,000); who are hovering about mysteriously over the Lausitz;-- +intending what? Their intention, Friedrich thinks, especially +Haddick's intention, may be towards Brandenburg, and even Berlin: +wherefore he has summoned Henri to look after it. Henri, resting in +cantonments about Tschopau and Dresden, after the late fatigues, +and idle for the moment, hastens to obey; and is in Bautzen +neighborhood, from about the end of June and onward. Sufficiently +attentive to Haddick and Loudon: who make no attempt on +Brandenburg; having indeed, as Friedrich gradually sees, and as all +of us shall soon see, a very different object in view!-- + + + +Chapter II. + +GENERAL DOHNA; DICTATOR WEDELL: BATTLE OF ZULLICHAU. + +The Russian Lion, urged by Vienna and Versailles, made his entry, +this Year, earlier than usual,--coming now within wind of Mark- +Lissa, as we see;--and has stirred Daun into motion, Daun and +everybody. From the beginning of April, the Russians, hibernating +in the interior parts of Poland, were awake, and getting slowly +under way. April 24th, the Vanguard of 10,000 quitted Thorn; +June 1st, Vanguard is in Posen; followed by a First Division and a +Second, each of 30,000. They called it "Soltikof crossing the +Weichsel with 100,000 men;" but, exclusive of the Cossack swarms, +there were not above 76,000 regulars: nor was Soltikof their +Captain just at first; our old friend Fermor was, and continued to +be till Soltikof, in a private capacity, reached Posen (June 29th), +and produced his new commission. At Fermor's own request, as Fermor +pretended,--who was skilled in Petersburg politics, and with a +cheerful face served thenceforth as Soltikof's second. + +At Posen, as on the road thither, they find Sulkowski's and the +other burnt provenders abundantly replaced: it is evident they +intend, in concert with Daun, to enclose Friedrich between two +fires, and do something considerable. Whether on Brandenburg or +Silesia, is not yet known to Friedrich. Friedrich, since the time +they crossed Weichsel, has given them his best attention; and more +than once has had schemes on their Magazines and them,--once a new +and bigger Scheme actually afoot, under Wobersnow again, our Anti- +Sulkowski friend; but was obliged to turn the force elsewhither, on +alarms that rose. He himself cannot quit the centre of the work; +his task being to watch Daun, and especially, should Daun attempt +nothing else, to prevent junction of Soltikof and him. + +Daun still lies torpid, or merely hitching about; but now when the +Russians are approaching Posen, and the case becomes pressing, +Friedrich, as is usual to him, draws upon the Anti-Swedish +resource, upon the Force he has in Pommern. That is to say, orders +General Dohna, who has the Swedes well driven in at present, to +quit Stralsund Country, to leave the ineffectual Swedes with some +very small attendance; and to march--with certain reinforcements +that are arriving (Wobersnow already, Hulsen with 10,000 out of +Saxony in few days)--direct against the Russians; and at once go in +upon them. Try to burn their Magazines again; or, equally good, to +fall vigorously on some of their separate Divisions, and cut them +off in the vagrant state;--above all, to be vigorous, be rapid, +sharp, and do something effectual in that quarter. These were +Dohna's Instructions. Dohna has 18,000; Hulsen, with his 10,000, is +industriously striding forward, from the farther side of Saxony; +Wobersnow, with at least his own fine head, is already there. +Friedrich, watching in the Anti-Junction position, ready for the +least chance that may turn up. + +Dohna marched accordingly; but was nothing like rapid enough: +an old man, often in ill health too; and no doubt plenty of +impediments about him. He consumed some time rallying at Stargard; +twelve days more at Landsberg, on the Warta, settling his provision +matters: in fine, did not get to Posen neighborhood till June 23d, +three weeks after the Russian Vanguard of 10,000 had fixed itself +there, and other Russian parties were daily dropping in. Dohna was +15,000, a Wobersnow with him: had he gone at once on Posen, as +Wobersnow urged, it is thought he might perhaps have ruined this +Vanguard and the Russian Magazine; which would have been of signal +service for the remaining Campaign. But he preferred waiting for +Hulsen and the 10,000, who did not arrive for seven or eight days +more; by which time Soltikof and most of the Russian Divisions had +got in;--and the work was become as good as hopeless, on those +languid terms. Dohna did try upon the Magazine, said to be ill +guarded in some Suburb of Posen; crossed the Warta with that view, +found no Magazine; recrossed the Warta; and went manoeuvring about, +unable to do the least good on Soltikof or his Magazines or +operations. Friedrich was still in Landshut region, just about +quitting it,--just starting on that little Trautenau Expedition, +with his Four Pieces of Horse-Artillery (June 29th), when the first +ill news of Dohna came in; which greatly disappointed Friedrich, +and were followed by worse, instead of better. + +The end was, Soltikof, being now all ready, winded himself out of +Posen one day, veiled by Cossacks; and, to Dohna's horror, had got, +or was in the act of getting, between Dohna and Brandenburg; +which necessitated new difficult manoeuvres from Dohna. +Soltikof too can manoeuvre a little: Soltikof edges steadily +forward; making for Crossen-on-Oder, where he expects to find +Austrians (Haddick and Loudon, if Friedrich could yet guess it), +with 30,000 odd, especially with provision, which is wearing scarce +with him. Twice or so there was still a pretty opportunity for +Dohna on him; but Dohna never could resolve about it in time. +Back and ever back goes Dohna; facing Soltikof; but always hitching +back; latterly in Brandenburg ground, the Russians and he;--having +no provision, he either. In fine, July 17th (one week after +Friedrich had got to Schmottseifen), Dohna finds himself at the +little Town of Zullichau (barely in time to snatch it before +Soltikof could), within thirty miles of Crossen; and nothing but +futility behind and before. [Tempelhof, iii, 78-88; <italic> +Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> v. 835-847.] + +We can imagine Friedrich's daily survey of all this; his gloomy +calculations what it will soon amount to if it last. He has now no +Winterfeld, Schwerin, no Keith, Retzow, Moritz:--whom has he? +His noblest Captains are all gone; he must put up with the less +noble. One Wedell, Lieutenant-General, had lately recommended +himself to the royal mind by actions of a prompt daring. The royal +mind, disgusted with these Dohna hagglings, and in absolute +necessity of finding somebody that had resolution, and at least +ordinary Prussian skill, hoped Wedell was the man. And determined, +the crisis being so urgent, to send Wedell in the character of +ALTER-EGO, or "with the powers of a Roman Dictator," as the Order +expressed it. [Given in Preuss, ii. 207, 208; in Stenzel, v. 212, +other particulars.] Dictator Wedell is to supersede Dohna; +shall go, at his own swift pace, fettered by nobody;--and, at all +hazards, shall attack Soltikof straightway, and try to beat him. +"You are grown too old for that intricate hard work; go home a +little, and recover your health," the King writes to Dohna. And to +the Dohna Army, "Obey this man, all and sundry of you, as you would +myself;" the man's private Order being, "Go in upon Soltikof; +attack him straightway; let us have done with this wriggling and +haggling." Date of this Order is "Camp at Schmottseifen, 20th July, +1759." The purpose of such high-flown Title, and solemnity of +nomination, was mainly, it appears, to hush down any hesitation or +surprise among the Dohna Generals, which, as Wedell was "the +youngest Lieutenant-General of the Army," might otherwise have +been possible. + +Wedell, furnished with some small escort and these Documents, +arrives in Camp Sunday Evening, 22d July:--poor Dohna has not the +least word or look of criticism; and every General, suppressing +whatever thoughts there may be, prepares to yield loyal obedience +to Dictator Wedell. "Wobersnow was the far better soldier of the +two!" murmured the Opposition party, then and long afterwards, +[Retzow, &c.]--all the more, as Wobersnow's behavior under it was +beautiful, and his end tragical, as will be seen. Wobersnow I +perceive to have been a valiant sharp-striking man, with +multifarious resources in his head; who had faithfully helped in +these operations, and I believe been urgent to quicken them. +But what I remember best of him is his hasty admirable contrivance +for field-bakery in pressing circumstances,--the substance of which +shall not be hidden from a mechanical age:-- + +"You construct six slight square iron frames, each hinged to the +other; each, say, two feet square, or the breadth of two common +tiles, and shaped on the edges so as to take in tiles;--tiles are +to be found on every human cottage. This iron frame, when you hook +it together, becomes the ghost of a cubic box, and by the help of +twelve tiles becomes a compact field-oven; and you can bake with +it, if you have flour and water, and a few sticks. The succinctest +oven ever heard of; for your operation done, and your tiles flung +out again, it is capable of all folding flat like a book." +[Retzow, ii. 82 n.] Never till now had Wobersnow's oven been at +fault: but in these Polish Villages, all of mere thatched hovels, +there was not a tile to be found; and the Bakery, with +astonishment, saw itself unable to proceed. + +Wedell arrived Sunday evening, 22d July; had crossed Oder at +Tschischerzig,--some say by Crossen Bridge; no matter which. +Dohna's Camp is some thirty miles west of Crossen; in and near the +small Town called Zullichau, where his head-quarter is. In those +dull peaty Countries, on the right, which is thereabouts the +NORTHERN (not eastern), bank of Oder; between the Oder and the +Warta; some seventy miles south-by-east of Landsberg, and perhaps +as far southwest of Posen: thither has Dohna now got with his +futile manoeuvrings. Soltikof, drawn up amid scrubby woods and +sluggish intricate brooks, is about a mile to east of him. + +Poor Dohna demits at once; and, I could conjecture, vanishes that +very night; glad to be out of such a thing. Painfully has Dohna +manoeuvred for weeks past; falling back daily; only anxious +latterly that Soltikof, who daily tries it, do not get to westward +of him on the Frankfurt road, and so end this sad shuffle. +Soltikof as yet has not managed that ultimate fatality; Dohna, by +shuffling back, does at least contrive to keep between Frankfurt +and him;--will not try attacking him, much as Wobersnow urges it. +Has agreed twice or oftener, on Wobersnow's urgency: "Yes, yes; +we have a chance," Dohna would answer; "only let us rest till +to-morrow, and be fresh!" by which time the opportunity was always +gone again. + +Wedell had arrived with a grenadier battalion and some horse for +escort; had picked up 150 Russian prisoners by the way. Retzow has +understood he came in with a kind of state; and seemed more or less +inflated; conscious of representing the King's person, and being a +Roman Dictator,--though it is a perilously difficult office too, +and requires more than a Letter of Instructions to qualify you for +it! This is not Leonidas Wedell, whom readers once knew; +poor Leonidas is dead long since, fell in the Battle of Sohr, soon +after the heroic feat of Ziethen's and his at Elbe-Teinitz (Defence +of Elbe against an Army); this is Leonidas's elder Brother. +Friedrich had observed his fiery ways on the day of Leuthen: +"Hah, a new Winterfeld perhaps?" thought Friedrich, "All the +Winterfeld I now have!"--which proved a fond hope. Wedell's +Dictatorship began this Sunday towards sunset; and lasted--in +practical fact, it lasted one day. + + +DICTATOR WEDELL FIGHTS HIS BATTLE (Monday, 23d July, 1759), +WITHOUT SUCCESS. + +Monday morning early, Wedell is on the heights, reconnoitring +Soltikof; cannot see much of him, the ground being so woody; +does see what he takes to be Soltikof's left wing; and judges that +Soltikof will lie quiet for this day. Which was far from a right +reading of Soltikof; the fact being that Soltikof, in long columns +and divisions, beginning with his right wing, was all on march +since daybreak; what Wedell took for Soltikof's "left wing" being +Soltikof's rear-guard and baggage, waiting till the roads cleared. +Wedell, having settled everything on the above footing, returns to +Zullichau about 10 o'clock; and about 11, Soltikof, miles long, +disengaged from the bushy hollows, makes his appearance on the open +grounds of Palzig: he, sure enough (though Wedell can hardly +believe it),--five or six miles to northeast yonder; +tramping diligently along, making for Crossen and the Oder Bridge; +--and is actually got ahead of us, at last! + +This is what Wedell cannot suffer, cost what it may. +Wedell's orders were, in such case, Attack the Russians. +Wedell instantly took his measures; not unskilfully, say judges,-- +though the result proved disappointing; and Wobersnow himself +earnestly dissuaded: "Too questionable, I should doubt! Soltikof is +70,000, and has no end of Artillery; we are 26,000, and know not if +we can bring a single gun to where Soltikof is!" [Tempelhof, iii. +132-134.] + +Wedell's people have already, of their own accord, got to arms +again; stand waiting his orders on this new emergency. No delay in +Wedell or in them. "May not it be another Rossbach (if we are +lucky)?" thinks Wedell: "Cannot we burst in on their flank, as they +march yonder, those awkward fellows; and tumble them into heaps?" +The differences were several-fold: First, that Friedrich and +Seidlitz are not here. Many brave men we have, and skilful; but not +a master and man like these Two. Secondly, that there is no Janus +Hill to screen our intentions; but that the Russians have us in +full view while we make ready. Thirdly, and still more important, +that we do not know the ground, and what hidden inaccessibilities +lie ahead. This last is judged to have been the killing +circumstance. Between the Russians and us there is a paltry little +Brook, or line of quagmire; scarcely noticeable here, but passable +nowhere except at the Village-Mill of Kay, by one poor Bridge +there. And then, farther inwards, as shelter of the Russians, there +is another quaggy Brook, branch of the above, which is without +bridge altogether. Hours will be required to get 26,000 people +marched up there, not to speak of heavy guns at all. + +The 26,000 march with their usual mathematical despatch: Manteuffel +and the Vanguard strike in with their sharpest edge, foot and +horse, direct on the Head of the Russian Column, Manteuffel leading +on, so soon as his few battalions and squadrons are across. +Head means BRAIN (or life) to this Russian Column; and these +Manteuffel people go at it with extraordinary energy. The Russian +Head gives way; infantry and cavalry:--their cavalry was driven +quite to rear, and never came in sight again after this of +Manteuffel. But the Russians have abundance of Reserves; also of +room to manoeuvre in,--no lack of ground open, and ground +defensible (Palzig Village and Churchyard, for example);--above +all, they have abundance of heavy guns. + +Well in recoil from Manteuffel and his furies, the beaten Russians +succeed in forming "a long Line behind Palzig Village," with that +Second, slighter or Branch Quagmire between them and us; they get +the Village beset, and have the Churchyard of it lined with +batteries,--say seventy guns. Manteuffel, unsupported, has to fall +back;--unwillingly, and not chased or in disorder,--towards Kay- +Mill again; where many are by this time across. Hulsen, with the +Centre, attacks now, as the Vanguard had done; with a will, he too: +Wobersnow, all manner of people attack; time after time, for about +four hours coming: and it proves all in vain, on that Churchyard +and new Line. Without cannon, we are repulsed, torn away by those +Russian volcano-batteries; never enough of us at once! + +Hulsen, Wobersnow, everybody in detail is repulsed, or finds his +success unavailing. Poor Wobersnow did wonders; but he fell, +killed. Gone he; and has left so few of his like: a man that could +ill be spared at present!--Day is sinking; we find we have lost, in +killed, wounded and prisoners, some 6,000 men. "About sunset,"-- +flaming July sun going down among the moorlands on such a scene,-- +Wedell gives it up; retires slowly towards Kay Bridge. Slowly; +not chased, or molested; Soltikof too glad to be rid of him. +Soltikof's one aim is, and was, towards Crossen; towards Austrian +Junction, and something to live upon. Soltikof's loss of men is +reckoned to be heavier even than Wedell's: but he could far better +afford it. He has gained his point; and the price is small in +comparison. Next day he enters Crossen on triumphant terms. + +Poor Wedell had returned over Kay-Mill Bridge, in the night-time +after his Defeat. On the morrow (Tuesday, 24th, day of Soltikof's +glad entry), Wedell crosses Oder; at Tschischerzig, the old place +of Sunday evening last,--in how different a humor, this time!--and +in a day more, posts himself opposite to Crossen Bridge, five or +six miles south; and again sits watchful of Soltikof there. +At Crossen, triumphant Soltikof has found no Austrian Junction, nor +anything additional to live upon. A very disappointing circumstance +to Soltikof; "Austrian Junction still a problem, then; a thing in +the air? And perhaps the King of Prussia taking charge of it now!" +Soltikof, more and more impatient, after waiting some days, decided +Not to cross Oder by that Bridge;--"shy of crossing anywhere [think +the French Gentlemen, Montazet, Montalembert], to the King of +Prussia's side!" [Stenzel, iv. 215 (indistinct, and giving a WRONG +citation of "Montalembert, ii. 87").] Which is not unlikely, though +the King is above 100 miles off him, and has Daun on his hands. +Certain enough, keeping the River between him and any operations of +the King, Soltikof set out for Frankfurt, forty or fifty miles +farther down. In the hope probably of finding something of human +provender withal? July 30th, one week after his Battle, the +vanguard of him is there. + +Thus, in two days, or even in one, has Wedell's Dictatorship ended. +Easy to say scoffingly, "Would it had never begun!" Friedrich knows +that, and Wedell knows it;--AFTER the event everybody knows it! +Friedrich said nothing of reproachful; the reverse rather,-- +"I dreaded something of the kind; it is not your fault;" +[TO WEDELL, FROM THE KING, "Schmottseifen, July 24th. 1759" (in +Schoning, ii. 118).]--ordered Wedell to watch diligently at Crossen +Bridge, and be ready on farther signal. The Wedell Problem, in such +ruined condition, has now fallen to Friedrich himself. + +This is the BATTLE OF ZULLICHAU (afternoon of 23d July, 1759); +the beginning of immense disasters in this Campaign. Battle called +also of KAY and of PALZIG, those also being main localities in it. +It was lost, not by fault of Wedell's people, who spent themselves +nobly upon it, nor perhaps by fault of Wedell himself, but +principally, if not solely, by those two paltry Brooks, or threads +of Quagmire, one of which turns Kay-Mill; memorable Brooks in this +Campaign, 1759. [Tempelhof, iii. 125-131.] + +Close in the same neighborhood, there is another equally +contemptible Brook, making towards Oder, and turning the so-called +Krebsmuhle, which became still more famous to the whole European +Public twenty years hence. KREBS-MUHLE (Crab-Mill), as yet quite +undistinguished among Mills; belonging to a dusty individual called +Miller Arnold, with a dusty Son of his own for Miller's Lad: was it +at work this day? Or had the terrible sound from Palzig quenched +its clacking?-- + +Some three weeks ago (4th-6th JULY), there occurred a sudden sharp +thing at Havre-de-Grace on the French Coast, worth a word from us +in this place. The Montazets, Montalemberts, watching, messaging +about, in the Austrian-Russian Courts and Camps, assiduously +keeping their Soltikofs in tune, we can observe how busy they are. +Soubise with his Invasion of England, all the French are very busy; +they have conquered Hessen from Duke Ferdinand, and promise +themselves a glorious Campaign, after that Seizure of Frankfurt. +Soubise, intent on his new Enterprise, is really making ardent +preparations: at Vanues in the Morbihan, such rendezvousing and +equipping;--especially at Havre, no end of flat-bottomed boats +getting built; and much bluster and agitation among the weaker +sorts in both Nations. Whereupon,-- + +"JULY 1st [just in the days while Friedrich was first trying Horse +Artillery], Rear-Admiral Rodney sails from Portsmouth with a few +Frigates, and Six Bomb-ketches [FIREDRAKE, BASILISK, BLAST, and +such nomenclatures [List of him, in Beatson, <italic> Naval and +Military Memoirs <end italic> (London, 1804), ii. 241; his Despatch +excellently brief, ib. ii. 323]]; and in the afternoon of Tuesday, +3d, arrives in the frith or bay of Havre. Steers himself properly +into 'the Channel of Honfleur' before dark; and therefrom, with his +Firedrake, Basilisk and Company, begins such a bombardment of Havre +and the flat-bottomed manufactories as was quite surprising. +Fifty-two incessant hours of it, before he thought poor Havre had +enough. Poor Havre had been on fire six times; the flat manufactory +(unquenchable) I know not how many; all the inhabitants off in +despair; and the Garrison building this battery to no purpose, then +that; no salvation for them but in Rodney's 'mortars getting too +hot.' He had fired of shells 1,900, of carcasses, 1,150: +from Wednesday about sunrise till Friday about 8 A.M.,--about time +now for breakfast; which I hope everybody had, after such a stretch +of work. 'No damage to speak of,' said the French Gazetteers; +'we will soon refit everything!' But they never did; and nothing +came of Havre henceforth. Vannes was always, and is now still more, +to be the main place; only that Hawke--most unexpectedly, for one +fancied all their ships employed in distant parts--rides there with +a Channel Fleet of formidable nature; and the previous question +always is: 'Cannot we beat Hawke? Can we! Or will not he perhaps +go, of himself, when the rough weather comes?'" + + + +Chapter III. + +FRIEDRICH IN PERSON ATTEMPTS THE RUSSIAN PROBLEM; NOT WITH SUCCESS. + +Before Wedell's catastrophe, the Affair of those Haddick-Loudon +Detachments had become a little plainer to Friedrich. +The intention, he begins to suspect, is not for Berlin at all; +but for junction with Soltikof,--at Crossen, or wherever it may be. +This is in fact their real purpose; and this, beyond almost Berlin +itself, it is in the highest degree important to prevent! +Important; and now as if become impossible! + +Prince Henri had come to Bautzen with his Army, specially to look +after Loudon and Haddick; and he has, all this while, had Finck +with some 10,000 diligently patrolling to westward of them, +guarding Berlin; he himself watching from the southern side,-- +where, as on the western, there was no danger from them. Some time +before Wedell's affair, Friedrich had pushed out Eugen of +Wurtemberg to watch these people on the eastern side;--suspicious +that thitherward lay their real errand. Eugen had but 6,000; +and, except in conjunction with Finck and Henri, could do nothing, +--nor can, now when Friedrich's suspicion turns out to be fatally +true. Friedrich had always the angry feeling that Finck and Prince +Henri were the blameworthy parties in what now ensued; that they, +who were near, ought to have divined these people's secret, and +spoiled it in time; not have left it to him who was far off, and so +busy otherwise. To the last, that was his fixed private opinion; +by no means useful to utter,--especially at present, while +attempting the now very doubtful enterprise himself, and needing +all about him to be swift and zealous. This is one of Friedrich's +famous labors, this of the Haddick-Loudon junction with Soltikof; +strenuous short spasm of effort, of about a week's continuance; +full of fiery insight, velocity, energy; still admired by judges, +though it was unsuccessful, or only had half success. Difficult to +bring home, in any measure, to the mind of modern readers, so +remote from it. + +Friedrich got the news of Zullichau next day, July 24th;--and +instantly made ready. The case is critical; especially this +Haddick-Loudon part of it: add 30 or 36,000 Austrians to Soltikof, +how is he then to be dealt with? A case stringently pressing:--and +the resources for it few and scattered. For several days past, +Haddick, and Loudon under him, whose motions were long enigmatic, +have been marching steadily eastward through the Lausitz,--with the +evident purpose of joining Soltikof; unless Wedell could forbid. +Wedell ahead was the grand opposition;--Finck, Henri, Wurtemberg, +as good as useless;--and Wedell being now struck down, these +Austrians will go, especially Loudon will, at a winged rate. +They are understood to be approaching Sagan Country; happily, as +yet, well to westward of it, and from Sagan Town well +NORTH-westward;--but all accounts of them are vague, dim: they are +an obscure entity to Friedrich, but a vitally important one. +Sagan Town may be about 70 miles northward of where Friedrich now +is: from Sagan, were they once in the meridian of Sagan, their road +is free eastward and northward;--to Crossen is about 60 miles +north-by-east from Sagan, to Frankfurt near 100 north. Sagan is on +the Bober; Bober, in every event, is between the Austrians and +their aim. + +Friedrich feels that, however dangerous to quit Daun's +neighborhood, he must, he in person, go at once. And who, in the +interim, will watch Daun and his enterprises? Friedrich's +reflections are: "Well, in the crisis of the moment, Saxony--though +there already are marauding Bodies of Reichsfolk in it--must still +be left to itself for a time; or cannot Finck and his 10,000 look +to it? Henri, with his Army, now useless at Bautzen, shall +instantly rendezvous at Sagan; his Army to go with me, against the +Russians and their Haddick-Loudons; Henri to Schmottseifen, instead +of me, and attend to Daun; Henri, I have no other left! Finck and +his 10,000 must take charge of Saxony, such charge as he can:--how +lucky those Spring Forays, which destroyed the Reichs Magazines! +Whereby there is no Reichs Army yet got into Saxony (nothing but +preliminary pulses and splashings of it); none yet, nor like to be +quite at once." That is Friedrich's swift plan. + +Henri rose on the instant, as did everybody concerned: July 29th, +Henri and Army were at Sagan; Army waiting for the King; Henri so +far on his road to Schmottseifen. He had come to Sagan "by almost +the rapidest marches ever heard of,"--or ever till some others of +Henri's own, which he made in that neighborhood soon. Punctual, he, +to his day; as are Eugen of Wurtemberg's people, and all +Detachments and Divisions: Friedrich himself arrives at Sagan that +same 29th, "about midnight,"--and finds plenty of work waiting: +no sleep these two nights past; and none coming just yet! A most +swift rendezvous. The speed of everybody has been, and needs still +to be, intense. + +This rendezvous at Sagan--intersection of Henri and Friedrich, +bound different roads (the Brothers, I think, did not personally +meet, Henri having driven off for Schmottseifen by a shorter road) +--was SUNDAY, JULY 29th. Following which, are six days of such a +hunt for those Austrian reynards as seldom or never was! +Most vehement, breathless, baffling hunt; half of it spent in +painfully beating cover, in mere finding and losing. Not rightly +successful, after all. So that, on the eighth day hence, AUGUST +6th, at Mullrose, near Frankfurt, 80 miles from Sagan, there is a +second rendezvous,--rendezvous of Wedell and Friedrich, who do not +now "intersect," but meet after the hunt is done;--and in the +interim, there has been a wonderful performance, though an +unsuccessful. Friedrich never could rightly get hold of his +Austrians. Once only, at Sommerfeld, a long march northwest of +Sagan, he came upon some outskirts of them. And in general, in +those latter eight days, especially in the first six of them, there +is, in that Kotbus-Sagan Country, such an intersecting, checking, +pushing and multifarious simmering of marches, on the part of half +a dozen Strategic Entities, Friedrich the centre of them, as--as, I +think, nobody but an express soldier-student, well furnished with +admiration for this particular Soldier, would consent to have +explained to him. One of the maziest, most unintelligible whirls of +marching; inextricable Sword Dance, or Dance of the Furies,--five +of them (that is the correct number: Haddick, Loudon, Friedrich, +Wurtemberg, Wedell);--and it is flung down for us, all in a huddle, +in these inhuman Books (which have several errors of the press, +too): let no man rashly insist with himself on understanding it, +unless he have need! Humanly pulled straight, not inhumanly flung +down at random, here the essentials of it are,--in very +brief state:-- + +"SAGAN, MONDAY, 30th JULY. Friedrich is at Sagan, since midnight +last, busier and busier;" beating cover, as we termed it, and +getting his hounds (his new Henri-Army) in leash; "endeavoring, +especially, to get tidings of those Austrian people; who are very +enigmatic,--Loudon a dexterous man,--and have hung up such a +curtain of Pandours between Friedrich and them as is nearly +impenetrable. In the course of this Monday Friedrich ascertains +that they are verily on the road; coming eastward, for Sommerfeld, +--'thence for Crossen!' he needs no ghost to tell him. Wherefore, + +"TUESDAY, SAGAN TO NAUMBURG. Tuesday before daybreak Friedrich too +is on the road: northwestward; in full march towards Naumburg on +Bober, meaning to catch the Bridge from them there. March of the +swiftest; he himself is ahead, as usual, with the Vanguard of +Horse. He reaches Naumburg (northward, a march of 20 miles); +finds, not Haddick or Loudon, but a Detachment of theirs: which he +at once oversets with his cavalry, and chases,--marking withal that +'westward is the way they run.' Westward; and that we are still +ahead, thank Heaven! + +"Before his Infantry are all up, or are well rested in Naumburg, +Friedrich ascertains, on more precise tidings, that the Austrians +are in Sommerfeld, to westward (again a 20 miles); and judges That, +no doubt, they will bear off more to leftward, by Guben probably, +and try to avoid him,--unless he can still catch them in +Sommerfeld. About nightfall he marches for Sommerfeld, at his +swiftest; arrives Wednesday early; finds--alas!-- + +"SOMMERFELD, WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 1st, Friedrich finds that +Loudon was there last night,--preterite tense, alas; the question +now being, Where is he!" In fact, Loudon had written yesterday to +Daun (Letter still extant, "Sommerfeld, July 31st"), That "being +swift and light," consisting of horse for most part, "he may +probably effect Junction this very night;"--but has altered his +mind very much, on sight of these fugitives from Naumburg, since! +And has borne off more to leftward. Straight north now, and at a +very brisk pace; being now all of horse;--and has an important +conference with Haddick at Guben, when they arrive there. "Not in +Sommerfeld?" thinks Friedrich (earnestly surveying, through this +slit he has made in the Pandour veil): "Gone to Guben most likely, +bearing off from us to leftward?"--Which was the fact; though not +the whole fact. And indeed the chase is now again fallen uncertain, +and there has to be some beating of covers. For one thing, he +learns to-day (August 1st) that the Russians are gone to Frankfurt: +"Follow them, you Wedell,"--orders Friedrich: them we shall have to +go into,--however this hunt end!-- + +"To Markersdorf, Thursday, August 2d. Friedrich takes the road for +Guben; reaches Markersdorf (twenty miles' march, still seven or +eight from Guben); falls upon--What phenomenon is this? +The Austrian heavy Train; meal-wagons not a few, and a regiment of +foot in charge of it;--but going the wrong way, not TOWARDS the +Russians, but from them! What on earth can this be? This is +Haddick,--if Friedrich could yet clearly know it,--Haddick and +Train, who for his own part has given up the junction enterprise. +At Guben, some hours ago, he had conference with Loudon; and this +was the conclusion arrived at: 'Impossible, with that King so near! +You, Herr Loudon, push on, without heavy baggage, and with the +Cavalry altogether: you can get in, almost 20,000 strong; I, with +the Infantry, with the meal and heavy guns, will turn, and make for +the Lausitz again!' + +"This mysterious Austrian Train, going the wrong way, Friedrich +attacks, whatever it be (hoping, I suppose, it might be the +Austrians altogether); chases it vigorously; snatches all the meal- +wagons, and about 1,000 prisoners. Uncertain still what it is,--if +not the Austrians altogether? To his sorrow, he finds, on pushing +farther into it, that it is only Haddick and the Infantry; +that Loudon, with the 20,000 Horse, will have gone off for +Frankfurt;--irretrievably ahead, the swift Loudon,--ever careering +northward all this while, since that afternoon at Sommerfeld, when +the fugitives altered his opinion: a now unattainable Loudon. +In the course of Thursday night, Friedrich has satisfied himself +that the Loudon junction is a thing as good as done;--in effect, +Loudon did get to Frankfurt, morning of August 3d, and joined the +Russians there; and about the same time, or only a few hours +sooner, Friedrich, by symptoms, has divined that his hunt has +ended, in this rather unsuccessful way; and that chasing of Haddick +is not the road to go." [Tempelhof, iii. 135-139.] + +Not Haddick now; with or without their Austrians, it shall be the +Russians now! Two days ago (Wednesday, as was mentioned), before +sight of those enigmatic meal-wagons, Friedrich had learned that +the Russians were to be in Frankfurt again; and had ordered Wedell +to march thitherward, at any rate. Which Wedell is doing, all this +Thursday and the four following days. As does likewise, from and +after "FRIDAY, AUGUST 3d, 1 A.M." (hunt then over), Friedrich +himself,--renouncing Haddick and the hunt. Straight towards +Frankfurt thenceforth; head-quarters Beeskow that night; +next night, Mullrose, whither Wedell is appointed, within twelve +miles of Frankfurt. This is the end of Friedrich's sore Chase and +March; burnt deeply into his own weary brain, if ours still refuse +it admittance! Here, of utterly fatigued tone, is a Note of his, +chiefly on business, to Minister Finkenstein. Indeed there are, +within the next ten days, Three successive Notes to Finkenstein, +which will be worth reading in their due places. This is the First +of them:-- + +THE KING TO GRAF VON FINKENSTEIN (at Berlin). + +"BEESKOW, 3d August,1759." + +"I am just arrived here, after cruel and frightful marchings +[CHECKS HIMSELF, HOWEVER]. There is nothing desperate in all that; +and I believe the noise and disquietude this hurly-burly has caused +will be the worst of it. Show this Letter to everybody, that it may +be known the State is not undefended. I have made above 1,000 +prisoners from Haddick. All his meal-wagons have been taken. +Finck, I believe, will keep an eye on him," and secure Berlin from +attempts of his. "This is all I can say. + +"To-morrow I march to within two leagues of Frankfurt [to Mullrose, +namely]. Katte [the Minister who has charge of such things] must +send me instantly Two Hundred Wispels [say tons] of Meal, and +Bakers One Hundred, to Furstenwalde. I shall encamp at Wulkow. I am +very tired. For six nights I have not closed an eye. Farewell.--F." + +During the above intricate War-Dance of Five,--the day while +Friedrich was at Sommerfeld, the day before he came in sight of +Haddick's meal-wagons going the wrong road,--there went on, at +Minden, on the Weser, three hundred miles away, a beautiful feat of +War, in the highest degree salutary to Duke Ferdinand and Britannic +Majesty's Ministry; feat which requires a word from us here. +A really splendid Victory, this of Minden, August 1st: +French driven headlong through the Passes there; their "Conquest of +Hanover and Weser Country" quite exploded and flung over the +horizon; and Duke Ferdinand relieved from all his distresses, and +lord of the ascendant again in those parts. Highly interesting to +Friedrich;--especially to Prince Henri; whose apprehensions about +Ferdinand and the old Richelieu Hastenbeck-Halberstadt time +returning on us, have been very great; and who now, at +Schmottseifen, fires FEU-DE-JOIE for it with all his heart. This is +a Battle still of some interest to English readers. But can English +readers consent to halt in this hot pinch of the Friedrich crisis; +and read the briefest thing which is foreign to it? Alas, I fear +they can;--and will insert the Note here:-- + +BATTLE OF MINDEN: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1st, 1759.---"Ever since +Bergen, things have gone awry with Ferdinand, and in spite of +skilful management, of hard struggles and bright sparkles of +success, he has had a bad Campaign of it. The French, it would +seem, are really got into better fighting order; Belleisle's +exertions as War-Minister have been almost wonderful,--in some +respects, TOO wonderful, as we shall hear!--and Broglio and +Contades, in comparison with Clermont and Soubise, have real +soldier qualities. Contades, across Rhine again, in those Weser +Countries, who is skilful in his way, and is pricked on by +emulation of Broglio, has been spreading himself out steadily +progressive there; while Broglio, pushing along from Frankfurt-on- +Mayn, has conquered Hessen; is into Hanover; on the edge of +conqueriug Hanover,--which how is Ferdinand to hinder? +Ferdinand has got two, if not three Armies to deal with, and in +number is not mnch superior to one. If he run to save Hanover from +Broglio, he loses Westphalia: Osnabruck (his magazine)? Munster, +Lippstadt,--Contades, if left to himself, will take these, after +short siege; and will nestle himself there, and then advance, not +like a transitory fever-fit, but like visible death, on Hanover. +Ferdinand, rapid yet wary, manoeuvred his very best among those +interests of his, on the left bank of Weser; but after the +surprisal of Minden from him (brilliantly done by Broglio, and the +aid of a treacherous peasant), especially after the capture of +Osnabruck, his outlooks are gloomy to a degree: and at Versailles, +and at Minden where Contades has established himself, 'the Conquest +of Hanover' (beautiful counterweight to all one's losses in America +or elsewhere) is regarded as a certainty of this Year. + +"For the last ten days of July, about Minden, the manoeuvring, +especially on Ferdinand's part, had been intense; a great idea in +the head of Ferdinand, more or less unintelligible to Contades. +Contades, with some 30,000, which is the better half of his force, +has taken one of the unassailablest positions. He lies looking +northward, his right wing on the Weser with posts to Minden (Minden +perhaps a mile northeastward there), on his left impassable peat- +bogs and quagmires; in front a quaggy River or impassable black +Brook, called the Bastau, coming from the westward, which +disembogues at Minden: [Sketch of Plan, p. 238]--there lies +Contades, as if in a rabbit-hole, say military men; for defence, if +that were the sole object, no post can be stronger. Contades has in +person say 30,000; and round him, on both sides of the Weser, are +Broglio with 20,000; besides other Divisions, I know not how many, +besieging Munster, capturing Osnabruck (our hay magazine), +attempting Lippstadt by surprise (to no purpose), and diligently +working forward, day by day, to Ferdinand's ruin in those Minden +regions. Three or four Divisions busy in that manner;--and above +all, we say, he has Broglio with a 20,000 on the right or east bank +of the Weser,--who, if Ferdinand quit him even for a day, seems to +have Hanover at discretion, and can march any day upon Hanover +City, where his light troops have already been more than once. +Why does n't Ferdinand cross Weser, re-cross Weser; coerce Broglio +back; and save Hanover? cry the Gazetteers and a Public of weak +judgment. Pitt's Public is inclined to murmur about Ferdinand; +Pitt himself never. Ferdinand persists in sticking by Minden +neighborhood,--and, in a scarcely accountable way, manoeuvring +there, shooting out therefrom what mischief he can upon the various +Contades people in their sieges and the like. + +"On Contades himself he can pretend to do nothing,--except hoodwink +him, entice him out, and try to get a chance on him. But for his +own subsistence and otherwise, he is very lively;--snatches, by a +sudden stroke, Bremen City: 'Yes truly, Bremen is a Reichstadt; +nor shall YOU snatch it, as you did Frankfurt; but I will, instead; +and my English proviant-ships shall have a sure haven henceforth!' +Snatches Bremen by one sudden stroke; RE-snatches Osnabruck by +another ('our magazine considerably INCREASED since you have had +it, many thanks!'); does lose Munster, to his sorrow; +but nevertheless sticks by his ground here;--nay detaches his +swift-cutting Nephew, the Hereditary Prince, who is growing famous +for such things, to cut out Contades's strong post to southward +(Gohfeld, ten miles up the Weser), which guards his meal-wagons, +after their long journey from the south. That is Contades's one +weak point, in this posture of things: his meal is at Cassel, +seventy miles off. Broglio and he see clearly, 'Till we can get a +new magazine much nearer Hanover, or at lowest, can clear out these +people from infesting us here, there is no moving northward!' +To both Contades and Broglio that is an evident thing: +the corollary to which is, They must fight Ferdinand; must watch +lynx-like till a chance turn up of beating him in fight. That is +their outlook; and Ferdinand knows it is,--and manoeuvres +accordingly. Military men admire much, not his movements only, but +his clear insight into Contades's and Broglio's temper of mind, and +by what methods they were to be handled, they and his own affairs +together, and brought whither he wanted them. [In MAUVILLON (ii. +41-44) minute account of all that.] + +"This attempt on Gohfeld was a serious mischief to Contades, if it +succeeded. But the detaching of the Prince of Brunswick on it, and +weakening one's too weak Army, 'What a rashness, what an +oversight!' thinks Contades (as Ferdinand wished him to do): +'Is our skilful enemy, in this extreme embarrassment, losing head, +then? Look at his left wing yonder [General Wangenheim, sitting +behind batteries, in his Village of Todtenhausen, looking into +Minden from the north]:--Wangenheim's left leans on the Weser, yes; +but Wangenheim's right, observe, has no support within three miles +of it: tear Wangenheim out, Ferdinand's flank is bare!' +These things seemed to Contades the very chance he had been waiting +for; and brought him triumphantly out of his rabbit-hole, into the +Heath of Minden, as Ferdinand hoped they would do. + +"And so, TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 31st, things being now all ripe, +upwards of 50,000 French are industriously in motion. Contades has +nineteen bridges ready on the Bastau Brook, in front of him; +TATTOO this night, in Contades's Camp, is to mean GENERAL MARCH, +'March, all of you, across these nineteen Bridges, to your stations +on the Plain or Heath of Minden yonder,--and be punctual, like the +clock!' Broglio crosses Weser by the town Bridge, ranks himself +opposite Todtenhausen; and through the livelong night there is, on +the part of the 50,000 French, a very great marching and deploying. +Contades and Broglio together are 51,400 foot and horse. +Ferdinand's entire force will be near 46,000; but on the day of +Battle he is only 36,000,--having detached the Hereditary Prince on +Gohfeld, in what view we know.--The BATTLE OF MINDEN, called also +of TONHAUSEN (meaning TODTENhausen), which hereupon fell out, has +still its fame in the world; and, I perceive, is well worth study +by the soldier mind: though nothing but the rough outline of it is +possible here. + +"Ferdinand's posts extend from the Weser river and Todtenhausen +round by Stemmern, Holzhausen, to Hartum and the Bog of Bastau (the +chief part of him towards Bastau),--in various Villages, and woody +patches and favorable spots; all looking in upon Minden, from a +distance of five or seven miles; forming a kind of arc, with Minden +for centre. He will march up in eight Columns; of course, with wide +intervals between them,--wide, but continually narrowing as he +advances; which will indeed be ruinous gaps, if Ferdinand wait to +be attacked; but which will coalesce close enough, if he be speedy +upon Contades. For Contades's line is also of arc-like or almost +semicircular form, behind it Minden as centre; Minden, which is at +the intersection of Weser and the Brook; his right flank is on +Weser, Broglio VERSUS Wangenheim the extreme right; his left, with +infantry and artillery, rests on that black Brook of Bastau with +its nineteen Bridges. As the ground on both wings is rough, not so +fit for Cavalry, Contades puts his Cavalry wholly in the centre: +they are the flower of the French Army, about 10,000 horse in all; +firm open ground ahead of them there, with strong batteries, masses +of infantry to support on each flank; batteries to ply with cross- +fire any assailant that may come on. Broglio, we said, is right +wing; strong in artillery and infantry. Broglio is to root out +Waugenheim: after which,--or even before which, if Wangenheim is +kept busy and we are nimble,--what becomes of Ferdinand's left +flank, with a gap of three miles between Wangenheim and him, and +10,000 chosen horse to take advantage of it! Had the French been of +Prussian dexterity and nimbleness in marching, it is very possible +something might have come of this latter circumstance: but +Ferdinand knows they are not; and intends to take good care of +his flank. + +"Contades and his people were of willing mind; but had no skill in +'marchiug up:' and, once got across the Bastau by their nineteen +Bridges, they wasted many hours:--'Too far, am I? not far enough? +Too close? not close enough?'--and broiled about, in much hurry and +confusion, all night. Fight was to have begun at 5 in the morning. +Broglio was in his place, silently looking into Wangenheim, by five +o'clock; but unfortunately did nothing upon Wangenheim ('Not ready +you, I see!'), except cannonade a little;--and indeed all through +did nothing ('Still not ready you others!'); which surely was +questionable conduct, though not reckoned so at Versailles, when +the case came to be argued there. As to the Contades people, across +those nineteen Bridges, they had a baffling confused night; +and were by no means correctly on their ground at sunrise, nor at +7 o'clock, nor at 8; and were still mending themselves when the +shock came, and time was done. + +"The morning is very misty; but Ferdinand has himself been out +examining since the earliest daybreak: his orders last night were, +'Cavalry be saddled at 1 in the morning,'--having a guess that +there would be work, as he now finds there will. From 5 A.M. +Ferdinand is issuing from his Camp, flowing down eastward, +beautifully concentric, closing on Contades; horse NOT in centre, +but English Infantry in centre (Six Battalions, or Six REGIMENTS by +English reckoning); right opposite those 10,000 Horse of +Contades's, the sight of whom seems to be very animating to them. +The English CavaIry stand on the right wing, at the Village of +Hartum: Lord George Sackville had not been very punctual in +saddling at 1 o'clock; but he is there, ranked on the ground, at 8, +--in what humor nobody knows; sulky and flabby, I should rather +guess. English Tourists, idle otherwise, may take a look at Hartum +on the south side, as the spot where a very ugly thing occurred +that day. + +"Soon after 8 the Fight begins: attack, by certain Hessians, on +Hahlen and its batteries; attempt to drive the French out of +Hahlen, as the first thing,--which does not succeed at once (indeed +took three attacks in all); and perhaps looks rather tedious to +those Six English Battalions. Ferdinand's order to them was, 'You +shall march up to attack, you Six, on sound of drum;' but, it +seems, they read it, 'BY sound of drum;' 'Beating our own drums; +yes, of course!'--and, being weary of this Hahlen work, or fancying +they had no concern with it, strode on, double-quick, without +waiting for Hahlen at all! To the horror of their Hanoverian +comrades, who nevertheless determined to follow as second line. +'The Contades cross-fire of artillery, battery of 30 guns on one +flank, of 36 on the other, does its best upon this forward-minded +Infantry, but they seem to heed it little; walk right forward; +and, to the astonishment of those French Horse and of all the +world, entirely break and ruin the charge made on them, and tramp +forward in chase of the same. The 10,000 Horse feel astonished, +insulted; and rush out again, furiously charging; the English halt +and serry themselves: 'No fire till they are within forty paces;' +and then such pouring torrents of it as no horse or man can endure. +Rally after rally there is, on the part of those 10,000; mass after +mass of them indignantly plunges on,--again, ever again, about six +charges in all;--but do not break the English lines: one of them +(regiment Mestrede-Camp, raised to a paroxysm) does once get +through, across the first line, but is blown back in dreadful +circumstances by the second. After which they give it up, as a +thing that cannot be done. And rush rearward, hither, thither, the +whole seventy-five squadrons of them; and 'between their two wings +of infantry are seen boiling in complete disorder.' + +"This has lasted about an hour: this is essentially the soul of the +Fight,--though there wanted not other activities, to right of it +and to left, on both sides; artilleries going at a mighty rate on +both wings; and counter-artilleries (superlative practice 'by +Captain Phillips' on OUR right wing); Broglio cannonading +Wangenheim very loudly, but with little harm done or suffered, on +their right wing. Wangenheim is watchful of that gap between +Ferdinand and him, till it close itself sufficiently. Their right- +wing Infantry did once make some attempt there; but the Prussian +Horse--(always a small body of Prussians serve in this Allied +Army)--shot out, and in a brilliant manner swept them home again. + +PLAN OF BATTLE HERE--PAGE 239, BOOK X1X--------------- + +Artillery and that pretty charge of Prussian Horse are all one +remembers, except this of the English and Hanover Foot in the +centre: 'an unsurpassable thing,' says Tempelhof (though it so +easily might have been a fatal!)--which has set Contades's centre +boiling, and reduced Contades altogether to water, as it were. +Contades said bitterly: 'I have seen what I never thought to be +possible,--a single line of infantry break through three lines of +cavalry ranked in order of battle, and tumble them to ruin!' +[Stenzel, v. 204.] + +"This was the feat, this hour's work in the centre, the essential +soul of the Fight:--and had Lord George Sackville, General of the +Horse, come on when galloped for and bidden, here had been such a +ruin, say all judges, as seldom came upon an Army. Lord +George--everlasting disgrace and sorrow on the name of him--could +not see his way to coming on; delayed, haggled; would not even let +Granby, his lieutenant, come; not for a second Adjutant, not for a +third; never came on at all; but rode to the Prince, asking, 'How +am I to come on?' Who, with a politeness I can never enough admire, +did not instantly kill him, but answered, in mild tone, 'Milord, +the opportunity is now past!' Whereby Contades escaped ruin, and +was only beaten. By about 10 in the morning all was over. When a +man's centre is gone to water, no part of him is far from the fluid +state. Contades retreated into his rabbit-hole by those nineteen +bridges,--well tormented, they say, by Captain Phillips's +artillery, till he got beyond the knolls again. Broglio, who had +never been in musket-fire at all, but had merely barked on +Wangenheim all morning, instead of biting, covered the retreat, and +withdrew into Minden. And we are a beaten Army,--thanks to Lord +George, not an annihilated one. Our loss being only 7,086 (with +heavy guns, colors, cavalry flags and the like); theirs being +2,822,--full half of it falling on those rash Six Battalions. +[Mauvillon, ii. 44-60; Tempelhof, iii. 154-179, &c. &c.: +and <italic> Proceedings of a Court-Martial, held at the Horse- +Guards, 7th-24th March and 25th March-5th April, 1760, in Trial of +Lord George Sackville <end italic> (London, 1760). In Knesebeck, +<italic> Ferdinand wahrend des siebenjahrigen Krieges <end italic> +(i. 395), Ferdinand's Letter to Friedrich of "July 31st;" and +(i. 398-418 and ii. 33-36) many special details about Sackville and +"August 1st." + +"And what is this one hears from Gohfeld in the evening? +The Hereditary Prince, busy there on us during the very hours of +Minden, has blown our rear-guard division to the winds there;--and +we must move southward, one and all of us, without a moment's +delay! Out of this rabbit-hole the retreat by rearward is through a +difficult country, the Westphalian Gates so called; fatal to +Varus's Legions long ago. Contades got under way that very night; +lost most of his baggage, all his conquests, that shadow-conquest +of Hanover, and more than all his glories (Versailles shrieking on +him, 'Resign you; let Broglio be chief,);--and, on the whole, +jumbled homeward hither and thither, gravitating towards the Rhine, +nothing but Wesel to depend on in those parts, as heretofore. +Broglio retreated Frankfurt-way, also as usual, though not quite so +far; and at Versailles had clearly the victory. Zealous Belleisle +could not protect his Contades; it is not known whether he +privately blamed Contades or blamed Broglio for loss of Minden. +Zealous old man, what a loss to himself withal had Minden been! +That shadow-conquest of Hanover is quite vanished: and worse, in +Ferdinand's spoil were certain LETTERS from Belleisle to Contades, +inculcating strange things;--for example, 'IL FAUT FAIRE UN DESERT +DU PAYS [all Hessen, I think, lest Ferdinand advance on you] DEVANT +L'ARMEE,' and the like. Which Ferdinand saw good to publish, and +which resounded rather hideously through the general mind." +[Were taken at Detmold (Tempelhof, iii. 223); Old Newspapers full +of Excerpts from them, in the weeks following.] + +Ignominious Sackville was tried by Court-martial; cashiered, +declared incapable of again serving his Majesty "in any military +capacity;"--perhaps a mild way of signifying that he wanted the +common courage of a soldier? Zealous Majesty, always particular in +soldier matters, proclaimed it officially to be "a sentence worse +than death;" and furthermore, with his own royal hand, taking the +pen himself, struck out Sackville from the List of Privy- +Councillors. Proper surely, and indispensable;--and should have +been persisted in, like Fate; which, in a new Reign, it was not! +For the rest, there was always, and is, something of enigma in +Sackville's palpably bad case. It is difficult to think that a +Sackville wanted common courage. This Sackville fought duels with +propriety; in private life, he was a surly, domineering kind of +fellow, and had no appearance of wanting spirit. It is known, he +did not love Duke Ferdinand; far from it! May not he have been of +peculiarly sour humor that morning, the luckless fool; +sulky against Ferdinand, and his "saddling at one o'clock;" +sulky against himself, against the world and mankind; and flabbily +disinclined to heroic practices for the moment? And the moment +came; and the man was not there, except in that foggy, flabby and +forever ruinous condition! Archenholtz, alone of Writers, judges +that he expressly wanted to spoil the Battle of Minden and +Ferdinand's reputation, and to get appointed Commander in his +stead. Wonderful; but may have some vestige of basis, too! +True, this Sackville was as fit to lead the courses of the stars as +to lead armies. But such a Sackville has ambition, and, what is +fatally more peculiar to him, a chance for unfolding it;--any +blockhead has an ambition capable, if you encourage it +sufficiently, of running to the infinite. Enough of this particular +blockhead; and may it be long before we see his like again!-- + +The English Cavalry was in a rage with Sackville. Of the English +Infantry, Historians say, what is not now much heard of in this +Country, "That these unsurpassable Six [in industrious valor +unsurpassable, though they mistook orders, and might have fared +badly!] are ever since called the Minden Regiments; that they are +the 12th, 20th, 23d, 25th, 37th and 51st of the British Line; +and carry 'Minden' on their colors," [Kausler, <italic> Schlachter, +<end italic> &c. p, 587.]--with silent profit, I hope! + +Fancy how Pitt's public, lately gloomy and dubious, blazed aloft +into joyful certainty again! Pitt's outlooks have been really +gloomy all this season; nor are the difficulties yet ended, though +we hope they will end. Let us add this other bit of Synchronism, +which is still of adverse aspect, over Seas; and will be pungently +interesting to Pitt and England, when they come to hear of it. + +"BEFORE QUEBEC, JULY 31st, 1759. This same Evening, at Quebec, on +the other side of the Atlantic,--evening at Quebec, 9 or 10 at +night for Contades and his nineteen Bridges,--there is a difficult +affair going on. Above and below the Falls of Montmorenci, and +their outflow into the St. Lawrence: attempt on General Wolfe's +part to penetrate through upon the French, under Marquis de +Montcalm, French Commander-in-chief, and to get a stroke at Quebec +and him. From the south side of the St. Lawrence, nothing can be +done upon Quebec, such the distance over. From Isle d'Orleans and +the north side, it is also impossible hitherto. Easy enough to +batter the Lower Town, from your ships and redoubts: but the High +Town towers aloft on its sheer pinnacles, inaccessible even to +cannon; looks down on the skilfulest British Admiral and Fleet as +if with an air of indifference,--trying him on dark nights with +fire-ships, fire-rafts, the cunningest kinds of pyrotechny, which +he skilfully tows aside. + +"A strenuous thing, this of Wolfe's; though an unsuccessful. +Towards evening, the end of it; all Quebec assembled on the +southern ramparts, witnessing with intense interest; the sublime +Falls of Montmorenci gushing on, totally indifferent. For about a +month past, General Wolfe, with the proper equipments, and about +10,000 men, naval and military, who was expressly selected by Pitt +to besiege Quebec, and is dying to succeed, has been trying every +scheme to get into contact with it:--to no purpose, so lofty, +chasmy, rocky is the ground, cut by mountainous precipices and +torrent streams, branches of the grand St. Lawrence River; +so skilfully taken advantage of by Montcalm and his people, who are +at home here, and in regulars nearly equal Wolfe, not to speak of +Savages and Canadians, Wolfe's plan of the 31st was not ill laid; +and the execution has been zealous, seamen and landsmen alike of +willing mind;--but it met with accidents. Accidents in boating; +then a still worse accident on landing; the regiment of grenadiers, +which crossed below the Falls, having, so soon as landed, rushed +off on the redoubt there on their own score, without waiting for +the two brigades that were to cross and co-operate ABOVE the Falls! +Which cut Wolfe to the heart; and induced him, especially as the +tide was making again, to give up the enterprise altogether, and +recall everybody, while it was yet time. [<italic> Gentleman's +Magazine <end italic> for 1759, pp. 470-473; Thackeray, i. 488.] +Wolfe is strict in discipline; loves the willing mind, none more, +and can kindle it among those about him; but he loves discipline +withal, and knows how fatal the too willing may be. For six weeks +more there is toil on the back of toil everywhere for poor Wolfe. +He falls into fevers, into miseries, almost into broken heart;-- +nothing sure to him but that of doing his own poor utmost to the +very death. After six weeks, we shall perhaps hear of him again. +Gliding swiftly towards death; but also towards victory and the +goal of all his wishes." + +And now, after this flight half round the world, it is time we +return to Oder Country, and a Friedrich on the edge of formidable +things there. Next day after Beeskow, where we left him, he duly +arrived at Mullrose; was joined by Wedell there, August 6th; and is +now at Wulkow,--"encamped between Lebus and Wulkow," as we hear +elsewhere;--quite in the environs of Frankfurt and of great events. + + +FRIEDRICH TO GRAF VON FINKENSTEIN (Second Note). + +WULKOW, 8th August, 1759. + +"If you hear of firing to-morrow, don't be surprised; it is our +rejoicing for the Battle of Minden. I believe I shall have to keep +you in suspense some days yet. I have many arrangements to make; +I find great difficulties to surmount,--and it is required to save +our Country, not to lose it: I ought both to be more prudent and +more enterprising than ever. In a word, I will do and undertake +whatever I find feasible and possible. With all that, I see myself +in the necessity of making haste, to check the designs Haddick may +have on Berlin. Adieu, MON CHER. In a little, you will have either +a DE PROFUNDIS or a TE DEUM.--F." [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, +<end italic> xxv. 305, 306.] + + + +Chapter IV. + +BATTLE OF KUNERSDORF. + +Sunday, July 29th, at Frankfurt-on-Oder divine worship was broken +in upon, and the poor City thrown into consternation, by actual +advent, or as good as advent, of the Russians: "On the Crossen +road, close by; coming, come!" And they did undeniably appear, next +morning, in force; on the opposite, eastern or Kunersdorf side of +the River, on the top of the Oder-Dam there; and demanded instant +admission, under penalty of general death by fire. + +Within the Town stood Major Arnim, a Veteran of those parts, with +400 militia; these, with their muskets and with two cannon, are the +only defence of Frankfurt, The Town has Gates; but its walls, I +doubt, are mainly garden-walls and house-walls. On the eastern +side, the River, especially if you have cannon on the Bridge, gives +it somethiug of protection; but on the western and all other sides, +it is overhung by heights. This Frankfurt, like its bigger Namesake +on the Mayn, is known as a busy trading place, its Fairs much +frequented in those Eastern parts; and is believed by the Russians +to be far richer than it is. The reader, as there happens to be +ocular testimony extant, [Johann Zudwig Kriele, SCHLACHT BEI +KUNERSDORF, MIT &C. (Berlin, 1801). Kriele was subsequent Pastor in +the Parish, an excellent intelligent man: has compiled in brief +form, with an elaborate Chart too, a clear account of everything, +in the Battle and before and after it.] may like to see a little +how they behaved there. + +"Arnim, taking survey of the Russian Party, values it, or what he +can see of it, at 1,000 [they really were 6,000]; keeps his +Drawbridge up; and answers stoutly enough, 'No.' Upon which, from +the Oder-Dam, there flies off one fiery grenado; one and no more,-- +which alighted in the house of 'Mrs. Thielicke, a Baker's Widow, +who was standing at the door;'--killed poor Mrs. Thielicke, blew +the house considerably to wreck, but did not set fire to it. +Amim, all the Magistrates entreating him for the love of Heaven to +leave them, is secretly shoving off his two cannon to the Northern +Gate; and in fact is making his packages with full speed: 'Push for +Custrin,' thinks Arnim, and save selves and cannon, since no good +is to be done here!' + +"It was about 11 A.M. when the Thielicke grenado fell: obstinate +Arnim would by no means go; only packed all the faster. A second +summons came: still, No. For the third and last time the Russians +then summon: 'Grenadoes, a hundred more of them lie ready, +unless--!' 'We will, we will; O merciful servant of Czarish +Majesty!' passionately signify the Magistrates. But Arnim is still +negative, still keeps the Bridge up. One of the hundred does go, by +way of foretaste: this lighted 'near the Ober Kirche, in the +chimney of the Town Musikus;' brought the chimney crashing down on +him [fancy a man with some fineness of ear]; tore the house a good +deal to pieces, but again did not set it on fire. 'Your obstinate +Town can be bombarded, then,--cannot it?' observed the Russian +Messenger.--'Give us Free Withdrawal!' proposes Amim. 'No; you to +be Prisoners of War; Town at Czarish Majesty's discretion.' +'Never,' answers Arnim (to the outward ear).--'Go, oh, for the love +of Heaven, go!' cry all Official people. + +"Arnim, deaf to clamor, but steadily diligent in getting ready, +does at last go; through the Lebus Suburb, quick march; steady, yet +at his best step;--taking the Town-keys in his pocket, and leaving +the Drawbridge up. One is sorry for poor Arnim and his 400 Militia; +whose conduct was perfect, under difficulties and alarms; +but proved unsuccessful. The terrified Magistrates, finding their +Keys gone, and the conflagrative Russians at their gates, got +blacksmiths on the instant; smote down, by chisel and mallet, the +locked Drawbridge, smote open the Gates: 'Enter, O gracious Sirs; +and may Czarish Majesty have mercy on us!' So that Arnim had small +start for marchers on foot; and was overtaken about half-way. +Would not yield still, though the odds were overwhelming; +drew himself out on the best ground discoverable; made hot +resistance; hot and skilful; but in vain. About six in the evening, +Arnim and Party were brought back, Prisoners, to Frankfurt again,-- +self, surviving men, cannons and all (self in a wounded state);-- +and 'were locked in various Brew-houses;' little of careful +surgery, I should fear. Poor Arnim; man could do no more; and he +has been unfortunate." + +It is by no means our intention to describe the Iliad of miseries, +the agitations, terrors and disquietudes, the tribulation and utter +harrowing to despair, which poor Frankfurt underwent, incessantly +from that day forward, for about five weeks to come. +"The furnishings of victual [Russian stock quite out] were to an +inconceivable amount; surrender of arms, of linens, cloths, of +everything useful to a hungry Army; above all things, of horses, so +that at last there were but four horses left in all Frankfurt; +and"--But we must not go into details. + +"On the second day, besides all this," what will be significant of +it all, "there was exacted 'ransom of 600,000 thalers (90,000 +pounds), or you shall be delivered to the Cossacks!' Frankfurt has +not above 12,000 inhabitants within its bounds; here is a sudden +poll-tax of 7 pounds 10s. per head. Frankfurt has not such a sum; +the most rigorous collection did not yield above the tenth part of +it. And more than once those sanguinary vagabonds were openly drawn +out, pitch-link in hand: 'The 90,000 pounds or--!' Civic Presidency +Office in Frankfurt was not a bed of roses. The poor Magistrates +rushed distractedly about; wrung out moneys to the last drop; +moneys, and in the end plate from those that had it; went in +tearful deputation to General Soltikof,--a severe proud kind of +man, capable perhaps of being flattered,--who usually locked them +up instead. Magistrates were locked in Russian ward, at one time, +for almost a week; sat in the blazing sun; if you try for the shade +of a tree, the sentry handles arms upon you;--and were like to die. +To me, Kriele, it is a miracle how the most of us lived; nay we +never really wanted food, so kind was Providence, so generous our +poor neighbors out of all the Towns round. The utmost of money that +could be raised was 6,000 pounds; nothing but some little of plate, +and our Bill for the remainder. Soltikof, a high kind of gentleman, +saw at last how it stood; let the Magistrates out of ward; sent +back the plate--'Nothing of that!'--nay, Czarish Majesty was +herself generous; and FORGAVE the Bill, on our petition, next Year. +Cossacks, indeed, were a plunderous wild crew; but the Russians +kept them mostly without the gates. The regular Russians were civil +and orderly, officers and men,--greatly beyond the Austrians in +behavior." [Kriele, <italic> Schlacht bei Kunersdorf; <end italic> +pp. 1-15 (in compressed state).] By these few traits conceive +Frankfurt: this, now forgotten in most books, is a background on +which things were transacted still memorable to everybody. + +"Friday, August 3d, General Loudon came to hand: arrived early, in +the Guben (or Western) Suburb, his 18,000 and he. In high spirits +naturally, and somewhat exultant to have evaded Friedrich; +but found a reception that surprised him. The Russians had been +living in the hope of junction; but still more vividly in that of +meal. 'Auxiliaries; humph,--only 18,000 of them; how much welcomer +had been as many hundredweights of meal!' Loudon had pushed his +baggage direct into Frankfurt; and likewise a requisition of such +and such proviants, weights of meal and the like, in exuberant +amount, to be furnished straightway by the City: neither of which +procedures would the Russians hear of for a moment. 'Out with you!' +said they roughly to the baggage-people: 'quarter in the Guben +Suburb, or where you like; not here!' And with regard to the +requisition of proviant, they answered in a scornful angry key, +'Proviant? You too without it? You have not brought us meal, +according to covenant; instead of meal, you bring us 18,000 new +eaters, most of them on horse-back,--Satan thank you! From +Frankfurt be very certain you can get no ounce of meal; Frankfurt +is our own poor meal-bag, dreadfully scanty: stay outside, and feed +where and how you can!' + +"All this, Loudon, though of hot temper, easily capable of rising +to the fierce point, had to endure in silence, for the common +interest. Loudon's own table is furnished from Frankfurt; no other +Austrian man's: all others have to shift how they can. +Sad requisitioning needed, and sad plunder to supplement it: +the Austrian behavior was very bad, say the Frankfurters; +'in particular, they had burnt gradually all the corn-mills in the +country; within many miles not one mill standing when they left +us,'--and four horses all the conveyance power we had. +Soltikof lodges in great pomp, much soldiery and cannon parading +before his doors; not an undignified man, or an inhuman or +essentially foolish, but very high in his ways, and distasteful to +Austrian dignitaries." + +The Russian Army lies mainly across Oder; encamped on the +Judenberg, and eastward there, along the Heights, near three miles, +to Kunersdorf and beyond. They expect Friedrich at the gates of +Frankfurt shortly; know well that they cannot defend Frankfurt. +They calculate that Friedrich will attack them in their Judenberg +Encampment, but hope they are nearly ready for him there. +Loudon, from the Guben Suburb, will hasten across, at any moment;-- +welcome on such fighting occasion, though ill seen when the +question is of eating! The Russians have their Wagenburg on an +Island southward, farther up the River; they have three Pontoon +Bridges leading thither, a free retreat should they be beaten. +And in the mean while are intrenching themselves, as only Daun +would,--cannon and redoubts all round those Heights;--and except it +be screwing Frankfurt to do its impossible duty, and carting +provender with all the horses except four, have not much farther to +do but wait till the King come. Which will be speedily, it +is probable!-- + +Wednesday, August 8th, Russian and Austrian Generals, a cheerful +party of them, had rendezvoused at FISCHERS MUHLE; a Mill not yet +burnt, and a pleasant Tavern as well; in one of the prettiest +valleys in the Western Environs;--intending to dine there, and have +a pleasant day. But the Miller's Boy runs in upon them, wide-eyed, +"HIMMEL UND ERDE, Prussian Hussars!" It was in verity Prussian +Hussars; the King of Prussia with them in person. He is come out +reconnoitring,--the day after his arrival in those parts. +The pleasuring Generals, Russian and Austrian, sprang to horseback +at their swiftest,--hope of dinner gone futile, except to the +intervening Prussian Hussars;--and would have all been captured, +but for that Miller's Boy; whose Mill too was burnt before long. +This gallop home of the undined Generals into Frankfurt was the +first news we poor Frankfurters had of the King's arrival. + +The King has been punctual to his reckoning: he picked up Wedell at +Mullrose,--not too cordial to Wedell's people: "None of you speak +to those beaten wretches," ordered he; "till perhaps they wipe off +their Zullichau stain!" On the 7th, Friedrich advanced to Frankfurt +neighborhood; took Camp between Wulkow and Lebus;--and has just +been out reconnoitring. And has raised, fancy what emotion in poor +Frankfurt lying under its nightmare! "Next day, August 9th, from +Wulkow-Lebus hand, we" of Frankfurt, "heard a great firing; +cannon-salvos, musket-volleys: 'Nothing of fight,' the Russian +Officers told us; 'it is the King of Prussia doing joy-fire for +Minden,' of which we till now knew nothing." + +Friedrich, on survey of this Russian-Austrian Army, some 90,000 in +number, with such posts, artilleries, advantages, judges that he, +counting only 40,000, is not strong enough. And, indeed, had so +anticipated, and already judged; and, accordingly, has Finck on +march hitherward again,--Berlin must take its risk, Saxony must +shift for itself in the interim. Finck is due in two days,--not +here at Lebus precisely, but at another place appointed; Finck will +raise him to 50,000; and then business can begin! Contrary to +Russian expectation, Friedrich does not attack Frankfurt; +seems quite quiet in his cantonments;--he is quietly (if one knew +it) making preparations farther down the River. About Reitwein, +between this and Custrin, there arrangements are proceeding, by no +means of a showy sort. + +The Russian-Austrian Army quits Frankfurt, leaving only some +hundreds of garrison: Loudon moves across, Soltikof across; to the +Oder-Dam and farther; and lie, powerfully intrenched, on those +Kunersdorf Heights, and sandy Moorlands, which go eastward at +right-angles to Oder-Dam. One of the strongest Camps imaginable. +All round there, to beyond Kunersdorf and back again, near three +miles each way, they have a ring of redoubts, and artillery without +end. And lie there, in order of battle, or nearly so; ready for +Friedrich, when he shall attack, through Frankfurt or otherwise. +They face to the North (Reitwein way, as it happens); to their +rear, and indeed to their front, only not so close, are woods and +intricate wilds. Loudon has the left flank; that is to say, +Loudon's left hand is towards the Oder-Dam and Frankfurt; he lies +at the ROTHE VORWERK ("Red Grange," a Farmstead much mentioned just +now); rather to northwestward of the Jew Hill and Jew Churchyard +(JUDENBERG and JUDENKIRCHHOF, likewise much mentioned); and in +advance of the general Mass. Soltikof's head-quarter, I rather +understand, is on the right wing; probably in Kunersdorf itself, or +beyond that Village; there, at least, our highly important Russian +right wing is; there, elaborately fortified; and, half a mile +farther, ends,--on the edge of steep dells; the Russian brink of +which is strongly fringed with cannon, while beyond, on the farther +brink, they have built an abatis; so making assurance doubly sure. +Looking to the northward all these 90,000; their left rather +southward of Frankfurt Bridge, over which Friedrich will probably +arrive. Leftward, somewhat to rearward, they have bridges of their +own; should anything sinister befall; three bridges which lead into +that Oder Island, and the Russian Wagenburg there. + +August 10th, Finck, punctual to time, arrives in the neighborhood +of Reitwein (which is some ten miles down stream from Lebus, from +Frankfurt perhaps fifteen); Friedrich, the same day, is there +before him; eager to complete the Bridges, and get to business. +One Bridge is of pontoons; one of "Oder-boats floated up from +Custrin." Bridges are not begun till nightfall, lest eyes be +abroad; are ready in the minimum of time. And so, during the same +night of the 10th, all the Infantry, with their artilleries and +battle-furnitures, pour over in two columns; the Cavalry, at the +due point of time, riding by a ford short way to the right. And at +four, in the gray of the August morning (Saturday, 11th August, +1759), all persons and things find themselves correctly across; +ranked there, in those barren, much-indented "Pasture-grounds of +Goritz" or of OEtscher; intending towards Kunersdorf; ready for +unfolding into order of battle there. They leave their heavy +baggage at Goritz, Wunsch to guard the Bridges and it; and, in +succinct condition, are all under way. At one in the afternoon we +are got to Leissow and Bischofsee; scrubby hamlets (as the rest all +are), not above two miles from Kunersdorf. The August day is +windless, shiny, sultry; man and horse are weary with the labors, +and with the want of sleep: we decide to bivouac here, and rest on +the scrubby surface, heather or whatever it is, till to-morrow. + +Finck is Vanguard, ahead short way, and with his left on a bit of +lake or bog; the Army is in two lines, with its right on Leissow, +and has Cavalry in the kind of wood which there is to rear. +Friedrich, having settled the positions, rides out reconnoitring; +hither, thither, over the Heights of Trettin. "The day being still +hot, he suffers considerably from thirst [it is our one Anecdote] +in that arid tract: at last a Peasant does bring him, direct from +the fountain, a jug of pure cold water; whom, lucky man, the King +rewarded with a thaler; and not only so, but, the man being +intelligent of the localities, took with him to answer questions." +Readers too may desire to gain some knowledge of the important +ground now under survey. + +"Frankfurt, a very ancient Town, not a very beautiful," says my +Note, "stands on an alluvium which has been ground down from +certain clay Hills on the left bank of Oder. It counted about +12,000 inhabitants in Friedrich's time; has now perhaps about +20,000; not half the bulk of its namesake on the Mayn; but with +Three great Fairs annually, and much trade of the rough kind. +On this left or west bank of Oder the country is arable, moderately +grassy and umbrageous, the prospect round you not unpleasant; +but eastward, over the River, nothing can be more in contrast. +Oder is of swift current, of turbid color, as it rolls under +Frankfurt Bridge,--Wooden Bridge, with Dam Suburb at the end;--a +River treeless, desolate, as you look up and down; which has, +evidently, often changed its course, since grinding down that +alluvium as site for Frankfurt; and which, though now holding +mainly to northward, is still given to be erratic, and destructive +on the eastern low grounds,--had not the Frankfurters built an +'Oder-Dam' on that side; a broad strong Earth-mound, running for +many miles, and confining its floods. Beyond the Dam there are +traces of an 'Old Oder (ALTE ODER);' and, in fact, Oder, in +primeval and in recent time, has gone along, many-streamed; +indenting, quarrying, leaving lakelets, quagmires, miscellaneous +sandy tumult, at a great rate, on that eastern shore. Making of it +one of the unloveliest scenes of chaotic desolation anywhere to be +met with;--fallen unlovelier than ever in our own more +recent times. + +"What we call the Heights of Kunersdorf is a broad Chain of Knolls; +coming out, at right-angles, or as a kind of spur, from the eastern +high grounds; direct towards Oder and Frankfurt. +Mill-Hill (MUHLBERG) is the root or easternmost part of this spur. +From the Muhlberg, over Kunersdorf, to Oder-Dam, which is the whole +length of the spur, or Chain of Knolls, will be little short of +four miles; the breadth of the Chain is nowhere one mile,--which is +its grand defect as a Camp: 'too narrow for manoeuvring in.' +Here, atop and on the three sides of this Block of Knolls, was +fought the furious Battle of Kunersdorf [to be fought to-morrow], +one of the most furious ever known. A Block of Knolls memorable +ever since. + +"To all appearance: it was once some big Island or chain of Islands +in the Oder deluges: it is still cut with sudden hollows,--KUHGRUND +(Cow-Hollow), TIEFE WEG (Deep Way), and westernmost of all, and +most important for us here, HOHLE GRUND (Big Hollow, let us call +it; 'LOUDON'S Hollow' people subsequently called it);--and is +everywhere strangely tumbled up into knolls blunt or sharp, the +work of primeval Oder in his rages. In its highest knolls,--of +which let readers note specially the Spitzberg, the Muhlberg, the +Judenberg,--it rises nowhere to 150 feet; perhaps the general +height of it may be about 100. On each side of it, especially on +the north, the Country is of most intricate character: +bushy, scraggy, with brooklets or muddy oozings wandering about, +especially with a thing called the HUNERFLIESS (Hen-Floss), which +springs in the eastern woods, and has inconceivable difficulty to +get into Oder,--if it get at all! This was a sore Floss to +Friedrich to-morrow. Hen-Floss struggles, painfully meandering and +oozing, along the northern side (sometimes close, sometimes not) of +our Chain of Knolls: along the south side of it (in our time, +through the middle of it) goes the Highway to Reppen ["From that +Highway will his attack come!" thought the Russians, always till +to-day]: on the north, to Leissow, to Trettin," where Friedrich is +now on survey, "go various wheel-tracks, but no firm road. A most +intricate unlovely Country. Withered bent-grasses, heath, perhaps +gorse, and on both sides a great deal of straggling Forest-wood, +reaching eastward, and especially southward, for many miles. + +"For the rest," to our ill-luck in this place, "the Battlefield of +Kunersdorf has had a peculiar fate in the world; that of being +blown away by the winds! The then scene of things exists no longer; +the descriptions in the Old Books are gone hopelessly +irrecognizable. In our time, there is not anywhere a tract more +purely of tumbled sand, than all this between Kunersdorf and Dam +Vorstadt; and you judge, without aid of record or tradition, that +it is greatly altered for the worse since Friedrich's time,--some +rabbit-colony, or other the like insignificancy, eating out the +roots, till all vegetation died, and the wind got hold and set it +dancing;--and that, in 1759, when Russian human beings took it for +a Camp, it must have been at least coherent, more or less; +covered, held together by some film of scrubby vegetation; +not blowing about in every wind as now! Kunersdorf stands with its +northern end pushed into that KUHGRUND (Cow-Hollow); which must +then have been a grassy place. Eastward of Kunersdorf the ground +has still some skin of peat, and sticks together: but westward, all +that three miles, it is a mere tumult of sand-hills, tumbled about +in every direction (so diligent have the conies been, and then the +winds); no gullet, or definite cut or hollow, now traceable +anywhere, but only an endless imbroglio of twisted sand-heaps and +sand-hollows, which continually alter in the wind-storms. +Sand wholly, and--except the strong paved Highway that now runs +through it (to Reppen, Meseritz and the Polish Frontier, and is +strongly paved till it get through Kunersdorf)--chaotic wholly; +a scene of heaped barrenness and horror, not to be matched but in +Sahara; the features of the Battle quite blown away, and +indecipherable in our time. + +"A hundred years ago, it would have some tattered skin,--of peat, +of heather and dwarf whins, with the sand cropping out only here +and there. So one has to figure it in Soltikof's day,--before the +conies ruined it. Which was not till within the last sixty years, +as appears. Kriele's Book (in 1801) still gives no hint of change: +the KUHGRUND, which now has nothing but dry sand for the most +industrious ruminant, is still a place of succulence and herbage in +Kriele's time; 'Deep Way,' where 'at one point two carts could not +pass,' was not yet blown out of existence, but has still 'a Well in +it' for Kriele; HOHLE GRUND (since called Loudon's Hollow), with +the Jew Hill and Jew Churchyard beyond, seem tolerable enough +places to Kriele. Probably not unlike what the surrounding Country +still is. A Country of poor villages, and of wild ground, flat +generally, and but tolerably green; with lakelets, bushes, scrubs, +and intricate meandering little runlets and oozelets; and in +general with more of Forest so called than now is:--this is +Kunersdorf Chain of Knolls; Soltikof's Intrenched Camp at present; +destined to become very famous in the world, after lying so long +obscure under Oder and its rages." [TOURIST'S NOTE (Autumnn, 1852).] + +From the Knolls of Trettin, that Saturday afternoon, Friedrich +takes view of the Russian Camp. All lying bright enough there; +from Muhlberg to Judenberg, convenient to our glass; between us and +the evening Sun. Batteries most abundant, difficulties great: +Soltikof just ahead here, 72,000: Loudon at the Red Grange yonder, +on their extreme left, with 18,000 more. An uncommonly strong +position for 90,000 against 50,000. One thing strikes Friedrich: +On front in this northern side, close by the base of the Russian +Camp, runs--for the present away FROM Oder, but intending to join +it elsewhere --a paltry little Brook, "Hen-Floss" so called, with +at least two successive Mills on it (KLEINE MUHLE, GROSSE MUHLE); +and on the northern shore of it, spilling itself out into a wet +waste called ELSBRUCH (Alder Waste), which is especially notable to +Friedrich. ALDER Waste? Watery, scrubby; no passage there, thinks +Friedrich; which his Peasant with the water-jug confirms. "Tell me, +however," inquires Friedrich, with strictness, "From the Red Grange +yonder, where General Loudon is, if you wished to get over to the +HOHLE GRUND, or to the Judenberg, would you cross that Hen-Floss?" +"It is not crossable, your Majesty; one has to go round quite +westward by the Dam." " What, from Rothe Vorwerk to Big Hollow, no +passage, say you; no crossing?" "None, your Majesty," insists the +Peasant;--who is not aware that the Russians have made one of firm +trestles and logs, and use it daily for highway there; an error of +some interest to Friedrich within the next twenty-four hours! + +Friedrich himself does not know this bit of ground: but there is +with him, besides the Peasant, a Major Linden, whose Regiment used +to lie in Frankfurt, of whom Friedrich makes minute questioning. +Linden answers confidently; has been over all this tract a hundred +times; "but knows it only as a hunter," says Tempelhof, [Tempelhof, +iii. 186.] "not as a soldier," which he ought to have done. +His answers are supposed to have misled Friedrich on various +points, and done him essential damage. Friedrich's view of the +case, that evening, is by no means so despondent as might be +imagined: he regards the thing as difficult, not as impossible,-- +and one of his anxieties is, that he be not balked of trying it +straightway. Retiring to his hut in Bischofsee, he makes two +Dispositions, of admirable clearness, brevity, and calculated for +two contingencies: [Given in Tempelhof, iii. 182, 183.] That of the +enemy retaining his now posture; and That of the enemy making off +for Reppen;--which latter does not at all concern us, as matters +turned! Of the former the course will unfold itself to us, in +practice, shortly. At 2 A.M. Friedrich will be on foot again, at 3 +on march again.--The last phenomenon, at Bischofsee this night, is +some sudden glare of disastrous light rising over the woods:-- +"Russians burning Kunersdorf!" as neighbors are sorry to hear. +That is the finale of much Russian rearranging and tumbling, this +day; that barbarous burning of Kunersdorf, before going to bed. +To-morrow various other poor Villages got burnt by them, which they +had better have left standing. + +The Russians, on hearing that Friedrich was across at Goritz, and +coming on them from the north side, not from Frankfurt by the +Reppen Highway, were in great agitation. Not thrown into terror, +but into manifold haste, knowing what hasty adversary there was. +Endless readjustments they have to make; a day of tumultuous +business with the Russians, this Saturday, llth, when the news +reached them. "They inverted their front [say all the Books but +Friedrich's own]: Not coming by the Reppen Highway, then!" think +they. And thereupon changed rear to front, as at Zorndorf, but more +elaborately;--which I should not mention, were it not that hereby +their late "right wing on the Muhlberg" has, in strict speech, +become their "left," and there is ambiguity and discrepancy in some +of the Books, should any poor reader take to studying them on this +matter. Changed their front; which involves much interior changing; +readjusting of batteries and the like. That of burning Kunersdorf +was the barbaric winding up of all this: barbaric, and, in the +military sense, absurd; poor Kunersdorf could have been burnt at +any moment, if needful; and to the Russians the keeping of it +standing was the profitable thing, as an impediment to Friedrich in +his advance there. They have laid it flat and permeable; ashes all +of it,--except the Church only, which is of stone; not so +combustible, and may have uses withal. Has perhaps served as +temporary lock-up, prison for the night, to some of those Frankfurt +Deputations and their troublesome wailings; and may serve as +temporary hospital to-morrow, who knows? + +Readjustments in the Russian Camp were manifold: but these are as +nothing, in the tumultuous business of the day. Carting of their +baggage, every article of value, to that safe Wagenburg in the +River; driving of cattle,--the very driving of cattle through +Frankfurt, endless herds of them, gathered by the Cossacks from far +and wide, "lasted for four-and-twenty hours." Oxen in Frankfurt +that day were at the rate of ten shillings per head. Often enough +you were offered a full-grown young steer for a loaf of bread; +nay the Cossacks, when there was absolutely no bidder, would +slaughter down the animal, leave its carcass in the streets, and +sell the hide for a TYMPF,--fivepence (very bad silver at present). +Never before or since was seen in Frankfurt such a Saturday, for +bellowing and braying, and raging and tumulting, all through the +day and through the night; ushering in such a Sunday too! + +Sunday about 3 in the morning, Friedrich is on march again,-- +Russians still in their place; and Disposition FIRST, not SECOND at +all, to be our rule of action! Friedrich, in Two Columns, marches +off, eastward through the woods, as if for Reppen quite away from +the Russians and their Muhlberg; but intending to circle round at +the due point, and come down upon their right flank there (left +flank, as he persists to call it), out of the woods, and clasp it +in his arms in an impressive, unexpected way. In Two Columns; +which are meant, as usual, to be the Two Lines of Battle: Seidlitz, +with chosen Cavalry, is at the head of Column First, and will be +Left Wing, were we on the ground; Eugen of Wurtemberg, closing the +rear of Column First, will, he, or Finck and he together, be Right +Wing. That is the order of march;--order of BATTLE, we shall find, +had to alter itself somewhat, for reasons extremely valid! + +Finck with his 12,000 is to keep his present ground; to have two +good batteries got ready, each on its knoll ahead, which shall wait +silent in the interim: Finck to ride out reconnoitring, with many +General Officers, and to make motions and ostentations; in a word, +to persuade the Russians that here is the Main Army coming on from +the north. All which Finck does; avoiding, as his orders were, any +firing, or serious commencement of business, till the King reappear +out of the woods. The Russians give Finck and his General Officers +a cannon salvo, here and there, without effect, and get no answer. +"The King does not see his way, then, after all?" think the +Russians. Their Cossacks go scouring about; on the southern side, +"burn Schwetig and Reipzig," without the least advantage to +themselves: most of the Cavalry, and a regiment or two of excellent +Austrian Grenadiers, are with Loudon, near the Red Grange, in front +of the Russian extreme left;--but will have stept over into Big +Hollow at a moment of crisis! + +The King's march, through the Forest of Reppen, was nothing like so +expeditious as had been expected. There are thickets, intricacies, +runlets, boggy oozes; indifferent to one man well mounted, but +vitally important to 30,000 with heavy cannon to bring on. +Boggy oozings especially,--there is one dirty stream or floss +(HUNERFLIESS, Hen-Floss) which wanders dismally through those +recesses, issuing from the far south, with dirty daughters dismally +wandering into it, and others that cannot get into it (being of the +lake kind): these, in their weary, circling, recircling course +towards Oder,--FAULE LAACKE (Foul Lake, LITHER-MERE, as it were), +Foul Bridge, Swine's Nook (SCHWEINEBUCKT), and many others,-- +occasion endless difficulty. Whether Major Linden was shot that +day, or what became of him after, I do not know: but it was pity he +had not studied the ground with a soldier's eye instead of a +hunter's! Plumping suddenly, at last, upon Hen-Floss itself, +Friedrich has to turn angularly; angularly, which occasions great +delay: the heavy cannon (wall-guns brought from Custrin) have +twelve horses each, and cannot turn among the trees, but have to be +unyoked, reyoked, turned round by hand:--in short, it was eight in +the morning before Friedrich arrived at the edge of the wood, on +the Klosterberg, Walckberg, and other woody BERGS or knolls, within +reach of Muhlberg, and behind the preliminary abatis there (abatis +which was rather of service to him than otherwise);--and began +privately building his batteries. + +At eight o'clock he, with Column First, which is now becoming Line +First (CENTRE of Line First, if we reckon Finck as RIGHT-WING), is +there; busy in that manner: Column Second, which was to have been +Rear Line, is still a pretty way behind; and has many difficulties +before it gets into Kunersdorf neighborhood, or can (having +wriggled itself into a kind of LEFT-WING) co-operate on the Russian +Position from the south side. On the north side, Finck has been +ready these five hours.--Friedrich speeds the building of his +batteries: "Silent, too; the Russians have not yet noticed us!" +By degrees the Russians do notice something; shoot out Cossacks to +reconnoitre. Cossacks in quantity; who are so insolent, and venture +so very near, our gunners on the north battery give them a blast of +satisfactory grape-shot; one aud then another, four blasts in all, +satisfactory to the gunner mind,--till the King's self, with a +look, with a voice, came galloping: "Silence, will you!" +The Russians took no offence; still considering Finck to be the +main thing and Friedrich some scout party,--till at last, + +Half-past eleven, everything being ready on the Walck Hill, +Friedrich's batteries opened there, in a sudden and volcanic way. +Volcanically answered by the Russians, as soon as possible; +who have 72 guns on this Muhlberg, and are nothing loath. Upon whom +Finck's battery is opening from the north, withal: Friedrich has 60 +cannon hereabouts; on the Walckberg, on the LITTLE Spitzberg +(called SEIDLITZ HILL ever since); all playing diligently on the +head and south shoulder of this Muhlberg: while Finck's battery +opens on the north shoulder (could he but get near enough). +Volcanic to a degree all these; nor are the Russians wanting, +though they get more and more astonished: Tempelhof, who was in it, +says he never, except at Torgau next Year, heard a louder +cannonade. Loud exceedingly; and more or less appalling to the +Russian imagination: but not destructive in proportion; +the distance being too considerable,--"1,950 paces at the nearest," +as Tempelhof has since ascertained by measuring. Friedrich's two +batteries, however, as they took the Russians in the flank or by +enfilade, did good execution. "The Russian guns were ill-pointed; +the Russian batteries wrong-built; batteries so built as did not +allow them sight of the Hollow they were meant to defend." +[Tempelhof, iii. 186, 187.] + +After above half an hour of this, Friedrich orders storm of the +Muhlberg: Forward on it, with what of enfilading it has had! Eight +grenadier Battalions, a chosen vanguard appointed for the work +(names of Battalions all given, and deathless in the Prussian War- +Annals), tramp forth on this service: cross the abatis, which the +Russian grenadoes have mostly burnt; down into the Hollow. +Steady as planets; "with a precision and coherency," says +Tempelhof, "which even on the parade-ground would have deserved +praises. Once well in the Hollow, they suffer nothing; though the +blind Russian fire, going all over their heads, rages threefold:" +suffered nothing in the Hollow; nor till they reached almost the +brow of the Muhlberg, and were within a hundred steps of the +Russian guns. These were the critical steps, these final ones; +such torrents of grape-shot and musket-shot and sheer death +bursting out, here at last, upon the Eight Battalions, as they come +above ground. Who advanced, unwavering, all the faster,--speed +one's only safety. They poured into the Russian gunners and +musketry battalions one volley of choicest quality, which had a +shaking effect; then, with level bayonets, plunge on the batteries: +which are all empty before we can leap into them; artillery-men, +musketeer battalions, all on wing; general whirlpool spreading. +And so, in ten minutes, the Muhlberg and its guns are ours. +Ever since Zorndorf, an idea had got abroad, says Tempelhof, that +the Russians would die instead of yielding; but it proved far +otherwise here. Down as far as Kunersdorf, which may be about a +mile westward, the Russians are all in a whirl; at best hanging in +tatters and clumps, their Officers struggling against the flight; +"mixed groups you would see huddled together a hundred men deep." +The Russian Left Wing is beaten: had we our cannon up here, our +cavalry up here, the Russian Army were in a bad way! + +This is a glorious beginning; completed, I think, as far almost as +Kunersdorf by one o'clock: and could the iron continue to be struck +while it is at white-heat as now, the result were as good as +certain. That was Friedrich's calculation: but circumstances which +he had not counted on, some which he could not count on, sadly +retarded the matter. His Left Wing (Rear Line, which should now +have been Left Wing) from southward, his Right Wing from northward, +and Finck farther west, were now on the instant to have +simultaneously closed upon the beaten Russians, and crushed them +altogether. The Right Wing, conquerors of the Muhlberg, are here: +but neither Finck nor the Left can be simultaneous with them. +Finck and his artillery are much retarded with the Flosses and poor +single Bridges; and of the Left Wing there are only some Vanguard +Regiments capable of helping ("who drove out the Russians from +Kunersdorf Churchyard," as their first feat),--no Main Body yet for +a long while. Such impediments, such intricacies of bog and bush! +The entire Wing does at last get to the southeast of Kunersdorf, +free of the wood; but finds (contrary to Linden with his hunter +eye) an intricate meshwork of meres and straggling lakes, two of +them in the burnt Village itself; no passing of these except on +narrow isthmuses, which necessitate change of rank and re-change; +and our Left Wing cannot, with all its industry, "march up," +that is, arrive at the enemy in fighting line, without the +painfulest delays. + +And then the getting forward of our cannon! On the Muhlberg itself +the seventy-two Russian guns, "owing to difference of calibre," or +artillery-men know what, cannot be used by us: a few light guns, +Tempelhof to one of them, a poor four in all, with perhaps 100 shot +to each, did, by the King's order, hasten to the top of the +Muhlberg; and never did Tempelhof see a finer chance for artillery +than there. Soft sloping ground, with Russians simmering ahead of +you, all the way down to Kunersdorf, a mile long: by horizontal +pointing, you had such reboundings (RICOCHETS); and carried +beautiful execution! Tempelhof soon spent his hundred shots: but it +was not at once that any of our sixty heavy guns could be got up +thither. Twelve horses to each: fancy it, and what baffling delays +here and elsewhere;--and how the Russian whirlpool was settling +more and more, in the interim! And had, in part, settled; in part, +got through to the rear, and been replaced by fresh troops! + +Friedrich's activities, and suppressed and insuppressible +impatiences in this interval, are also conceivable, though not on +record for us. The swiftest of men; tied down, in this manner, with +the blaze of perfect victory ahead, were the moments NOT running +out! Slower or faster, he thinks (I suppose), the victory is his; +and that he must possess his soul till things do arrive. It was in +one and more of those embargoed intervals that he wrote to Berlin +[Preuss, ii. 212 n.] (which is waiting, as if for life or death, +the issue of this scene, sixty miles distant): "Russians beaten; +rejoice with me!" Four successive couriers, I believe, with +messages to that effect; and at last a Fifth with dolefully +contrary news!-- + +In proportion as the cannon and other necessaries gradually got in, +the Fight flamed up from its embers more aud more: and there +ensued,--the Russians being now ranked again (fronting eastward +now) "in many lines," and very fierce,--a second still deadlier +bout; Friedrich furiously diligent on their front and right flank; +Finck, from the Alder Waste, battering and charging (uphill, and +under difficulties from those Flosses and single Bridges) on their +left flank. This too, after long deadly efforts on the Prussian +part, ended again clearly in their favor; their enemies broken a +second time, and driven not only out of Kunersdorf and the +Kuhgrund, but some say almost to the foot of the Judenberg,--what +can only be very partially true. Broken portions of the Russian +left flank,--some of Finck's people, in their victorious wrath, may +have chased these very far: but it is certain the general Russian +mass rallied again a long way short of the Judenberg;--though, the +ground being all obliterated by the rabbits and the winds, nobody +can now know with exactitude where. + +And indeed the Battle, from this point onwards, becomes blurred and +confused to us, only its grosser features visible henceforth. +Where the "Big Spitzberg" was (so terribly important soon), nobody +can now tell me, except from maps. London's motions too are +obscure, though important. I believe his grenadiers had not yet +been in the fire; but am certain they are now come out of Big +Hollow; fresh for the rescue; and have taken front rank in this +Second Rally that is made. Loudon's Cavalry Loudon himself has in +hand, and waits with them in a fit place. He has 18,000 fresh men; +and an eye like few others on a field of war. Loudon's 18,000 are +fresh: of the Prussians that can by no means be said. I should +judge it must be 3 of the afternoon. The day is windless, blazing; +one of the hottest August days; and "nobody, for twelve hours past, +could command a drink of water:" very fresh the poor Prussians +cannot be! They have done two bouts of excellent fighting; +tumbled the Russians well back, stormed many batteries; and taken +in all 180 cannon. + +At this stage, it appears, Finck and many Generals, Seidlitz among +the others, were of opinion that, in present circumstances, with +troops so tired, and the enemy nearly certain to draw off, if +permitted, here had been enough for one day, and that there ought +to be pause till to-morrow. Friedrich knew well the need of rest; +but Friedrich, impatient of things half-done, especially of +Russians half-beaten, would not listen to this proposal; which was +reckoned upon him as a grave and tragic fault, all the rest of his +life; though favorable judges, who were on the ground, Tempelhof +for one, [Tempelhof, iii. 194.] are williug to prove that pausing +here--at the point we had really got to, a little beyond the +Kuhgrund, namely; and not a couple of miles westward, at the foot +of the Jew Hill, where vague rumor puts us--was not feasible or +reasonable. Friedrich considers with himself, "Our left wing has +hardly yet been in fire!" calls out the entire left wing, foot and +horse: these are to emerge from their meshwork of Lakes about +Kunersdorf, and bear a hand along with us on the Russian front +here,--especially to sweep away that raging Battery they have on +the Big Spitzberg, and make us clear of it. The Big Spitzberg lies +to south and ahead of the Russian right as now ranked; +fatally covers their right flank, and half ruins the attack in +front. Big Spitzberg is blown irrecognizable in our time; but it +was then an all-important thing. + +The left-wing Infantry thread their lake-labyrinth, the soonest +possible; have to rank again on the hither side, under a tearing +fire from that Spitzberg; can then at last, and do, storm onwards, +upwards; but cannot, with their best efforts, take the Spitzberg: +and have to fall back under its floods of tearing case-shot, and +retire out of range. To Friedrich's blank disappointment: "Try it +you, then, Seidlitz; you saved us at Zorndorf!" Seidlitz, though it +is an impossible problem to storm batteries with horse, does charge +in for the Russian flank, in spite of its covering battery: but the +torrents of grape-shot are insufferable; the Seidlitz people, torn +in gaps, recoil, whirl round, and do not rank again till beyond the +Lakes of Kunersdorf. Seidlitz himself has got wounded, and has had +to be carried away. + +And, in brief, from this point onwards all goes aback with the +Prussians more and more. Repeated attempts on that Spitzberg +battery prove vain; to advance without it is impossible. +Friedrich's exertions are passionate, almost desperate; +rallying, animating, new-ordering; everywhere in the hottest of the +fire. "Thrice he personally led on the main attack." He has had two +horses shot down under him; mounting a third, this too gets a +bullet in an artery of the neck, and is about falling, when two +Adjutants save the King. In his waistcoat-pocket some small gold +case (ETUI) has got smitten flat by a bullet, which would otherwise +have ended matters. The people about him remonstrate on such +exposure of a life beyond value; he answers curtly, "We must all of +us try every method here, to win the Battle: I, like every other, +must stand to my duty here!" These, and a second brief word or two +farther on, are all of articulate that we hear from him this day. + +Friedrich's wearied battalions here on the Heights, while the +Spitzberg to left goes so ill, fight desperately; but cannot +prevail farther; and in spite of Friedrich's vehement rallyings +and urgings, gradually lose ground,--back at last to Kunersdorf and +the Kuhgrund again. The Loudon grenadiers, and exclaimed masses of +fresh Russians, are not to be broken, but advance and advance. +Fancy the panting death-labors, and spasmodic toilings and +bafflings, of those poor Prussians and their King! Nothing now +succeeding; the death-agony now come; all hearts growing hopeless; +only one heart still seeing hope. The Spitzberg is impossible; +tried how often I know not. Finck, from the Alder Waste, with his +Infantry, attacks, and again attacks; without success: "Let the +Cavalry go round, then, and try there. Seidlitz we have not; +you Eugen of Wurtemberg lead them!" Eugen leads them (cuirassiers, +or we will forget what); round by the eastern end of the Muhlberg; +then westward, along the Alder Waste; finally southward, against +the Russian flank, himself foremost, and at the gallop for +charging:--Eugen, "looking round, finds his men all gone," and has +to gallop the other way, gets wounded to boot. Puttkammer, with +Hussars, then tried it; Puttkammer was shot dead, and his Hussars +too could do nothing. + +Back, slowly back, go the Prussians generally, nothing now succeeds +with them. Back to the Kuhgrund again; fairly over the steep brow +there; the Russians serrying their ranks atop, rearranging their +many guns. There, once more, rose frightful struggle; +desperate attempt by the fordone Prussians to retake that Height. +"Lasted fifteen minutes, line to line not fifty yards asunder;" +such musketry,--our last cartridges withal. Ardent Prussian parties +trying to storm up; few ever getting to the top, none ever standing +there alive one minute. This was the death-agony of the Battle. +Loudon, waiting behind the Spitzberg, dashes forward now, towards +the Kuhgrund and our Left Flank. At sight of which a universal +feeling shivers through the Prussian heart, "Hope ended, then!"-- +and their solid ranks rustle everywhere; and melt into one wild +deluge, ebbing from the place as fast as it can. + +It is towards six o'clock; the sweltering Sun is now fallen low and +veiled; gray evening sinking over those wastes. "N'Y A-T-IL DONC +PAS UN BOUGRE DE BOULET QUI PUISSE M'ATTEINDREE (Is there no one +b-- of a ball that can reach me, then)?" exclaimed Friedrich in +despair. Such a day he had never thought to see. The pillar of the +State, the Prussian Army itself, gone to chaos in this manner. +Friedrich still passionately struggles, exhorts, commands, entreats +even with tears, "Children, don't forsake me, in this pinch +(KINDER, VERLASSET HEUTE MICH, EUREN KONIG, EUREN VATER, NICHT)!" +[Kriele, p. 169.]--but all ears are deaf. On the Muhlberg one +regiment still stood by their guns, covering the retreat. But the +retreat is more and more a flight; "no Prussian Army was ever seen +in such a state." At the Bridges of that Hen-Floss, there was such +a crowding, all our guns got jammed; and had to be left, 165 of +them of various calibre, and the whole of the Russian 180 that were +once in our hands. Had the chase been vigorous, this Prussian Army +had been heard of no more. But beyond the Muhlberg, there was +little or no pursuit; through the wood the Army, all in chaos, but +without molestation otherwise, made for its Oder Bridges by the way +it had come. [Tempelhof, iii. 179-200; Retzow, ii. 80-115: +in Seyfarth, <italic> Beylagen, <end italic> ii. 589-598, <italic> +Bericht von der am 12 August, 1759 bey Kunersdorf vorgefallenen +Schlacht <end italic> (Official); and IB. 598-603, <italic> +Beschreibung der &c. <end italic> (by a Private Hand): lucidly +accurate both.] + +Friedrich was among the last to quit the ground. He seemed +stupefied by the excess of his emotions; in no haste to go; +uncertain whether he would go at all. His adjutants were about him, +and a small party of Ziethen Hussars under Captain Prittwitz. +Wild swarms of Cossacks approached the place. "PRITTWITZ, ICH BIN +VERLOREN (Prittwitz, I am lost)!" remarked he. "NEIN, IHRO +MAJESTAT!" answered Prittwitz with enthusiasm; charged fiercely, he +and his few, into the swarms of Cossacks; cut them about, held them +at bay, or sent them else-whither, while the Adjutants seized +Friedrich's bridle, and galloped off with him. At OEtscher and the +Bridges, Friedrich found of his late Army not quite 3,000 men. +Even Wunsch is not there till next morning. Wunsch with his Party +had, early in the afternoon, laid hold of Frankfurt, as ordered; +made the garrison prisoners, blocked the Oder Bridge; +poor Frankfurt tremulously thanking Heaven for him, and for such an +omen. In spite of their Wagenburg and these Pontoon-Bridges, it +appears, there would have been no retreat for the Russians except +into Wunsch's cannon: Wagenburg way, latish in the afternoon, there +was such a scramble of runaways and retreating baggage, all was +jammed into impassability; scarcely could a single man get through. +In case of defeat, the Russian Army would have had no chance but +surrender or extermination. [Tempelhof, iii. 194: in Retzow (ii. +110) is some dubious traditionary stuff on the matter.] At dark, +however, Wunsch had summons, so truculent in style, he knew what it +meant; and answering in words peremptorily, "No" with a like +emphasis, privately got ready again, and at midnight disappeared. +Got to Reitwein without accident. + +Friedrich found at OEtscher nothing but huts full of poor wounded +men, and their miseries and surgeries;--he took shelter, himself, +in a hut "which had been plundered by Cossacks" (in the past days), +but which had fewer wounded than others, and could be furnished +with some bundles of dry straw. Kriele has a pretty Anecdote, with +names and particulars, of two poor Lieutenants, who were lying on +the floor, as he entered this hut. They had lain there for many +hours; the Surgeons thinking them desperate; which Friedrich did +not. "ACH KINDER, Alas, children, you are badly wounded, then?" +"JA, your Majesty: but how goes the Battle?" (Answer, evasive on +this point): "Are you bandaged, though? Have you been let blood?" +"NEIN, EUER MAJESTAT, KEIN TEUFEL WILL UNS VERBINDEN (Not a devil +of them would bandage us)!" Upon which there is a Surgeon instantly +brought; reprimanded for neglect: "Desperate, say you? These are +young fellows; feel that hand, and that; no fever there: Nature in +such cases does wonders!" Upon which the leech had to perform his +function; and the poor young fellows were saved,--and did new +fighting, and got new wounds, and had Pensions when the War ended. +[Kriele, pp. 169, 170; and in all the Anecdote-Books.] This appears +to have been Friedrich's first work in that hut at OEtscher. +Here next is a Third Autograph to Finkenstein, written in that hut, +probably the first of several Official things there:-- + + +THE KING TO GRAF VAN FINKENSTEIN (at Berlin): Third Note. + +OETSCHER, "12th August," 1759. + +"I attacked the Enemy this morning about eleven; we beat him back +to the JUDENKIRCHHOF (Jew Churchyard,"--a mistake, but now of no +moment), "near Frankfurt. All my troops came into action, and have +done wonders. I reassembled them three times; at length, I was +myself nearly taken prisoner; and we had to quit the Field. My coat +is riddled with bullets, two horses were killed under me;--my +misfortune is, that I am still alive. Our loss is very +considerable. Of an Army of 48,000 men, I have, at this moment +while I write, not more than 3,000 together; and am no longer +master of my forces. In Berlin you will do well to think of your +safety. It is a great calamity; and I will not survive it: +the consequences of this Battle will be worse than the Battle +itself. I have no resources more; and, to confess the truth, I hold +all for lost. I will not survive the destruction of my Country. +Farewell forever (ADIEU POUR JAMAIS).--F." [In orig. "CE 12," no +other date (<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xxv. 306).] + +Another thing, of the same tragic character, is that of handing +over this Army to Finck's charge. Order there is to Finck of that +tenor: and along with it the following notable Autograph,--a +Friedrich taking leave both of Kingship and of life. The Autograph +exists; but has no date,--date of the Order would probably be still +OETSCHER, 12th AUGUST; date of the Autograph, REITWEIN (across the +River), next day. + + FRIEDRICH TO LIEUT.-GENERAL FINCK (at OEtscher or Reitwein). + +"General Finck gets a difficult commission; the unlucky Army which +I give up to him is no longer in condition to make head against the +Russians. Haddick will now start for Berlin, perhaps Loudon too; +if General Finck go after these, the Russians will fall on his +rear; if he continue on the Oder, he gets Haddick on his flank (SO +KRIGT ER DEN HADEK DISS SEIT):--however, I believe, should Loudon +go for Berlin, he might attack Loudon, and try to beat him: this, +if it succeeded, would be a stand against misfortune, and hold +matters up. Time gained is much, in these desperate circumstances. +The news from Torgau and Dresden, Coper my Secretary (COPER MEIN +SEGRETER," kind of lieutenant to Eichel [See Preuss, i. 349, iii. +442.]) "will send him. You (ER) must inform my Brother [Prince +Henri] of everything; whom I have declared Generalissimo of the +Army. To repair this bad luck altogether is not possible: but what +my Brother shall command, must be done:--the Army swears to my +Nephew [King henceforth]. + +"This is all the advice, in these unhappy circumstances, I am in a +condition to give. Had I still had resources, I would have stayed +by them (SO WEHRE ICH DARBEI GEBLIEBEN). + +"FRIEDRICH" +[Exact Copy, two exact copies, in PREUSS (i. 450, and again, +ii. 215).] + +All this done, the wearied Friedrich flung himself into his truss +of dry straw; and was seen sound asleep there, a single sentry at +the door, by some high Generals that ventured to look in. On the +morrow he crossed to Reitwein; by to-morrow night, there had 23,000 +of his fugitives come in to him;--but this is now to be Finck's +affair, not his! That day, too (for the Paper seems to be +misdated), he signed, and despatched to Schmettau, Commandant in +Dresden, a Missive, which proved more fatal than either of the +others; and brought, or helped to bring, very bitter fruits for +him, before long:-- + +TO LIEUTENANT-GENERAL VON SCHMETTAU (at Dresden). + +"REITWEIN, 14th [probably 13th] August, 1759. + +"You will perhaps have heard of the Check [L'ECHEC, Kunersdorf to +wit!] I have met with from the Russian Army on the 13th [12th, if +you have the Almanac at hand] of this month. Though at bottom our +affairs in regard to the Enemy here are not desperate, I find I +shall not now be able to make any detachment for your assistance. +Should the Austrians attempt anything against Dresden, therefore, +you will see if there are means of maintaining yourself; +failing which, it will behoove you to try and obtain a favorable +Capitulation,--to wit, Liberty to withdraw, with the whole +Garrison, Moneys, Magazines, Hospital and all that we have at +Dresden, either to Berlin or else-whither, so as to join some Corps +of my Troops. + +"As a fit of illness [MALADIE, alas!] has come on me,--which I do +not think will have dangerous results,--I have for the present left +the command of my Troops to Lieutenant-General von Finck; +whose Orders you are to execute as if coming to you directly from +myself. On this I pray God to have you in his holy and worthy +keeping.--F." [Preuss, ii. <italic> Urkundenbuch, <end italic> +p. 43.] + +At Berlin, on this 13th,--with the Five Couriers coming in +successively (and not in the order of their despatch, but the fatal +Fifth arriving some time AHEAD of the Fourth, who still spoke of +progress and victory),--there was such a day as Sulzer (ACH MEIN +LIEBER SULZER!) had never seen in the world. "'Above 50,000 human +beings on the Palace Esplanade and streets about;' swaying hither +and thither, in agony of expectation, in alternate paroxysm of joy +and of terror and woe; often enough the opposite paroxysms +simultaneous in the different groups, and men crushed down in +despair met by men leaping into the air for very gladness:" Sulzer +(whose sympathy is of very aesthetic type) "would not, for any +consideration, have missed such a scene." [<italic> Briefe der +Schweitzer Bodmer, Sulzer, Gessner; aus Gleim's literarischen +Nachlasse: herausgegeben von Wilhelm Korte <end italic> (Zurich, +1804), pp. 316-319.] The "scene" is much obliged to you, +MEIN LIEBER!-- + +Practically we find, in Rodenbeck, or straggling elsewhere, this +Note: "On the day after Kunersdorf, Queen and Court fly to +Magdeburg: this is their second flight. Their first was on +Haddick's Visit, October, 1757; but after Rossbach they soon +returned, and Berlin and the Court were then extremely gay: +different gentlemen, French and others of every Nation, fallen +prisoners, made the Queen's soirees the finest in the world for +splendor and variety, at that time." [Rodenbeck, i. 390; &c. &c.] + +One other Note we save, for the sake of poor Major Kleist, "Poet of +the Spring," as he was then called. A valiant, punctual Soldier, +and with a turn for Literature as well; who wrote really pleasant +fine things, new at that time and rapturously welcome, though too +much in the sentimental vein for the times which have followed. +Major Kleist,--there is a General Kleist, a Colonel Kleist of the +Green Hussars (called GRUNE Kleist, a terrible cutting fellow):-- +this is not Grune Kleist; this is the Poet of THE SPRING; +whose fate at Kunersdorf made a tragic impression in all +intelligent circles of Teutschland. Here is Kriele's Note +(abridged):-- + +"Christian Ewald von Kleist, 'Poet of the Spring' [a Pommern +gentleman, now in his forty-fourth year], was of Finck's Division; +had come on, after those Eight Battalions took the first Russian +battery [that is, Muhlberg]; and had been assisting, with zeal, at +the taking of three other batteries, regardless of twelve +contusions, which he gradually got. At the third battery, he was +farther badly hurt on the left arm and the right. Took his +Colonel's place nevertheless, whom he now saw fall; led the +regiment MUTHIG forward on the fourth battery. A case-shot smashed +his right leg to pieces; he fell from his horse [hour not given, +shall we say 3 P.M.]; sank, exclaiming: 'KINDER, My children, don't +forsake your King!' and fainted there. Was carried to rear and +leftward; laid down on some dry spot in the Elsbruch, not far from +the Kuhgrund, and a Surgeon brought. The Surgeon, while examining, +was torn away by case-shot: Kleist lay bleeding without help. +A friend of his, Pfau [who told Kriele], one of Finck's Generals, +came riding that way: Kleist called to him; asked how the Battle +went; uncommonly glad to hear we are still progressive. +Pfau undertook, and tried his utmost, for a carriage to Kleist; +did send one of Finck's own carriages; but after such delays that +the Prussians were now yielding: poor Kleist's had become Russian +ground, and the carriage could not get in. + +"Kleist lay helpless; no luck worse than his. In the evening, +Cossacks came round him; stript him stark-naked; threw him, face +foremost, into the nearest swampy place, and went their way. One of +these devils had something so absurd and Teniers-like in the face +of him, that Kleist, in his pains, could not help laughing at +remembrance of it. In the night some Russian Hussars, human and not +Cossack, found Kleist in this situation; took him to a dry place; +put a cloak over him, kindled a watch-fire for themselves, and gave +him water and bread. Towards morning they hastened away, throwing +an 8-GROSCHEN STUCK [ninepenny piece, shilling, say half-crown] on +his cloak,--with human farewell. But Cossacks again came; +again stript him naked and bare. Towards noon of the 13th, Kleist +contrived to attract some Russian Cavalry troop passing that way, +and got speech of the Captain (one Fackelberg, a German); who at +once set about helping him;--and had him actually sent into +Frankfurt, in a carriage, that evening. To the House of a Professor +Nikolai; where was plenty of surgery and watchful affection. +After near thirty hours of such a lair, his wounds seemed still +curable; there was hope for ten days. In the tenth night (22d-23d +August), the shivered pieces of bone disunited themselves; cut an +artery,--which, after many trials, could not be tied. August 24th, +at two in the morning, he died.--Great sorrow. August 26th, there +was soldier's funeral; poor Kleist's coffin borne by twelve Russian +grenadiers; very many Russian Officers attending, who had come from +the Camp for that end; one Russian Staff-Officer of them unbuckling +his own sword to lay on the bier, as there was want of one. +King Friedrich had Kleist's Portrait hung in the Garnison Kirche. +Freemason Lodge, in 1788, set up a monument to him," [Kriele, pp. +39-43.]--which still stands on the Frankfurt pavement, and is now +in sadly ruinous state. + +The Prussian loss, in this Battle, was, besides all the cannon and +field-equipages: 6,000 killed, 13,000 wounded (of which latter, +2,000 badly, who fell to the Russians as prisoners); in all, about +19,000 men. Nor was the Russian loss much lighter; of Russians and +Austrians together, near 18,000, as Tempelhof counts: "which will +not surprise your Majesty," reports Soltikof to his Czarina; +"who are aware that the King of Prussia sells his defeats at a dear +rate." And privately Soltikof was heard to say, "Let me fight but +another such Victory, and I may go to Petersburg with the news of +it myself, with the staff in my hand." The joy at Petersburg, +striving not to be braggart or immodest, was solemn, steady and +superlative: a great feat indeed for Russia, this Victory over such +a King,--though a kind of grudge, that it was due to Loudon, dwelt, +in spite of Loudon's politic silence on that point, unpleasantly in +the background. The chase they had shamefully neglected. It is +said, certain Russian Officers, who had charge of that business +stept into a peasant's cottage to consult on it; contrived somehow +to find tolerable liquor there; and sat drinking instead. [Preuss, +ii. 217.] + + + +Chapter V. + +SAXONY WITHOUT DEFENCE: SCHMETTAU SURRENDERS DRESDEN. + +Friedrich's despair did not last quite four days. On the fourth +day,--day after leaving Reitwein,--there is this little Document, +which still exists, of more comfortable tenor: "My dear Major- +General von Wunsch,--Your Letter of the 16th to Lieutenant-General +von Finck punctually arrived here: and for the future, as I am now +recovered from my illness, you have to address your Reports +directly to Myself.--F." ["Madlitz," on the road to Furstenwalde, +"17th August:" in Preuss, <italic> Friedrich der Grosse; eine +historische Portrait-Skizze <end italic> (kind of LECTURE, so let +us call it, if again citing it; Lecture delivered, on Friedrich's +Birthday, to Majesty and Staff-Officers as Audience, Berlin, 24th +January, 1855), p. 18.] Finding that, except Tottleben warily +reconnoitring with a few Cossacks, no Russians showed themselves at +Reitwein; that the Russians were encamping and intrenching on the +Wine-Hills south of Frankfurt, not meaning anything immediate,--he +took heart again; ranked his 23,000; sent for General Kleist from +Pommern with his Anti-Swedish handful (leave the Swedes alone, as +usual in time of crisis); considered that artilleries and +furnishings could come to him from Berlin, which is but 60 miles; +that there still lay possibility ahead, and that, though only a +miracle could save him, he would try it to the very last. + +A great relief, this of coming to oneself again! "Till death, +then;--rage on, ye elements and black savageries!" Friedrich's +humor is not despondent, now or afterwards; though at this time it +is very sad, very angry, and, as it were, scorning even to hope: +but he is at all times of beautifully practical turn; and has, in +his very despair, a sobriety of eyesight, and a fixed steadiness of +holding to his purpose, which are of rare quality. His utterances +to D'Argens, about this time and onward,--brief hints, spontaneous, +almost unconscious,--give curious testimony of his glooms and moody +humors. Of which the reader shall see something. For the present, +he is in deep indignation with his poor Troops, among other +miseries. "Actual running away!" he will have it to be; and takes +no account of thirst, hunger, heat, utter weariness and physical +impossibility! This lasts for some weeks. But in general there is +nothing of this injustice to those about him. In general, nothing +even of gloom is manifested; on the contrary, cheerfulness, brisk +hope, a strangely continual succession of hopes (mostly illusory); +--though, within, there is traceable very great sorrow, weariness +and misery. A fixed darkness, as of Erebus, is grown habitual to +him; but is strictly shut up, little of it shown to others, or +even, in a sense, to himself. He is as a traveller overtaken by the +Night and its tempests and rain-deluges, but refusing to pause; +who is wetted to the bone, and does not care farther for rain. +A traveller grown familiar with the howling solitudes; aware that +the Storm-winds do not pity, that Darkness is the dead Earth's +Shadow:--a most lone soul of a man; but continually toiling +forward, as if the brightest goal and haven were near and in view. + +Once more the world was certain of Friedrich's ruin;--Friedrich +himself we have seen certain of it, for some few desperate hours:-- +but the world and he, as had been repeatedly the world's case, were +both disappointed. Intrinsically there could be little doubt but +Friedrich's enemies might now have ruined him, had they been +diligent about it. Now again, and now more than ever, they have the +winning-post in sight. At small distance is the goal and purpose of +all these four years' battlings and marchings, and ten years' +subterranean plottings and intriguings. He himself says +deliberately, "They had only to give him the finishing stroke +(COUP-DE-GRACE)." [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> +v. 20.] But they never gave him that stroke; could not do it, +though heartily desirous. Which was, and is, matter of surprise to +an observant public. + +The cause of failure may be considered to have been, in good part, +Daun and his cunctations. Daun's zeal was unquestionable; +ardent and continual is Daun's desire to succeed: but to try it at +his own risk was beyond his power. He expected always to succeed by +help of others: and to show them an example, and go vigorously to +work himself, was what he never could resolve on. Could play only +Fabius Cunctator, it would seem; and never was that part less +wanted than now! Under such a Chief Figure, the "incoherency of +action," instead of diminishing, as Friedrich had feared, rose +daily towards its maximum; and latterly became extreme. The old +Lernean Hydra had many heads; but they belonged all to one body. +The many heads of this Anti-Friedrich Hydra had withal each its own +body, and separate set of notions and advantages. Friedrich was at +least a unity; his whole strength going one way, and at all +moments, under his own sole command. The value of this circumstance +is incalculable; this is the saving-clause of Pitt and his England +(Pitt also a despotic sovereign, though a temporary one); +this, second only to Friedrich's great gifts from Nature, and the +noble use he makes of them, is above all others the circumstance +that saved him in such a duel with the Hydras. + +On the back of Kunersdorf, accordingly, there was not only no +finishing stroke upon Friedrich, but for two months no stroke or +serious attempt whatever in those neighborhoods where Friedrich is. +There are four Armies hereabouts: The Grand Russian, hanging by +Frankfurt; Friedrich at Furstenwalde (whitherward he marched from +Reitwein August 16th), at Furstenwalde or farther south, guarding +Berlin;--then, unhurt yet by battle of any kind, there are the +Grand Daunish or Mark-Lissa Army, and Prince Henri's of +Schmottseifen. Of which latter Two the hitchings and manoeuvrings +from time to time become vivid, and never altogether cease; but in +no case come to anything. Above two months' scientific flourishing +of weapons, strategic counter-dancing; but no stroke struck, or +result achieved, except on Daun's part irreparable waste of time:-- +all readers would feel it inhuman to be burdened with any notice of +such things. One march of Prince Henri's, which was of a famous and +decisive character, we will attend to, when it comes, that is, were +the end of September at hand; the rest must be imagined as a +general strategic dance in those frontier parts,--Silesia to +rearward on one side, the Lausitz and Frankfurt on the other,--and +must go on, silently for most part, in the background of the +reader's fancy. Indeed, Saxony is the scene of action; +Friedrich, Henri, Soltikof, Daun, comparatively inactive for the +next six weeks and more. + +Some days before Kunersdorf, Daun personally, with I will forget +how many thousands, had made a move to northward from Mark-Lissa, +60 miles or so, through Sagan Country; and lies about Priebus, +waiting there ever since. Priebus is some 40 miles north of +Gorlitz, about 60 west of Glogau, south of Frankfurt 80. This is +where the Master-Smith, having various irons in the fire, may be +handiest for clutching them out, and forging at them, as they +become successively hot. Daun, as Master-Smith, has at least three +objects in view. The FIRST is, as always, Reconquest of Silesia: +this is obstructed by Prince Henri, who sits, watchful on the +threshold, at Schmottseifen yonder. The SECOND is, as last year, +Capture of Dresden: which is much the more feasible at present,-- +there being, except the Garrisons, no Prussian force whatever in +Saxony; and a Reichs Army now actually there at last, after its +long haggling about its Magazines; and above all, a Friedrich with +his hands full elsewhere. To keep Friedrich's hands full,--in other +words, to keep the Russians sticking to him,--that is the THIRD +object: or indeed we may call it the first, second and third; +for Daun is well aware that unless Soltikof can manage to keep +Friedrich busy, Silesia, Saxony and all else becomes impossible. + +Ever since the fortunate junction of Loudon with Soltikof, Daun has +sat, and still sits, expectant; elaborately calculative, gathering +Magazines in different parts, planting out-parties, this way, that +way, with an eye to these three objects, all or each,--especially +to the third object, which he discerns to be all AND each. Daun was +elaborately calculative with these views: but to try any military +action, upon Prince Henri for example, or bestir himself otherwise +than in driving provender forward, and marching detachments hither +and thither to the potentially fit and fittest posts, was not in +Daun's way,--so much the worse for Daun, in his present course +of enterprise. + +Prince Henri had lain quiet at Schmottseifen, waiting his Brother's +adventure; did not hear the least tidings of him till six days +after Kunersdorf, and then only by rumor; hideous, and, though +still dubious, too much of it probable! On the very day of +Kunersdorf, Henri had begun effecting some improvements on his +right flank,--always a sharply strategic, most expert creature,-- +and made a great many motions, which would be unintelligible here. +[Detailed, every fibre of them (as is the soul-confusing custom +there), in Tempelhof, iii. 228 et seq.] Henri feels now that upon +him lies a world of duties; and foremost of all, the instant duty +of endeavoring to open communication with his Brother. +Many marches, in consequence; much intricate marching and +manoeuvring between Daun and him: of which, when we come to Henri's +great March (of 25th September), there may be again some hint. + +For the present, let readers take their Map, and endeavor to fix +the following dates and localities in their mind. Here, in summary, +are the King's various Marches, and Two successive Encampments, two +only, during those Six Weeks of forced inaction, while he is +obliged to stand watching the Russians, and to witness so many +complicacies and disasters in the distance; which he struggles much +and fruitlessly to hinder or help:-- + +ENCAMPMENT 1st (Furstenwalde, August 18th-30th). Friedrich left +Reitwein AUGUST 16th; 17th, he is at Madlitz [Note to Wunsch +written there, which we read]; 18th, to Furstenwalde, and encamp. +Furstenwalde is on the Spree, straight between Frankfurt and +Berlin; 25 miles from the former, 35 from the latter. Here for near +a fortnight. At first, much in alarm about the Russians and Berlin; +but gradually ascertaining that the Russians intend nothing. + +"In effect, all this while Soltikof lay at Lossow, 10 miles south +of Frankfurt, with his right on Oder; totally motionless, inactive, +except listening, often rather gloomily, to Daun's and +Montalembert's suasive eloquences and advices,--and once, August +22d, in the little Town of Guben, holding Conference with Daun [of +which by and by]. In consequence of which, AUGUST 28th, Soltikof +and his Russians and Austrians got under way again; southward, but +only a few marches: first to Mullrose, then to Lieberose:--whom, +the instant he heard of their movements, Friedrich, August 30th, +hastened to follow; but had not to follow very far. +Whereupon ensues + +"ENCAMPMENT SECOND (Waldau, till September 15th). AUGUST 30th, +Friedrich, we say, rose from Furstenwalde; hastened to follow this +Russian movement, and keep within wind of it: up the valley of the +Spree; first to Mullrose neighborhood [where the Russians, +loitering some time, spoiled the canal-locks of the Friedrich- +Wilhelm Canal, if nothing more],--thence to Lieberose neighborhood; +Waldau, the King's new place of encampment,--Waldau, with Spree +Forest to rear of it: silent both parties till September 15th, when +Soltikof did fairly march, not towards Berlin, but quite in the +opposite direction." + +By the middle of September, when the Russians did get on foot, and +moved eastward; especially on and after September 25th, when Henri +made his famous March westward; then it will behoove us to return +to Friedrich and these localities. For the present we must turn to +Saxony, where, and not here, the scene of action is. Take, farther, +only the following bits of Note, which will now be readable. +First, these Utterances to D'Argens; direct glimpses into the +heavy-laden, indeed hag-ridden and nearly desperate inner man of +Friedrich, during the first three weeks after his defeat +at Kunersdorf:-- + + +THE KING TO MARQUIS D'ARGENS (at Berlin): Six Notes. + +1. "MADLITZ [road from Reitwein to Furstenwalde], 16th AUGUST, +1759. We have been unfortunate, my dear Marquis; but not, by my +fault. The victory was ours, and would even have been a complete +one, when our infantry lost patience, and at the wrong moment +abandoned the field of battle. The enemy to-day is on march to +Mullrose, to unite with Haddick [not to Mullrose for ten days yet; +Haddick had already got united with THEM]. The Russian infantry is +almost totally destroyed. Of my own wrecks, all that I have been +able to assemble amounts to 32,000 men; with these I am pushing on +to throw myself across the enemy's road, and either perish or save +the Capital. That is not what you [you Berliners] will call a +deficiency of resolution. + +"For the event I cannot answer. If I had more lives than one, I +would sacrifice them all to my Country. But if this stroke fail, I +think I am clear-scores with her, and that it will be permissible +to look a little to myself. There are limits to everything. +I support my misfortune; courage not abated by it: but I am well +resolved, after this stroke, if it fail, to open an outgate for +myself [that small glass tube which never quits me], and no longer +be the sport of any chance." + +2. Furstenwalde, 20th AUGUST. ... "Remain at Berlin, or retire to +Potsdam; in a little while there will come some catastrophe: it is +not fit that you suffer by it. If things take a good turn, you can +be back to Berlin [from Potsdam] in four hours. If ill-luck still +pursue us, go to Hanover or to Zelle, where you can provide for +your safety. + +"I protest to you, that in this late Action I did what was humanly +possible to conquer; but my people"--Oh, your Majesty! + +3. FURSTENWALDE, 21st AUGUST. ... "The enemy is intrenching himself +near Frankfurt; a sign he intends no attempt. If you will do me the +pleasure to come out hither, you can in all safety. Bring your bed +with you; bring my Cook Noel; and I will have you a little chamber +ready. You will be my consolation and my hope."-- + +This day,--let readers mark the circumstance,--Friedrich, in better +spirits, detaches Wunsch with some poor 6,000, to try if he can be +of help in Saxony; where the Reichs Army, now arrived in force, and +with nothing whatever in the field against them, is taking all the +Northward Garrison-Towns, and otherwise proceeding at a high rate. +Too possibly with an eye towards Dresden itself! Wunsch sets out +August 21st. [Tempelhof, iii. 211.] And we shall hear of him in +those Saxon Countries before long. + +4. FURSTENWALDE, 22d AUGUST. "Yesterday I wrote to you to come; +but to-day I forbid it. Daun is at Kotbus; he is marching on Luben +and Berlin [nothing like so rash!].--Fly these unhappy Countries!-- +This news obliges me again to attack the Russians between here and +Frankfurt. You may imagine if this is a desperate resolution. It is +the sole hope that remains to me, of not being cut off from Berlin +on the one side or the other. I will give the discouraged troops +some brandy"--alas!--"but I promise myself nothing of success. +My one consolation is, that I shall die sword in hand." + +5. SAME PLACE AND DAY (after a Letter FROM D'Argens). "You make the +panegyric, MON CHER, of an Army that does not deserve any. +The soldiers had good limbs to run with, none to attack the enemy. +[Alas, your Majesty; after fifteen hours of such marching +and fighting!] + +"For certain I will fight; but don't flatter yourself about the +event. A happy chance alone can help us. Go, in God's name, to +Tangermunde [since the Royal Family went, D'Argens and many +Berliners are thinking of flight], to Tangermunde, where you will +be well; and wait there how Destiny shall have disposed of us. +I will go to reconnoitre the enemy to-morrow. Next day, if there is +anything to do, we will try it. But if the enemy still holds to the +Wine-Hills of Frankfurt, I shall never dare to attack him. + +"No, the torment of Tantalus, the pains of Prometheus, the doom of +Sisyphus, were nothing like what I suffer for the last ten days +[from Kunersdorf till now, when destruction has to be warded off +again, and the force wanting]. Death is sweet in comparison to such +a life. Have compassion on me and it; and believe that I still keep +to myself a great many evil things, not wishing to afflict or +disquiet anybody with them; and that I would not counsel you to fly +these unlucky Countries, if I had any ray of hope. +Adieu, MON CHER." + +Four days after, AUGUST 25th, from this same Furstenwalde, the +Russians still continuing stagnant, Friedrich despatches to +Schmettau, Commandant of Dresden (by some industrious hand, for the +roads are all blocked), a Second Letter, "That Dresden is of the +highest moment; that in case of Siege there, relief [Wunsch, +namely, and perhaps more that may follow] is on the road; and that +Schmettau must defend himself to the utmost." Let us hope this +Second Missive may counteract the too despondent First, which we +read above, should that have produced discouragement in Schmettau! +[Second Letter is given in <italic> Schmettau's Leben, <end italic> +pp. 436, 437.]--D'Argens does run to Wolfenbuttel; stays there till +September 9th. Nothing more from Friedrich till 4th September, when +matters are well cooled again. + +6. WALDAU, 4th SEPTEMBER. "I think Berlin is now in safety; you may +return thither. The Barbarians [Russians] are in the Lausitz; +I keep by the side of them, between them and Berlin, so that there +is nothing to fear for the Capital. The imminency of danger is +past; but there will still be many bad moments to get through, +before reaching the end of the Campaign. These, however, only +regard myself; never mind these. My martyrdom will last two months +yet; then the snows and the ices will end it." [<italic> OEuvres de +Frederic, <end italic> xix. 78, 82, 83, 85, 86.] + +Thus at Furstenwalde, then at Waldau, keeping guard, forlorn but +resolute, against the intrusive Russian-Austrian deluges, Friedrich +stands painfully vigilant and expectant,--still for about a +fortnight more. With bad news coming to him latterly, as we shall +hear. He is in those old moorland Wusterhausen Countries, once so +well known under far other circumstances. Thirty years ago, in fine +afternoons, we used to gallop with poor Duhan de Jandun, after +school-tasks done, towards Mittenwalde, Furstenwalde and the furzy +environs, far and wide; at home, our Sister and Mother waiting with +many troubles and many loves, and Papa sleeping, Pan-like, under +the shadow of his big tree:--Thirty years ago, ah me, gone like a +dream is all that; and there is solitude and desolation and the +Russian-Austrian death-deluges instead! These, I suppose, were +Friedrich's occasional remembrances; silent always, in this +locality and time. The Sorrows of WERTER, of the GIAOUR, of the +Dyspeptic Tailor in multifarious forms, are recorded in a copious +heart-rending manner, and have had their meed of weeping from a +sympathetic Public: but there are still a good few Sorrows which +lie wrapt in silence, and have never applied there for an idle +tear!--Let us look now into Daun's side of things. + +DAUM, AFTER NEGOTIATION, HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH SOLTIKOF (at Guben, +August 22d).--"Daun, who had moved to Priebus, with a view to be +nearer Soltikof, had scarcely got his tent pitched there {August +13th), when a breathless horseman rode in, with a Note from Loudon, +dated the night before: 'King of Prussia beaten, to the very bone, +beyond mistake this time,--utterly ruined, if one may judge!' +What a vision of the Promised Land! Delighted Daun moves forward, +one march, to Triebel on the morrow; to be one march nearer the +scene of glory, and endeavor to forge this biggest of the hot irons +to advantage. + +"At Triebel Soltikof's own account, elucidated by oral messengers, +eye-witnesses, and, in short, complete conspectus of this ever +memorable Victory, await the delighted Daun. Who despatches +messengers, one and another; Lacy, the first, not succeeding quite: +To congratulate with enthusiasm the most illustrious of Generals; +who has beaten King Friedrich as none else ever did or could; +beaten to the edge of extinction;--especially to urge him upon +trampling out this nearly extinct King, before he gleam up again. +Soltikof understands the congratulations very well; but as to that +of trampling out, snorts an indignant negative: 'Nay, you, why +don't you try it? Surely it is more your business than my Imperial +Mistress's or mine. We have wrenched two victories from him this +season. Kay and Kunersdorf have killed near the half of us: go you +in, and wrench something!' This is Soltikof's logic; which no +messenger of Daun's, Lacy or another, aided by never such melodies +and suasions from Montalembert and Loudon, who are permanently +diligent that way, can shake. + +"And truly it is irrefragable. How can Daun, if himself merely +speculative, calculative, hope that Soltikof will continue acting? +Men who have come to help you in a heavy job of work need example. +If you wish me to weep, be grieved yourself first of all. +Soltikof angrily wipes his countenance at this point, and insists +on a few tears from Daun. Without metaphor, Soltikof has shot away +all his present ammunition, his staff of bread is quite precarious +in these parts; and Soltikof thinks always, 'Is it my business, +then, or is it yours?' + +"Soltikof has intrenched himself on the Wine-Hills at Lossow, +comfortably out of Friedrich's way, and contiguous to Oder and the +provision-routes; sits there, angrily deaf to the voice of the +charmer; nothing to be charmed out of him, but gusts of +indignation, instead of consent. A proud, high-going, indignant +kind of man, with a will of his own. And sees well enough what is +what, in all this symphony of the Lacys, the Montalemberts and +surrounding adorers. Montalembert, who is here this season, our +French best man (unprofitable Swedes must put up with an inferior +hand), is extremely persuasive, tries all the arts of French +rhetoric, but effects nothing. 'To let the Austrians come in for +the finishing stroke,---Excellence, it will be to let them gain, in +History, a glory which is of your earning. Daun and Austria, not +Soltikof and Russia, will be said to have extinguished this +pestilent King; whom History will have to remember!' [Choiseul's +Letter (not DUC de Choiseul, but COMTE, now Minister at Vienna) to +Montalembert, "Vienna, 16th August;" and Montalembert's Answer, +"Lieberhausen [means LIEBEROSE], 31st August, 1759:" in +Montalembert, <italic> Correspondance, <end italic> ii. 58-65.] +'With all my heart,' answers Soltikof; 'I make the Austrians and +History perfectly welcome! Monsieur, my ammunition is in Posen; +my bread is fallen scarce; in Frankfurt can you find me one horse +more?' Indignant Soltikof is not to be taken by chaff; growls now +and then, if you stir him to the bottom: 'Why should we, who are +volunteer assistants, take all the burden of the work? I will fall +back to Posen, and home to Poland and East Preussen, if this last +much longer.' + +"Austria has a good deal disgusted these Soltikofs and Russian +Chief Officers;--who are not so stupid as Austria supposes. +Austria's steady wish is, 'Let them do their function of cat's-paw +for us; we are here to eat the chestnuts; not, if we can help it, +to burn our own poor fingers for them!' After every Campaign +hitherto, Austria has been in use to raise eager accusations at +Petersburg; and get the Apraxins, Fermors into trouble: this is not +the way to conciliate Russian General Officers. Austria, taught +probably by Daun, now tries the other tack: heaps Soltikof with +eulogies, flatteries, magnificent presents. All which Soltikof +accepts, but with a full sense of what they mean. An unmanageable +Soltikof; his answer always,--'Your turn now to fight a victory! +I will go my ways to Posen again, if you don't.' And, in these +current weeks, in Soltikof's audience-room, if anybody were curious +about it, we could present a very lively solicitation going on, +with answers very gruff and negatory. No suasion of Montalembert, +Lacy, and Daun Embassies, backed by diamond-hilted swords, and +splendor of gifts from Vienna itself, able to prevail on the +barbarous people. + +"Daun at length resolves to go in person; solicits an Interview +with the distinguished Russian Conqueror; gets it, meets Soltikof +at Guben, half-way house between Frankfurt and Triebel; +select suite attending both Excellencies (August 22d); and exerts +whatever rhetoric is in him on the barbarous man. + + + +The barbarous man is stiff as brass; but Daun comes into all his +conditions: 'Saxony, Silesia,--Excellenz, we have them both within +clutch; such our exquisite angling and manoeuvring, in concert with +your immortal victory, which truly gives the life-breath to +everything. Oh, suffer us to clutch them: keep that King away from +us; and see if they are not ours, Saxony first, Silesia next! +Provisions of meal? I will myself undertake to furnish bread for +you [though I have to cart it from Bohemia all the way, and am +myself terribly off; but fixed to do the impossible]; ration of +bread shall fail no Russian man, while you escort us as protective +friend. Towards Saxony first, where the Reichs Army is, and not a +Prussian in the field; the very Garrisons mostly gone by this time. +Dresden is to be besieged, within a week; Dresden itself is ours, +if only YOU please! Come into the Lausitz with us, Magazines are +there, loaves in abundance: Saxony done, Dresden ours, cannot we +turn to Silesia together; besiege Glogau together (I am myself +about trying Neisse, by Harsch again); capture Glogau as well as +Neisse; and crown the successfulest campaign that ever was? +Oh, Excellenz--!'" + +In a word, Excellenz, strictly fixing that condition of the loaves, +consents. Will get ready to leave those Frankfurt Wine-Hills in +about a week. "But the loaves, you recollect: no Bread, no +Russian!" Daun returns to Triebel a victorious man,--though with an +onerous condition incumbent. Tempelhof, minutely computing, finds +that to cart from Bohemia such a cipher of human rations daily into +these parts, will surpass all the vehiculatory power of Daun. +[Tempelhof, iii. 225.]' + + +THE "REICHS ARMY" 80 CALLED HAS ENTERED SAXONY, UNDER FINE OMENS; +DOES SOME FEATS OF SIEGING (August 7th-23d), +--WITH AN EYE ON DRESDEN AS THE CROWNING ONE. + +The Reichs Army, though it had been so tumbled about, in Spring, +with such havoc on its magazines and preparations, could not wait +to refit itself, except superficially; and showed face over the +Mountains almost earlier than usual. The chance was so unique: +a Saxony left to its mere Garrisons,--as it continued to be, for +near two months this Year. On such golden opportunity the Reichs +Army--first, in light mischievous precursor parties, who roamed as +far as Halle or even as Halberstadt; then the Army itself, well or +ill appointed, under Generalissimo the Prince von Zweibruck,--did +come on, winding through Thuringen towards the Northwestern Towns; +various Austrian Auxiliary-Corps making appearance on the Dresden +side. Eight Austrian regiments, as a permanency, are in the Reichs +Army itself. Commander, or part Commander, of the eight is (what +alone I find noteworthy in them) "Herr General Thomas von +Blonquet:" Irish by nation, says a foot-note; [Seyfarth, ii. +831 n.]--sure enough some adventurous "Thomas PLUNKET," visible +this once, soldiering, in those circumstances; never heard of by a +sympathetic reader before or after. It was while the King was +hunting the Haddick-Loudon people in Sagan Country in such vehement +fashion, that Zweibruck came trumpeting into Saxony,--King, Prince +Henri and everybody, well occupied otherwise, far away! + +The Reichs Army has a camp at Naumburg (Rossbach neighborhood): +and has light troops out in Halle neighborhood; which have seized +Halle; are very severe upon Halle, and other places thereabouts, +till chased away. August 7th, the Reichs Army begirt Leipzig; +summoned the weak garrison there. It is a Town capable of ruin, but +not of defence: "Free-withdrawal," proposes the Reichs Army,--and +upon these terms gets hold of Leipzig, for the time being. +Leipzig, Torgau, Wittenberg; in a fortnight or less, all the +Prussian posts in those parts fall to the Reichs Army. +Its marchings and siegings, among those Northwestern places, not +one of them capable of standing above a few days' siege, are worth +no mention, except to Parish History: enough that, by little after +the middle of August, Zweibruck had got all these places, "Free- +withdrawal" the terms for all; and that, except it be the following +feature in their Siege of Torgau, feature mainly Biographic, and +belonging to a certain Colonel Wolfersdorf concerned, there is not +one of those Sieges now worth a moment's attention from almost any +mortal. This is the Torgau feature,--feature of human nature, +soldiering under difficulties:-- + +COLONEL VON WOLFERSDORF BEAUTIFULLY DEFENDS HIMSELF IN TORGAU +(August 9th-14th). Two days after Leipzig was had, there appeared +at Torgau a Body of Pandours, 2,000 and more; who attempted some +kind of scalade on Torgau and its small Garrison (of 700 or so),-- +where are a Magazine, a Hospital and other properties: not capable, +by any garrison, of standing regular siege; but important to defend +till you have proper terms offered. The multitudinous Pandours, if +I remember, made a rush into the Suburbs, in their usual vociferous +way; but were met by the 700 silent Prussians,--silent except +through their fire-arms and field-pieces,--in so eloquent a style +as soon convinced the Pandour mind, and sent it travelling again. +And in the evening of the same day (August 9th), Colonel +Wolfersdorf arrives, as new Commandant, and with reinforcements, +small though considerable in the circumstances. + +Wolfersdorf, one dimly gathers, had marched from Wittenberg on this +errand; the whole force in Torgau is now of about 3,000, still with +only field-cannon, but with a Captain over them;--who, as is +evident, sets himself in a very earnest manner to do his utmost in +defence of the place. Next morning Reichs General Kleefeld +("Cloverfield"), with 6 or 8,000 Pandour and Regular, summons +Wolfersdorf: "Surrender instantly; or--!" "We will expect you!" +answers Wolfersdorf. Whereupon, same morning (August 10th), general +storm; storm No. 1: beautifully handled by Wolfersdorf; who takes +it in rear (to its astonishment), as well as in front; and sends it +off in haste. On the morrow, Saturday, a second followed; and on +Sunday a third; both likewise beautifully handled. This third +storm, readers see, was "Sunday, August 12th:" a very busy stormful +day at Torgau here,--and also, for some others of us, during the +heats of Kunersdorf, over the horizon far away! Wolfersdorf tumbles +back all storms; furthermore makes mischievous sallies: +a destructive, skilled person; altogether prompt, fertile in +expedients; and evidently is not to be managed by Kleefeld. So that +Prince von Stolberg, Second to supreme Zweibruck himself, has to +take it in hand. And, + +MONDAY, 13th, at break of day, Stolberg arrives with a train of +battering guns and 6,000 new people; summons Wolfersdorf: "No," as +before. Storms him, a fourth time; likewise "No," as before: +attacks, thereupon, his Elbe Bridge, and his Redoubt across the +River; finds a Wolfersdorf party rush destructive]y into his rear +there. And has to withdraw, and try battering from behind the Elbe +Dam. Continues this, violently for about two hours; till again +Wolfersdorf, whose poor fieldpieces, the only artillery he has, +"cannot reach so far with leaden balls" (the iron balls are done, +and the powder itself is almost done), manages, by a flank attack, +to quench this also. Which produces entire silence, and +considerable private reflection, on the part of indignant Stolberg. +Stolberg offers him the favorablest terms devisable: "Withdraw +freely, with all your honors, all your properties; only withdraw!" +Which Wolfersdorf, his powder and ball being in such a state of +ebb, and no relief possible, agrees to; with stipulations very +strict as to every particular. [In <italic> Anonymous of Hamburg +<end italic> (iii. 350) the Capitulation, "August 14th." given +IN EXTENSO.] + +COLONEL VON WOLFERSDORF WITHDRAWS, ALSO BEAUTIFULLY (August 15th). +Accordingly, Wednesday, August 15th, at eight in the morning, +Wolfersdorf by the Elbe Gate moves out; across Elbe Bridge, and the +Redoubt which is on the farther shore yonder. Near this Redoubt, +Stolberg and many of his General Officers are waiting to see him +go. He goes in state; flags flying, music playing. Battalion +Hessen-Cassel, followed by all our Packages, Hospital +convalescents, King's Artillery, and whatever is the King's or +ours, marches first. Next comes, as rear-guard to all this, +Battalion Grollmann;--along with which is Wolfersdorf himself, +knowing Grollmann for a ticklish article (Saxons mainly); +followed on the heel by Battalion Hofmann, and lastly by Battalion +Salmuth, trusty Prussians both of these. + +Battalion Hessen-Cassel and the Baggages are through the Redoubt, +Prince of Stolberg handsomely saluting as saluted. But now, on +Battalion Grollmann's coming up, Stolberg's Adjutant cries out with +a loud voice of proclamation, many Officers repeating and +enforcing: "Whoever is a brave Saxon, whoever is true to his +Kaiser, or was of the Reichs Army, let him step out: +Durchlaucht will give him protection!" At sound of which Grollmann +quivers as if struck by electricity; and instantly begins +dissolving;--dissolves, in effect, nearly all, and is in the act of +vanishing like a dream! Wolfersdorf is a prompt man; and needs to +be so. Wolfersdorf, in Olympian rage, instantly stops short; +draws pistol: "I will shoot dead every man that quits rank!" +vociferates he; and does, with his pistol, make instant example of +one; inviting every true Prussian to do the like: "Jagers, Hussars, +a ducat for every traitor you shoot down!" continues Wolfersdorf +(and punctually paid it afterwards): unable to prevent an almost +total dissolution of Grollmann. For some minutes, there is a scene +indescribable: storm of vociferation, menace, musket-shot, pistol- +shot; Grollmann disappearing on every side,--"behind the Redoubt, +under the Bridge, into Elbe Boats, under the cloaks of the Croats;" +--in spite of Wolfersdorf's Olympian rages and efforts. + +At sight of the shooting, Prince Stolberg, a hot man, had said +indignantly, "Herr, that will be dangerous for you (DAS WIRD NICHT +GUT GEHN)!" Wolfersdorf not regarding him a whit; regarding only +Grollmann, and his own hot business of coercing it at a ducat per +head. Grollmann gone, and Battalion Hofmann in due sequence come +up, Wolfersdorf--who has sent an Adjutant, with order, "Hessen- +Cassel, HALT"--gives Battalion Hofmann these three words of +command: "Whole Battalion, halt!--Front!--Make ready!" (with due +simultaneous click of every firelock, on utterance of that last);-- +and turning to Prince Stolberg, with a brow, with a tone of voice: +"Durchlaucht, Article 9 of the Capitulation is express on this +point; 'ALL DESERTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED; NO DESERTER TO BE +RECEIVED EITHER ON THE IMPERIAL OR ON THE PRUSSIAN SIDE!' +[Durchlaucht silently gives, we suppose, some faint sniff.] +Since your Durchlaucht does not keep the Capitulation, neither will +I regard it farther. I will now take you and your Suite prisoners, +return into the Town, and again begin defending myself. Be so good +as ride directly into that Redoubt, or I will present, and +give fire!" + +A dangerous moment for the Durchlaucht of Stolberg; +Battalion Salmuth actually taking possession of the wall again; +Hofmann here with its poised firelock on the cock, "ready" for that +fourth word, as above indicated. A General Lusinsky of Stolberg's +train, master of those Croats, and an Austrian of figure, remarks +very seriously: "Every point of the Capitulation must be kept!" +Upon which Durchlaucht has to renounce and repent; eagerly assists +in recovering Grollmann, restores it (little the worse, little the +FEWER); will give Wolfersdorf "COMMAND of the Austrian Escort you +are to have", and every satisfaction and assurance;--wishful only +to get rid of Wolfersdorf. Who thereupon marches to Wittenberg, +with colors flying again, and a name mentionable ever since. +[Templehof, iii. 201-204; Seyfarth, ii. 562 n., and <italic> +Beylagen, <end italic> ii. 587; <italic> Militair-Lexikon, <end +italic> iv. 283.] + +This Wolfersdorf was himself a Pirna Saxon; serving Polish Majesty, +as Major, in that Pirna time; perhaps no admirer of "Feldmarschall +Bruhl" and Company?--at any rate, he took Prussian service, as then +offered him; and this is his style of keeping it. A decidedly +clever soldier, and comes out, henceforth, more and more as such,-- +unhappily not for long. Was taken at Maxen, he too, as will be +seen. Rose, in after times, to be Lieutenant-General, and a man +famous in the Prussian military circles; but given always, they +say, to take the straight line (or shortest distance between self +and object), in regard to military matters, to recruiting and the +like, and thus getting himself into trouble with the +Civil Officials. + +Wolfersdorf, at Wittenberg or farther on, had a flattering word +from the King; applauding his effective procedures at Torgau; +and ordering him, should Wittenberg fall (as it did, August 23d), +to join Wunsch, who is coming with a small Party to try and help in +those destitute localities. Wunsch the King had detached (21st +August), as we heard already. Finck the King finds, farther, that +he can detach (from Waldau Country, September 7th); [Tempelhof, +iii. 211, 237.] Russians being so languid, and Saxony fallen into +such a perilous predicament. + +"Few days after Kunersdorf," says a Note, which should be inserted +here, "there had fallen out a small Naval matter, which will be +consolatory to Friedrich, and go to the other side of the account, +when he hears of it: Kunersdorf was Sunday, August 12th; this was +Saturday and Sunday following. Besides their Grand Brest Fleet, +with new Flat-bottoms, and world-famous land-preparations going on +at Vannes, for Invasion of proud Albion, all which are at present +under Hawke's strict keeping, the French have, ever since Spring +last, a fine subsidiary Fleet at Toulon, of very exultant hopes at +one time; which now come to finis. + +"SEA-FIGHT (PROPERLY SEA-HUNT OF 200 MILES), IN THE CADIZ WATERS, +AUGUST 18th-19th. The fine Toulon Fleet, which expected at one +time, Pitt's ships being so scattered over the world, to be +'mistress of the Mediterranean,' has found itself, on the contrary +(such were Pitt's resources and promptitudes); cooped in harbor all +Summer; Boscawen watching it in the usual strict way. No egress +possible; till, in the sultry weather (8th July-4th August), +Boscawen's need of fresh provisions, fresh water and of making some +repairs, took him to Gibraltar, and gave the Toulon Fleet a +transient opportunity, which it made use of. + +"August 17th, at 8 in the evening, Boscawen, at Gibraltar (some of +his ships still in deshabille or under repair), was hastily +apprised by one of his Frigates, That the Toulon Fleet had sailed; +been seen visibly at Ceuta Point so many hours ago. 'Meaning,' as +Boscawen guesses, 'to be through the Straits this very night!' +By power of despatch, the deshabille ships were rapidly got +buttoned together (in about two hours); and by 10 P.M. all were +under sail. And soon were in hot chase; the game, being now in +view,--going at its utmost through the Straits, as anticipated. +At 7 next morning (Saturday, August 18th) Boscawen got clutch of +the Toulon Fleet; still well east of Cadiz, somewhere in the +Trafalgar waters, I should guess. Here Boscawen fought and chased +the Toulon Fleet for 24 hours coming; drove it finally ashore, at +Lagos on the coast of Portugal, with five of its big ships burnt or +taken, its crews and other ships flying by land and water, its poor +Admiral mortally wounded; and the Toulon Fleet a ruined article. +The wind had been capricious, here fresh, there calm; now favoring +the hunters, now the hunted; both Fleets had dropped in two. De la +Clue, the French Admiral, complained bitterly how his Captains +lagged, or shore off and forsook him. Boscawen himself, who for his +own share had gone at it eagle-like, was heard grumbling, about +want of speed in some people; and said: 'It is well; but it might +have been better!' [Beatson, ii. 313-319; ib. iii. 237-238, De la +Clue, the French Admiral's Despatch;--Boscawen's Despatch, &c., in +<italic> Gentleman's Magazine, <end italic> xxix. 434.] + +"De la Clue--fallen long ago from all notions of 'dominating the +Mediterranean'--had modestly intended to get through, on any terms, +into the Ocean; might then, if possible, have joined the Grand +'Invasion Squadron,' now lying at Brest, till Vannes and the +furnishings are ready, or have tried to be troublesome in the rear +of Hawke, who is blockading all that. A modest outlook in +comparison;--and this is what it also has come to. As for the Grand +Invasion Squadron, Admiral Conflans, commanding it, still holds np +his head in Brest Harbor, and talks big. Makes little of Rodney's +havoc on the Flat-bottoms at Havre, 'Will soon have Flat-bottoms +again: and you shall see!'--if only Hawke, and wind and weather and +Fortune, will permit." + + +AUSTRIAN REICHS ARMY DOES ITS CROWNING FEAT +(August 26th-September 4th): DIARY OF WHAT IS +CALLED THE "SIEGE" OF DRESDEN. + +Since the first weeks of, August there have been Austrian +detachments, Wehla's Corps, Brentano's Corps, entering Saxony from +the northeast or Daun-ward side, and posting themselves in the +strong points looking towards Dresden; waiting there till the +Reichs Army should capture its Leipzigs, Torgaus, Wittenbergs, and +roll forward from northwest. To all which it is easy to fancy what +an impetus was given by Kunersdorf and August 12th; the business, +after that, going on double-quick, and pointing to immediate +practical industry on Dresden. The Reichs Army hastens to settle +its northwestern Towns, puts due garrison in each, leaves a 10 or +12,000 movable for general protection, in those parts; and, August +23d, marches for Dresden. There are only some 15,000 left of it +now; almost half the Reichs Army drunk up in that manner; were not +Daun now speeding forth his Maguire with a fresh 12,000; who is to +command the Wehlas and Brentanos as well. And, in effect, to be +Austrian Chief, and as regards practical matters, Manager of this +important Enterprise,--all-important to Daun just now. Schmettau in +Dresden sees clearly what mischief is at hand. + +To Daun this Siege of Dresden is the alpha to whatever omegas there +may be: he and his Soltikof are to sit waiting this; and can +attempt nothing but eating of provender, till this be achieved. +As the Siege was really important, though not quite the alpha to +all omegas, and has in it curious points aud physiognomic traits, +we will invite readers to some transient inspection of it,--the +rather as there exist ample contemporary Narratives, DIARIUMS and +authentic records, to render that possible and easy. [In TEMPELHOF +(iii. 210-216-222) complete and careful Narrative; in ANONYMOUS OF +HAMBURG (iii. 371-377) express "DAY-BOOK" by some Eye-witness +in Dresden.]' + +"Ever since the rumor of Kunersdorf," says one Diarium, compiled +out of many, "in the last two weeks of August, Schmettau's need of +vigilance and diligence has been on the increase, his outlooks +becoming grimmer and grimmer. He has a poorish Garrison for number +(3,700 in all [Schmettau's LEBEN (by his Son), p. 408.]), and not +of the best quality; deserters a good few of them: willing enough +for strokes; fighting fellows all, and of adventurous turn, but +uncertain as to loyalty in a case of pinch. He has endless stores +in the place; for one item, almost a million sterling of ready +money. Poor Schmettau, if he knew it, has suddenly become the +Leonidas of this campaign, Dresden its Thermopylae; and"--But +readers can conceive the situation. + +"AUGUST 20th, Schmettau quits the Neustadt, or northern part of +Dresden, which lies beyond the River: unimportant that, and +indefensible with garrison not adequate; Schmettau will strengthen +the River-bank, blow up the Stone Bridge if necessary, and restrict +himself to Dresden Proper. The Court is here; Schmettau does not +hope that the Court can avert a Siege from him; but he fails not to +try, in that way too, and may at least gain time. + +"AUGUST 25th, He has a Mine put under the main arch of the Bridge: +'mine ill-made, uncertain of effect,' reports the Officer whom he +sent to inspect it. But it was never tried, the mere rumor of it +kept off attacks on that side. Same day, August 25th, Schmettau +receives that unfortunate Royal Missive [Tempelhof, iii. 208; +Schmettau's LEBEN (p. 421) has "August 27th."] written in the dark +days of Reitwein, morrow of Kunersdorf (14th or 13th August)," +which we read above. "That there is another Letter on the road for +him, indicating 'Relief shall be tried,' is unknown to Schmettau, +and fatally continues unknown. While Schmettau is reading this +(August 25th), General Wunsch has been on the road four days: +Wunsch and Wolfersdorf with about 8,000, at their quickest pace, +and in a fine winged frame of mind withal, are speeding on: +will cross Elbe at Meissen to-morrow night,--did Schmettau only +know. People say he did, in the way of rumor, understand that +Kunersdorf had not been the fatal thing it was thought; and that +efforts would be made by a King like his. In his place one might +have, at least, shot out a spy or two? But he did not, then +or afterwards. + +"Already, ever since the arrival of Wehla and Brentano in those +parts, he has been laboring under many uncertainties; too many for +a Leonidas! Hanging between Yes and No, even about that of quitting +the Neustadt, for example: carrying over portions of his goods, but +never heartily the whole; unable to resolve; now lifting visibly +the Bridge pavement, then again visibly restoring it;--and, I +think, though the contrary is asserted, he had at last to leave in +the Neustadt a great deal of stores, horse-provender and other, not +needful to him at present, or impossible to carry, when dubiety got +ended. He has put a mine under the Bridge; but knows it will not +go off. + +"Schmettau has been in many wars, but this is a case that tries his +soldier qualities as none other has ever done. A case of endless +intricacy,--if he be quite equal to it; which perhaps he was not +altogether. Nobody ever doubted Schmettau's high qualities as a man +and captain; but here are requisite the very highest, and these +Schmettau has not. The result was very tragical; I suppose, a pain +to Friedrich all his life after; and certainly to Schmettau all +his. This is Saturday night, 25th August: before Tuesday week +(September 4th) there will have sad things arrived, irremediable to +Schmettau. Had Schmettau decided to defend himself, Dresden had not +been taken. What a pity Schmettau had not been spared this Missive, +calculated to produce mere doubt! Whether he could not, and should +not, after a ten days of inquiry and new discernment, have been +able to read the King's true meaning, as well as the King's +momentary humor, in this fatal Document, there is no deciding. +Sure enough, he did not read the King's true meaning in it, but +only the King's momentary humor; did not frankly set about +defending himself to the death,--or 'seeing' in that way 'whether +he could not defend himself,'--with a good capitulation lying in +the rear, after he had. + +"SUNDAY, AUGUST 26th, Trumpet at the gates. Messenger from +Zweibruck is introduced blindfold; brings formal Summons to +Schmettau. Summons duly truculent: 'Resistance vain; the more you +resist, the worse it will be,--and there is a worst [that of being +delivered to the Croats, and massacred every man], of which why +should I speak? Especially if in anything you fail of your duty to +the Kur-Prinz [Electoral Prince and Heir-Apparent, poor crook- +backed young Gentleman, who has an excellent sprightly Wife, a +friend of Friedrich's and daughter of the late Kaiser Karl VII., +whom we used so beautifully], imagine what your fate will be!'--To +which Schmettau answers: 'Can Durchlaucht think us ignorant of the +common rules of behavior to Persons of that Rank? For the rest, +Durchlaucht knows what our duties here are, and would despise us if +we did NOT do them;'--and, in short, our answer again is, in polite +forms, 'Pooh, pooh; you may go your way!' Upon which the Messenger +is blindfolded again; and Schmettau sets himself in hot earnest to +clearing out his goods from the Neustadt; building with huge +intertwisted cross-beams and stone and earth-masses a Battery at +his own end of the Bridge, batteries on each side of it, below and +above;--locks the Gates; and is passionately busy all Sunday,-- +though divine service goes on as usual. + +"Hardly were the Prussian guns got away, when Croat people in +quantity came in, and began building a Battery at their end of the +Bridge, the main defence-work being old Prussian meal-barrels, +handily filled with earth. 'If you fire one cannon-ball across on +us,' said Schmettau, 'I will bombard the Neustadt into flame in few +minutes [I have only to aim at our Hay Magazine yonder]: be warned! +'Nor did they once fire from that side; Electoral Highness withal +and Royal Palace being quite contiguous behind the Prussian Bridge- +Battery. Electoral Highness and Household are politely treated, +make polite answer to everything; intend going down into the +'APOTHEKE' (Kitchen suite), or vaulted part of the Palace, and will +lodge there when the cannonade begins. + +"This same SUNDAY, AUGUST 26th, Maguire arrived; and set instantly +to building his bridge at Pillnitz, a little way above Dresden: +at Uebigau, a little below Dresden, the Reichsfolk have another. +Reichsfolk, Zweibruck in person, come all in on Wednesday; +post themselves there, to north and west of the City. What is more +important, the siege-guns, a superb stock, are steadily floating, +through the Pirna regions, hitherward; get to hand on Friday next, +the fifth day hence. [Tempelhof, p. 210.] Korbitz (half-way out to +Kesselsdorf) is Durchlaucht's head-quarter:--Chief General is +Durchlaucht, conspicuously he, at least in theory, and shall have +all the glory; though Maguire, glancing on these cannon, were it +nothing more, has probably a good deal to say. Maguire too, I +observe, takes post on that north or Kesselsdorf side; +contiguous for the Head General. Wehla and Brentano post themselves +on the south or up-stream side; it is they that hand in the siege- +guns: batteries are already everywhere marked out, 13 cannon- +batteries and 5 howitzer. In short, from the morrow of that +truculent Summons, Monday morning to Thursday, there is hot stir of +multifarious preparation on Schmettau's part; and continual pouring +in of the hostile force, who are also preparing at the utmost. +Thursday, the Siege, if it can be called a Siege, begins. +Gradually, and as follows:-- + +"THURSDAY MORNING (August 30th), Schmettau, who is, night and day, +'palisading the River,' and much else,--discloses (that is, Break +of Day discloses on his part) to the Dresden public a huge Gallows, +black, huge, of impressive aspect; labelled 'For Plunderers, +Mutineers and their Helpers.' [ANONYMOUS OF HAMBURG, iii. 373.] +The Austrian heavy guns are not yet in battery; but multitudes of +loose Croat people go swarming about everywhere, and there is +plentiful firing from such artilleries as they have. This same +Thursday morning, two or three battalions of them rush into the +Pirna Suburb; attack the Prussian Guard-parties there. +Schmettau instantly despatches Captain Kollas and a Trumpet:-- +'Durchlaucht, have the goodness to recall these Croat Parties; +otherwise the Suburb goes into flame! And directly on arrival of +this Messenger, may it please Durchlaucht. For we have computed the +time; and will not wait beyond what is reasonable for his return!' +Zweibruck is mere indignation and astonishment; 'will burn Halle,' +burn Quedlinburg, Berlin itself, and utterly ruin the King of +Prussia's Dominion in general:--the rejoinder to which is, burning +of Pirna Suburb, as predicted; seventy houses of it, this evening, +at six o'clock. + +"Onward from which time there is on both sides, especially on +Schmettau's, diligent artillery practice; cannonade kept up +wherever Schmettau can see the enemy busy; enemy responding with +what artillery he has:--not much damage done, I should think, +though a great deal of noise; and for one day (Saturday, September +1st), our Diarist notes, 'Not safe to walk the streets this day.' +But, in effect, the Siege, as they call it,--which fell dead on the +fifth day, and was never well alive--consists mainly of menace and +counter-menace, in the way of bargain-making and negotiation;--and, +so far as I can gather, that superb Park of Austrian Artillery, +though built into batteries, and talked about in a bullying manner, +was not fired from at all. + +"Schmettau affects towards the enemy (and towards himself, I dare +say) an air of iron firmness; but internally has no such feeling,-- +'Calls a Council of War,' and the like. Council of War, on sight of +that King's Missive, confirms him with one voice: 'Surely, surely, +Excellenz; no defence possible!' Which is a prophecy and a +fulfilment, both in one. Why Schmettau did not shoot forth a spy or +two, to ascertain for him What, or whether Nothing whatever, was +passing outside Dresden? I never understand! Beyond his own Walls, +the world is a vacancy and blank to Schmettau, and he seems content +it should be so. + +"SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2d. Though Schmettau's cannonade was very loud, +and had been so all night, divine service was held as usual, +streets safe again,--Austrians, I suppose, not firing with cannon. +About 4 P.M., after a great deal of powder spent, General Maguire, +stepping out on Elbe Bridge, blows or beats Appeal, three times; +'wishes a moment's conversation with his Excellency.' Granted at +once; witnesses attending on both sides. 'Defence is impossible; +in the name of humanity, consider!' urges Maguire. 'Defence to the +last man of us is certain,' answers Schmettau, from the teeth +outwards;--but, in the end, engages to put on paper, in case he, by +extremity of ill-luck, have at any time to acoept terms, what his +terms will inflexibly be. Upon which there is 'Armistice till +To-morrow:' and Maguire, I doubt not, reports joyfully on this +feeling of the enemy's pulse. Zweibruck and Maguire are very well +aware of what is passing in these neighborhoods (General Wunsch +back at Wittenberg by forced marches; blew it open in an hour); +and are growing highly anxious that Dresden on any terms +were theirs. + +"MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3d, The death-day of the Siege; an uncommonly +busy day,--though Armistice lasted perfect till 3 P.M., and soon +came back more perfect than ever. A Siege not killed by cannon, but +by medical industry. Let us note with brevity the successive +symptoms and appliances. About seven in the morning Maguire had his +Messenger in Dresden, 'Your Excellency's Paper ready?' +'Nearly ready,' answers Schmettau; 'we will send it by a Messenger +of our own.' And about eleven of the day Maguire does get it;--the +same Captain Kollas (whose name we recollect) handing it in; +and statue-like waiting Answer. 'Pshaw, this will never do,' +ejaculates Maguire; 'terms irrationally high!' Captain Kollas +'knows nothing of what is IN the Paper; and is charged only to +bring a Written Answer from Excellenz.' Excellenz, before writing, +'will have to consult with Durchlaucht;' can, however, as if +confidentially and from feelings of friendship, can assure you, +Sir, on my honor, That the Garrison will be delivered to the +Croats, and every man of it put to the sword. 'The Garrison will +expect that (WIRD DAS ERWARTEN),' said Kollas, statue-like; +and withdrew, with the proper bow. [Tempelhof, iii. 211.] +Something interesting to us in these Military diplomatic passages, +with their square-elbowed fashions, and politeness stiff as iron! + +"Not till three of the afternoon does the Written Answer reach +Schmettau: 'Such Terms never could be accepted.'--'Good,' answers +Schmettau: 'To our last breath no others will be offered.' +And commences cannonading again, not very violently, but with the +order, 'Go on, then, night and day!' + +"About 10 at night, General Guasco, a truculent kind of man, whom I +have met with up and down, but not admitted to memory, beats Appeal +on the Bridge: 'Inform the Commandant that there will now +straightway 13 batteries of cannon, and 5 ditto of howitzers open +on him, unless he bethinks himself!' Which dreadful message is +taken to Schmettau. 'Wish the gentleman good-evening,' orders +Schmettau; 'and say we will answer with 100 guns.' Upon which +Guasco vanishes;--but returns in not many minutes, milder in tone; +requests 'a sight of that Written Paper of Terms again.' 'There it +still is,' answers Schmettau, 'not altered, nor ever shall be.' +And there is Armistice again:--and the Siege, as turns out, has +fired its last shot; and is painfully expiring in paroxysms of +negotiation, which continue a good many hours. Schmettau strives to +understand clearly that his terms (of the King's own suggesting, as +Schmettau flatters himself) are accepted: nor does Durchlaucht take +upon him to refuse in any point; but he is strangely slow to sign, +still hoping to mend matters. + +"Much hithering and thithering there was, till 4 next morning +(Durchlaucht has important news from Torgau, at that moment); +till 11 next day; till 4 in the afternoon and later,--Guasco and +others coming with message after message, hasty and conciliatory: +(Durchlaucht at such a distance, his signature not yet come; but be +patient; all is right, upon my honor!' Very great hurry evident on +the part of Guasco and Company; but, nothing suspected by +Schmettau. Till, dusk or darkness threatening now to supervene, +Maguire and Schmettau with respective suites have a Conference on +the Bridge,--'rain falling very heavy.' Durchlaucht's signature, +Maguire is astonished to say, has not yet come; hut Maguire pledges +his honor 'that all shall be kept without chicane;' and adds 'what +to some of us seemed not superfluous afterwards), 'I am incapable +of acting falsely or with chicane.' In fact, till 9 in the evening +there was no signature by Durchlaucht; but about 6, on such pledge +by Maguire of his hand and his honor, the Siege entirely gave up +the ghost; and Dresden belonged to Austria. Tuesday Evening, +4th September, 1759; Sun just setting, could anybody see him for +the rain. + +"Schmettau had been over-hasty; what need had Schmettau of haste? +The terms had not yet got signature, perfection of settlement on +every point; nor were they at all well kept, when they did! +Considerable flurry, temporary blindness, needless hurry, and +neglect of symptoms and precautions, must be imputed to poor +Schmettau; whose troubles began from this moment, and went on +increasing. The Austrians are already besetting Elbe Bridge, +rooting up the herring-bone balks; and approaching our Block- +house,--sooner than was expected. But that is nothing. On opening +the Pirna Gate to share it with the Austrians, Friedrich's Spy +(sooner had not been possible to the man) was waiting; who handed +Schmettau that Second Letter of Friedrich's, 'Courage; there is +relief on the road!' Poor Schmettau!" + +What Captain Kollas and the Prussian Garrison thought of all this, +THEY were perhaps shy of saying, and we at such distance are not +informed,--except by one symptom: that, of Colonel Hoffman, +Schmettau's Second, whose indignation does become tragically +evident. Hoffman, a rugged Prussian veteran, is indignant at the +Capitulation itself; doubly and trebly indignant to find the +Austrians on Elbe Bridge, busy raising our Balks and Battery: +"How is this Sir?" inquires he of Captain Sydow, who is on guard at +the Prussian end; "How dared you make this change, without +acquainting the Second in Command? Order out your men, and come +along with me to clear the Bridge again!" Sydow hesitates, haggles; +indignant Hoffman, growing loud as thunder, pulls out a pistol, +fatal-looking to disobedient Sydow; who calls to his men, or whose +men spring out uncalled; and shoot Hoffman down,--send two balls +through him, so that he died at 8 that night. With noise enough, +then and afterwards. Was drunk, said Schmettau's people. +Friedrich answered, on report of it: "I think as Hoffman did. If he +was 'drunk,' it is pity the Governor and all the Garrison had not +been so, to have come to the same judgment, as he." [P.S. in +Autograph of Letter to Schmettau, "Waldau, 11th September, 1759" +(Preuss, ii.; <italic> Urkundenbuch, <end italic> p. 45).] +Friedrich's unbearable feelings, of grief and indignation, in +regard to all this Dresden matter,--which are not expressed except +coldly in business form,--can be fancied by all readers. One of the +most tragical bits of ill-luck that ever befell him. A very sore +stroke, in his present condition; a signal loss and affront. +And most of all, unbearable to think how narrowly it has missed +being a signal triumph;--missed actually by a single hair's- +breadth, which is as good as by a mile, or by a thousand miles! + +Soon after 9 o'olock that evening, Durchlaucht in person came +rolling through our battery and the herring-bone balks, to visit +Electoral Highness,--which was not quite the legal time either, +Durchlaucht had not been half an hour with Electoral Highness, when +a breathless Courier came in: "General Wunsch within ten miles +[took Torgau in no time, as Durchlaucht well knows, for a week +past]; and will be here before we sleep!" Durchlaucht plunged out, +over the herring-bone balks again (which many carpenters are busy +lifting); and the Electoral Highnesses, in like manner, hurry off +to Toplitz that same night, about an hour after. What a Tuesday +Night! Poor Hoffman is dead at 8 o'clock; the Saxon Royalties, +since 11, are galloping for Pirna, for Toplitz; Durchlaucht of +Zweibruck we saw hurry off an hour before them,--Capitulation +signature not yet dry, and terms of it beginning to be broken; +and Wunsch reported to be within ten miles! + +The Wunsch report is perfectly correct. Wunsch is at Grossenhayn +this evening; all in a fiery mood of swiftness, his people and he; +--and indeed it is, by chance, one of Wolfersdorf's impetuosities +that has sent the news so fast. Wunsch had been as swift with +Torgau as he was with Wittenberg: he blew out the poor Reichs +Garrison there by instant storm, and packed it off to Leipzig, +under charge of "an Officer and Trumpet:"--he had, greatly against +his will, to rest two days there for a few indispensable cannon +from Magdeburg. Cannon once come, Wunsch, burning for deliverance +of Dresden, had again started at his swiftest, "Monday, 3d +September [death day of the Siege], very early." + +"He is under 8,000; but he is determined to do it;--and would have +done it, think judges, half thinks Zweibruck himself: such a fire +in that Wunsch and his Corps as is very dangerous indeed. At 4 this +morning, Zweibruck heard of his being on march: 'numbers uncertain' +--(numbers seemingly not the important point,--blows any number of +us about our business!)--and since that moment Zweibruck has driven +the capitulation at such a pace; though the flurried Schmettau +suspected nothing. + +"Afternoon of TUESDAY, 4th, Wunsch, approaching Grossenhayn, had +detached Wolfersdorf with 100 light horse rightwards to Grodel, a +boating Village on Elbe shore, To seek news of Dresden; also to see +if boats are procurable for carrying our artillery up thither. +At Grodel, Wolfersdorf finds no boats that will avail: but certain +boat-people, new from Dresden, report that no capitulation had been +published when they left, but that it was understood to be going +on. New spur to Wolfersdorf and Wunsch. Wolfersdorf hears farther +in this Village, That there are some thirty Austrian horse in +Grossenhayn:--'Possible these may escape General Wunsch!' thinks +Wolfersdorf; and decides to have them. Takes thirty men of his own; +orders the other seventy to hold rightward, gather what +intelligence is going, and follow more leisurely; and breaks off +for the Grossenhayn-Dresden Highway, to intercept those fellows. + +"Getting to the highway, Wolfersdorf does see the fellows; +sees also,--with what degree of horror I do not know,--that there +are at least 100 of them against his 30! Horror will do nothing for +Wolfersdorf, nor are his other 70 now within reach. Putting a bold +face on the matter, he commands, Stentor-like, as if it were all a +fact: 'Grenadiers, march; Dragoons, to right forwards, WHEEL; +Hussars, FORWARD: MARCH!'--and does terrifically dash forward with +the thirty Hussars, or last item of the invoice; leaving the others +to follow. The Austrians draw bridle with amazement; fire off their +carbines; take to their heels, and do not stop for more. +Wolfersdorf captures 68 of them, for behoof of Grossenhayn; +and sends the remaining 32 galloping home. [Tempelhof, iii. 214.] +Who bring the above news to Durchlaucht of Zweibruck: '12,000 of +them, may it please your Durchlaucht; such the accounts we had!'-- +Fancy poor Schmettau's feelings! + +"On the morrow Dresden was roused from its sleep by loud firing and +battle, audible on the north side of the River: 'before daybreak, +and all day.' It is Wunsch impetuously busy in the woody countries +there. Durchlaucht had shot out Generals and Divisions, Brentano, +Wehla, this General and then that, to intercept Wunsch: these the +fiery Wunsch--almost as if they had been combustible material +coming to quench fire--repels and dashes back, in a wonderful +manner, General after General of them. And is lord of the field all +day:--but cannot hear the least word from Dresden; which is a +surprising circumstance. + +"In the afternoon Wunsch summons Maguire in the Neustadt: +'Will answer you in two hours,' said Maguire. Wunsch thereupon is +for attacking their two Pontoon Elbe-Bridges; still resolute for +Dresden,--and orders Wolfersdorf on one of them, the Uebigau +Bridge, who finds the enemy lifting it at any rate, and makes them +do it faster. But night is now sinking; from Schmettau not a word +or sign. 'Silence over there, all day; not a single cannon to or +from,' say Wunsch and Wolfersdorf to one another. 'Schmettau must +have capitulated!' conclude they, and withdraw in the night-time, +still thunderous if molested; bivouac at Grossenhayn, after twenty- +four hours of continual march and battle, not time even for a +snatch of food. [BERICHT VON DER ACTION DES GENERAL-MAJORS VON +WUNSCH, BEY REICHENBERG, DEN 5 SEPEMBER, 1759 in Seyfarth, <italic> +Beylagen, <end italic> ii. 606-608.] + +"Resting at Grossenhayn, express reaches Wunsch from his Commandant +at Torgau: 'Kleefeld is come on me from Leipzig with 14,000; +I cannot long hold out, unless relieved.' Wunsch takes the road +again; two marches, each of twenty miles. Reaches Torgau late; +takes post in the ruins of the North Suburb, finds he must fight +Kleefeld. Refreshes his men 'with a keg of wine per Company,' +surely a judicious step; and sends to Wolfersdorf, who has the +rear-guard, 'Be here with me to-morrow at 10.' Wolfersdorf starts +at 4, is here at 10: and Wunsch, having scanned Kleefeld and his +Position [a Position strong IF you are dexterous to manoeuvre in +it; capable of being ruinous if you are not,--part of the Position +of a bigger BATTLE OF TORGAU, which is coming],--flies at Kleefeld +and his 14,000 like a cat-o'-mountain; takes him on the left +flank:--Kleefeld and such overplus of thousands are standing a +little to west-and-south of Torgau, with the ENTEFANG [a desolate +big reedy mere, or PLACE OF DUCKS, still offering the idle Torgauer +a melancholy sport there] as a protection to their right; but with +no evolution-talent, or none in comparison to Wunsch's;--and +accordingly are cut to pieces by Wunsch, and blown to the winds, as +their fellows have all been." [HOFBERCHT VON DER AM 8 SEPTEMBER, +1759, BEY TORGAU, VORGEFALLENEN ACTION: in Seyfarth, <italic> +Beylagen, <end italic> ii. 609, 610. Tempelhof, iii. 219-222.] + +Wunsch, absolute Fate forbidding, could not save Dresden: but he is +here lord of the Northern regions again,--nothing but Leipzig now +in the enemy's hand;--and can await Finck, who is on march with a +stronger party to begin business here. It is reckoned, there are +few more brilliant little bits of Soldiering than this of Wunsch's. +All the more, as his men, for most part, were not Prussian, but +miscellaneous Foreign spirits of uncertain fealty: roving fellows, +of a fighting turn, attracted by Friedrich's fame, and under a +Captain who had the art of keeping them in tune. Wunsch has been +soldiering, in a diligent though dim miscellaneous way, these five- +and-twenty years; fought in the old Turk Wars, under disastrous +Seckendorf,--Wunsch a poor young Wurtemberg ensign, visibiy busy +there (1737-1739)) as was this same Schmettau, in the character of +staff-officer, far enough apart from Wunsch at that time!--fought +afterwards, in the Bavarian service, in the Dutch, at Roucoux, at +Lauffeld, again under disastrous people. Could never, under such, +find anything but subaltern work all this while; was glad to serve, +under the eye of Friedrich, as Colonel of a Free Corps; which he +has done with much diligence and growing distinction: till now, at +the long last, his chance does come; and he shows himself as a real +General. Possibly a high career lying ahead;--a man that may be +very valuable to Friedrich, who has now so few such left? Fate had +again decided otherwise for Wunsch; in what way will be seen before +this Campaign ends: "an infernal Campaign," according to Friedrich, +"CETTE CAMPAGNE INFERNALE." + +Finck, whom Friedrich had just detached from Waldau (September 6th) +with a new 8 or 6,000, to command in chief in those parts, and, +along with Wunsch, put Dresden out of risk, as it were,--Finck does +at least join Wunsch, as we shall mention in a little. And these +Two, with such Wolfersdorfs and people under them, did prove +capable of making front against Reichsfolk in great overplus of +number. Nor are farther SIEGES of those Northern Garrisons, but +recaptures of them, the news one hears from Saxony henceforth;-- +only that Dresden is fatally gone. Irrecoverably, as turned out, +and in that unbearable manner. Here is the concluding scene:-- + +DRESDEN, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8th; EXIT SCHMETTAU. "A thousand times +over, Schmettau must have asked himself, 'Why was I in such a +hurry? Without cause for it I, only Maguire having cause!'--The +Capitulation had been ended in a huddle, without signature: +an unwise Capitulation; and it was scandalously ill kept. +Schmettau was not to have marched till Monday, 10th,--six clear +days for packing and preparing;--but, practically, he has to make +three serve him; and to go half-packed, or not packed at all. +Endless chicanes do arise, 'upon my honor!'--not even the 800 +wagons are ready for us; 'Can't your baggages go in boats, then?' +'No, nor shall!' answers Schmettau, with blazing eyes, and heart +ready to burst; a Schmettau living all this while as in Purgatory, +or worse. Such bullyings from truculent Guasco, who is now without +muzzle. Capitulation, most imperfect in itself, is avowedly +infringed: King's Artillery,--which we had haggled for, and ended +by 'hoping for,' to Maguire that rainy evening: why were we in such +a hurry, too, and blind to Maguire's hurry!--King's Artillery, +according to Durchlaucht of Zweibruck, when he actually signed +within the walls, is 'NICHT ACCORDIRT (Not granted), except the +Field part.' King's regimental furnishings, all and sundry, were +'ACCORDIRT, and without visitation,'--but on second thoughts, the +Austrian Officials are of opinion there must really be visitation, +must be inspection. 'May not some of them belong to Polish +Majesty?' In which sad process of inspection there was incredible +waste, Schmettau protesting; and above half of the new uniforms +were lost to us. Our 80 pontoons, which were expressly bargained +for, are brazenly denied us: '20 of them are Saxon,' cry the +Austrians: 'who knows if they are not almost all Saxon,'--upon my +honor! At this rate, only wait a day or two, and fewer wagons than +800 will be needed! thinks Schmettau; and consents to 18 river- +boats; Boats in part, then; and let us march at once. Accordingly, + +"SATURDAY, 8th, at 5 in the morning, Schmettau, with goods and +people, does at last file out: across Elbe Bridge through the +Neustadt; Prussians five deep; a double rank of Austrians, ranged +on each side, in 'espalier' they call it,--espalier with gaps in it +every here and there, to what purpose is soon evident. The march +was so disposed (likewise for a purpose) that, all along, there +were one or two Companies of Prussian Foot; and then in the +interval, carriages, cannon, cavalry and hussars. +Schmettau's carriage is with the rear-guard, Madam Schmettau's well +in the van:--in two other carriages are two Prussian War-and-Domain +Ministers. [ANONYMOUS OF HAMBURG, III. 376.] 'Managers of Saxon +Finance,' these Two;--who will have to manage elsewhere than in +Dresden henceforth. Zinnow, Borck, they sit veritably there, with +their multiform Account Papers: of whom I know absolutely nothing, +--except (if anybody cared) that Zinnow, who 'died of apoplexy in +June following,' is probably of pursy red-nosed type; and that +Borck, for certain, has a very fine face and figure; +delicacy, cheerful dignity, perfect gentlemanhood in short, written +on every feature of him; as painted by Pesne, and engraved by +Schmidt, for my accidental behoof. [<italic> Fredericus Wilhelmus +Borck (Pesne pinxit, <end italic> 1732; <italic> Schmidt, sculptur +Regis, sculpsit, Berolini, <end italic> 1764): an excellent Print +and Portrait.] Curious to think of that elaborate court-coat and +flowing periwig, with this specific Borck, 'old as the Devil' (whom +I have had much trouble to identify), forming visible part of this +dismal Procession: the bright eye of Borck not smiling as usual, +but clouded, though impassive! But that of Borck or his Limners is +not the point. + +"The Prussians have been divided into small sections, with a mass +of baggage-wagons and cavalry between every two. And no sooner is +the mass got in movement, than there rises from the Austrian part, +and continues all the way, loud invitation, 'Whosoever is a brave +Saxon, a brave Austrian, Reichsman, come to us! Gaps in the +espalier, don't you see!' And Schmettau, in the rear, with baggage +and cavalry intervening,--nobody can reach Schmettau. Here is a way +of keeping your bargain! The Prussian Officers struggle stoutly: +but are bellowed at, struck at, menaced by bayonet and bullet,-- +none of them shot, I think, but a good several of them cut and +wounded;--the Austrian Officers themselves in passionate points +behaving shamefully, 'Yes, shoot them down, the (were it nothing +else) heretic dogs;' and being throughout evidently in a hot +shivery frame of mind, forgetful of the laws. Seldom was such a +Procession; spite, rage and lawless revenge blazing out more and +more. On the whole, there deserted, through those gaps of the +espalier, about half of the whole Garrison. On Madam Schmettau's +hammercloth there sat, in the Schmettau livery, a hard-featured +man, recognizable by keen eyes as lately a Nailer, of the Nailer +Guild here; who had been a spy for Schmettau, and brought many +persons into trouble: him they tear down, and trample hither and +thither,--at last, into some Guard-house near by." [The Schmettau +DIARIUM in ANONYMOUS OF HAMBURG, iii. 364-376 (corrected chiefly +from TEMPELHOF): Protest, and Correspondence in consequence, is in +Seyfarth, <italic> Beylagen, <end italic> ii. 611-621; in <italic> +Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> &c. &c.] + +Schmettau's protest against all this is vehement, solemnly +circumstantial: but, except in regard to the trampled Nailer +(Zweibruck on that point "heartily sorry for the insult to your +Excellency's livery; and here the man is, with a thousand +apologies"), Schmettau got no redress. Nor had Friedrich any, now +or henceforth. Friedrich did at once, more to testify his disgust +than for any benefit, order Schmettau: "Halt at Wittenberg, not at +Magdeburg as was pretended to be bargained. Dismiss your Escort of +Austrians there; bid them home at once, and out of your sight." +Schmettau himself he ordered to Berlin, to idle waiting. +Never again employed Schmettau: for sixteen years that they lived +together, never saw his face more. + +Schmettau's ill-fortune was much pitied, as surely it deserved to +be, by all men. About Friedrich's severity there was, and still +occasionally is, controversy held. Into which we shall not enter +for Yes or for No. "You are like the rest of them!" writes +Friedrich to him; "when the moment comes for showing firmness, you +fail in it." ["Waldau, 10th September, 1759:" in Preuss, ii. +URKUNDEN. p. 44.] Friedrich expects of others what all Soldiers +profess,--and what is in fact the soul of all nobleness in their +trade,--but what only Friedrich himself, and a select few, are in +the habit of actually performing. Tried by the standard of common +practice, Schmettau is clearly absolvable; a broken veteran, +deserving almost tears. But that is not the standard which it will +be safe for a King of men to go by. Friedrich, I should say, would +be ordered by his Office, if Nature herself did not order him, to +pitch his ideal very high; and to be rather Rhadamanthine in +judging about it. Friedrich was never accused of over-generosity to +the unfortunate among his Captains. + +After the War, Schmettau, his conduct still a theme of argument, +was reduced to the Invalid List: age now sixty-seven, but health +and heart still very fresh, as he pleaded; complaining that he +could not live on his retiring Pension of 300 pounds a year. +"Be thankful you have not had your head struck off by sentence of +Court-Martial," answered Friedrich. Schmettau, after some farther +troubles from Court quarters, retired to Brandenburg, and there +lived silent, poor but honorable, for his remaining fifteen years. +Madam Schmettau came out very beautiful in those bad circumstances: +cheery, thrifty, full of loyal patience; a constant sunshine to her +poor man, whom she had preceded out of Dresden in the way we saw. +Schmettau was very quiet, still studious of War matters; +[See <italic> Leben <end italic> (by his Son, "Captain Schmettau;" +a modest intelligent Book), pp. 440-447.] "sent the King" once,--in +1772, while Polish Prussia, and How it could be fortified, were the +interesting subject,--"a JOURNAL," which he had elaborated for +himself, "OF THE MARCHES OF KARL TWELFTH IN WEST PREUSSEN;" which +was well received: "Apparently the King not angry with me farther?" +thought Schmettau. A completely retired old man; studious, social, +--the best men of the Army still his friends and familiars:--nor, +in his own mind, any mutiny against his Chief; this also has its +beauty in a human life, my friend. So long as Madam Schmettau +lived, it was well; after her death, not well, dark rather, and +growing darker: and in about three years Schmettau followed (27th +October, 1775), whither that good soul had gone. The elder Brother +--who was a distinguished Academician, as well as Feldmarschall and +Negotiator--had died at Berlin, in Voltaire's time, 1751. Each of +those Schmettaus had a Son, in the Prussian Army, who wrote Books, +or each a short Book, still worth reading. [<italic> Bavarian War +of 1778, <end italic> by the Feldmarschall's Son; ad this <italic> +Leben <end italic> we have just been citing, by the Lieutenant- +General's.] But we must return. + +On the very morrow, September 5th, Daun heard of the glorious +success at Dresden; had not expected it till about the 10th at +soonest. From Triebel he sends the news at gallop to Lieberose and +Soltikof: "Rejoice with us, Excellenz: did not I predict it? +Silesia and Saxony both are ours; fruits chiefly of your noble +successes. Oh, continue them a very little!" "Umph!" answers +Soltikof, not with much enthusiasm: "Send us meal steadily; +and gain you, Excellenz's self, some noble success!" Friedrich did +not hear of it for almost a week later; not till Monday, 10th,--as +a certain small Anecdote would of itself indicate. + +Sunday Evening, 9th September, General Finck, with his new 6,000, +hastening on to join Wunsch for relief of Dresden, had got to +Grossenhayn; and was putting up his tents, when the Outposts +brought him in an Austrian Officer, who had come with a Trumpeter +inquiring for the General. The Austrian Officer "is in quest of +proper lodgings for General Schmettau and Garrison [fancy Finck's +sudden stare!];--last night they lodged at Gross-Dobritz, tolerably +to their mind: but the question for the Escort is, Where to lodge +this night, if your Excellency could advise me?" "Herr, I will +advise you to go back to Gross-Dobritz on the instant," answers +Finck grimly; "I shall be obliged to make you and your Trumpet +prisoners, otherwise!" Exit Austrian Officer. That same evening, +too, Captain Kollas, carrying Schmettau's sad news to the King, +calls on Finck in passing; gives dismal details of the Capitulation +and the Austrian way of keeping it; filling Finck's mind with +sorrowful indignation. [Tempelhof, iii. 237.] + +Finck--let us add here, though in date it belongs a little +elsewhere--pushes on, not the less, to join Wunsch at Torgau; +joins Wunsch, straightway recaptures Leipzig, garrison prisoners +(September 13th): recaptures all those northwestern garrisons,-- +multitudinous Reichsfolk trying, once, to fight him, in an +amazingly loud, but otherwise helpless way ("ACTION OF KORBITZ" +they call it); cannonading far and wide all day, and manoeuvring +about, here bitten in upon, there trying to bite, over many leagues +of Country; principally under Haddick's leading; [HOFBERICHT VON +DER AM 21 SEPTEMBER BEY KORBITZ (in Meissen Country, south of Elbe; +Krogis too is a Village in this wide-spread "Action") VORGEFALLENEN +ACTION (Seyfarth, <italic> Beylagen, <end italic> ii. 621-630). +Tempelhof, iii. 248, 258.] who saw good to draw off Dresden-ward +next day, and leave Finck master in those regions. To Daun's sad +astonishment,--in a moment of crisis,--as we shall hear farther on! +So that Saxony is not yet conquered to Daun; Saxony, no, nor indeed +will be:--but Dresden is. Friedrich never could recover Dresden; +though he hoped, and at intervals tried hard, for a long while +to come. + + + +Chapter VI. + +PRINCE HENRI MAKES A MARCH OF FIFTY HOURS; +THE RUSSIANS CANNOT FIND LODGING IN SILESIA. + +The eyes of all had been bent on Dresden latterly; and there had +occurred a great deal of detaching thitherward, and of marching +there and thence, as we have partly seen. And the end is, Dresden, +and to appearance Saxony along with it, is Daun's. Has not Daun +good reason now to be proud of the cunctatory method? Never did his +game stand better; and all has been gained at other people's +expense. Daun has not played one trump card; it is those obliging +Russians that have played all the trumps, and reduced the Enemy to +nothing. Only continue that wise course,--and cart meal, with your +whole strength, for the Russians!-- + +Safe behind the pools of Lieberose, Friedrich between them and +Berlin, lie those dear Russians; extending, Daun and they, like an +impassable military dike, with spurs of Outposts and cunningly +devised Detachments, far and wide,--from beyond Bober or utmost +Crossen on the east, to Hoyerswerda in Elbe Country on the west;-- +dike of eighty miles long, and in some eastern parts of almost +eighty broad; so elaborate is Daun's detaching quality, in cases of +moment. "The King's broken Army on one side of us," calculates +Daun; "Prince Henri's on the other; incommunicative they; +reduced to isolation, powerless either or both of them against such +odds. They shall wait there, please Heaven, till Saxony be quite +finished. Zweibruck, and our Detachments and Maguires, let them +finish Saxony, while Soltikof keeps the King busy. Saxony finished, +how will either Prince or King attempt to recover it! After which, +Silesia for us;--and we shall then be near our Magazines withal, +and this severe stress of carting will abate or cease." In fact, +these seem sound calculations: Friedrich is 24,000; Henri 38,000; +the military dike is, of Austrians 75,000, of Russians and +Austrians together 120,000. Daun may fairly calculate on succeeding +beautifully this Year: Saxony his altogether; and in Silesia some +Glogau or strong Town taken, and Russians and Austrians wintering +together in that Country. + +If only Daun do not TOO much spare his trump cards! But there is +such a thing as excess on that side too: and perhaps it is even the +more ruinous kind,--and is certainly the more despised by good +judges, though the multitude of bad may notice it less. Daun is +unwearied in his vigilantes, in his infinite cartings of provision +for himself and Soltikof,--long chains of Magazines, big and +little, at Guben, at Gorlitz, at Bautzen, Zittau, Friedland; +and does, aided by French Montalembert, all that man can to keep +those dear stupid Russians in tune. + +Daun's problem of carting provisions, and guarding his multifarious +posts, and sources of meal and defence, is not without its +difficulties. Especially with a Prince Henri opposite; who has a +superlative manoeuvring talent of his own, and an industry not +inferior to Daun's in that way. Accordingly, ever since August +11th-13th, when Daun moved northward to Triebel, and Henri shot out +detachments parallel to him, "to secure the Bober and our right +flank, and try to regain communication with the King,"--still more, +ever since August 22d, when Daun undertook that onerous cartage of +meal for Soltikof as well as self, the manoeuvring and mutual +fencing and parrying, between Henri and him, has been getting +livelier and livelier. Fain would Daun secure his numerous Roads +and Magazines; assiduously does Henri threaten him in these points, +and try all means to regain communication with his Brother. +Daun has Magazines and interests everywhere; Henri is everywhere +diligent to act on them. + +Daun in person, ever since Kunersdorf time, has been at Triebel; +Henri moved to Sagan after him, but has left a lieutenant at +Schmottseifen, as Daun has at Mark-Lissa:--here are still new +planets, and secondary ditto, with revolving moons. In short, it is +two interpenetrating solar systems, gyrating, osculatiug and +colliding, over a space of several thousand square miles,--with an +intricacy, with an embroiled abstruseness Ptolemean or more! +Which indeed the soldier who would know his business--(and not +knowing it, is not he of all solecisms in this world the most +flagrant?)--ought to study, out of Tempelhof and the Books; +but which, except in its results, no other reader could endure. +The result we will make a point of gathering: carefully riddled +down, there are withal in the details five or six little passages +which have some shadow of interest to us; these let us note, and +carefully omit the rest:-- + +OF FOUQUET AT LANDSHUT. "Fouquet was twice attacked at Landshut; +but made a lucky figure both times. Attack first was by Deville: +attack second by Harsch. Early in July, not long after Friedrich +had left for Schmottseifen, rash Deville (a rash creature, and then +again a laggard, swift where he should be slow, and VICE VERSA) +again made trial on Landshut and Fouquet; but was beautifully dealt +with; taken in rear, in flank, or I forget how taken, but sent +galloping through the Passes again, with a loss of many Prisoners, +most of his furnitures, and all his presence of mind: whom Daun +thereupon summoned out of those parts, 'Hitherward to Mark-Lissa +with your Corps; leave Fouquet alone!' [HOFBERICHT VON DEN +UNTERNEHMUNGEN DES FOUQUETSCHEN CORPS, IM JULIUS 1759: in Seyfarth, +Beylagen, ii. 582-586.] + +"After which, Fouquet, things being altogether quiet round him, was +summoned, with most part of his force, to Schmottseifen; +left General Goltz (a man we have met before) to guard Landshut; +and was in fair hopes of proving helpful to Prince Henri,--when +Harsch [Harsch by himself this time, not Harsch and Deville as +usual] thought here was his opportunity; and came with a great +apparatus, as if to swallow Landshut whole. So that Fouquet had to +hurry off reinforcements thither; and at length to go himself, +leaving Stutterheim in his stead at Schmottseifen. Goltz, however, +with his small handful, stood well to his work. And there fell out +sharp fencings at Landshut:--especially one violent attack on our +outposts; the Austrians quite triumphant; till 'a couple of cannon +open on them from the next Hill,'--till some violent Werner or +other charge in upon them with Prussian Hussars;--a desperate +tussle, that special one of Werner's; not only sabres flashing +furiously on both sides, but butts of pistols and blows on the +face: [Tempelhof, iii. 233: 31st August.] till, in short, Harsch +finds he can make nothing of it, and has taken himself away, before +Fouquet come." This Goltz, here playing Anti-Harsch, is the Goltz +who, with Winterfeld, Schmettau and others, was in that melancholy +Zittau march, of the Prince of Prussia's, in 1757: it was Goltz by +whom the King sent his finishing compliment, "You deserve, all of +you, to be tried by Court-Martial, and to lose your heads!" +Goltz is mainly concerned with Fouquet and Silesia, in late times; +and we shall hear of him once again. Fouquet did not return to +Schmottseifen; nor was molested again in Landshut this year, though +he soon had to detach, for the King's use, part of his Landshut +force, and had other Silesian business which fell to him. + +FORTRESS OF PEITZ. The poor Fortress of Peitz was taken again;--do +readers remember it, "on the day of Zorndorf," last year? +"This year, a fortnight after Kunersdorf, the same old Half-pay +Gentleman with his Five-and-forty Invalids have again been set +adrift, 'with the honors of war,' poor old creatures; lest by +possibility they afflict the dear Russians and our meal-carts up +yonder. [Tempelhof, iii. 231: 27th August.] I will forget who took +Peitz: perhaps Haddick, of whom we have lately heard so much? +He was captor of Berlin in 1757, did the Inroad on Berlin that +year,--and produced Rossbach shortly after. Peitz, if he did Peitz, +was Haddick's last success in the world. Haddick has been most +industrious, 'guarding the Russian flank,'--standing between the +King and it, during that Soltikof march to Mullrose, to Lieberose; +but that once done, and the King settled at Waldau, Haddick was +ordered to Saxony, against Wunsch and Finck:--and readers know +already what he made of these Two in the 'Action at Korbitz, +September 21st,'--and shall hear soon what befell Haddick himself +in consequence." + +COLONEL HORDT IS CAPTURED. "It was in that final marching of +Soltikof to Lieberose that a distinguished Ex-Swede, Colonel Hordt, +of the Free Corps HORDT, was taken prisoner. At Trebatsch; +hanging on Soltikof's right flank on that occasion. It was not +Haddick, it was a swarm of Cossacks who laid Hordt fast; his horse +having gone to the girths in a bog. [<italic> Memoires du Comte de +Hordt <end italic> (a Berlin, 1789), ii. 53-58 (not dated or +intelligible there): in Tempelhof (iii. 235, 236) clear account, +"Trebatsch, September 4th."] Hordt, an Ex-Swede of distinction,--a +Royalist Exile, on whose head the Swedes have set a price (had gone +into 'Brahe's Plot,' years since, Plot on behalf of the poor +Swedish King, which cost Brahe his life),--Hordt now might have +fared ill, had not Friedrich been emphatic, 'Touch a hair of him, +retaliation follows on the instant!' He was carried to Petersburg; +'lay twenty-six months and three days' in solitary durance there; +and we may hear a word from him again." + +ZIETHEN ALMOST CAPTURED. "Prince Henri, in the last days of August, +marched to Sagan in person; [Tempelhof, iii. 231: 29th August.] +Ziethen along with him; multifariously manoeuvring 'to regain +communication with the King.' Of course, with no want of counter- +manoeuvring, of vigilant outposts, cunningly devised detachments +and assiduous small measures on the part of Daun. Who, one day, had +determined on a more considerable thing; that of cutting out +Ziethen from the Sagan neighborhood. And would have done it, they +say,--had not he been too cunctatory. September 2d, Ziethen, who is +posted in the little town of Sorau, had very nearly been cut off. +In Sorau, westward, Daun-ward, of Sagan a short day?s march: +there sat Ziethen, conscious of nothing particular,--with Daun +secretly marching on him; Daun in person, from the west, and two +others from the north and from the south, who are to be +simultaneous on Sorau and the Zietheners. A well-laid scheme; +likely to have finished Ziethen satisfactorily, who sat there aware +of nothing. But it all miswent: Daun, on the road, noticed some +trifling phenomenon (Prussian party of horse, or the like), which +convinced his cautious mind that all was found out; that probably a +whole Prussian Army, instead of a Ziethen only, was waiting at +Sorau; upon which Daun turned home again, sorry that he could not +turn the other two as well. The other two were stronger than +Ziethen, could they have come upon him by surprise; or have caught +him before he got through a certain Pass, or bit of bad ground, +with his baggage. But Ziethen, by some accident, or by his own +patrols, got notice; loaded his baggage instantly; and was through +the Pass, or half through it, and in a condition to give stroke for +stroke with interest, when his enemies came up. Nothing could be +done upon Ziethen; who marched on, he and all his properties, safe +to Sagan that night,--owing to Daun's over-caution, and to +Ziethen's own activity and luck." [Tempelhof, iii. 233.] + +All this was prior to the loss of Dresden. During the crisis of +that, when everybody was bestirring himself, Prince Henri made +extraordinary exertions: "Much depends on me; all on me!" sighed +Henri. A cautious little man; but not incapable of risking, in the +crisis of a game for life and death. Friedrich and he are wedged +asunder by that dike of Russians and Austrians, which goes from +Bober river eastward, post after post, to Hoyerswerda westward, +eighty miles along the Lausitz-Brandenburg Frontier, rooting itself +through the Lausitz into Bohemia, and the sources of its meal. +Friedrich and he cannot communicate except by spies ("the first +JAGER," or regular express "from the King, arrived September 13th" +[Ib. iii. 207.]): but both are of one mind; both are on one +problem, "What is to be done with that impassable dike?"--and +co-operate sympathetically without communicating. What follows +bears date AFTER the loss of Dresden, but while Henri still knew +only of the siege,--that JAGER of the 13th first brought him news +of the loss. + +"A day or two after Ziethen's adventure, Henri quits Sagan, to move +southward for a stroke at the Bohemian-Lausitz magazines; a stroke, +and series of strokes. SEPTEMBER 8th, Ziethen and (in Fouquet's +absence at Landshut) Stutterheim are pushed forward into the Zittau +Country; first of all upon Friedland,--the Zittau Friedland, for +there are Friedlands many! SEPTEMBER 9th, Stutterheim summons +Friedland, gets it; gets the bit of magazine there; and next day +hastens on to Zittau. Is refused surrender of Zittau; +learns, however, that the magazine has been mostly set on wheels +again, and is a stage forward on the road to Bohemia; +whitherward Stutterheim, quitting Zittau as too tedious, hastens +after it, and next day catches it, or the unburnt remains of it. +A successful Stutterheim. Nor is Ziethen idle in the mean while; +Ziethen and others; whom no Deville or Austrian Party thinks itself +strong enough to meddle with, Prince Henri being so near. + +"Here is a pretty tempest in the heart of our Bohemian meal- +conduit! Continue that, and what becomes of Soltikof and me? Daun +is off from Triebel Country to this dangerous scene; indignantly +cashiers Deville, 'Why did not you attack these Ziethen people? +Had not you 10,000, Sir?' Cashiers poor Deville for not attacking; +--does not himself attack: but carts away the important Gorlitz +magazine, to Bautzen, which is the still more important one; +sits down on the lid of that (according to wont); shoots out +O'Donnell (an Irish gentleman, Deville's successor), and takes +every precaution. Prince Henri, in presence of O'Donnell, coalesces +again; walks into Gorlitz; encamps there, on the Landskron and +other Heights (Moys Hill one of them, poor Winterfeld's Hill!),-- +and watches a little how matters will turn, and whether Daun, +severely vigilant from Bautzen, seated on the lid of his magazine, +will not perhaps rise." + +First and last, Daun in this business has tried several things; +but there was pretty much always, and emphatically there now is, +only one thing that could be effectual: To attack Prince Henri, and +abolish him from those countries;--as surely might have been +possible, with twice his strength at your disposal?--This, though +sometimes he seemed to be thinking of such a thing, Daun never +would try: for which the subsequent FACTS, and all good judges, +were and are inexorably severe on Daun. Certain it is, no rashness +could have better spilt Daun's game than did this extreme caution. + + +DAUN, SOLTIKOF AND COMPANY AGAIN HAVE A COLLOQUY +(Bautzen, September 15th); AFTER WHICH EVERYBODY +STARTS ON HIS SPECIAL COURSE OF ACTION. + +Soltikof's disgust at this new movement of Daun's was great and +indignant. "Instead of going at the King, and getting some victory +for himself, he has gone to Bautzen, and sat down on his meal-bags! +Meal? Is it to be a mere fighting for meal? I will march to-morrow +for Poland, for Preussen, and find plenty of meal!" And would have +gone, they say, had not Mercury, in the shape of Montalembert with +his most zealous rhetoric, intervened; and prevailed with +difficulty. "One hour of personal interview with Excellency Daun," +urges Montalembert; "one more!" "No," answers Soltikof.--"Alas, +then, send your messenger!" To which last expedient Soltikof does +assent, and despatches Romanzof on the errand. + +SEPTEMBER 15th, at Bautzen, at an early hour, there is meeting +accordingly; not Romanzof, Soltikof's messenger, alone, but +Zweibruck in person, Daun in person; and most earnest council is +held. "A noble Russian gentleman sees how my hands are bound," +pleads Daun. "Will not Excellency Soltikof, who disdains idleness, +go himself upon Silesia, upon Glogau for instance, and grant me a +few days?" "No," answers Romanzof; "Excellency Soltikof by himself +will not. Let Austria furnish Siege-Artillery; daily meal I need +not speak of; 10,000 fresh Auxiliaries beyond those we have: +on these terms Excellency Soltikof will perhaps try it; on lower +terms, positively not." "Well then, yes!" answers Daun, not without +qualms of mind. Daun has a horror at weakening himself to that +extent; but what can he do? "General Campitelli, with the 10,000, +let him march this night, then; join with General Loudon where you +please to order: Excellency Soltikof shall see that in every point +I conform." [Tempelhof, iii. 247-249.]--An important meeting to us, +this at Bautzen; and breaks up the dead-lock into three or more +divergent courses of activity; which it will now behoove us to +follow, with the best brevity attainable. "Bautzen, Saturday, 15th +September, early in the morning," that is the date of the important +Colloquy. And precisely eight-and-forty hours before, "on Thursday, +13th, about 10 A.M.", in the western Environs of Quebec, there has +fallen out an Event, quite otherwise important in the History of +Mankind! Of which readers shall have some notice at a time +more convenient.-- + +Romanzof returning with such answer, Soltikof straightway gathers +himself, September 15th-16th, and gets on march. To Friedrich's +joy; who hopes it may be homeward; waits two days at Waldau, for +the Yes or No. On the second day, alas, it is No: "Going for +Silesia, I perceive; thither, by a wide sweep northward, which they +think will be safer!" Upon which Friedrich also rises; follows, +with another kind of speed than Soltikof's; and, by one of his +swift clutchings, lays hold of Sagan, which he, if Soltikof has +not, sees to be a key-point in this operation. Easy for Soltikof to +have seized this key-point, key of the real road to Glogau; +easy for Loudon and the new 10,000 to have rendezvoused there: +but nobody has thought of doing it. A few Croats were in the place, +who could make no debate. + +From Sagan Friedrich and Henri are at length in free communication; +Sagan to the Landskron at Gorlitz is some fifty miles of country, +now fallen vacant. From Henri, from Fouquet (the dangers of +Landshut being over), Friedrich is getting what reinforcement they +can spare (September 20th-24th); will then push forward again, +industriously sticking to the flanks of Soltikof, thrusting out +stumbling-blocks, making his march very uncomfortable. + +Strange to say, from Sagan, while waiting two days for these +reinforcements, there starts suddenly to view, suddenly for +Friedrich and us, an incipient Negotiation about Peace! +Actual Proposal that way (or as good as actual, so Voltaire thinks +it), on the part of Choiseul and France; but as yet in Voltaire's +name only, by a sure though a backstairs channel, of his +discovering. Of which, and of the much farther corresponding that +did actually follow on it, we purpose to say something elsewhere, +at a better time. Meanwhile Voltaire's announcement of it to the +King has just come in, through a fair and high Hand: how Friedrich +receives it, what Friedrich's inner feeling is, and has been for a +fortnight past--Here are some private utterances of his, throwing a +straggle of light on those points:-- + + +FOUR LETTERS OF FRIEDRICH'S (10th-24th September). + +No. 1. TO PRINCE FERDINAND (at Berlin). Poor little Ferdinand, the +King's Brother, fallen into bad health, has retired from the Wars, +and gone to Berlin; much an object of anxiety to the King, who +diligently corresponds with the dear little man,--giving earnest +medical advices, and getting Berlin news in return. + +"WALDAU, 10th September, 1759. + +"Since my last Letter, Dresden has capitulated,--the very day while +Wunsch was beating Maguire at The Barns [north side of Dresden, +September 5th) day AFTER the capitulation]. Wunsch went back to +Torgau, which St. Andre, with 14,000 Reichs-people under him, was +for retaking; him too Wunsch beat, took all his tents, kettles, +haversacks and utensils, 300 prisoners, six cannon and some +standards. Finck is uniting with Wunsch; they will march on the +Prince of Zweibruck, and retake Dresden [hopes always, for a year +and more, to have Dresden back very soon]. I trust before long to +get all these people gathered round Dresden, and our own Country +rid of them: that, I take it, will be the end of the Campaign. + +"Many compliments to the Prince of Wurtemberg [wounded at +Kunersdorf], and to all our wounded Generals: I hope Seidlitz is +now out of danger: that bleeding fit (EBULLITION DE SANG) will cure +him of the cramp in his jaw, and of his colics; and as he is in +bed, he won't take cold. I hope the viper-broth will do you +infinite good; be assiduous in patching your constitution, while +there is yet some fine weather left: I dread the winter for you; +take a great deal of care against cold. I have still a couple of +cruel months ahead of me before ending this Campaign. Within that +time, there will be, God knows what upshot." [<italic> OEuvres de +Frederic, <end italic> xxvi. 544.]--This is "September 10th:" the +day of Captain Kollas's arrival with his bad Dresden news; Daun and +Soltikof profoundly quiet for three days more. + +No. 2. TO THE DUCHESS OF SACHSEN-GOTHA (at Gotha). Voltaire has +enclosed his Peace-Proposal to that Serene Lady, always a friend of +Friedrich's and his; to whom Friedrich, directly on receipt of it, +makes answer:-- + +"SAGAN, 22d September, 1759. + +"MADAM,--I receive on all occasions proofs of your goodness, to +which I am as sensible as a chivalrous man can be. Certainly it is +not through your hands, Madam, that my Correspondence with V. [with +Voltaire, if one durst write it in full] ought to be made to pass! +Nevertheless, in present circumstances, I will presume to beg that +you would forward to him the Answer here enclosed, on which I put +no Address. The difficulty of transmitting Letters has made me +choose my Brother," Ferdinand, at Berlin, "to have this conveyed to +your hand. + +"If I gave bridle to my feelings, now would be the moment for +developing them; but in these critical times I judge it better not; +and will restrict myself to simple assurances of--" F. + +No. 3. TO VOLTAIRE, at the Delices (so her Serene Highness will +address it). Here is part of the Enclosure to "V." Friedrich is all +for Peace; but keeps on his guard with such an Ambassador, and +writes in a proud, light, only half-believing style:-- + +"SAGAN, 22d September, 1759. + +"The Duchess of Sachsen-Gotha sends me your Letter. I never +received your packet of the 29th: communications all interrupted +here; with much trouble I get this passed on to you, if it is happy +enough to pass. + +"My position is not so desperate as my enemies give out. I expect +to finish my Campaign tolerably; my courage is not sunk:--it +appears, however, there is talk of Peace. All I can say of positive +on this article is, That I have honor for ten; and that, whatever +misfortune befall me, I feel myself incapable of doing anything to +wound, the least in the world, this principle,--which is so +sensitive and delicate for one who thinks like a gentleman (PENSE +EN PREUX CHEVALIER); and so little regarded by rascally +politicians, who think like tradesmen. + +"I know nothing of what you have been telling me about [your +backstairs channels, your Duc de Choiseul and his humors]: but for +making Peace there are two conditions which I never will depart +from: 1. To make it conjointly with my faithful Allies [Hessen and +England; I have no other]; 2. To make it honorable and glorious. +Observe you, I have still honor remaining; I will preserve that, at +the price of my blood. + +"If your people want Peace, let them propose nothing to me which +contradicts the delicacy of my sentiments. I am in the convulsions +of military operations; I do as the gamblers who are in ill-luck, +and obstinately set themselves against Fortune. I have forced her +to return to me, more than once, like a fickle mistress, when she +had run away. My opponents are such foolish people, in the end I +bid fair to catch some advantage over them: but, happen whatsoever +his Sacred Majesty Chance may please, I don't disturb myself about +it. Up to this point, I have a clear conscience in regard to the +misfortunes that have come to me. As to you, the Battle of Minden, +that of Cadiz" (Boscawen VERSUS De la Clue; Toulon Fleet running +out, and caught by the English, as we saw), these things perhaps, +"and the loss of Canada, are arguments capable of restoring reason +to the French, who had got confused by the Austrian hellebore. + +"This is my way of thinking. You do not find me made of rose-water: +but Henri Quatre, Louis Quatorze,--my present enemies even, whom I +could cite [Maria Theresa, twenty years ago, when your Belleisle +set out to cut her in Four],--were of no softer temper either. +Had I been born a private man, I would yield everything for the +love of Peace; but one has to take the tone of one's position. +This is all I can tell you at present. In three or four weeks the +ways of correspondence will be freer.--F." [<italic> OEuvres de +Frederic, <end italic> xxiii. 60, 61.] + +No. 4. TO PRINCE FERDINAND. Two days later: has got on foot again, +--end of his first march upon Soltikof again:-- + +"BAUNAU, 24th September, 1759. + +"Thank you for the news you send of the wounded Officers," +Wurtemberg, Seidlitz and the others. "You may well suppose that in +the pass things are at, I am not without cares, inquietudes, +anxieties; it is the frightfulest crisis I have had in my life. +This is the moment for dying unless one conquer. Daun and my +Brother Henri are marching side by side [not exactly!]. It is +possible enough all these Armies may assemble hereabouts, and that +a general Battle may decide our fortune and the Peace. Take care of +your health, dear Brother.--F." [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end +italic> xxvi. 545.] + +Baunau is on Silesian ground, as indeed Sagan itself is; at Baunau +Friedrich already, just on arriving, has done a fine move on +Soltikof, and surprisingly flung the toll-gate in Soltikof's face. +As we shall see by and by;--and likewise that Prince Henri, who +emerges to-morrow morning (September 25th), has not been "marching +side by side with Daun," but at a pretty distance from +that gentleman!-- + +Soltikof is a man of his word; otherwise one suspects he already +saw his Siege of Glogau to be impossible. Russians are not very +skilful at the War-minuet: fancy what it will be dancing to such a +partner! Friedrich, finding they are for Glogau, whisks across the +Oder, gets there before them: "No Glogau for you!" They stand agape +for some time; then think "Well then Breslau!" Friedrich again +whisks across from them, farther up, and is again ahead of them +when they cross: "No Breslau either!" In effect, it is hopeless; +and we may leave the two manoeuvring in those waste parts, astride +of Oder, or on the eastern bank of it, till a fitter opportunity; +and attend to Henri, who is now the article in risk. + +Zweibruck's report of himself, on that day of the general Colloquy, +was not in the way of complaint, like that of the Russians, though +there did remain difficulties. "Dresden gloriously ours; +Maguire Governor there, and everything secure; upon my honor. +But in the northwest part, those Fincks and Wunsches, Excellenz?"-- +And the actual truth is, Wunsch has taken Leipzig, day before +yesterday (September 13th), as Daun sorrowfully knows, by news come +in overnight. And six days hence (September 21st), Finck and Wunsch +together will do their "ACTION OF KORBITZ," and be sending Haddick +a bad road! These things Zweibruck knows only in part; but past +experience gives him ominous presentiment, as it may well do; +and he thinks decidedly: "Excellenz, more Austrian troops are +indispensable there; in fact, your Excellenz's self, were that +possible; which one feels it is not, in the presence of +these Russians!" + +Russians and Reichsfolk, these are a pair of thumbscrews on both +thumbs of Daun; screwing the cunctation out of him; painfully +intimating: "Get rid of this Prince Henri; you must, you must!" +And, in the course of the next eight days Daun has actually girt +himself to this great enterprise. Goaded on, I could guess, by the +"Action of Korbitz " (done on Friday, thirty hours ago); the news +of which, and that Haddick, instead of extinguishing Finck, is +retreating from him upon Dresden,--what a piece of news! thinks +Daun: "You, Zweibruck, Haddick, Maguire and Company, you are 36,000 +in Saxony; Finck has not 12,000 in the field: How is this?"--and +indignantly dismisses Haddick altogether: "Go, Sir, and attend to +your health!" [Tempelhof, iii. 276, 258-261.] News poignantly +astonishing to Daun, as would seem;--like an ox-goad in the lazy +rear of Daun. Certain it is, Daun had marched out to Gorlitz in +collected form; and, on Saturday afternoon, SEPTEMBER 22d is +personally on the Heights (not Moys Hill, I should judge, but other +points of vision), taking earnest survey of Prince Henri's position +on the Landskron there. "To-morrow morning we attack that Camp," +thinks Daun; "storm Prince Henri and it: be rid of him, at any +price!" [Ib. iii. 253-256 (for the March now ensuing): +iii. 228-234, 241-247 (for Henri's anterior movements).] + +"To-morrow morning," yes:--but this afternoon, and earlier, Prince +Henri has formed a great resolution, his plans all laid, everything +in readiness; and it is not here you will find Prince Henri +to-morrow. This is his famous March of Fifty Hours, this that we +are now come to; which deserves all our attention,--and all Daun's +much more! Prince Henri was habitually a man cautious in War; +not aggressive, like his Brother, but defensive, frugal of risks, +and averse to the lion-springs usual with some people; +though capable of them, too, in the hour of need. Military men are +full of wonder at the bold scheme he now fell upon; and at his +style of executing it. Hardly was Daun gone home to his meditations +on the storm of the Landskron to-morrow, and tattoo beaten in +Prince Henri's Camp there, when, at 8 that Saturday evening, +issuing softly, with a minimum of noise, in the proper marching +columns, baggage-columns, Henri altogether quitted this Camp; +and vanished like a dream. Into the Night; men and goods, every +item:--who shall say whitherward? Leaving only a few light people +to keep up the watch-fires and sentry-cries, for behoof of Daun! +Let readers here, who are in the secret, watch him a little +from afar. + +Straight northward goes Prince Henri, down Neisse Valley, 20 miles +or so, to Rothenburg; in columns several-fold, with much delicate +arranging, which was punctually followed: and in the course of +to-morrow Prince Henri is bivouacked, for a short rest of three +hours,--hidden in unknown space, 20 miles from Daun, when Daun +comes marching up to storm him on the Landskron! Gone veritably; +but whitherward Daun cannot form the least guess. Daun can only +keep his men under arms there, all day; while his scouts gallop far +and wide,--bringing in this false guess and the other; and at +length returning with the eminently false one, misled by some of +Henri's baggage-columns, which have to go many routes, That the +Prince is on march for Glogau:--"Gone northeast; that way went his +wagons; these we saw with our eyes." "Northeast? Yes, to Glogau +possibly enough," thinks Daun: "Or may not he, cunning as he is and +full of feints, intend a stroke on Bautzen, in my absence?"--and +hastens thither again, and sits down on the Magazine-lid, glad to +find nothing wrong there. + +This is all that Daun hears of Henri for the next four days. +Plenty of bad news from Saxony in these four days: the Finck- +Haddick Action of Korbitz, a dismal certainty before one started,-- +and Haddick on his road to some Watering Place by this time! But no +trace of Henri farther; since that of the wagons wending northeast. +"Gone to Glogau, to his Brother: no use in pushing him, or trying +to molest him there!" thinks Daun; and waits, in stagnant humor, +chewing the cud of bitter enough thoughts, till confirmation of +that guess arrive:--as it never will in this world! Read an +important Note:-- + +"To northward of Bautzen forty miles, and to westward forty miles, +the country is all Daun's; only towards Glogau, with the Russians +and Friedrich thereabouts, does it become disputable, or offer +Prince Henri any chance. Nevertheless it is not to Glogau, it is +far the reverse, that the nimble Henri has gone. Resting himself at +Rothenburg 'three hours' (speed is of all things the vitalest), +Prince Henri starts again, SUNDAY afternoon, straight westward this +time. Marches, with his best swiftness, with his best arrangements, +through many sleeping Villages, to Klitten, not a wakeful one: a +march of 18 miles from Rothenburg;--direct for the Saxon side of +things, instead of the Silesian, as Daun had made sure. + +"At Klitten, MONDAY morning, bivouac again, for a few hours,--'has +no Camp, only waits three hours,' is Archenholtz's phrase: but I +suppose the meaning is, Waits till the several Columns, by their +calculated routes, have all got together; and till the latest in +arriving has had 'three hours' of rest,--the earliest having +perhaps gone on march again, in the interim? There are 20 miles +farther, still straight west, to Hoyerswerda, where the outmost +Austrian Division is: 'Forward towards that; let us astonish +General Wehla and his 3,000, and our March is over!' All this too +Prince Henri manages; never anything more consummate, more +astonishing to Wehla and his Master. + +"Wehla and Brentano, readers perhaps remember them busy, from the +Pirna side, at the late Siege of Dresden. Siege gloriously done, +Wehla was ordered to Hoyerswerda, on the northwest frontier; +Brentano to a different point in that neighborhood; where Brentano +escaped ruin, and shall not be mentioned; but Wehla suddenly found +it, and will require a word. Wehla, of all people on the War- +theatre, had been the least expecting disturbance. He is on the +remotest western flank; to westward of him nothing but Torgau and +the Finck-Wunsch people, from whom is small likelihood of danger: +from the eastern what danger can there be? A Letter of Dauns, some +days ago, had expressly informed him that, to all appearance, there +was none. + +"And now suddenly, on the Tuesday morning, What is this? +Prussians reported to be visible in the Woods! 'Impossible!' +answered Wehla;--did get ready, however, what he could; +Croat Regiments, pieces of Artillery behind the Elster River and on +good points; laboring more and more diligently, as the news proved +true. But all his efforts were to no purpose. General Lentulus with +his Prussians (the mute Swiss Lentulus, whom we sometimes meet), +who has the Vanguard this day, comes streaming out of the woods +across the obstacles; cannonades Wehla both in front and rear; +entirely swallows Wehla and Corps: 600 killed; the General himself, +with 28 Field-Officers, and of subalterns and privates 1,785, +falling prisoners to us; and the remainder scattered on the winds, +galloping each his own road towards covert and a new form of life. +Wehla is eaten, in this manner, Tuesday, September 25th:-- +metaphorically speaking, the March of Fifty Hours ends in a +comfortable twofold meal (military-cannibal, as well as of common +culinary meat), and in well-deserved rest." [Tempelhof, iii. 255, +256; Seyfarth, <italic> Beylagen; <end italic> &c.] + +The turning-point of the Campaign is reckoned to be this March of +Henri's; one of the most extraordinary on record. Prince Henri had +a very fast March INTO these Silesian-Lausitz Countries, early in +July, [Seyfarth, ii. 545.] and another very fast, from Bautzen, to +intersect with Schmottseifen, in the end of July: but these were as +nothing compared with the present. Tempelhof, the excellent solid +man,--but who puts all things, big and little, on the same level of +detail, and has unparalleled methods of arranging (what he reckons +to be "arranging"), and no vestige of index,--is distressingly +obscure on this grand Incident; but at length, on compulsion, does +yield clear account. [Tempelhof, iii. 253-258.] In Archenholtz it +is not DATED at all; who merely says as follows: "Most +extraordinary march ever made; went through 50 miles of Country +wholly in the Enemy's possession; lasted 56 hours, in which long +period there was no camp pitched, and only twice a rest of three +hours allowed the troops. During the other fifty hours the march, +day and night, continually proceeded. Ended (NO date) in surprise +of General Wehla at Hoyerswerda, cutting up 600 of his soldiers, +and taking 1,800 prisoners. Kalkreuth, since so famous," in the +Anti-Napoleon Wars, "was the Prince's Adjutant." [Archenholtz, +i. 426.] + +This is probably Prince Henri's cleverest feat,--though he did a +great many of clever; and his Brother used to say, glancing towards +him, "There is but one of us that never committed a mistake." +A highly ingenious dexterous little man in affairs of War, sharp as +needles, vehement but cautious; though of abstruse temper, thin- +skinned, capricious, and giving his Brother a great deal of trouble +with his jealousies and shrewish whims. By this last consummate +little operation he has astonished Daun as much as anybody ever +did; shorn his elaborate tissue of cunctations into ruin and +collapse at one stroke; and in effect, as turns out, wrecked his +campaign for this Year. + +Daun finds there is now no hope of Saxony, unless he himself at +once proceed thither. At once thither;--and leave Glogau and the +Russians to their luck,--which in such case, what is it like to be? +Probably, to Daun's own view, ominous enough; but he has no +alternative. To this pass has the March of Fifty Hours brought us. +There is such a thing as being too cunctatory, is not there, your +Excellency? Every mortal, and more especially every Feldmarschall, +ought to strike the iron while it is hot. The remainder of this +Campaign, we will hope, can be made intelligible in a more +summary manner. + + +FRIEDRICH MANAGES (September 24th-October 24th) TO GET THE +RUSSIANS SENT HOME; AND HIMSELF FALLS LAMED WITH GOUT. + +Friedrich's manoeuvres against Soltikof,--every reader is prepared +to hear that Soltikof was rendered futile by them: and none but +military readers could take delight in the details. Two beautiful +short-cuts he made upon Soltikof; pulled him up both times in mid +career, as with hard check-bit. The first time was at Zobelwitz: +September 24th, Friedrich cut across from Sagan, which is string to +bow of the Russian march; posted himself on the Heights of +Zobelwitz, of Baunau, Milkau (at Baunau Friedrich will write a +LETTER this night, if readers bethink themselves; Milkau is a place +he may remember for rain-deluges, in the First Silesian War [Supra, +p. 323; ib. vol. vii. p. 311.]): "Let the Russians, if they now +dare, try the Pass of Neustadtel here!" A fortunate hour, when he +got upon this ground. Quartermaster-General Stoffel, our old +Custrin acquaintance, is found marking out a Camp with a view to +that Pass of Neustadtel; [Tempelhof, iii. 293; Retzow, ii. 163.] +is, greatly astonished to find the Prussian Army emerge on him +there; and at once vanishes, with his Hussar-Cossack retinues. +"September 24th," it is while Prince Henri was on the last moiety +of his March of Fifty Hours. This severe twitch flung Soltikof +quite out from Glogau,--was like to fling him home altogether, had +it not been for Montalembert's eloquence;--did fling him across the +Oder. Where, again thanks to Montalembert, he was circling on with +an eye to Breslau, when Friedrich, by the diameter, suddenly laid +bridges, crossed at Koben, and again brought Soltikof to halt, as +by turnpike suddenly shut: "Must pay first; must beat us first!" + +These things had raised Friedrich's spirits not a little. +Getting on the Heights of Zobelwitz, he was heard to exclaim, "This +is a lucky day; worth more to me than a battle with victory." +[Retzow, ii. 163.] Astonishing how he blazed out again, quite into +his old pride and effulgence, after this, says Retzow. Had been so +meek, so humbled, and even condescended to ask advice or opinion +from some about him. Especially "from two Captains," says the +Opposition Retzow, whose heads were nearly turned by this sunburst +from on high. Captain Marquart and another,--I believe, he did +employ them about Routes and marking of Camps, which Retzow calls +consulting: a King fallen tragically scarce of persons to consult; +all his Winterfelds, Schwerins, Keiths and Council of Peers now +vanished, and nothing but some intelligent-looking Captain +Marquart, or the like, to consult:--of which Retzow, in his +splenetic Opposition humor, does not see the tragedy, but rather +the comedy: how the poor Captains found their favor to be +temporary, conditional, and had to collapse again. One of them +wrote an "ESSAY on the COUP-D'OEIL MILITAIRE," over which Retzow +pretends to weep. This was Friedrich's marginal Note upon the MS., +when submitted to his gracious perusal: "You (ER) will do better to +acquire the Art of marking Camps than to write upon the Military +Stroke of Eye." Beautifully written too, says Retzow; but what, in +the eyes of this King, is beautiful writing, to knowing your +business well? No friend he to writing, unless you have got +something really special, and urgent to be written. + +Friedrich crassed the Oder twice. Took Soltikof on both sides of +the Oder, cut him out of this fond expectation, then of that; +led him, we perceive, a bad life. Latterly the scene was on the +right bank; Sophienthal, Koben, Herrnstadt and other poor places,-- +on that big eastern elbow, where Oder takes his final bend, or +farewell of Poland. Ground, naturally, of some interest to +Friedrich: ground to us unknown; but known to Friedrich as the +ground where Karl XII. gave Schulenburg his beating, ["Near Guhrau" +(while chasing August the Strong and him out of Poland), "12th +October, 1704:" vague account of it, dateless, and as good as +placeless, in Voltaire (<italic> Charles Douse, <end italic> liv. +iii.), <italic> OEuvres, <end italic> xxx. 142-145.] which produced +the "beautiful retreat" of Schulenburg. The old Feldmarschall +Schulenburg whom we used to hear of once,--whose Nephew, a +pipeclayed little gentleman, was well known to Friedrich and us. + +For the rest, I do not think he feels this out-manoeuvring of the +Russians very hard work. Already, from Zobelwitz Country, 25th +September, day of Henri at Hoyerswerda, Friedrich had written to +Fouquet: "With 21,000 your beaten and maltreated Servant has +hindered an Army of 50,000 from attacking him, and compelled them +to retire on Neusatz!" Evidently much risen in hope; and Henri's +fine news not yet come to hand. By degrees, Soltikof, rendered +futile, got very angry; especially when Daun had to go for Saxony. +"Meal was becoming impossible, at any rate," whimpers Daun: +"O Excellency, do but consider, with the nobleness natural to you! +Our Court will cheerfully furnish money, instead of meal."--"Money? +My people cannot eat money!" growled Soltikof, getting more and +more angry; threatening daily to march for Posen and his own meal- +stores. What a time of it has Montalembert, has the melancholy +Loudon, with temper so hot! + +At Sophienthal, October 10th, Friedrich falls ill of gout;-- +absolutely lamed; for three weeks cannot stir from his room. +Happily the outer problem is becoming easier and easier; +almost bringing its own solution. At Sophienthal the lame Friedrich +takes to writing about CHARLES XII. AND HIS MILITARY CHARACTER,-- +not a very illuminative Piece, on the first perusal, but I intend +to read it again; [REFLEXIONS SUR LES TALENS MILITAIRES ET SUR LE +CARACTERE DE CHARLES XII. (<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end +italic> vii. 69-88).]--which at least helps him to pass the time. +Soltikof, more and more straitened, meal itself running low, gets +angrier and angrier. His treatment of the Country, Montalembert +rather encouraging, is described as "horrible." One day he takes +the whim, whim or little more, of seizing Herrnstadt; a small Town, +between the Two Armies, where the Prussians have a Free Battalion. +The Prussian Battalion resists; drives Soltikof's people back. +"Never mind," think they: "a place of no importance to us; +and Excellency Soltikof has ridden else-whither." By ill-luck, in +the afternoon, Excellency Soltikof happened to mention the place +again. Hearing that the Prussians still have it, Soltikof mounts +into a rage; summons the place, with answer still No; thereupon +orders instant bombardment of it, fiery storms of grenadoes for it; +and has the satisfaction of utterly burning poor Herrnstadt; +the Prussian Free-Corps still continuing obstinate. It was +Soltikof's last act in those parts, and betokens a sulphurous state +of humor. + +Next morning (October 24th), he took the road for Posen, and +marched bodily home. [Tempelhof, iii. 299, 291-300 (general +account, abundantly minute).] Home verily, in spite of Montalembert +and all men. "And for me, what orders has Excellency?" Loudon had +anxiously inquired, on the eve of that event. "None whatever!" +answered Excellency: "Do your own pleasure; go whithersoever seems +good to you." And Loudon had to take a wide sweep round, by Kalish, +through the western parts of Poland; and get home to the Troppau- +Teschen Country as he best could. + +By Kalish, by Czenstochow, Cracow, poor Loudon had to go: a dismal +march of 300 miles or more,--waited on latterly by Fouquet, with +Werner, Goltz and others, on the Silesian Border; whom Friedrich +had ordered thither for such end. Whom Loudon skilfully avoided to +fight; having already, by desertion and by hardships, lost half his +men on the road. Glad enough to get home and under roof, with his +20,000 gone to 10,000; and to make bargain with Fouquet: +"Truce, then, through Winter; neither of us to meddle with the +other, unless after a fortnight's warning given." [Tempelhof, iii. +328-331.] NOVEMBER 1st, a month before this, the King, carried on a +litter by his soldiers, had quitted Sophienthal; and, crossing the +River by Koben, got to Glogau. [Rodenbeck, i. 396.] The greater +part of his force, 13,000 under Hulsen, he had immediately sent on +for Saxony; he himself intending to wait recovery in Glogau, with +this Silesian wing of the business happily brought to finis for +the present. + +On the Saxon side, too, affairs are in such a course that the King +can be patient at Glogau till he get well. Everything is prosperous +in Saxony since that March on Hoyerswerda; Henri, with his Fincks +and Wunsches, beautifully posted in the Meissen-Torgau region; +no dislodging of him, let Daun, with his big mass of forces, try as +he may. Daun, through the month of October, is in various Camps, in +Schilda last of all: Henri successively in two; in Strehla for some +ten days; then in Torgau for about three weeks, carefully +intrenched, [Tempelhof. iii. 276, 281, 284 (Henri in Strehla, +October 4th-17th; thence to Torgau: 22d October, Daun "quits his +Camp of Belgern" for that of Schilda, which was his last in those +parts).]--where traces of him will turn up (not too opportunely) +next year. Daun, from whatever Camp, goes laboring on this side +and on that; on every side the deft Henri is as sharp as needles; +nothing to be made of him by the cunning movements and contrivances +of Daun. Very fine manoeuvring it was, especially on Henri's part; +a charm to the soldier mind;--given minutely in Tempelhof, and +capable of being followed (if you have Maps and Patience) into the +last details. Instructive really to the soldier;--but must be, +almost all, omitted here. One beautiful slap to Duke d'Ahremberg (a +poor old friend of Daun's and ours) we will remember: "Action of +Pretsch" they call it; defeat, almost capture of poor D'Ahremberg; +who had been sent to dislodge the Prince, by threatening his +supplies, and had wheeled, accordingly, eastward, wide away; +but, to his astonishment, found, after a march or two, Three select +Prussian Corps emerging on him, by front, by rear, by flank, with +Horse-artillery (quasi-miraculous) bursting out on hill-tops, too, +--and, in short, nothing for it but to retreat, or indeed to run, +in a considerably ruinous style: poor D'Ahremberg! [Seyfarth +(<italic> Beylagen, <end italic> ii. 634-637), "HOFBERICHT VON DER +AM 29 OCTOBER, 1759, BEY MEURO [chiefly BEY PRETSCH] VORGEFALLENEN +ACTION;" ib. ii. 543 n.] On the whole, Daun is reduced to a panting +condition; and knows not what to do. His plans were intrinsically +bad, says Tempelhof; without beating Henri in battle, which he +cannot bring himself to attempt, he, in all probability, will, were +it only for difficulties of the commissariat kind, have to fall +back Dresden-ward, and altogether take himself away. [Tempelhof, +iii. 287-289.] + +After this sad slap at Pretsch, Daun paused for consideration; +took to palisading himself to an extraordinary degree, slashing the +Schilda Forests almost into ruin for this end; and otherwise sat +absolutely quiet. Little to be done but take care of oneself. +Daun knows withal of Hulsen's impending advent with the Silesian +13,000;--November 2d, Hulsen is actually at Muskau, and his 13,000 +magnified by rumor to 20,000. Hearing of which, Daun takes the road +(November 4th); quits his gloriously palisaded Camp of Schilda; +feels that retreat on Dresden, or even home to Bohemia altogether, +is the one course left. + +And now, the important Bautzen Colloquy of SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER +15th, having here brought its three or more Courses of Activity to +a pause,--we will glance at the far more important THURSDAY, 13th, +other side the Ocean:-- + +ABOVE QUEBEC, NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER 12th-13th, In profound silence, on +the stream of the St. Lawrence far away, a notable adventure is +going on. Wolfe, from two points well above Quebec ("As a last +shift, we will try that way"), with about 5,000 men, is silently +descending in boats; with purpose to climb the Heights somewhere on +this side the City, and be in upon it, if Fate will. An enterprise +of almost sublime nature; very great, if it can succeed. The cliffs +all beset to his left hand, Montcalm in person guarding Quebec with +his main strength. + +Wolfe silently descends; mind made up; thoughts hushed quiet into +one great thought; in the ripple of the perpetual waters, under the +grim cliffs and the eternal stars. Conversing with his people, he +was heard to recite some passages of Gray's ELEGY, lately come out +to those parts; of which, says an ear-witness, he expressed his +admiration to an enthusiastic degree: "Ah, these are tones of the +Eternal Melodies, are not they? A man might thank Heaven had he +such a gift; almost as WE might for succeeding here, Gentlemen!" +[Professor Robison, then a Naval Junior, in the boat along with +Wolfe, afterwards a well-known Professor of Natural Philosophy at +Edinburgh, was often heard, by persons whom I have heard again, to +repeat this Anecdote. See Playfair, BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF +PROFESSOR ROBISON,--in <italic> Transactions <end italic> of Royal +Society of Edinburgh, vii. 495 et seq.] Next morning (Thursday, +13th September, 1759), Wolfe, with his 5,000, is found to have +scrambled up by some woody Neck in the heights, which was not quite +precipitous; has trailed one cannon with him, the seamen busy +bringiug up another; and by 10 of the clock stands ranked (really +somewhat in the Friedrich way, though on a small scale); ready at +all poiuts for Montcalm, but refusing to be over-ready. + +Montcalm, on first hearing of him, had made haste: "OUI, JE LES +VOIS OU ILS NE DOIVENT PAS ETRE; JE VAIS LES E'CRASER (to smash +them)!" said he, by way of keeping his people in heart. And marches +up, beautifully skilful, neglecting none of his advantages. +Has numerous Canadian sharpshooters, preliminary Indians in the +bushes, with a provoking fire: "Steady!" orders Wolfe; "from you +not one shot till they are within thirty yards." And Montcalm, +volleying and advancing, can get no response, more than from +Druidic stones; till at thirty yards the stones become vocal,--and +continue so at a dreadful rate; and, in a space of seventeen +minutes, have blown Montcalm's regulars, and the gallant Montcalm +himself, and their second in command, and their third, into ruin +and destruction. In about seven minutes more the agony was done; +"English falling on with the bayonet, Highlanders with the +claymore;" fierce pursuit, rout total:--and Quebec and Canada as +good as finished. The thing is yet well known to every Englishman; +[The military details of it seem to be very ill known (witness +Colonel Beatson's otherwise rather careful Pamphlet, THE PLAINS OF +ABRAHAM, written quite lately, which we are soon to cite farther); +and they would well deserve describing in the SEYFARTH-BEYLAGEN, or +even in the TEMPELHOF way,--could an English Officer, on the spot +as this Colonel was, be found to do it!--Details are in Beatson +(quite another "Beatson"), <italic> Naval and Military History, +<end italic> ii. 300-308; in <italic> Gentleman's Magazine <end +italic> for 1759, the Despatches and particulars: see also Walpole, +<italic> George the Second, <end italic> iii. 217-222.] and how +Wolfe himself died in it, his beautiful death. + +Truly a bit of right soldierhood, this Wolfe. Manages his small +resources in a consummate manner; invents, contrives, attempts and +re-attempts, irrepressible by difficulty or discouragement, How +could a Friedrich himself have managed this Quebec in a more +artistic way? The small Battle itself, 5,000 to a side, and such +odds of Savagery and Canadians, reminds you of one of Friedrich's: +wise arrangements; exact foresight, preparation corresponding; +caution with audacity; inflexible discipline, silent till its time +come, and then blazing out as we see. The prettiest soldiering I +have heard of among the English for several generations. +Amherst, Commander-in-chief, is diligently noosing, and tying up, +the French military settlements, Niagara, Ticonderoga; Canada all +round: but this is the heart or windpipe of it; keep this firm, +and, in the circumstances, Canada is yours. + +Colonel Reatson, in his recent Pamphlet, THE PLAINS OF +ABRAHAM,--which, especially on the military side, is distressingly +ignorant and shallow, though NOT intentionally incorrect +anywhere,--gives Extracts from a Letter of Montcalm's ("Quebec, +24th August, 1759"), which is highly worth reading, had we room. It +predicts to a hair's-breadth, not only the way "M. Wolfe, if he +understands his trade, will take to beat and ruin me if we meet in +fight;" +but also,--with a sagacity singular to look at, in the years +1775-1777, and perhaps still more in the years 1860-1863,--what +will be the consequences to those unruly English, Colonial and +other. "If he beat me here, France has lost America utterly," +thinks Montcalm: "Yes;--and one's only consolation is, In ten years +farther, America will be in revolt against England!" +Montcalm's style of writing is not exemplary; but his power of +faithful observation, his sagacity, and talent of prophecy are so +considerable, we are tempted to give the IPSISSIMA VERBA of his +long Letter in regard to those two points,--the rather as it seems +to have fallen much out of sight in our day:-- + +MONTCALM TO A COUSIN IN FRANCE. + +"CAMP BEFORE QUEBEC, 24th August, 1759. + +"MONSIEUR ET CHER COUSIN,--Here I am, for more than three months +past, at handgrips with M. Wolfe; who ceases not day or night to +bombard Quebec, with a fury which is almost unexampled in the Siege +of a Place one intends to retain after taking it." ... Will never +take it in that way, however, by attacking from the River or south +shore; only ruins us, but does not enrich himself. Not an inch +nearer his object than he was three months ago; and in one month +more the equinoctial storms will blow his Fleet and him away.-- +Quebec, then, and the preservation of the Colony, you think, must +be as good as safe?" Alas, the fact is far otherwise. The capture +of Quebec depends on what we call a stroke-of-hand--[But let us +take to the Original now, for Prediction First]:-- + +"La prise de Quebec depend d'un coup de main. Les Anglais sont +maitres de la riviere: ils n'ont qu'a effectuer une descente sur la +rive ou cette Ville, sans fortifications et sans defense, est +situee. Les voila en etat de me presenter la bataille; que je ne +pourrais plus refuser, et que je ne devrais pas gagner. M. Wolfe, +en effet, s'il entend son metier, n'a qu'a essuyer le premier feu, +venir ensuite a grands pas sur mon armee, faire a bout portant sa +decharge; mes Canadiens, sans discipline, sourds a la voix du +tambour et des instrumens militaires, deranges pa cette escarre, ne +sauront plus reprendre leurs rangs. Ils sont d'ailleurs sans +baionettes pour repondre a celles de l'ennemi: il ne leur reste +qu'a fuir,--et me voila battu sans ressource. [This is a curiously +exact Prediction! I won't survive, however; defeat here, in this +stage of our affairs, means loss of America altogether:] il est des +situations ou il ne reste plus a un General que de perir avec +honneur. ... Mes sentimens sont francais, et ils le seront jusque +dans le tombeau, si dans le tombeau on est encore quelque chose. + +"Je me consolerai du moins de ma defaite, et de la perte de la +Colonie, par l'intime persuasion ou je suis [Prediction Second, +which is still more curious], que cette defaite vaudra, un jour, a +ma Patrie plus qu'une victoire; et que le vainqueur, en +s'agrandissant, trouvera un tombeau dans son agrandissement meme. + +"Ce que j'avance ici, mon cher Cousin, vous paraitra un paradoxe: +mais un moment de reflexion politique, un coup d'oeil sur la +situation des choses en Amerique, et la verite de mon opinion +brillera dans tout son jour. [Nobody will obey, unless necessity +compel him: VOILA LES HOMMES; GENE of any kind a nuisance to them; +and of all men in the world LES ANGLAIS are the most impatient of +obeying anybody.] Mais si ce sont-la les Anglais de l'Europe, c'est +encore plus les Anglais d'Amerique. Une grande partie de ces Colons +sont les enfans de ces hommes qui s'expatrierent dans ces temps de +trouble ou l'ancienne Angleterre, en proie aux divisions, etait +attaquee dans ses privileges et droits; et allerent chercher en +Amerique une terre ou ils pussent vivre et mourir libres et presque +independants:--et ces enfans n'ont pas degenere des sentimens +republicains de leurs peres. D'autres sont des hommes ennemis de +tout frein, de tout assujetissement, que le gouvernement y a +transportes pour leurs crimes, D'autres, enfin, sont un ramas de +differentes nations de l'Europe, qui tiennent tres-peu a l'ancienne +Angleterre par le coeur et le sentiment; tous, en general, ne ce +soucient gueres du Roi ni du Parlement d'Angleterre. + +"Je les connais bien,--non sur des rapports etrangers, mais sur des +correspondances et des informations secretes, que j'ai moi-meme +menagees; et dont, un jour, si Dieu me prete vie, je pourrai faire +usage a l'avantage de ma Patrie. Pour surcroit de bonheur pour eux, +tous ces Colons sont parvenues, dans un etat tres-florissant; +ils sont nombreux et riches:--ils recueillent dans le sein de leur +patrie toutes les necessites de la vie. L'ancienne Angleterre a ete +assez sotte, et assez dupe, pour leur laisser etablir chez eux les +arts, les metiers, les manufactures:--c'est a dire, qu'elle leur a +laisse briser la chaine de besoins qui les liait, qui les attachait +a elle, et qui les fait dependants. Aussi toutes ces Colonies +Anglaises auraient-elles depuis longtemps secoue le joug, chaque +province aurait forme une petite republique independante, si la +crainte de voir les Francais a leur Porte n'avait ete un frein qui +les avait retenu. Maitres pour maitres, ils ont pefere leurs +compatriotes aux etrangers; prenant cependant pour maxime de +n'obeir que le moins qu'ils pourraient. Mais que le Canada vint a +etre conquis, et que les Canadiens et ces Colons ne fussent plus +qu'une seul peuple,--et la premiere occasion ou l'ancienne +Angleterre semblerait toucher a leurs interets, croyez-vous, mon +cher Cousin, que ces Colons obeiront? Et qu'auraient-ils a craindre +en se revoltant? ... Je suis si sur de ce que j'ecris, que je ne +donnerais pas dix ans apres la conquete du Canada pour en voir +l'accomplissement. + +"Voila ce que, comme Francais, me console aujourd'hui du danger +imminent, que court ma Patrie, de voir cette Colonie perdue pour +elle." [In Beatson, Lieutenant-Colonel R.E., <italic> The Plains of +Abraham; Notes original and selected <end italic> (Gibraltar, +Garrison Library Press, 1858), pp. 38 et seq.: Extract from +<italic> "Lettres de M. le Marquis de Montcalm a MM. De Berryer et +De la Mole: <end italic> 1757-1759 (Londres, 1777),"--which is not +in the British-Museum Library, on applying; and seems to be a +forgotten Book. (NOTE OF FIRST EDITION, 1865.) + +"A Copy is in the BOSTON ATHENAEUM LIBRARY, New-England: it is a +Pamphlet rather than a Book; contains Two Letters to Berryer +MINISTRE DE LA MARINE, besides this to Mole the Cousin: Publisher +is the noted J. Almon,--in French and English." (From <italic> +Boston Sunday Courier, <end italic> of 19th April, 1868, where this +Letter is reproduced.) + +In the Temple Library, London, I have since found a Copy: and, on +strict survey, am obliged to pronounce the whole Pamphlet a +FORGERY,--especially the Two Letters to "Berryer MINISTER OF +MARINE;" who was not yet Minister of anything, nor thought of as +likely to be, for many months after the date of these Letters +addressed to him as such! Internal evidence too, were such at all +wanted, is abundant in these BERRYER Letters; which are of gross +and almost stupid structure in comparison to the MOLE one. As this +latter has already got into various Books, and been argued of in +Parliaments and high places (Lord Shelburne asserting it to be +spurious, Lord Mansfield to be genuine: REPORT OF PARLIAMENTARY +DEBATES in <italic> Gentleman's Magazine <end italic> for NOVEMBER +and for DECEMBER, 1777, pp. 515, 560),--it may be allowed to +continue here in the CONDEMNED state. Forger, probably, some +Ex-Canadian, or other American ROYALIST, anxious to do the +Insurgent Party and their British Apologists an ill turn, in that +critical year;--had shot off his Pamphlet to voracious Almon; who +prints without preface or criticism, and even without correcting +the press. (NOTE OF JULY, 1868.)] + +Montcalm had been in the Belleisle RETREAT FROM PRAG (December, +1742); in the terrible EXILLES Business (July, 1747), where the +Chevalier de Belleisle and 4 or 5,000 lost their lives in about an +hour. Captain Cook was at Quebec, Master in the Royal Navy; +"sounding the River, and putting down buoys." Bougainville, another +famous Navigator, was Aide-de-Camp of Montcalm. There have been +far-sounding Epics built together on less basis than lies ready +here, in this CAPTURE OF QUEBEC;--which itself, as the Decision +that America is to be English and not French, is surely an Epoch in +World-History! Montcalm was 48 when he perished; Wolfe 33. +Montcalm's skull is in the Ursulines Convent at Quebec,--shown to +the idly curious to this day. [Lieutenant-Colonel Beatson, +pp. 28, 15.] + +It was on October 17th,--while Friedrich lay at Sophienthal, lamed +of gout, and Soltikof had privately fixed for home (went that day +week),--that this glorious bit of news reached England. It was only +three days after that other, bad and almost hopeless news, from the +same quarter; news of poor Wolfe's Repulse, on the other or eastern +side of Quebec, July 31st, known to us already, not known in +England till October 14th. Heightened by such contrast, the news +filled all men with a strange mixture of emotions. "The incidents +of Dramatic Fiction," says one who was sharer in it, "could not +have been conducted with more address to lead an audience from +despondency to sudden exultation, than Accident had here prepared +to excite the passions of a whole People. They despaired; they +triumphed; and they wept,--for Wolfe had fallen in the hour of +victory! Joy, grief, curiosity, astonishment, were painted in every +countenance: the more they inquired, the higher their admiration +rose. Not an incident but was heroic and affecting." [Walpole, iii. +219.] America ours; but the noble Wolfe now not! + +What Pitt himself said of these things, we do not much hear. On the +meeting of his Parliament, about a month hence, his Speech, +somebody having risen to congratulate and eulogize him, is still +recognizably of royal quality, if we evoke it from the Walpole +Notes. Very modest, very noble, true; and with fine pieties and +magnanimities delicately audible in it: "Not a week all Summer but +has been a crisis, in which I have not known whether I should not +be torn to pieces, instead of being commended, as now by the +Honorable Member. The hand of Divine Providence; the more a man is +versed in business, the more he everywhere traces that! ... +Success has given us unanimity, not unanimity success. For my own +poor share, I could not have dared as I have done, except in these +times. Other Ministers have hoped as well, but have not been so +circumstanced to dare so much. ... I think the stone almost rolled +to the top of the hill; but let us have a care; it may rebound, and +hideously drag us down with it again." [Ib. iii. 225; Thackeray, +i. 446.] + +The essential truth, moreover, is, Pitt has become King of England; +so lucky has poor England, in its hour of crisis, again been. +And the difference between an England guided by some kind of +Friedrich (temporary Friedrich, absolute, though of insecure +tenure), and by a Newcastle and the Clack of Tongues, is very +great! But for Pitt, there had been no Wolfe, no Amherst; +Duke Ferdinand had been the Royal Highness of Cumberland,--and all +things going round him in St. Vitus, at their old rate. This man is +a King, for the time being,--King really of the Friedrich type;-- +and rules, Friedrich himself not more despotically, where need is. +Pitt's War-Offices, Admiralties, were not of themselves quick-going +entities; but Pitt made them go. Slow-paced Lords in Office have +remonstrated, on more than one occasion: "Impossible, Sir; these +things cannot be got ready at the time you order!" "My Lord, they +indispensably must," Pitt would answer (a man always reverent of +coming facts, knowing how inexorable they are); and if the Negative +continued obstinate in argument, he has been known to add: +"My Lord, to the King's service, it is a fixed necessity of time. +Unless the time is kept, I will impeach your Lordship!" +Your Lordship's head will come to lie at your Lordship's feet! +Figure a poor Duke of Newcastle, listening to such a thing;--and +knowing that Pitt will do it; and that he can, such is his favor +with universal England;--and trembling and obeying. War-requisites +for land and for sea are got ready with a Prussian punctuality,-- +at what multiple of the Prussian expense, is a smaller question +for Pitt. + +It is about eighteen months ago that Pownal, Governor of New +England, a kind of half-military person, not without sound sense, +though sadly intricate of utterance,--of whom Pitt, just entering +on Office, has, I suppose, asked an opinion on America, as men do +of Learned Counsel on an impending Lawsuit of magnitude,--had +answered, in his long-winded, intertwisted, nearly inextricable +way, to the effect, "Sir, I incline to fear, on the whole, that the +Action will NOT lie,--that, on the whole, the French will eat +America from us in spite of our teeth." [In THACKERAY, ii. 421-452, +Pownal's intricate REPORT (his "DISCOURSE," or whatever he calls +it, "ON THE DEFENCE OF THE INLAND FRONTIERS," his &c. &c.), of date +"15th January, 1758."] January 15th, 1758, that is the Pownal +Opinion-of-Counsel;--and on September 13th, 1759, this is what we +have practically come to. And on September 7th, 1760: within +twelve months more,--Amherst, descending the Rapids from +Ticonderoga side, and two other little Armies, ascending from +Quebec and Louisburg, to meet him at Montreal, have proved punctual +almost to an hour; and are in condition to extinguish, by triple +pressure (or what we call noosing), the French Governor-General in +Montreal, a Monsieur de Vaudreuil, and his Montreal and his Canada +altogether; and send the French bodily home out of those +Continents. [Capitulation between Amherst and Vaudreuil ("Montreal, +8th September, 1760"), in 55 Articles: in BEATSON, iii. 274-283.] +Which may dispense us from speaking farther on the subject. + +From the Madras region, too, from India and outrageous Lally, the +news are good. Early in Spring last, poor Lally,--a man of endless +talent and courage, but of dreadfully emphatic loose tongue, in +fact of a blazing ungoverned Irish turn of mind,--had instantly, on +sight of some small Succors from Pitt, to raise his siege of +Madras, retire to Pondicherry; and, in fact, go plunging and +tumbling downhill, he and his India with him, at an ever-faster +rate, till they also had got to the Abyss. "My policy is in these +five words, NO ENGLISHMAN IN THIS PENINSULA," wrote he, a year ago, +on landing in India; and now it is to be No FRENCHMAN, and there is +one word in the five to be altered!--Of poor Lally, zealous and +furious over-much, and nearly the most unfortunate and worst-used +"man of genius" I ever read of, whose lion-like struggles against +French Official people, and against Pitt's Captains and their sea- +fights and siegings, would deserve a volume to themselves, we have +said, and can here say, as good as nothing,--except that they all +ended, for Lally and French India, in total surrender, 16th +January, 1761; and that Lally, some years afterwards, for toils +undergone and for services done, got, when accounts came to be +liquidated, death on the scaffold. Dates I give below. [28th April, +1758, Lands at Pondicherry; instantly proceeds upon Fort St. David. +2d June, 1758, Takes it: meant to have gone now on Madras; but +finds he has no money;--goes extorting money from Black Potentates +about, Rajah of Travancore, &c., in a violent and extraordinary +style; and can get little. Nevertheless, 14th December, 1758, Lays +Siege to Madras. + +16th February, 1759, Is obliged to quit trenches at Madras, and +retire dismally upon Pondicherry,--to mere indigence, mutiny ("ten +mutinies"), Official conspiracy, and chaos come again. + +22d January, 1760, Makes outrush on Wandewash, and the English +posted there; is beaten, driven back into Pondicherry. April, 1760, +Is besieged in Pondicherry. 16th January, 1761, Is taken, +Pondicherry, French India and he;--to Madras he, lest the French +Official party kill him, as they attempt to do. + +23d September, 1761, arrives, prisoner, in England: thence, on +parole, to France and Paris, 21st October. November, 1762, To +Bastille; waits trial nineteen months; trial lasts two years. 6th +May, 1766, To be BEHEADED,--9th May was. See BEATSON, ii. 369-372, +96-110, &c.; Voltaire (FRAGMENTS SUR L'INDE) in <italic> OEuvres, +<end italic> xxix. 183-253; BIOGRAPHIC UNIVERSELLE, Lally.] + +"Gained Fontenoy for us," said many persons;--undoubtedly gained +various things for us, fought for us Berserkir-like on all +occasions; hoped, in the end, to be Marechal de France, and +undertook a Championship of India, which issues in this way! +America and India, it is written, are both to be Pitt's. Let both, +if possible, remain silent to us henceforth. + +As to the Invasion-of-England Scheme, Pitt says he does not expect +the French will invade us; but if they do, he is ready. [Speech, +4th November, supra.] + + +Chapter VII. + +FRIEDRICH REAPPEARS ON THE FIELD, AND IN SEVEN DAYS +AFTER COMES THE CATASTROPHE OF MAXEN. + +November 6th-8th, Daun had gone to Meissen Country: fairly ebbing +homeward; Henri following, with Hulsen joined,--not vehemently +attacking the rhinoceros, but judiciously pricking him forward. +Daun goes at his slowest step: in many divisions, covering a wide +circuit; sticking to all the strong posts, till his own time for +quitting them: slow, sullenly cautious; like a man descending +dangerous precipices back foremost, and will not be hurried. So it +had lasted about a week; Daun for the last four days sitting +restive, obstinate, but Henri pricking into him more and more, till +the rhinoceros seemed actually about lifting himself,--when +Friedrich in person arrived in his Brother's Camp. [Tempelhof, iii. +301-305.] + +At the Schloss of Herschstein, a mile or two behind Lommatsch, +which is Henri's head-quarter (still to westward of Meissen; +Daun hanging on, seven or eight miles to southeastward ahead; +loath to go, but actually obliged),--it was there, Tuesday, +November 13th, that the King met his Brother again. A King free of +his gout; in joyful spirits; and high of humor,--like a man risen +indignant, once more got to his feet, after three months' +oppressions and miseries from the unworthy. "Too high," mourns +Retzow, in a gloomy tone, as others do in perhaps a more indulgent +one. Beyond doubt, Friedrich's farther procedures in this grave and +weighty Daun business were more or less imprudent; of a too rapid +and rash nature; and turned out bitterly unlucky to him. "Had he +left the management to Henri!" sighed everybody, after the +unlucky event. + +Friedrich had not arrived above four-and-twenty hours, when news +came in: "The Austrians in movement again; actually rolling off +Dresden-ward again." "Haha, do they smell me already!" laughed he: +"Well, I will send Daun to the Devil,"--not adding, "if I can." +And instantly ordered sharp pursuit,--and sheer stabbing with the +ox-goad, not soft and delicate pricking, as Henri's lately. +[Retzow, ii. 168; Tempelhof, iii. 306.] Friedrich, in fact; was in +a fiery condition against Daun: "You trampled on me, you heavy +buffalo, these three months; but that is over now!"--and took +personally the vanguard in this pursuit. And had a bit of hot +fighting in the Village of Korbitz (scene of that Finck-Haddick +"Action," 21st September last, and of poor Haddick's ruin, and +retirement to the Waters);--where the Austrians now prove very +fierce and obstinate; and will not go, till well slashed into, and +torn out by sheer beating:--which was visibly a kind of comfort to +the King's humor. "Our Prussians do still fight, then, much as +formerly! And it was all a hideous Nightmare, all that, and +Daylight and Fact are come, and Friedrich is himself again!" + +They say Prince Henri took the liberty of counselling him, even of +entreating him: "Leave well alone; why run risks?" said Henri. +Daun, it was pretty apparent, had no outlook at the present but +that of sauntering home to Bohmen; leaving Dresden to be an easy +prey again, and his whole Campaign to fall futile, as the last had. +Under Henri's gentle driving he would have gone slower; but how +salutary, if he only went! These were Henri's views: but Friedrich +was not in the slow humor; impatient to be in Dresden; "will be +quartered there in a week," writes he, "and more at leisure than +now." ["Wilsdruf, 17th November, 1759," and still more "19th +November," Friedrich to Voltaire. in high spirits that way +(<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xxiii. 66).] He is +thinking of Leuthen, of Rossbach, of Campaign 1757, so gloriously +restored after ruin; and, in the fire of his soul, is hoping to do +something similar a second time. That is Retzow's notion: who knows +but there may be truth in it? A proud Friedrich, got on his feet +again after such usage;--nay, who knows whether it was quite so +unwise to be impressive on the slow rhinoceros, and try to fix some +thorn in his snout, or say (figuratively), to hobble his hind-feet; +which, I am told, would have been beautifully ruinous; and, though +riskish, was not impossible? [Tempelhof, iii. 311, &c.] Ill it +indisputably turned out; and we have, with brevity, to say how, and +leave readers to their judgment of it. + +It was in the Village of Krogis, about six miles forward, on the +Meissen-Freyberg road, a mile or two on from Korbitz, and directly +after the fierce little tussle in that Village,--that Friedrich, +his blood still up, gave the Order for Maxen, which proved so +unlucky to him. Wunsch had been shot off in pursuit of the beaten +Austrians; but they ran too fast; and Wunsch came back without +farther result, still early in the day. Back as far as Krogis, +where the next head-quarter is to be;--and finds the King still in +a fulminant condition; none the milder, it is likely, by Wunsch's +returning without result. "Go straight to General Finck; bid him +march at once!" orders the King; and rapidly gives Wunsch the +instructions Finck is to follow. Finck and his Corps are near +Nossen, some ten miles ahead of Krogis, some twenty west from +Dresden. There, since yesterday, stands Finck, infesting the left +or western flank of the Austrians,--what was their left, and will +be again, when they call halt and face round on us:--Let Finck now +march at once, quite round that western flank; by Freyberg, +Dippoldiswalde, thence east to Maxen; plant himself at Maxen (a +dozen miles south of Dresden, among the rocky hills), and stick +diligently in the rear of those Austrians, cutting off, or +threatening to cut off, their communications with Bohemia, and +block the Pirna Country for them. + +Friedrich calculates that, if Daun is for retreating by Pirna +Country, this will, at lowest, be a method to quicken him in that +movement; or perhaps it may prove a method to cut off such retreat +altogether, and force Daun to go circling by the Lausitz Hills and +Wildernesses, exposed to tribulations which may go nigh to ruin +him. That is Friedrich's proud thought: "an unfortunate Campaign; +winding up, nevertheless, as 1757 did, in blazes of success!" +And truly, if Friedrich could have made himself into Two; +and, while flashing and charging in Daun's front, have been in +command at Maxen in Daun's rear,--Friedrich could have made a +pretty thing of this waxen Enterprise; and might in good part have +realized his proud program. But there is no getting two Friedrichs. +Finck, a General of approved quality, he is the nearest approach we +can make to a second Friedrich;--and he, ill-luck too super-adding +itself, proves tragically inadequate. And sets all the world, and +Opposition Retzow, exclaiming, "See: Pride goes before a fall!"-- + +At 3 in the afternoon, Friedrich, intensely surveying from the +heights of Krogis the new Austrian movements and positions, is +astonished, not agreeably ("What, still only here, Herr General!"), +by a personal visit from Finck. Finck finds the Maxen business +intricate, precarious; wishes farther instructions, brings forward +this objection and that. Friedrich at last answers, impatiently: +"You know I can't stand making of difficulties (ER WEISS DASS ICH +DIE DIFFICULTATEN NICHT LEIDEN KANN; MACHE DASS ER FORT KOMMT); +contrive to get it done!" With which poor comfort Finck has to ride +back to Nossen; and scheme out his dispositions overnight. + +Next morning, Thursday, 15th, Finck gets on march; drives the +Reichsfolk out of Freyberg; reaches Dippoldiswalde:--"Freyberg is +to be my Magazine," considers Finck; "Dippoldiswalde my half-way +house; Four Battalions of my poor Eighteen shall stand there, and +secure the meal-carts." Friday, 16th, Finck has his Vanguard, +Wunsch leading it, in possession of Maxen and the Heights; and on +Saturday gets there himself, with all his people and equipments. +I should think about 12,000 men: in a most intersected, +intertwisted Hill Country; full of gullets, dells and winding +brooks;--it is forecourt of the Pirna rocks, our celebrated Camp of +Gahmig lies visible to north, Dohna and the Rothwasser bounding us +to east;--in grim November weather, some snow falling, or snow- +powder, alternating with sleet and glazing frosts: by no means a +beautiful enterprise to Finck. Nor one of his own choosing, had one +a choice in such cases. + +To Daun nothing could be more unwelcome than this news of Finck, +embattled there at Maxen in the inextricable Hill Country, direct +on the road of Daun's meal-carts and Bohemian communications. +And truly withal,--what Daun does not yet hear, but can guess,-- +there is gone, in supplement or as auxiliary to Finck, a fierce +Hussar party, under GRUNE Kleist, their fiercest Hussar since Mayer +died; who this very day, at Aussig, burns Daun's first considerable +Magazine; and has others in view for the same fate. [Friedrich's +second Letter to Voltaire, Wilsdruf, "19th November, 1759."] +An evident thing to Daun, that Finck being there, meal has ceased. + +On the instant, Daun falls back on Dresden; Saturday, 17th, takes +post in the Dell of Plauen (PLAUEN'SCHE GRUND); an impassable +Chasm, with sheer steeps on both sides, stretching southward from +Dresden in front of the Hill Country: thither Daun marches, there +to consider what is to be done with Finck. Amply safe this position +is; none better in the world: a Village, Plauen, and a Brook, +Weistritz, in the bottom of this exquisite Chasm; sheer rock-walls +on each side,--high especially on the Daun, or south side;--head- +quarters can be in Dresden itself; room for your cavalry on the +plain ground between Dresden and the Chasm. A post both safe and +comfortable; only you must not loiter in making up your mind as to +Finck; for Friedrich has followed on the instant. Friedrich's head- +quarter is already Wilsdruf, which an hour or two ago was Daun's: +at Kesselsdorf vigilant Ziethen is vanguard. So that Friedrich +looks over on you from the northern brow of your Chasm; delays are +not good near such a neighbor. + +Daun--urged on by Lacy, they say--is not long in deciding that, in +this strait, the short way out will be to attack Finck in the +Hills. Daun is in the Hills, as well as Finck (this Plauen Chasm is +the boundary-ditch of the Hills): Daun with 27,000 horse and foot, +moving on from this western part; 3,000 light people (one Sincere +the leader of them) moving simultaneously from Dresden itself, that +is, from northward or northwestward; 12,000 Reichsfolk, horse and +foot, part of them already to southeastward of Finck, other part +stealing on by the Elbe bank thitherward: here, from three +different points of the compass, are 42,000. These simultaneously +dashing in, from west, north, south, upon Finck, may surely give +account of his 12,000 and him! If only we can keep Friedrich dark +upon it; which surely our Pandours will contrive to do. + +Finck, directly on arriving at Maxen, had reported himself to the +King; and got answer before next morning: "Very well; but draw in +those Four Battalions you have left in Dippoldiswalde; hit with the +whole of your strength, when a chance offers." Which order Finck, +literally and not too willingly, obeys; leaves only some light +remnant in Dippoldiswalde, and reinforcement to linger within +reach, till a certain Bread-convoy come to him, which will be due +next morning (Monday, 19th); and which does then safely get home, +though under annoyances from cannonading in the distance. + +SUNDAY, 18th, Finck fails not to reconnoitre from the highest Hill- +top; to inquire by every method: he finds, for certain, that the +enemy are coming in upon him. With his own eyes he sees Reichsfolk +marching, in quantity, southeastward by the Elbe shore: "Intending +towards Dohna, as is like?"--and despatched Wunsch, who, +accordingly, drove them out of Dohna. Of all this Finck, at once, +sent word to Friedrich. Who probably enough received the message; +but who would get no new knowledge from it,--vigilant Ziethen +having, by Austrian deserters and otherwise, discovered this of the +Reichsfolk; and furthermore that Sincere with 3,000 was in motion, +from the north, upon Finck. Sunday evening, Friedrich despatches +Ziethen's Report; which punctually came to Finck's hand; but was +the last thing he received from Friedrich, or Friedrich from him. +The intervening Pandours picked up all the rest. The Ziethen +REPORT, of two or three lines, most succinct but sufficient, like a +cutting of hard iron, is to be read in many Books: we may as well +give the Letter and it:-- + +FRIEDRICH'S LETTER (WILSDRUF, 18th NOVEMBER, 1759). "My dear +General-Lieutenant von Finck,--I send you the enclosed Report from +General Ziethen, showing what is the lie of matters as seen from +this side; and leave the whole to your disposition and necessary +measures. I am your well-affectioned King,--F." The Enclosure is +as follows:-- + +GENERAL ZIETHEN'S REPORT (KESSELSDORF, 18th NOVEMBER, 1759). +"To your Royal Majesty, send [no pronoun "I" allowed] herewith a +Corporal, who has deserted from the Austrians. He says, Sincere +with the Reserve did march with the Reichs Army; but a league +behind it, and turned towards Dippoldiswalde. General Brentano +[Wehla's old comrade, luckier than Wehla], as this Deserter heard +last night in Daun's head-quarter,--which is in the southern Suburb +of Dresden, in the Countess Moschinska's Garden,--was yesterday to +have been in Dohlen [looking into our outposts from the hither side +of their Plauen Dell], but was not there any longer," as our +Deserter passed, "and it was said that he had gone to Maxen at +three in the afternoon." [Tempelhof, iii. 309.] + +Thus curtly is Finck authorized to judge for himself in the new +circumstances. Marginally is added, in Friedrich's own hand: +"ER WIRD ENTWEDER MIT DEN REICHERN ODER MIT SICEREN EINEN GANG +HABEN,--Either with the Reichers or with Sincere you will have a +bout, I suppose." + +MAP FACING PAGE 350, BOOK XIX GOES HERE----------- + +Finck, from his own Hill-top, on Sunday and Monday, sees all this +of Ziethen, and much more. Sees the vanguard of Daun himself +approaching Dippoldiswalde, cannonading his meal-carts as they +issue there; on all sides his enemies encompassing him like bees;-- +and has a sphinx-riddle on his mind, such as soldier seldom had. +Shall he manoeuvre himself out, and march away, bread-carts, +baggages and all entire? There is still time, and perfect +possibility, by Dippoldiswalde there, or by other routes and +methods. But again, did not his Majesty expect, do not these words +"a bout" still seem to expect, a bit of fighting with somebody or +other? Finck was an able soldier, and his skill and courage well +known; but probably another kind of courage was wanted this day, of +which Finck had not enough. Finck was not king of this matter; +Finck was under a King who perhaps misjudged the matter. If Finck +saw no method of doing other than hurt and bad service to his King +by staying here, Finck should have had the courage to come away, +and front the King's unreasonable anger, expecting redress one day, +or never any redress. That was Finck's duty: but everybody sees how +hard it was for flesh and blood. + +Finck, truer to the letter than to the spirit, determined to +remain. Did, all that Monday, his best to prepare himself; called +in his outposts ("Was not I ordered?" thinks Finck, too literally); +and sees his multitudes of enemies settle round him;--Daun alone +has 27,000 men, who take camp at Dippoldiswalde; and in sum-total +they are as 4 to 1 of Finck:--a Finck still resolute of face, +though internally his thoughts may be haggard enough. Doubtless he +hopes, too, that Friedrich will do something:--unaware that none of +his messages reach Friedrich. As for Daun, having seen his people +safely encamped here, he returns to Dresden for the night, to see +that Friedrich is quiet. Friedrich is quiet enough: Daun, at seven +next morning (TUESDAY, 20th), appeared on the ground again; and +from all sides Finck is assaulted,--from Daun's side nearest and +soonest, with Daun's best vigor. + +Dippoldiswalde is some seven miles from Maxen. Difficult hill-road +all the way: but the steepest, straitest and worst place is at +Reinhartsgrimma, the very first Hamlet after you are out of +Dippoldiswalde. There is a narrow gullet there, overhung with +heights all round. The roads are slippery, glazed with sleet and +frost; Cavalry, unroughened, make sad sliding and sprawling; +hardly the Infantry are secure on their feet: a terrible business +getting masses of artillery-wagons, horse and man, through such a +Pass! It is thought, had Finck garnished this Pass of +Reinhartsgrimma, with the proper batteries, the proper musketries, +Daun never would have got through. Finck had not a gun or a man in +it: "Had not I order?" said he,--again too literally. As it was, +Daun, sliding and sprawling in the narrow steeps, had difficulties +almost too great; and, they say, would have given it up, had it not +been that a certain Major urged, "Can be done, Excellenz, and +shall!" and that the temper of his soldiers was everywhere +excellent. Unfortunate Finck had no artillery to bear on Daun's +transit through the Pass. Nothing but some weak body of hussars and +infantry stood looking into it, from the Hill of Hausdorf: +even these might have given him some slight hindrance; but these +were played upon by endless Pandours, "issuing from a wood near +by," with musketries, and at length with cannon batteries, one and +another;--and had to fall back, or to be called back, to Maxen +Hill, where the main force is. + +In the course of yesterday, by continual reconnoitring, by Austrian +deserters, and intense comparison of symptoms, Finck had completely +ascertained where the Enemy's Three Attacks were to be,--"on Maxen, +from Dippoldiswalde, Trohnitz, Dohna, simultaneously three +attacks," it appears;--and had with all his skill arranged himself +on the Maxen summits to meet these. He stands now elaborately +divided into Three groups against those Three simultaneities; +forming (sadly wide apart, one would say, for such a force as +Finck's) a very obtuse-angled triangle:--the obtuse vertex of which +(if readers care to look on their Map) is Trohnitz, the road +Brentano and Sincere are coming. On the base-angles, Maxen and +Dohna, Finck expects Daun and the Reich. From Trohnitz to Maxen is +near two miles; from Maxen to Dohna above four. At Dohna stands +Wunsch against the Reich; Finck himself at Maxen, expecting Daun, +as the pith of the whole affair. In this triangular way stands +Finck at the topmost heights of the country,--"Maxen highest, but +Hausdorf only a little lower,"--and has not thought of disputing +the climb upwards. Too literal an eye to his orders: alas, he was +not himself king, but only king's deputy! + +The result is, about 11 A.M., as I obscurely gather, Daun has +conquered the climb; Daun's musketries begin to glitter on the top +of Hausdorf; and 26 or 32 heavy cannon open their throats there; +and the Three Attacks break loose. Finck's Maxen batteries +(scarcely higher than Daun's, and far inferior in weight) respond +with all diligence, the poor regimental fieldpieces helping what +they can. Mutual cannonade, very loud for an hour and half; +terrific, but doing little mischief; after which Daun's musketries +(the ground now sufficiently clear to Daun), which are the +practical thing, begin opening, first from one point, then from +another: and there ensues, for five hours coming, at Maxen and at +the other two points of Finck's triangle, such a series of +explosive chargings, wheelings, worryings and intricate death- +wrestlings, as it would provoke every reader to attempt describing +to him. Except indeed he were a soldier, bound to know the defence +of posts; in which case I could fairly promise him that there are +means of understanding the affair, and that he might find benefit +in it. [Tempelhof, iii. 307-317. JOURNAL UND NACHRICHT VON DER +GEFANGENNEHMUNG DES FINCK'SCHEN CORPS BEY MAXEN, IM JAHRE 1759 +(Seyfarth, <italic> Beylagen, <end italic> ii. 637-654).] + +Daun's Grenadiers, and Infantry generally, are in triumphant +spirits; confident of victory, as they may reasonably be. +Finck's people, too, behave well, some of them conspicuously well, +though in gloomier mood; and make stubborn fight, successful here +and there, but, as a whole, not capable of succeeding. By 3 in the +afternoon, the Austrians have forced the Maxen Post; they "enter +Maxen with great shoutings;" extrude the obstinate Prussian +remnants; and, before long, have the poor Village "on fire in every +part." Finck retreating northward to Schmorsdorf, towards the +obtuse angle of his triangle, if haply there may be help in that +quarter for him. Daun does not push him much; has Maxen safely +burning in every part. + +From Schmorsdorf Finck pushes out a Cavalry charge on Brentano. +"Could we but repulse Brentano yonder," thinks he, "I might have +those Four Battalions to hand, and try again!" But Brentano makes +such cannonading, the Cavalry swerve to a Hollow on their right; +then find they have not ground, and retire quite fruitless. +Finck's Cavalry, and the Cavalry generally, with their horses all +sliding on the frosty mountain-gnarls, appear to be good for little +this day. Brentano, victorious over the Cavalry, comes on with such +storm, he sweeps through the obtuse angle, home upon Finck; +and sweeps him out of Schmorsdorf Village to Schmorsdorf Hill, +there to take refuge, as the night sinks,--and to see himself, if +his wild heart will permit him to be candid, a ruined man. Of the +Three Attacks, Two have completely succeeded on him; only Wunsch, +at Dohna, stands victorious; he has held back the Reich all day, +and even chased it home to its posts on the Rothwasser (RED WATER), +multitudinous as it was. + +Finck's mood, as the November shadows gathered on him,--the equal +heart may at least pity poor Finck! His resolution is fixed: +"Cut ourselves through, this night: Dohna is ours: other side that +Red Water there are roads;--perish or get through!" And the +Generals (who are rallied now "on the Heights of Falkenhain and +Bloschwitz," midway between Maxen and Dohna) get that Order from +him. And proceed to arrange for executing it,--though with outlook +more and more desperate, as their scouts report that every pass and +post on the Red Water is beset by Reichsfolk. "Wunsch, with the +Cavalry, he at least may thread his way out, under cloud of night, +by the opposite or Daun side," calculates Finck. And Wunsch sets +out accordingly: a very questionable, winding, subterranean march; +difficult in the extreme,--the wearied SLIPshod horses going at a +snail's pace; and, in the difficult passes, needing to be dragged +through with bridle and even to be left altogether:--in which, +withal, it will prove of no use for Wunsch to succeed! +Finck's Generals endeavoring to rank and rearrange through the +night, find that their very cartridges are nearly spent, and that +of men, such wounding, such deserting has there been, they have, at +this time, by precise count, 2,836 rank and file. +Evidently desperate. + +At daylight, Daun's cannon beginning again from the Maxen side, +Finck sends to capitulate. "Absolute surrender," answers Daun: +"prisoners of war, and you shall keep your private baggage. +General Wunsch with the Cavalry, he too must turn back and +surrender!" Finck pleaded hard, on this last score: +"General Wunsch, as head of the Cavalry, is not under me; +is himself chief in that department." But it was of no use: +Wunsch had to return (not quite got through Daun's Lines, after +such a night), and to surrender, like everybody else. Like Eight +other Generals; like Wolfersdorf of Torgau, and many a brave +Officer and man. Wednesday morning, 21st November, 1769: it is +Finck's fourth day on Maxen; his last in the Prussian Service. + +That same Wednesday Afternoon there were ranked in the GROSSE +GARTEN at Dresden, of dejected Prussian Prisoners from Maxen, what +exact number was never known: the Austrians said 15,000; but nobody +well believed them; their last certain instalment being only, in +correct numbers, 2,836. Besides the killed, wounded and already +captured, many had deserted, many had glided clear off. It is +judged that Friedrich lost, by all these causes, about 12,000 men. +Gone wholly,--with their equipments and appurtenances wholly, which +are not worth counting in comparison. Finck and the other Generals, +8 of them, and 529 Officers,--Finck, Wunsch, Wolfersdorf, Mosel (of +the Olmutz Convoy), not to mention others of known worth, this is +itself a sore loss to Friedrich, and in present circumstances an +irreparable. [Seyfarth, ii. 576; in <italic> Helden-Geschichte, +<end italic> (v. 1115), the Vienna Account.] + +The outburst and paroxysm of Gazetteer rumor, which arose in Europe +over this, must be left to the imagination; still more the +whirlwind of astonishment, grief, remorse and indignation that +raged in the heart of Friedrich on first hearing of it. +"The Caudine Forks;" "Scene of Pirna over again, in reverse form;" +"Is not your King at last over with it?" said and sang +multifariously the Gazetteers. As counter-chorus to which, in a +certain Royal Heart: "That miserable purblind Finck, unequal to his +task;--that overhasty I, who drove him upon it! This disgrace, loss +nigh ruinous; in fine, this infernal Campaign (CETTE CAMPAGNE +INFEMALE)!" The Anecdote-Books abound in details of Friedrich's +behavior at Wilsdruf that day; mythical all, or in good part, but +symbolizing a case that is conceivable to everybody. Or would +readers care to glance into the very fact with their own eyes? +As happens to be possible. + + +1. BEFORE MAXEN: FRIEDRICH TO D'ARGENS AND OTHERS. + +TO D'ARGENS (Krogis, 15th November, order for Maxen just given). +"Yesterday I joined the Army [day before yesterday, but took the +field yesterday], and Daun decamped. I have followed him thus far, +and will continue it to the frontiers of Bohemia. Our measures are +so taken [Finck, to wit], that he will not get out of Saxony +without considerable losses. Yesterday cost him 500 men taken at +Korgis here. Every movement he makes will cost him as many." +[<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xix. 101.] + +TO VOLTAIRE (Wilsdruf, 17th November). "We are verging on the +end of our Campaign: and I will write to you in eight days from +Dresden, with more composure and coherency than now." +[Ib. xxiii. 66.] + +TO THE SAME (Wilsdruf, 19th November). "The Austrians are packing +off to Bohemia,--where, in reprisal for the incendiary operations +they have done in my countries, I have burnt them two big +magazines. I render the beatified Hero's retreat as difficult as +possible; and I hope he will come upon some bad adventures within a +few days." [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xxiii. 66.] + +SAME DAY AND PLACE, TO D'ARGENS. A volley of most rough-paced +off-hand Rhyming, direct from the heart; "Ode [as he afterwards +terms it, or irrepressible extempore LILT] TO FORTUNE:" + +"MARQUIS, QUEL CHANGEMENT, what a change! I, a poor heretic +creature, never blessed by the Holy Father; indeed, little +frequenting Church, nor serving either Baal or the God of Israel; +held down these many months, and reported by more than one shaven +scoundrel [priest-pamphleteer at Vienna] to be quite extinct, and +gone vagabond over the world,--see how capricious Fortune, after +all her hundred preferences of my rivals, lifts me with helpful +hand from the deep, and packs this Hero of the Hat and Sword,--whom +Popes have blessed what they could, and who has walked in +Pilgrimage before now [to Marienzell once, I believe, publicly at +Vienna],--out of Saxony; panting, harassed goes he, like a stranger +dog from some kitchen where the cook had flogged him out!" +[Ib. xix. 103-106.] ... (A very exultant Lilt, and with a good deal +more of the chanticleer in it than we are used to in this King!) + + +2. AFTER MAXEN. + +TO D'ARGENS (Wilsdruf, 22d November). "Do with that [some small +piece of business] whatever you like, my dear Marquis. I am so +stupefied (E'TOURDI) with the misfortune which has befallen General +Finck, that I cannot recover from my astonishment. It deranges all +my measures; it cuts me to the quick. Ill-luck, which persecutes my +old age, has followed me from the Mark [Kunersdorf, in the Mark of +Brandenburg] to Saxony. I will still strive what I can. The little +ODE I sent you, addressed TO FORTUNE, had been written too soon! +One should not sing victory till the battle is over. I am so +crushed down by these incessant reverses and disasters, that I wish +a thousand times I were dead; and from day to day I grow wearier of +dwelling in a body worn out and condemned to suffer. I am writing +to you in the first moment of my grief. Astonishment, sorrow, +indignation, scorn, all blended together, lacerate my soul. Let us +get to the end, then, of this execrable Campaign; I will then write +to you what is to become of me; and we will arrange the rest. +Pity me;--ad make no noise about me; bad news go fast enough of +themselves. Adieu, dear Marquis." [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, +<end italic> xix. 107.] + +All this, of course, under such pressing call of actualities, had +very soon to transform itself into silence; into new resolution, +and determinate despatch of business. But the King retained a +bitter memory of it all his days. To Finck he was inexorable:-- +ordered him, the first thing on his return from Austrian Captivity, +Trial by Court-Martial; which (Ziethen presiding, June, 1763) +censured Finck in various points, and gave him, in supplement to +the Austrian detention, a Year's Imprisonment in Spandau. No ray of +pity visible for him, then or afterwards, in the Royal mind. +So that the poor man had to beg his dismissal; get it, and go to +Denmark for new promotion and appreciation.--"Far too severe!" +grumbled the Opposition voices, with secret counter-severity. +And truly it would have been more beautiful to everybody, for the +moment, to have made matters soft to poor Finck,--had Friedrich +ever gone on that score with his Generals and Delegates; +which, though the reverse of a cruel man, he never did. And truly, +as we often observe, the Laws of Fact are still severer than +Friedrich was:--so that, in the long-run, perhaps it is +beautifulest of all for a King, who is just, to be rhadamanthine in +important cases. + +Exulting Daun, instead of Bohemia for winter-quarters, pushes out +now for the prize of Saxony itself. Daun orders Beck to attack +suddenly another Outpost of Friedrich's, which stands rearward of +him at Meissen, under a General Dierecke,--the same whom, as +Colonel Dierecke, we saw march out of flamy Zittau, summer gone two +years. Beck goes in accordingly, 3d December; attacks Dierecke, not +by surprise, but with overwhelming superiority; no reinforcement +possible: Dierecke is on the wrong side of the Elbe, no retreat or +reinforcement for him; has to fight fiercely all day, Meissen +Bridge being in a broken state; then, at night, to ship his people +across in Elbe boats, which are much delayed by the floating ice, +so that daylight found 1,500 of them still on that northern side; +all of whom, with General Dierecke himself, were made prisoners by +Beck. [Tempelhof, iii. 321: "3d-4th December, 1759."] A comfortable +supplement to Maxen, though not of the same magnificence. + +After which, Daun himself issued minatory from the Plauen Chasm; +expecting, as all the world did, that Friedrich, who is 36,000 of +Unfortunate against, say, 72,000 of Triumphant, will, under +penalty, take himself away. But it proved otherwise. "If you beat +us, Excellency Feldmarschall, yes; but till then--!" +Friedrich draws out in battalia; Leo in wild ragged state and +temper, VERSUS Bos in the reverse: "Come on; then!" Rhinoceros Bos, +though in a high frame of mind, dare not, on cool survey; +but retires behind the Plauen Chasm again. Will at least protect +Dresden from recapture; and wait here, in the interim; carting his +provision out of Bohemia,--which is a rough business, with Elbe +frozen, and the passes in such a choked wintry state. Upon whom +Friedrich, too, has to wait under arms, in grim neighborhood, for +six weeks to come: such a time as poor young Archenholtz never had +before or after. [Archenholtz, ii. 11-13.] It was well beyond +New-year's day before Friedrich could report of himself, and then +only in a sense, as will be seen: "We retired to this poor cottage +[cottage still standing, in the little Town of Freyberg]; Daun did +the like; and this unfortunate Campaign, as all things do, came +actually to an end." + +Daun holds Dresden and the Dell of Plauen; but Saxony, to the +world's amazement, he is as far as ever from holding. "Daun's front +is a small arc of a circle, bending round from Dresden to +Dippoldiswalde; Friedrich is at Freyberg in a bigger concave arc, +concentric to Daun, well overlapping Daun on that southward or +landward side, and ready for him, should he stir out; Kesselsdorf +is his nearest post to Daun; and the Plauen Chasm for boundary, +which was not overpassed by either." In Dresden, and the patch of +hill-country to the southeastward of it by Elbe side, which is +instep or glacis of the Pirna rock-country, seventy square miles or +so, there rules Daun; and this--with its heights of Gahmig, +valuable as a defence for Dresden against Austria, but not +otherwise of considerable value--was all that Daun this year, or +pretty much in any coming year, could realize of conquest +in Saxony. + +Fabius Cunctator has not succeeded, as the public expected. +In fact, ever since that of Hochkirch and the Papal Hat, he has +been a waning man, more and more questionable to the undiscerning +public. Maxen was his last gleam upwards; a round of applause rose +again on Maxen, feeble in comparison with Hochkirch, but still +arguing hope,--which, after this, more and more died out; so that +in two years more, poor Madam Daun, going to Imperial Levee, "had +her state-carriage half filled with nightcaps, thrown into it by +the Vienna people, in token of her husband's great talent for +sleep." [Archenholtz (Anno 1762, "last Siege of Schweidnitz").] + + + +Chapter VIII. + +MISCELLANEA IN WINTER-QUARTERS, 1759-1760. + +Friedrich was very loath to quit the field this Winter. In spite of +Maxen and ill-luck and the unfavorablest weather, it still was, for +about two months, his fixed purpose to recapture Dresden first, and +drive Daun home. "Had I but a 12,000 of Auxiliaries to guard my +right flank, while trying it!" said he. Ferdinand magnanimously +sent him the Hereditary Prince with 12,000, who stayed above two +months; ["Till February 15th;" List of the Regiments (German all), +in SEYFARTH, ii. 578 n.] and Friedrich did march about, attempting +that way, [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> v. 32. +Old Newspaper rumors: in <italic> Gentleman's Magazine, <end +italic> xxix. 605, "29th December," &c.]--pushed forward to Maguire +and Dippoldiswalde, looked passionately into Maguire on all sides; +but found him, in those frozen chasms, and rock-labyrinths choked +with snow, plainly unattackable; him and everybody, in such frost- +element;--and renounced the passionate hope. + +It was not till the middle of January that Friedrich put his troops +into partial cantonments, Head-quarter Freyberg; troops still +mainly in the Villages from Wilsdruf and southward, close by their +old Camp there. Camp still left standing, guarded by Six +Battalions; six after six, alternating week about: one of the +grimmest camps in Nature; the canvas roofs grown mere ice-plates, +the tents mere sanctuaries of frost:--never did poor young +Archenholtz see such industry in dragging wood-fuel, such boiling +of biscuits in broken ice, such crowding round the embers to roast +one side of you, while the other was freezing. [Archenholtz (UT +SUPRA), ii. 11-15.] But Daun's people, on the opposite side of +Plauen Dell, did the like; their tents also were left standing in +the frozen state, guarded by alternating battalions, no better off +than their Prussian neighbors. This of the Tents, and Six frost- +bitten Battalions guarding them, lasted till April. +An extraordinary obstinacy on the part both of Daun and of +Friedrich; alike jealous of even seeming to yield one inch more +of ground. + +The Hereditary Prince, with his 12,000, marched home again in +February; indeed, ever after the going into cantonments, all use of +the Prince and his Force here visibly ceased; and, on the whole, no +result whatever followed those strenuous antagonisms, and frozen +tents left standing for three months; and things remained +practically what they were. So that, as the grand "Peace +Negotiations" also came to nothing, we might omit this of Winter- +quarters altogether; and go forward to the opening of Campaign +Fifth;--were it not that characteristic features do otherwise occur +in it, curious little unveilings of the secret hopes and industries +of Friedrich:--besides which, there have minor private events +fallen out, not without interest to human readers. For whose behoof +mainly a loose intercalary Chapter may be thrown together here. + + +SERENE HIGHNESS OF WURTEMBERG, AT FULDA (November 30th, 1759), +IS JUST ABOUT "FIRING VICTORIA," AND GIVING A BALL TO BEAUTY AND +FASHION, IN HONOR OF A CERTAIN EVENT;--BUT IS UNPLEASANTLY INTERRUPTED. + +November 21st, the very day while Finck was capitulating in the +Hills of Maxen, Duke Ferdinand, busy ever since his Victory at +Minden, did, after a difficult Siege of Munster, Siege by Imhof, +with Ferdinand protecting him, get Munster into hand again, which +was reckoned a fine success to him. Very busy has the Duke been: +industriously reaping the fruits of his Victory at Minden; +and this, the conclusive rooting out of the French from that +Westphalian region, is a very joyful thing; and puts Ferdinand in +hopes of driving them over the Mayn altogether. Which some think he +would have done; had not he, with magnanimous oblivion of self and +wishes, agreed to send the Hereditary Prince and those 12,000 to +assist in Friedrich's affairs, looking upon that as the vital point +in these Allied Interests. Friedrich's attempts, we have said, +turned out impossible; nor would the Hereditary Prince and his +12,000, though a good deal talked about in England and elsewhere, +[Walpole, <italic> George Second, <end italic> iii. 248 (in a sour +Opposition tone); &c. &c.] require more than mention; were it not +that on the road thither, at Fulda ("Fulda is half-way house to +Saxony," thinks Ferdinand, "should Pitt and Britannic Majesty be +pleased to consent, as I dare presume they will"), the Hereditary +Prince had, in his swift way, done a thing useful for Ferdinand +himself, and which caused a great emotion, chiefly of laughter, +over the world, in those weeks. + +"No Enemy of Friedrich's," says my Note, "is of feller humor than +the Serenity of Wurtemberg, Karl Eugen, Reigning Duke of that +unfortunate Country; for whom, in past days, Friedrich had been so +fatherly, and really took such pains. 'Fatherly? STEP-fatherly, you +mean; and for his own vile uses!' growled the Serenity of +Wurtemberg:--always an ominous streak of gloom in that poor man; +streak which is spread now to whole skies of boiling darkness, +owing to deliriums there have been! Enough, Karl Eugen, after +divorcing his poor Wife, had distinguished himself by a zeal +without knowledge, beyond almost all the enemies of Friedrich;--and +still continues in that bad line of industry. His poor Wife he has +made miserable in some measure; also himself; and, in a degree, his +poor soldiers and subjects, who are with him by compulsion in this +Enterprise. The Wurtembergers are Protestants of old type; and want +no fighting against 'the Protestant Hero,' but much the reverse! +Serene Karl had to shoot a good few of these poor people, before +they would march at all; and his procedures were indeed, and +continued to be, of a very crying nature, though his poor +Populations took them silently. Always something of perverse in +this Serene Highness; has it, I think, by kind. + +"Besides his quota to the Reich, Karl Eugen has 12,000 more on +foot,--and it is of them we are treating at present. In 1757 he had +lent these troops to the Empress Queen, for a consideration; it was +they that stood on the Austrian left, at Leuthen; and were the +first that got beaten, and had to cease standing,--as the Austrians +were abundantly loud in proclaiming. To the disgust of Serene +Highness: 'Which of you did stand, then? Was it their blame, led as +they were?' argued he. And next year, 1758, after Crefeld, he took +his 12,000 to the French ('subsidy,' or consideration, 'to be paid +in SALT,' it appears [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> +v. 10.]); with whom they marched about, and did nothing +considerable. The Serenity had pleaded, 'I must command them +myself!' 'You?' said Belleisle, and would not hear of it. Next year +again, however, that is 1759, the Duke was positive, 'I must;' +Belleisle not less so, 'You cannot;'--till Minden fell out; +and then, in the wreck of Contades, Belleisle had to consent. +Serenity of Wurtemberg, at that late season, took the field +accordingly; and Broglio now has him at Fulda, 'To cut off +Ferdinand from Cassel;' to threaten Ferdinand's left flank and his +provision-carts in that quarter. May really become unpleasant there +to Ferdinand;--and ought to be cut out by the Hereditary Prince. +'To Fulda, then, and cut him out!' + +"FULDA, FRIDAY, 30th NOVEMBER, 1759. Serene Highness is lying here +for a week past; abundantly strong for the task on hand,--has his +own 12,000, supplemented by 1,000 French Light Horse;--but is +widely scattered withal, posted in a kind of triangular form; +his main posts being Fulda itself, and a couple of others, each +thirty miles from Fulda, and five miles from one another,--with +'patrols to connect them,' better or worse. Abundantly strong for +the task, and in perfect security; and indeed intends this day to +'fire VICTORIA' for the Catastrophe at Maxen, and in the evening +will give a Ball in farther honor of so salutary an event:--when, +about 9 A.M., news arrives at the gallop, 'Brunswickers in full +march; are within an hour of the Town-Bridge!' Figure to what +flurry of Serene Highness; of the victoria-shooting apparatus; +of busy man-milliner people, and the Beauty and Fashion of Fulda +in general! + +"The night before, a rumor of the French Post being driven in by +somebody had reached Serene Highness; who gave some vague order, +not thinking it of consequence. Here, however, is the Fact come to +hand in a most urgent and undeniable manner! Serene Highness gets +on horseback; but what can that help? One cannon (has nothing but +light cannon) he does plant on the Bridge; but see, here come +premonitory bomb-shells one and another, terrifying to the mind;-- +and a single Hessian dragoon, plunging forward on the one unready +cannon, and in the air making horrid circles,--the gunners leave +said cannon to him, take to their heels; and the Bridge is open. +The rest of the affair can be imagined. Retreat at our swiftest, +'running fight,' we would fain call it, by various roads; lost two +flags, two cannon; prisoners were above 1,200, many of them +Officers. 'A merciful Providence saved the Duke's Serene Person +from hurt,' say the Stuttgard Gazetteers: which was true,--Serene +Highness having been inspired to gallop instantly to rearward and +landward, leaving an order to somebody, 'Do the best you can!' + +"So that the Ball is up; dress-pumps and millineries getting all +locked into their drawers again,--with abundance of te-hee-ing +(I hope, mostly in a light vein) from the fair creatures +disappointed of their dance for this time. Next day Serene Highness +drew farther back, and next day again farther,--towards Frankenland +and home, as the surest place;--and was no more heard of in those +localities." [Buchholz, ii. 332; Mauvillon, ii. 80; <italic> +Helden-Geschichte, <end italic> v. 1184-1193; Old Newspapers, in +<italic> Gentleman's Magazine, <end italic> xxix. 603.] + +Making his first exit, not yet quite his final, from the War- +Theatre, amid such tempests of haha-ing and te-hee-ing. With what +thoughts in his own lofty opaque mind;--like a crowned mule, of +such pace and carriage, who had unexpectedly stepped upon +galvanic wires!-- + +As to those poor Wurtembergers, and their notion of the "Protestant +Hero," I remark farther, that there is a something of real truth in +it. Friedrich's Creed, or Theory of the Universe, differed +extremely, in many important points, from that of Dr. Martin +Luther: but in the vital all-essential point, what we may call the +heart's core of all Creeds which are human, human and not simious +or diabolic, the King and the Doctor were with their whole heart at +one: That it is not allowable, that it is dangerous and abominable, +to attempt believing what is not true. In that sense, Friedrich, by +nature and position, was a Protestant, and even the chief +Protestant in the world. What kind of "Hero," in this big War of +his, we are gradually learning;--in which too, if you investigate, +there is not wanting something of "PROTESTANT Heroism," even in the +narrow sense. For it does appear,--Maria Theresa having a real fear +of God, and poor Louis a real fear of the Devil, whom he may well +feel to be getting dangerous purchase over him,--some hope-gleams +of acting upon Schism, and so meriting Heaven, did mingle with +their high terrestrial combinations, on this unique opportunity, +more than are now supposed in careless History-Books. + + +WHAT IS PERPETUAL PRESIDENT MAUPERTUIS DOING, ALL THIS WHILE? +IS HE STILL IN BERLIN; OR WHERE IN THE UNIVERSE IS HE? +ALAS, POOR MAUPERTUIS! + +In the heat of this Campaign, "July 27th,"- some four days after +the Battle of Zullichau, just while Friedrich was hurrying off for +that Intersection at Sagan, and breathless Hunt of Loudon and +Haddick,--poor Maupertuis had quitted this world. July 27th, 1759; +at Basel, on the Swiss Borders, in his friend Bernouilli's house, +after long months of sickness painfully spent there. And our poor +Perpetual President, at rest now from all his Akakia burns, and +pains and labors in flattening the Earth and otherwise, is gone. + +Many beautifuler men have gone within the Year, of whom we can say +nothing. But this is one whose grandly silent, and then +occasionally fulminant procedures, Akakia controversies, Olympian +solemnities and flamy pirouettings under the contradiction of +sinners, we once saw; and think with a kind of human pathos that we +shall see no more. From his goose of an adorer, La Beaumelle, I +have riddled out the following particulars, chiefly chronological, +--and offer them to susceptible readers. La Beaumelle is, in a +sort, to be considered the speaker; or La Beaumelle and this Editor +in concert. + +FINAL PILGRIMAGE OF THE PERPETUAL PRESIDENT. "Maupertuis had +quitted Berlin soon after Voltaire. That threat of visiting +Voltaire with pistols,--to be met by 'my syringe and vessel of +dishonor' on Voltaire's part,--was his last memorability in Berlin. +His last at that time; or indeed altogether, for he saw little of +Berlin farther. + +"End of April, 1753, he got leave of absence; set out homewards, +for recovery of health. Was at Paris through summer and autumn: +very taciturn in society; 'preferred pretty women to any man of +science;' would sententiously say a strong thing now and then, +'bitter but not without BONHOMIE,' shaking slightly his yellow wig. +Disdainful, to how high a degree, of AKAKIA brabbles, and Voltaire +gossip for or against! In winter went to St. Malo; found his good +Father gone; but a loving Sister still there. + +"June, 1754, the King wrote to him, 'VENEZ VITE, Come quickly:' +July, 1754, he came accordingly, [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, +<end italic> xx. 49.] saw Berlin again; did nothing noticeable +there, except get worse in health; and after eleven months, June, +1756, withdrew again on leave,--never to return this time, though +he well intended otherwise. But at St. Malo, when, after a month or +two of Paris, he got thither (Autumn, 1756), and still more, next +summer, 1757, when he thought of leaving St. Malo,--what wars, and +rumors of war, all over the world! + +"June, 1757, he went to Bordeaux, intending to take ship for +Hamburg, and return; but the sea was full of English cruisers +[Pitt's Descents lying in store for St. Malo itself]. No getting to +Berlin by the Hamburg or sea route! 'Never mind, then,' wrote the +King: 'Improve your health; go to Italy, if you can.' + +"Summer, 1757, Maupertuis made for Italy; got as far as Toulouse;-- +stayed there till May following; sad, tragically stoical; +saying, sparingly, and rather to women than men, strong things, +admired by the worthier sort. Renounced thoughts of Italy: +'Europe bleeding, and especially France and Prussia, how go +idly touring?' + +"May, 1758, Maupertuis left Toulouse: turned towards Berlin; +slow, sad, circuitous;--never to arrive. Saw Narbonne, Montpellier, +Nimes; with what meditations! At Lyons, under honors sky-high, +health getting worse, stays two months; vomits clots of blood +there. Thence, July 24th, to Neufchatel and the Lord Marischal; +happy there for three months. Hears there of Professor Konig's +death (AKAKIA Konig): 'One scoundrel less in the world,' ejaculated +he; 'but what is one!'--October 16th, to the road again, to Basel; +stays perforce, in Bernouilli's house there, all Winter; +health falling lower and lower. + +"April, 1759, one day he has his carriage at the door ('Homeward, +at all rates!'): but takes violent spasms in the carriage; can't; +can no farther in this world. Lingers here, under kind care, for +above three months more: dying slowly, most painfully. With much +real stoicism; not without a stiff-jointed algebraic kind of piety, +almost pathetic in its sort. 'Two Capuchins from a neighboring +Convent daily gave him consolations,' not entirely satisfactory; +for daily withal, 'unknown to the Capuchins, he made his Valet, who +was a Protestant, read to him from the Geneva Bible;'--and finds +many things hard to the human mind. July 27th, 1759, he died." +[La Beaumelle, <italic> Vie de Maupertuis, <end italic> +pp. 196-216.] + +Poor Maupertuis; a man of rugged stalwart type; honest; of an +ardor, an intelligence, not to be forgotten for La Beaumelle's +pulings over them. A man of good and even of high talent; +unlucky in mistaking it for the highest! His poor Wife, a born +Borck,--hastening from Berlin, but again and again delayed by +industry of kind friends, and at last driving on in spite of +everything,--met, in the last miles, his Hearse and Funeral +Company. Adieu, a pitying adieu to him forever,--and even to his +adoring La Beaumelle, who is rather less a blockhead than he +generally seems. + +This of the Two Capuchins, the last consummation of collapse in +man, is what Voltaire cannot forget, but crows over with his +shrillest mockery; and seldom mentions Maupertuis without that last +touch to his life-drama. + + +GRAND FRENCH INVASION-SCHEME COMES ENTIRELY TO WRECK +(Quiberon Bay, 20th November, 1759): OF CONTROLLER-GENERAL +SILHOUETTE, AND THE OUTLOOKS OF FRANCE, FINANCIAL AND OTHER. + +On the very day of Maxen, Tuesday, November 20th, the grand French +Invasion found its terminus,--not on the shores of Britain, but of +Brittany, to its surprise. We saw Rodney burn the Flat-bottom +manufactory at Havre; Boscawen chase the Toulon Squadron, till it +ended on the rocks of Lagos. From January onwards, as was then +mentioned, Hawke had been keeping watch, off Brest Harbor, on +Admiral Conflans, who presides there over multifarious +preparations, with the last Fleet France now has. At Vannes, where +Hawke likewise has ships watching, are multifarious preparations; +new Flat-bottoms, 18,000 troops,--could Conflans and they only get +to sea. At the long last, they did get;--in manner following:-- + +"November 9th, a wild gale of wind had blown Hawke out of sight; +away home to Torbay, for the moment. 'Now is the time!' thought +Conflans, and put to sea (November 14th); met by Hawke, who had +weighed from Torbay to his duty; and who, of course, crowded every +sail, after hearing that Conflans was out. At break of day, +November 20th [in the very hours when poor Finck was embattling +himself round Maxen, and Daun sprawling up upon him through the +Passes], Hawke had had signal, 'A Fleet in sight;' and soon after, +'Conflans in sight,'--and the day of trial come. + +"Conflans is about the strength of Hawke, and France expects much +of him; but he is not expecting Hawke. Conflans is busy, at this +moment, in the mouth of Quiberon Bay, opening the road for Vannes +and the 18,000;--in hot chase, at the moment, of a Commodore Duff +and his small Squadron, who have been keeping watch there, and are +now running all they can. On a sudden, to the astonishment of +Conflans, this little Squadron whirls round, every ship of it (with +a sky-rending cheer, could he hear it), and commences chasing! +Conflans, taking survey, sees that it is Hawke; he, sure enough, +coming down from windward yonder at his highest speed; and that +chasing will not now be one's business!-- + +"About 11 A.M. Hawke is here; eight of his vanward ships are +sweeping on for action. Conflans, at first, had determined to fight +Hawke; and drew up accordingly, and did try a little: but gradually +thought better of it; and decided to take shelter in the shoaly +coasts and nooks thereabouts, which were unknown to Hawke, and +might ruin him if he should pursue, the day being short, and the +weather extremely bad. Weather itself almost to be called a storm. +'Shoreward, then; eastward, every ship!' became, ultimately, +Conflans's plan. On the whole, it was 2 in the afternoon hefore +Hawke, with those vanward Eight, could get clutch of Conflans. And +truly he did then strike his claws into him in a thunderously +fervid manner, he and all hands, in spite of the roaring weather:-- +a man of falcon, or accipitral, nature as well as name. + +"Conflans himself fought well; as did certain of the others,--all, +more or less, so long as their plan continued steady:--thunderous +miscellany of cannon and tempest; Conflans with his plan steady, or +Conflans with his plan wavering, VERSUS those vanward Eight, for +two hours or more. But the scene was too dreadful; this ship +sinking, that obliged to strike; things all going awry for +Conflans. Hawke, in his own Flagship, bore down specially on +Conflans in his,--who did wait, and exchange a couple of +broadsides; but then sheered off, finding it so heavy. French Vice- +Admiral next likewise gave Hawke a broadside; one only, and sheered +off, satisfied with the return. Some Four others, in succession, +did the like; 'One blast, as we hurry by' (making for the shore, +mostly)! So that Hawke seemed swallowed in volcanoes (though, +indeed, their firing was very bad, such a flurry among them), and +his Blue Flag was invisible for some time, and various ships were +hastening to help him,--till a Fifth French ship coming up with her +broadside, Hawke answered her in particular (LA SUPERBE, a Seventy- +four) with all his guns together; which sent the poor ship to the +bottom, in a hideously sudden manner. One other (the THESEE) had +already sunk in fighting; two (the SOLEIL and the HEROS) were +already running for it,--the HEROS in a very unheroic manner! +But on this terrible plunge-home of the SUPERBE, the rest all made +for the shore;--and escaped into the rocky intricacies and the +darkness. Four of Conflans's ships were already gone,--struck, +sunk, or otherwise extinct,--when darkness fell, and veiled +Conflans and his distresses. 'Country people, to the number of +10,000,' crowded on the shore, had been seen watching the Battle; +and, 'as sad witnesses of the White Flag's disgrace,' disappeared +into the interior." [Beatson, ii. 327-345: and Ib. iii. 244-250. +In <italic> Gentleman's Magazine, <end italic> (xxix. 557), +"A Chaplain's Letter," &c.] + +It was such a night as men never witnessed before. Walpole says: +"The roaring of the elements was redoubled by the thunder from our +ships; and both concurred in that scene of horror to put a period +to the Navy and hopes of France. Seven ships of the line got into +the River Vilaine [lay there fourteen months, under strict +watching, till their backs were broken, "thumping against the +shallow bottom every tide," and only "three, with three frigates," +ever got out again]; eight more escaped to different ports," into +--PAGE 371 BOOK XIX---NO OPENING QUOTES FOR THESE CLOSING--^---- + + +the River Charente ultimately. "Conflans's own ship and another +were run on shore, and burnt. One we took." Two, with their crews, +had gone to the bottom; one under Hawke's cannon; one partly by its +own mismanagement. "Two of ours were lost in the storm [chasing +that SOLEIL and HEROS], but the crews saved. Lord Howe, who +attacked LA FORMIDABLE, bore down on her with such violence, that +her prow forced in his lower tier of guns. Captain Digby, in the +DUNKIRK, received the fire of twelve of the enemy's ships, and lost +not a man. Keppel's was full of water, and he thought it sinking: +a sudden squall emptied his ship; but he was informed all his +powder was wet; 'Then,' said he, 'I am sorry I am safe.' They came +and told him a small quantity was undamaged; 'Very well,' said he; +'then attack again.' Not above eight of our ships were engaged in +obtaining that decisive victory. The Invasion was heard of no +more." [Walpole, <italic> George Second, <end italic> iii. 232.-- +Here is the List, accurately riddled out: 1. FORMIDABLE, struck +(about 4 P.M.): 2. THESEE, sunk (by a tumble it made, while in +action, under an unskilful Captain): 3. SUPERBE, sunk: 4. HEROS, +struck; could not he boarded, such weather; and recommenced next +day, but had to run and strand itself, and be burnt by the +English;--as did (5.) the SOLEIL ROYAL (Conflans's Flagship), +Conflans and crew (like those of the HEROS) getting out in time.] + +Invasion had been fully intended, and even, in these final days, +considerably expected. In the old London Newspapers we read this +notice: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19th: "To-day there came Three +Expresses,"--Three Expresses, with what haste in their eyes, +testifying successively of Conflans's whereabouts. But it was +believed that Hawke would still manage. And, at any rate, Pitt wore +such a look,--and had, in fact, made such preparation on the +coasts, even in failure of Hawke,--there was no alarm anywhere. +Indignation rather;--and naturally, when the news did come, what an +outburst of Illumination in the windows and the hearts of men! + +"Hawke continued watching the mouths of the Vilaine and Charente +Rivers for a good while after, and without interruption henceforth, +--till the storms of Winter had plainly closed them for one season. +Supplies of fresh provisions had come to him from England all +Summer; but were stopped latterly by the wild weather. Upon which, +in the Fleet, arose this gravely pathetic Stave of Sea-Poetry, with +a wrinkle of briny humor grinning in it:-- + + Till Hawke did bang Monsieur Conflans [CONGFLANG], + You sent us beef and beer; + Now Monsieur's beat, we've nought to eat, + Since you have nought to fear." [Beatson, ii. 342 n.] + +The French mode of taking this catastrophe was rather peculiar. +Hear Barbier, an Eye-witness; dating PARIS, DECEMBER, 1759: +"Since the first days of December, there has been cried, and sold +in the streets, a Printed Detail of all that concerns the GRAND +INVASION projected this long while: to wit, the number of Ships of +the Line, of Frigates, Galiots,--among others 500 Flat-bottomed +Boats, which are to carry over, and land in England, more than +54,000 men;--with list of the Regiments, and number of the King's +Guards, that are also to go: there are announced for Generals-in- +Chief, M. le Prince de Conti [do readers remember him since the +Broglio-Maillebois time, and how King Louis prophesied in autograph +that he would be "the Grand Conti" one day?]--Prince de Conti, +Prince de Soubise [left his Conquest of Frankfurt for this greater +Enterprise], and Milord Thomont [Irish Jacobite, whom I don't +know]. As sequel to this Detail, there is a lengthy Song on the +DISEMBARKMENT IN ENGLAND, and the fear the English must have of +it!" Calculated to astonish the practical forensic mind. + +"It is inconceivable", continues he, "how they have permitted such +a Piece to be printed; still more to be cried, and sold price one +halfpenny (DEUX LIARDS). This Song is indecent, in the +circumstances of the actual news from our Fleet at Brest (20th of +last month);--in regard to which bad adventure M. le Marquis de +Conflans has come to Versailles, to justify himself, and throw the +blame on M. le Marquis de Beauffremont [his Rear-Admiral, now safe +in the Charente, with eight of our poor ships]. Such things are the +more out of place, as we are in a bad enough position,--no Flat- +bottoms stirring from the ports, no Troops of the MAISON DU ROI +setting out; and have reason to believe that we are now to make no +such attempt." [Barbier, iv. 336.] + +Silhouette, the Controller-General, was thought to have a creative +genius in finance: but in the eighth month of his gestation, what +phenomena are these? October 26th, there came out Four Decrees of +Council, setting forth, That, "as the expenses of the War exceed +not only the King's ordinary revenues, but the extraordinaries he +has had to lay on his people, there is nothing for it but," in +fact, Suspension of Payment; actual Temporary Bankruptcy:--"Cannot +pay you; part of you not for a year, others of you not till the War +end; will give you 5 per cent interest instead." Coupled with +which, by the same creative genius, is a Declaration in the King's +name, "That the King compels nobody, but does invite all and sundry +of loyal mind to send their Plate (on loan, of course, and with due +receipt for it) to the Mint to be coined, lest Majesty come to have +otherwise no money,"--his very valets, as is privately known, +having had no wages from him for ten months past. + +Whereupon the rich Princes of the Blood, Due d'Orleans foremost, +and Official persons, Pompadour, Belleisle, Choiseul, do make an +effort; and everybody that has Plate feels uneasily that he cannot +use it, and that he ought to send it. And, November 5th, the King's +own Plate, packed ostentatiously in carts, went to the Mint;--the +Dauphiness, noble Saxon Lady, had already volunteered with a silver +toilet-table of hers, brand-new and of exquisite costly pattern; +but the King forbade her. On such examples, everybody had to make +an effort, or uneasily try to make one. King Friedrich, eight +days after Maxen, is somewhat amused at these proceedings in +the distance:-- + +"The kettles and spoons of the French seem to me a pleasant +resource, for carrying on War!" writes he to D'Argens. ["Wilsdruf, +28th November, 1759," <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> +xix. 108.] "A bit of mummery to act on the public feeling, I +suppose. The result of it will be small: but as the Belleisle +LETTERS [taken in Contades's baggage, after Minden, and printed by +Duke Ferdinand for public edification] make always such an outcry +about poverty, those people are trying to impose on their enemies, +and persuade them that the carved and chiselled silver of the +Kingdom will suffice for making a vigorous Campaign. I see nothing +else that can have set them on imagining the farce they are now at. +There is Munster taken from them by the English-Hanoverian people; +it is affirmed that the French, on the 25th, quitted Giessen, to +march on Friedberg and repass the Rhine [might possibly have done +so;--but the Hereditary Prince and his 12,000 come to be needed +elsewhere!]--Poor we are opposite our enemies here, cantoned in the +Villages about; the last truss of straw, the last loaf of bread +will decide which of us is to remain in Saxony. And as the +Austrians are extremely squeezed together, and can get nothing out +of Bohmen,"--one hopes it will not be they! + +All through November, this sending of Plate, I never knew with what +net-result of moneys coinable, goes on in Paris; till, at the +highest tables, there is nothing of silver dishes left;-- and a new +crockery kind (rather clumsy; "CULS NOIRS," as we derisively call +them, pigment of BOTTOM part being BLACK) has had to be contrived +instead. Under what astonishments abroad and at home, and in the +latter region under what execrations on Silhouette, may be +imagined. "TOUT LE MONDE JURE BEAUCOUP CONTRE M. DE SILHOUETTE, All +the world swears much against him," says Barbier;--but I believe +probably he was much to be pitied: "A creative genius, you; and +this is what you come to?" + +November 22d, the poor man got dismissed; France swearing at him, I +know not to what depth; but howling and hissing, evidently, with +all its might. The very tailors and milliners took him up,-- +trousers without pockets, dresses without flounce or fold, which +they called A LA SILHOUETTE:--and, to this day, in France and +Continental Countries, the old-fashioned Shadow-Profile (mere +outline, and vacant black) is practically called a SILHOUETTE. +So that the very Dictionaries have him; and, like bad Count +Reinhart, or REYNARD, of earlier date, he has become a Noun +Appellative, and is immortalized in that way. The first of that +considerable Series of Creative Financiers, Abbe Terray and the +rest,--brought in successively with blessings, and dismissed with +cursings and hissings,--who end in Calonne, Lomenie de Brienne, and +what Mirabeau Pere called "the General Overturn (CULBUTE +GENERALE)." Thitherward, privately, straight towards the General +Overturn, is France bound;--and will arrive in about thirty years. + + +FRIEDRICH, STRANGE TO SAY, PUBLISHES (March-June, 1760) +AN EDITION OF HIS POEMS. QUESTION, "WHO WROTE Matinees +du Roi de Prusse?"--FOR THE SECOND, AND POSITIVELY THE LAST TIME. + +In this avalanche of impending destructions, what can be more +surprising than to hear of the Editing of Poems on his Majesty's +part! Actual publication of that OEuvre de Poesie, for which +Voltaire, poor gentleman, suffered such tribulation seven years +ago. Now coming out from choice: Reprint of it, not now to the +extent of twelve copies for highly special friends, but in copious +thousands, for behoof of mankind at large! The thing cost Friedrich +very little meditating, and had become necessary,--and to be done +with speed. + +Readers recollect the OEUVRE DE POESIE, and satirical hits said to +be in it. At Paris, about New-year's time 1760, some helpful Hand +had contrived to bring out, under the pretended date "Potsdam," a +cheap edition of that interesting Work. [<italic> "OEuvres du +Philosophe de Sans-Souci:" <end italic> 1 vol. 12 mo, "Potsdam +[PARIS, in truth], 1760."] Merely in the way of theft, as appeared +to cursory readers, to D'Argens, for example: [His Letter to the +King, <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xix. 138.] but, in +deeper fact, for the purpose of apprising certain Crowned Heads, +friendly and hostile,--Czarish Majesty and George II. of England +the main two,--what this poetizing King was pleased to think of +them in his private moments. D'Argens declares himself glad of this +theft, so exquisitely clever is the Book. But Friedrich knows +better: "March 17th, when a Copy of it came to him," Friedrich sees +well what is meant,--and what he himself has to do in it. +He instantly sets about making a few suppressions, changes of +phrase; sends the thing to D'Argens: "Publish at once, with a +little prefatory word." And, at the top of his speed, D'Argens has, +in three weeks' time, the suitable AVANT-PROPOS, or AVIS AU +LIBRAIRE, "circulating in great quantities, especially in London +and Petersburg" ("Thief Editor has omitted; and, what is far more, +has malignantly interpolated: here is the poor idle Work itself, +not a Counterfeit of it, if anybody care to read it"), and an +Orthodox Edition ready. [Came out April 9th [see MITCHELL, ii. +153], and a second finer Edition in June:" in <italic> OEuvres de +Frederic, <end italic> x. p. x, xix. 137 n., 138; especially in +PREUSS, i. 467, 468 (if you will compare him with HIMSELF on these +different occasions, and patiently wind out his bit of meaning), +all manner of minutest details.] The diligent Pirate Booksellers, +at Amsterdam, at London, copiously reproduced this authorized +Berlin Edition too,--or added excerpts from it to their reprints of +the Paris one, by way of various-readings. And everybody read and +compared, what nobody will now do; theme, and treatment of theme, +being both now so heartily indifferent to us. + +Who the Perpetrator of this Parisian maleficence was, remained +dark;--and would not be worth inquiring into at all, except for two +reasons intrinsically trifling, but not quite without interest to +readers of our time. First, that Voltaire, whom some suspected +(some, never much Friedrich, that I hear of), appears to have been +perfectly innocent;--and indeed had been incapacitated for guilt, +by Schmidt and Freytag, and their dreadful Frankfurt procedures! +This is reason FIRST; poor Voltaire mutely asking us, Not to load +him with more sins than his own. Reason SECOND is, that, by a +singular opportunity, there has, in these very months, [Spring, +1863.] a glimmering of light risen on it to this Editor; +illustrating two other points as well, which readers here are +acquainted with, some time ago, as riddles of the insignificant +sort. The DEMON NEWSWRITER, with his "IDEA" of Friedrich, and the +"MATINEES DU ROI DE PRUSSE:" readers recollect both those +Productions; both enigmatic as to authorship;--but both now become +riddles which can more or less be read. + +For the surprising circumstance (though in certain periods, when +the realm of very Chaos re-emerges, fitfully, into upper sunshine +now and then, nothing ought to surprise one as happening there) is, +That, only a few months ago, the incomparable MATINEES (known to my +readers five years since) has found a new Editor and reviver. +Editor illuminated "by the Secretary of the Great Napoleon," "by +discovery of manuscripts," "by the Duc de Rovigo," and I know not +what; animated also, it is said, by religious views. And, in short, +the MATINEES is again abroad upon the world,--"your London Edition +twice reprinted in Germany, by the Jesuit party since" (much good +may it do the Jesuit party!)--a MATINEES again in comfortable +circumstances, as would seem. Probably the longest-eared Platitude +now walking the Earth, though there are a good many with ears long. +Unconscious, seemingly, that it has been killed thrice and four +times already; and that indeed, except in the realm of Nightmare, +it never was alive, or needed any killing; belief in it, doubt upon +it (I must grieve to inform the Duc de Rovigo and honorable persons +concerned), being evidence conclusive that you have not yet the +faintest preliminary shadow of correct knowledge about Friedrich +or his habits or affairs, and that you ought first to try and +acquire some. + +To me argument on this subject would have been too unendurable. +But argument there was on it, by persons capable and willing, more +than one: and in result this surprising brand-new London moon-calf +of a MATINEES was smitten through, and slit in pieces, for the +fifth time,--as if that could have hurt it much! "MIT DER +DUMMHEIT," sings Schiller; "Human Stupidity is stronger than the +very Gods." However, in the course of these new inspections into +matters long since obsolete, there did--what may truly be +considered as a kind of profit by this Resuscitating of the moon- +calf MATINEES upon afflicted mankind, and is a net outcome from it, +real, though very small--some light rise as to the origin and +genesis of MATINEES; some twinkles of light, and, in the utterly +dark element, did disclose other monstrous extinct shapes looming +to right and left of said monster: and, in a word, the Authorship +of MATINEES, and not of MATINEES only, becomes now at last faintly +visible or guessable. To one of those industrious Matadors, as we +may call them, Slayers of this moon-calf for the fourth or fifth +time, I owe the following Note; which, on verifying, I can declare +to be trustworthy:-- + +"The Author of MATINEES, it is nearly certain", says my +Correspondent, "is actually a 'M. de Bonneville,'--contrary to what +you wrote five years ago. [A.D. 1858 (SUPRA, v. 165, 166).] +Not indeed the Bonneville who is found in Dictionaries, who is +visibly impossible; but a Bonneville of the preceding generation, +who was Marechal de Saxe's Adjutant or Secretary, old enough to +have been the Uncle or the Father of that revolutionary Bonneville. +Marechal de Saxe died November 30th, 1750; this senior Bonneville, +still a young man, had been with him to Potsdam on visit there. +Bonneville, conscious of genius, and now out of employment, +naturally went thither again; lived a good deal there, or went +between France and there: and authentic History knows of him, by +direct evidence, and by reflex, the following Three Facts (the +SECOND of them itself threefold), of which I will distinguish +the indubitable from the inferentially credible or as good +as certain:-- + +"1. Indubitable, That Bonneville sold to Friedrich certain Papers, +military Plans, or the like, of the late Marechal and was paid for +them; but by no means met the recognition his genius saw itself to +merit. These things are certain, though not dated, or datable +except as of the year 1750 or 1751. After which, for above twenty +years, Bonneville entered upon a series of adventures, caliginous, +underground, for most part; 'soldiering in America,' 'writing +anonymous Pamphlets or Books,' roaming wide over the world; and led +a busy but obscure and uncertain life, hanging by Berlin as a kind +of centre, or by Paris and Berlin as his two centres; and had a +miscellaneous series of adventures, subterranean many of them, +unluminous all of them, not courting the light; which lie now in +naturally a very dark condition. Dimly discernible, however, in the +general dusk of Bonneville, dim and vague of outline, but +definitely steady beyond what could have been expected, it does +appear farther,--what alone entitles Bonneville to the least memory +here, or anywhere in Nature now or henceforth,-- + +"2. Inferentially credible, That, shortly after that first rebuff +in Potsdam, he, not another, in 1752, was your 'DEMON NEWSWRITER,' +whom we gazed at, some time since, devoutly crossing ourselves, for +a little while! + +"Likewise that, in 1759-1760, after or before his American +wanderings, he, the same Bonneville, as was suspected at the time, +["Nicolai, <italic> Ueber Zimmermanns Fragmente, <end italic> i. +181, 182, ii. 253, 254. Sketch of what is authentically known about +Bonneville: 'suspected both of MATINEES and of the Stolen +EDITION.'"] stole and edited this surreptitious mischief-making +<italic> OEuvres du Philosophe de Sans-Souci <end italic> (Paris or +Lyon, pretending to be 'Potsdam,' January, 1760)," which we are now +considering! "Encouraged, probably enough, by Choiseul himself, +who, in any case, is now known to have been the promoter of this +fine bit of mischief, [Choiseul's own Note, "To M. de Malesherbes, +DIRECTEUR DE LA LIBRAIRE, 10th December, 1759: 'By every method +screen the King's Government from being suspected;--and get the +Edition out at once.'" (Published in the <italic> Constitutionnel, +<end italic> 2d December, 1850, by M. Sainte-Beuve; copied in +Preuss, <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xix. 168 n.)]-- +and who may thereupon [or may as probably, NOT "thereupon," if it +were of the least consequence to gods or men] have opened to +Bonneville a new military career in America? Career which led to as +good as nothing; French soldiering in America being done for, in +the course of 1760. Upon which Bonneville would return to his old +haunts, to his old subterranean industries in Paris and Berlin. + +"And that, finally, in 1765, he, as was again suspected at the +time, ["Nicolai, Ueber Zimmermanns Fragmente, i. 181, 182, ii. 253, +254. Sketch of what is authentically known about Bonneville: +'suspected both of MATINEES and of the Stolen EDITION.'"] he and no +other, did write those MATINEES, which appeared next year in print +(1766), and many times since; and have just been reprinted, as a +surprising new discovery, at London, in Spring, 1863. + +"3. Again indubitable, That either after or before those Editorial +exploits, Bonneville had sold the Marechal de Saxe's Plans and +Papers, which were already the King's, to some second person, and +been a second time paid for them. And was, in regard to this +Swindling exploit, found out; and by reason of that sale, or for +what reason is not known, was put into Spandau, and, one hopes, +ended his life there." ["Nicolai, UBI SUPRA;--and besides him, only +the two following references, out of half a cart-load: +1. Bachaumont, MEMOIRES SECRETES, '7th February, 1765' (see +Barbier, <italic> Dictionnaire des Anonymes, <end italic> § +Matinees), who calls MATINEES 'a development of the IDEE DE LA +PERSONNE,' &c. (that is, of your 'DEMON NEWSWRITER;' already known +to Bachaumont, this 'IDEE,' it seems, as well as the MATINEES in +Manuscript). 2. LETTER of Grimm to Duchess of Sachsen-Gotha [OUR +Duchess], dated 'Paris, 15th April, 1765:' not in printed <italic> +Correspondance de Grimm, <end italic> but still in the Archives of +Gotha, in company with a MS. of MATINEES, probably the oldest +extant (see,--in the GRENZBOTEN Periodical, Leipzig, 1863, +pp. 473-484, 500-519,--K. SAMWER, who is Chief MALLEUS of this +new London moon-calf, and will inform the curious of +every particular)." + +MATINEES was first printed 1766 (no place), and seven or eight +times since, in different Countries; twice or thrice over, as "an +interesting new discovery:"--very wearisome to this Editor; who +read MATINEES (in poor LONDON print, that too) many years ago,-- +with complete satisfaction as to Matinees, and sincere wish not to +touch it again even with a pair of tongs;--and has since had three +"priceless MSS. of it" offered him, at low rates, as a guerdon +to merit.] + +Fact No. 2, which alone concerns us here,--and which, in its three +successive stages, does curiously cohere with itself and with other +things,--comes, therefore, not by direct light, which indeed, by +the nature of the case, would be impossible. Not by direct light, +but by various reflex lights, and convergence of probabilities old +and new, which become the stronger the better they are examined; +and may be considered as amounting to what is called a moral +certainty,--"certain" enough for an inquiry of that significance. +To a kind of moral certainty: kind of moral consolation too; +only One individual of Adam's Posterity, not Three or more, having +been needed in these multifarious acts of scoundrelism; and that +One receiving payment, or part payment, so prompt and appropriate, +in the shape of a permanent cannon-ball at his ankle. + +This is the one profit my readers or I have yet derived from the +late miraculous Resuscitation of MATINEES ROYALES; the other items +of profit in that Enterprise shall belong, not to us in the least +measure, but to Bonneville, and to his well or ill disposed +Coadjutors and Copartners in the Adventure. Adieu to it, aud to him +and to them, forever and a day! + + +PEACE-NEGOTIATIONS HOPEFUL TO FRIEDRICH ALL THROUGH WINTER; +BUT THE FRENCH WON'T. VOLTAIRE, AND HIS STYLE OF CORRESPONDING. + +This Winter there was talk of Peace, more specifically than ever. +November 15th, at the Hague, as a neutral place, there had been, by +the two Majesties, Britannic and Prussian, official DECLARATION, +"We, for our part, deeply lament these horrors, and are ready to +treat of Peace." This Declaration was presented November 15th, +1759, by Prince Ludwig of Brunswick (Head General of the Dutch, and +a Brother of Prince Ferdinand our General's, suitable for such +case), to the Austrian-French Excellencies at the Hague. By whom it +had been received with the due politeness, "Will give it our +profoundest consideration;" [DECLARATION (by the two Majesties) +that they are ready to treat of Peace, 15th November, 1759, +presented by, &c. (as above); ANSWER from France, in stingy terms, +and not till 3d April, 1760: are in <italic> London Gazette; +<end italic> in <italic> Gentleman's Magazine, <end italic> xxix. +603, xxx. 188; in &c. &c.]--which indeed the French, for some time, +privately did; though the Austrians privately had no need to do so, +being already fixed for a negative response to the proposal. +But hereby rose actual talk of a "Congress;" and wagging of +Diplomatic wigs as to where it shall be. "In Breda," said some; +"Breda a place used to Congresses." "Why not in Nanci here?" said +poor old Ex-Polish Stanislaus, alive to the calls of benevolence, +poor old Titular soul. Others said "Leipzig;" others "Augsburg;"-- +and indeed in Augsburg, according to the Gazetteers, at one time, +there were "upholsterers busy getting ready the apartments." +So that, with such rumor in the Diplomatic circles, the Gazetteer +and outer world was full of speculation upon Peace; and Friedrich +had lively hopes of it, and had been hoping three months before, as +we transiently saw, though again it came to nothing. All to +nothing; and is not, in itself, worth the least attention from us +here,--a poor extinct fact, loud in those months and filling the +whole world, now silent and extinct to everybody,--except, indeed, +that it offers physiognomic traits here and there of a certain +King, and of those about him. For which reason we will dwell on it +a few minutes longer. + +Nobody, in that Winter 1759-1760, could guess where, or from whom, +this big world-interesting Peace-Negotiation had its birth; +as everybody now can, when nobody now is curious on the question! +At Sagan, in September last, we all saw the small private source of +it, its first outspurt into daylight; and read Friedrich's ANSWERS +to Voltaire and the noble Duchess on it:--for the sake of which Two +private Correspondents, and of Friedrich's relation to them, +possibly a few more Excerpts may still have a kind of interest, now +when the thing corresponded on has ceased to have any. To the +Duchess, a noble-minded Lady, beautifully zealous to help if she +could, by whose hand these multifarious Peace-Papers have to pass, +this is always Friedrich's fine style in transmitting them. Out of +many specimens, following that of Sagan which we gave, here are the +Next Three:-- + + +FRIEDRICH TO THE DUCHESS OF SACHSEN-GOTHA +(Three other Letters on the "Peace"). + +1. +"WILSDRUF, 21st November, 1759 [day after Maxen, +SURRENDER was THIS morning--of which he has not heard]. + +"MADAM,--Nothing but your generosities and your indulgence could +justify my incongruity [INCONGRUITE, in troubling you with the +Enclosed]. You will have it, Madam, that I shall still farther +abuse those bounties, which are so precious to me: at least +remember that it is by your order, if I forward through your hand +this Letter, which does not merit such honor. + +"Chance, which so insolently mocks the projects of men, and +delights to build up and then pull down, has led us about, thus +far,--to the end of the Campaign [not quite ended yet, if we knew]. +The Austrians are girt in by the Elbe on this side; I have had two +important Magazines of theirs in Bohemia destroyed [Kleist's +doing]. There have been some bits of fighting (AFFAIRES), that have +turned entirely to our advantage:--so that I am in hopes of forcing +M. Daun to repass the Elbe, to abandon Dresden, and to take the +road for Zittau and Bohemia. + +"I talk to you, Madam, of what I am surrounded with; of what, being +in your neighborhood, may perhaps have gained your attention. +I could go to much greater length, if my heart dared to explain +itself on the sentiments of admiration, gratitude and esteem, with +which I am,--Madam my Cousin,--Your most faithful Cousin, Friend +and Servant,--F." + + +2. + +"FREYBERG, 18th December, 1759. + +"MADAM,--You spoil me so by your indulgence, you so accustom me to +have obligations to you, that I reproach myself a hundred times +with this presumption. Certainly I should not continue to enclose +these Letters to your care, had not I the hope that perhaps the +Correspondence may be of some use to England, and even to Europe,-- +for without doubt Peace is the desirable, the natural and happy +state for all Nations. It is to accelerate Peace, Madam, that I +abuse your generosities. This motive excuses me to myself for the +incongruity of my procedures. + +"The goodness you have to take interest in my situation obliges me +to give you some account of it. We have undergone all sorts of +misfortune here [Maxen, what not], at the moment we were least +expecting them. Nevertheless, there remains to us courage and hope; +here are Auxiliaries [Hereditary Prince and 12,000] on the point of +arriving; there is reason to think that the end of our Campaign +will be less frightful than seemed likely three weeks ago. May you, +Madam, enjoy all the happiness that I wish you. May all the world +become acquainted with your virtues, imitate them, and admire you +as I do. May you be persuaded that ...--F." + + +3. + +"FREYBERG, 16th February, 1760. + +"MADAM,--It is to my great regret that I importune Your Highness so +often with my Letters. Your bounties, Madam, have spoiled me;--it +will teach you to be more chary of them to others. I regard you as +an estimable Friend, to whose friendship I have recourse in +straits. The question is still Peace, Madam; and were not the +object of my importunities so beautiful, Madam, I should be +inexcusable."--Goes then into practical considerations, about +"Cocceji" (King's Aide-de-Camp, once Keith's, who carries this +Letter), about a "Herr von Edelsheim," a "Bailli de Froulay", and +the possible "Conditions of Peace,"--not of consequence to us just +now. [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xviii. 174, 173, +172. Correspondence on this subject lasts from 22d September, 1759, +to 8th May, 1760: IB. pp. 170-186. In that final Letter of 8th May +is the phrase, hardly worth restoring to its real ownership, though +the context considerably redeems it there,--"the prejudice I can't +get rid of, that, in war, DIEU EST POUR LES GROS ESCADRONS."] + +As to Voltaire again, and the new Friedrich-Voltaire Style of +Correspondence, something more of detail will be requisite. +Ever since the black days of 1757, when poor Wilhelmina, with +Rossbach and Leuthen still hidden from her in a future gloomy as +death, desperately brought Voltaire to bear upon Cardinal Tencin in +this matter, without success, there has been a kind of regular +corresponding between Voltaire and Friedrich; characteristic on +both sides. A pair of Lovers hopelessly estranged and divorced; +and yet, in a sense, unique and priceless to one another. The Past, +full of heavenly radiances, which issued, alas, in flames and sooty +conflagrations as of Erebus,--let us forget it, and be taught by +it! The Past is painful, and has been too didactic to some of us: +but here still is the Present with its Future; better than blank +nothing. Pleasant to hear the sound of that divine voice of my +loved one, were it only in commonplace remarks on the weather,-- +perhaps intermixed with secret gibings on myself:--let us hear it +while we can, amid those world-wide crashing discords and piping +whirlwinds of war. + +Friedrich sends his new Verses or light Proses, which he is ever +and anon throwing off; Voltaire sends his, mostly in print, and of +more elaborate turn: they talk on matters that are passing round +them, round this King, the centre of them,--Friedrich usually in a +rather swaggering way (lest his Correspondent think of blabbing), +and always with something of banter audible in him;--as has +Voltaire too, but in a finer TREBLE tone, being always female in +this pretty duet of parted lovers. It rarely comes to any scolding +between them; but there is or can be nothing of cordiality. +Nothing, except in the mutual admiration, which one perceives to be +sincere on both sides; and also, in the mutual practical +estrangement: "Nothing more of you,--especially of YOU, Madam,--as +a practical domestic article!" + +After long reading, with Historical views, in this final section of +the Friedrich-Voltaire Correspondence, at first so barren otherwise +and of little entertainment, one finds that this too, when once you +CAN "read" it (that is to say, when the scene and its details are +visible to you), becomes highly dramatic, Shakspearean-comic or +more, for this is Nature's self, who far excels even Shakspeare;-- +and that the inextricably dark condition of these Letters is a real +loss to the ingenuous reader, and especially to the student of +Friedrich. Among the frequently recurring topics, one that oftenest +turns up on Voltaire's side is that of Peace: Oh, if your Majesty +would but make Peace! Does it depend on me? thinks Friedrich +always; and is, at last, once provoked to say so:-- + + +FRIEDRICH TO VOLTAIRE. + +"REICH-HENNERSDORF, 2d July, 1759, +[shortly before Schmottseifen, while waiting Daun's slow movements]. + +"Asking ME for Peace: there is a bitter joke!--[In verse, this; +flings off a handful of crackers on the BIEN-AIME, whose +Chamberlain you are, on the HONGROISE QUI'IL ADORE, on the Russian +QUE J'ABHORRE;--then continues in prose]: + +"It is to him," the Well-beloved Louis, "that you must address +yourself, or to his Amboise in Petticoats [his Pompadour, acting +the Cardinal-Premier on this occasion]. But these people have their +heads filled with ambitious projects: these people are the +difficulty; they wish to be the sovereign arbiters of sovereigns;-- +and that is what persons of my way of thinking will by no means put +up with. I love Peace quite as much as you could wish; but I want +it good, solid and honorable. Socrates or Plato would have thought +as I do on this subject, had they found themselves placed in the +accursed position which is now mine in the world. + +"Think you there is any pleasure in leading this dog of a life +[CHIENNE, she-dog]? In seeing and causing the butchery of people +you know nothing of; in losing daily those you do know and love; +in seeing perpetually your reputation exposed to the caprices of +chance; in passing year after year in disquietudes and +apprehensions; in risking, without end, your life and your fortune? + +"I know right well the value of tranquillity, the sweets of +society, the charms of life; and I love to be happy, as much as +anybody whatever. But much as I desire these blessings, I will not +purchase them by basenesses and infamies. Philosophy enjoins us to +do our duty; faithfully to serve our Country, at the price of our +blood, of our repose, and of every sacrifice that can be required +of us. The illustrious ZADIG went through a good many adventures +which were not to his taste, CANDIDE the like; and nevertheless +took their misfortune in patience. What finer example to follow +than that of those heroes? + +"Take my word, our 'curt jackets,' as you call them [HABITS +ECOURTES, peculiar to the Prussian soldier at that time], are as +good as your red heels, as the Hungarian pelisses, and the green +frocks of the Roxelans [Russians]. We are actually on the heels of +the latter [at least poor Dohna is, and poor Dictator Wedell will +be, not with the effect anticipated!]--who by their stupidities +give us fine chance. You will see I shall get out of the scrape +this Year too, and deliver myself both from the Greens and the +Dirty-Whites [Austrian color of coat]. My neighbor of the Sacred +Hat,--I think, in spite of Holy Father's benediction, the Holy +Ghost must have inspired him the reverse way; he seems to have a +great deal of lead in his bottom. ... F." [<italic> OEuvres de +Frederic, <end italic> xxiii. 53.] + +VOLTAIRE IN ANSWER. + +"THE DELICES," guessed to be some time in "August, 1759." + +"In whatever state you are, it is very certain that you are a +great man. It is not to weary your Majesty that I now write; it is +to confess myself,--on condition you will give me absolution! +I have betrayed you; that is the fact"--(really guilty this time, +and HAVE shown something of your writing; as your Majesty, oh how +unjustly, is often suspecting that I do, and with mischievous +intention, instead of good, ah, Sire!)--In fact, I have received +that fine "MARCUS-AURELIUS" Letter (Letter we have just read); +exquisite Piece, though with biting "JUVENAL" qualities in it too; +and have shown it, keeping back the biting parts, to a beautiful +gillflirt of the Court, MINAUDIERE (who seems to be a Mistress of +Choiseul's), who is here attending Tissot for her health: +MINAUDIERE charmed with it; insists on my sending to Choiseul, "He +admires the King of Prussia, as he does all nobleness and genius; +send it!" And I did so;--and look here, what an Answer from +Choiseul (Answer lost): and may it not have a fine effect, and +perhaps bring Peace--Oh, forgive me, Sire. But read that Note of +the great man. "Try if you can decipher his writing. One may have +very honest sentiments, and a great deal of ESPRIT, and yet write +like a cat. ... + +"Sire, there was once a lion and a mouse (RAT); the mouse fell in +love with the lion, and went to pay him court. The lion, tired of +it, gave him a little scrape with his paw. The mouse withdrew into +his mouse-hole (SOURICIERE); but he still loved the lion; +and seeing one day a net they were spreading out to catch the lion +and kill him, he gnawed asunder one mesh of it. Sire, the mouse +kisses very humbly your beautiful claws, in all submissiveness:--he +will never die between two Capuchins, as, at Bale, the mastiff +(DOGUE) of St. Malo has done [27th July last]. He would have wished +to die beside his lion. Believe that the mouse was more attached +than the mastiff."--V. [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> +xxiii. 59, 60.] + +To which we saw the Answer, pair of Answers, at Sagan, in September +last. This Note from Choiseul, conveyed by Voltaire, appears to +have been the trifling well-spring from which all those wide-spread +waters of Negotiation flowed. Pitt, when applied to, on the +strength of Friedrich's hopes from this small Document of +Choiseul's, was of course ready, "How welcome every chance of a +just Peace!" and agreed to the Joint Declaration at the Hague; +and took what farther trouble I know not,--probably less sanguine +of success than Friedrich. Friedrich was ardently industrious in +the affair; had a great deal of devising and directing on it, a +great deal of corresponding with Voltaire and the Duchess, only +small fractions of which are now left. He searched out, or the +Duchess of Sachsen-Gotha did it for him, a proper Secret Messenger +for Paris: Secret Messenger, one Baron von Edelsheim, properly +veiled, was to consult a certain Bailli de Froulay, a friend of +Friedrich's in Paris;--which loyal-hearted Bailli did accordingly +endeavor there; but made out nothing. Only much vague talking; +part of it, or most of it, subdolous on Choiseul's side. Pitt would +hear of no Peace which did not include Prussia as well as England: +some said this was the cause of failure;--the real cause was that +Choiseul never had any serious intention of succeeding. +Light Choiseul, a clever man, but an unwise, of the sort called +"dashing," had entertained the matter merely in the optative form, +--and when it came nearer, wished to use it for making mischief +between Pitt and Friedrich, and for worming out Edelsheim's +secrets, if he had any,--for which reason he finally threw +Edelsheim into the Bastille for a few days. [<italic> OEuvres de +Frederic, <end italic> v. 38-41, detailed account of the Affair.] + +About the end of March I guess it to have been that Choiseul, by +way of worming out poor Edelsheim's secrets, flung him into the +Bastille for a day or two. Already in December foregoing, we have +seen Choiseul's Black-Artist busy upon the Stolen EDITION of +Friedrich's Verses. A Choiseul full of intrigues; adroit enough, +ambitious enough; restlessly industrious in making mischief, if +there were nothing else to be made; who greatly disgusted +Friedrich, now and afterwards. + +And this was what the grand Voltaire Pacification came to, though +it filled the world with temporary noise, and was so interesting to +Voltaire and another. What a heart-affecting generosity, humility +and dulcet pathos in that of the poor Mouse gnawing asunder a mesh +of the Lion's net! There is a good deal of that throughout, on the +Voltaire side,--that is to say, while writing to Friedrich. +But while writing of him, to third parties, sometimes almost +simultaneously, the contrast of styles is not a little startling; +and the beautiful affectionately chirping Mouse is seen suddenly to +be an injured Wild-cat with its fur up. All readers of Voltaire are +aware of this; and how Voltaire handles his "LUC" (mysterious +nickname for KING FRIEDRICH ), when Luc's back is turned. For alas, +there is no man or thing but has its wrong side too; least of all, +a Voltaire,--doing TREBLE voice withal, if you consider it, in such +a Duet of estranged Lovers! Suppose we give these few Specimens,-- +treble mostly, and a few of bass as well,--to illustrate the nature +of this Duet, and of the noises that went on round it, in a war- +convulsed world? And first of all, concerning the enigma "What +is Luc?" + +What the LUC in Voltaire is? Shocking explanations have been hit +upon: but Wagniere (WAGNER, an intelligent Swiss man), Voltaire's +old Secretary, gives this plain reading of the riddle: "M. de +Voltaire had, at The Delices [near by Ferney, till the Chateau got +built], a big Ape, of excessively mischievous turn; who used to +throw stones at the passers-by, and sometimes would attack with its +teeth friend or foe alike. One day it thrice over bit M. de +Voltaire's own leg. He had called it LUC (Luke); and in +conversation with select friends, as also in Letters to such, he +sometimes designated the King of Prussia by that nickname: 'HE is +like my Luc here; bites whoever caresses him!'--In 1756 M. de +Voltaire, having still on his heart the Frankfurt Outrage, wrote +curious MEMOIRES [ah, yes, VIE PRIVEE]; and afterwards wished to +burn them; but a Copy had been stolen from him in 1768,"--and they +still afflict the poor world. + +To the same effect speaks Johannes von Muller: "Voltaire had an Ape +called Luc; and the spiteful man, in thus naming the King, meant to +stigmatize him as the mere APE of greater men; as one without any +greatness of his own."--No; LUC was mischievous, flung stones after +passengers; had, according to Clogenson, "bitten Voltaire himself, +while being caressed by him;" that was the analogy in Voltaire's +mind. Preuss says, this Nickname first occurs "12th December, +1757." Suppose 11th December to have been the day of getting one's +leg bitten thrice over; and that, in bed next morning,--stiff, +smarting, fretful against the sad ape-tricks and offences of this +life,--before getting up to one's Works and Correspondences, the +angry similitude had shot, slightly fulgurous and consolatory, +athwart the gloom of one's mood? [Longchamp et Wagniere <italic> +Memoires, <end italic> i. 34; Johannes von Muller, <italic> Works +<end italic> (12mo, Stuttgard, 1821), xxxi. 140 (LETTERS TO HIS +BROTHER, No, 218, "July, 1796"); Clogenson's Note, in <italic> +OEuvres de Voltaire, <end italic> lxxvii. 103; Preuss, ii. 71.] +That will account for Luc. + +Many of the Voltaire-Friedrich LETTERS are lost; and the remainder +lie in sad disorder in all the Editions, their sequence +unintelligible without lengthy explanation. So that the following +Snatches cannot well be arranged here in the way of Choral Strophe +and Antistrophe, as would have been desirable. We shall have to +group them loosely under heads; with less respect to date than +to subject-matter, and to the reader's convenience for +understanding them. + + +VOLTAIRE ON FRIEDRICH, TO DIFFERENT THIRD-PARTIES, DURING THIS WAR. + +TO D'ARGENTAL (Has not yet heard of LEUTHEN, which happened five +days before). ... "I have tasted the vengeance of consoling the +King of Prussia, and that is enough for me. He goes beating on the +one side, and getting beaten on the other: except for another +miracle [like Rossbach], he will be ruined. Better have really been +a philosopher, as he pretended to be." [<italic> OEuvres de +Voltaire, <end italic> lxvii. 139 ("The Delices, 10th +December, 1757").] + +TO THE REVEREND COMTE DE BERNIS (outwardly still our flourishing +Prime-Minister, by grace of Pompadour, but soon to be extinguished +under a Red Hat. Date is six days before ZORNDORF). ... "I cannot +imagine how some people have gone into suspecting that my heart +might have the weakness to lean a little towards WHOM you know, +towards my Ingrate that was! One is bound to have politeness; +but one has memory as well;--and one is attached, as warmly as +superfluously, to the Good Cause, which it belongs only to you to +defend. Certain it is, poor I am not like the three-fourths of the +Germans in these days [since ROSSBACH, above all]! I have +everywhere seen Ladies'-fans with the Prussian Eagle painted on +them, eating the FLEUR-DE-LIS; the Hanover Horse giving a kick to +M. de Richelieu's bottom; a Courier carrying a bottle of Queen-of- +Hungary Water to Madame de Pompadour. My Nieces shall certainly not +have that fashion of Fans, at my poor little DELICES, whither I am +just returning." [Ib. lxxvii. 35 ("Soleure, 19th August, 1758").] + +TO MADAME D'ARGENTAL (on occasion of MINDEN: Kunersdorf three days +ago, but not yet heard of). ... "Truly, Madame, when M. de Contades +leads to the butchery all the descendants of our ancient +chevaliers, and sets them to attack eighty pieces of cannon [not in +the least, if you knew it; the reverse, if you knew it],--as Don +Quixote did the windmills! This horrible day pierces my soul. I am +French to excess, especially since those new favors [not worth +mentioning here], which I owe to my divine Angels and to M. le Duc +de Choiseul. + +"Luc--you know who Luc is [as do we]--is probably giving Battle to +the Austrians and Russians [KUNERSDORF, 12th; three days ago, did +it, and was beaten to your mind], at the moment while I have the +honor of writing to you; at least, he told me such was his Royal +intention. If they beat him, as may happen, what a shame for us to +have been beaten by the Duke of Brunswick! I wish you knew this +Duke [as I have done; a Duke of no ESPRIT, no gift of tongue, in +fact no talent at all that I could discern], you would be much +astonished; and would say, 'The people whom he beats must be great +blockheads.' The truth of the fact is, that all these troops are +better disciplined than ours:" [<italic> OEuvres de Voltaire, <end +italic> lxxviii, 186, 187 ("Delices, 15th August, 1759").]--Yes +indeed, my esteemed Voltaire; and also, perhaps, that ESPRIT, or +gift of tongue, is not the sole gift for Battles and Campaigns?-- + +TO D'ARGENTAL (seventh day after KUNERSDORF: "mouse upon lion's +net" nearly contemporaneous). "At last, then, I think my Russians +must be near Great Glogau [might have been, one thinks, after such +a Kunersdorf; did not start for a month yet; never could get very +near at all]. Who would have thought that Barberina [Mackenzie's +Dancer once; sent to Glogau, Cocceji and she, when their marriage +became public} was going to be besieged by the Russians, and in +Glogau: O Destiny!-- + +"I don't love Luc, far from it: I never will pardon him his +infamous procedure with my Niece [at Frankfurt that time]; nor the +face he has to write me flattering things twice a month; +without having ever repaired his wrongs. I desire much his entire +humiliation, the chastisement of the sinner; whether his eternal +damnation. I don't quite know." [Ib. lxxviii. 195 ("19th August, +1759").] (Hear, hear!) + +TO THE SAME (a month after MAXEN: "Peace" Negotiation very lively). +... "Meanwhile, if Luc could be punished before this happy Peace! +If, by this last stroke of General Beck [tussle with Dierecke at +Meissen, 4th December, capture of Dierecke and 1,500; stroke not of +an overwhelming nature, but let us be thankful for our mercies], +which has opened the road from the Lausitz to Berlin [alas, not in +the least], some Haddick could pay Berlin a visit again! You see, +in Tragedy I wish always to have crime punished. + +"There is talk of a great Battle fought the 6th [not a word of +truth in it] between Luc and him of the Consecrated Hat: said to +have been very murderous. I interest myself very much in this +Piece" now playing under the Sun. "Whenever the Austrians have any +advantage, Kaunitz says to Madame de Bentinck [litigant wandering +Lady, known to me at Berlin and elsewhere], 'Write that to our +Friend Voltaire.' Whenever Luc has the least success, he tells me, +'I have battered the oppressors of mankind. Dear Angel, in these +horrors I am the only one that has room to laugh:--and yet I don't +laugh either; owing to the CULS-NOIRS [base crockery; one's Dinner +Plate all vanished [Supra, p. 374.]], to the Annuities, Lotteries, +and to Pondicherry,--for I am always afraid about that latter!" +(Going, that, for certain; going, gone, and your East Indies along +with it!) [<italic> OEuvres de Voltaire, <end italic> lxxviii. 346 +("22d December, 1759").] + +TO PERPETUAL SECRETARY FORMEY (in forwarding a "Letter left with +me"). "Health and peace, Monsieur; and be SECRETAIRE ETERNEL. +Your King is always a man unique, astonishing, inimitable. He makes +charming verses, in times when another could not write a line of +prose; he deserves to be happy: but will he be so? And if not, what +becomes of you? For my own part, I will not die between two +Capuchins. Hardly worth while, exalting one's soul for such a +future as that. What a stupid and detestable farce this world is!" +[Ib. lxxviii. 348 (from SOUVENIRS D'UN CITOYEN, i. 302), "11th +January 1760."] + +TO D'ARGENTAL ("Peace" Negotiations still at their briskest), ... +"But, my dear Angel, you will see on Tuesday the great man who has +turned my head (DONT JE SUIS FOU), M. le Duc de Choiseul. +The Letters he honors me with enchant me. God will bless him, don't +doubt it,"--after all! "We have at Pondicherry a Lally, a devil of +an Irish spirit,--who will cost me, sooner or later, above 20,000 +livres annually [have rents in our INDIA COMPANY, say 1,000 pounds +a year, as my Angels know], which used to be the readiest item of +my Pittance. But M. le Duc de Choiseul will triumph over Luc in one +way or other; then what joy! I suppose he shows you my impertinent +reveries. Do you know, Luc is so mad, that I don't despair of +bringing him to reason [persuading him to give up Cleve, and +knuckle as he should, in this Peace Affair]. That were what I +should call the true Comedy! I should like to have your advices on +the conduct of that Dramatic Piece." [<italic> OEuvres de Voltaire, +<end italic> lxxviii. 375 ("Delices, 15th February, 1760").] + +The late "mouse" gnawing its mesh of net, what a subtle and mighty +hunter has it grown! This of Cleve, however, and of knuckling, +would not do. Hear the stiff Answer that comes: "'Conditions of +Peace,' do you call them? The people that propose such can have no +wish to see Peace. What a logic theirs! 'I might yield the Country +of Cleve, because the inhabitants are stupid'! What would your +Ministers say if one required the Province of Champagne from them, +because the Proverb says, Ninety-nine sheep and one Champagner make +a Hundred head of cattle?" [Friedrich to Voltaire, "Freyberg, 3d +April, 1760:" <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xxiii. +73, 74.] + +FAULT ON CDISC--REFERENCE/FOOTNOTE ILLEGIBLE--P.394-BOOK XIX---- +------------------------------------------------------------- + +AGAIN TO D'ARGENTAL (three or four months after; Luc having proved +obstinate, and still unsuccessful). ... "I conjure you make use of +all your eloquence to tell him [the supreme Duc de Choiseul], that +if Luc misgo, it will be no misfortune to France. That Brandenburg +will always remain an Electorate; that it is good there be no +Elector in it strong enough to do without the protection of our +King; and that all the Princes of the Empire will always have +recourse to that august protection (Most Christian Majesty's] +CONTRA L'AQUILA GRIFAGNA,--were the Prussian Kingship but +abolished. Nota bene, if Luc were discomfited this Year, we should +have Peace next Winter." [<italic> OEuvres de Voltaire, <end +italic> lxxix. 110 ("July, 1760").] + +TO SUPREME CHOISEUL (a year later). ... "He has been a bad man, +this Luc; and now, if one were to bet,--by the law of probability +it would be 3 to 1 that Lnc will go to pot (SERA PERDU), with his +rhymings and his banterings, and his injustices and politics, all +as bad as himself." [Ib. lxxx. 313 ("Chateau de Ferney, 13th July, +1761").] + + +VOLTAIRE ON SURROUNDING OBJECTS, CHIEFLY ON MAUPERTUIS, AND THE BATTLES. + +TO D'ALEMBERT (in the Rossbach-Leuthen interval: on the Battle of +BRESLAU, 22d November, 1757; called by the Austrians "a +Malplaquet," and believed by Voltaire to be a Malplaquet and more). +... "The Austrians do avenge us, and humble us [us, and our +miserable Rossbachs], in a terrible manner. Thirteen attacks on the +Prussian intrenchments, lasted six hours; never was Victory +bloodier, or more horribly beautiful [in the brain of certain men]. +We pretty French fellows, we are more expeditious, our job is done +in five minutes. The King of Prussia is always writing me Verses, +now like a desperado, now like a hero; and as for me, I try to live +like a philosopher in my hermitage. He has obtained what he always +wished: to beat the French, to be admired by them, to mock them; +but the Austrians are mocking him in a very serious way. Our shame +of November 5th has given him glory; and with such glory, which is +but transient and dearly bought, he must content himself. He will +lose his own Countries, with those he has seized, unless the French +again discover [which they will] the secret of losing all their +Armies, as they did in 1741." [Ib. Lxxvii. 133, 134 ("Delices, 6th +December, 1757," day after Leuthen).] + +--FAULT ON CDISC AS ABOVE--P.395 BOOK XIX------- + + +TO CLAIRAUT, THE MATHEMATICIAN (Maupertuis lately dead). An +excellent Treatise, this you have sent me, Monsieur! "Your war with +the Geometers on the subject of this Comet appears to me like a war +of the gods in Olympus, while on Earth there is going on a fight of +dogs and cats. ... Would to Heaven our friend Moreau-Maupertuis had +cultivated his art like you! That he had predicted comets, instead +of exalting his soul to predict the future; of dissecting the +brains of giants to know the nature of the soul; of japanning +people with pitch to cure them of every malady; of persecuting +Konig; and of dying between Two Capuchins" (dead three weeks ago, +on those terms, poor soul)! [<italic> OEuvres de Voltaire, <end +italic> lxxviii. 191 ("Delices, 19th August, 1759").] + +TO D'ALEMBERT (a week later). ... "What say you of Maupertuis dying +between Two Capuchins! He was ill, this long while, of a repletion +of pride; but I had not reckoned him either a hypocrite or an +imbecile. I don't advise you ever to go and fill his place at +Berlin; you would repent that. I am Astolpho warning Roger +(Ruggiero) not to trust himself to the Enchantress Alcina; but +Roger was unadvisable." [Ib. lxxviii. 197 ("Delices, 25th August, +1759").] + +TO THE SAME (two years later: Luc, on certain grounds, may as well +be saved). "With regard to Luc, though I have my just causes of +anger against him, I own to you, in my quality of Frenchman and +thinking being, I am glad that a certain most Orthodox House has +not swallowed Germany, and that the Jesuits are not confessing in +Berlin. Over towards the Danube superstition is very powerful. ... +The INFAME--You are well aware that I speak of superstition only; +for as to the Christian religion, I respect and love it, like you. +Courage, Brethren! Preach with force, and write with address: +God will bless you.--Protect, you my Brother, the Widow Calas all +you can! She is a poor weak-minded Huguenot, but her Husband was +the victim of the WHITE PENITENTS. It is the concern of Human +Nature that the Fanatics of Toulouse be confounded." (The case of +Calas, SECOND act of it, getting on the scene: a case still +memorable to everybody. Stupendous bit of French judicature; and +Voltaire's noblest outburst, into mere transcendent blaze of pity, +virtuous wrath, and determination to bring rescue and help against +the whole world.) [<italic> OEuvres de Voltaire, <end italic> +lxxviii. 52, 53 ("Ferney, 28th November, 1762").] + + +FRIEDRICH TO VOLTAIRE, BEFORE AND DURING THESE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS. + +AT SCHMOTTSEIFEN, FIVE DAYS BEFORE ZULLICHAU, TEN DAYS BEFORE THAT +HUNT OF LOUDON AND HADDICK (Voltaire, under rebuke for +indiscretion, has been whimpering a little. My discreet Niece burnt +those LAST verses, Sire; no danger there, at least! Truculent +Bishop Something-AC tried to attack your Majesty; but was done for +by a certain person). Friedrich answers: "In truth, you are a +singular creature. When I think of scolding you, you say two words, +and the reproach expires. Impossible to scold you, even when you +deserve it. ... + +"As to your Niece, let her burn me or roast me, I care little. +Nor are you to think me so sensitive to what your Bishops in IC or +in AC may say of me. I have the lot of all actors who play in +public; applauded by some, despised by others. One must prepare +oneself for satires, for calumnies, for a multitude of lies, which +will be sent abroad into currency against one: but need that +trouble my tranquillity? I go my road; I do nothing against the +interior voice of my conscience; and I concern myself very little +in what way my actions paint themselves in the brain of beings, not +always very thinking, with two legs and without feathers." +["Schmottseifen, 18th July, 1759;" <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, +<end italic> xxiii. 55, 56.] + +AT WILSDRUF, JUST BEFORE MAXEN (an exultant exuberant curious +Letter; too long for insertion,--part of it given above). ... +"For your Tragedy of SOCRATE, thanks. At Paris they are going to +burn it, the wretched fools,--not aware that absurd fanaticism is +their dominant vice. Better burn the dose of medicine, however, +than the useful Doctor. I, can I join myself to that set? If I bite +you, as you complain, it is without my knowledge. But I am +surrounded with enemies, one hitting me, another pricking me, +another daubing me with mud;--patience at last yields, and one +flies abroad into a general rage, too indiscriminate perhaps." + +You talk of my Verses on Rossbach (my ADIEU TO THE HOOPERS on +finding their Bridge burnt [Supra, p. 21.]). "This Campaign I have +had no beatific vision, in the style of Moses. The barbarous +Cossacks and Tartars, infamous to look at on any side, have burnt +and ravaged countries, and committed atrocious inhumanities. +This is all I saw of THEM. Such melancholy spectacles don't tend to +raise one's spirits. [Breaks off into metre:] LA FORTUNE +INCONSTANTE ET FIERE, Fortune inconstant and proud. Does not treat +her suitors Always in an equal manner. Those fools called heroes, +who run the country, + +<italic> Ces fous nommes heros, et qui courent les champs, + Couverts de sang et de poussiere, + Voltaire, n'ont pas tous les ans + La faceur de voir le derriere + De leurs ennemis insolents. <end italic> + +Can't expect that pleasure every year"! ... + +Maupertuis, say you? "Don't trouble the ashes of the dead; let the +grave at least put an end to your unjust hatreds. Reflect that even +Kings make peace after long battling; cannot you ever make it? +I think you would be capable, like Orpheus, of descending to Hell, +not to soften Pluto and bring back your beautiful Emilie, but to +pursue into that Abode of Woe an enemy whom your wrath has only too +much persecuted in the world: for shame!" [<italic> OEuvres de +Frederic, <end italic> xxiii. 61-65 ("Wilsdruf, 17th November, +1759").]--and rebukes him, more than once elsewhere, in very +serious terms. + +IN WINTER-QUARTERS, ON PEACE AND THE STOLEN EDITION. (Starts in +verse, which we abridge:) With how many laurels you have covered +yourself in all the fields of Literature! One laurel yet is wanting +to the brow of Voltaire. If, as the crown of so many perfect works, +he could by a skilful manoeuvre bring back Peace, I, and Europe +with me, would think that his masterpiece! [Takes to prose:] + +"This is my thought and all Europe's. Virgil made as fine Verses as +you; but he never made a Peace. It will be a distinction you will +have over all your brethren of Parnassus, if you succeed. + +"I know not who has betrayed me, and thought of printing [the +EDITION;--not you, surely!] a pack of rhapsodies which were good +enough to amuse myself, but were never meant for publication. +After all, I am so used to treacheries and bad manoeuvres,"--what +matters this insignificant one? + +"I know not who the Bredow is [whom you speak of having met]; +but he has told you true. The sword and death have made frightful +ravages among us. And the worst is, we are not yet at the end of +the tragedy. You may judge what effect these cruel shocks made on +me. I wrap myself in my stoicism, the best I can. Flesh and blood +revolt against such tyrannous command; but it must be followed. +If you saw me, you would scarcely know me again: I am old, broken, +gray-headed, wrinkled; I am losing my teeth and my gayety: if this +go on, there will be nothing of me left, but the mania of making +verses, and an inviolable attachment to my duties and to the few +virtuous men whom I know." [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end +italic> xxiii. 69 ("Freyberg, 24th Feb. 1760").] + +IN WINTER-QUARTERS, A MONTH LATER (comes still on "Peace" again). +... "I will have you paid that bit of debt [perhaps of postage or +the like], that Louis of the Mill (Louis du Moulin," at Fontenoy, +who got upon a Windmill with his Dauphin, and caught that nickname +from the common men) "may have wherewithal to make war on me. +Add tenth-penny tax to your tax of twentieth-penny; impose new +capitations, make titular offices to get money; do, in a word, +whatever you like. In spite of all your efforts, you will not get a +Peace signed by my hands, except on conditions honorable to my +Nation. Your people, blown up with self-conceit and folly, may +depend on these words. Adieu, live happy; and while you make all +your efforts to destroy Prussia, think that nobody has less +deserved it than I, either of you or of your French." [Ib. xxiii. +72 ("Freyberg, 20th March, 1760").] + +STILL IN WINTER-QUARTERS (on "Peace" still; but begins with +"Maupertuis," which is all we will give). "What rage animates you +against Maupertuis? You accuse HIM of having published that Furtive +EDITION. Know that his Copy, well sealed by him, arrived here after +his death, and that he was incapable of such an indiscretion. +[Breaks into verse:] + + Leave in peace the cold ashes of Maupertuis: + Truth can defend him, and will. + His soul was faithful and noble: + He pardoned you that scandalous Akakia (CE VIL LIBELLE + QUE VOTRE FUREUR CRIMINELLE + PRIT SOIN CHEZ MOI DE GRIFFONER); he did:-- + And you? Shame on such delirium as Voltaire's! + What, this beautiful, what, this grand genius, + Whom I admired with transport, + Soils himself with calumny, and is ferocious on the dead? + Flocking together, in the air uttering cries of joy, + Vile ravens pounce down upon sepulchres, + And make their prey of corpses:"-- + +Blush, repent, alas! + +These Specimens will suffice. "The King of Prussia?" Voltaire would +sometimes say: "He is as potent and as malignant as the Devil; +but he is also as unhappy, not knowing friendship,"--having such a +chance, too, with some of us! + + +FRIEDRICH HAS SENT LORD MARISCHAL TO SPAIN: OTHER FOND HOPES OF FRIEDRICH'S. + +In the beginning of this Year, 1759, Earl Marischal had been called +out of his Neufchatel stagnancy, and launched into the Diplomatic +field again; sent on mission into Spain, namely. The case was this: +Ferdinand VI. of Spain (he who would not pay Friedrich the old +Spanish debt, but sent him merino rams, and a jar of Queen-Dowager +snuff) had fallen into one of his gloomy fits, and was thought to +be dying;--did, in fact, die, in a state nearly mad, on the 10th +August following. By Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and by all manner +of Treaties, Carlos of Naples, his Half-Brother (Termagant's Baby +Carlos, whom we all knew), was to succeed him in Spain; Don Philip, +the next Brother, now of Parma and Piacenza, was to follow as King +in Naples,--ceding those two litigious Duchies to Austria, after +all. Friedrich, vividly awake to every chance, foresaw, in case of +such disjunctures in Italy, good likelihood of quarrel there. +And has despatched the experienced old Marischal to be on the +ground, and have his eyes open. Marischal knows Spain very well; +and has often said, "He left a dear old friend there, the Sun." +Marischal was under way, about New-year's time; but lingered by the +road, waiting how Ferdinand would turn,--and having withal an +important business of his own, as he sauntered on. Did not arrive, +I think, till Summer was at hand, and his dear Old Friend coming +out in vigor. + +August 10th, 1759, Ferdinand died; and the same day Carlos became +King of Spain. But, instead of giving Naples to Don Philip, Carlos +gave it to a junior Son of his own; and left poor Philip to content +himself with Parma and Piacenza, as heretofore. Clear against the +rights of Austria; Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle is perfectly explicit +on that point! Will not Austria vindicate its claim? Politicians +say, Austria might have recovered not only Parma and Piacenza, but +the kingdom of Naples itself,--no France at present able to hinder +it, no Spain ever able. But Austria, contrary to expectation, would +not: a Country tenacious enough of its rights, real and imaginary; +greedy enough of Italy, but of Silesia much more! The matter was +deliberated in Council at Vienna; but the result was magnanimously, +No. "Finish this Friedrich first; finish this Silesia. Nothing else +till that!" + +The Marischal's legationary function, therefore, proved a sinecure; +no Carlos needing Anti-Austrian assistance from Friedrich or +another; Austria magnanimously having let him alone. Doubtless a +considerable disappointment to Friedrich. Industrious Friedrich had +tried, on the other side of this affair, Whether the King of +Sardinia, once an adventurous fighting kind of man, could not be +stirred up, having interests involved? But no; he too, grown old, +devotional, apprehensive, held by his rosaries, and answered, No. +Here is again a hope reasonable to look at, but which +proves fallacious. + +Marischal continued in Spain, corresponding, sending news (the +Prussian Archives alone know what), for nearly a couple of years. +[Returned "April, 1762" (Friedrich's Letter to him, "10th April, +1762:" in <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xx. 285).] +His Embassy had one effect, which is of interest to us here. On his +way out, he had gone by London, with a view of getting legal +absolution for his Jacobitism,--so far, at least, as to be able to +inherit the Earldom of Kintore, which is likely to fall vacant +soon. By blood it is his, were the Jacobite incapacities withdrawn. +Kintore is a cadet branch of the Keiths; "John, younger Son of +William Sixth Lord Marischal," was the first Kintore. +William Sixth's younger Son, yes;--and William's Father, a man +always venerable to me, had (A.D. 1593) founded Marischal College, +Aberdeen,--where, for a few, in those stern granite Countries, the +Diviner Pursuits are still possible (thank God and this Keith) on +frugal oatmeal. MARISCHAL-COLLEGE Keith, or FIFTH Lord Marischal, +was grandfather's grandfather of our Potsdam Friend, who is tenth +and last. [Douglas's <italic> Scotch Peerage, <end italic> pp. 448 +et seq., 387 et seq.] Honor to the brave and noble, now fallen +silent under foot NOT of the nobler! In a word, the fourth Kintore +was about dying childless; and Marischal had come by London on that +heritage business. + +He carried, naturally, the best recommendations. Britannic Majesty, +Pitt and everybody met him with welcome and furtherance; what he +wished was done, and in such a style of promptness and cordiality, +Pitt pushing it through, as quite gained the heart of old +Marischal. And it is not doubted, though particulars have not been +published, That he sent important Spanish notices to Pitt, in these +years;-and especially informed him that King Carlos and the French +Bourbon had signed a FAMILY COMPACT (15th August, 1761), or solemn +covenant, to stand by one another as brothers. Which was +thenceforth, to Pitt privately, an important fact, as perhaps we +shall see; though to other men it was still only a painful rumor +and dubiety. Whether the old Marischal informed him, That King +Carlos hated the English; that he never had, in his royal mind, +forgiven that insult of Commodore Martin's (watch laid on the +table, in the Bay of Naples, long ago), I do not know; but that +also was a fact. A diligent, indignant kind of man, this Carlos, +I am told; by no means an undeserving King of Spain, though his +Portraits declare him an ugly: we will leave him in the discreet +Marischal's hands, with the dear Old Friend shining equally +on both. + +Singular to see how, in so veracious an intellect as Friedrich's, +so many fallacies of hope are constantly entertained. War in Italy, +on quarrel with King Carlos; Peace with France and the Pompadour, +by help of Edelsheim and the Bailli de Froulay; Peace with Russia +and the INFAME CATIN, by help of English briberies (Friedrich sent +an agent this winter with plenty of English guineas, but he got no +farther than the Frontier, not allowed even to try): sometimes, as +again this winter, it is hope of Denmark joining him (in alarm +against the Russian views on Holstein; but that, too, comes to +nothing); above all, there is perennially, budding out yearly, the +brighter after every disappointment, a hope in the Grand Turk and +his adherencies. Grand Turk, or failing him, the Cham of Tartary,-- +for certain, some of these will be got to fasten on the heels of +Austria, of Russia; and create a favorable diversion? +Friedrich took an immense deal of trouble about this latter hope. +It is almost pathetic to see with what a fond tenacity he clings to +it; and hopes it over again, every new Spring and Summer. +[Preuss, ii. 121 et seq., 292 &c.; Schoning, ii. iii. PASSIM.] + +The hope that an INFAME CATIN might die some day (for she is now +deep in chaotic ailments, deepish even in brandy) seems never to +have struck him; at least there is nowhere any articulate hint of +it,--the eagle-flight of one's imagination soaring far above such a +pettiness! Hope is very beautiful; and even fallacious hope, in +such a Friedrich. The one hope that did not deceive him, was hope +in his own best exertion to the very death; and no fallacy ever for +a moment slackened him in that. Stand to thyself: in the wide +domain of Imagination, there is no other certainty of help. +No other certainty;--and yet who knows through what pettinesses +Heaven may send help! + + + +Chapter IX. + +PRELIMINARIES TO A FIFTH CAMPAIGN. + +It was April 25th before Friedrich quitted Freyberg, and took Camp; +not till the middle of June that anything of serious Movement came. +Much discouragement prevails in his Army, we hear: and indeed, it +must be owned, the horoscope of these Campaigns grows yearly +darker. Only Friedrich himself must not be discouraged! Nor is;-- +though there seldom lay ahead of any man a more dangerous-looking +Year than this that is now dimly shaping itself to Friedrich. +His fortune seems to have quitted him; his enemies are more +confident than ever. + +This Year, it seems, they have bethought them of a new device +against him. "We have 90 million Population," count they; "he has +hardly 5; in the end, he must run out of men! Let us cease +exchanging prisoners with him." At Jagerndorf, in April, 1758 (just +before our march to Olmutz), there had been exchange; not without +haggles; but this was the last on Austria's part. Cartel of the +usual kind, values punctually settled: a Field-marshal is worth +3,000 common men, or 1,500 pounds; Colonel worth 130 men, or 65 +pounds; common man is worth 10s. sterling, not a high figure. +[Archenholtz, ii. 53.] The Russians haggled still more, no keeping +of them to their word; but they tried it a second time, last year +(October, 1759); and by careful urging and guiding, were got +dragged through it, and the prisoners on both sides sent to their +colors again. After which, it was a settled line of policy, "No +more exchanging or cartelling; we will starve him out in that +article!" And had Friedrich had nothing but his own 5 millions to +go upon, though these contributed liberally, he had in truth been +starved out. Nor could Saxony, with Mecklenburg, Anhalt, Erfurt, +and their 10,000 men a year, have supplied him,--"had not there," +says Archenholtz (a man rather fond of superlatives),-- + +"Had not there risen a Recruiting system," or Crimping system, "the +like of which for kind and degree was never seen in the Earth +before. Prisoners, captive soldiers, if at all likely fellows, were +by every means persuaded, and even compelled, to take Prussian +service. Compelled, cudgel in hand," says Archenholtz (who is too +indiscriminating, I can see,--for there were Pfalzers, +Wurtembergers, Reichsfolk, who had FIRST been compelled the other +way): "not asked if they wished to serve, but dragged to the +Prussian colors, obliged to swear there, and fight against, their +countrymen." Say at least, against their countrymen's Governors, +contumacious Serene Highnesses of Wurtemberg, Mecklenburg and the +like. Wurtemberg, we mentioned lately, had to shoot a good few of +his first levy against the Protestant Champion, before they would +march at all!--I am sorry for these poor men; and wish the Reich +had been what it once was, a Veracity and Practical Reality, not an +Imaginary Entity and hideously contemptible Wiggery, as it now is! +Contemptible, and hideous as well;--setting itself up on that, +fundamental mendacity; which is eternally tragical, though little +regarded in these days, and which entails mendacities without end +on parties concerned!--But, apart from all this, certain it is, + +"The whole German Reich was deluged with secret Prussian Enlisters. +The greater part of these were not actual Officers at all, but +hungry Adventurers, who had been bargained with, and who, for their +own profit, allowed themselves every imaginable art to pick up men. +Head and centre of them was the Prussian Colonel Colignon," one of +the Free-Corps people; "a man formed by nature for this business +[what a beautiful man!]--who gave all the others their directions, +and taught them by his own example. Colignon himself," in winter- +time, "travelled about in all manner of costumes and characters; +persuading hundreds of people into the Prussian service. He not +only promised Commissions, but gave such,--nominating loose young +fellows (LAFFEN), students, merchants' clerks and the like, to +Lieutenancies and Captaincies in the Prussian Army [about as likely +as in the Seraphim and Cherubim, had they known it]: in the +Infantry, in the Cuirassiers, in the Hussars,--it is all one, you +have only to choose. The renown of the Prussian arms was so +universal, and combined with the notion of rich booty, that +Colignon's Commission-manufactory was continually busy. No need to +provide marching-money, hand-money [shillings for earnest]; +Colignon's recruits travelled mostly of will and at their own +charge. In Franken, in Schwaben, in the Rhine Countries, a +dissolute son would rob his father,--as shopmen their masters' +tills, and managers their cash-boxes,--and hie off to those +magnanimous Prussian Officials, who gave away companies like +kreutzers, and had a value for young fellows of spirit. +They hastened to Magdeburg with their Commissions; where they were +received as common recruits, and put by force into the regiments +suitable. No use in resisting: the cudgel and the drill-sergeant," +--who doubts it?--"till complete submission. By this and other +methods Colignon and his helpers are reckoned to have raised for +the King, in the course of this War, about 60,000 recruits." +[Archenholtz, ii. 53.] + +This Year, Daun, though his reputation is on the decline lately, is +to have the chief command, as usual; the Grand Army, with Saxony +for field of conquest, and the Reichsfolk to assist, is to be +Daun's. But, what is reckoned an important improvement, Loudon is +to have a separate command, and Army of his own. Loudon, hot of +temper, melancholic, shy, is not a man to recommend himself to +Kriegshofrath people; but no doubt Imperial Majesty has had her own +wise eye on him. His merits are so undeniable; the need of some +Commander NOT of the Cunctator type is become so very pressing. +"Army of Silesia, 50,000;" that is to be Loudon's, with 40,000 +Russians to co-operate and unite themselves with Loudon; and try +actually for conquest of Silesia, this Year; while Daun, conquering +Saxony, keeps the King busy. + +At Petersburg, Versailles, Vienna, much planning there has been, +and arduous consulting: first at Petersburg, in time and in +importance, where Montalembert has again been very urgent in regard +to those poor Swedish people, and the getting of them turned to +some kind of use: "Stettin in conjunction with the Swedes; +oh, listen to reason, and take Stettin!" "Would not Dantzig by +ourselves be the advisable thing?" answers Soltikof: "Dantzig is an +important Town, and the grand Baltic Haven; and would be so +convenient for our Preussen, since we have determined to maintain +that fine Conquest." So thinks Czarish Majesty, as well as +Soltikof, privately, though there are difficulties as to Dantzig; +and, in fine, except Colberg over again, there can be nothing +attempted of sieging thereabouts. A Siege of Colberg, however, +there is actually to be: Second Siege,--if perhaps it will prove +luckier than the First was, two years since? Naval Armament +Swedish-Russian, specific Land Armament wholly Russian, are to do +this Second Siege, at a favorable time; except by wishes, Soltikof +will not be concerned in it; nor, it is to be hoped, shall we,--in +such pressure of haste as is probably ahead for us. + +"Silesia would be the place for sieges!" say the Vienna people +always; and Imperial Majesty is very urgent; and tries all methods, +--eloquence, flatteries, bribes,--to bring Petersburg to that view. +Which is at last adopted; heartily by Czarish Majesty, ever ready +for revenge on Friedrich, the more fatal and the more direct, the +better. Heartily by her; not so heartily by Soltikof and her Army +people, who know the Austriau habits; and privately decide on NOT +picking chestnuts from the fire, while the other party's paws keep +idle, and only his jaws are ready. + +Of Small-War there is nothing or little to be said; indeed there +occurs almost none. Roving Cossack-Parties, under one Tottleben, +whom we shall hear of otherwise, infest Pommern, bickering with the +Prussian posts there; not ravaging as formerly, Tottleben being a +civilized kind of man. One of these called at the Castle of +Schwedt, one day; found Prince Eugen of Wurtemberg there (nearly +recovered of his Kunersdorf wounds), who is a Son-in-law of the +House, married to a Daughter of Schwedt;--ancestor of the now +Russian Czars too, had anybody then known it. Him these Cossacks +carried off with them, a march or two; then, taking his bond for a +certain ransom, let him go. Bond and bondholder being soon after +captured by the Prussians, Eugen paid no ransom; so that to us his +adventure is without moment, though it then made some noise among +the Gazetteers. + +Two other little passages, and only two, we will mention; +which have in themselves a kind of memorability. First, that of +General Czetteritz and the MANUSCRIPT he lost. Of posts across the +Elbe I find none mentionable here, and believe there is none, +except only Czetteritz's; who stands at Cosdorf, well up towards +Torgau Country, as sentry over Torgau and the Towns there. +On Czetteritz there was, in February, an attempt made by the active +General Beck, whom Daun had detached for that object. +Extremely successful, according to the Austrian Gazetteers; but in +reality amounting to as good as nothing:--Surprisal of Czetteritz's +first vedette, in the dawn of a misty February morning (February +21st, 1760); non-surprisal of his second, which did give fire and +alarm, whereupon debate; and Czetteritz springing into his saddle; +retreat of his people to rearward, with loss of 7 Officers and 200 +prisoners;--but ending in re-advance, with fresh force, a few hours +after; [Seyfarth, ii. 655.]--in repulse of Beck, in recovery of +Cosdorf, and a general state of AS-YOU-WERE in that part. A sputter +of Post-War, not now worth mentioning at all,--except only for one +small circumstance: That in the careering and swift ordering, such +as there was, on the rear-guard especially, Major-General +Czetteritz's horse happened to fall; whereby not only was the +General taken prisoner, but his quarters got plundered, and in his +luggage,--what is the notable circumstance,--there was found a +small Manuscript, MILITAIRISCHE INSTRUKZION FUR DIE GENERALE, such +as every Prussian General has, and is bound to keep religiously +secret.[Stands now in <italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> +xxviii. 3 et. seq.; was finished (the revisal of it was), hy the +King, "2d April, 1748:" see PREUSS, i. 478-480; and (<italic> +OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xxviii. PREFACE, for endless +indistinct details about the translations and editions of it. +London Edition, 1818, calls itself the FIFTH.] This, carried to +Daun's head-quarters, was duly prized, copied; and in the course of +a year came to print, in many shapes and places; was translated +into English, under the Title, MILITARY INSTRUCTIONS BY THE KING OF +PRUSSIA, in 1762 (and again, hardly so WELL, in 1797); and still +languidly circulates among the studious of our soldiers. Not a +little admired by some of them; and unfortunately nearly all they +seem to know of this greatest of modern Soldiers. [See, for +example, in <italic> Life of General Sir Charles Napier, by his +Brother <end italic> (London, 1857), iii. 365 and elsewhere,--one +of the best judges in the world expressing his joy and admiration +on discovery of Friedrich; discovery, if you read well, which +amounts to these INSTRUCTIONS, and no more.] + +Next, about a month after, we have something to report of Loudon +from Silesia, or rather of the Enemies he meets there; for it is +not a victorious thing. But it means a starting of the Campaign by +an Austrian invasion of Silesia; long before sieging time, while +all these Montalembert-Soltikof pleadings and counter-pleadings +hang dubious at Petersburg, and Loudon's "Silesian Army" is still +only in a nascent or theoretic state, and only Loudon himself is in +a practical one. + +Friedrich has always Fouquet at Landshut, in charge of the Silesian +Frontier; whose outposts, under Goltz as head of these, stretch, by +Neisse, far eastward, through the Hills to utmost Mahren; +Fouquet's own head-quarter being generally Landshut, the main gate +of the Country. Fouquet, long since, rooted himself rather firmly +into that important post; has a beautiful ring of fortified Hills +around Landshut; battery crossing battery, girdling it with sure +destruction, under an expert Fouquet,--but would require 30,000 men +to keep it, instead of 13,000, which is Fouquet's allotment. +Upon whom Loudon is fully intending a stroke this Year. Fouquet, as +we know, has strenuously managed to keep ward there for a +twelvemonth past; in spite, often enough, of new violent invadings +and attemptings (violent, miscellaneous, but intermittent) by the +Devilles and others;--and always under many difficulties of his +own, and vicissitudes in his employment: a Fouquet coming and +going, waxing and waning, according to the King's necessities, and +to the intermittency or constancy of pressures on Landshut. +Under Loudon, this Year, Fouquet will have harder times than ever; +--in the end, too hard! But will resist, judge how by the following +small sample:-- + +"Besides Fouquet and his 13,000," says my Note, "the Silesian +Garrisons are all vigilant, are or ought to be; and there are far +eastward of him, for guarding of the Jagerndorf-Troppau Border, +some 4 or 6,000, scattered about, under Lieutenant-General Goltz, +in various Hill Posts,--the chief Post of which, Goltz's own, is +the little Town of Neustadt, northward of Jagerndorf [where we have +billeted in the old SileSian Wars]: Goltz's Neustadt is the chief; +and Leobschutz, southwestward of it, under 'General Le Grand' [once +the Major GRANT of Kolin Battle, if readers remember him, "Your +Majesty and I cannot take the Battery ourselves!"] is probably the +second in importance. Loudon, cantoned along the Moravian side of +the Border, perceives that he can assemble 32,000 foot and horse; +that the Prussians are 13,000 PLUS 6,000; that Silesia can be +invaded with advantage, were the weather come. And that, in any +kind of weather, Goltz and his straggle of posts might be swept +into the interior, perhaps picked up and pocketed altogether, if +Loudon were sharp enough. Swept into the interior Goltz was; by no +means pocketed altogether, as he ought to have been! + +"MARCH 13th, 1760, Loudon orders general muster hereabouts for the +15th, everybody to have two days, bread and forage; and warns +Goltz, as bound in honor: 'Excellenz, to-morrow is March 14th; +to-morrow our pleasant time of Truce is out,--the more the pity for +both of us!' 'Yea, my esteemed neighbor Excellenz!' answers Goltz, +with the proper compliments; but judges that his esteemed neighbor +is intending mischief almost immediately. Goltz instantly sends +orders to all his posts: 'You, Herr General Grant, you at +Leobschutz, and all the rest of you, make your packages; +march without delay; rendezvous at Steinau and Upper Glogau [far +different from GREAT-Glogau], Neisse-ward; swift!' And would have +himself gone on the 14th, but could not,--his poor little Bakery +not being here, nor wagons for his baggages quite to be collected +in a moment,--and it was Saturday, 15th, 5 A.M., that Goltz +appointed himself to march. + +"The last time we saw General Goltz was on the Green of Bautzen, +above two years ago,--when he delivered that hard message to the +King's Brother and his party, 'You deserve to be tried by Court- +martial, and have your heads cut off!' He was of that sad Zittau +business of the late Prince of Prussia's,--Goltz, Winterfeld, +Ziethen, Schmettau and others? Winterfeld and the Prince are both +dead; Schmettau is fallen into disaster; Goltz is still in good +esteem with the King. A stalwart, swift, flinty kind of man, to +judge by the Portraits of him; considerable obstinacy, of a tacitly +intelligent kind, in that steady eye, in that droop of the eyebrows +towards the strong cheek-bones; plenty of sleeping fire in +Lieutenant-General Goltz. + +"His principal force, on this occasion, is one Infantry Regiment; +REGIMENT MANTEUFFEL:--readers perhaps recollect that stout Pommern +Regiment, Manteuffel of Foot, and the little Dialogue it had with +the King himself, on the eve of Leuthen: 'Good-night, then, Fritz! +To-morrow all dead, or else the Enemy beaten.' Their conduct, I +have heard, was very shining at Leuthen, where everybody shone; +and since then they have been plunging about through the death- +element in their old rugged way,--and re-emerge here into definite +view again, under Lieutenant-General Goltz, issuing from the north +end of Neustadt, in the dim dawn of a cold spring morning, March +15th, 5 A.M.; weather latterly very wet, as I learn. They intend +Neisse-way, with their considerable stock of baggage-wagons; a +company of Dragoons is to help in escorting: party perhaps about +2,000 in all. Goltz will have his difficulties this day; and has +calculated on them. And, indeed, at the first issuing, here they +already are. + +"Loudon, with about 5,000 horse,--four Regiments drawn up here, and +by and by with a fifth (happily not with the grenadiers, as he had +calculated, who are detained by broken bridges, waters all in flood +from the rain),--is waiting for him, at the very environs of +Neustadt. Loudon, by a trumpet, politely invites him to surrender, +being so outnumbered; Goltz, politely thanking, disregards it, and +marches on: Loudon escorting, in an ominous way; till, at +Buchelsdorf, the fifth Regiment (best in the Austrian service) is +seen drawn out across the highway, plainly intimating, No +thoroughfare to Goltz and Pommern. Loudon sends a second trumpet: +'Surrender prisoners; honorablest terms; keep all your baggage: +refuse, and you are cut down every man.' 'You shall yourself hear +the answer,' said Goltz. Goltz leads this second trumpet to the +front; and, in Pommern dialect, makes known what General Loudon's +proposal is. The Pommerners answer, as one man, a No of such +emphasis as I have never heard; in terms which are intensely +vernacular, it seems, and which do at this day astonish the foreign +mind: 'We will for him something, WIR WOLLEN IHM WAS--' But the +powers of translation and even of typography fail; and feeble +paraphrase must give it: 'We will for him SOMETHING INEFFABLE +CONCOCT,' of a surprisingly contrary kind! 'WIR WOLLEN IHM WAS' +(with ineffable dissyllabic verb governing it)! growled one +indignant Pommerner; 'and it ran like file-fire along the ranks,' +says Archenholtz; everybody growling it, and bellowing it, in +fierce bass chorus, as the indubitable vote of Pommern in +those circumstances. + +"Loudon's trumpet withdrew. Pommern formed square round its +baggage; Loudon's 5,000 came thundering in, fit to break adamant; +but met such a storm of bullets from Pommern, they stopped about +ten paces short, in considerable amazement, and wheeled back. +Tried it again, still more amazement; the like a third time; +every time in vain. After which, Pommern took the road again, with +vanguard, rearguard; and had peace for certain miles,--Loudon +gloomily following, for a new chance. How many times Loudon tried +again, and ever again, at good places, I forget,--say six times in +all. Between Siebenhufen and Steinau, in a dirty defile, the jewel +of the road for Loudon, who tried his very best there, one of our +wagons broke down; the few to rear of it, eighteen wagons and some +country carts, had to be left standing. Nothing more of Pommern was +left there or anywhere. Near Steinau there, Loudon gave it up as +desperate, and went his way. His loss, they say, was 300 killed, +500 wounded; Pommern's was 35 killed, and above 100 left wounded or +prisoners. One of the stiffest day's works I have known: +some twelve miles of march, in every two an attack. Pommern has +really concocted something surprising, and kept its promise to +Loudon! 'Thou knowest what the Pommerners can do,' said they once +to their own King. An obstinate, strong-boned, heavy-browed people; +not so stupid as you think. More or less of Jutish or Anglish type; +highly deficient in the graces of speech, and, I should judge, with +little call to Parliamentary Eloquence." [Preuss, ii. 241 +(incorrect in some small points); Archenholtz, ii. 61; Seyfarth, +ii. 640, and <italic> Beylagen, <end italic> ii. 657-660; +Tempelhof, iv. 8-10; in ANONYMOUS OF HAMBURG (iv. 68) the +Austrian account.] + +Friedrich is, this Year, considered by the generality of mankind, +to be ruined: "Lost 60,000 men last Campaign; was beaten twice; his +luck is done; what is to become of him?" say his enemies, and even +the impartial Gazetteer, with joy or sorrow. Among his own people +there is gloom or censure; hard commentaries on Maxen: "So self- +willed, high, and deaf to counsel from Prince Henri!" Henri +himself, they say, is sullen; threatening, as he often does, to +resign "for want of health;" and as he quite did, for a while, in +the end of this Campaign, or interval between this and next. + +Friedrich has, with incredible diligence, got together his finance +(copper in larger dose than ever, Jew Ephraim presiding as usual); +and, as if by art-magic, has on their feet 100,000 men against his +enemy's 280,000. Some higher Officers are secretly in bad spirits; +but the men know nothing of discouragement. Friedrich proclaims to +them at marching, "For every cannon you capture, 100 ducats; for +every flag, 50; for every standard (cavalry flag), 40;"--which +sums, as they fell due, were accordingly paid thenceforth. +[Stenzel, v. 236, 237; ib. 243.] But Friedrich, too, is abundantly +gloomy, if that could help him; which he knows well it cannot, and +strictly hides it from all but a few;--or all but D'Argens almost +alone, to whom it can do no harm. Read carefully by the light of +contemporary occurrences, not vaguely in the vacant haze, as the +Editors give it, his correspondence with D'Argens becomes +interesting almost to a painful degree: an unaffected picture of +one of the bravest human souls weighed down with dispiriting labors +and chagrins, such as were seldom laid on any man; almost beyond +bearing, but incurable, and demanding to be borne. Wilhelmina is +away, away; to D'Argens alone of mortals does he whisper of these +things; and to him not wearisomely, or with the least prolixity, +but in short sharp gusts, seldom now with any indignation, oftenest +with a touch of humor in them, not soliciting any sympathy, nor +expecting nearly as much as he will get from the faithful D'Argens. + +"I am unfortunate and old, dear Marquis; that is why they persecute +me: God knows what my future is to be this Year! I grieve to +resemble Cassandra with my prophecies; but how augur well of the +desperate situation we are in, and which goes on growing worse? +I am so gloomy to-day, I will cut short. ... Write to me when you +have nothing better to do; and don't forget a poor Philosopher who, +perhaps to expiate his incredulity, is doomed to find his Purgatory +in THIS world." [<italic> OEuvres de Frederic, <end italic> xix. +138, 139 ("Freyberg, 20th March, 1760").] ... To another Friend, in +the way of speech, he more deliberately says: "The difficulties I +had, last Campaign, were almost infinite: such a multitude of +enemies acting against me; Pommern, Brandenburg, Saxony, Frontiers +of Silesia, alike in danger, often enough all at one time. If I +escaped absolute destructiou, I must impute it chiefly to the +misconduct of my enemies; who gained such advantages, but had not +the sense to follow them up. Experience often corrects people of +their blunders: I cannot expect to profit by anything of that kind; +on their part, in the course of this Campaign:" judge if it will be +a light one, MON CHER. [To Mitchell, one evening, "Camp of +Schlettau, May 23d" (Mitchell, ii. 159).] + +The symptoms we decipher in these Letters, and otherwise, are those +of a man drenched in misery; but used to his black element, +unaffectedly defiant of it, or not at the pains to defy it; +occupied only to do his very utmost in it, with or without success, +till the end come. Prometheus, chained on the Ocean-cliffs, with +the New Ruling-Powers in the upper hand, and their vultures +gradually eating him; dumb Time and dumb Space looking on, +apparently with small sympathy: Prometheus and other Titans, now +and then, have touched the soul of some AEschylus, and drawn tones +of melodious sympathy, far heard among mankind. But with this new +Titan it is not so: nor, upon the whole, with the proper Titan, in +this world, is it usually so; the world being a--what shall we +say?--a poorish kind of world, and its melodies and dissonances, +its loves and its hatreds worth comparatively little in the long- +run. Friedrich does wonderfully without sympathy from almost +anybody; and the indifference with which he walks along, under such +a cloud of sulky stupidities, of mendacities and misconceptions +from the herd of mankind, is decidedly admirable to me. + +But let us look into the Campaign itself. Perhaps--contrary to the +world's opinion, and to Friedrich's own when, in ultra-lucid +moments, he gazes into it in the light of cold arithmetic, and +finds the aspect of it "frightful"--this Campaign will be a little +luckier to him than the last? Unluckier it cannot well be:--or if +so, it will at least be final to him! + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext History of Friedrich II of Prussia V 19 + diff --git a/old/19frd10.zip b/old/19frd10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d02e3e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/19frd10.zip |